This REALLY shouldn't be happening!

[hellava_tough]

I'm completely bemused over Tottenham's current run of form. It's certainly true to say that we've all seen our fair share of poor Spurs teams; teams with a derth of quality on the pitch, with a completely clueless fuck-wit in the dugout organising (and I use that term in the loosest possible sense) each particular shambles. We've also seen Spurs squads crippled by an epidemic of ailments, and Spurs teams crumbling under pressure with no real leaders on the pitch to halt the decline.

But our current predicament is different; by all logical estimation we shouldn't be at the bottom of the league. The situation is no longer shameful or embarrassing - quite frankly, it's bizarre.

If we take a look at the funding and fanbase we have, we see that it's very healthy indeed. Spurs is one of the biggest supported clubs in the country and our board seems to do a good job running the club in a business-like manner, ensuring that we always have £30 or £40million to spend every season. This is a hellava lot of cash; some squads in the Premiership aren't worth that!!

At this point I'd like to make a quick diversion - this article isn't anything to do with the summer transfer window and whether it was good or bad, and it's also nothing to do with whether Levy is a good chairman or not. What I want to focus on is the squad we have NOW; the squad we have before us. And that seemlessly leads us to....

...the squad we have is actually quite good. Okay, we lost Berbatov and Keane, and with them went 50-odd goals, if you count assists. This was a real blow for us, and our chances of finishing in the top 4 were severely hindered. However, our current strike force of Bent and Pav, and our overall squad, should be good enough to see Spurs finishing in the top 8 at least! Even the most pessimistic fans would not have predicted us being bottom of the league after 6 matches, with no wins and having played only 1 of the top 4 sides.

We also have, on paper at least, a good manager. Ramos has won cups in Europe and Spain, created a Seville team that was great to watch, and nearly won La Liga. He's also regarded within the game as one of the best managers around. He should be good, and we should be getting the results.

However, Ramos' actions have been completely inexplicable. Firstly there's the ropey team-selections (do you think we could keep 8 or 9 of the same players in the team?), the playing of individuals out of position, the dropping of form players, the lack of creative players being picked, the fact that we didn't have a left winger for more than 3 years and when we finally sign one, we don't play him.

Secondly, there's the shockingly poor tactics; persisting with a 4-5-1, but failing to select pacy, skillful attacking wingers to back-up the lone striker. Instead of playing Lennon and Dos Santos to help Pav against the Pompey defenders, Ramos chose the out of form, and medium-paced, Bentley and the defensively minded Gilberto. This hasn't been a one-off either; it's been like this since Ramos arrived, the only difference being we all thought he'd stop doing it 9 months ago!

The in-game tactics have been pretty suspect as well. Today, when we were 1-0 down we saw the baffling substition of Pav for Bent. A lone striker for a lone striker. The reason we hadn't scored a goal was because the striker was isolated; he needed support. So why did Ramos not put on Bent to help the Russian striker out?

Anyway, all of the above -the team selections, the formations, the in-game tactics- is pretty basic stuff! The most blinkered football fan can see this. I can't stress this enough, and I don't understand how a respected football manager who is being paid millions of pounds a year, and who HAS had success with other clubs, is not getting the basics right. It would be one thing if Ramos' crazy tactics were achieving the desired results. But they're not; we're bottom of the league, we're the only team who hasn't yet had a victory in the Premiership, and we don't seem to be able to create many goal-scoring opportunities so we can achieve that first win.

So why has a seemingly highly-respected and previosuly successful manager suddenly lost the plot, in such spectacular fashion?

Is he going mad? Is he over-awed by the media-driven Premier League? Does he not give a solitary shit anymore? Has he been bribed by a future owner to run Tottenham's share-price into the ground, so the club's cheaper to buy (my personal favourite conspiracy theory :grin?

I don't know what's wrong with Ramos, but with the current squad he has, after 6 games Spurs should be in the top 10.

Whatever the reason, something is very, very wrong with Mr Ramos!

 

[defoe18]

I argee, we've had worse squads at Spurs and achieved alot more than what the current crop are doing at the moment

 

[monkeytastic]

starting 4-5-1 with no pace in attack was baffling but swapping a slow and tiring pav made sense at the time and did produce more shots on goal.

I know it's not a popular view, and one which gets harder with every passing game, but ramos needs to be given time to show if he can do with us, what he did with seville.

 

[tommo84]

I agree, so lets get rid of him (ideally not in a Soprano's kind of way but if needs must...). As you can see I'm now too demoralised to formulate any decent arguments. So I'll see you all at the Lane next week. I'll be the one with my head in my hands.

 

[hughy]

The thing that annoyed me more than anything was the Pavlyuchenko situation. It didn't work against Newcastle, and they have a more unstable defence than we do! What maked Ramos think that it's going to work against a team that as a whole, apart from the last two games, can defend. It's seriously like banging your head up against a brick wall, we can do fuck all to stop the demise of our team, and it's killing me.

 

[shelfboy68]

We are going down at this stage i can see no way out at the moment, board has put plc before fc and has come unstuck.

We will not move forward until levy, commoli are out the door with ramos, then bring in arry he can do a job for us.

 

[hellava_tough]

starting 4-5-1 with no pace in attack was baffling but swapping a slow and tiring pav made sense at the time and did produce more shots on goal.

I know it's not a popular view, and one which gets harder with every passing game, but ramos needs to be given time to show if he can do with us, what he did with seville.

If he was tiring, then that's fair enough.

I'm all for giving a manager time. However, the problem doesn't seem to be the results, but the manner in which we are failing to get the results.

If we were playing okay, 4-4-2 and not winning, then at least you could say, "we'll come good eventually". But Ramos seems to have lost the plot completely, and it's clear as day to see.

From the team selection to the tactics; it's all gone tits-up!

 

[hellava_tough]

The thing that annoyed me more than anything was the Pavlyuchenko situation. It didn't work against Newcastle, and they have a more unstable defence than we do! What maked Ramos think that it's going to work against a team that as a whole, apart from the last two games, can defend. It's seriously like banging your head up against a brick wall, we can do fuck all to stop the demise of our team, and it's killing me.

This is it hughy - Ramos hasn't learnt from previous matches; or at least this is what it seems to be.

It would be one thing if he tried the basics, they didn't work, so he panicked and began changing things willy-nilly.

Instead, as it stands, he hasn't even tried the basics, before bottling it and fucking everything up.


MR RAMOS, I IMPLORE YOU! START WITH 4-4-2, KEEP THE SAME PLAYERS FOR MORE THAN ONE MATCH, AND SEE HOW IT GOES!

PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PLEEEEEEEEEEASE!

 

[Bing]

I think there are a number of things to bare in mind:


1. A lot of our players are overrated! Not nice to hear but true. We know little about Gomes, Modric, Gio and Pav aside from what we have seen for a few games yet we are all way to premature in calling them superstars. Ledley is a non-entity that a lot of fans are still in denial about. Zokora, Jenas, Thudd, O'Hara, Dawson, Bent are all pretty mediocre at best. Players like BAE and Gilberto are just plain awful.

2. Ramos is consistently getting his tactics and team selection wrong. Doesnt matter if your ManUre, if you get these things wrong and constantly chop and change it will hurt you.

3. Our squad is all over the place. No balance at all. You say the situation is bizarre but quite frankly I think our team is bizarre. Just looks like a random selection of players strung together. It makes no sense.

4. We have no leadership or grit. You dont need to be Real Madrid to have this. Teams like Stoke and Hull are at least physical and graft. We do not.

5. We dont play as a unit.

Taking all that into account I dont think its too surprising a situation. This club is a bizarre experiment which has proven that spending a lot of money on a bunch of random players doesnt make you good.

 

[hellava_tough]

I think there are a number of things to bare in mind:


1. A lot of our players are overrated! Not nice to hear but true. We know little about Gomes, Modric, Gio and Pav aside from what we have seen for a few games yet we are all way to premature in calling them superstars. Ledley is a non-entity that a lot of fans are still in denial about. Zokora, Jenas, Thudd, O'Hara, Dawson, Bent are all pretty mediocre at best. Players like BAE and Gilberto are just plain awful.

I disagree - I think the players have the ability to see us into the top 8. And anyway, we're not talking about top 4, we're talking about not being at the bottom of the league!!

2. Ramos is consistently getting his tactics and team selection wrong. Doesnt matter if your ManUre, if you get these things wrong and constantly chop and change it will hurt you.

Agreed, and this is the point of the whole article! Ramos is supposed to be a good coach, which he's proved in the past. Why is he getting the basics wrong?

3. Our squad is all over the place. No balance at all. You say the situation is bizarre but quite frankly I think our team is bizarre. Just looks like a random selection of players strung together. It makes no sense.

Do you mean squad or team? If team, then see above (2). If squad, then, okay, we have positions still to fill, but there are enough good players to finish in the top 8 and definitely NOT be at the bottom of the league right now.

4. We have no leadership or grit. You dont need to be Real Madrid to have this. Teams like Stoke and Hull are at least physical and graft. We do not.

True, but again, you'd think we'd have enough ability to see us out of this situation. I'm not talking about winning the league, I just don't think we should be last. Anyway, Ramos' behaviourhas been strange, and that's what this article is focusing on.

5. We dont play as a unit.

And that's Ramos' fault because of his inept formations, selctions and tactics

Taking all that into account I dont think its too surprising a situation. This club is a bizarre experiment which has proven that spending a lot of money on a bunch of random players doesnt make you good.

Above

 

[hellava_tough]

We are going down at this stage i can see no way out at the moment, board has put plc before fc and has come unstuck.

We will not move forward until levy, commoli are out the door with ramos, then bring in arry he can do a job for us.

I think Harry Redknapp would keep us above mid-table, but in the long-run, shouldn't we be aiming a little higher (once this present disaster is averted, that is )