Fiorentina H West Ham H Fiorentina A Chelsea

[dannythomas]

4 big matches in 10 days that will go a long way to defining our season. How can / should we use our squad ?
First, it would be great to bring in 2 or 3 players this week though I appreciate we will be lucky to get even one. Our 3 key players for who significantly weaken our team are Vertonghen, Eriksen and Kane. We could really use quality in those positions. Otherwise we are faced with including our liability players ,Kaboul, Chiriches, Soldado, Adebayor, Capoue, Paulinho ( assuming these players are unfortunately still with us )
But , back to reality, we sign nobody . So what do we do ?
The best scenario is that we open a big lead against Fiorentina. That means our strongest team in that match , and of course our strongest team against Chelsea ( including Lloris please ) . So a weaker team against West Ham and Fiorentina away and hope we get away with it.
Anybody agree / disagree ?

 

[beats1]

Our next one and half months will be huge for us

West Brom (A)
Arsenal (H)
Liverpool (A)
Fiorentina (H)
West Ham (H)
Fiorentina (A)
Chelsea (Wembley)

 

[Snarfalicious]

It's going to be damn near impossible to get through those matches with favorable outcomes unless one of Soldado/Adebayor find some form. We can't really expect Kane to keep up for those matches. I'd suggest Kane for the first leg against Fiorentina, against West Ham, rest him away to Fiorentina and let him face Chelsea.

Also, I personally think we need more attacking options either via the transfer window or by bringing Pritchard back from loan. It's looking like a quiet window for us, and I think recent matches have shown just how little depth we have out wide. Townsend's been playing better which is a huge bonus, Chadli's back with the team and just bringing in a guy like Pritchard to provide some extra depth (across all three positions behind the striker) sounds like a reasonable and smart move.

Not too concerned about defense/midfield. We've got one of the better #2 GKs around in my mind, our defense is pretty deep (Could use another CB but I won't get greedy) and when Bentaleb returns from the ACN we should be plenty fine there to keep a rotated side that is fresh and ready to press for all the matches.

 

[ButchCassidy]

We should play very strong teams for Fiorentina H, West Ham, and the cup final, hopefully taking a lead to Italy so we can let some key players rest. Chelsea could potentially do us a favor in the next couple of days by swiping Cuadrado from the Viola. Personally I don't mind letting Vorm play Europa, especially away as I want Hugo on top form for the cup final.

I would play:


--------Vorm-------- -> --------Lloris-------- -> --------Vorm-------- -> --------Lloris--------
KW--FF---ED--BD KW--FF---JV--DR VC--ED---JV--BD KW--FF---JV--DR
Stambo-----Mason Bentaleb---Mason Stambo-Dembele Bentaleb---Mason
EL------CE------NC AT------CE------NC EL-----Pau------AL AT------CE------NC
--------Kane--------- ---------Kane--------- ------Soldado------- ---------Kane--------

 

[fatpiranha]

Sod the Europa League. If the squad players and the kids get us through then we can reassess but the PL and Cup Final have to take precedence.

 

[littlemandefoe]

Sod the Europa League. If the squad players and the kids get us through then we can reassess but the PL and Cup Final have to take precedence.

Mate, this is our only chance to get into the CL. We'd have done extremely well if we get top 4.

 

[dannythomas]

Mate, this is our only chance to get into the CL. We'd have done extremely well if we get top 4.

We're 3 signings away from a top 4 place. Unfortunately pigs might fly.

 

[littlemandefoe]

We're 3 signings away from a top 4 place. Unfortunately pigs might fly.

We need pace and a potent goalscorer. A 20+ LEAGUE goalscorer. Thats what separates us.

 

[1882andallthat]

4 big matches in 10 days that will go a long way to defining our season. How can / should we use our squad ?
First, it would be great to bring in 2 or 3 players this week though I appreciate we will be lucky to get even one. Our 3 key players for who significantly weaken our team are Vertonghen, Eriksen and Kane. We could really use quality in those positions. Otherwise we are faced with including our liability players ,Kaboul, Chiriches, Soldado, Adebayor, Capoue, Paulinho ( assuming these players are unfortunately still with us )
But , back to reality, we sign nobody . So what do we do ?
The best scenario is that we open a big lead against Fiorentina. That means our strongest team in that match , and of course our strongest team against Chelsea ( including Lloris please ) . So a weaker team against West Ham and Fiorentina away and hope we get away with it.
Anybody agree / disagree ?

If we send a weaker team out to play West Ham we will not get 3 points. They are always up for games against us.After what happened against them last season they need to be put firmly back in their box. I want 6 points against them AND I want to finish above them in the league, anything less and they will be dining out on it, taunting us, and saying they are on the way up and we are on the way down. It's farcical enough already that they will be gloating over us by temporarily having a bigger stadium than us, albeit a rented one that they stole from the public through nothing less than daylight robbery and b*llshit, we don't need to be giving them further ammunition thoughts and ideas for t shirt prints.

 

[arunspurs]

We would still be in 4 competition had it not been for a fumble. This consistency across competitions is entirely down to Pochettino using the squad well. Europa League is important given its another gate way to CL, though its a tougher path.

I think, we just have to take it game by game.

 

[Gassin's finest]

We've done great in Europa this year, it's been a proper adventure. One that I want to see continue all the way to Warsaw.

 

[Bulletspur]

If we send a weaker team out to play West Ham we will not get 3 points. They are always up for games against us.After what happened against them last season they need to be put firmly back in their box. I want 6 points against them AND I want to finish above them in the league, anything less and they will be dining out on it, taunting us, and saying they are on the way up and we are on the way down. It's farcical enough already that they will be gloating over us by temporarily having a bigger stadium than us, albeit a rented one that they stole from the public through nothing less than daylight robbery and b*llshit, we don't need to be giving them further ammunition thoughts and ideas for t shirt prints.

I take it you do not like West Ham?

 

[arunspurs]

Lets not forget we are not in FA Cups. Clubs like west ham, west brom, Liverpool, Arsenal are still in FA Cup. They will have additional games like us too

If Cuadrado gets his Jan transfer, obviously that changes Florentina tie.With Rossi still injured, Cuadrado is the main creative spark. If they lose him, we can pick them off IMO regardless of kind of XI we play. They lost at home to a Belarus side. Its not like a fortress there.

 

[SA_Spurs]

Tough stretch of matches, of that there is no doubt. As much as we'd all like to play nostradamus and predict the outcomes, I think the team need to start thinking of 1 match at a time. If we focus now on the the CC final, we'll definitely drop the ball in the other games and there is no guarantee we'll do Chelsea at Wembley. I think Poch should continue to select the team based on what he's seeing in training and take each match as it comes. Momentum is a funny thing! Who knows, come 2 March, we may be all wondering just how it was that we won everything we played in (you know, aim for the stars blah blah blah).

We have all the ingredients and confidence now to push on and make our season great & i'm sure the players & coaching staff can see that and will be believing it. This team's attitude and ability to bounce back is maturing right in front of our eyes, there may be blips along the way but even these are becoming less frequent. As daunting as the next few weeks may be, I feel a quiet confidence in the entire squad, there is unity and purpose thats been missing for a long time thats starting to surface and rise to the top. The future's bright, the future's Lilywhite!!

COYS!!!

 

[dagraham]

This is why a striker is a must if we can get someone off the wage bill. Doesn't matter if that player is Dembele, Capoue or Paulinho. If Kane gets injured we are in big trouble.

As for squad rotation, all those games are important and don't forget we have Arsenal and Liverpool next month too. It's a crippling schedule and I really don't want us to field a weakened team for the West Ham game, I'd like us to stuff them.

For me, it's just about managing Eriksen and Kane and maybe resting them (but not both at the same time).

 

[Blackcanary]

Lets not forget we are not in FA Cups. Clubs like west ham, west brom, Liverpool, Arsenal are still in FA Cup. They will have additional games like us too

If Cuadrado gets his Jan transfer, obviously that changes Florentina tie.With Rossi still injured, Cuadrado is the main creative spark. If they lose him, we can pick them off IMO regardless of kind of XI we play. They lost at home to a Belarus side. Its not like a fortress there.

Fiorentina are basically the purple version of us - capable of beating anyone on a good day, completely flaky, I have absolutely no idea what sort of side will turn up for either of us. I suspect they'll all be guns blazing because this is seen as a big tie so it should be really open, but we definitely shouldn't underestimate them.

 

[Borks]

As I'm going to Florence for the away match I'm hoping I see a team capable of at least scoring out there. Would be pretty pissed off if it was a complete reserve side.

 

[Mr Pink]

Imagine we had the FA Cup as well...would of been ridiculous.

 

[Everlasting Seconds]

They (whoever is most hands-on with transfers) need to work harder, cut some demands and spur up sales of fringe players. Then we need to bring 1, 2 or 3 in who Pochettino would use a lot straight away.
In essence, work even harder than ever before to cut the squad AND increase the number of players Poch actually wants to use.

 

[1882andallthat]

I take it you do not like West Ham?

I'm not their biggest fan.