Match Threads Spurs vs Borussia Dortmund - Match Thread

[Shadydan]

If an equally good team as Tottenham had a 3-0 lead over an equally good team as Dortmund then I'd say game over. But if you've spent any time following Tottenham you should know by now that if there is any possible way to fuck things up, this team will find it somehow. Why? Spursy, that's why.

• 10 point lead over our rivals for Champions League at the end of February? Europa League. Spursy.
  
  
• Only have to draw with already relegated Newcastle who are down to 10 men in order to finish above Arsenal? 5-1 defeat. Spursy.
  
  
• 26 minutes of the second leg against Juve remaining, 1-0 up on the night with two away goals in the bank, at home and dominating. Crash out. Spursy.
  
  
• Five wins on the bounch, overtaken Man City, 1-0 up with 18 minutes to go at home to Wolves. 3-1 defeat. Spursy.
  
  
• 3-0 win in the first leg against Inter Milan. 4-1 away defeat after extra time, got the away goal to luckily get away with that one, same thing in the cup semi against Burnley.

Lasagnagate, those two 3-0 half time leads against the Manchester clubs...the list goes on.

NEVER not underestimate the power of Tottenham Hotspur to go full Spursy. Doesn't matter who the players or manager are, it's in our DNA. It's ALWAYS a risk.

If we get an away goal then I'll relax and enjoy the game. But it's perfectly plausible that they could beat us 3-0 at home. They've done so under Pochettino, after all.

So glad the players and management don't have your mentality.

 

[easley91]

If an equally good team as Tottenham had a 3-0 lead over an equally good team as Dortmund then I'd say game over. But if you've spent any time following Tottenham you should know by now that if there is any possible way to fuck things up, this team will find it somehow. Why? Spursy, that's why.

• 10 point lead over our rivals for Champions League at the end of February? Europa League. Spursy.
  
  
• Only have to draw with already relegated Newcastle who are down to 10 men in order to finish above Arsenal? 5-1 defeat. Spursy.
  
  
• 26 minutes of the second leg against Juve remaining, 1-0 up on the night with two away goals in the bank, at home and dominating. Crash out. Spursy.
  
  
• Five wins on the bounch, overtaken Man City, 1-0 up with 18 minutes to go at home to Wolves. 3-1 defeat. Spursy.
  
  
• 3-0 win in the first leg against Inter Milan. 4-1 away defeat after extra time, got the away goal to luckily get away with that one, same thing in the cup semi against Burnley.

Lasagnagate, those two 3-0 half time leads against the Manchester clubs...the list goes on.

NEVER not underestimate the power of Tottenham Hotspur to go full Spursy. Doesn't matter who the players or manager are, it's in our DNA. It's ALWAYS a risk.

If we get an away goal then I'll relax and enjoy the game. But it's perfectly plausible that they could beat us 3-0 at home. They've done so under Pochettino, after all.

I'm guessing you have ignored Pochettino when he told the fans to believe and have faith in this squad. They won't beat us 3-0, I'd say 3 or 4 games we've conceded 3 minimum in a game this season, Arsenal, Barca, Wolves. We also score away from home, only a couple of games we haven't scored in at all home or away: United and Palace.

I am so glad Poch has eradicated this mentality from the players. Now they fight until the end, and even come back when it looks lost.

 

[hughy]

• 3-0 win in the first leg against Inter Milan. 4-1 away defeat after extra time, got the away goal to luckily get away with that one, same thing in the cup semi against Burnley.

How on earth can you use ties we successfully navigated through to back up your point?!

Plus, was progressing through our CL group after only picking up 1 point from 3 games "Spursy"?

Is being third in the league having not made a signing in over a year, and losing key players to injuries "Spursy"?


Swings and roundabouts mate. Have a bit of optimism.

 

[jimbo]

Agreed completely.

But I'm also old enough to remember Utd and City pissing over us after being 3-0 up. This is Spurs, anything and everything does happen.

Roma v Barca last season should also be a cautionary tale against over-confidence.

 

[easley91]

If an equally good team as Tottenham had a 3-0 lead over an equally good team as Dortmund then I'd say game over. But if you've spent any time following Tottenham you should know by now that if there is any possible way to fuck things up, this team will find it somehow. Why? Spursy, that's why.

• 10 point lead over our rivals for Champions League at the end of February? Europa League. Spursy.
  
  
• Only have to draw with already relegated Newcastle who are down to 10 men in order to finish above Arsenal? 5-1 defeat. Spursy.
  
  
• 26 minutes of the second leg against Juve remaining, 1-0 up on the night with two away goals in the bank, at home and dominating. Crash out. Spursy.
  
  
• Five wins on the bounch, overtaken Man City, 1-0 up with 18 minutes to go at home to Wolves. 3-1 defeat. Spursy.
  
  
• 3-0 win in the first leg against Inter Milan. 4-1 away defeat after extra time, got the away goal to luckily get away with that one, same thing in the cup semi against Burnley.

Lasagnagate, those two 3-0 half time leads against the Manchester clubs...the list goes on.

NEVER not underestimate the power of Tottenham Hotspur to go full Spursy. Doesn't matter who the players or manager are, it's in our DNA. It's ALWAYS a risk.

If we get an away goal then I'll relax and enjoy the game. But it's perfectly plausible that they could beat us 3-0 at home. They've done so under Pochettino, after all.

Sorry for quoting you again, but every time I read this I have more to say. We as fans NEED to get out of this mindset and actually believe in the players and manager. If the 2nd leg was at home and we went a goal down early that negativity could make its way from the stands onto the pitch. Several of those you mentioned were not even this manager and set of players. They are irrelevant. If you look at it from the day Poch took charge, each season has seen this turnarounds decrease.

Newcastle especially was after the Bridge battle and the players lost all confidence and were shot to pieces.

Juventus last season had the experience to turn around a European tie in the manner they did. We learned from that, see Wednesday night.

I was at the Wolves game, we were poor, but Wolves had the hunger. You mention overtaking City, they lost leads to Palace and Leicester themselves.

Inter and Burnley we actually went through overall, so don't know why you bring those up?

Lasagnagate had nothing to do with losing a lead in a match. That was unfortunate food poisoning.

Since Poch has taken over he has slowly gotten rid of this supposed thing that's in our DNA, Actually look at what he has done for us, and see how many games more we have won from drawing or losing than losing from winning positions. I bet you there are more wins than defeats.

 

[Shadydan]

I'm guessing you have ignored Pochettino when he told the fans to believe and have faith in this squad. They won't beat us 3-0, I'd say 3 or 4 games we've conceded 3 minimum in a game this season, Arsenal, Barca, Wolves. We also score away from home, only a couple of games we haven't scored in at all home or away: United and Palace.

I am so glad Poch has eradicated this mentality from the players. Now they fight until the end, and even come back when it looks lost.

Keep saying this but the club has this Spursy/bottler in their fabric because of the fans, not the players.

Too many of our fans worry about a potential fuck up and hang onto the past like it's relevant today, Poch is trying to get rid of that mentality.

 

[Giovanni]

I use this also, you have to close a few pop ups initially but it works fine after that. It's also on BT Sport app if you have that.

Thanks mate, i listened and it worked....great!

A tear to my eye and swollen face haha. Just cant believe how professional we were very un-spurs like. Hopefully our experience and know how is paying off in these big games.

Tie over? Not for me. Dortmund will have players back as will we. The first half of the second leg will be pivitol. They will fly outof the traps for an early goal and we must stand strong.

 

[SUIYHA]

So glad the players and management don't have your mentality.

My mentality would be a great thing for the players and management to have. "Stay on your fucking guard and finish the job" would have been useful mindset to have instead of the "done deal" bollocks they turned up with when they lost 5-1 to 10 man Newcastle when we only needed a point.

I'm guessing you have ignored Pochettino when he told the fans to believe and have faith in this squad. They won't beat us 3-0, I'd say 3 or 4 games we've conceded 3 minimum in a game this season, Arsenal, Barca, Wolves. We also score away from home, only a couple of games we haven't scored in at all home or away: United and Palace.

I am so glad Poch has eradicated this mentality from the players. Now they fight until the end, and even come back when it looks lost.

Dortmund away is a much tougher game than any of those you mentioned except Barca. And no, he has not "eradicated this mentaltiy", despite the improvements we are still prone to a fuck up even this season under this manager in this competition, as the examples I gave plus the Inter and PSV games from earlier in the season showed.

How on earth can you use ties we successfully navigated through to back up your point?!

Plus, was progressing through our CL group after only picking up 1 point from 3 games "Spursy"?

Is being third in the league having not made a signing in over a year, and losing key players to injuries "Spursy"?


Swings and roundabouts mate. Have a bit of optimism.

You're misunderstanding the point.

I've been delighted with the progress of the team to have got this far. I think people went way overboard in their criticism of Levy, the players and our chances of success this season and I was over the moon with Wednesday's result.

But in a competition that has recently seen that Roma V Barca turnaround, the Barca V PSG one from the year before, and the overall history of Spursy even under current players and management - I have to say that anyone who thinks this is already a done deal and that Dortmund 3-0 Tottenham is not a possible result is extremely naive.

 

[easley91]

My mentality would be a great thing for the players and management to have. "Stay on your fucking guard and finish the job" would have been useful mindset to have instead of the "done deal" bollocks they turned up with when they lost 5-1 to 10 man Newcastle when we only needed a point.



Dortmund away is a much tougher game than any of those you mentioned except Barca. And no, he has not "eradicated this mentaltiy", despite the improvements we are still prone to a fuck up even this season under this manager in this competition, as the examples I gave plus the Inter and PSV games from earlier in the season showed.



You're misunderstanding the point.

I've been delighted with the progress of the team to have got this far. I think people went way overboard in their criticism of Levy, the players and our chances of success this season and I was over the moon with Wednesday's result.

But in a competition that has recently seen that Roma V Barca turnaround, the Barca V PSG one from the year before, and the overall history of Spursy even under current players and management - I have to say that anyone who thinks this is already a done deal and that Dortmund 3-0 Tottenham is not a possible result is extremely naive.

Nobody is saying we are 100% though, we are saying you need to be positive and not use results that occurred in many years ago with players that are not here anymore.

 

[SUIYHA]

Sorry for quoting you again, but every time I read this I have more to say. We as fans NEED to get out of this mindset and actually believe in the players and manager. If the 2nd leg was at home and we went a goal down early that negativity could make its way from the stands onto the pitch. Several of those you mentioned were not even this manager and set of players. They are irrelevant. If you look at it from the day Poch took charge, each season has seen this turnarounds decrease.

Newcastle especially was after the Bridge battle and the players lost all confidence and were shot to pieces.

Juventus last season had the experience to turn around a European tie in the manner they did. We learned from that, see Wednesday night.

I was at the Wolves game, we were poor, but Wolves had the hunger. You mention overtaking City, they lost leads to Palace and Leicester themselves.

Inter and Burnley we actually went through overall, so don't know why you bring those up?

Lasagnagate had nothing to do with losing a lead in a match. That was unfortunate food poisoning.

Since Poch has taken over he has slowly gotten rid of this supposed thing that's in our DNA, Actually look at what he has done for us, and see how many games more we have won from drawing or losing than losing from winning positions. I bet you there are more wins than defeats.

Again - the point is "do not count your chickens". Lots of things can fuck up. It seems to happen to us more than most. People are getting way too complacent here.

Inter and Burnley I brought up because we had 3-0 leads that we fucked up and got out of jail in extra time. IIRC we dropped points at home to Fulham after the Inter game and missed out on CL because of it. Hardly a resounding success.

The point about getting back into games from losing positions is not relevant to this discussion, in those situations there is a natural urgency. We are talking about complacency from first legs. I am uneasy when we are supposedly in an impossible situation to fuck up. When was the last time we won both legs of ANY knockout tie in any competition? I'd guess maybe Braga in 2007?!?

Nobody is saying we are 100% though, we are saying you need to be positive and not use results that occurred in many years ago with players that are not here anymore.

Er, yes they are. Whole reason I replied to the thread was because of things like this

Tie.

Over.

 

[db1]

Thanks mate, i listened and it worked....great!

A tear to my eye and swollen face haha. Just cant believe how professional we were very un-spurs like. Hopefully our experience and know how is paying off in these big games.

Tie over? Not for me. Dortmund will have players back as will we. The first half of the second leg will be pivitol. They will fly outof the traps for an early goal and we must stand strong.

It is a great watch, I had the morning off yesterday and watched the whole thing again as well as highlights about 4 times!
I hope we really attack immediately and aggressively for an early away goal, but whatever happens I have trust they'll perform professionally again to finish the job.
Get well soon!

 

[thinktank]

Dortmund are capable of scoring 3 goals at home against anyone. We've let in some very soft goals in this season's CL already. If the players, like you, think the tie is over then there's a good chance we'll lose.

Do you think we won' be able to score against a team that's attacking us all day long like lunatics?

No faith in our ability to counter?

Why wouldn't we score?

 

[Giovanni]

Do you think we won' be able to score against a team that's attacking us all day long like lunatics?

No faith in our ability to counter?

Why wouldn't we score?

Perhaps poor finishing like v united?

 

[thinktank]

Perhaps poor finishing like v united?

Surprised people are so pessimistic tbh.

Wide open games are always in our favour imo.

BD will have no option but to come out the blocks right at us and they won't be holding back.

Should have Harry and Dele back in the squad.

I fully expect us to nick a couple goals.

 

[thinktank]

If we score an early goal, it would deflate them as they’d then need to score at least 5 goals to go through to the QF, so I think they might be wary of our counter attacks and resist playing the high line.

The thing is, this team is an all-out attacking team.

I just can't see how they try and pick off 3 goals and also keep us at bay.

If WE set up properly to counter then it really should game over.

 

[davidmatzdorf]

At the end of the game he had a look on his face that said to me “why the fuck did I reject this team for Chelsea.”

And by the time get got to the tunnel entrance, he had a look on his face that said "$$$$$$$$".

 

[Phomesy]

Do you think we won' be able to score against a team that's attacking us all day long like lunatics?

No faith in our ability to counter?

Why wouldn't we score?

I'm as optimistic as anyone and think Poch has instilled a fantastic sense of grit and mental strength into the team. However, it's very easy to imagine a Dortmund side with Reus and Alcacer going two goals up within 30 minutes - and suddenly the tie is anyone's.

We are heavy favourites and should go in with great confidence but the tie certainly is NOT "over".

Edit: and that has nothing to do with "Bottling" or being "Spursy". It's simply that a full strength Dortmund side at home are a very good team with lots of goals in them.

 

[midoNdefoe]

Er, yes they are. Whole reason I replied to the thread was because of things like this

Tie.

Over.

Jeez mate, you're gonna do yourself a mischief if you 'listen to Thinky'

 

[thinktank]

I'm as optimistic as anyone and think Poch has instilled a fantastic sense of grit and mental strength into the team. However, it's very easy to imagine a Dortmund side with Reus and Alcacer going two goals up within 30 minutes - and suddenly the tie is anyone's.

We are heavy favourites and should go in with great confidence but the tie certainly is NOT "over".

Edit: and that has nothing to do with "Bottling" or being "Spursy". It's simply that a full strength Dortmund side at home are a very good team with lots of goals in them.

Their best case scenario for a win is 4-0.

We score 1, they need to score 5.

We'll likely have Kane, Son, Eriksen (maybe Alli) on the pitch.

It would take, imvho, a monumental tactical fuck up to lose this game.

Poch still has some brushing up to do in this regard...but not that much.

 

[Colonel Dax]

One thing we have to watch out for in the 2nd leg is fatigue.

Chelsea (A) 27.02
Arsenal (H) 02.03
Dortmund (A) 05.03

Two massive London derbies just before the trip to Dortmund might have an effect on our energy levels. Hopefully Poch will know how to manage this though.