Football 17/18

[mjsell]

4 minutes ago, zahidf said:

Its clearly one of their best results ever. Real havent lost a champions league qualifier in 6 years. 

 

And it wasnt a '1-0 defend for your life' special either. Spurs tore them apart.

The european champions

Can we also stop talking about the Wembley curse now:-)

Group stage match, not qualifier. (pedantics I know)

And no-one was talking about a Wembley curse anymore.

10 minutes ago, pink_triangle said:

However at the same time I admire their ability to compete with teams spending more and hold on to players on comparitively low wages. 

I don't think their lack of spending and ability to improve, and now compete, at the highest levels has truly been appreciated. Take a look at their net spending over the last 5 years

[pink_triangle]

10 minutes ago, mjsell said:

Group stage match, not qualifier. (pedantics I know)

And no-one was talking about a Wembley curse anymore.

I don't think their lack of spending and ability to improve, and now compete, at the highest levels has truly been appreciated. Take a look at their net spending over the last 5 years

In terms of the premier league I would agree, however in the champions league (winners excluded) some teams have competed towards the later stages without breaking the bank.

[eFestivals]

9 hours ago, mjsell said:

Well done Spurs

That is a statement result. The biggest for Spurs by a distance since I've been alive. 

Yep, gotta agree. Getting the better of Real over two legs is a biggie.

I wet myself at a comment on the beeb's live web(text)-commentary last night. A spurs fan saying something about how it was "spurs best for many years and good to see them back where they were". 

Like, when?????

[eFestivals]

9 hours ago, mjsell said:

Just waiting for the Spurs have been lucky over the last 5 years argument to start up again...

Neil, where are you at?

If it wasn't 'lucky' for any club with the players they have at their disposal at any time, there'd only ever be one top club and it wouldn't change.

Without claiming Spurs haven't been trying to achieve what they have, it's still luck. There's plenty of lower league top prospects, but only the occasional one comes thru as strong as Alli. It was luck for Spurs that he was what they hoped, and not someone who failed to reach what they hoped (which is what the other clubs got).

[lost]

missed this brilliant finger up the arse goal celebration in the Chelsea vs Roma game. I wonder if it'll catch on?

[mjsell]

2 hours ago, eFestivals said:

If it wasn't 'lucky' for any club with the players they have at their disposal at any time, there'd only ever be one top club and it wouldn't change.

Without claiming Spurs haven't been trying to achieve what they have, it's still luck. There's plenty of lower league top prospects, but only the occasional one comes thru as strong as Alli. It was luck for Spurs that he was what they hoped, and not someone who failed to reach what they hoped (which is what the other clubs got).

Glad you didn't disappoint. 

[Hugh Jass]

14 hours ago, pink_triangle said:

Is that so remarkable when you consider only 24 of the 92 league managers at current time have done over 2 years?

It is when you consider that Mad Mick was sacked in 2006. That's eleven managers in eleven years.

[Hugh Jass]

Of course the bad news for Spurs is that last night's result almost certainly shoots Poch to the top of the list when ZZ gets the bullet.

[eFestivals]

4 minutes ago, Hugh Jass said:

Of course the bad news for Spurs is that last night's result almost certainly shoots Poch to the top of the list when ZZ gets the bullet.

there's gossip in one of the papers today with a list of names after him - with PSG as the biggest.

[jyoung]

I don't want one our main rivals to do well at our expense but what Spurs are doing is sensational, all things considered. Taking points from Dortmund and Real Madrid when they weren't given a chance, they're having a laugh now. The confidence there will be sky high. If they were ever gonna win anything, surely the time is now?! 

And if watching Harry Kane and Dele Alli doesn't give you even the tiniest bit of hope as an England fan, well you may as well throw in the towel.

[Hugh Jass]

Poch for England! I'm not joking, he's put the bones in place - Kane, Alli, Dier, Rose, Walker (yes I know he's at City now). I'd give him any amount of money he'd ask for just for six weeks work next summer.

[jyoung]

10 minutes ago, Hugh Jass said:

Poch for England! I'm not joking, he's put the bones in place - Kane, Alli, Dier, Rose, Walker (yes I know he's at City now). I'd give him any amount of money he'd ask for just for six weeks work next summer.

Winks has look alright when I've seen him as well tbh.

edit. Trippier probably deserves a shout too.

Edited November 2, 2017 by jyoung

[thetime]

17 minutes ago, jyoung said:

 

edit. Trippier probably deserves a shout too.

Pretty impressed with him, no wonder they sold Walker for 50m.

[jyoung]

Sky Sports suggests Joe Gomez, Ruben Loftus Cheek and Tammy Abraham are going to get called up to the Senior Squad for the upcoming friendlies. What do we reckon?

[The Nal]

Spurs were excellent, turning into a proper team, but I think they crowning of them as a top tier team is slightly premature. Madrid were very unlucky at times, 10 shots on target and few very close calls. They are struggling at the moment and lost to Girona at the weekend, scraped past bottom club Alaves etc. 

Spurs have Arsenal and Dortmund coming up. Jury still out for me.

Edited November 2, 2017 by The Nal

[jyoung]

Confirmed.

[Hugh Jass]

25 minutes ago, The Nal said:

Spurs were excellent, turning into a proper team, but I think they crowning of them as a top tier team is slightly premature. Madrid were very unlucky at times, 10 shots on target and few very close calls. They are struggling at the moment and lost to Girona at the weekend, scraped past bottom club Alaves etc. 

Spurs have Arsenal and Dortmund coming up. Jury still out for me.

The same Dortmund they beat last month?

Edited November 2, 2017 by Hugh Jass

[Hugh Jass]

52 minutes ago, thetime said:

Pretty impressed with him, no wonder they sold Walker for 50m.

Trippier has looked a lot better than Aurier, who looks like a dropped bollock waiting to happen...

[Tuna]

Good to see Loftus-Cheek getting a call up. Exactly what we need in a midfielder. Grand result for Spurs yesterday as well -- especially with Sissoko on the pitch for most of it.

[Dan R]

Gomez has been excellent for Liverpool and I've been really impressed with Abraham. Not really seen much of Loftus-Cheek but he must have been playing bloody well to get a call up after playing with this Palace team. 

[thetime]

Ashley young called up 

[The Nal]

2 hours ago, Hugh Jass said:

The same Dortmund they beat last month?

Yep. They need to show a bit of consistency. They have lost to West Ham and Utd in the last 8 days too. Narrowly beat Bournmouth, drew with Swansea and Burnley. 

Not trying to belittle what they've done. One of the all time great results last night. Against a Real team in crisis mind you. 

[Guy Incognito]

shame we (Newcastle) missed out on Abraham

[pink_triangle]

5 hours ago, jyoung said:

I don't want one our main rivals to do well at our expense but what Spurs are doing is sensational, all things considered. Taking points from Dortmund and Real Madrid when they weren't given a chance, they're having a laugh now. The confidence there will be sky high. If they were ever gonna win anything, surely the time is now?! 

And if watching Harry Kane and Dele Alli doesn't give you even the tiniest bit of hope as an England fan, well you may as well throw in the towel.

I think sensational is stretching it a little. When you look at the league they have one point more than Arsenal who have been blasted by the media. Also I don't see why people wouldn't expect them to take points off Dortmund, they have a bigger wage budget and Dortmund are having a poor season.

 

1 hour ago, The Nal said:

Yep. They need to show a bit of consistency. They have lost to West Ham and Utd in the last 8 days too. Narrowly beat Bournmouth, drew with Swansea and Burnley. 

Not trying to belittle what they've done. One of the all time great results last night. Against a Real team in crisis mind you. 

Again I just think everything about Spurs gets overhyped. It was a very good win, but Im not sure I rank it as one of the all time great results.  Its a champions league qualifier where Spurs probably go through if they win, lose or draw. Admittedly the win improves their chances of a good draw in the last 16. However for it to be an all time great result it needs to be a lot deeper into the tournament.

[jyoung]

22 minutes ago, pink_triangle said:

I think sensational is stretching it a little. 

Its not sensational in terms of Leicester winning the league or Liverpool coming from 3-0 down in the Champions League final but to be specific, I'm talking about the club itself. The net spend, the way they've developed players, integrated youngsters into the first team and managed to compete with clubs in England that have far greater financial muscle. I think its admirable. This is Spurs, not City, United or Chelsea. They've earned the right to call themselves title contenders and they've done it the hard way. Teams fear playing them and I think that inevitably end they will end up winning a major trophy.

edit: And I'm a Chelsea fan so I've got no reason to blow their trumpet.

Edited November 2, 2017 by jyoung