What the pundits & media are saying about us

[SecretLemonadeDrinker]

Sometimes entertaining and brutal, but not a very good analist imo.

What........he didn't lube you up first?

 

[SecretLemonadeDrinker]

Awww, TheTanguy........why edit your post? The original was classic!

 

[TheTanguy]

Awww, TheTanguy........why edit your post? The original was classic!

Because I was shocked by what I read, but certainly well spotted and funny.

 

['O Zio]

You’re apoetic fella aren’t you?

Don’t know why I can’t take to Rio, most seem to like him, I just find him a bit of a cliche machine.

This. He falls firmly into the category of pundits who just repeat the same old cliches and don't say anything that your average bloke watching at home couldn't have told you. I don't hate him, he seems like an alright bloke, but I don't think he offers anything special when it comes to being a pundit other than his name.

 

[teok]

The second age of Harry Kane: The transformation that will define his legacy

Optus Sport

sport.optus.com.au

 

[Marty]

Five reasons why Tottenham will win the Premier League - Football365

Football365 - Jose Mourinho's Tottenham winning the Premier League is a possibility. And here's why.

www.football365.com

 

[BringBack_leGin]

Chelsea and Tottenham combined XI: Our writers make their selections

Chelsea and Tottenham meet in a huge game at Stamford Bridge this afternoon.

www.standard.co.uk

I’d suggest none of the ES writers have watched much of us or even payed attention to the table given how little inclusion we have in any of their defences, considering we have a better defensive record than Chelsea. Dier not in any line up? Chillwell ahead of Reguilón in all but one?

 

[tommo84]

It’s a bit odd how quickly pundits have accepted the notion that Chelsea have sorted out the defence since conceding 3 goals at home to Southampton (all of which were a bit calamitous) while those same pundits still seem to be haunted by how we conceded 3 at home to West Ham on that same weekend. Since then both teams have conceded once in 4 games (and the goal against us shouldn’t have stood!).

Furthermore, Chelsea’s defence has kept 3 clean sheets in 4 games against 3 teams we’ve also played this season and conceded a total of 2 goals against (both penalties - one was the harshest handball call yet). In our last 4 games we’ve also played 3 teams who Chelsea have already faced this season. We conceded 1 goal in those games compared to Chelsea’s 4. So it’s not like you can attribute the contrasting perceptions to different quality of opposition.

I won’t lose any sleep over it but it genuinely makes no sense to me.

 

[michaelden]

 

[Bensonrecon]

Thank you for reminding me how much I detest Sherwood and how he can never be wrong despite being wrong most of the time. Maybe if he had a seat among the stage lights up in the ceiling he'd be better at reading the room

 

[tony0379]

Danny Murphy on Talkshit this morning, going on about how city will be the bindippers only challengers and maybe Chelsea

 

[Shadydan]

Everytime this guy speaks I just think of this

 

[SpartanSpur]

I heard that from Murphy this morning. It was super dismissive of us, weirdly so. Yes Chelsea have picked up of late (with big strides defensively) but in a pretty nice set of fixtures. Meanwhile we are top having just defeated Man City 2-0, with arguably two of the form players in the league. Did find it a bit werid.

Too reliant on Kane apparently. Take the star player out of each team and it'll hurt them. Yes he has an injury record but what if he ends up playing all season? Feels like the 'lads it's Spurs thing'. Jose will be using stuff like that to fuel the lads though, suits him playing the underdog. Put Utd in our position with our results and there'd be no debate they were title contenders.

 

[SlotBadger]

Dunno what Sherwood's on about saying that Mourinho doesn't rate Parrott or Skipp and that's why they're not at the club (whilst failing to mention they're only out on loan).

I also don't entirely agree with Darren Lewis about Pochettino not being given the same backing as Mourinho (although I do agree that José could've leveraged the backing of the board to agree to sign for us).

Several ITKs on here have said Poch was very single-minded with the players he wanted to buy, so who's to say Pochettino would have even wanted any of the players Mourinho brought in? Lewis saying Pochettino, "called for it time and again" is retconning the truth. The papers all said Levy was frugal but with no quotes or evidence to back up anything they were printing.

 

[Beni]

I tend to have a worst and good pundit list as to what I will automatically ignore or respect.

Worst pundits: Merson, Le Tissier, Murphy, Nicol, Agbonlahor, Sherwood, Barnes, Owen, Charlie Nicholas, McManaman, J Redknapp, Cundy, Cottee, Crooks, Groves, Houghton,

Good Pundits: Souness, Carragher, Neville, Jenas, Hargreaves, Wright, McCoist, Gray

 

[SlotBadger]

What's also slightly amusing to me is how Ian Wright becomes more and more likeable as the years pass, whilst the polar opposite is true for Sherwood. Even when I agree with a point he's made, I run myself an acid bath.

 

[Rosco1984]

What's also slightly amusing to me is how Ian Wright becomes more and more likeable as the years pass, whilst the polar opposite is true for Sherwood. Even when I agree with a point he's made, I run myself an acid bath.

Ian Wright is the least biased pundit out there huge respect to him as he always gives us respect when its deserved. Not like Charlie Nicholas or any of the ex Liverpool lot who constantly play us down. I don't think Lawrenson has predicted us to win 1 match this season.

 

[Chris Finch]

Dunno what Sherwood's on about saying that Mourinho doesn't rate Parrott or Skipp and that's why they're not at the club (whilst failing to mention they're only out on loan).

I also don't entirely agree with Darren Lewis about Pochettino not being given the same backing as Mourinho (although I do agree that José could've leveraged the backing of the board to agree to sign for us).

Several ITKs on here have said Poch was very single-minded with the players he wanted to buy, so who's to say Pochettino would have even wanted any of the players Mourinho brought in? Lewis saying Pochettino, "called for it time and again" is retconning the truth. The papers all said Levy was frugal but with no quotes or evidence to back up anything they were printing.

Remember though, Lewis was pretty much the nest journo for Spurs news last few years of Poch so they clearly were close

 

[spids]

Dunno what Sherwood's on about saying that Mourinho doesn't rate Parrott or Skipp and that's why they're not at the club (whilst failing to mention they're only out on loan).

I also don't entirely agree with Darren Lewis about Pochettino not being given the same backing as Mourinho (although I do agree that José could've leveraged the backing of the board to agree to sign for us).

Several ITKs on here have said Poch was very single-minded with the players he wanted to buy, so who's to say Pochettino would have even wanted any of the players Mourinho brought in? Lewis saying Pochettino, "called for it time and again" is retconning the truth. The papers all said Levy was frugal but with no quotes or evidence to back up anything they were printing.

With regards to the young players, I totlly get what Sherwood was saying (he just isn't very eloquent). He meant Jose knew they were not good enough to help him win stuff this season, and rather than be happy to have them as squad players (as Poch was), he got them out of the squad and made space for the likes of Doherty, Reguilon, Hojbjerg, Bale, and Vinicius. And when you think about it, moving Sessegnon, KWP, Foyth, Skipp and Parrott out of the squad did allow us to upgrade all 5 positions with better players, and it was a very clever move as Levy still has 4/5 of those players as assets with someone else paying their wage.s Jose works smarter not harder.

Regarding the second point, I do largely agree. Poch *did* regularly (especially in his last full season) publicly say he needed more investment (the whole furniture and the house analogy). But ITK did suggest he was too specific / fussy in his targets and was not willing to work with Levy and Hitchin with enough flexibility. But I also think that Jose knows how to work with his chairman better than Poch does. Effectively Jose says 'buy me these characteristics' and then looks at multiple players who can be an upgrade on what he has. HE is more pragmatic. I think getting to the CL final also gave Levy a taste for the big time and he realised how close we were, whilst at the same time his relationship with Poch was deteriorating by then so he was not going to trust him with £150M.

 

[rez9000]

Regarding the second point, I do largely agree. Poch *did* regularly (especially in his last full season) publicly say he needed more investment (the whole furniture and the house analogy). But ITK did suggest he was too specific / fussy in his targets and was not willing to work with Levy and Hitchin with enough flexibility. But I also think that Jose knows how to work with his chairman better than Poch does. Effectively Jose says 'buy me these characteristics' and then looks at multiple players who can be an upgrade on what he has. HE is more pragmatic. I think getting to the CL final also gave Levy a taste for the big time and he realised how close we were, whilst at the same time his relationship with Poch was deteriorating by then so he was not going to trust him with £150M.

This, to me, smacks very much of the truth. Loved Poch and the man has undoubted qualities as a coach. That's undeniable. Getting fully alongside (and note, I say "fully") Levy's modus operandi wasn't one of them.

If I put myself in Levy's place and Poch comes to me and says he needs this specific player and that player simply can't be brought in, it would frustrate me, because I want to improve my club, but I'm being prevented from doing so by the demands of the person I want to help. No matter what Levy's reasons for the way he manages the business, none of them will be because he wants to sabotage his managers.

Whereas if I have a coach that allows me to operate, knowing that I have options, everyone is happy. The coach gets players he needs for his system and I get to find deals that are good for the business.

I don't want to disparage Poch, because I love him for what he did for the club. I don't give a fig about whether he won or didn't win, none of that matters - he's still a Spurs hero in my eyes. But in this instance, he didn't operate flexibly enough and it cost him and us.

Mourinho is a different animal. What Sherwood said about him saying that he was happy with the squad when he first arrived, I don't think he was saying anything of the sort to Levy in their meetings before being appointed. I firmly believe that Mourinho looked at the squad and knew precisely what needed changing and told Levy that from the start.

But I think the way he would have done so was to say, "These are the types of players I think I'll need, unless I can do this with player x or that with player y. In which case, I can make do with this other type of player, or that type of player to upgrade on z. If I can work with z to make him into y, then I'll need a player like x, if we can get him."

Options. That's what Mourinho offered (I believe). There was something I saw on here about him classifying players into three types - those who are better than he thinks, those that are worse than he thinks and those that are about the level he thinks. He will have had those opinions about the squad before he took over. Plus, we know he preps for interviews - he was questioned in an interview about relying on his reputation to get work and he retorted that it would be disrespectful to go into an interview unprepared. He would have prepared. He would have known what he wanted before taking the job. I have no doubt of that.

Levy will have known in advance that he would be spending for Mourinho and Mourinho will have given him an idea of what things that expenditure would be going towards. That's what helped us build a far more balanced squad, and so quickly.

And now we're reaping the benefits of it.