It’s so easy to say that in hindsight. If we’d have sold Dele for 60-70M at the peak of his ability, we’d have all been going nuts about what a disastrous weak decision that was and that we need to act like a big club. Nobody could predict he’s go from star to league one level in 2 seasons.It could also be argued that the turning point was 2018, when we decided to stop being a "selling club" (Walker in 2017 was the last key player we sold). It seemed like a really positive change at the time, but had we sold one key player (e.g. Dele who was reported wanted by Man Utd and Real, or Dier who Man Utd reportedly offered £30m for), it may have helped us to keep the the squad "fresh" enough to continue with the Poch's high press style.
Can you imagine the reaction from the ENIC-outters if that had happened. They would have gone bananas.2018 summer transfer window.
Not selling Alli, Eriksen, Rose at the top of their market value and not listening to Poch. The man said painful rebuild because he knew.
All the players and managers who we’ve burned cash to back since then, just imagine if we’d given it to MP.
Honestly it’s just Levy on the football side all over. Penny wise, pound foolish.
I've seen this a lot, but I don't think it is true. He was a great player, but he was injured alot and our win % was similar to when he played than when he didn't.Not incoming transfers. Everyone obsesses about transfers.
The sliding doors, in this case, slid very slowly, but the big hinge in the Pochettino team's fortunes was when Dembélé's body starting giving up on him and he decided he needed to leave English football for something less physically demanding, to prolong his career.
People underestimate the degree to which that entire team and its style were centred around his role and quality. We could have expected to have another 2-3 years, albeit at declining pace, of Dembélé dominating the centre of the park and rumbling forward, unbudgeable, to bring the ball out of defence and into attack.
His peculiar genius was simply irreplaceable and he left before people seriously thought they needed to adapt the side to his absence.
We never had that level of iron grip on matches thereafter. And our midfield has never been the same.
I agree to an extent.Not incoming transfers. Everyone obsesses about transfers.
The sliding doors, in this case, slid very slowly, but the big hinge in the Pochettino team's fortunes was when Dembélé's body starting giving up on him and he decided he needed to leave English football for something less physically demanding, to prolong his career.
People underestimate the degree to which that entire team and its style were centred around his role and quality. We could have expected to have another 2-3 years, albeit at declining pace, of Dembélé dominating the centre of the park and rumbling forward, unbudgeable, to bring the ball out of defence and into attack.
His peculiar genius was simply irreplaceable and he left before people seriously thought they needed to adapt the side to his absence.
We never had that level of iron grip on matches thereafter. And our midfield has never been the same.
Which moment was our sliding doors moment from looking like a serious team to becoming one lacking in direction?
Tip of the hat to DTSF quoted above for being first and possibly the only one to pinpoint the "right answer"Levy thinking Poch was the problem and thinking that another manager could extract more out of the same limited squad. Downhill from there.
levy stinks so bad the board probably felt it wasn’t necessaryPeople will laugh, but I think our sliding doors moment was not building the cheese room, and I have the data to back it up. According to this article in the Guardian, the rumors of the cheese room emerged in January 2017 and then it was confirmed there would be no cheese room on February 11th, 2019. That period where the cheese room may have been on coincided with an incredible run of results for the club; during that time the cheese gods smiled on us and gave us their favor. However, nearly everything since then has been crap because we've angered the cheese gods and incurred their wrath. Here's the data:
Pre-cheese room rumors 2016-17: We were 10-6-2 in the league and 13-7-6 overall crashing out of the Champions League group stage and EFL Cup.
Post cheese room rumors 2017: We ended the year on a fantastic run, 16-2-2 in the league and 20-3-4 overall including an FA Cup semifinal.
2017-18: A solid year for our club - 23-8-7 in the league and 33-12-10 overall including another FA Cup semifinal, and going undefeated in a tricky Champions League group that had eventual winners Real Madrid.
Pre-cheese room cancellation 2018-19: We started pretty well this year, 20-0-6 in the league and 26-3-10 overall including getting out of a tough Champions League group.
Post-cheese room cancellation 2019: After the Guardian announced there would be no cheese room, our results nosedived in the league, going 3-2-7 the rest of the year. Of course we managed to get to the Champions League final, but that was a miracle, after all.
So, that period where it looked like the cheese room might happen, we went 59-10-15 in 84 league games, a 70% win rate and 2.23 points per game!! The two half seasons before and after that period, we only managed 13-8-9 in the league, a 43% win rate and 1.57 points per game. Aside from the Champions League final, everything has been going downhill - from bad to worse - for our club since February 11th, 2019 when the cheese room was revealed as a dead idea. Best coach in a decade sacked, dull football, embarrassing cup exits, losing to coaches in jail, Super League fiasco, 7 weeks to appoint Nuno, and on and on and on.
The good news is we can still rectify this situation. Levy, build the cheese room, end this curse, and lead us to glory!!