We are totally underprepared

[$hoguN]

Mate, we were not under prepared we just suffered from the fact that we were playing we a woeful CM pairing. Time and time again last night both CM were attracted to the ball allowing Utd to create space at will. Couple that with the fact we got absolutely zero luck in front of goal with Lennon choosing to kick the ball straight at a defender instead of setting VDV up for pretty much a sitter for someone of his class and Defoe rattling the post with a shot that looked goal bound.

Yes we did look tired but that was the result of our players having to work extra hard due to how poor a combination we had in CM.

 

[talkshowhost86]

You're an idiot for portraying my post in that light. I never rambled that we're underprepared for not playing in the Community Shield, I said that we didn't play enough friendly matches. And that's true. Prior to the Hearts game which was a 30 minute runout, we hadn't played since Bilbao at the Lane.

Yes some rustiness was to be expected at the end of the United match, but not to the level of them walking through our half at will after 65 minutes.

Last year people were whinging because we played too many friendlies. This year we've played too few. What is the optimum number of friendlies do we think to make sure that we can beat the Champions away from home in our first game of the season?

Look, it was disappointing to lose but we were playing without the spine of our team away at the best team in the country. I know we're all prone to a knee-jerk or too once in a while but this is ridiculous.

Incidentally be a bit careful calling people idiots. I'll put this one down to there not having been enough pre-season friendlies for you to get your frustrations out on but anything more like that and you'll be out on your ear.

 

[Misfit]

And yes, a little harsh to say we were underprepared. Just not as good as man yanited, especially at OT. That's been the case for as long as I've actively followed Spurs.

Still, I occasionally have a brief period of hope before these games now. We've improved immesurably but still have a ways to go.

 

[Stoof]

I hear you and agree with you. However, the flak some want to throw the club's way is also fair enough. We're not talking an insignificant amount of time here. Levy, Harry et al are handsomely compensated for their efforts precisely because it's not as easy as boiling an egg. 3 windows and counting to sort out the major hole in our squad, with various clubs all over the world is just poor. Whatever the myriad of reasons.

It's a little from column A and column B. It's hard and involved and also really poor that not one has been brought in.

The thing I don't get (not levied at you at all), is some people secretly want us to not get anyone in. They're hoping for it. Just to fuel their dislike for all levels of the management.

It's wasted energy.

 

[dimiSpur]

It's a much more reasoned response.

The problem is, we've got good strikers. They took us to the Champions League. They did, you can't dispute that.

The next level up, is, well, exactly that. We're looking at potentially World Class players. It's not a case of just £2m or £3m, we're talking in realms of £30m+. That's a lot of money, and for a club with our turnover etc., that's a big ol' gamble.

I don't want to see years of hardwork undone for the sake of seeing the headline that we've spent £30m.

We've assembled a good team so far. A really good team; and I think Levy's bought enough time to earn our patience - at least until the window ends.

It is a tough market - you've mentioned that in passing - but it's a massive point. Aside from Chelsea, City, Liverpool and United - all who have massive financial backing - the only club to do a lot of deals is Sunderland.

Do you want any of those players that signed for Sunderland? They're just spending their Henderson money, that was spunked all over them by Liverpool.

We went after Young and Jones - but up against the draw of playing for the Champions - what chance do we have? Acting quickly or not - agents are keen to get the best deals for their players (and hence themselves) and will hold out for bigger clubs to come in if they know they've got a good product to sell.

From the strikers we've been linked with the strongest (I'm not including Vucinic, because I'm not convinced that was anything more than agent talk): Adebayor, Llorente and Rossi.

Two of those command ridiculous wages and transfer fees of 25m+. The other we're supposedly on the cusp of signing.

We're looking for proven goalscorers at the highest level. Not a run of the mill player. We're upgrading, not swapping like-for-likes. Yes we need a certain type of striker, but that'll cost us if we want the quality that we do.

Just give Levy until 1st September, then have a go as much as you want. Just give him that time, it's only fair.

I disagree with that. The Adebayor deal has been going on for ages. Assuming POTL didn't change his Blue & Yellow prediction to mean Adebayor, he was targeted from the beginning. OK, we had info that Ade was waiting on Real Madrid's move, fair enough. But for nearly 2 weeks now we've been close to signing him on loan. I just feel maybe we could have loosened the purse strings a little and got him in earlier. This deal in particular surely is over £2-3m as it's only wages we're arguing about.

Same goes for Diarra. The reported fee is £10m. I'm all for bargains, but when you're desperate, and desperate we were to stick Kranjcar in the middle at Old Trafford, maybe we could have forked out £12-£13m and got the deal sorted earlier.

Yes Daniel does deserve time. And he's had a lot of it. I'm not saying that's the end of it time's up, but it's not like this is the first window ever where he's been inactive (for whatever reasons). The fact is, we've been saying for as long as I can remember now that we need an upgrade on the one's we have and once we do so we should really be able to challenge high up. I know it's not easy as it's high territory etc... but we've had great strikers in the past. It's not like we're WBA and it's the first time we're signing anyone. And it's this indecisiveness that cost us signing Luis Suarez for a seemingly cheap £23m in January.

So yes some blame has to be attributed to the management.

 

[spurs mental]

They didn't start walking through after just 65 minutes. They did it all game. We didn't put them under enough pressure when they had the ball. We stood off them, showed them too much respect. Then Harry made ludicrous change and put VDV and Hudd in there, which just made our ball retention even worse.

Its not that we were under prepared. We were outplayed and our manager was out thought.

 

[Misfit]

The thing I don't get (not levied at you at all), is some people secretly want us to not get anyone in. They're hoping for it. Just to fuel their dislike for all levels of the management.

It's wasted energy.

Aye, it's the impression once can pick up from time to time. Takes a lot of different reasons to keep us all interested in this ridiculously expensive pantomime we call football I guess.

Like you, it's not what fuels my interest. For me personally, it's trying to bask in some reflected glory of a bunch of strangers to briefly escape the vast tundra of disappointment my life has turned out to be.

 

[dimiSpur]

Last year people were whinging because we played too many friendlies. This year we've played too few. What is the optimum number of friendlies do we think to make sure that we can beat the Champions away from home in our first game of the season?

Look, it was disappointing to lose but we were playing without the spine of our team away at the best team in the country. I know we're all prone to a knee-jerk or too once in a while but this is ridiculous.

Incidentally be a bit careful calling people idiots. I'll put this one down to there not having been enough pre-season friendlies for you to get your frustrations out on but anything more like that and you'll be out on your ear.

Are we behaving like that now? You ridiculed my post making out I said we lost because we didn't win the league to play in the Charity Shield this year in a most sarcastic and patronizing fashion, and then the word "idiot" warrants a threat? You did behave like an idiot. I can't tell you that? It's a football forum, not a Polo match pavillion.

As for the nature of my thread, I maintain it is not knee jerk, we are under cooked.

We haven't sold any of our crap that Harry Redknapp himself has said we need to "get shot of" and we haven't filled the gaping hole in our team yet, the striker.

We also have targeted various CM's over the summer, including heavy interest in Scott Parker and Lass Diarra. And yet we've failed to complete either in time for the season, despite our start being prolonged for 9 days. We obviously look like we are going to sign Diarra, so why not sure it up sooner? Why go to Old Trafford with Livermore and Kranjcar? It wasn't sudden injuries that mean't we had to play those 2. Sandro has been out ages, Huddlestone obviously hasn't recovered all summer from his ankle problems and Jenas has been struggling over a week.

So yes, we we're underprepared for the start of the season, IMO, on alot of fronts.

 

[Dundalk_Spur]

The main factor of last night was out tactical inability to pick up Rooney when he dropped deep, then running away from him when he had the ball.

Seriously its like we had a man less last night.

 

[spurs mental]

Are we behaving like that now? You ridiculed my post making out I said we lost because we didn't win the league to play in the Charity Shield this year in a most sarcastic and patronizing fashion, and then the word "idiot" warrants a threat? You did behave like an idiot. I can't tell you that? It's a football forum, not a Polo match pavillion.

As for the nature of my thread, I maintain it is not knee jerk, we are under cooked.

We haven't sold any of our crap that Harry Redknapp himself has said we need to "get shot of" and we haven't filled the gaping hole in our team yet, the striker.

We also have targeted various CM's over the summer, including heavy interest in Scott Parker and Lass Diarra. And yet we've failed to complete either in time for the season, despite our start being prolonged for 9 days. We obviously look like we are going to sign Diarra, so why not sure it up sooner? Why go to Old Trafford with Livermore and Kranjcar? It wasn't sudden injuries that mean't we had to play those 2. Sandro has been out ages, Huddlestone obviously hasn't recovered all summer from his ankle problems and Jenas has been struggling over a week.

So yes, we we're underprepared for the start of the season, IMO, on alot of fronts.

So, to sum up, you're pissed about the transfer window rather than the lack of preparation.

That's the impresseion I get from this post anyway.

 

[jimmy-jojo]

It's a much more reasoned response.

The problem is, we've got good strikers. They took us to the Champions League. They did, you can't dispute that.

I think it can be wholly disputed. In actual fact we had good strikers. Nothing in the last 12 months suggests those players who took us to the Champions League are playing at the same level now.

Unfortunately for us, football matches are played in the present not 12 months ago.

 

[dimiSpur]

So, to sum up, you're pissed about the transfer window rather than the lack of preparation.

That's the impresseion I get from this post anyway.

Well our lack or preparation on the field was directly connected to our inactivity in the market, as not signing Diarra sooner mean't we didn't have a senior CM to play away at Man United.

 

[RickyVilla]

So, to sum up, you're pissed about the transfer window rather than the lack of preparation.

That's the impresseion I get from this post anyway.

I think he is pissed at everything mate. Is good to have a rant every once in awhile Dimitar so let it all out. No ones listening anyway!!

 

[dimiSpur]

I think he is pissed at everything mate. Is good to have a rant every once in awhile Dimitar so let it all out. No ones listening anyway!!

Dimitris, I don't share the same name with that prick :wink:

I honestly don't think it's a rant! We are under prepared! We've not signed a striker, again!

 

[spurs mental]

Well our lack or preparation on the field was directly connected to our inactivity in the market, as not signing Diarra sooner mean't we didn't have a senior CM to play away at Man United.

Could have played Kaboul there last night. He may have done a better job than the two we had last night. He's done it before for us. Bet it never even crossed Harrys mind.

I don't believe for a second that we lost last night because we haven't signed anyone. It was down to Harrys selection and piss poor substitutions. We were getting dicked and his changes resulted in us being even more open. Diarra would have helped, bur I still don't think we would have gotten much out if the game.

Harry knew for a few days what players he'd have at his disposal. It's about using what you have and getting the best out of it. IMO, Harry didn't do that. You can't go to OT and be as open as we were.

 

[mrcake]

anyone else concerned by the lack of itk over the last couple of days?

 

[DEFchenkOE]

Could have played Kaboul there last night. He may have done a better job than the two we had last night. He's done it before for us. Bet it never even crossed Harrys mind.

I don't believe for a second that we lost last night because we haven't signed anyone. It was down to Harrys selection and piss poor substitutions. We were getting dicked and his changes resulted in us being even more open. Diarra would have helped, bur I still don't think we would have gotten much out if the game.

Harry knew for a few days what players he'd have at his disposal. It's about using what you have and getting the best out of it. IMO, Harry didn't do that. You can't go to OT and be as open as we were.

:clap:

Good post, we were under the kosh in the 2nd half. Then we go a goal down, fair enough, but then HR moves VDV back into cm and next to cumbersome Hudd, with 2 touchline hugging wingers, and 2 lazy strikers in Defoe and Pav. We're as open as anything and got steam-rolled. You cannot play 442 away to Man U and have a front 6 of Lennon, VDV, Hudd, Bale, Pav and Defoe.

 

[m*****73]

I travelled up to the game with a few mates and we were actually pretty impressed with the way the team played, although there was always a certain inevitability about the final result.

I think Harry selected the best team available to him (considering the obvious situation with Modric) and they seemed well prepared for the task at hand. First half was a good battling performance - exactly what's needed against top 6 teams - but Utd made a few changes in the 2nd half which meant they were more effective in playing through the middle (Anderson got more involved) and our central midfield pairing couldn't cope with that. Once the first went in, the lack of on-field leadership was startling. Dawson is a good honest player, but very limited - he's still a long way from the top tier & on the evidence of last night, he's not even as good as Jonny Evans.

Lennon didn't want to know about it for much of the second half which was surprising since he caused Evra some trouble at times during the first 45. To me, he's one that Harry has to be wary off. If the club begins to underperform, or if Modric goes and then rumours start about others being unhappy, you can be sure that Lennon will be queuing for the exit too.

Defoe? Well, just the same as usual. Completely ineffective against half-decent opposition. Stoof commented that we have the same strikeforce as 2010 - as if that is some sort of justification for not making any changes?!? Warped logic. Defoe simply not good enough - anyone at last night's game could see that. Utd handled him with ease. Tried to imagine a world class striker (or even Adebayor!) playing up front for us last night. If only....

As regards the transfer window. We've all been here before last January. Levy's transfer policy backfired then - oh yeah, there were loads of excuses as to why all these supposed big deals only just fell through, followed by the inevitable "but will be done in the summer" promises by numerous ITKers - and it'll backfire now.

A&C's little story the other day contained an interesting theory - other clubs know that Levy loves the art of the deal and they are subsequently wary of doing business with him. He thinks he's the smartest guy in the room, but inevitably, it doesn't quite work out the way he thought it would (just like the entire OS fiasco)... not so smart after all.

Remember, for all the rhetoric that followed after our 4th placed finish in 2010, the club's only addition of note was a last minute deal for VdV. Our record signing is still Darren Bent. Not exactly the sign of a club brimming with ambition, is it?

Want to know how this transfer window will probably play out? We'll sign Diarra and loan out a few more pieces of 'deadwood'. We'll continue to negotiate with City for Diarra while they play us along to the end hoping for Jose to pick up the phone - come the evening of 31st August, we'll make an 11th hour bid for Kevin Doyle. I can't wait (not)!!

 

[Stoof]

I think it can be wholly disputed. In actual fact we had good strikers. Nothing in the last 12 months suggests those players who took us to the Champions League are playing at the same level now.

Unfortunately for us, football matches are played in the present not 12 months ago.

That's not what I said though.

They took us to the Champions League. You can't dispute that.

You can't dispute that because it happened. :lol:

 

[Stoof]

Stoof commented that we have the same strikeforce as 2010 - as if that is some sort of justification for not making any changes?!? Warped logic.

Do people not read any more? Really?

No. It's not justification. It's justification for the sort of upgrade we're looking for.

My Lord.