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***OMT - Tottenham Hotspur v Borussia Dortmund - first leg***

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Forgetting the team selections for a second, thats three games in a row without a win. Are we beginning to choke? Really need to win on Sunday, don't think it will be as easy as some think.
 
balesleftboot said:
Did you see the Dortmund players celebrating with the fans after the game? If a Europa League game can matter to them with their recent success then it can certainly matter to us!

I think the format has to change though, no more of this Thursday night cobblers. Put it back to the old UEFA Cup format, and play the games on a Tuesday/Wednesday on a seperate week to the Champions League. Why can't they do this?
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I think if we were 2nd in the league with a 16 point cushion from 3rd we might have played a stronger team and focused more on this match, perhaps our targets are different and our challenges harder?
 
balesleftboot said:
Forgetting the team selections for a second, thats three games in a row without a win. Are we beginning to choke? Really need to win on Sunday, don't think it will be as easy as some think.
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I certainly think Poch fears that, hence the team last night and the likely strong team we'll play vs Villa to try and get goals and confidence back...
 
Tottenham 1-0 Palace
Swansea 2-2 Tottenham
Bournemouth 1-5 Tottenham
Arsenal 1-1 Tottenham
Tottenham 0-0 Chelsea
Tottenham 1-2 Saudi Sportswashing Machine
Tottenham 0-1 Palace (FA Cup)
Tottenham 2-1 Swansea

Here's the table based on the 7 league rounds that came after European games:

17 Leicester
16
15
14 Watford
13 West Ham
12 Tottenham, Crystal Palace
11 Emirates Marketing Project, Arsenal, Man Utd Stoke, West Brom
10 Liverpool
9 Bournemouth
8 Everton
7 Chelsea, Southampton, Sunderland
6 Norwich, Saudi Sportswashing Machine
5 Swansea
4
5
2
1 Aston Villa
 
the dza said:
Apart from when we lose to Anderlecht 1-2, then go and beat Bournemouth 1-5.

Or beat Qarabag 3-1 and then beat Palace 1-0.

Or beat Fiorentina 3-0 then beat Swansea 2-1.

Calling a 1-1 away draw to Arsenal 'dropped points' and then blaming it on Europa fixtures would also be ridiculous. A draw away at Arsenal is a par result for any team.

There are times when we get poor results with Europa fixtures and times we get them without. Like I said, the last one you could really point to was playing a full strength team v Qarabag away and then drawing 0-0 with Chelsea at home, I think that cost us and agree with you on that one. But Poch has, correctly imo, prioritised since then.

There's not a lot more to be said on this to be honest, I think we've done it to death.
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Swansea we drew - their first points against us in the EPL if IIRC
Saudi Sportswashing Machine we lost - worst side in the league at the time IMO and currently still awful
Chelsea - we drew and they were 16th!!!

I agree we can get some good results but it has cost us Against poor teams we should get more points against
 
glorygloryeze said:
Over the long run if we keep thinking like that, yes. However, we have to be realistic: we are in a race to finish top 3 as much as we might be in a race to win the title. We have to make sure we finish top 3, get to the group stage and use it to invest in the squad (whilst also building our new stadium) and then maybe go for the league again next year.
Fair enough i say (as long as we ACTUALLY strengthen in the summer of course!)
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My point is that at this stage, considering our current position and the way we have been playing this season, we should be thinking that we are in the race to win the title, not in the race to finish top 3. If we have the mentality that we are in the race to finish top 3 then that means that we are starting to look below us rather than above us which will have a negative effect on our performance moving forward.
 
Vega said:
As a first XI i dont think we are, what we say was that against a good european side, some of those within our squad are not quite up to standard
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If we had met Dortmund in the final with some of our rested first teamers in, it would have been 'closer'. I still think we are some way off Dortmund.

Also look at the gap between Dortmund and Hertha. They are under no league pressure.
P Team GP W D L F A GD Pts
1 Bayern 25 20 3 2 59 13 46 63
2 Dortmund 25 18 4 3 59 25 34 58
3 Hertha Berlin 25 12 6 7 33 26 7 42
 
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vkn17 said:
My point is that at this stage, considering our current position and the way we have been playing this season, we should be thinking that we are in the race to win the title, not in the race to finish top 3. If we have the mentality that we are in the race to finish top 3 then that means that we are starting to look below us rather than above us which will have a negative effect on our performance moving forward.
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Sadly, we c0cked up two chances to go top of the league (even if for only a few hours). We were 2-1 up vs a ten-men Arsenal side in a mini-slump and with some key defensive players injured.
We have to be realistic and realise that if we could not win one of those games and go top (esp the Arsenal one) then we have be honest and acknowledge that we are not quite there yet.
We are as close to Emirates Marketing Project/Arsenal as we are to Leicester. If we were only 3 points behind then sure, but we are not plus we have quite a tough April coming up.
Who would have expected us to be in with a shout of the title or top 3 at this stage?
Realism has to win, because c0cking up a top 3/4 finish from here whilst daring to reach for all things is not out of the realms of possibility; imagine the deflation if THAT were to happen?!:eek:
 
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glorygloryeze said:
Sadly, we c0cked up two chances to go top of the league (even if for only a few hours). We were 2-1 up vs a ten-men Arsenal side in a mini-slump and with some key defensive players injured.
We have to be realistic and realise that if we could not win one of those games and go top (esp the Arsenal one) then we have be realistic that we are not quite there yet.
We are as lose to Emirates Marketing Project/Arsenal as we are to Leicester. If we were only 3 points behind then sure, but we are not plus we have quite a tough April coming up.
Who would have expected us to be in with a shout of the title or top 3 at this stage?
Realism has to win, because c0cking up a top 3/4 finish from here whilst daring to reach for all things is not out of the realms of possibility; imagine the deflation if THAT were to happen?!:eek:
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Some Spurs followers would get some perverse pleasure from it! They would moan all summer long, then restart the Levy out Harry back campaign.
 
glorygloryeze said:
Sadly, we c0cked up two chances to go top of the league (even if for only a few hours). We were 2-1 up vs a ten-men Arsenal side in a mini-slump and with some key defensive players injured.
We have to be realistic and realise that if we could not win one of those games and go top (esp the Arsenal one) then we have be honest and acknowledge that we are not quite there yet.
We are as lose to Emirates Marketing Project/Arsenal as we are to Leicester. If we were only 3 points behind then sure, but we are not plus we have quite a tough April coming up.
Who would have expected us to be in with a shout of the title or top 3 at this stage?
Realism has to win, because c0cking up a top 3/4 finish from here whilst daring to reach for all things is not out of the realms of possibility; imagine the deflation if THAT were to happen?!:eek:
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Fair point but it's also important to remember that the "mini slump" happened in a period where we played 3 games in 7 days which to me was the key reason. You could see the tired legs and lack of concentration/pressing in both those games Assuming that we are out of the EL at this stage we only have PL to focus on until end of season and can properly rest and prepare for the remaining games.
 
vkn17 said:
Fair point but it's also important to remember that the "mini slump" happened in a period where we played 3 games in 7 days which to me was the key reason. You could see the tired legs and lack of concentration/pressing in both those games Assuming that we are out of the EL at this stage we only have PL to focus on until end of season and can properly rest and prepare for the remaining games.
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Well, it seems Poch thinks the same thing...whichever way one looks at it..
 
Vega said:
I would go full Under 21 mode next Thursday and give the paying public their money back.
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Daniel levy
balesleftboot said:
Did you see the Dortmund players celebrating with the fans after the game? If a Europa League game can matter to them with their recent success then it can certainly matter to us!

I think the format has to change though, no more of this Thursday night cobblers. Put it back to the old UEFA Cup format, and play the games on a Tuesday/Wednesday on a seperate week to the Champions League. Why can't they do this?
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Because there would not be enough space for teams to play domestic midweek matches
 
What's annoying me is reading other teams forums and seeing comments like this shows how 'brick' we are, and that we are going to get thrashed in the Champions League. We put out a reserve side against one of the very best teams in Europe! that is not a true reflection of the level we are at.
 
Bedfordspurs said:
I don't consider Jan to be first team at the moment

Get it with Alli

Don't get it with son... Not with Chadli too

We played with no centre forward away to one of the best sides in the world... When teams do that against us we main like hell as fans and call it negative

Make no mistake I don't see the Europa league as a priority due to the nature of the effect it has on league results but it makes no sense to sacrifice those league results and then play a weak team

It's like climbing a mountain and stopping near the top because your scared of heights
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Haha. Funny. I did that many years ago when almost near the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. :(
 
I'm a bit late to the party with this. I think Poch took a calculated gamble last night that simply didn't pay off. The plan being (imo) that the starting 11, plus the options off the bench, would be enough to secure a draw, or manage a narrow defeat with an away goal. If things weren't going to plan, he could bring on experience in Dembele or Kane or Lamela etc., which is exactly what happened. Unfortunately it wasn't enough, and Dortmund continued to steamroller us. I don't believe he 'threw' the match, I don't believe he saw it as a severely weakened team selection. I don't believe it was disrespectful to Dortmund. I do believe it was a game plan that didn't work out.
I am not convinced that had he started with any or all of Dembele, Kane or Lamela that it would have been too different. Others maybe are. Of course, we will never know. But if they had started, and Dortmund had still run us ragged, would he then have been able to take those players off part way through to give them the rest that many think they need? I don't think he would.
I am disappointed with last night, of course I am. I wish we could have held our own, I wish we could have put in the type of performance we know this team can, and I wish we could have come away with a satisfactory result. Poch is juggling priorities and last night the plan just did not work.
 
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