What Our Opponents' Fans Are Saying About Us 21/22

[SpartanSpur]

Spot on.

I think last summer was Kroenke's last, and only, real stab at a huge outlay. They did this for two reasons, I feel;

1. Fan pressure after the Super League farce.
2. CL qualification money.

This summer a lot more of their fans seem to have jumped on the 'project' train, so they are not pressuring them (yet) to spend 150m.

Also, the Kroenke's clearly aren't going to double down on the spend of last summer. I truly believe they felt that 150m was going to get them top 4 and the CL money.

Without that, they can't really keep spending money that hasn't come in.

Lastly, I feel like Arteta has been a bit lucky thus far. His first season was basically a rescue job as the squad wasn't listening to Emery. He came in with a big message and ego, which buys you time even if results are bad because people feel time is needed.

His second season was abysmal, but this was during the pandemic, so there was no crowd to get on at the team, nor was there pressure to spend money.

This season just gone, Tottenham started with Nuno and even Conte's early years presented massive issues until we got to the Jan window. United were a mess of a team and frankly gave up in March. WH had Europa Cup to distract (although I still think they'd be someway off top4), whilst the likes of Leicester had poor seasons.

Now you have to factor that United will surely be better, Newcastle will be emerging, Leicester should be better, WH more of the same, Tottenham should be much better. All of this presents Arteta with his most challenging season to date.

Now you can't ask for time and state their is a 'process' because that should have all been happening in the first 3 years, now is the time for substantial results.

Agree on all of that barring one thing. They do expect to spend similar money.

Arsemania is talking like they've already signed Tielemans and Jesus, and are hoping for Raphinha on top of that!

 

[t79boy]

Let's wait and see what happens to Chelsea. They are losing a lot of experienced players on free transfers (Alonso, Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rudiger etc.). Lukaku is unhappy and they will not recoup much money on him. New owners will not bankroll the club the same way Abramovich did. They may struggle and be victims of our resurgence and Newcastle's spending.

You may have a point regarding their squad depth in defence (for now) but the rest of their team are top 4 material :

Werner : probably a make or break season for him , under a German coach it may just click for him .
Pulisic
Kante
Jorginho
Havertz
Saul
Mount
Reece James
Ziyech
Mendy
Silva (getting on a bit)
Chilwell
Loftus cheek
Kovacic
Chaloboah
Hudson Odoi
Barkley
Bro

there is enough there to make sure they stay in the top 4 for the foreseeable future

 

[Marauder]

 

[spurslenny]

Assuming you're talking about the American version?

Nope. Both.

 

[leffe186]

“…We have a younger squad on the whole, and a more balanced one, but are sorely lacking up top. Given their success this season was partly built on loan signings they need to secure, they probably won't spend as much as us this summer, so it'll be very hard to call who is better next year. Both clubs are massively vulnerable to injuries to key players - perhaps them even more so…”

“[we have] a more balanced [squad] but are sorely lacking up top”. THEN YOU’RE NOT A MORE BALANCED SQUAD.

I like that they expect us to spend less than them this summer, despite us getting into the CL and getting more money than them from the Premier League/Europe last year. And then he conveniently ignores the enormous amount of money they spent last summer.

For the first time in a while I’m confident that in a straight competition for any player we will always beat them.

 

[BosSpurs08]

“…We have a younger squad on the whole, and a more balanced one, but are sorely lacking up top. Given their success this season was partly built on loan signings they need to secure, they probably won't spend as much as us this summer, so it'll be very hard to call who is better next year. Both clubs are massively vulnerable to injuries to key players - perhaps them even more so…”

“[we have] a more balanced [squad] but are sorely lacking up top”. THEN YOU’RE NOT A MORE BALANCED SQUAD.

I like that they expect us to spend less than them this summer, despite us getting into the CL and getting more money than them from the Premier League/Europe last year. And then he conveniently ignores the enormous amount of money they spent last summer.

For the first time in a while I’m confident that in a straight competition for any player we will always beat them.

Hilarious line of thinking - is the idea that if our starting forward line was collectively a 6/10 as opposed 9/10, then we'd be better off since our squad would be more "balanced" ?

The copium is real - just completely untethered from reality. It would be one thing if there was a general tone of acceptance, but no, they never wanted Bissouma, their midfield is better than ours if Partey stays healthy (it isn't and he won't), and their attack rivals ours if you pencil in Jesus/Gnabry/Raphinha, which means we're in for an even bigger meltdown when they aren't able to bring in most/any of the attackers they're pining after.

 

[SpartanSpur]

“…We have a younger squad on the whole, and a more balanced one, but are sorely lacking up top. Given their success this season was partly built on loan signings they need to secure, they probably won't spend as much as us this summer, so it'll be very hard to call who is better next year. Both clubs are massively vulnerable to injuries to key players - perhaps them even more so…”

“[we have] a more balanced [squad] but are sorely lacking up top”. THEN YOU’RE NOT A MORE BALANCED SQUAD.

I like that they expect us to spend less than them this summer, despite us getting into the CL and getting more money than them from the Premier League/Europe last year. And then he conveniently ignores the enormous amount of money they spent last summer.

For the first time in a while I’m confident that in a straight competition for any player we will always beat them.

Not to mention our £150m cash injection!

 

[oohaahedgar]

We’ll be 20 points above them next season, they’re not very good. They’re sliding into Spurs mid 90’s territory, we kept thinking we were big and it could only be a matter of time but it went on for 15 years. They’ve gone, their best players are overrated. I remember thinking we were 2 players short every season when in reality we were 7 players short of being a top side. They don’t even have a Klinsmann or Ginola to help with the delusion. They’re a team full of Vinny Samways.

 

[spursfan77]

I also struggle to see how plucking a generational striker out of our youth team is much different to a flopped winger from Juventus turning into one (Henry).

Reality is even with their 'invincibles' they may well have struggled to win a league title if the 2 oil clubs were around back then. Were it not for City and Chelsea our golden period may well have been just as trophy laden as Wengers was. When they were at the top their only real competition was Man Utd, not Man Utd plus two financial dopers. It was a different world back them. Fair play to them for actually picking up some FA Cups since though.

It's clear to see that Arsenal's decline started with the arrival of Abramovich and was ended by the rise of Man City, but they seem to blissfully ignore that fact, in their heads it's still 95-2005.

My favourite line was the one about their squad being more balanced than ours despite them literally having no strikers

Don’t forget Kane was at Arsenal as a kid and they let him go. That has to sting surely? If anything it’s not made enough of. Our (probably) club record goal scorer (if he beats greaves record) was in their clutches and they let him go to us. It’s fucking brilliant.

 

[spursfan77]

Yeah I think the next couple of seasons could be really crucial for them. If you look at what they spent their money on last summer it's starting to appear more and more questionable. White and Ramsdale actually look like they might be a step down from Leno and Saliba, while Tavares and Lokonga don't look anywhere near the finished article...that's 100m spent on 4 players with little to no improvement in the first 11 to show for it. Odegaard is decent and Tomiyasu is a good footballer, but both have their limitations and aren't the type of explosive signings that will truly elevate a team to the next level.

A club like Arsenal can get away with a few bad windows, but they've been averaging around £100m spend on players for about 6 seasons now and haven't qualified for the CL once in that entire period. Given they tend to either pay off or let their players leave for free (Willian, Lacazette, PEA, Ozil, Mustafi, Cazorla) they have one of the biggest net spends in Europe...and that just isn't sustainable long term unless you have a sugar daddy in charge.

They need to get this window spot on and have a good season or else they're in genuine danger of losing some of their potential stars like Saka, Martinelli and Saliba who all have 2 years left on their contracts. If those 3 leave on the cheap or for free Arsenal will be in a very tough spot indeed as those types of players are the future of the club.

Also their covid debts were big and they are still paying off their stadium cost.

 

[BosSpurs08]

They need to get this window spot on and have a good season or else they're in genuine danger of losing some of their potential stars like Saka, Martinelli and Saliba who all have 2 years left on their contracts. If those 3 leave on the cheap or for free Arsenal will be in a very tough spot indeed as those types of players are the future of the club.

True - and while they've been hanging their hats on the potential of these "future stars," we've gone out and signed the likes of Deki and Romero the last two windows, who are around the same age and have arguably much higher upside.

 

[HodisGawd]

While talking about Arsenal fans' impending misery is all a lot of fun, we've vered from the real burning issue here: that there are individuals in this forum who think The Office (UK version, obvs) is rubbish and (even more ridiculous) that the knock-off US version is better. WTF? We are meant to be like-minded people here! Sort it out! The Office is an incredible piece of television. It is not merely a comedy. It is comedy, romance and a little slither of otherwise untold social history all rolled into one genius piece of television. Absolutely one of the best things ever to grace our screens. Say what you like about Ricky Gervais, but if you don't like it because of him you are missing The point. The Office is way, way more than Ricky Gervais.

 

[slartibartfast]

- If it happens bentancur. Hojberg, Skipp, Biss - which the potential of Christian coming back it would be a good midfield.
Not forgetting the generational talent, Harry Winks

This must have been a Spurs fan. The sarcasm level is one of us. Must be lol.

 

[Rocksuperstar]

Would it save this thread if we rated each comment by whether or not the person who makes it could throw a kettle over a pub?

Back on topic though - does anyone ever leaf through our Spurs Chat threads and wonder what comments will be plucked out and shared on our rival fans' forums? We can sit here and poke fun at the opinions, mad as they sometimes are, of the other fans but, honestly, I bet they hoot laughing at some of the stuff we pipe on about.

Arteta looks like the secondary Bond villain, who we all think is the main bad guy but who gets betrayed last minute by his hot secretary who turned out to be working for the actual mastermind. Guy can't even be the main villain. Video montages 20 years from now will have him listed under "also featuring".

 

[taidgh]

Would it save this thread if we rated each comment by whether or not the person who makes it could throw a kettle over a pub?

Back on topic though - does anyone ever leaf through our Spurs Chat threads and wonder what comments will be plucked out and shared on our rival fans' forums? We can sit here and poke fun at the opinions, mad as they sometimes are, of the other fans but, honestly, I bet they hoot laughing at some of the stuff we pipe on about.

Arteta looks like the secondary Bond villain, who we all think is the main bad guy but who gets betrayed last minute by his hot secretary who turned out to be working for the actual mastermind. Guy can't even be the main villain. Video montages 20 years from now will have him listed under "also featuring".

What size kettle: I reckon I could toss the kettle we have in the kitchen over a pub no problem.

 

[Clockspur]

Let's wait and see what happens to Chelsea. They are losing a lot of experienced players on free transfers (Alonso, Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rudiger etc.). Lukaku is unhappy and they will not recoup much money on him. New owners will not bankroll the club the same way Abramovich did. They may struggle and be victims of our resurgence and Newcastle's spending.

Indeed, I think it’s a whole new world for Chelsea and they will no longer have that economic advantage over us.

I also think that despite their money, Newcastle will take a decade to really threaten top 4 places, FFP limits are so constraining you can’t just do what City and Chelsea did.

This is why I think Daniel is striking out now, Liverpool and Man City aside we have as good a chance as any and better than most to finish top 4 consistently over the next decade

 

[Clockspur]

Both the UK and US version of the office are brilliant. They are completely different shows and each works well on their own.

Dwight is the best

 

[easley91]

It's almost as if people like different shows and have different opinions. Personally I prefer the UK version. ??‍

 

[mil1lion]

Would it save this thread if we rated each comment by whether or not the person who makes it could throw a kettle over a pub?

Back on topic though - does anyone ever leaf through our Spurs Chat threads and wonder what comments will be plucked out and shared on our rival fans' forums? We can sit here and poke fun at the opinions, mad as they sometimes are, of the other fans but, honestly, I bet they hoot laughing at some of the stuff we pipe on about.

Arteta looks like the secondary Bond villain, who we all think is the main bad guy but who gets betrayed last minute by his hot secretary who turned out to be working for the actual mastermind. Guy can't even be the main villain. Video montages 20 years from now will have him listed under "also featuring".

Arteta

 

[BehindEnemyLines]

Hilarious line of thinking - is the idea that if our starting forward line was collectively a 6/10 as opposed 9/10, then we'd be better off since our squad would be more "balanced" ?

The copium is real - just completely untethered from reality. It would be one thing if there was a general tone of acceptance, but no, they never wanted Bissouma, their midfield is better than ours if Partey stays healthy (it isn't and he won't), and their attack rivals ours if you pencil in Jesus/Gnabry/Raphinha, which means we're in for an even bigger meltdown when they aren't able to bring in most/any of the attackers they're pining after.

In a way I can see where they are coming from.........the problem for them is that the forward line is the hardest, most costly, and riskiest position to fill. Top strikers generally tend to be settled strikers, and they cost a disproportionately higher amount with no guarentee that they will settle at their new club........whilst their outputs also have a disproportionately high affect on results - that is to say, if a midfielder or defender has an off day then it's not the end of the world and you can battle through as a team, but if the strikers are off form and not scoring then you won't win (and a draw becomes the best outcome)............all very obvious, but it's why I think we aren't as far off City and Liverpool as other teams - we have the strikeforce, and the deficiencies in midfield & defence can be partly mitigated through drilling and tactical nouse.

*I'm not saying we will catch up with Liverpool and City, just that a huge part of bridging that gap is having an elite strikeforce, and that is the one area we do have already.