Harry on BBC 5 live

[Jaispurs]

Nah, I disagree PT. I think this is typical Harry. All he is doing is lowering expectations and taking pressure off the team. He's been doing it all season.

Absolutely agree. Its Mancini and Beintez who have both GUARANTEED 4th spot this season. Harry has just said that if someone told us at the beginning of the season that we would be where we are now we would have bitten their hand off.

He's right. We all want to finish 4th and hope we do but most of us think that as always we will mess it up.

He wants the players to enjoy themselves and do their best.

When pressure is on us we crumble so hopefully this year he is keeping the pressure off, seems relaxed himself and we can go for it.

We have nothing to lose tomorrow !

 

[Mornstar]

i thought air travel restrictiion has been lifted already?

Levy's a smart man, I reckon he's just cutting cost to save up for the new stadium.s

 

[DC_Boy]

well we didn't crumble under pressure when we went 1-0 behind to chelsea at wembley in 2008

we most certainly do not always crumble under pressure

we didn't crumble when stoke equalised up there this season

we didn't crumble when villa went 1-0 ahead etc etc

 

[Wellspurs]

Does anyone have a link to a recording of the whole interview? Cheers

BBC radio 5 on their web site.

 

[guate]

Come on DC every team has its bad days, some more than others, and as a senior member you've seen, just like me, how many times we've failed to make the grade.
We're 4th in the league and although I know it's hard to believe, we can reach the holy grail this season with 'Arry.....you just have to believe.

 

[walworthyid]

Now I think this - if the management looked at the fixtures and thought four / five points were achievable from nine, although probably realistic, given the opposition, it pretty much concedes fourth place. This opinion was garnered most probably before the FA Cup semi final - in other words, an FA Cup Final was priority.

If we had dropped four / five points from these fixtures, we would, even if Man City lose to Arsenal tomorrow, be up to four points below Citeh, with three games to go.

I honestly believe that Harry and his team had, at that point prior to these games, settled for the Europa Cup next season. Only a phenonemal drive, post disappointing semi final defeat, has kept this team in the hunt for fourth.

A result, even a draw tomorrow, will take the challenge to the wire, thus exceeding Harry's expectations of his own team.

I totally disagree! He would have hoped for a win and a draw against Chelsea (won 2 of the last 3 and not lost for 5 years) and Arsenal (is a draw almost every year anyway! He would have also then assumed that we would lose at OT, get at least a point at city and wins against Bolton and Burnley. That lot would give us 69 pts. More than Pool could get and probably more than Villa because they will have to visit city.

He would have also assumed that City would lose to utd and arsenal and draw with us and villa.

All of which means, in keeping with what he said a couple of weeks ago, that 69-70 pts should be enough.

So no, I don't think he had conceded 4th at all, he was just being realistic about what we could get and about how much would be needed! Remember, we don't yet know what the final total for fourth will be, it could be that City will lose tomorrow, we draw, they then draw with Villa and we beat Bolton and we would be 5 pts clear, they might not even get 68 pts!

 

[shelfsideyid]

Now I think this - if the management looked at the fixtures and thought four / five points were achievable from nine, although probably realistic, given the opposition, it pretty much concedes fourth place. This opinion was garnered most probably before the FA Cup semi final - in other words, an FA Cup Final was priority.

If we had dropped four / five points from these fixtures, we would, even if Man City lose to Arsenal tomorrow, be up to four points below Citeh, with three games to go.

I honestly believe that Harry and his team had, at that point prior to these games, settled for the Europa Cup next season. Only a phenonemal drive, post disappointing semi final defeat, has kept this team in the hunt for fourth.

A result, even a draw tomorrow, will take the challenge to the wire, thus exceeding Harry's expectations of his own team.

Will concede that Harry may have had slightly differant priorities before our 'no show' at Wembley, and that defeat may prove a blessing in disguise in our race for 4th.

It would have been no suprise to seasoned Spurs fans to see our league form suffer had we had the distraction of a Cup final.

The utter disapointment, & annoyance I felt trudging out of Wembley was awful, but now with faith well n' truly restored I just get the feeling both the players & coaching staff have resolved to not look back on a season which has promised so much, but ultimately come up short.

Must admit I sensed the tiniest hint of respect/fear from Ferguson in his pre-match press conference, in contrast to his usual dismissive tone in years gone by.

Getting a real positive vibe going into the game tommorow & would be no suprise if we actually went there & won......

But a word of warning...............

Last time the majority of us were very optimistic going to Old Trafford was earlier this season in the Carling Cup....and we all know what happened then:bang::bang::bang:

C.O.Y.S

 

[Max_Junglie]

Absolutely agree. Its Mancini and Beintez who have both GUARANTEED 4th spot this season. Harry has just said that if someone told us at the beginning of the season that we would be where we are now we would have bitten their hand off.

He's right. We all want to finish 4th and hope we do but most of us think that as always we will mess it up.

He wants the players to enjoy themselves and do their best.

When pressure is on us we crumble so hopefully this year he is keeping the pressure off, seems relaxed himself and we can go for it.

We have nothing to lose tomorrow !

There is iron in these words.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

If he's true to his word, I'm very disappointed. Not only have we got great striking options, but we've got great attacking midfield options that, if used intelligently, would help us nullify ManU's attacking threat whilst at the same time not hurting our creativity.

It also means not only is he playing predictable tactics, but giving SAF an advance notice that he is.

I was really hoping that he would try playing an attacking 451 tomorrow. Run the old ****s like Scholes and Giggs ragged, and stop Valencia, Nani et al getting behind us.
It would have given them something to think about.

He could always swith to 442 later if we need to.

I honestly believe we are capable of beating ManU. But we must get our tactics right.

 

[ryantegan]

BC - Give it a rest mate. Your'e trying to stir it up again against the man who has masterminded victories over two of the Scums in the same week. ITS BORING!

....And we get a coach to the airport btw!

 

[DC_Boy]

Come on DC every team has its bad days, some more than others, and as a senior member you've seen, just like me, how many times we've failed to make the grade.
We're 4th in the league and although I know it's hard to believe, we can reach the holy grail this season with 'Arry.....you just have to believe.

Hi guate

of course we've had bad days

but to say we always crumble under pressure is simply wrong

i gave some recent examples - i can give plenty more where we didn't crumble under pressure

that fantastic victory at eastlands after we had steed sent off

or if we want to go back further coming from behind twice against man city to win the FA Cup

we wouldn't have 17 trophies in the cupboard and be ever present in the Prem if we always crumbled

did we crumble after 2 points from 8 games

no we finished 8th and reached the lge cup final that season

as for whether we get 4th I dunno - but i started to believe after the stoke game - obviously wobbled but never recanted after the mackems - and naturally i still believe after the last two games

i still think it's in City's hands, just, as they have the home game on us and win that and they are effectively one point ahead - i also don't trust west ham on the final day one bit, and i think city's task is easier tomorrow than ours (fabianski is apparently in goal for arsenal again)

but so many variables

i believe - but it'll still take a mammoth effort and a bit of luck too to achieve it

the idea we should be looking at 3rd completely passes me by - 4th will be more than enough

 

[Damian99]

If he's true to his word, I'm very disappointed. Not only have we got great striking options, but we've got great attacking midfield options that, if used intelligently, would help us nullify ManU's attacking threat whilst at the same time not hurting our creativity.

It also means not only is he playing predictable tactics, but giving SAF an advance notice that he is.

I was really hoping that he would try playing an attacking 451 tomorrow. Run the old ****s like Scholes and Giggs ragged, and stop Valencia, Nani et al getting behind us.
It would have given them something to think about.

He could always swith to 442 later if we need to.

I honestly believe we are capable of beating ManU. But we must get our tactics right.

Give this guy the fucking job and we are sorted.

I like this part below

"I was really hoping that he would try playing an attacking 451 tomorrow. Run the old ****s like Scholes and Giggs ragged, and stop Valencia, Nani et al getting behind us.
It would have given them something to think about"

I didnt realise how simple it was to stop Man United, it's a wonder they have ever won the title so many times. :duh:

I can't believe other great managers haven't sorted all this out before now.

 

[degoose]

BC what the hell are you on about , you seem to pop up often with some right random stuff. We have played a 442 all season and with that beaten arsenal ,chelsea, liverpool and man city , what would be the point in changing to a system we never use . Any time we have used a different system we just look rubbish.

 

[mil1lion]

You never know, we might go with a 4-5-1 and this could be Harry playing tricks. But even if we cntinue with 4-4-2, we still have plenty of variations on the same formation. We can go with Modric on the left and Bale at left back. We can play Modric on the right. We can play Palacios on the right. We could play Gudjhonsen up front, where he'll drop off and make it a 5 in midfield when we're defending. Or we could simply go with the same team from last Saturday.

He hasn't really given away anything apart from the formation we've played most of this season. There's still plenty of options on who plays where.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Give this guy the fucking job and we are sorted.

I like this part below

"I was really hoping that he would try playing an attacking 451 tomorrow. Run the old ****s like Scholes and Giggs ragged, and stop Valencia, Nani et al getting behind us.
It would have given them something to think about"

I didnt realise how simple it was to stop Man United, it's a wonder they have ever won the title so many times. :duh:

I can't believe other great managers haven't sorted all this out before now.

But other managers have. Ancelotti did it this season and won at OT. Benitez did it last season and won at OT.

Not every team is good enough to do it and get a result, but I think we are.

So you don't think tactics are important ?

 

[Bus-Conductor]

BC what the hell are you on about , you seem to pop up often with some right random stuff. We have played a 442 all season and with that beaten arsenal ,chelsea, liverpool and man city , what would be the point in changing to a system we never use . Any time we have used a different system we just look rubbish.

Because away at OT is different to most other games, therefore it might just be worth considering different tactics and because we have the players to make it effective. Sometimes the tactics you employ can have a negative effect on the opposition. Because they've spent all week preparing for you to play 442 and talking to their players about who marks who and how. You turn up with a different shape, with players moving in different directions and all of a sudden their game plan is effected.

With players like Palacios, Hudd, Bale, Jenas, Lennon, Bentley, Modric, Gudjohnsen we have players who can all play football from midfield and attack and create.

 

[camaj]

So no, I don't think he had conceded 4th at all

Same here. Most of us predicted that to get 4th we'd need to win our games before Arsenal and then get 3 draws and win the rest, perhaps a draw with City. When we lost to Sunderland, it meant we had to get a win against one of the Sky3. Now it means we can probably afford to lose against City, unless they beat Arsenal

 

[Damian99]

Because they've spent all week preparing for you to play 442 and talking to their players about who marks who and how. You turn up with a different shape, with players moving in different directions and all of a sudden their game plan is effected.

There is no way on this earth SAF has spent a great deal of time worrying about whether we turn up and play 442, 451 or anything else for that matter. They will be confident in being able to deal with however we play. Their players will all know their jobs and are extremely confident and mentally tuned to deal with most players in most positions. Its why they win a large majority of their games.

If we were playing teams with lesser ability ie Wolves, Hull then i have no doubt they will spend all week on the training ground planning for us, but not SAF.