This 'next level' that Harry can't take us to....

[Archibald&Crooks]

Two games into the season and for a while before that, I remember reading a fair number of posts saying that Harry isn't the man to take us to the next level.

Given our position in the EPL, has he achieved exactly that and taken us on to the holy grail that is the 'next level' that people doubted he could help us reach or do people think that although the improvement is there to see, there's yet another level we should be expecting/hoping he can take us to.

A 'next next level' if you like.

 

[ajspurs]

Well, he's certainly taken us up a level that's for sure. A bit early to properly judge as we could still end up 5th in the table for instance. Although I do hate it when I hear comments stating that Harry has taken us as far as he can so we should look at getting someone else in. I find comments like that just simply stupid.

I think we've seen the level we all want to be at so far this season. Well I have personally, we have a different 'aura' about us now and the way opponents look at us has changed. I think teams approach us as they would have with say, Arsenal a few years ago. Yes there's room for improvement but there was room for improvement for United even when they won the title last year. It's just a case of whether we can keep it up. If we go and do 'a Villa' and run out of steam resulting in us falling places in the table then despite this start, the answer to the question of whether we've gone up a level would probably change. So if I had to answer now I would say yes but my true answer would be only time will tell.

 

[tooey]

There's always a next level and any team should always strive to improve, it doesn't matter if your a sunday league team or barcalona, progress is the key to maintained success.

If I had my way Harry would be with us until retirement, though as circumstances have deemed that unlikely to happen all I can do is pray for a replacement that will be able to continue the fantastic job Harry and co have done for the past 3 years. When the only complaint about the bloke is personality based (media whore etc etc) and not football derived you know he's doing something right. Some call him tactically naive, though at present we are playing the best football I've ever seen from a spurs side (sunderland aside).

I'd love to see us win the league and every other trophy in sight, but realistically we havn't yet got the means to challenge with the likes of city, but by gosh, we're giving it a bloomin good go. Though if we continue making good decisions on and off the pitch, little by little, we will bridge the gap and hopefully one day in the not too distant future, lift the premier league trophy.

 

[OmarsComing]

he cant take us to the next level without the backing of a spend happy billionaire

nb: chelsea and Man city - two clubs of similar stature to ours pre takeover.

 

[MR_BEN]

he cant take us to the next level without the backing of a spend happy billionaire

nb: chelsea and Man city - two clubs of similar stature to ours pre takeover.

man city were no where near our stature pre-takeover.

 

[OmarsComing]

man city were no where near our stature pre-takeover.

we've both won the league twice. They had 30k fans at their games when they were in league 1 (3rd tier).

And their neighbours are the biggest club in the world.

 

[mpickard2087]

Too early to judge half way through a season.

In general my opinion is that there is always a next level to go to... Whilst being mega rich helps there are ways you can improve and compete, despite not having the greatest financial resources, and push on even higher up the league.

 

[walworthyid]

I personally think that Harry isn't tactically flexible enough to make a difference in the very tightest games. He has a great squad, a truly great squad, and he has managed to get the most out of that squad in terms of players performances. But we are too open, especially away from home and that is down to Harry's team selection and tactics.

He has found something that works and has stuck with it. IMO Mourinho would get more out of this squad because he is a more tacticaly astute manager.

Having said all of that, he has done a fantastic job and has certainly won me over.

 

[tony_parkes]

Level 42 is where it's at.

 

[walworthyid]

man city were no where near our stature pre-takeover.

Nor were Chelsea, they weren't even in the same bloody division half of the time!

Meaning that Chelsea have been in an artificial position since Bates took over because he had them in debt up to their eye-balls to buy success that they otherwise could not have had, never mind sustained!

 

[Yid121]

I would say so, yeh, since when was the last time we went on such a long unbeaten run? We were in the CL quarter-finals last year and this season were 3rd in a league, which at the top is more competitive than ever.

I would say he's proved all those critics wrong, although with the players he has you would expect it and it is only halfway through the season. Time will tell whether he really has in some people's eyes, but my definition of the next level was getting into the CL and Harry's already done that.

Maybe Mourinho would do a better job, but I can't imagine we'd be top of the league if we had him in charge. I mean many would consider him the best manager in Europe, so if we're looking at the best manager in Europe when we're not even close to the best team in Europe, then it should tell you something...

The fact that we got to the quarters and City got knocked out in the group stage, just shows what a good team Harry has built. It's a shame this season is so competitive as despite reaching another level, it'll still be tight, maybe we'll need to go up another "level" or two....

 

[robin09]

Our continual success is a serious obstacle for the Harry haters.

 

[dontcallme]

I was delighted when HR took over. I was a big believer in his ability as a manager and thought now he had a club with more stabilty and funds he'd be able to show he was a talented manager and his experience in the game would benefit us.

I was also skeptical about any manager's ability to take us to title races with our financial situations in comparison to Man Utd and the clubs with artificial money.

I did believe that a manager with vast knowledge of the European markets might be our only hope as we needed someone to uncover the next Berbatov, Modric etc. I thought trying to pinpoint that person was extremely risky and therefore HR was our best choice.

He hasn't surprised me with who he has signed. Crouch, Defoe, Keane, Parker, Friedel etc were all solid Premiership players and you knew exactly what you were getting with them.

He has surprised me with the performances he has got out of everyone though. In his first full season I confidently predicted 5th. This was seen as over-confident by some at the beginning of the season but I didn't believe we could get 4th with Defoe and Crouch up-front. By the end of the season for the first time in my life I was being accused of being a negative Spurs fan.

In his 2nd season he got us 5th and an impressive CL campaign and so far is on course to do even better this season.

Most of his decisions have been correct and he has been ruthless when necessary. The key for us to improve now is finding a striker who is potentially top quality that is within our budget and implementing our young players into the first team squad successfully.

If HR can get us into the CL for the next two seasons then we might be able to reach even higher.

 

[markiespurs]

I personally think that Harry isn't tactically flexible enough to make a difference in the very tightest games. He has a great squad, a truly great squad, and he has managed to get the most out of that squad in terms of players performances. But we are too open, especially away from home and that is down to Harry's team selection and tactics.

He has found something that works and has stuck with it. IMO Mourinho would get more out of this squad because he is a more tacticaly astute manager.

Having said all of that, he has done a fantastic job and has certainly won me over.

What about against stoke though when he changed the formation second half and went with 3 at the back. If not for some diabolical decisions by Foy, that change would have got us all 3 points.

Personally, i think there is often too much emphasis put on tactics, especially by us fans. Harry seems to keep the tactics simple, which is part of the reason why he gets the best out of his players and which is a key part of why we are doing well.

 

[tototoner]

How can any Tottenham fan hate Harry, I don't think that is possible

However no one is without fault and everyone makes mistakes, Harry is not immune from this, the same way Fergie and Wenger aren't either

Constructive critism is healthy

 

[dontcallme]

What about against stoke though when he changed the formation second half and went with 3 at the back. If not for some diabolical decisions by Foy, that change would have got us all 3 points.

Personally, i think there is often too much emphasis put on tactics, especially by us fans. Harry seems to keep the tactics simple, which is why he gets the best out of his players and which is a key part of why we are doing well.

HR has the age old problem of people judging him by his persona rather than what he does. He's touted as a wheeler-dealer whose main strength is his understanding of players mentality and as a result he can get the best out of them. Because of these qualities people automatically assume he has little tactical knowledge. Ramos was put forward as a strict disciplinarian with a shapr tactical mind and was therefore portrayed as a manager lacking interpersonal skills.

The reality is I've seen HR take ruthless, early action when something is going wrong in a game on many occasions. I've seen smarter substitutions from HR than any other Spurs manager since the Prem began. He gives the players the freedom to express themselves but when it isn't working he takes immediate action so I can't really see where people are coming from when they say he lacks tactical knowledge.

 

[StartingPrice]

Difficult for me to participate in this thread...as I said before the season started, and after the two Manchester games, that we have great potential and will be right up there :grin:

 

[sweyid]

Harry's taken us from bottom of the league to CL glory and he's well on his way of cementing us as one of the truly great clubs both in England and in Europe. It would be a shame to get rid of him. He's done so much for Spurs and he keeps on giving, keeps on improving the team and he keeps on inspiring our players. I see no reason for the Harry-hatred out there.

 

[markiespurs]

HR has the age old problem of people judging him by his persona rather than what he does. He's touted as a wheeler-dealer whose main strength is his understanding of players mentality and as a result he can get the best out of them. Because of these qualities people automatically assume he has little tactical knowledge. Ramos was put forward as a strict disciplinarian with a shapr tactical mind and was therefore portrayed as a manager lacking interpersonal skills.

The reality is I've seen HR take ruthless, early action when something is going wrong in a game on many occasions. I've seen smarter substitutions from HR than any other Spurs manager since the Prem began. He gives the players the freedom to express themselves but when it isn't working he takes immediate action so I can't really see where people are coming from when they say he lacks tactical knowledge.

Totally agree with the part highlighted :clap:

 

[guate]

Harry's taken us from bottom of the league to CL glory and he's well on his way of cementing us as one of the truly great clubs both in England and in Europe. It would be a shame to get rid of him. He's done so much for Spurs and he keeps on giving, keeps on improving the team and he keeps on inspiring our players. I see no reason for the Harry-hatred out there.

Small minded nitwits who are simply jealous of the guy or our famous "illuminati" arm chair managers who besotted with a few stats believe they know more than Redknapp does