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Race for the Top 4 - 2017/18

Hazardousman

Audere est Facere
Jul 24, 2013
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8,944
This is really annoying, have you taken into account that the ops might of upped their game against us on the day? Arse WBA and Leicester all played well.

When you say fight, then why did we score the equaliser v WBA, or get a goal v Leicester and try hard to get an equaliser?

The trouble is we don’t have enough depth with the same quality as cover, Eriksen’s form at the moment is most probably down to tiredness, Kane and Alli might of returned to early, plus we are missing 2 vital players that were the spine of our team last season in Toby and Wanyama.

After the comment I’m quoting I think you need to go take a long hard look in the mirror:whistle:

I am only reiterating what Poch said, that if we do not fight in games we will not win in this league, he has said himself we have lacked fight the last few games so if you are taking issue with what I am saying you are also taking issue with what the manager is saying.

I am not criticising Poch, I am criticising the players, take the happy clapper blinkers off for a second and stop bringing up a thread I made over a year ago after we crashed out of the CL.

This SC bandwagoning is pathetic sometimes, use some critical thinking skills instead of following the herd, you just look like a brown noser.

I am not being contrarian for the sake of it, the players haven't been turning up at the start of games, they haven't been working as hard in terms of pressing and they haven't been showing the same level in terms of attitude, Poch said it himself, so don't shoot the messanger.

I never said our depth wasn't an issue either, did you ignore all my other posts on this matter? I said we lack depth and we can't compete on multiple fronts but that isn't an excuse for lack of urgency and fight, it's the MANNER of our performances, especially how we are starting games, that is concerning and apparently our manager shares the same concerns.
 

Hazardousman

Audere est Facere
Jul 24, 2013
4,619
8,944
Whilst I’m personally not bothered about recent results/slide down the table, it does show how tough it is in the PL where the top 7/8 teams win consistently and how quickly you can find yourself sliding down the table with a patch of bad form. Liverpool were miles behind us after we beat them and now they’re looking comfortably better.

A couple of weeks ago we were W 6 D 2 L 1 in the league, now we’re at W 7 D 3 L 4 from seemingly out of nowhere.

The really annoying part is our capitulation against Arsenal has ruined us and catapulted them into great domestic form.

Really fine margins in this league, I think that's why Poch is annoyed because he knows that with that little extra bit of fight and hard work from the players we would be in a much better position right now.

People keep telling me "Oh teams are working harder against us, it's the Wembley factor etc"

I say, if they are working hard then we need to work harder, Arsenal game is a prime example, first half it was like men against boys, they showed more fight than us and wanted the win more, sure they got lucky with the goals but on balance they deserved to win tbh.

That has been our problem in recent weeks I think, the players don't look motivated and I have a feeling it's because they have seen what City are doing and have given up on the PL, hence why our CL performances have been much better.

This is why Poch is referring to fight imo.
 

Lighty64

I believe
Aug 24, 2010
10,400
12,476
I am only reiterating what Poch said, that if we do not fight in games we will not win in this league, he has said himself we have lacked fight the last few games so if you are taking issue with what I am saying you are also taking issue with what the manager is saying.

I am not criticising Poch, I am criticising the players, take the happy clapper blinkers off for a second and stop bringing up a thread I made over a year ago after we crashed out of the CL.

This SC bandwagoning is pathetic sometimes, use some critical thinking skills instead of following the herd, you just look like a brown noser.

I am not being contrarian for the sake of it, the players haven't been turning up at the start of games, they haven't been working as hard in terms of pressing and they haven't been showing the same level in terms of attitude, Poch said it himself, so don't shoot the messanger.

I never said our depth wasn't an issue either, did you ignore all my other posts on this matter? I said we lack depth and we can't compete on multiple fronts but that isn't an excuse for lack of urgency and fight, it's the MANNER of our performances, especially how we are starting games, that is concerning and apparently our manager shares the same concerns.

1 I’m no brown nose, I just say it how I see it.

I’ve followed us since the age of 6, and seen a lot worst than this. When we win I’m happy if we lose or draw I’m pissed off, but don’t feel the need to start a thread or come on here to slag the team off, especially if I believe we don’t deserve to win.

The trouble with football is sometimes teams don’t allow the other team to start on the front foot, and in our last 3 games that’s been the case, and the reason we have lacked fight comes down to our players suffering from over playing not being able to be rotated because Poch doesn’t have the trust in their replacements
 

Hazardousman

Audere est Facere
Jul 24, 2013
4,619
8,944
1 I’m no brown nose, I just say it how I see it.

I’ve followed us since the age of 6, and seen a lot worst than this. When we win I’m happy if we lose or draw I’m pissed off, but don’t feel the need to start a thread or come on here to slag the team off, especially if I believe we don’t deserve to win.

The trouble with football is sometimes teams don’t allow the other team to start on the front foot, and in our last 3 games that’s been the case, and the reason we have lacked fight comes down to our players suffering from over playing not being able to be rotated because Poch doesn’t have the trust in their replacements

If you aren't a brown nose then stop repeating the same garbage a few posters on here always bring up regarding what I post whenever I try to make a point just to try and be part of the "cool kids" club, it's like a playground on here sometimes.

I made a thread about how Poch needs to look at himself over a year ago, most of what was said in that thread in terms of tactical decisions was accurate, which was proven once we moved to 3 at the back, some of it was wrong I admit and I knee-jerked on a few things, we had just been dumped out the CL and it was emotional but the fact it gets brought up every time I try to make a point is ridiculous.

I fail to see how it has anything to do with what I have said here?

What Poch said about our performance the other day was as follows:

"In the Premier League if you do not fight you are going to struggle, and our performance was a clear example of that in the first half when we were 2-0 down," he said. "First of all you must compete, fight and be focused, and then, of course, the quality will come through.

"We had some chances to score to stay in the game, but we were poor. That's why I am so disappointed. It's difficult to say why because you can't talk about tactics or selection - it was a collective."


So, I am reiterating what the manager is saying essentially,

I have followed us since the late 80's, I have also seen worse but again, that makes no difference in the current day and age, everyone always likes to look backwards and say "Do you not remember what we used to be like?" as if that's a valid argument for below par performances now.

Nobody is slagging the team off, well I am certainly not, I am making what I believe to be valid arguments about our effort in our most recent games and how it hasn't been good enough, Poch feels the same way and I feel sorry for Poch because he is the best manager we have had, in my lifetime at least.

I do agree that one of the reasons we have struggled is because we lack good depth but the truth is, even with our lack of depth, we are still good enough to be winning these games, sometimes you can play your best football and things don't go your way, sometimes it does come down to luck but I can never accept a team outfighting us and I imagine Poch will not accept that either.

And that is what has happened the last few games, we have been outfought, if anybody is willing to accept that then more power to them, just fosters a losers mentality, which is again, something I am pretty sure Poch does not want to encourage at this football club.
 

spursfan77

Well-Known Member
Aug 13, 2005
46,680
104,956
If we aim for fourth we will come unstuck. We have to aim for second or as high as we can. To do otherwise will be a mistake.

Besides Man City will lose soon. The last two games they’ve only just won. We need to be there in case they go on a bad run like ours.
 

Lighty64

I believe
Aug 24, 2010
10,400
12,476
If you aren't a brown nose then stop repeating the same garbage a few posters on here always bring up regarding what I post whenever I try to make a point just to try and be part of the "cool kids" club, it's like a playground on here sometimes.

I made a thread about how Poch needs to look at himself over a year ago, most of what was said in that thread in terms of tactical decisions was accurate, which was proven once we moved to 3 at the back, some of it was wrong I admit and I knee-jerked on a few things, we had just been dumped out the CL and it was emotional but the fact it gets brought up every time I try to make a point is ridiculous.

I fail to see how it has anything to do with what I have said here?

What Poch said about our performance the other day was as follows:

"In the Premier League if you do not fight you are going to struggle, and our performance was a clear example of that in the first half when we were 2-0 down," he said. "First of all you must compete, fight and be focused, and then, of course, the quality will come through.

"We had some chances to score to stay in the game, but we were poor. That's why I am so disappointed. It's difficult to say why because you can't talk about tactics or selection - it was a collective."


So, I am reiterating what the manager is saying essentially,

I have followed us since the late 80's, I have also seen worse but again, that makes no difference in the current day and age, everyone always likes to look backwards and say "Do you not remember what we used to be like?" as if that's a valid argument for below par performances now.

Nobody is slagging the team off, well I am certainly not, I am making what I believe to be valid arguments about our effort in our most recent games and how it hasn't been good enough, Poch feels the same way and I feel sorry for Poch because he is the best manager we have had, in my lifetime at least.

I do agree that one of the reasons we have struggled is because we lack good depth but the truth is, even with our lack of depth, we are still good enough to be winning these games, sometimes you can play your best football and things don't go your way, sometimes it does come down to luck but I can never accept a team outfighting us and I imagine Poch will not accept that either.

And that is what has happened the last few games, we have been outfought, if anybody is willing to accept that then more power to them, just fosters a losers mentality, which is again, something I am pretty sure Poch does not want to encourage at this football club.

if you looked at the smiley it was having a laugh, possibly a smallish dig:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:

edit: I give up, I really do. just read the rest of the post above, some times in life you can't dominate what the ops are going to do. the reason they were outfought was something the players can't always control.

I actually thought we played well in the Leicester match, but never took our chances, and due to Leicester upping their fight mode, it meant they won a lot of 2nd balls. the pressure they put on us made us play some loose passing, but when they had the space (perhaps it's down to tiredness) in some instances we never closed them down quick enough, and scored 2 worldies.

if Poch isn't happy with the fight he has to replace the payers that are letting us down and give other squad players a chance, and as it's been 3 games now, then Poch is as much as at fault, or just the fact that having Toby and Wanyama out at the same time has totally fucked us up and the players we have just can't do the job as good.

I know we are only 3pts worse off than we were after 14 games last season, after having a REALLY BAD October and November last season, yet so far we have scored 3 goals more, and won the group of death with a game to spare.
 
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spurs9

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
11,840
34,012
The present feeling in the senior squad is trickling down to our academy and youths as they have also been passing thru a very bad patch.
BS, the youth teams have had poor results all season. The U23s have only won 2 out 11 games, one of which was in the last 4 games. The U18s have 4 wins in 10 games, 2 of which are in the last 4 games.
 

Lighty64

I believe
Aug 24, 2010
10,400
12,476
BS, the youth teams have had poor results all season. The U23s have only won 2 out 11 games, one of which was in the last 4 games. The U18s have 4 wins in 10 games, 2 of which are in the last 4 games.

might be the reason none of them are breaking into the 1st team squad
 

Lighty64

I believe
Aug 24, 2010
10,400
12,476
So, for 10 years then?

not as long as you mate, I was 10 when I started walking a mile away to watch us every week. 1 week 1st team, week after the reserves. saw my 1st game in 73 we lost 2-1 to Sheff Utd:cry::cry::cry: still got the scarf my sister bought me that day.

if people thought we were bad in the 90's they should of seen us the season we went down:eek:
 

shelfboy68

Well-Known Member
Jun 14, 2008
14,566
19,651
not as long as you mate, I was 10 when I started walking a mile away to watch us every week. 1 week 1st team, week after the reserves. saw my 1st game in 73 we lost 2-1 to Sheff Utd:cry::cry::cry: still got the scarf my sister bought me that day.

if people thought we were bad in the 90's they should of seen us the season we went down:eek:
Yes I remember that we were shit but I remember going to games when we were in 2nd division with my dad and when we won 9-0.
 

Westmorland

Active Member
May 21, 2014
290
449
not as long as you mate, I was 10 when I started walking a mile away to watch us every week. 1 week 1st team, week after the reserves. saw my 1st game in 73 we lost 2-1 to Sheff Utd:cry::cry::cry: still got the scarf my sister bought me that day.

if people thought we were bad in the 90's they should of seen us the season we went down:eek:
Never forget the away game at Man U in that relegation season...2-0 down at half time then 2 goals from the late Ian Moores and the winner from John Pratt. 20 yard volley. You can still see it on you tube
 

DEFchenkOE

Well-Known Member
Feb 13, 2006
10,527
8,052
How are we only 7 points above Everton?? That's shocking. Watford have scored more goals than us. The top 5 have also scored much more than us. Arsenal have the least and they have 6 more. We need to up our level and quick.
 
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