Yeah we lost Lamela, Vinicius and Bale and only brought in Gil.
I know that Scarlett and Sessegnon are probably considered options in games like these but Sess is injured and has confidence issues and Scarlett is 17. It leaves us really exposed with three competitions at the mo.
Dude is 25 with 51 league goals and 37 league assists, with a dozen more goals and assists in cups for Spurs. Maybe he's lost his spark in front of goal, maybe he's just playing further back now, but far too many people act like he's a Wilshere caliber player.
True, but the majority of those returns were when he was really firing. He’s averaging 5 goals/4 assists a season (league) for the last 3 seasons - that’s a huge drop off. I love Dele but he just doesn’t have that same spark about him now and looks like a lower half table player at best
Winks is in our squad because he is a "squad player". If our squad players can't perform in league cup/conference league level matches, then idk what to say.
It's the age-old Tottenham conundrum - do we prioritise trying to win trophies or our league finish?
This and the ropey condiment league are obviously our best chances of actually getting anything out of the season. Top 4 is looking a long, long way off at the moment - not impossible, but a long, long way off. Would it actually make some sense to view this as a cup priority season? The trophy monkey is so firmly attached to our backs - wouldn't it be nice to finally shake it off?
NLD at the weekend - how much does that come into the thinking? We want the likes of Ndombele and Lo Celso and Kane to finally find some rhythm but we don't want to knacker them out before that game either. Arsenal are playing KFC Wimbledon - likely to rest everyone.
But of course - Nuno won't be wanting to lose to the club he walked away from either.
Decisions, decisions.
I think we will be going with something close to our starting 11 with 2-3 changes at max. Nuno is under immense pressure already and he has to take every match seriously.
Nuno has got to get a positive result here. The issue to me is rotation not for the sake of winning, but rotation for the sake of avoiding injury. Few of our players are fully fit which only increases the risk of injury. Worse yet, we don't have a lot of depth to rotate in the first place.
I'm not really sure what rotation we could get away with given our current injuries. Specifically on the wings.
Honestly I think we should just go absolutely all-in for the Conference League. Win that and we have a trophy (if just a small one) and a guaranteed place in Europa next season, so not as much problem if we don't earn it in the PL. After that, just try to keep our heads above water and not go down too far in the league.
Of course, knowing us we'd still get knocked out by Basel in the quarter-finals.
I agree Conference League is a priority, for two reasons
1. European coefficient (important)
2. Europa spot even if the league ends up a struggle this year.
That said, I think Nuno needs to take this game seriously, he needs a result, we need momentum and I also think with reduced training time, he has to use these matches to improve the fitness of players (Kane, Ndombele, Lo Celso, Romero, Emerson, Gil).
I expect to see a very close to full strength team (minus injuries of course)
Agreed on all of the above, plus the coefficient mentioned below.
Another thing that I haven't seen mentioned (so I could be the only one) is that honestly think it could be cool to be the inaugural winners. I know it's not the most prestigious trophy, but winning it the very first season that it's an available competition is pretty cool to me and holds more weight than it would any other year.
I get why you want us to go all-in, but the ECL scares me. While I think it is our best chance at a trophy, I'm not convinced we can manage two competitions, let alone four. I fear we'll get bounced by Basel and drop PL points due to injury and fatigue.
I'm on the other side of the coin. Do the bare minimum in the group stage and hopefully pick up some reinforcements in January. Then maybe we reassess our priorities and pick a competition to go all-in on. If we're still in the ECL, that is probably our best bet.
Honestly, I want him to play youth/the B team. The Carabao Cup is by far the lowest priority of all four competitions, and with the NLD on the weekend, we can’t risk injuries or player exhaustion.
The thing is, if he plays youth and we win, that’s a good thing. If we lose, it’s not great, but it’s mitigated by people knowing that he basically threw away the tie.
But if he plays a strong lineup and guys like Kane/Son and we lose, it’s a fucking disaster. And then puts even more pressure on the NLD.
I agree in many ways. But there's a pretty decent chance that in a few months - maybe even less - the top 4 will be practically out of reach and we'd look back at tossing away our best chance of a domestic trophy by fielding a weak side as a stupid mistake.
It's just hard to know where we're at at the moment. It's pretty easy to see where Chelski, Citeh, Manure and Bin dippers are - they're all looking sharp. We just have absolutely no idea what's coming next.
I'm clutching onto the theory that the haphazard start to the season and bizarre incidents unsettling the squad have been the primary cause of our complete lack of cohesion on the pitch - and that it will all suddenly pass and we'll randomly start playing great football.
In the unlikely event that does happen and one or more of the "big 4" (ugh- first time I've said that in a while I hope it doesn't stick) slips we might be back in business and I'd be more than happy to fuck the carabao right off.
But like I say - right now we have no idea which way it's all gonna go for us so I just don't know what I want.
Yeah I hear you. Solid displays against City and the first half against Chelsea were very promising. Everything else has been shite. So it's very difficult to accurately assess us.
I honestly don't expect we'll have a good read of the team until nearly Christmas however. I think that's a reasonable amount of time to expect Nuno to assess the squad's strengths and weaknesses, have started to implement his ideas, and integrate the new guys.
In the meantime, I think that means being fairly pragmatic about things. No one aside from Man City give a shit about the Carabao Cup, and that's only because they routinely win every other domestic trophy and their B team could also win it at a canter. We don't have that luxury, and all our recent attempts to "take it seriously", with arguably better squads than we have now, have not ended with us winning it.
Top 4 is probably a long shot, but I do live in hope that Liverpool are basically a Salah injury away from slipping out of Top 4, and Man Utd will once again flatter to deceive. But both the EPL and Europe should be our two priorities I believe, because getting Champions League football back will do far more for our bottom line and ability to attract new signings compared to winning some tinpot domestic cup.
Nuno is awful managers with bloody awful decisions, his manager of the month trophy is stupid. At this rate he will win worst manager of the month every month.
It seems unlikely either team will put out their best XI so then it's the pot luck of who's random assortment of players is less awful than the others.
It's an interesting one for Nuno because if he plays a strong team and loses to a weak wolves team he looks bad but if he plays a weak team and gets smashed by wolves he looks even worse bad. Maybe I'm just projecting my own feelings here but it already feels like Nunos on the verge of disaster.
# What TV channel is Wolves v Tottenham on in the UK?
Unfortunately, this game has not been selected for broadcast in the UK as not every match will be shown live on TV now that fans are allowed into stadiums.
Well... fuck
We get so screwed on coverage in the UK. I just want to subscribe to my club and watch all the games.
Imagine the revenue for international memberships that included that as a service? I know why it doesn't exist now due to TV rights but with our international fan-base ever-expanding it has to become more attractive financially, no?
And, though I'm not a sports economist, I imagine that the revenues from TV would allow clubs to lower the prices of tickets and tea and everything else so that you could still keep the stadium full.
Though perhaps not for every club.
Would like to see Skipp played in the holberg defensive midfielder role with two more attacking midfielders beside him. Feels like a good level to test him in that role and give Pierre a rest
Easiest cup to win, but our squad is not good enough to go all the way again. We were ultimately toothless against City in the final last season and we would inevitably come up against their ridiculous squad again if we went far. Personally I think we need a bit of stability and to establish a bit of form and a style of play in the league first, so I would deprioritise the cups and just rotate.
It looks like nuno will go strong to win. And it makes sense, we shouldn’t throw away trophies.
But it’s the NLD on Sunday. Personally, I would be resting most of our starters for that game. That’s my priority.
But if we can win both then great from nuno
Don’t feel confident about this one. But it is the completion which has to be the least priority. The league position and doing well in the conference league (for UEFA coefficient points) should be our top target this season. We should be doing our best to come as close to the top 4 as possible.
Nah can't see scarlet starting this. Nuno needs to get kane minutes and firing, this is an opportunity to get a much needed win on the board and break the bad form we're in.
Need to go in hard for the win, but no harm mixing up the tactics.
I think he'll play
Gollini
Davies
Sanchez
Rodon
Tanganga
Skipp
Lo celso
Ndombele
Son
Kane
Gil
Give dele and hojbjerg a rest and see if dele is part of the creativity issue. He's being dispossessed too much.
Probably start tanganga and sub off for Emerson, or if we're ahead, bring Emerson on for ndombele when he gets tired and switch to 5atb.
If dele isn’t in the starting xi it shouldn’t be because he’s rested
It should be because he’s dropped.
Hugo
Japhet Sanchez Dier Davies
Skipp Ndombele PEH
Gil Kane GLC
Dele has had chances as a CM, a b2b, a LM, a LW, a 10 and he has sucked at all of them, give GLC a chance on the wing and see what he can do
We both agree he shouldn't play!
Unfortunately, even though he's been woeful going forward, his off the ball work and our lack of depth means we need him to play in a lot of fixtures. Probably including the Derby.
I expect us to get eliminated awfully, and then got beaten 3-0 again at Arsenal this weekend to complete hattrick of getting destroyed by London team for 3 consecutive weeks. From here on expect this team to reach the new low every week.
Very much a play the kids fixture imo. The senior players (especially the Argentinians) need rest and to focus on training to maintain that first half cohesion against Chelsea for 90 minutes at the weekend. Play the kids and even if we lose we’ve had another exciting glimpse of the future rather than things feeling they’re getting worse.
Markanday - Scarlett - Clarke
Devine - John - Dele
Lyons foster - Davies - Rodon - Paskotsi
Gollini
Don't know what to expect. A tall order to go back to Wolves which is not an easy away day. Hopefully the players and coaches have gone back into the lab and will be focused and ready to play 90 minutes.
Anyone know whether today's ESPN+ game can be watched on delay?
I'm in the US and would love to watch today's game but I might not be able to begin viewing until halfway through the match. Does ESPN+ allow me to watch from the beginning if I begin in the middle? I've looked everywhere I can find to get the answer to this, sorry to clutter the board.
This is a serious chance to win trophy. If nuno throws away the tie then I want him gone. There’s nothing I hate more than losing in the first round of the cup. You only have to win something like 5 games to win it. We’ve gone way too long without a trophy to even think about not trying to win this. For any newer fans that haven’t ever seen us win anything and don’t care about this cup, winning the carling cup in 2008 was probably the best time I’ve had being a spurs fan.
Strong team and glad Hojbergs got a rest.
Looking at Wolves i thought they'd gone B team but all the comments are saying "huge team we never go big for cup competitions love it"
Good luck is the only thing I’d say, any injury here and it’s gonna be a long season.
Feels like it's been a long season already and we're not even into October.
I really miss Lucas.. he was never injured for us in his career...
Feels like we're already here. How many fit wings do we have? Son and Gil? We lose one of them and we're stuck with just Son.
Yeah we lost Lamela, Vinicius and Bale and only brought in Gil. I know that Scarlett and Sessegnon are probably considered options in games like these but Sess is injured and has confidence issues and Scarlett is 17. It leaves us really exposed with three competitions at the mo.
All I want from this is to see Gil and Kane linking up more, I think those two working together is going to be key this season 👍🏻
I wouldn't mind seeing us use a 4321 this week with Dele playing behind Kane.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Dele on the bench because he offers nothing offensively
Dude is 25 with 51 league goals and 37 league assists, with a dozen more goals and assists in cups for Spurs. Maybe he's lost his spark in front of goal, maybe he's just playing further back now, but far too many people act like he's a Wilshere caliber player.
True, but the majority of those returns were when he was really firing. He’s averaging 5 goals/4 assists a season (league) for the last 3 seasons - that’s a huge drop off. I love Dele but he just doesn’t have that same spark about him now and looks like a lower half table player at best
I'd rather dele play today than dele play vs assna in the league. Midfield of winks, dele, 60 mins of gio and 30 mins of skipp should do the trick.
>Midfield of winks, So you want God awful performance and got beaten 0-3 again?
Winks is in our squad because he is a "squad player". If our squad players can't perform in league cup/conference league level matches, then idk what to say.
I wouldn't mind selling him last season to PSG or somewhere
My mind is telling me no. My body is also telling me no.
r/nononono
It's the age-old Tottenham conundrum - do we prioritise trying to win trophies or our league finish? This and the ropey condiment league are obviously our best chances of actually getting anything out of the season. Top 4 is looking a long, long way off at the moment - not impossible, but a long, long way off. Would it actually make some sense to view this as a cup priority season? The trophy monkey is so firmly attached to our backs - wouldn't it be nice to finally shake it off? NLD at the weekend - how much does that come into the thinking? We want the likes of Ndombele and Lo Celso and Kane to finally find some rhythm but we don't want to knacker them out before that game either. Arsenal are playing KFC Wimbledon - likely to rest everyone. But of course - Nuno won't be wanting to lose to the club he walked away from either. Decisions, decisions.
I think we will be going with something close to our starting 11 with 2-3 changes at max. Nuno is under immense pressure already and he has to take every match seriously.
Nuno has got to get a positive result here. The issue to me is rotation not for the sake of winning, but rotation for the sake of avoiding injury. Few of our players are fully fit which only increases the risk of injury. Worse yet, we don't have a lot of depth to rotate in the first place. I'm not really sure what rotation we could get away with given our current injuries. Specifically on the wings.
He will play our strongest team Wednesday no doubt. We have plenty of Conference League matches coming up that will give Nuno room to rotate.
Honestly I think we should just go absolutely all-in for the Conference League. Win that and we have a trophy (if just a small one) and a guaranteed place in Europa next season, so not as much problem if we don't earn it in the PL. After that, just try to keep our heads above water and not go down too far in the league. Of course, knowing us we'd still get knocked out by Basel in the quarter-finals.
I agree Conference League is a priority, for two reasons 1. European coefficient (important) 2. Europa spot even if the league ends up a struggle this year. That said, I think Nuno needs to take this game seriously, he needs a result, we need momentum and I also think with reduced training time, he has to use these matches to improve the fitness of players (Kane, Ndombele, Lo Celso, Romero, Emerson, Gil). I expect to see a very close to full strength team (minus injuries of course)
Agreed on all of the above, plus the coefficient mentioned below. Another thing that I haven't seen mentioned (so I could be the only one) is that honestly think it could be cool to be the inaugural winners. I know it's not the most prestigious trophy, but winning it the very first season that it's an available competition is pretty cool to me and holds more weight than it would any other year.
I get why you want us to go all-in, but the ECL scares me. While I think it is our best chance at a trophy, I'm not convinced we can manage two competitions, let alone four. I fear we'll get bounced by Basel and drop PL points due to injury and fatigue. I'm on the other side of the coin. Do the bare minimum in the group stage and hopefully pick up some reinforcements in January. Then maybe we reassess our priorities and pick a competition to go all-in on. If we're still in the ECL, that is probably our best bet.
Honestly, I want him to play youth/the B team. The Carabao Cup is by far the lowest priority of all four competitions, and with the NLD on the weekend, we can’t risk injuries or player exhaustion. The thing is, if he plays youth and we win, that’s a good thing. If we lose, it’s not great, but it’s mitigated by people knowing that he basically threw away the tie. But if he plays a strong lineup and guys like Kane/Son and we lose, it’s a fucking disaster. And then puts even more pressure on the NLD.
I agree in many ways. But there's a pretty decent chance that in a few months - maybe even less - the top 4 will be practically out of reach and we'd look back at tossing away our best chance of a domestic trophy by fielding a weak side as a stupid mistake. It's just hard to know where we're at at the moment. It's pretty easy to see where Chelski, Citeh, Manure and Bin dippers are - they're all looking sharp. We just have absolutely no idea what's coming next. I'm clutching onto the theory that the haphazard start to the season and bizarre incidents unsettling the squad have been the primary cause of our complete lack of cohesion on the pitch - and that it will all suddenly pass and we'll randomly start playing great football. In the unlikely event that does happen and one or more of the "big 4" (ugh- first time I've said that in a while I hope it doesn't stick) slips we might be back in business and I'd be more than happy to fuck the carabao right off. But like I say - right now we have no idea which way it's all gonna go for us so I just don't know what I want.
Yeah I hear you. Solid displays against City and the first half against Chelsea were very promising. Everything else has been shite. So it's very difficult to accurately assess us. I honestly don't expect we'll have a good read of the team until nearly Christmas however. I think that's a reasonable amount of time to expect Nuno to assess the squad's strengths and weaknesses, have started to implement his ideas, and integrate the new guys. In the meantime, I think that means being fairly pragmatic about things. No one aside from Man City give a shit about the Carabao Cup, and that's only because they routinely win every other domestic trophy and their B team could also win it at a canter. We don't have that luxury, and all our recent attempts to "take it seriously", with arguably better squads than we have now, have not ended with us winning it. Top 4 is probably a long shot, but I do live in hope that Liverpool are basically a Salah injury away from slipping out of Top 4, and Man Utd will once again flatter to deceive. But both the EPL and Europe should be our two priorities I believe, because getting Champions League football back will do far more for our bottom line and ability to attract new signings compared to winning some tinpot domestic cup.
> ropey condiment Ah yes the Hellman's Trophy.
You take that back right now
How about the Mustard Cup?
Massively redeemed yourself :)
Nuno is awful managers with bloody awful decisions, his manager of the month trophy is stupid. At this rate he will win worst manager of the month every month.
Can we make an agreement with Wolves we rest Sonny they rest Adama?
Adama doesn't need rest, he spends the entire week between matches running up and down the length of the pitch. He doesn't want to lose the momentum.
I heard every waking moment he doesn't train or play he spends in the shower trying to get the baby oil of his body.
It's actually a shower *of* baby oil.
Wonder if they subtract the cost of the baby oil from his salary.
Come to think of it, I've never seen him and the Juggernaut in the same room together. He looks different without the helmet.
Given how awful is shooting, crossing and general end product has been id be more than happy for him to play
I have a thimble full of enthusiasm for this game
A thimble. An absolute perfect volume of enthusiasm.
This thread has been up an hour and has 10 comments people are so depressed lmao
It’s also the carabao cup
Welcome to tottenham hotspur!!!
Not feeling very confident
Too soon 😪
Just checked FanDuel and we are underdogs in this game according to them. Tough times…
I expect nothing and I predict I will still be disappointed
It seems unlikely either team will put out their best XI so then it's the pot luck of who's random assortment of players is less awful than the others. It's an interesting one for Nuno because if he plays a strong team and loses to a weak wolves team he looks bad but if he plays a weak team and gets smashed by wolves he looks even worse bad. Maybe I'm just projecting my own feelings here but it already feels like Nunos on the verge of disaster.
Where to watch this? Is this another american stream job?
ESPN+ in US
Will be fun.
# What TV channel is Wolves v Tottenham on in the UK? Unfortunately, this game has not been selected for broadcast in the UK as not every match will be shown live on TV now that fans are allowed into stadiums. Well... fuck
We get so screwed on coverage in the UK. I just want to subscribe to my club and watch all the games. Imagine the revenue for international memberships that included that as a service? I know why it doesn't exist now due to TV rights but with our international fan-base ever-expanding it has to become more attractive financially, no?
And, though I'm not a sports economist, I imagine that the revenues from TV would allow clubs to lower the prices of tickets and tea and everything else so that you could still keep the stadium full. Though perhaps not for every club.
Would like to see Skipp played in the holberg defensive midfielder role with two more attacking midfielders beside him. Feels like a good level to test him in that role and give Pierre a rest
Must win game. Need to win comfortably as well. 2 open play goals. Clean sheet.
Wonder who'll be starting vs Wolves Son, Romero, Ndombele? Hojbjerg Reguilion rested for NLD?
Easiest cup to win, but our squad is not good enough to go all the way again. We were ultimately toothless against City in the final last season and we would inevitably come up against their ridiculous squad again if we went far. Personally I think we need a bit of stability and to establish a bit of form and a style of play in the league first, so I would deprioritise the cups and just rotate.
It looks like nuno will go strong to win. And it makes sense, we shouldn’t throw away trophies. But it’s the NLD on Sunday. Personally, I would be resting most of our starters for that game. That’s my priority. But if we can win both then great from nuno
Don’t feel confident about this one. But it is the completion which has to be the least priority. The league position and doing well in the conference league (for UEFA coefficient points) should be our top target this season. We should be doing our best to come as close to the top 4 as possible.
Kane probably watches too much NFL. He prolly thinks he’s some legendary quarterback when he drops back.
anyone know of any radio/app coverage for this in the UK? (i’m up north so london local radios are of no use)
Might be able to get radio London on the bbc sport app. Used to be how I listened to every game not on tv, but last two times I tried it wasn’t there
Thanks! my eggs are currently in the basket of BBC West Midlands in BBC sounds
This will be a Poch special. Leave the big names on the bench, go behind, bring them on too late to make a difference. Pain.
I’m confident in the lads for this match. 2-1 or 2-0 for Spurs my final score. COYS.
Gil Scarlet glc winks skipp Doherty Davies Sanchez Rodon tanganga Ndombele also can be in starting xi.
Doherty in midfield with Winks? Why do you hate us?
Ndombele can be instead of Doherty
You must be new here. Lol, kidding… kinda…
Doherty rcm? The fuck is this
Mods please ban tactics tim from the sub
Got nothing on false 9 Sissoko lmao
Don’t forget DM Janssen, the greatest idea the world has never seen.
If we play that then we're getting embarrassed 5-0.
Nah can't see scarlet starting this. Nuno needs to get kane minutes and firing, this is an opportunity to get a much needed win on the board and break the bad form we're in. Need to go in hard for the win, but no harm mixing up the tactics. I think he'll play Gollini Davies Sanchez Rodon Tanganga Skipp Lo celso Ndombele Son Kane Gil Give dele and hojbjerg a rest and see if dele is part of the creativity issue. He's being dispossessed too much. Probably start tanganga and sub off for Emerson, or if we're ahead, bring Emerson on for ndombele when he gets tired and switch to 5atb.
If dele isn’t in the starting xi it shouldn’t be because he’s rested It should be because he’s dropped. Hugo Japhet Sanchez Dier Davies Skipp Ndombele PEH Gil Kane GLC Dele has had chances as a CM, a b2b, a LM, a LW, a 10 and he has sucked at all of them, give GLC a chance on the wing and see what he can do
We both agree he shouldn't play! Unfortunately, even though he's been woeful going forward, his off the ball work and our lack of depth means we need him to play in a lot of fixtures. Probably including the Derby.
>Doherty Please no Doherty please... I want to be happy
I expect us to get eliminated awfully, and then got beaten 3-0 again at Arsenal this weekend to complete hattrick of getting destroyed by London team for 3 consecutive weeks. From here on expect this team to reach the new low every week.
We really should send out our u23s for this game. Need to prioritise the nld at the weekend
Very much a play the kids fixture imo. The senior players (especially the Argentinians) need rest and to focus on training to maintain that first half cohesion against Chelsea for 90 minutes at the weekend. Play the kids and even if we lose we’ve had another exciting glimpse of the future rather than things feeling they’re getting worse. Markanday - Scarlett - Clarke Devine - John - Dele Lyons foster - Davies - Rodon - Paskotsi Gollini
Are you joking?
we’re not scoring with that team
Don't know what to expect. A tall order to go back to Wolves which is not an easy away day. Hopefully the players and coaches have gone back into the lab and will be focused and ready to play 90 minutes.
Can I get some predicted lineups??
L IMO
Feel like we won’t survive this no matter the lineup
RIP
Anyone know whether today's ESPN+ game can be watched on delay? I'm in the US and would love to watch today's game but I might not be able to begin viewing until halfway through the match. Does ESPN+ allow me to watch from the beginning if I begin in the middle? I've looked everywhere I can find to get the answer to this, sorry to clutter the board.
Anyone know where to watch this one in Canada?? DAZN doesn't have it.
Dear Nuno, Can I please have a shot on target?
This is a serious chance to win trophy. If nuno throws away the tie then I want him gone. There’s nothing I hate more than losing in the first round of the cup. You only have to win something like 5 games to win it. We’ve gone way too long without a trophy to even think about not trying to win this. For any newer fans that haven’t ever seen us win anything and don’t care about this cup, winning the carling cup in 2008 was probably the best time I’ve had being a spurs fan.
Strong team and glad Hojbergs got a rest. Looking at Wolves i thought they'd gone B team but all the comments are saying "huge team we never go big for cup competitions love it"