- Jul 6, 2012
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Yep. I've been saying it for all this season, but when the next one comes around there are no excuses anymore - the absolute starting point is having ten outfield players each week who can work their bollocks off, press high and hard, and play with intensity. People focus on technical quality upgrades, but our best performances under Poch have almost always come on the back of putting in a mega shift at such intensity that the opposition just get blown away by it. The tempo and verve to our football follow on from that.
Poch likes to talk about being brave, well to me now that means making no one untouchable and if players aren't doing it then they're out. That's not just the easy targets, if the likes of a Son, Alli or even Kane cant or wont put in a shift and do the dirty work they used to do, which is important as the defensive effort starts at the front and impacts massively on what then happens in defence (which we've seen this season) then he's got to act. We've got to get back to much better standards, be more compact and playing as a tight unit where all pull their weight.
It's the thing that has annoyed me the most all season. Watching us play and not knowing what to expect. Before we used to have that style and even if we didn't win, we imposed ourselves on the other team. Now every game has been the feeling of us 'making do and getting by'.
Even if Poch wants to change his style because of our players he still has to decide on ONE particular style to work from. Not a mishmash where he's trying to accomodate his favourites.