Tottenham vs West Ham: League Cup Match Thread

[Hazardousman]

And we are very unlikely to win anything again this year. I know it's still early in the season but I think City have a real grip on the PL and I don't think anybody really thinks we will win the CL so the one trophy we could win we just gave it away. there is the FA Cup but that is more difficult as we have to start from the 3rd round and not later as we do in the league cup ...or what ever it's called this year. If that's the way it turns out where will that leave our star players next year?

Well our star players really have no room to complain if they aren't turning up for games like tonight, we had more than enough on that pitch to win this game, would be insulting if they turn around in the long run saying "I want to win trophies" as a way to leave because the truth is, this team is good enough to be winning them, it's our attitude on nights like tonight that let us down.

It's sad that professional footballers can't be bothered, I thought they loved football and winning things?

 

[Doctor Dinkey]

And I bet we lose though 2 games too unfortunately.

I bet we don't.

 

[Lumiere]

I guess it's just because they've bigger squads so they can

We got to the final 2 years ago with a worse and smaller squad than what we have now.

As have Hull, Wigan, Southampton and Swansea. Our 2nd team is more than good enough to get to an English cup final let alone hold on to a 2-0 lead against a relegation candidate.

 

[theShiznit]

Poch should rip into himself for those poor substitutions. When you are 3-2 down and take off your two strikers there is no way back. Son looked dangerous on numerous occasions and might have made or scored an equaliser.

Yeah i think he hamstrung himself with the first sub taking off Llorente and putting Son up top we then had no presence, then he moved Alli up top and everything became eye of a needle against a (then) bus parking team. Dembele doesn't work linking play against the bus parkers and our wide speedy players that can play against packed defences had left the pitch.

Anyway on the plus side, Rose must've lost some weight tonight and Kane had a sleep

 

[Dillspur]

We're dammed if we do and dammed if we don't, had we won the league cup and finished outside the top 4, that wouldn't be considered enough to keep our top players. If we finish 2nd again with no silverware then that won't be considered good enough

 

[Sweetsman]

Nah, "we've got bigger fish to fry", "our priorities don't leave space for the league cup", "We're beyond the league cup now", "no-one would care if we won it, I know I wouldn't".

All things I've read on here in the last couple of days. Seriously, people are actually acting like we're some kind of trophy eating winning machine, whereas the truth is we've won fuck all for a decade, not won an FA Cup for over 25 years, and are highly unlikely to be winning the League or CL any time soon.

Yet we're too important for the League Cup. A trophy Jose prioritises when he joins a club in order to get silverware on the board and breed a winning mentality.

I don't think it was that at all. West Ham were disinterested and we followed suite. This meant that we couldn't even rouse ourselves when everything came crashing down. It could have a very negative effect on other games.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

I agree to an extent but then surely that makes you question why we signed him if Pochettino isn't willing to change the style of play to accommodate him.

100% he, and Janssen before hand, are not the sort of striker I think suits our system. To an extent I get it when he starts behind the forward so we can play long balls up to him and utilise his excellent first touch to set up an attack but we will always loose out on any sort of press when he is on the pitch. I really thought when we got him we would start playing old school byline football, peppering the box with crosses. Which we did a little at the end but he was not on the pitch. I just don’t see a situation we would ever not need Kane on the pitch or bench when we play Llorente, unless we change the system to suit his style of play. Llorente just played 75ish minutes alongside our supposed best crosser of the ball, Trips, I and can’t remember one time he presented half a chance to him.

 

[SEANSPURS1975]

Whatever way you look at it, that second half display was a disgrace. As soon as they scored we just fell apart in front of our eyes.
Just painful to watch.
However, win Saturday and this will be forgotten.

 

[bubble07]

Foyth did not need to concede thst corner for their first goal

 

[Phil-spur99]

We don't have a winning mentality when it comes to trophies, we're not ruthless. We should be making the semis of this cup every season unless we meet one of the top 6. This is the easiest cup to get success in and we've chucked it in.

I don't really have a problem with the team that was put out, but the attitude and mentality was like it was a training game.

As much as we wanted to laugh at arsenal last season, guess what, they still won a trophy, their 3rd in 4 years. When was the last time we won any silverware with that kind of regularity?

This is the absolutely spot on!

Annoying thing is that both Poch and the players tell us (through various sources and the media) that they are desperate to win something - they need to remember that at the end of the season if we haven't won anything and we chuck in performances like that second half.

 

[Sweetsman]

It's either watching The Red Wedding again or the highlights, I'm not sure which has more carnage.

 

[Guntz]

I'd take losing this if it meant winning on Saturday, just feel the Utd game is crucial to our season.

Don't shoot me

They better put on a ****ing performance Saturday now.

 

[slartibartfast]

This game should not bethe result that causes the penny to drop in terms of complacency. We did not put out a team of 19 year olds! We had a world cup winner up front and, apart from Foyth, a very experienced team.

And not to mention a lot of that team played against West Ham this season where we nearly blew a 3-0 lead.

But regardless of that, it wasn't A TEAM. It was a group of very good players slung together. Teams take time to build and gel even though this lot train together calling that display a team is pushing it.
No matter how good those players are if you put that many changes out you run the risk of coming a croper.
Bit like City spending millions but took an age to gel.
Wham showed us far too much respect 1st half and stood off us. 2nd half they were in our face and we cracked.

 

[ardiles]

I don't think that you can put too much blame on Poch for the starting 11 as we were leading 2-0 at HT.
Its basically those same players that decided to be complacent in the second half and concede the 3 goals.

Where Poch went wrong is on his subs. We were trailing and yet he took off the two main front men instead of getting additional attackers to supplement them, as, by then, West ham had also started to park the bus.

 

[glacierSpurs]

It's sad that professional footballers can't be bothered, I thought they loved football and winning things?

Well in most instances, it is a contrary, when one is being paid to do a job, even if it's something he likes.

 

[rossdapep]

Please, it's taken me a number of years to get over it and I'd rather not rake over the details. I'm sure you're right.

Yeah, it still hurts that one

 

[thinktank]

I'd take losing this if it meant winning on Saturday, just feel the Utd game is crucial to our season.

Don't shoot me

Thing is, we had this won with what we set up with.Ddidn't go for the killer goal and played like the job was already done.

If we can't learn that simple lesson we won't be winning anything anytime soon.

 

[topper]

By the way way I hope riggi's all right !

 

[Phil-spur99]

What has Poch said after the game, not seem an interview...

 

[The Apprentice]

Poch is racking up a bit of a horror show in domestic cup exits since joining.

FA Cup
lost at home to Palace
Spanked by Chelsea in a semi
Lost at home to Leicester

League cup
Lost away to Liverpool
Lost at home to Arsenal
Lost at home to West Ham
Lost to Chelsea in final

Four home exits, two at Wembley and one away to Pool when they played their kids. Doesn't read great.