Tottenham had a tough November with 1 point from 15. It all started against Chelsea when the spine of the team got injured or were suspended for the month of November. With 10 injuries and a couple of suspensions Tottenham had only 15 players to choose from so it was always going to be tough going especially when we had to come up against the likes of Aston Villa , Wolves , Man City and West Ham. The Newcastle game on Sunday was the last of our hard fixtures until maybe Brighton at the end of the month. Also with only 2 league matches in January hopefully it won't be long until Spur have more players such as Maddison and Van Der Ven back from injury.
The funny thing is that Spurs have been playing great football in November. We went in front in all these matches but for some reason we ended up losing. Let us go through them after the Chelsea game.
Spurs vs Wolves. : Los Celso not fit yet so it was the only game where we played bad. It was like the old Tottenham where Dier and Hojbjerg were slowing down play and hoofing the ball up the pitch. That said we were 1 nil up until the 92nd minute. Then a Wolves player scored the goal of the season and a second went in at the 96th minute. The tiredness at Chelsea playing with 9 men took its toll.
Spurs vs Aston Villa: Ange did no like what he saw at Wolves and changed the team by taking Dier and Hojbjerg out of the team. He played full backs at Centre half and Spurs were all over Villa playing great football. The first half Tottenham should have been up by 3 or 4. They just did not have a clinical finisher and maybe it was the first time since Kane left where we really missed him. Villa got in the second half and again scored twice but the feeling after the game was positive as the team were going in the right direction and playing great football. They just did not finish their chances.
Spurs vs City With half a team and no Centre halves we put 3 past Man City. When a team brings Doku off and replaces him with £100 million Grealish you can see their squad depth. Spurs were bringng on youth team players at the end. Great result. Ange had a go at his players at halftime for being afraid to play his system so Spurs came out better in second half and got the equalizer. Spurs had 40 chances at Villa and 1 went in. We had 3 chances against city and all 3 went in. That's football.
Spurs vs West Ham First 15 minutes Spurs had 95% of possesion and were playing West Ham off the pitch. Again went 1 nil up but West Ham stood solid and playing against a low block team looks to cause Spurs problems. West Ham came out in the second half and scored two jammy goals. Night to forget but again played well.
Spurs vs Newcastle: Ange not happy with his team at West Ham drops Lo Celso for Sarr and the team go gun hoe again but this time they were clinical and were too much for Newcastle. When Sonny plays well Spurs play well and the captain really put in a shift against City and Newcastle. Fairly anonymous in the other games. Newcastle look tired from their first time in Europe in a long time. Spurs capitalised on this and went 4 nil up. A late consolation put a slight dampener on things but the game was won. Spurs go to Notts Forest on Friday for their next game with Everton after this.
So you can see from the above there is alot to get through and with half our team injured it is not the easiest for Ange to pick let alone the right team but any team. Maddison is a big miss and so is VDV in the Centre. Romero as we saw last night is a liability as he nearly got a red card once again which automatically gives him a 4 game ban, His 3 game ban in November really affected the team and contributed to the reason we lost 3 times that month. When he is on the pitch he is pulling the strings so without him we are toast. I thought he would have understood this and went a bit easier against Newcastle but he very nearly got sent off again. You just can't take the aggression out of him. That is his game. Dele Ali is an example of a player that lost his fight and he can't get into a bad Everton team at the moment for that very reason.
So Spurs are over the hump of difficult games. They are 5th in the table 7 points off the top spot. If I was asked if I would take this position at the start of the season after losing our best player I would say yes. But if we didn't have that perfect storm against Chelsea things would have been a whole lot different. The games we have lost we always looked winning those games but the luck at the start of the season against the likes of Sheffield United and Liverpool came back around against the likes of Wolves and West Ham so we are where we are. Overall though I am excited as Ange is playing the best football in the Premier League, even better than De Zerbi's Brighton team and Pepe's City who are not their usual selves. When I look at the mess @deniskj 's Man United are in and I see some of the football Arsenal are playing narrowly scraping victories. I am thankful that Big Ange is our manager and hopefully for a long time to come.
I thought Pap Sarr was immense yesterday. He is so dynamic both on and off the ball it really helps a lot of other players in that setup particularly Bissouma and the full backs.
We also played with a lot more width yesterday than against West Ham. Yes we dominated possession in that game but spent most of the time playing the width of the penalty area and trying to thread it through the eye of a needle.
I’d be concerned what is going to happen in 3 weeks when we lose Son, Sarr and Bissouma and will still be without Maddison, Bentancur and VDV. That’s pretty much the core of the team unavailable!
!BEER
United and Brentford are the games as well. Not easy. Might get Ndombele back in for those game 😄
Turkish League has been suspended. He’s getting paid to do nothing! He’s in paradise 😂
View or trade
BEER.Hey @blanchy, here is a little bit of
BEERfrom @talesfrmthecrypt for you. Enjoy it!Learn how to earn FREE BEER each day by staking your
BEER.Lol...so your few injuries and suspensions affected how you played..emmm...one game a week? How about you play across three competitions with 23 injuries. Anyway, my prediction already came true.
Some slight adversity and Ange couldn't handle it. Next season will be much harder for you lot with European competitions. I expect Ange to be gone in the third/fourth year.
Anyway, can't wait for one game a week ourselves once we get dispatched by Bayern.😏
At what point wasn't Ange facing adversity?
Was it when he inherited a demotivated squad that had finished 8th?
Was it when he had practically no pre-season to prepare with?
Was it when the club sold its best ever player in the Premier League?
Please do tell us all how Ange has had it so easy
Everything you just posted there reinforces my point. Because he lost Kane, inherited a 'poor' squad, had no pre-season, there is no pressure on the guy. He is literally playing one game a week, so his players are always fresh and injury free. The one time you lost some players it was back to back losses.
He even got away with playing a highline with 9 men and getting thumped. Let's see how that works when he has expectation on his shoulders next season.
We had 3 chances to make it 2 all in that game against Chelsea. Far from thumped. the 2 goals were scored in injury time
We are out of Europe, we only have a game a week...I just don't know what we will do with all this free time..😩😩💀💀💀
Big Squad which means even more unhappy players. It will be great to watch.
Slight adversity??? 10 players injured from 25 . Getting 3 goals past city. Let me ask you this. When was the last time Man United got 3 past Man City with a full team. I wouldn't be that worried about Bayern. They lost 5-1 to Frankfurt on Sunday. I would be more worried about a Liverpool massacre on Sunday. I see your captain went hiding for that game by getting a yellow after the final whistle. Joke of a club United. They would love to have a manager like Big Ange. As yee are rudderless once again. Love to see Harry putting you to the knive tonight. A result of bad planning again banking on a kid to lead United's line.
Boo hoo...how does 10 compare with 20+. Also we just lost Maguire too to a groin injury. We have also done a 3-peat over Pep with Ole, remember? The guy who had no tactics.
I am telling you, you will be calling for Ange's head in two years, guaranteed. His refusal to adapt his game will eventually cost him because you won't be able to win anything. But maybe that is right okay for ze Tottenham.
Also, btwn a 30 yr old Kane at 100m+ and a 18 yr old kid for 80m, you would be a fool to go for Kane. Probably the only smartest decision we have made as a club.
Edit: Lost Shaw too btw.
a fool to go for a player that is on 22 goals so far this season and has around 8 good years left in him???? You are joking now right??? I will keep the receipt for this one.
Bundesliga tax. Kane is a great striker but no way he is playing in the premier league for another 8 years and being consistent. Let's be honest.
Big Ange has a plan and sticks to it. ETH is all over the place.
Ten Hag switches up his game to get results. Pep does. Klopp does. Ange is stubborness will be his downfall, you just don't see it because you are a lovestruck fan. Don't worry, the scales will fall off your eyes once he fails to win anything.
Pity ETH didn't switch up his game plan when Spurs hammered them off the pitch a couple of months ago 😉. Out of Europe and another spanking at the weekend. Deary deary me.
Do I need to remind you of the shocking Romero handball that wasn't given at 0-0?
Yeah, even the man renowned for "you don't fix what is not broken"– the mercurial Carlo Ancelloti, has suddenly become a tinker man.
Denis see, those who do well at switching things up are usually guys with strong principles, guys who normally will resist change.
Pep is stubborn too, very. It took quite a lot of time before he began to be a coach that switches things. Arteta is switching things up better than before. I don't need to tell you about Arteta's stubbornness. It is Klopp's stubbornness that landed Liverpool in the Europa, he refused to switch things in the windows before the summer.
Kompany at Burnley will learn if given time. When the physicality of EPL taught Pep a hard lesson, he abandoned his stubborn ways and added physicality to his squad(he said so himself).
So Mr. Ange is in good company, he is intelligent enough to know when it's time to tinker. What he's doing is already a small miracle(European football or not) bro.
Cheers
Exactly what I am trying to hammer into Blanchy's stubborn head, only I don't think Ange evolves. He has no insentive to do so. He has been fortunate with injuries. The one time he wasn't, he had 4 or is it 5 back to back losses. Once he gets into Europe and the fans and club demand he emerges with at least a cup that is when the crumbling will start.
Now, almost fully rested. Wow see the magnitude of typos in my earlier note. A proof that it's not easy to write with fatigue on you.
Okay my chair is out, popcorn or it's equivalent too, Denis I await your reply.
I am glad you are over your fatigue my friend. I dread to see the length of your replies when you are fully rested. 🤣. Are Arsenal gonna leave it late to bottle the League this year or will they manage to do it over Christmas this year.