The Race for 4th

[Japhet]

Did not expect Everton to be the ones to turn them over! 1-5

Brighton really do have a number of difficult games left

They played much better in that game than we did v Newcastle, but that's a much worse result. They were at home and Everton have been terrible.

 

[spursfan77]

I think after seeing how Son was initially being used (or underused) by Conte, with his back always to goal, not getting passed to sitting off the shoulder, and Peresic more utilised on the left wing - I think everyone could predict it - or foresee it.

He wasn’t the only player whose strengths he completely nullified with his stupid tactics either. Richy, Emerson, Bissouma are three others off the top of my head. But it was so obvious with Son. He wanted to play him as a “10” as he said on numerous occasions (but not as we think of it in England). The complete opposite of how he should be played. It’s one of the things that pissed me off with Conte. He just couldn’t admit he was getting it all wrong.

 

[Westmorlandspur]

I remember Gary Neville being criticised for not wanting Conte for Man Utd . He said he was a bad fit because United are an attacking team, an attacking club. Built on attacking football.
how right he was.
we have become the other team in that quote by Danny Blanchflower.
the game is about glory…not waiting for the other team to die of boredom. We have become that team .

 

[Beefyboy]

I remember Gary Neville being criticised for not wanting Conte for Man Utd . He said he was a bad fit because United are an attacking team, an attacking club. Built on attacking football.
how right he was.
we have become the other team in that quote by Danny Blanchflower.
the game is about glory…not waiting for the other team to die of boredom. We have become that team .

Ironically lots of utd fans are now getting really annoyed at ETH and saying he's too stubborn and is costing them top 4 with his weird selections.

Football is so reactionary, if Utd finish 5th even with a league cup the fans will turn on him. Espescially as he forced through Antony for 90m instead of buying a striker.

 

[Beefyboy]

He wasn’t the only player whose strengths he completely nullified with his stupid tactics either. Richy, Emerson, Bissouma are three others off the top of my head. But it was so obvious with Son. He wanted to play him as a “10” as he said on numerous occasions (but not as we think of it in England). The complete opposite of how he should be played. It’s one of the things that pissed me off with Conte. He just couldn’t admit he was getting it all wrong.

Completely. Part of being a good manager is surely working with what you've got. Not just implementing your set formation and when it doesn't work just blaming the players.

The weird thing was he actually kind of did that in his first season. He sort of did kane+Son Jose ball with added wingbacks and we were great. But, and I still don't know why, he abandoned that this season and refused to ever go back.

 

[Westmorlandspur]

If we avoid defeat at Villa we will make top 6. They have Liverpool and Brighton to follow.
just lost 2 games in a row. When Emery arrived at Arsenal they set off with a 20 game unbeaten run. When that stopped they fell away. Do opposing teams work them out eventually.
thise 2 centre halves are not top quality. Mind you, neither are ours while Romero’s head is still in Buenos Aries.

 

[mil1lion]

Trying to find the enthusiasm for the end of the season. I would be happy with 6th at this point. I hope we have that within our sights after this weekend. I'm going to the Brentford game and it would be nice to have something more meaningful to go for rather than 7th and Conference. Europa would be great given the season we've had. I just hope we would really go for it. To do that we need to field some key players for the group games (not a complete change of team) so the quality doesn't drop too much. Then if we get out the groups for the knock outs go full strength or at least only 2 or 3 squad rotations with the rest 1st team regulars.

 

[spursfan77]

Trying to find the enthusiasm for the end of the season. I would be happy with 6th at this point. I hope we have that within our sights after this weekend. I'm going to the Brentford game and it would be nice to have something more meaningful to go for rather than 7th and Conference. Europa would be great given the season we've had. I just hope we would really go for it. To do that we need to field some key players for the group games (not a complete change of team) so the quality doesn't drop too much. Then if we get out the groups for the knock outs go full strength or at least only 2 or 3 squad rotations with the rest 1st team regulars.

I'm quite excited about it actually.

I'd be more happy if we were sat fourth though as it was more than achievable this season. We chucked it away with a series of bad decisions and easily avoidable poor performances at the end of games

 

[Timberwolf]

Also worth mentioning Brighton have a pretty small squad not used to a fixture pileup and now have an extremely tight schedule with 4 games in 2 weeks, mostly against good teams. Plus March is now injured and he's been one of their better players.

I think they'll pick up a result in at least one of the tougher fixtures, but it's going to be a very taxing couple of weeks for them both physically and mentally.

Wouldn't be surprised if they fell short at the final hurdle due to the scheduling.

 

[Tucker]

He wasn’t the only player whose strengths he completely nullified with his stupid tactics either. Richy, Emerson, Bissouma are three others off the top of my head. But it was so obvious with Son. He wanted to play him as a “10” as he said on numerous occasions (but not as we think of it in England). The complete opposite of how he should be played. It’s one of the things that pissed me off with Conte. He just couldn’t admit he was getting it all wrong.

Yeah I kept seeing people slagging Sonny off, but it was so obvious he was being used incorrectly.

Everything was sacrificed on the alter of Conte’s system (and his ego) he wasn’t getting the best out of the players because he wasn’t trying to, he was shoe horning several people into roles that just didn’t suit, and as a result the team was lesser than the sum of its parts.

If we‘d parted ways before the end of the World Cup When it was clear he wouldn’t commit. II reckon we’d have made top four this season.

I’d be happy with 5th or 6th, which are achievable imo, 7th would be disappointing but not disastrous.

 

[Timberwolf]

Yeah I kept seeing people slagging Sonny off, but it was so obvious he was being used incorrectly.

Everything was sacrificed on the alter of Conte’s system (and his ego) he wasn’t getting the best out of the players because he wasn’t trying to, he was shoe horning several people into roles that just didn’t suit, and as a result the team was lesser than the sum of its parts.

If we‘d parted ways before the end of the World Cup When it was clear he wouldn’t commit. II reckon we’d have made top four this season.

I’d be happy with 5th or 6th, which are achievable imo, 7th would be disappointing but not disastrous.

Yeah it was crazy expecting Son to excel in that role. He did well last season when we were an unknown quantity and teams hadn't adapted to Conte's style, but this season every team was targeting him and pressing the shit out of him the second he got the ball. Add in the fact Kane was staying higher and not feeding him balls between the lines and we basically killed the threat of one of the best goalscorers in the entire league.

Think this is a big reason why Kulu's fallen off too. When he arrived teams didn't know his strengths/weaknesses and were still adapting to Conte-ball. This season everyone knew exactly what he's about and our passing patterns were so rigid and predictable it was easy to just take him out of the game and stop him doing what he does best.

 

[UncleBuck]

See Sky are up to their old tricks and rewriting history again…..

 

[Joshua shepherd]

Also worth mentioning Brighton have a pretty small squad not used to a fixture pileup and now have an extremely tight schedule with 4 games in 2 weeks, mostly against good teams. Plus March is now injured and he's been one of their better players.

I think they'll pick up a result in at least one of the tougher fixtures, but it's going to be a very taxing couple of weeks for them both physically and mentally.

Wouldn't be surprised if they fell short at the final hurdle due to the scheduling.

Not sure that’s really true. Youngsters coming in like Ferguson, colwill, enciso and buonanotte have allowed them to rotate quite successfully in recent games.

 

[mil1lion]

View attachment 126049 See Sky are up to their old tricks and rewriting history again…..

No wonder they don't have Champions League rights

 

[aliyid]

It's been almost a whole year since we last finished in top 4.... I'm so angry, I might phone TalkSport and vent to a washed-up ex-pro

 

[Timberwolf]

Not sure that’s really true. Youngsters coming in like Ferguson, colwill, enciso and buonanotte have allowed them to rotate quite successfully in recent games.

Yeah fair enough. I remembered glancing at their bench vs Everton and thinking it was pretty thin on the ground, but looking again you're right - Colwill is very good and Gilmour and Enciso have done well in recent matches.

I think losing March does hurt them, though.

 

[spursfan77]

Yeah I kept seeing people slagging Sonny off, but it was so obvious he was being used incorrectly.

Everything was sacrificed on the alter of Conte’s system (and his ego) he wasn’t getting the best out of the players because he wasn’t trying to, he was shoe horning several people into roles that just didn’t suit, and as a result the team was lesser than the sum of its parts.

If we‘d parted ways before the end of the World Cup When it was clear he wouldn’t commit. II reckon we’d have made top four this season.

I’d be happy with 5th or 6th, which are achievable imo, 7th would be disappointing but not disastrous.

We have been terribly managed this season. I think we are now seeing the culmination of it with the team leaking all these late goals. They’re knackered after a whole season of going behind in games and having to try so hard to get the wins and it’s happened time and again. Plus the mental fortitude to defend so much and not have the ball must just be exhausting.

 

[Dr Know]

Is there still a race?

 

[Joshua shepherd]

Yeah fair enough. I remembered glancing at their bench vs Everton and thinking it was pretty thin on the ground, but looking again you're right - Colwill is very good and Gilmour and Enciso have done well in recent matches.

I think losing March does hurt them, though.

I agree with that, despite losing they were much better in the second half and his link up play with Gross changed the game. Mitoma and Mac Allister aren't in as hot form as earlier in the season and I think they're definitely at risk of dropping below us, if we win our games that is.

7 points could be enough for 6th.

 

[mil1lion]

Is there still a race?

Not for us but looks really close now between Newcastle, Utd and Liverpool for 3rd and 4th. I would be glad to see Newcastle drop to 5th. The thought of them in CL and spending big would add yet another team to the mix. A big 7 going forward making it all the more difficult for us.