Where do we go from here..?

[Japhet]

I'm truly baffled by some 'fans' level of expectation. We've slugged it out with Chelsea, who have had no Europe and hardly any injury problems and who have, by comparison, a bloated squad and a bench full of players earning more than any of our own. We've played the best football on offer anywhere and we've maintained a healthy financial structure which enables us to move forward at a realistic rate. And yet, that still isn't enough and the OP wants us to 'throw caution to the wind' and roll the dice for the long term stability of the club, probably having forgotten that for every Hazard there's a Cuadrado.

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

I'm truly baffled by some 'fans' level of expectation. We've slugged it out with Chelsea, who have had no Europe and hardly any injury problems and who have, by comparison, a bloated squad and a bench full of players earning more than any of our own. We've played the best football on offer anywhere and we've maintained a healthy financial structure which enables us to move forward at a realistic rate. And yet, that still isn't enough and the OP wants us to 'throw caution to the wind' and roll the dice for the long term stability of the club, probably having forgotten that for every Hazard there's a Cuadrado.

In September (IIRC) a LOT of people said they didn't think we'd finish in the top 4.

 

[Japhet]

In September (IIRC) a LOT of people said they didn't think we'd finish in the top 4.

Yeah! I know I thought we had a proper struggle to stay in the top 4!

 

[eViL]

Best team we've had in my time as a supporter.

Disappointed at our performance yesterday but we've been spoilt this season (and last).

Some fans need to realise we aren't the biggest club in the world; but the last two seasons on and off the pitch have me believing the entire club aspires to be.

Poch is the future. He got a few things wrong the last couple games but he's learning along with the current squad.

If we lose a few players, we lose a few players.

For me; as long as Poch and Kane stay; the rest of the team are replaceable.

 

[Doctor Dinkey]

All in good time
Next season.
We will improve our squad this summer and win a cup. The league will be tough but we will be in and around the top 3.
I expect the Manchester clubs to be more competitive next term

Next season will be very hard and I'm not expecting a top 4 finish with the Wembley factor. The big challenge will be keeping the squad together if we have a difficult season, assuming we're not going to pay our players substantially more. If we can do that, we'll have success in the next few years, but we're going to have to be patient.

 

[eViL]

Next season will be very hard and I'm not expecting a top 4 finish with the Wembley factor. The big challenge will be keeping the squad together if we have a difficult season, assuming we're not going to pay our players substantially more. If we can do that, we'll have success in the next few years, but we're going to have to be patient.

I think the majority of money we spend this summer will go on keeping the squad together.

 

[BringBack_leGin]

Last night was a difficult night for me, my other half witnessed a level of expletives and abuse hurled at my TV which she has not witnessed before.

We've been together almost four years.

Had she known me in my teens or the first half of my twenties, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't be engaged right now.

My point? That, to paraphrase our former manager, we've never had it so good in the modern era. This is quite literally the best Spurs side, playing the best football and competing at the highest level, in my life time and the same is true for anybody born after our last Uefa Cup win.

We do need a trophy, we do need some tangible success, I have faith it will come. Levy and ENIC bought a mid table club and, making mistakes along the way (which were learnt from eventually), have taken us steadily forward. It started with regular European football and consistent challenging for the top four and now it has us qualifying for the Champions League for a second year in succession, something we have never achieved before, and being within 4 points of the league leaders in May, something also never achieved before.

Given that, odd blip along the way, we have consistently improved over the past 15 seasons inclusive of this one, the evidence surely suggests that we will only continue to improve. When you're second in the league, have a team whose best players are yet to hit their peak barring a couple and have one of the best young managers anywhere, there's only one place to go next. That league title is round the corner, have faith.

And rages like that which consumed me last night will be rare enough for my missus not to run for the hills.

 

[CornerPinDreamer]

Levy should flog all our good players to domestic rivals, fire Poch and rehire timmy/avb/Jaunde etc, put a statue up for Judas, bulldoze the new stadium and sell the land as an industrial waste dumping facility..

immediately, before this thread gets to 100 pages

 

[Gassin's finest]

Next year's the one!

 

[Metalhead]

In my opinion we should go all out to try and win the league cup next season. Any pot will do and it's the easiest to win. Get that first out the way and others will follow. That monkey off our back and the "they have to win something or our best players will leave" tag would be lost and it will show the players they are capable of winnings things here. United have had a dogs arse of a season but if they finish 4th with the league cup (and very possibly the EL) it's arguable they've had a much better season

If we'd come 4th and won the EL I would be ecstatic.

 

[THFCSPURS19]

Clearly, for 2 seasons in a row now we have come up short. And by short I mean noticeably short. Anyone who thinks we are close to CFC and the rest of the big spenders needs a reality check.
Their squads are far more superior than ours. They have the money to spend on quality players to sit on the bench for most of the season and they can call upon them when the team are tiring to inject the fresh blood needed to push them over the line. And its not even scraping over, their quality squad players are very good players who get them easy 4-2, 3-0 wins...Whereas our squad players make absolutely no difference to the outcome of a game.

The question is where do we go from here as a club if we want to win 'big things' as Poch remarks..?

In my opinion we have a conundrum. If we had made top 4 last year and this year rather than push till the last few games for the title NONE of us fans would be screaming.. But the fact of the matter is (as with most fans) now we've tasted a couple of title-challenging seasons we aren't happy with top 4 now. We want to win it!

So how can we win it with our setup?

I think we have to wipe the board for a minute and think about it, can we ever achieve the title with our team and squad? The answer has to objectively - No.
We've had a large amount of player injuries that couldn't be replaced with like quality, therefore that's the 1st problem. Upgrade is needed for a few players. Davis is clearly no Rose and Trips is no Walker when Walker is playing great.
When Toby or Jan are out we will have problems. We need a quality CB to cover 1 or the other. Its impossible to have 2 quality CBs sitting on the bench. Wimmer clearly isn't Poch's fav.
Sissoko is no replacement for Lamela. And Jansen is no striker that fills any of us with confidence when Kane is out.
My concern is we clearly wont be replacing all those players this summer in 1 hit. So we will have to accept that for 1 reason or another our wing backs will be an issue next season - just like it has been evidenced at this late stage this season. The only issue is with Walker quite possibly leaving I cant see who can replace him for like as a starter..

Then theres the issue with poch. Last season he ran the players into the ground, this season he hasn't rotated enough to keep them fresh.When our defense was so solid high profile players could and should have been subbed in earlier games I feel to keep them fresh later into the season. Kane, Deli, Eriksen and even Son all looked very slow tonight against West Ham. Could those players have been rested more in games we were winning comfortably? I think so. And I feel for all Poch's greatness he is still not a world class manager to see it.
Conte rested big game players like Willian, Pedro, Fabregas and even Eden and Costa for seemingly big games, only to bring them back into games just at the right time to make a difference.
Poch has got zero acumen in this area. Why? Is it because our squad is so thin that he has no choice?

Then comes the bit about Poch that is all about inexperience. I really think he (all too regularly) picks players based on what he thinks their ability is vs what our opposition are likely to play. And this results in the wrong players being picked with the wrong skillset for the opposition. This results in a 2 prong resulting mistake;
1. The player(s) picked wont get any joy against certain opposition
2. It knackers the player(s) out cos they try too hard with no success and thus makes them more fatigued in the longer run.

If he played the right players for a certain game we would have more of a chance of winning and it will also give the other starter that got dropped a chance to rest and recover.

With the last 2 years' worth of unexpected CL revenue and TV money in the coffers are we to expect good quality incoming players? Or will Levy take the piss and use the money too frugally again or worse - waste it on useless players?
These last 2 seasons we have over-achieved, but sharp management in my opinion, would use those unexpected bonus seasons as a springboard to propel us to the next level. I think we actually need to spend big this summer and throw caution to the wind, regardless of the fact we are building a new stadium - and buy quite a few top quality players. That risk is worth it as we could realistically get top 4 again next season which would offset any outgoing money spent on players. The risk of not spending big is more dangerous imo as we could just as easily end up as a Europa League qualifying team again next season if our competitors spend big and get top 4 at our expense.

I think the only thing we can and should do is give Poch the money he needs to overhaul the squad. I repeat squad - not team. If we sold some players we should be able to recoup 50-80M and then add on another 60-70M and I think with the 150M spending money we could get the extra quality needed to keep us in the hunt.
I think next season could be a make or break season for us and we really must use sense and carefully look at what we have to lose rather than win. We'll be playing at Wembley, we'll be under more pressure to win, so we cannot allow any weakness the drag us down next year. Having to play in CL again, at Wembley all season - to me it strikes as a red flag straight away, and the only way we can give ourselves any chance is to spend big to get the players in we need to keep us near the top and with a real chance of winning trophies.

The title of this thread is hilarious - 'Where do we go from here...?' - that's the sort of bollocks I'd expect to read if we were languishing in mid-table and had just sacked our manager.

How the fuck have we come up short? We have drastically overachieved this season (and last season). If you expect us to win the title then that's your problem.

I think the most remarkable line is 'Anyone who thinks we are close to CFC the rest of the big spenders needs a reality check'. We are literally almost certain to finish above every team apart from Chelsea, so how the fuck are we not close to them? If their squads are so amazing, why aren't the roles reversed?

You then talk about their easy wins, when we have thrashed teams (at WHL) on numerous occasions.

Then there's more nonsense, followed by another outrageous statement - 'I think we actually need to spend big this summer and throw caution to the wind, regardless of the fact we are building a new stadium'

What the fuck do you mean by 'regardless' - the stadium project is costing eight hundred million British pounds. £800-fucking-million. And you just sideline it as if it's nothing.

And then there's the classic 'Make or Break' statement that we see every season. I don't see how anything could 'break' us given that we'll be moving into the new stadium the following season.

You seem sure that spending is the answer. When it has done very little in the league for Liverpool. Or City. Or Arsenal. Or United.

Calamitous post from the title of the thread, to the last sentence.

 

[Led's Zeppelin]

If we'd come 4th and won the EL I would be ecstatic.

Me too.

But I'd prefer to be higher than 4th.

May I have 1st please? Next year will do.

Thank you.

 

[Doctor Dinkey]

If we'd come 4th and won the EL I would be ecstatic.

If we manage to secure 2nd, in all likelihood we'll have a chance to win the Community Shield. Not a proper cup, but from little acorns...

 

[Metalhead]

If we manage to secure 2nd, in all likelihood we'll have a chance to win the Community Shield. Not a proper cup, but from little acorns...

It's a start, certainly.

 

[Damian99]

Ideally i would like us to dust ourselves off and go unbeaten in these next 3 games, even if that means 3 draws - Make the points gap between 1st and us look at least as respectable as we can.

 

[Metalhead]

Me too.

But I'd prefer to be higher than 4th.

May I have 1st please? Next year will do.

Thank you.

Oh definitely.

 

[The Swellhead Spur]

Hopefully we get relegated so we can start again.

 

[StartingPrice]

Is it down to the lake I fear?

I don't know. Which is the lake that you fear (and why)?

 

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

Fuck sake. I knew I shouldn't have clicked on this thread...

 

[Shadydan]

Just reading the argument about the elite clubs lolol