How much of it can we keep together?

[hellava_tough]

Suggesting that you saw this coming due to us not being coached well enough in 15/16 and 16/17 is like saying you knew that the Titanic would sink from observing the color it was painted.

How some could watch us play in that period and come to the conclusion that it was all about effort makes me look for a hidden camera somewhere.

Because we kept falling short of winning things and there were rarely any tactical master-classes from Poch that won us games. Juventus in the CL was a classic example of poor game management.

 

[dontcallme]

Seems like the OP called this 2 years ago here.
This rot has been a slow and gradual one, we need to turn this around, get some more new faces in and probably a new manager.

He called the tiredness of the players. But on the big clubs buying our top stars he was way off.

 

[dudu]

He called the tiredness of the players. But on the big clubs buying our top stars he was way off.

Maybe it would have been better if they had at the time though. Not all but certainly one or two.

I wonder what the sentiment would have been had we sold Eriksen and Toby two summers ago and used those funds to buy some players instead of not buying anyone at all.

 

[dudu]

Because we kept falling short of winning things and there were rarely any tactical master-classes from Poch that won us games. Juventus in the CL was a classic example of poor game management.

How are you defining a tactical masterclass? Is there a level of opponent that we have to beat for it to be considered in that realm?

 

[dontcallme]

Maybe it would have been better if they had at the time though. Not all but certainly one or two.

I wonder what the sentiment would have been had we sold Eriksen and Toby two summers ago and used those funds to buy some players instead of not buying anyone at all.

It is the problem we have. Sell players in their prime we get called a selling club with a small time mentality. Hold onto them and we get an ageing squad.

As our wage bill is much higher than most teams below us, selling players once good for us to lower clubs becomes more difficult.

 

[dudu]

It is the problem we have. Sell players in their prime we get called a selling club with a small time mentality. Hold onto them and we get an ageing squad.

As our wage bill is much higher than most teams below us, selling players once good for us to lower clubs becomes more difficult.

Who will call us a selling club for selling a player for a huge sum now we are regularly taking part in the CL?

Lpool did it with Coutinho and it worked in their favour.

 

[dontcallme]

Who will call us a selling club for selling a player for a huge sum now we are regularly taking part in the CL?

Lpool did it with Coutinho and it worked in their favour.

Lots of people.

Teams easily get labelled. For the best years of Poch's team getting us playing with intensity still had numerous people referring to us as soft Spurs.

Personally I don't care about being labelled a selling club. We can easily embrace it.

 

[dudu]

Lots of people.

Teams easily get labelled. For the best years of Poch's team getting us playing with intensity still had numerous people referring to us as soft Spurs.

Personally I don't care about being labelled a selling club. We can easily embrace it.

I agree, gone are the days where we were an actual selling club like in the Carrick/Berbatov vein.

Quite the opposite now, we are probably being labeled as the idiotic 'non-selling' club.

 

[Japhet]

Who will call us a selling club for selling a player for a huge sum now we are regularly taking part in the CL?

Lpool did it with Coutinho and it worked in their favour.

The Liverpool fans were up in arms when they sold Coutinho. Same with Suarez. Of course, in the light of where they are now, they don't give a shit because it worked out very nicely for them but at the time they whinged and grizzled a lot more than usual.

 

[Kiedis]

Because we kept falling short of winning things and there were rarely any tactical master-classes from Poch that won us games. Juventus in the CL was a classic example of poor game management.

But if you watch how we played in that period, it should be very obvious patterns and principles of play that gave the team a tactical framework and an identity that made the most of the players talents.

And what does tactical master-class constitute in your opinion? We've had a huge amount of games where tactical adjustments have improved our performances during the course of the game, but they seem to be very quickly forgotten, whereas games where we've failed to react (not always due to tactics) are almost part of the folklore.

 

[roshambo]

But if you watch how we played in that period, it should be very obvious patterns and principles of play that gave the team a tactical framework and an identity that made the most of the players talents.

And what does tactical master-class constitute in your opinion? We've had a huge amount of games where tactical adjustments have improved our performances during the course of the game, but they seem to be very quickly forgotten, whereas games where we've failed to react (not always due to tactics) are almost part of the folklore.

Bringing on Lichtsteiner was a game-changing substitution for which Poch had no answer. I'd go the other way personally and highlight the times Poch has made tactical gambles that have invariably not come off. Son at left wing-back anyone?

The fact that Pochettino has given us an identity we were previously sorely lacking should not be overlooked and it's important to remember that he's not wholly bad. He's been a revolution at this club; a serial over-achiever who has got us where he is almost by sheer force of will and ability to improve players. But that was a long, long time ago. Our last decent performance in the league where Poch got it right was Everton away. In 2018.

As we sit here today, he's been out-thought by the managers of Watford, Sheffield United, Newcastle United and Brighton. I said it elsewhere, but it's not about money or signings and this is why i'm so firmly in the 'out' camp - our midfield at the weekend was Lo Celso, Sissoko and Ndombele. And there were outclassed. That's on Poch.

 

[dudu]

The Liverpool fans were up in arms when they sold Coutinho. Same with Suarez. Of course, in the light of where they are now, they don't give a shit because it worked out very nicely for them but at the time they whinged and grizzled a lot more than usual.

They did, and I remember thinking to myself, ha! idiots!

Had we sold Eriksen two years ago I imagine the uproar on here would have been just the same and I doubt we would have invested as well as Liverpool did but we wouldn't be in this predicament now either.

Just an interesting thing to ponder on and with the landscape of how players are running down their contracts now I wonder if as fans we have to shift our way of thinking and be willing to sacrifice a player here or there for a large sum for the better of the team as a whole.

 

[Japhet]

They did, and I remember thinking to myself, ha! idiots!

Had we sold Eriksen two years ago I imagine the uproar on here would have been just the same and I doubt we would have invested as well as Liverpool did but we wouldn't be in this predicament now either.

Just an interesting thing to ponder on and with the landscape of how players are running down their contracts now I wonder if as fans we have to shift our way of thinking and be willing to sacrifice a player here or there for a large sum for the better of the team as a whole.

I think players and agents have cottoned onto the fact that they can have a bigger slice of the pie. I think it will certainly become more commonplace for players to run contracts out, but as that becomes more normal, I also think that the signing on fees and huge wages will start to drop off as more and more players become available on Bosmans. It might actually have a positive effect in that the mega money clubs won't be as able to wipe the floor with everybody else over transfer fees and we may reach a bit more parity with wages also.

 

[spursfan77]

They did, and I remember thinking to myself, ha! idiots!

Had we sold Eriksen two years ago I imagine the uproar on here would have been just the same and I doubt we would have invested as well as Liverpool did but we wouldn't be in this predicament now either.

Just an interesting thing to ponder on and with the landscape of how players are running down their contracts now I wonder if as fans we have to shift our way of thinking and be willing to sacrifice a player here or there for a large sum for the better of the team as a whole.

It’s looking that way. Selling any of our big players now doesn’t bare thinking about but if we got a good offer in for someone like Sanchez and we thought we could go out and replace him with a better but cheaper player then we should do it.

 

[Everlasting Seconds]

Ok so I’m getting a little concerned

COYS

Aha.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

He called the tiredness of the players. But on the big clubs buying our top stars he was way off.

Very true mate, we’ve done well to keep them until now although I suppose a lot of the formerly key players are now running their contracts down