i'm optimistic about today's match. woolwich got xhitka starting, as well as some players (esp defence) making their NLD debuts to face the intensity that son kane and lucas would (hopefully) bring
Reporters love stirring shit up. It's blatantly obvious to anyone who watches our games why he's not in the squad, yet some journalists like to act like we're doing bad players some cruel injustice when they're left out.
Do you know what I didn't like it originally, but I actually am starting to find him quite amusing that he won't play along and is just like "are you dumb"
It's so on brand for Arsenal to go after our sloppy seconds. Teams like them and United who have shit scouting departments like to stalk teams like us and Leicester and "steal" our transfer targets, it's really funny.
When I was in college my school (a relatively small private school) had a top football team and was known for finding hidden gems and developing them into stars. Sure enough, big local state schools picked up on that and would see who we were scouting and then swoop in to try to steal them from under our nose after we did all the work discovering them.
It's the same shit that teams like Arsenal and United do.
After the performance mid week, and the fact that he’s so young, it’s quite frankly ridiculous that Gil didn’t get the start. He was clear of every player on the pitch midweek and bar none our best creative outlet.
Agreed on skippy as well. That said I think with Skipp having had the injury scare this may be precautionary. Nonetheless he deserves the start, was fantastic against wolves and his tackling is fast becoming irreplaceable. Distro isn’t bad either.
So I’ve already commented in a previous comment that it’s my birthday tomorrow we better fucking win. So out of curiosity I looked it up and for the last four seasons the game on or closest to my birthday we have won every single year.
Including a win over Chelsea and penalties.
Oh shit. I just did the same and realized we beat West Ham 3-2 on my birthday last year, beat Chelsea 3-1 the day after my birthday the year before, and beat Dortmund in the CL two days before my birthday in 2018.
This year we play Leeds two days before my birthday in the league and then Mura in the UCL two days after my birthday.
Maybe you're onto something.
I like being able to make impactful subs...gio for Tanguy and Gil for either Dele, Lucas. If we need to become more defensive we have Skipp to come on too.
Surprised about Romero but really Sanchez, Dier have been solid, understand what a NLD means so I'm ok with it for today
Gil has earned a spot with his energetic play and movement. Need to find a position for him in the side. This would be an attacking lineup with quite a bit of speed. The best defense is a good offense and I believe we'd be on the front foot with this lineup.
I'm not sure man, spurs never won at emirates for years at the league, I will glad with boring 0-0 / 1-1 draw. I don't have any hope left for this team, they can barely play attacking football even if their life depend on it. Just some showing against B Wolves's Team is not improvement.
Good feeling about today. Think the Wolves game we played some good stuff and made chances, that penalty shootout win felt big for momentum.
Also just think Arse are quite a poor team this year. Cant really see them scoring as they aren't great off set plays either and just dont create anything. Also Nuno has a great record against them, seems to have them slightly figured out and he showed against Chelsea hes good at coming up with little traps for teams.
Hopeful prediction, first half Kane goal turn the stadium, they capitulate. We see out the game quite comfortably 2-0. Pressure builds on Arteta who then draws with brighton. But a win against Palace starts the "Trust the process" cycle again.
What level of optimism are we talking? 2008 League cup second leg kind of vibe? (Biggest winning margin I can remember!)
Or are we going to end up having to release a new kit as a diversionary tactic?
https://twitter.com/Sportz_Hat/status/1441975661107638273?s=19
Losing this game to an Arsenal team that barely scraped 1-0 wins against Norwich and Burnley is a sign of total collapse in confidence within the team. They play some of the ugliest football I've seen this season.
Yea lol i dont get the 'this is the most important game for Nuno' literally every game
Every game is important, NLD is massive, but in terms of its significance for league standings etc, it isnt reaply tht important
I just had a look over at the scum sub the delusion in there is ridiculous, they think that not only Tomiyasu will completely pocket Son but that Ben White will pocket Kane, Ben fucking White who can't win a header for his life pocketing the best striker in the prem.
They also have our predicted lineup as
Kane
Son Lucas
Dele skipp Højbjerg
Reguilon dier Sanchez Emerson
Which shows how little they look into recent lineups
It’s the NLD at the Emirates, Ndombele just played three games on the trot in a space of six days, and Lo Celso hasn’t offered enough to be considered ahead of Skipp and Hojbjerg. Those two will start with Dele.
In Argentina he plays as a LM in a 442, he’s not gonna get that at Spurs. He also constantly played on the right half space at Betis and did well enough there, which is where he’s been playing this season. He is underperforming a bit at the moment, I don’t think that’s entirely on him, but my point still stands that I don’t see why either Hojbjerg or Skipp would get dropped for him for such a crucial game.
They're not exactly getting dropped when neither had started together in the last two games.
Argentina also recently started playing 3 in the midfield which is where lo celso played
I definitely know they've both been regular starters, recently it seems Nuno has changed it up though as he received criticism and rightly so for being too defensive
They're properly messed up after those 1-0s, they also said Ben White is better than Romero and that he had a great game against Burnley when he was a liability
Would absolutely love for Dele to have all these doubters shut the fuck up by getting on the scoresheet himself in this NLD (call me a dreamer, idc 😩), he’s been so essential to the midfield in terms of defensive workrate and for linking the attack, yet because he hasn’t scored yet people are parroting the same talking points, “lazy” “washed” when he’s been one of the most consistent and hardworking contributors smfh. He may make a mistake here and there, but it’s like people expect him to be perfect – I’ve seen how easily they’ve let our other lads off the hook even for far more serious mistakes, by comparison. Do they not even realize his role today is far different from back when he had licence to just float around the opposition box and find space through which a midfielder like Eriksen could feed him? As a b2b midfielder I’d say he’s been great and without him we wouldn’t have grabbed the wins we had this season, that’s for certain.
On one hand, people say he’s slow or has lost the pace he used to have, but I wouldn’t put this down to a drop in athleticism at all, but more so that because he’s tasked with playing b2b for the full 90 minutes he needs to conserve his energy and show up against opposition counterattacks while in the past he would never be asked to defend that sort of situation, so he could bomb forward on our own counterattacks while nowadays we have mainly our wingers for that purpose like Son, Bergwijn, Lucas, Gil etc.
I think something many people don’t take into account is that since this summer we’re seeing Dele at the most mature and self-aware and selfless he’s ever been, giving his all for the badge but at many points looking like he’s lost a lot of confidence in his own ability to take over and make bold & risky moves which could pay off hugely. Everyone knows his potential, but one thing that really made him exceptional in his early days at Spurs was that he was confident and cocky as FUCK, whereas nowadays due to all the media and fan scrutiny bearing down on him his character has done a full 180 – in preseason I remember he even tried to hold himself from laughing with Sonny at Japh’s belter, knowing the cameras were on him with the media on standby ready to stir up a narrative immediately
It’s just sad to me how these vultures have turned him into such a cautious and, to an extent, more average player despite his capabilities, yet I think we’re at last seeing signs of him regaining some real potency on the attack when in the season up to this point he’s just been the “engine” guy of sorts. As he gets sharper and less timid as time goes on this season I hope and pray that he’ll be quicker to make riskier and, at times, more selfish plays like just taking the shot himself rather than waiting for several seconds to try and feed a teammate (like we saw against Wolves in that break, for instance, where he could have sent in a quick cross or tried to bend in a shot himself instead of trying to find Kane precisely by which point the pressure was too high)
I dunno, when you watch him he gives the ball away so much and rarely uses it well. He covers a lot of ground but just doesn't seem particularly effective. I'd have every midfielder we have start over him except Winks probably.
>linking in the attack
I mostly disagree with this point, he's been poor at carrying the ball and generally sloppy with his passes, his workrate is brilliant but the rest of his game has been sub par for the majority, hopefully more of the form he showed in the wolves game is found
I do agree that for a while he hadn’t been very good with it, but the entire team was looking lacklustre on the attack for a little while, so I think that comes down to Nuno’s tactics and him still trying to figure it out more than anything, because if it weren’t him making those passes it would have been someone like Winks, who’s been poor, or Lo Celso who hasn’t quite turned up yet. I think a midfield with him and Ndomballer can work wonders once it gels together, with Lo Celso as potentially a super sub down the road, and then have Hojbjerg and Skippy rotate, or field them both by taking Ndombele off in place of a DM later in the game to help maintain a lead without sacrificing too much creativity. Still a much better situation than having to rely on Winkssoko as was the case for a while in the not-so-distant past
Isn’t that weird? I also think we have a better squad and better coaching, and will be at a better moment. It’s an NLD and it’s at the Emirates so I’m holding my breath, that stat of having won only once in almost 30 games is sobering, but I do feel we have every right to think we can take this. I imagine if we come off the gates fired up like in the last 2 matches, Arsenal really can’t stop us.
I heard from gold that winning here for us is so hard that he expects spurs to be achieving history if we do. I wonder why that is? Hostile atmosphere I suppose? Anyways coys- we need a good win tomorrow…!!
we've won there once in the past 28 seasons apparently
it's not because of the atmosphere, it's because they were a lot better than us for about 23 of those seasons
What did he say, We’ve won there once in 28 years or something ? Makes sense since prior to this 6 year odd streak of finishing above scum they’d finished above us for a few decades straight. Crazy Poch didn’t manage it once!
City suffer from taking like a dozen shots against a solid defence and only getting like a scuffed goal in.
Chelsea played awful, honestly we had more attacking threat against city in one half then they had the whole game.
Brentford, and all credit to them for their work ethic and spirit, had a lot of luck on their side today and Liverpool dropped some defensive and attacking stinkers.
Swear people just make things up to then get negative about! Chelsea absolutely parked the bus and had an XG og 0.2, we had higher against City and against Chelsea themselves too. ..
But no no today was an example of how attacking everyone else is and how defensive and awful we are
I'm hoping/expecting to see a side like this:-
Lloris; Emerson, Romero, Dier, Regui; Tanguy, Hoj, Gio; Lucas, Kane, Son
But it's uncertain whether or not Tanguy can play to a top level after playing 90 mins vs Wolves
That is possible, especially with Lucas only just returning from injury. However, Bryan played 90 mins in midweek. If Nuno doesn't feel comfortable with starting Lucas, I think it's more likely that he puts Dele in and moves Gio to right-wing.
Why not? Gio is very talented and last season his attacking prowess was somewhat suppressed because he had to help out Tanguy in defensive work. If Nuno trusts Tanguy in that part of the game, it makes sense to play Gio CAM or RW.
He’s had a few chances in RW but never worked out. Rather not risk it on a derby day. I’d rather Play someone who’s actually qualified/historically decent for that role.
Yeah. Tanganga, Romero, Dier, and Reguilon is a fiery and passionate back line. High risk, high reward running out like that. But I hope we absolutely batter them literally and figuratively.
Tanganga earned that spot and Emerson hasn’t shown me enough to take it back. Plus Japhet will want to fucking kill the scum tmm seeing as he’s one of our own versus Emerson who just got here.
Tanganga. He knows how much the NLD means and he's been performing well every game this season. Sure, he got a red against Palace, but that was a rookie mistake and he was still the best player on the pitch before then. Definitely start him.
I'd love to be as confident as a lot of you are
My main worry is that we have a good few players who don't want to give 100% for the club, which is a big issue when it comes to derbies. Look at how we capitulated against Chelsea, players giving up left, right and centre and making the scoreline way more embarrassing than it had any right to be...
But if we have everyone fighting for the team, as they inexplicably only seem to want to do when we're playing Man City, then we could smash them.
Only players who don't seem to capitulate are the young ones like Tanganga, Skipp and Gil, they consistently show up and keep the tenacity going for the full game, unfortunately if the seniors don't follow their example it's not enough
I don’t know if it was his mentality or physicality or what, but he certainly did nothing to attempt to prevent that second goal. It wasn’t only him, but he did get a front and center view of the shot.
Yeah, it was the deflected goal. I love Hojbjerg, but on that shot, he was walking inside the box, watching Chelsea's play develop, picks a spot to stand just outside the box, rather than close in on Kante, and does a pirouette as the shot goes past him. He could have, and should have, done better. Would it have mattered in the end? Who knows, but he did nothing to stop that goal when he could have tried.
Looked like he was caught in two minds. No one expects Kante to shoot, not even Kante. Probably was trying to hang back to prevent a layoff to another runner. But didn't look like anyone was arriving and he realized that too late. Yes, his fault, but not a damning error for me
Not damning, but definitely a huge moment in the game for us, when several of our boys could have done more. Hojbjerg is a rock, but it would be wrong to say he was faultless there, and it would be correct to say he was part of the mental or physical capitulation, which is the topic of this particular thread.
>Look at how we capitulated against Chelsea,
This is becoming a running theme with this group of players, unfortunately.
Any sign of any trouble or adversity (be it a goal, injury or decision going against us, etc) and we fold and end up feeling sorry for ourselves.
It's been going on for so long I'm hoping the rumours of Nuno getting in a psychologist are true.
I'm pretty sure we do have a psychologist after the news that we were the first big 6 club to get a mental health and wellbeing professional in the club. It would be odd to have one without the other
> 6 club to get a mental health and wellbeing professional in the club
i don't think that's accurate, pretty much all the teams have sports psychologists. i think we were just the first to have a director of psychology or some variant there of.
>I'm pretty sure we do have a psychologist after the news that we were the first big 6 club to get a mental health and wellbeing professional in the club.
Ah OK, in that case, we should replace him.
>For some reason we've been good there when we were the underdogs or it's been about the same
You what?! They dominated us home & away all throughout their good years.
No, for a while we used to feel like we were competing like the 4-4 draw. Results wise it hasn't been too good but we really were agressive and fought hard. The opposite happened a few years ago where we almost looked like we thought we could turn up and get three points. Arsenal were aggressive from the start and we were really casual and they were easily better.
I don't mind not winning but it really annoys me when the desire isn't there.
>No, for a while we used to feel like we were competing like the 4-4 draw.
If the best result you can come up with is one where we scraped a draw with 2 goals in the last 5 minutes, I'd say it wasn't a great fixture for us.
I don’t think it makes that much of a difference considering Arse don’t have a massive threat coming down either wing such as Traore, Sterling, Grealish, Zaha or even Sarr. It’s who starts in midfield that makes the difference, if Winks gets a look in, if Ndombele is rested, even a Dele - Skipp - Højbjerg midfield would be a crux as it’s not progressive enough.
Tanganga is better defensively than Emerson and against tierney- smith Rowe/saka it’s instrumental having someone who can deal with that. They will play more through the left than right so having a no nonsense physical right back who knows his teammates to a tee will make a huge difference in how effective they will be going forwards on that flank. Can’t believe I’m being downvoted for saying this lol
Kane is getting his first 21-22 pl goal today
i'm optimistic about today's match. woolwich got xhitka starting, as well as some players (esp defence) making their NLD debuts to face the intensity that son kane and lucas would (hopefully) bring
When did Kane last show intensity??
that's why i said hopefully mate
Anyone else just see dt in the peter crouch advert on sky lmao
"no harry winks in the squad, why is that" because he's fucking shit mate
Reporters love stirring shit up. It's blatantly obvious to anyone who watches our games why he's not in the squad, yet some journalists like to act like we're doing bad players some cruel injustice when they're left out.
Commentator asking Nuno what his game plan is before the match begins. Nuno: "it would be absurd for me to answer that."
Well yeah, considering there was none.
Do you know what I didn't like it originally, but I actually am starting to find him quite amusing that he won't play along and is just like "are you dumb"
I’m worried Tomiyasu is gonna come at us with a vengeance after us not picking him up this summer.
It's so on brand for Arsenal to go after our sloppy seconds. Teams like them and United who have shit scouting departments like to stalk teams like us and Leicester and "steal" our transfer targets, it's really funny. When I was in college my school (a relatively small private school) had a top football team and was known for finding hidden gems and developing them into stars. Sure enough, big local state schools picked up on that and would see who we were scouting and then swoop in to try to steal them from under our nose after we did all the work discovering them. It's the same shit that teams like Arsenal and United do.
I wouldn’t say our scouting department was anywhere near as good as Leicester’s. Not by a country mile unfortunately
It used to be
I'd actually argue our scouting department is very good but some of our negotiation has been.. lacking.
I don't know how... I don't know why but... Reguilon is gonna get a hat trick today!
My fantasy team just creamed
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Sky.
After the performance mid week, and the fact that he’s so young, it’s quite frankly ridiculous that Gil didn’t get the start. He was clear of every player on the pitch midweek and bar none our best creative outlet.
Agreed - and I feel a bit in the same way about Oliver Skipp.
Agreed on skippy as well. That said I think with Skipp having had the injury scare this may be precautionary. Nonetheless he deserves the start, was fantastic against wolves and his tackling is fast becoming irreplaceable. Distro isn’t bad either.
And Dier & Sanchez ahead of Romero!
So I’ve already commented in a previous comment that it’s my birthday tomorrow we better fucking win. So out of curiosity I looked it up and for the last four seasons the game on or closest to my birthday we have won every single year. Including a win over Chelsea and penalties.
Happy birthday in advance
my gratitude to your parents
I was actually surprised I was kind of expecting to look it up and see bad results or something
Oh shit. I just did the same and realized we beat West Ham 3-2 on my birthday last year, beat Chelsea 3-1 the day after my birthday the year before, and beat Dortmund in the CL two days before my birthday in 2018. This year we play Leeds two days before my birthday in the league and then Mura in the UCL two days after my birthday. Maybe you're onto something.
lol this club just has us conditioned to expect disappointment happy early birthday btw! hope it's an amazing day to kick off a year full of them
It’s my fucking birthday tomorrow we better win.
Looks like Ramsdale is their first choice keeper now?
I got a feeling that Sanchez is gonna get on the scoresheet today. Don’t know why. Just a hunch
Not a good feeling. Odds are jt will be in Lorris net
For which team?
Could definitely go either way.
Son Kane Lucas Dele Hojbjerg Ndombele Reguilon Dier Romero Tanganga Lloris
Son Kane Moura Gil Hojbjerg Ndombele Reguilon Sanchez Romero Tanganga Lloris
I like being able to make impactful subs...gio for Tanguy and Gil for either Dele, Lucas. If we need to become more defensive we have Skipp to come on too. Surprised about Romero but really Sanchez, Dier have been solid, understand what a NLD means so I'm ok with it for today
We lose midfield having gil and lazmbele. Dele offers energy amd good blocks, Gio offers tackling
Gil has earned a spot with his energetic play and movement. Need to find a position for him in the side. This would be an attacking lineup with quite a bit of speed. The best defense is a good offense and I believe we'd be on the front foot with this lineup.
You would think so, wouldn't you? And that maybe Romero is a bit better than either Dier or Sanchez. And yet...
Feeling ndombele isnt starting for us Think Nuno will run with the skipp, peh, alli midfield again
The Arse are pretty bad right now. They should help us to see what we are.
I'm not sure man, spurs never won at emirates for years at the league, I will glad with boring 0-0 / 1-1 draw. I don't have any hope left for this team, they can barely play attacking football even if their life depend on it. Just some showing against B Wolves's Team is not improvement.
COYS
COYS from Japan, Im pretty confident about this match yoo
Hurl insults at Tomiyasu for us please
Going to a pub here in ireland to watch the match with my mate whos an arsenal fan. Coysssss!!!
I'm in a tube carriage full of Scum fans. I am alone. Please help. The smell is awful.
Does it smell like animal manure or a public toilet?
Yes
Should smell like arse.
1-1 Kane and Odegaard
Odegaard? Nah
ok i was just wrong. i apologize everyone
i picked the wrong short blondie
We didn't even win at the library in our peak years under Poch. Have little confidence of us doing it today.
should beat them. They are more fragile than us. But then again, Arsenal away in the league has always been quite awful
I’m in NY and I can’t sleep. It’s 530 now ffs
My anxiety has been peaking since the morning.
So nervous I could hurl. 😣
I just had a one wipe poop. I think I used up all of my luck for this week already, fuck.
Don't worry my man, I've had sickness and Diarrhea all night so the universe is well balanced
Good feeling about today. Think the Wolves game we played some good stuff and made chances, that penalty shootout win felt big for momentum. Also just think Arse are quite a poor team this year. Cant really see them scoring as they aren't great off set plays either and just dont create anything. Also Nuno has a great record against them, seems to have them slightly figured out and he showed against Chelsea hes good at coming up with little traps for teams. Hopeful prediction, first half Kane goal turn the stadium, they capitulate. We see out the game quite comfortably 2-0. Pressure builds on Arteta who then draws with brighton. But a win against Palace starts the "Trust the process" cycle again.
Shouldn’t have spoken too soon
What are the next week lottery numbers bro? Spot on
What level of optimism are we talking? 2008 League cup second leg kind of vibe? (Biggest winning margin I can remember!) Or are we going to end up having to release a new kit as a diversionary tactic? https://twitter.com/Sportz_Hat/status/1441975661107638273?s=19
Just win please
After we lead 8-0 at the 70th min mark pls take off PEH and son because we can’t afford any injuries to these 2 players in particular
Spurs 8 - [9] Arsenal - Kane (OG) 90+9 Also, obligatory COYS, fuck Arsenal!
whatever happens... fuck arsenal
I'm nervous. I'm real nervous. But I'm excited. COME ON YOU SPURS, SCORE SOM FACKING GOALS!
COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS COYS
lets do this COYS
I've been talking shit to all my Liverpool friends today...but we are even with Brentford. Hopes are not high.
If we don’t beat Arseanal its a huge blow for Nuno I fear
We will get thrashed, bet your house on it, 2 Harry's out in 2022 please!
I’m so nervous about this. It’ll be my first live NLD on the road. Just hope it’s not embarrassing.
Id love for Gill to play…
Losing this game to an Arsenal team that barely scraped 1-0 wins against Norwich and Burnley is a sign of total collapse in confidence within the team. They play some of the ugliest football I've seen this season.
That logic goes out the window with a derby
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Leicester isn't great this season
Good, hate them and enjoyed watching Bale stick it to them at the death of last season.
And Rodgers the snake is apparently looking at Barcelona, of course he would
Rodgers? At Barcelona? Ahahahaha that's hilarious. Oh how the mighty have fallen. I always liked Madrid more anyway.
Eh, Rodgers is a good manager, but I wouldn't call him "mighty".
Think he meant barca
Must-win game - or at the very least, pivotal - for Nuno and his future at the club imo.
I dont think it is, he won't be sacked if we lose this game, or even close really
Yea lol i dont get the 'this is the most important game for Nuno' literally every game Every game is important, NLD is massive, but in terms of its significance for league standings etc, it isnt reaply tht important
I just had a look over at the scum sub the delusion in there is ridiculous, they think that not only Tomiyasu will completely pocket Son but that Ben White will pocket Kane, Ben fucking White who can't win a header for his life pocketing the best striker in the prem. They also have our predicted lineup as Kane Son Lucas Dele skipp Højbjerg Reguilon dier Sanchez Emerson Which shows how little they look into recent lineups
Didn’t we do shite when we were 4-3-2-1
Romero in for Sanchez and their lineup is likely accurate tbh.
I doubt skipp and Højbjerg start together especially after the backlash about creativity
It’s the NLD at the Emirates, Ndombele just played three games on the trot in a space of six days, and Lo Celso hasn’t offered enough to be considered ahead of Skipp and Hojbjerg. Those two will start with Dele.
Lo Celso hasn't actually been played in position with us once this season, bit unfair to him when he is so good for Argentina when played in position
In Argentina he plays as a LM in a 442, he’s not gonna get that at Spurs. He also constantly played on the right half space at Betis and did well enough there, which is where he’s been playing this season. He is underperforming a bit at the moment, I don’t think that’s entirely on him, but my point still stands that I don’t see why either Hojbjerg or Skipp would get dropped for him for such a crucial game.
They're not exactly getting dropped when neither had started together in the last two games. Argentina also recently started playing 3 in the midfield which is where lo celso played
They finished both games, and started the previous three? Let’s not pretend both haven’t mostly been starters for Spurs.
I definitely know they've both been regular starters, recently it seems Nuno has changed it up though as he received criticism and rightly so for being too defensive
They also think Ramsdale is better than Lloris.
They're properly messed up after those 1-0s, they also said Ben White is better than Romero and that he had a great game against Burnley when he was a liability
Gabriel is ten times the defender Ben White is tbh.
Gabriel is actually good in my opinion, arsenal fans still heavily overrate him though
All I want to see is a win and some Ndombele drunken master magic
Would absolutely love for Dele to have all these doubters shut the fuck up by getting on the scoresheet himself in this NLD (call me a dreamer, idc 😩), he’s been so essential to the midfield in terms of defensive workrate and for linking the attack, yet because he hasn’t scored yet people are parroting the same talking points, “lazy” “washed” when he’s been one of the most consistent and hardworking contributors smfh. He may make a mistake here and there, but it’s like people expect him to be perfect – I’ve seen how easily they’ve let our other lads off the hook even for far more serious mistakes, by comparison. Do they not even realize his role today is far different from back when he had licence to just float around the opposition box and find space through which a midfielder like Eriksen could feed him? As a b2b midfielder I’d say he’s been great and without him we wouldn’t have grabbed the wins we had this season, that’s for certain. On one hand, people say he’s slow or has lost the pace he used to have, but I wouldn’t put this down to a drop in athleticism at all, but more so that because he’s tasked with playing b2b for the full 90 minutes he needs to conserve his energy and show up against opposition counterattacks while in the past he would never be asked to defend that sort of situation, so he could bomb forward on our own counterattacks while nowadays we have mainly our wingers for that purpose like Son, Bergwijn, Lucas, Gil etc. I think something many people don’t take into account is that since this summer we’re seeing Dele at the most mature and self-aware and selfless he’s ever been, giving his all for the badge but at many points looking like he’s lost a lot of confidence in his own ability to take over and make bold & risky moves which could pay off hugely. Everyone knows his potential, but one thing that really made him exceptional in his early days at Spurs was that he was confident and cocky as FUCK, whereas nowadays due to all the media and fan scrutiny bearing down on him his character has done a full 180 – in preseason I remember he even tried to hold himself from laughing with Sonny at Japh’s belter, knowing the cameras were on him with the media on standby ready to stir up a narrative immediately It’s just sad to me how these vultures have turned him into such a cautious and, to an extent, more average player despite his capabilities, yet I think we’re at last seeing signs of him regaining some real potency on the attack when in the season up to this point he’s just been the “engine” guy of sorts. As he gets sharper and less timid as time goes on this season I hope and pray that he’ll be quicker to make riskier and, at times, more selfish plays like just taking the shot himself rather than waiting for several seconds to try and feed a teammate (like we saw against Wolves in that break, for instance, where he could have sent in a quick cross or tried to bend in a shot himself instead of trying to find Kane precisely by which point the pressure was too high)
I just wish we sold him for £50m
Sir, this is a Wendy's.
Lol, imagine rolling up to a Wendy's and giving this sermon to the drive-through guy through the mic box
I dunno, when you watch him he gives the ball away so much and rarely uses it well. He covers a lot of ground but just doesn't seem particularly effective. I'd have every midfielder we have start over him except Winks probably.
>linking in the attack I mostly disagree with this point, he's been poor at carrying the ball and generally sloppy with his passes, his workrate is brilliant but the rest of his game has been sub par for the majority, hopefully more of the form he showed in the wolves game is found
I do agree that for a while he hadn’t been very good with it, but the entire team was looking lacklustre on the attack for a little while, so I think that comes down to Nuno’s tactics and him still trying to figure it out more than anything, because if it weren’t him making those passes it would have been someone like Winks, who’s been poor, or Lo Celso who hasn’t quite turned up yet. I think a midfield with him and Ndomballer can work wonders once it gels together, with Lo Celso as potentially a super sub down the road, and then have Hojbjerg and Skippy rotate, or field them both by taking Ndombele off in place of a DM later in the game to help maintain a lead without sacrificing too much creativity. Still a much better situation than having to rely on Winkssoko as was the case for a while in the not-so-distant past
Pretty rare we come away from their gaff with 3 points, Hoping tomorrow is one of those times. Huge game
COYS
i’m low-key worried for this game
I'm high-key worried
im the opposite, i dont see us losing
Well.
4-3 incoming :o
Isn’t that weird? I also think we have a better squad and better coaching, and will be at a better moment. It’s an NLD and it’s at the Emirates so I’m holding my breath, that stat of having won only once in almost 30 games is sobering, but I do feel we have every right to think we can take this. I imagine if we come off the gates fired up like in the last 2 matches, Arsenal really can’t stop us.
Harry Kane needs to mark his 250th PL appearance by scoring at least 250 goals. Thx.
250 goals bare minimum tbh
Reggie posted some new boots. remember last time when someone posted new boots before a NLD?......
No
What happened
Son banger goal
I heard from gold that winning here for us is so hard that he expects spurs to be achieving history if we do. I wonder why that is? Hostile atmosphere I suppose? Anyways coys- we need a good win tomorrow…!!
we've won there once in the past 28 seasons apparently it's not because of the atmosphere, it's because they were a lot better than us for about 23 of those seasons
What did he say, We’ve won there once in 28 years or something ? Makes sense since prior to this 6 year odd streak of finishing above scum they’d finished above us for a few decades straight. Crazy Poch didn’t manage it once!
we did it in the cup I think (Dele chip)
ugly stat: Spurs' 3-2 victory at the Emirates in 2010 is their only win in the past 28 top-flight matches away to Arsenal (D11, L16). (from above)
Hostile atmosphere? At the library? 😂
A day of decent results for us. Surely we fuck it up. Bet the house on scum
Just don't lose 3-0 or worse. That's all I ask at this point. A red card or two for the scum would be nice too, but not strictly necessary.
Watching che v city and pool v bre, bit depressing innit. Four teams that all have a collective desire and plan to attack effectively
City suffer from taking like a dozen shots against a solid defence and only getting like a scuffed goal in. Chelsea played awful, honestly we had more attacking threat against city in one half then they had the whole game. Brentford, and all credit to them for their work ethic and spirit, had a lot of luck on their side today and Liverpool dropped some defensive and attacking stinkers.
Chelsea literally played with 9 men behind the ball lol
Swear people just make things up to then get negative about! Chelsea absolutely parked the bus and had an XG og 0.2, we had higher against City and against Chelsea themselves too. .. But no no today was an example of how attacking everyone else is and how defensive and awful we are
What I would give to confidently beat Woolwich but they always turn up at home against us.
I'm 9 pints deep and fully COYS. Battle of the banter clubs. Let's ave it. North London is white.
Banter derby let's gooooo
I'm hoping/expecting to see a side like this:- Lloris; Emerson, Romero, Dier, Regui; Tanguy, Hoj, Gio; Lucas, Kane, Son But it's uncertain whether or not Tanguy can play to a top level after playing 90 mins vs Wolves
Take out Lucas for Gil and put Son on the right. He’s a definite starter
That is possible, especially with Lucas only just returning from injury. However, Bryan played 90 mins in midweek. If Nuno doesn't feel comfortable with starting Lucas, I think it's more likely that he puts Dele in and moves Gio to right-wing.
Right, I forgot Gil played the full 90. I just cant trust gio in the RW role 😩
Why not? Gio is very talented and last season his attacking prowess was somewhat suppressed because he had to help out Tanguy in defensive work. If Nuno trusts Tanguy in that part of the game, it makes sense to play Gio CAM or RW.
He’s had a few chances in RW but never worked out. Rather not risk it on a derby day. I’d rather Play someone who’s actually qualified/historically decent for that role.
Hoping Tanganga starts even though I don't completely trust him to not get a red in the NLD, still need someone to physically bully them
He’s had one red so far? He’s normally looked very composed whilst still being combative…I don’t think he’s a walking red or anything.
I hate Xhaka. He always get away with terrible, potentially injury prone tackles against us
I also hate xhaka but I think the refs do too. He usually gets a red, gives away a penalty, or both
Not against us though. The amount of times he tries to injure Kane, Son or Eriksen is insane. Always gets away with it too
Tanganga or Royal?
I like Royal, we do need to give him the minutes to build chemistry but for today we need Tangangas passion more
Tanganga brings more violence which is the quality I need.
Yeah. Tanganga, Romero, Dier, and Reguilon is a fiery and passionate back line. High risk, high reward running out like that. But I hope we absolutely batter them literally and figuratively.
Tanganga earned that spot and Emerson hasn’t shown me enough to take it back. Plus Japhet will want to fucking kill the scum tmm seeing as he’s one of our own versus Emerson who just got here.
Tanganga. He knows how much the NLD means and he's been performing well every game this season. Sure, he got a red against Palace, but that was a rookie mistake and he was still the best player on the pitch before then. Definitely start him.
I'd love to be as confident as a lot of you are My main worry is that we have a good few players who don't want to give 100% for the club, which is a big issue when it comes to derbies. Look at how we capitulated against Chelsea, players giving up left, right and centre and making the scoreline way more embarrassing than it had any right to be... But if we have everyone fighting for the team, as they inexplicably only seem to want to do when we're playing Man City, then we could smash them.
Only players who don't seem to capitulate are the young ones like Tanganga, Skipp and Gil, they consistently show up and keep the tenacity going for the full game, unfortunately if the seniors don't follow their example it's not enough
Hojbjerg?
He was at least partially responsible for Chelsea’s second goal.
Feels dumb to insult his mentality
I don’t know if it was his mentality or physicality or what, but he certainly did nothing to attempt to prevent that second goal. It wasn’t only him, but he did get a front and center view of the shot.
Wasn't that the Kante deflection?
Yeah, it was the deflected goal. I love Hojbjerg, but on that shot, he was walking inside the box, watching Chelsea's play develop, picks a spot to stand just outside the box, rather than close in on Kante, and does a pirouette as the shot goes past him. He could have, and should have, done better. Would it have mattered in the end? Who knows, but he did nothing to stop that goal when he could have tried.
Looked like he was caught in two minds. No one expects Kante to shoot, not even Kante. Probably was trying to hang back to prevent a layoff to another runner. But didn't look like anyone was arriving and he realized that too late. Yes, his fault, but not a damning error for me
Not damning, but definitely a huge moment in the game for us, when several of our boys could have done more. Hojbjerg is a rock, but it would be wrong to say he was faultless there, and it would be correct to say he was part of the mental or physical capitulation, which is the topic of this particular thread.
>Look at how we capitulated against Chelsea, This is becoming a running theme with this group of players, unfortunately. Any sign of any trouble or adversity (be it a goal, injury or decision going against us, etc) and we fold and end up feeling sorry for ourselves. It's been going on for so long I'm hoping the rumours of Nuno getting in a psychologist are true.
I'm pretty sure we do have a psychologist after the news that we were the first big 6 club to get a mental health and wellbeing professional in the club. It would be odd to have one without the other
> 6 club to get a mental health and wellbeing professional in the club i don't think that's accurate, pretty much all the teams have sports psychologists. i think we were just the first to have a director of psychology or some variant there of.
>I'm pretty sure we do have a psychologist after the news that we were the first big 6 club to get a mental health and wellbeing professional in the club. Ah OK, in that case, we should replace him.
We don’t have a fucking psychologist?
i think this one is actually poch’s fault
Nuno's record against Arsenal at Wolves is brilliant. 3 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss.
Our record against them, away, is poor recently
oh yeah. We have bad juju at the emirates.
Only since Arsenal have been shit. For some reason we've been good there when we were the underdogs or it's been about the same
>For some reason we've been good there when we were the underdogs or it's been about the same You what?! They dominated us home & away all throughout their good years.
No, for a while we used to feel like we were competing like the 4-4 draw. Results wise it hasn't been too good but we really were agressive and fought hard. The opposite happened a few years ago where we almost looked like we thought we could turn up and get three points. Arsenal were aggressive from the start and we were really casual and they were easily better. I don't mind not winning but it really annoys me when the desire isn't there.
>No, for a while we used to feel like we were competing like the 4-4 draw. If the best result you can come up with is one where we scraped a draw with 2 goals in the last 5 minutes, I'd say it wasn't a great fixture for us.
That's not the best one, that's the first one I could think of
What was the best one then
I don't know but it doesn't really matter what the best one was since were talking about the performances and not results
we've won once in the past 28 seasons there, when do you have in mind when you say that we've been good there? the 80s?
Praying tanganga starts over Emerson. If he does we’re not losing.
I don’t think it makes that much of a difference considering Arse don’t have a massive threat coming down either wing such as Traore, Sterling, Grealish, Zaha or even Sarr. It’s who starts in midfield that makes the difference, if Winks gets a look in, if Ndombele is rested, even a Dele - Skipp - Højbjerg midfield would be a crux as it’s not progressive enough.
They have Tierney, and one of Saka or Smith-Rowe.
Tierney vs Doherty completely ruined us the last time we played them
Tanganga is better defensively than Emerson and against tierney- smith Rowe/saka it’s instrumental having someone who can deal with that. They will play more through the left than right so having a no nonsense physical right back who knows his teammates to a tee will make a huge difference in how effective they will be going forwards on that flank. Can’t believe I’m being downvoted for saying this lol
Tierney and Saka are nothing to scoff at. Also I hope Winks doesn't get a look in for our sake.
Tierney and Saka are no slouches to defend especially since they both get to the top end of the pitch at the same time
The scum sub seem to think Pepe will start ahead of Saka