What are some of the less obvious reasons for our success thus far?

[TwanYid]

We all know the obvious ones:

-the emergence of Dier at DCM...
-the emergence of Dele Alli as a player, period...
-the addition of Alderwiereld, who's changed our defense not only because of his abilities but also because he's reanimated/reinvigorated the formerly dour and sulky Jan Vertongen...
-Kane has been very good all season (not white-hot like last year but still quite solid, even when not scoring)
-the emergence of Lamela...
-the "addition by subtraction" policy of jettisoning malcontented, shit players...
-Lloris has been Lloris...
-Poch has turned out to be better than many of us- including me- ever dreamed of.

Those are some of the things that have made us better this season- things which are fairly apparent to anyone who follows Spurs. But what are some reasons for our improvement which might not be all that obvious? Things we might not even think about- aspects we might overlook- but which have actually had a huge impact on what's currently happening at Tottenham?

I'll go first. Admittedly this is PURE guesswork, but could some of our good play be down to Poch's assistants (none of whom are really known to us)? I mean we all knew Kevin, Joe, Steffen, Les etc., but Poch's guys are a bit of a mystery (at least to me). Could there be one or two gems among his group?

Secondly, I would say that the hire of Paul Mitchell has been a factor as well- but again, that's just conjecture on my part.

Anyway, those are my stabs in the dark regarding a (possibly) unknown factor behind our resurgence. What say you? What is something that most of us don't know about/haven't considered, but which has contributed directly to our success thus far?

 

[whatislifewithoutspurs]

Levy

 

[DaSpurs]

The fact our players don't play like timid little daisies anymore and are actually willing to push the ball towards an opponent's goal. Unbelievable what a difference that has made.

 

[F_AN2CE]

Eriksen and stealth.
+Lloris

 

[ClintEastwould]

Slightly obvious but left out in OP

Dembele finally being utilized in a way that benefits the team

 

[blackburn]

Purely down to Poch.

As at Southampton he's building a team of young, energetic, ambitious players; bad apples such as Ade, Kaboul and Lennon (whatever he did I don't know) are removed to the benefit of the group. The team always comes before the individual.

I've been critical of Levy but he finally seems to have arrived at a structure that works.

 

[Mullers]

Time.
We had the worst start since the Ramos era and there were beginning to be comparisons with Ramos.
The players needed time to get used to Poch's philosophy, they have had a whole season and another preseason, they are now fully aware of what is expected of them. I still think he needs more time, the youth team fringe players need to develop more, Njie had his first professional season with Lyon last year, Son has come in and made an immediate impact but he still needs time.

The defensive part of our game still needs to be tighten another season of Poch working with them, will be of real benefit.

Another reason is we haven't had any key players leave, retaining Lloris has been vitally important.

 

[CarrickSpurgus]

Dembele's been instrumental in our games vs the big teams and Walkers form has been impressive,he seems to have irradicated the ridiculous mistakes/decision making that he always reserved for the high profile games.

 

[Kiedis]

The conditioning of the players. Not only because of the fitness, but injury prevention. Previous seasons we would always have players out with muscle injuries. Now, it's like they don't even exist.

The only one I can remember since Poch took over was Mason against Chelsea in the 5-3 game.

The injuries we're picking up now are things like knocks and twisting of ankles. And those are pretty much impossible to prevent.

 

[punkisback]

playing 3 Central Midfielders rather than 2 and 1 no 10 makes us more solid

 

[Booney]

Getting rid of some of the poison such as Adebayor and Capoue. Although they weren't playing you wonder how much their presence affected team spirit. The squad seems so much more together this year

 

[Trix]

Poch and Baldini for pushing through a much needed revolution behind the scenes. It has changed the entire mentality of the club, and we are now starting to see the benefit.

 

[neptunes]

the Poch and his team for turning average a good players into very good and excellent players which in turn instilled unbelievable BELIEF in the squad that our SPURS are being respected and worrying sincerely the other so called top teams.

 

[Shadydan]

The fact that the majority of the squad had a full pre season is paying dividends, we look super fit.

 

[michaelden]

Poch and Baldini for pushing through a much needed revolution behind the scenes. It has changed the entire mentality of the club, and we are now starting to see the benefit.

I saw this and the similar post about Baldini in a different thread and it reminded me of a few things: -

1. Gomes struggling to adapt to England/ Spurs
2. Gio & his antics
3. Our injuries
4. our press releases

And I remember a few things from following Juve and how they helped foreign players to adapt. Each player has a local person to speak to at any time. And that person will help with EVERY issue. Kids' schooling, a vindictive ex, a burst toilet, buying better towels, getting tickets to the opera etc... They are almost a concierge or a butler or a friend or a bit of everything.

Juve also had a medical centre that could host operations, it was the nuts! They invested in advanced techniques to help aging stars like blood transfusions and platelet boosting. They hire former players to help maintain the family theme and build on it.

The players are protected from everything, press are paid off, jilted lovers silenced and compensated. The players/ team are the product, everything is geared up to delivering the performance and image. Nothing is overlooked.

Now I can see why Baldini would be bought in, not just his black book, but for his knowledge of these systems and how he can implement them in THFC. All these things might seem small, like Spurs playing 18 hours later than Arsenal, but at the peak the performance gains are small and losses can be big. But its the cumulation of these small benefits that eventually separate out the teams, get the 3 pts instead of 1, and over the course of a season get you 78 not 70 points.

 

[Lilbaz]

Our full backs don't push to far forward. If they do it is only one at a time and dier drops back.

We pass forward more than last season.

Our front 4 swap positions.

Overall we are a lot more fluid but yet keep our structure.

If we can close down wide players before they can get crosses in that would make us a very strong team.

 

[spursfan77]

Success? We haven't done anything yet. Let's not fall into that trap again please.

We've improved massively over the last two years. It's nice being a Spurs fan again as games are more enjoyable but I'm holding fire on the word success until we actually achieve something.

 

[HotspurFC1950]

Poch has gradually (and still working on it) brought together players with the same character. Hard working, non complaining, focused, get on with it bunch of talented players.

 

[oskathegobshite]

The Euros this summer could be a motivating factor with us having a decent number of players in contention to go - especially with England. Seems like Hodgson has a season ticket at the lane this year.

 

[Gassin's finest]

Some excellent points in here. On the pitch, the simple case of having good defenders, as solid DM protecting them, and full backs who aren't expected to be wingers as well, are all contributing to the stinginess of the defence.

Off the pitch, the simple fact that we no longer have any disruptive, sub-par wankers like Kaboul, Adebayor or Lennon around, is hugely positive. Everyone seems happy and on the same page. No big ego's or Bertie Big Bollocks anymore.