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Pochettino admits they are in a 'bad period'

bigspurs

Well-Known Member
Aug 9, 2005
3,193
2,419
This side is seriously lacking in leadership on the pitch. Also with our first choice 11 starting games, we've got the quality to beat anyone. But as soon as we lose a couple of them to injury, the whole playing system and belief system breaks down. It's amazing how up and down their confidence goes throughout the season! First they can't score goals, then they can, now they can't again...

We need to strengthen this squad and bring in a natural leader, not to mention another recognised striker. Hopefully this side will wake up before we go out of both cup comps and finish outside of the top four! Fingers crossed
 

yido_number1

He'll always be magic
Jun 8, 2004
8,645
16,810
This side is seriously lacking in leadership on the pitch. Also with our first choice 11 starting games, we've got the quality to beat anyone. But as soon as we lose a couple of them to injury, the whole playing system and belief system breaks down. It's amazing how up and down their confidence goes throughout the season! First they can't score goals, then they can, now they can't again...

We need to strengthen this squad and bring in a natural leader, not to mention another recognised striker. Hopefully this side will wake up before we go out of both cup comps and finish outside of the top four! Fingers crossed

Good teams are built on solid foundations. We're missing half of our first choice defence and its making the players in front of them nervous. Once Jan and Rose are back in I think things will be dramatically different.

What we do need to do, however, is massively improve our away performances. Whenever we play on a big pitch we seem to struggle to close the space down.

Fulham is a nice compact pitch and hopefully that will be a chance for us to find some momentum before our next league game.
 

1882andallthat

Well-Known Member
Feb 2, 2009
2,820
4,157
Good teams are built on solid foundations. We're missing half of our first choice defence and its making the players in front of them nervous. Once Jan and Rose are back in I think things will be dramatically different.

What we do need to do, however, is massively improve our away performances. Whenever we play on a big pitch we seem to struggle to close the space down.

Fulham is a nice compact pitch and hopefully that will be a chance for us to find some momentum before our next league game.
We sure as hell need to quickly learn to deal with playing on a big pitch because if we don't we will find ourselves really up against it next week at Wembley and it's a fact that we can't escape that the semis and the final of the FA Cup are also played at Wembley and then there's the not so small matter of us almost certainly playing all of our home games there next season.

What are we planning to do, reduce the size of the pitch dimensions at Wembley next season ?

We have an identical pitch with the same dimensions as the Wembley pitch at our training ground, it's high time we started intensive sessions on dealing with it.
 

yido_number1

He'll always be magic
Jun 8, 2004
8,645
16,810
We sure as hell need to quickly learn to deal with playing on a big pitch because if we don't we will find ourselves really up against it next week at Wembley and it's a fact that we can't escape that the semis and the final of the FA Cup are also played at Wembley and then there's the not so small matter of us almost certainly playing all of our home games there next season.

What are we planning to do, reduce the size of the pitch dimensions at Wembley next season ?

We have an identical pitch with the same dimensions as the Wembley pitch at our training ground, it's high time we started intensive sessions on dealing with it.

Let's not get too dramatic. I'm sure we will and at the end of the day we're 3rd in the league with a decent run of games to come. 2nd should still be within our reach and that would represent our highest ever premier league finish and first above Arsenal for as long as I can remember....

It's times like this the team need support and backing rather than moans and groans...
 

TottenhamMattSpur

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
10,925
16,007
It seems like we wasted our first team last night. We'd have got a similar result with the 2nd string IMO. Now we'll rest most of them at Fulham and probably go out of the FA Cup.
 

greywizard2020

Well-Known Member
Jun 9, 2003
331
709
I actually thought we couldn't get a worse performance than the one against Liverpool, but somehow we managed that against an 8th placed team that made 5 changes who compete in a league comparable to the Eredivisie.

Everything about our movement & passing was laborious, predictable & devoid of anything that resembles dynamism & intensity. Being able to pass & move with minimal touches ought to be a base standard for a Premier League player, however for a group who are supposed to be challenging for the title it was alarming that we were bereft of such a skill. It was just poor. We have no speed in the attacking areas & that in part is why the Walker-Rose dynamic really is so important in giving that width & the aforementioned speed.

The move to a back-four just doesn't work & I agree with the sentiments that once a couple of the key members of the defence are missing, it falls apart. The squad appears incapable of competing on 3 x fronts & I would be remiss to say that we can just about manage on one front with the current group. At the moment no-one in the first team is scared of the other members of the squad replacing them. Sissoko is a player we should never have signed. In the years he was with Newcastle United he wasn't exactly their player of the year & he was part of a larger problem that took the Toon Army into the Championship. If you can't look good against a Belgian mid-table side, then when will you ever look good?

I admire Davies' work ethic, however, as recent performances have shown he does not look an effective back-up to Rose. I would be half-tempted to look at Walker-Peters in that wing-back spot for Fulham.

There has to be a change on Sunday. I would love to see the likes of Walker-Peters & Edwards given a start because the replacements don't inspire anything other than grimaces & sighs.

I really, really hope the manager makes the changes because it would truly be awful to lose & to do it with a whimper.
 

jolsnogross

Well-Known Member
May 17, 2005
3,729
5,431
We look more concerned about losing than winning at the moment. We're a bit too conservative, nobody is getting in behind the opposition, and we're not creating chances. It's a spell of AVB footy, exemplified by that awful second half at Liverpool.

And there's no magic wand for it because our bench doesn't look very dynamic with all of our injuries. Danny Rose will make a difference when he's back, but til then we just need an attitude adjustment so that our intensity ramps up. I'm not confident that we'll succeed at Craven Cottage.
 

Sweetsman

Well-Known Member
Jan 30, 2011
6,673
6,588
It's not leaders we need, what we need is for players to think on the pitch. There was a collective implosion of onfield game sense, especially with the goal. The manager sets up the formation, but it needs the players to engage and constantly think about how to expose weaknesses in the opposition.
 

Chris_D

Well-Known Member
Feb 24, 2007
2,652
1,278
I try to always be optimistic but even I'm struggling this week. We've been poor two games in a row and we need to face up to that. One thing that's been clear all season is that we don't have enough depth in our squad. I was hoping last night Sissoko and Nkoudou might show they can push for the first team but not based on what I saw. Clutching at straws, I think we will (just about) end this month in the top four and through to last sixteen of the Europa League and last eight of the FA Cup. Maybe Vertonghen, Rose and Lamela can all come back at their best to give us the shot in the arm we badly need. If we keep losing this season will be over real soon.
 

hutchiniho

Top Cat
Mar 19, 2006
4,662
5,879
Said it before, without Rose and Walker influencing a game we seriously struggle. I was always one of Rose's biggest critics but he has quickly become our most influential player.
The rest has been said. Davies not close to Rose, Dier at CB hasn't looked comfortable. All 3 attacking mids want to play narrow so we too often get bogged down. We need both fullbacks fit and providing width high up the pitch.
 

Sweetsman

Well-Known Member
Jan 30, 2011
6,673
6,588
I don't want this comnent to reflect ill on Lamela but if this team is relying on Lamela for us to be successful then we are in deep doo-doo.
No, we're in doo doo, because he is very important. He does a lot of stuff that isn't spectacular, but the main thing is that he maintains the press.
 
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