"Pesrpective" from COYS

[arnoldlayne]

An interesting post by ebspurs from COYS:

Consider the following:

1)After 11 games we are 4th which once the games in hand are played is likely to mean we are at worst 6th
2) We have not been able to play our strongest team yet this season or our strongest back 4 which kept so many clean sheets last season
3) Not only have we suffered badly with injuries but we also have suffered injuries to a clutch of similar types of players ie 2/3 centre backs have been out for most of the season. We just start to get them back and then we lose the only players we have with creativity and pace in the squad at the same time
4) Our 1st choice keeper has also been injured for half the games and arguably our most influential player has been out for 7 of those 11 games
5) The opening fixtures show a significant imbalance when we compare our fixtures against the Sky 4 against our immediate competition ie

- Chelsea have only played Liverpool of the Sky 4 and yet have lost 2 games
- Man Utd have played Arsenal and Liverpool and have lost 2 games
- Arsenal have played only played Man U of the top 4 and have lost 2 games
- Liverpool have played Man U and Chelsea of the Sky 4 and have lost 5 games
- Tottenham have played all 4 of the Sky 4 and lost 4 games
- Man City have played 2 of the Sky 4 and lost 1 game
- Villa have played 2 of the Sky 4 and lost 2 games

This means that our next 8 games to reach the half way stage will be against teasm outside of the Sky 4 whilst you can see the rest of the teams have a minimum of 2 games each against the Sky 4 in the next 8 games.

We are now close to having our 1st team squad available and the challenge for us is to secure a lot of points in the coming weeks against the so called lesser teams.

So my Coys friends, imho given the injuries and imbalance in the fixtures imho we have not done too badly to be in the top 6 at this stage...

What do you think????

 

[Delboy10]

I agree. We've done well considering the players we've had out since the start of the season. Once we have the likes of Woody etc back we'll be rocking and rolling.

 

[yusrisafri]

Woody would have been massacred if he had played last night. He doesnt have the pace to play against a fast team like Arsenal.

 

[Delboy10]

He has the experiance and positional sense. Centre back isn't all about pace and he's no Huddlestone anyway.

 

[rez9000]

An interesting post by ebspurs from COYS...

Just what we needed to see on this board today. I know it's someone else's post (or maybe it isn't...), but duly repped.

 

[donny1013]

Woody would have been massacred if he had played last night. He doesnt have the pace to play against a fast team like Arsenal.

A couple of seasons ago for Boro Woody put in one of the best defensive displays i have ever seen at the Emirates for them against possibly a stronger Woolwich side which included the pace of Thierry Henry. if he was fully fit he would have played and would have made us stronger at the back.

 

[Marty]

An excellent post. I still don't think we'll be in the top 4 come May but we've done extremely well given the circumstances with injuries.

Having said that, if we get a bit of injury luck in the second half of the season (as in no serious ones for us and a couple of big players missing for e.g. Pool, Arse, City) we're in a great position to capitalise on it.

 

[robbos_muddy_gloves]

Reading some of the posts on this and other message boards about yesterday's game make me laugh. We lost. We lost to our north london rivals. We lost to some poor mistakes from the team, and also because we didn't create enough. That's it.

Of course I am bitterly disappointed, of course I'd love to see us beat Arsenal, but we need to take a long term view. As the original post so eloquently puts it our season will be defined by how we play against the teams in and around us and below us. Also our three most important creative and attacking players were missing. Take Arsenals equivalent out, Van Persie, Fabregas and Arshavin and put ours back in and I don't think we would have seen the same result. Again all ifs, buts and maybes. Bottom line is, time to moan at the end of the season if we don't achieve, but I firmly believe that with support and I mean real support even in difficult times, not knee jerk reactions, we can achieve our goals. And hopefully wipe that smug grin off Wengers face.

 

[Midostouch]

What a great post - cheered me up no end. And in a way isn't it better to lose having made some dreadful gaffes after playing pretty well in first half, rather than just being totally useless and outplayed for the whole game. There is plenty to build on, but there's no denying that yesterday was utterly depressing and demoralising. No doubt we're all dreading going to work tomorrow to face the abuse from a whole load of goners (in my case about 100 children) but let's try and stay positive and see that we are on an upward trajectory.

 

[arnoldlayne]

Just what we needed to see on this board today. I know it's someone else's post (or maybe it isn't...), but duly repped.

Ta! (it's not me by the way but I thought we needed to keep things in perspective). I'm bitterly disappointed to lose to the scum but then I have regularly experienced this feeling for 25 years. It's the other teams we need to beat on a consistent basis and avoid more Stoke situations. If we beat the Sky4 it is an added bonus.

 

[indy]

true be that!!
although we have played all of the sky four and only lost 3!! (we beat liverpool remember!!)
i think a bit of perspective is needed after ydays result... yeh we got beat but think we did ok until the first goal and then the second goal killed us, but not through magical play but through our own mistakes... we need to put the result behind us and we are still fourth, we have two home league games coming up which are very much winable we will have defoe coming back in and our solid defence of last season should be back for those games...

keep the faith people!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[phil]

It is better to judge our progress against our corresponding fixtures last season. Unfortunately, on that basis the situation is not quite so rosey as we have two fewer points than last season. If that is maintained over the season we would expect to finish somewhere between 8th and 10th.

I would expect us to pick up when Modric, Lennon, Defoe and Woodgate return but suspect that 6th/7th is the best we can hope for.

 

[hybridsoldier]

Woody would have been massacred if he had played last night. He doesnt have the pace to play against a fast team like Arsenal.

Totally disagree, he has never had pace from when he started at Leeds. His positional play is excellent and he would not be so easily exposed.

Woodgate and Bassong I am looking forward to seeing in action.

Also I think there is a negative mood here, I thnk its the manner of the defeat but to be honest I am quite upbeat because it won't happen again under Arry, Im sure of that.

 

[Shanks]

Layed out like that, it doesn't sound too bad, and I honestly believe we will be fighting out for the 4th spot, with 3 other teams come May.

Liverpool, City, Vill and Us.

We need to get our key players back and fit - woody, modders, defoe and lennon - it would be nice to see how we played with a fully fit squad.

And I expect a couple of additions come Jan - if we are in a good position come Jan, then I believe we could challenge.

 

[Green Valley]

Woody would have been massacred if he had played last night. He doesnt have the pace to play against a fast team like Arsenal.

Woody is one of the fastest players' at spurs.

No lie.

 

[arnoldlayne]

It is better to judge our progress against our corresponding fixtures last season. Unfortunately, on that basis the situation is not quite so rosey as we have two fewer points than last season. If that is maintained over the season we would expect to finish somewhere between 8th and 10th.

I would expect us to pick up when Modric, Lennon, Defoe and Woodgate return but suspect that 6th/7th is the best we can hope for.

However, there are a lot more "strong" teams this year who will be taking points off each other and I think that there will be less skewing of the points distribution (apart from teams like Hull, portsmouth, Wolves, etc)

 

[spursgirls]

Good positive post ArnoldLayne! I hope the team keep positive too, (and they have no reason not to). Sometimes I think lack of confidence is our biggest enemy!
Once we get our key players back, there'll be no stopping us!

 

[ShelfSide18]

It's good to see some positivity on the forum!

If you look at our team this season, and the criticism a majority of our players have received at times from our own fans you wouldn't believe we were 4th would you.

Gomes, Corluka, Ekotto, even Ledley, Lennon, Jenas, Hudd, Keane, Crouch, all have come in for criticism. All have played a part in getting us where we are now - our best ever Prem start.

 

[double0]

From a possible 12 pts from the Sky4, we have managed 3 pts, conceded 10 scored 3 = -7.

IMO we could've done better, 5 pts would have been exceptable with less goals deficit.

 

[arnoldlayne]

Good positive post ArnoldLayne! I hope the team keep positive too, (and they have no reason not to). Sometimes I think lack of confidence is our biggest enemy!
Once we get our key players back, there'll be no stopping us!

Confidence is key - I was listening to an interview with Martin Chivers and he said at that level it is vital.

Look at the Arsenal, ManU, Chelsea players (some who are benefitting from having great players around). They don't let their heads drop and keep going, expecting to win.

This is what needs to be bred into the Spurs mentality.

While many know I have some reservations about our management, I have to admit they have helped construct (with a few clever additions) one of the best, actually the best, Spurs squad I have seen for 30 odd years. We need stability and to keep becoming consistent against mid-table/lower-table teams. Eventually the Sky4 will crumble (sooner than some think, with the forthcoming financial strictures and regulations), but Rome was not built in a day.

I will be happy with initially consistently challenging for Europe, eventually I hope we become like Seville in Spain. If we get our new stadium then I think we will become a powerhouse in the league.

COYS