The Mauricio Pochettino thread

[Japhet]

Can't believe some claim we're lucky when we had no pre-season, have played 3/4s of a season away from home, have had so many injuries, only been able to play our front four together in 10 out of (54?) games, etc.

I think our luck came by way of all of our rivals failing repeatedly to take advantage of our exhaustion, injuries and poor form. Under normal circumstances I'd expect at least one of them to capitalise but they all failed miserably. Utd. had a bit of a surge but then reverted to type. Never known anything like it. I'd also say that any luck we did get was more than compensated for by the amount of shit we had to endure.

 

[ackie]

It's the first 11 that needs upgrading!

Seriously? we may need 11 players but not the first 11 mate. Remember the fatigues of these players.

 

[Khilari]

Can't believe some claim we're lucky when we had no pre-season, have played 3/4s of a season away from home, have had so many injuries, only been able to play our front four together in 10 out of (54?) games, etc.

I think they mean "we got lucky" that our top 4 rivals were so inept.

 

[CoopsieDeadpool]

I think they mean "we got lucky" that our top 4 rivals were so inept.

OR they were all extremely unlucky that we had such a good start that we built up a gap that was just a little too much for them to overcome, despite us falling by the wayside.

For all the dodgy performances we've had, the less than exciting football we've played, and the lowly teams that have beaten us. There's still only 2 teams in the whole league that have won more games than us & that's how it'll remain until the end of the season.

Sure we've had luck, but we made it ourselves earlier in the season. Now we've got to hope we can address the squad issues & regain the consistency we've shown prior to this season.

 

[Shadydan]

OR they were all extremely unlucky that we had such a good start that we built up a gap that was just a little too much for them to overcome, despite us falling by the wayside.

For all the dodgy performances we've had, the less than exciting football we've played, and the lowly teams that have beaten us. There's still only 2 teams in the whole league that have won more games than us & that's how it'll remain until the end of the season.

Sure we've had luck, but we made it ourselves earlier in the season. Now we've got to hope we can address the squad issues & regain the consistency we've shown prior to this season.

Amazing that people ignore the fact that we were very consistent in the first part of the season, 45 points in 19 which allowed us to open up a gap between us and the others. If people are going to keep mentioning the fact that we're lucky that our rivals couldn't take advantage then they need to mention the fact that our lead was so significant in the first place which didn't allow them to catch us.

People just mis-use the word luck.

 

[nicdic]

I think our luck came by way of all of our rivals failing repeatedly to take advantage of our exhaustion, injuries and poor form. Under normal circumstances I'd expect at least one of them to capitalise but they all failed miserably. Utd. had a bit of a surge but then reverted to type. Never known anything like it. I'd also say that any luck we did get was more than compensated for by the amount of shit we had to endure.

It's not luck, that's just being better than them. With a fit squad, less injuries, etc. we'd have smoked them all.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

I seriously don't understand some of the negativity.
We didn't sign any player.
We sold our best midfielder in Dembele.
Have many injuries.
But we have a new stadium...probably one of the best.
Still manage to make top 4 irrespective of the injuries and not signing players.
ANDDDDD we are in the semi final of the Champions league when many thought we were doomed from the stage group.

Let's appreciate what we have and where we are.
In the words of MoPo: Let's believe.

For next season, we can all see that the squad needs upgrading and we have an ambitious manager.
Like someone said, I think we should challenge for the premiership and think we will win a trophy next season. We have been close. Yes we can!

Coys

New even better chapter to come.

 

[Blackrat1299]

There are some testy posters on here. In my opinion, posters are not offering excuses, they are giving reasons as to why they think things have gone wrong. An excuse is what you offer up when you have shit yourself. Come on guys this is a forum whereby opinions should be welcome.............NO this is not an excuse or reason.

 

[$hoguN]

Seriously? we may need 11 players but not the first 11 mate. Remember the fatigues of these players.

Well we clearly need to upgrade our fullbacks and CM at the very least. Therefore yes, our first 11 needs some upgrades.

In my opinion it’s been abundantly clear all season that the squad has gone stale, and moreover that this run of form has been coming. We need to make some big moves this summer or risk losing the ground we have gained

 

[Stamford]

Seriously? we may need 11 players but not the first 11 mate. Remember the fatigues of these players.

The first 11 definitely needs upgrading

 

[nicdic]

The first 11 definitely needs upgrading

If we want to challenge for the title sure.

But we're comfortably the third best team in the league when we have a fit squad, and we'd run City and Liverpool close in one-off games as shown.

 

[Stamford]

If we want to challenge for the title sure.

But we're comfortably the third best team in the league when we have a fit squad, and we'd run City and Liverpool close in one-off games as shown.

Yeah I want to challenge for the title and to keep Kane we need to. Being nearly men now isn't enough, poch knows it

 

[dtxspurs]

If we want to challenge for the title sure.

But we're comfortably the third best team in the league when we have a fit squad, and we'd run City and Liverpool close in one-off games as shown.

Which happens for maybe 10 games a season.

 

[nicdic]

Which happened for maybe 10 games this season.

Fixed.

 

[shelfmonkey]

Seriously? we may need 11 players but not the first 11 mate. Remember the fatigues of these players.

I didn't say ALL 11, I was responding to the other poster, he says the squad needs upgrading, I merely pointed out that it's the first team that needs it.

 

[RichieS]

Two observations regarding "luck":

1) The argument that we've been lucky all our rivals have failed to take advantage of our struggles can easily be flipped around to they're all bloody lucky we've had said struggles because they wouldn't have got anywhere near us otherwise!

2) There's no such thing anyway. We weren't lucky to beat Fulham, Burnley or Brighton - we kept going right to the end and the fact that we were better than them in those games shone through. If we finish 3rd/4th it's because we were better than 17/16 other teams in the league.

Yeah I want to challenge for the title and to keep Kane we need to. Being nearly men now isn't enough, poch knows it

We all want to win the league but we have to be patient. How long has it taken us to achieve consistent CL qualification? Our expectations need to be tempered by recognition of the need to consolidate.

 

[Darth Vega]

This is interesting and I'm not entirely sure what to make of it yet.

 

[wrd]

Poch chats so much bollocks in his press conferences, earlier this year we were 10 years away from winning anything, I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[cjbyid]

Yeah wouldn't worry about any of that.

 

[Shadydan]

The problem with these press conferences is that the media will highlight anything said which is slightly controversial in order to generate clicks.