Race for the Top 4 - 2018/19

[dontcallme]

The bigger problem is with not replacing him.

It was widely reported LAST SUMMER, by both journalists close to the club and by journalists close to the Belgium national team, that Dembele had decided he needed to move on to either Italy or China for the sake of his career. I'm convinced that the only reason he didn't leave in the summer was because the Chinese transfer window closed while the World Cup was ongoing and Belgium had advanced to the knockout stage.

We desperately needed someone to fill his place in the squad, and we had ample time to line up the transfer for his replacement. We just completely fucking botched it. All the moreso considering that it happened in January, by which time we knew full fucking well that Winks and Sissoko were the only CM options we'd be able to rely on given that Wanyama was crocked and Dier had undergone abdominal surgery.

Completely agree, that is my entire point.

Just don’t understand why people think we should gave kept him.

 

[Hazelton]

This one would be particularly gutting, I'm not going to lie. We shouldn't even be in this 'race', we should have had third wrapped up ages ago.

 

[spursfast]

unfortunately, the team is in freefall; the chances of getting past ajax is remote and losing to Everton bearing in mind Son won't be avail is highly likely, we've now lost our last 10 away games, and i can't see us getting out of this

 

[Mr Pink]

Why in God's green earth did we let Dembele go mid season.

Should of kept him until the summer and then let him go.

Hugely negligent.

 

[JayB]

Honestly think our only hope is if our rivals continue their ineptitude. Given that their opponents don't have anything to play for it's hard to see happening.

 

[Seafordian Spurs]

unfortunately, the team is in freefall; the chances of getting past ajax is remote and losing to Everton bearing in mind Son won't be avail is highly likely, we've now lost our last 10 away games, and i can't see us getting out of this

Free fall is the word. I'm inclined to agree.

Only thing that will stop this is a heroic performance against Ajax and taking that positive energy to the last game.

Maybe ???

 

[JayB]

Why in God's green earth did we let Dembele go mid season.

Should of kept him until the summer and then let him go.

Hugely negligent.

As @dontcallme is pointing out he hasn't even been fit to play in China. His body couldn't cope with the demands of the Premier League anymore, which we knew going into the summer. You're right that it's outright negligence to have put ourselves in a position of desperately needing both Winks and Sissoko to play in every important match, but keeping Dembele around wouldn't have solved the underlying issue. We needed a signing or a loan to fill his role in the squad and we didn't get it.

 

[spursfast]

Free fall is the word. I'm inclined to agree.

Only thing that will stop this is a heroic performance against Ajax and taking that positive energy to the last game.

Maybe ???

gotta hope ..that's all we got left

 

[doctor stefan Freud]

I tend to blame the lack of squad investment as one of the significant factors mitigating the situation we find ourselves in. But Poch and the squad need to also face a level of criticism.

Today was just the footballing equivalent of the Victorian freak show. It’s an absurd reminder of the lunacy the club suffers from time to time. But there have been some abject performances over the last few months: this is on Poch and the players, as much as the failure to invest in squad players. The two are, of course, linked, but equally we’ve been shocking against lower opposition.

Levy, Poch and everyone whose consecutively underperformed this season need to take something from this, both for the very short term (the next eight days) and beyond (pre-season, the transfer window) to ensure we don’t undo the last three seasons’ progress

 

[Lilbaz]

538 has us at 97% likelihood of qualifying for CL after todays results.

That 97% wasn't worth much it seems.

 

[bat-chain]

The Disgrace for the top 4.

 

[King of Otters]

Completely agree, that is my entire point.

Just don’t understand why people think we should gave kept him.

Because having him in the squad, even if he’s only available for a fraction of the games, is immeasurably better than selling him and then not replacing him?

If Dembele had stuck around he could have made a difference in just one of the numerous games we’ve lost since he left. At this point, that’s the difference between top 4 and Thursday night ignominy.

Still struggling to understand why people think we should have kept him?

 

[Mr Pink]

Dele, Eriksen and Lucas need to deliver next week.

It's on them I'm afraid.

 

[SteveH]

Because having him in the squad, even if he’s only available for a fraction of the games, is immeasurably better than selling him and then not replacing him?

If Dembele had stuck around he could have made a difference in just one of the numerous games we’ve lost since he left. At this point, that’s the difference between top 4 and Thursday night ignominy.

Still struggling to understand why people think we should have kept him?

What about he wanted out and we knew he was not at all reliable fitness wise?

 

[dontcallme]

Because having him in the squad, even if he’s only available for a fraction of the games, is immeasurably better than selling him and then not replacing him?

If Dembele had stuck around he could have made a difference in just one of the numerous games we’ve lost since he left. At this point, that’s the difference between top 4 and Thursday night ignominy.

Still struggling to understand why people think we should have kept him?

Yes, your point is nonsense.

Keeping an unfit player wanting to leave because he might make a difference in one game is something no club would do except possibly West Ham.

 

[Everlasting Seconds]

At the start of the season, I'd say top 4 would always go down to the wire with a huge chance of missing out. So on one hand, we are not worse off than what I would have thought back in August. The schedule also pointed to gathering the most points midseason, and hopefully not losing it all by May. But on the other hand, we managed to achieve such a grand position for top 3 a few weeks back, and given that several top 4 contenders are having a mediocre season, we ought to have sealed the deal by now. However, we are still in the race, and I'll take that for now.

 

[worcestersauce]

To all those people who say we don't deserve top four can I humbly ask what teams do deserve it then if not us?

 

[JayB]

I tend to blame the lack of squad investment as one of the significant factors mitigating the situation we find ourselves in. But Poch and the squad need to also face a level of criticism.

Today was just the footballing equivalent of the Victorian freak show. It’s an absurd reminder of the lunacy the club suffers from time to time. But there have been some abject performances over the last few months: this is on Poch and the players, as much as the failure to invest in squad players. The two are, of course, linked, but equally we’ve been shocking against lower opposition.

Levy, Poch and everyone whose consecutively underperformed this season need to take something from this, both for the very short term (the next eight days) and beyond (pre-season, the transfer window) to ensure we don’t undo the last three seasons’ progress

I hear what you're saying but I don't think you can separate the "abject performances over the last few months" from the lack of investment. One followed directly from the other.

There was no club in England who had to deal with more fatigue and less preseason preparation as a result of the World Cup. We knew -- had known for multiple transfer windows leading up to the summer -- that Wanyama, Lamela, and Dembele were crocked. Kane's ankles have been a concern for years. Son was always going to miss two months of the season on international duty.

Despite all of that being known in the summer, we didn't supply Poch with a squad that was sufficient to enable to him to rotate at all in key areas. The season-long injury crisis can't be put down to chance when the players are being overworked. The players are absolutely out on their feet, with no hope of being able to harry and press the way Poch wants them to. It's no coincidence that we've run out of steam, and the ultimate responsibility lies with the failure to recruit appropriately.

 

[Everlasting Seconds]

Our issue is not whether or not we sold Dembele. We have 99 problems, Dembele isn't one of them.

 

[bubble07]

Why in God's green earth did we let Dembele go mid season.

Should of kept him until the summer and then let him go.

Hugely negligent.

11 million reasons