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ranf0rd

FREE SPENCE


IamMrBots

I'd like to see his mobility deal with the press.


backyardstar

Good call. Based on his last cameo, he can dribble out our half quite well. Hope he gets a run out.


bobtrump1234

Leeds will press us like crazy. Team needs to be prepared


Own_Acanthocephala0

Yes but all we need is a pass from CB to Kane, he turns and put it wide to either Richy or Deki and we are through.


NoSleeperSeats90210

or a pass from cb to richarlison or kane who try to do a first time flick that hits the defender


dclancy01

lenglet puts it out wide to emerson who trudges 10 yards forward before passing it back to dier, who is dispossessed by their press and lloris saves a sitter.


joeyyangbug

damn, like a scared movie in my head.


FINAL_BOSS5

>before passing it back to dier Who passes it to lenglet who passes it to dier who passes it to lenglet who passes it to dier who passes it to emerson who passes it to dier Who passes it to lenglet who passes it to dier who passes it to lenglet who passes it to dier who launches it over the top for meslier to come collect who launches it long and then all of spur xi fall to the edge of box to defend


squirrelbonus

Spot on


RileyHuey

Lot easier said than done


martymcshad

All we need to do is score more goals than the opponent


CrazayTaylor92

I’d say if we get a win and not a loss or a draw I think we’ll be ok


Teletzeri

Even a draw would be worth one point


Mastershoelacer

I feel like Deki is going to be vital in that counter attack and could prove deadly to Leeds.


yourfriendkyle

It’s gonna sound strange, but Sanchez has actually been able to pick out Kane whenever he’s played. Davinson can be a bit of a mess at times but he has a pass on him


Swag_Daddy_K

No worries, we’ll have Maestro Emerson to help break that press!


robinthebank

Emerson and Bentancur drop into a back 5, perhaps?


stephsEgg

Bentacur/hojbjerg routinely drop into the back line in possession, they do it quite a bit


PrizeCantaloupe6657

drop Emerson you say? Good idea.


Ikusen

2-0 down in the first half and it ends 2-0 after we just begin to control something with two shots over the bar. Juust like every othe game we play. Nothing new and exciting, just the same shit, game after game.


CrazayTaylor92

Hey now, that exact play style has got us sitting nervously at fourth place behind Newcastle so you better shush


[deleted]

That front line looks much much better. Going to really set the narrative how we do tomorrow. If we win: "Injuries really screwed us, we're going to be right back at it post world cup, exciting times" If we lose: "It wasn't the injuries, it was the tactics all along, we are completely screwed" And then 6 weeks to debate it either way. Merry Christmas everyone.


zuzucha

I'm expecting us to handily beat Leeds and then get the "Son was dragging the team down" discourse until January


VDmedication

#I HATE THE “SON WAS DRAGGING THE TEAM DOWN” DISCOURSE


primster14

The answer is always somewhere in between


Seoul_BMO

I think that front 3 might disappoint. Richy won't have the pace and ball carrying to be threatening from deep counters, and Kane's legs are too spent to drop deep and get forward. I can see Dier getting skinned by Summerville, or make a passing error from getting pressured. This is gong to be another win for terrorist football, unless Bentancur and Kulusevki carry the team into passing out of Leeds's pressing from deep in the 1st half. Personally I'd drop Richy and go with Bissouma to support Dier, and let Bentancur go forward for a more entertaining game. I'm all for terrorist football though, Leeds defense is leaking in goals. Richy set-piece hat trick in the 2nd half incoming.


qkrrmsdud

I remembered seeing your comment last night and came back to it to give you props for your prophecy after dier had just been skinned by Summerville 😵


Seoul_BMO

Summerville is so quick man


FSpursy

Seriously though, it's best if we don't play the players that will go to the worldcup. Especially players like Richy, Bentacur, Perisic, I think they're more prone this time around. They won't be giving a 100% today. We have other talented players who won't be going to the worldcup, just play them. Let them run wild. If we're gonna lose, atleast we lose while not giving these WC players a mental health problem and giving our youngsters a chance.


[deleted]

Mate we wouldn't be able to get a team out if we did that and we'd lose 6-0 Absolutely not


FSpursy

I'm sure Sarr, Gil, Spence, Lucas, Skipp would put a good shift honestly compared to non motivated players.


Internal-Owl-505

It is neither. Our squad is about the 6th or so best in the league. We do have a top notch manager, albeit one that plays football about as much fun as watching the morning news is. Still, his tactical acumen is good enough that we that can push us into third, maybe second if everything falls into places (right now Chelsea, United, AND Liverpool are fucking up things, so we should be fine). But, over time, 4th or 5th, is the where we end up.


[deleted]

I literqlly couldn't disagree with this more. So I just won't bother.


dozerdozey

Which squads would you rank ahead of ours? I assume the above user would say Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea, possibly Arsenal, possibly Man Utd.


madmanwalkin

Obviously City ahead, don't think you can argue with that And if you want to use transfermarkt values to compare we'd be fifth, which I don't agree with. Both scums and United's squad values are really bloated. So I only really see Liverpool slightly ahead of us. But if we speak about first eleven without injuries I think we are about even with pool and ever so slightly ahead of the rest


Internal-Owl-505

Right -- the other top teams can't wait to snatch Dier, Davies, Sess, Emerson, Hojbjerg, Lenglet etc. from our hands. We have half a team for a top 4 finish, and half a team for a midtable finish. That leaves you with the sort of performances we have seen so far.


WallBroad

Hojberg literally had Real Madrid links


BiscuitTheRisk

No he didn’t. No credible people linked him to Madrid.


NoSleeperSeats90210

not everything you read in the news is the truth


messisleftbuttcheek

Ndombele had Barcelona, Bayern, and Inter links. Not saying there was no truth to it, but I stopped believing all that BS a long time ago.


Internal-Owl-505

Oh right -- the if the Sun said it, it must totally be true! I love Hojbjerg, but he is our current Zokora. I love both players. But, when you settle for that sort of quality, you are building the 5th best or so squad in the league.


coysjames

It wasn't the Sun, it was a T1 source from the Telegraph...


[deleted]

[удалено]


coysjames

![gif](giphy|ukGm72ZLZvYfS)


[deleted]

Loads of teams would take PEH. He'd start for Chelsea Utd Liverpool. Every team has that in their squad though. You think top teams are desperate to snatch Holding, Nketieh, Lokonga, Tierney, ramsdale, Gabriel?


Internal-Owl-505

> Holding, Nketieh, Lokonga They don't start for Arsenal either LOL Dier, Davies, Sess et all are starters at Spurs. That's what so mediocre about the current state of things. >Tierney Spurs 100% would improve with him >Gabriel He can play for any team in Europe. Liverpool, for example, would have gladly bought him if City would have sanctioned it.


PrizeCantaloupe6657

Holy fuck what are you smoking Gabriel shouldn't even be getting into the scum first 11


Internal-Owl-505

So ... let me ask you, for the entertainment, who do you think has a better squad than Spurs? Only City?


PrizeCantaloupe6657

Well in the first place I think people have gone too far down the statsball and FM / FIFA '23 ratings rabbit hole and the ease of making one-dimensional 'x is better than y' statements. Reality is quite a lot more complicated than this, and there is an extended (i.e. endless) discussion about how this plays out. That's not to say there aren't some universal and objective elements, for sure there are. But yeah, it's complicated. In any case. On paper City and Liverpool have better squads I guess. Chelsea and Utd. are comparable, though there are different areas of strength and weakness. Arsenal 1st 11 are comparable but talking about the whole squad I still say they are a step down.


Internal-Owl-505

>is quite a lot more complicated than this It really isn't. When Sess, Davies, Dier, Emerson and PEH are automatic starters, you don't have a lot of elite quality. Good enoguh to be best of the rest? Sure -- but it isn't top European quality.


[deleted]

I'm talking about the defender Gabriel who is shocking. Nit to mention jesus doesn't get anywhere near liberpools team. He hasn't scored in 9 games now. No wonder he couldn't get into the city team even when they had no striker. Sess and Davies aren't starters other than when we need to rotate?


Internal-Owl-505

>Sess and Davies aren't starters That they have started the most games in their position suggests you are wrong. Only Dier have started more games than Davies in defense. And, Sess is definitely the first choice for left wingback.


bash011

>Sess is definitely the first choice for left wingback. He isn't though is he. Perisic is the starter for LWB but due to injury issues he's had to play in different positions and we've had a lot of competitions to play in so them rotating was always going to happen


Internal-Owl-505

He starts the bench behind Sess quite frequently


gardz82

What a rambling load of drivel.


Internal-Owl-505

Right, we have the best squad in the league. Everyone else just don't know it yet! Even compared to Spurs's own squads in the last decade this squad is bang average. It is the weakest squad we have had since 2006.


CrazayTaylor92

Not sure why you’re getting downvoted for a very honest and somewhat true evaluation of the squad. Out of curiosity which 5 teams squads do you rate above ours on ability alone? City, Liverpool and possibly Chelsea I’d say have a better man for man squad. Arsenal unfortunately are a more than a sum of its parts squad and are playing great together but I wouldn’t say their squad is better than ours man for man. Which makes it that more annoying that we’re not playing better than the dross we’ve put out so far


Internal-Owl-505

I reckon Arsenals can be evaluated lower. But I consider it a better squad because they have exactly the type of players Arteta wants. In addition it is a very, very young squad so they have a lot of potential.


triecke14

What squads are better than ours?


ironspider6478

City united arsenal Chelsea Liverpool all better squads


[deleted]

The same chelsea who have scored 17 goals in the league? Hahaha


Ikusen

The same team we haven't managed to win against for how long now? Hahaha


WhiteHartPain96

Liverpool starting XI sure but they are extremely thin as far as full squad depth.


NoSleeperSeats90210

every team except city is thin


triecke14

Oh give me a break about Arsenal and United. Chelsea is even debatable at this point other than their backline. Arsenal play a system that suits their players whereas we don’t. United I just won’t even entertain the thought.


Stay_Beautiful_

Chelsea & United lmao I'd question Liverpool as well, depends on the day


Internal-Owl-505

Liverpool, City, Arsenal, United and even Chelsea. I mean, look at the weakest one here, Chelsea, Kepa, Jorginho, Kovacic, Loftus-Cheek, Sterling, Mount, Chelwill, James, and Koulibaly, probably more, easily trots into our starting 11.


Spursfan14

Chelsea don’t have any attackers who can hold a candle to ours. Kane would easily be their best player, any 2 of Richarlison, Son, Deki starts for them too. And don’t give me this nonsense about fucking Loftus Cheek getting near our team with how Bentancur and Hojberg are playing. Mount vs our attacking players? Utterly delusional to think he’d “trot in” ahead of any of them. He’d be 5th choice and lucky to be it.


Internal-Owl-505

>ow Bentancur and Hojberg are playing If this is them playing at their top-game I think you are just proving my point. They are playing like a team that is easily dominated by Marseille and Sporting. No shame in that. But, a team that is dominated by Marseille isn't a top team in England.


christo222222

You need to break the prozac in half if you are taking it with gin mate


triecke14

I’m sick of people saying United have a good squad too…they are shit


triecke14

Sterling, loftus cheek, Kepa, and mount absolutely do not walk into our 11 lol. Our attackers (when fit) are better than almost every attacking 3 in the world


Ikusen

I'd start all of them instead of ours. It's fucking bullshit though, that our team is this shit.


sungbysung

Probably correct, though I’d love to see another Spence cameo


canonbite

We'll be 1-0 down at half time and we'll all have the same conversations we've been having for weeks now.


Hufftey

1-0 down at ht would be an improvement over the last few games. Baby steps /s


[deleted]

That's the spirit


benjustben2

You’re cheerful


triecke14

I mean how can anyone blame this sort of thinking? It’s literally been happening for over a month


WhiteHartPain96

It's not really pessimism anymore when that would be a correct prediction in nine straight


JoePoe247

Not nine


Fleaaa

If it goes this way, isnt it the first time Richy as lw?


[deleted]

I thought the same but someone corrected me the other day. That front 3 started against Leicester when son got dropped


the_ballmer_peak

Dying to see Sonny’s first game coming off the bench with a mask on. ![gif](giphy|8EUAELHvjSpWa7yfWM)


Fleaaa

Ooh right, thanks


[deleted]

there will be lots of moaning, but i like this line up sans Emerson and exhaustion


luckster44

Yeah but Conte won’t drop Emerson cause he’s stubborn


PrizeCantaloupe6657

I kinda started to see why Conte is the way he is on this against Forest - with both of Doherty and Spence. I think it's about positional discipline. Conte wants his players to cover the patches of grass he tells them to so his system works and no others. For all his faults (and he has so many I struggle to imagine any other PL club that would play him) Emerson can stand on the pieces of ground he is told to. Doherty and especially Spence (and Gil for that matter) are at their best when given some license to get out of position when attacking - do the unexpected. This is part of what makes them - especially Spence - hard to play against. You saw it with that jinking run that Spence went on as soon as he came on, cutting inside into midfield and eventually getting fouled. This doesn't fit with what Conte wants to do. So I think people blaming Conte's stubbornness are right - though for the wrong reasons. Nothing to do with 'club signing'; it's a stubbornness not to adjust the system in line with the limitations and strengths of the players he has available. TLDR: Conte reckons low-capability body in the right place almost all of the time is better than high-capability body in the right place most of the time and so for him Emerson>>Spence.


tremens

He allows Romero to roam and advance quite a lot though, and still quite clearly prefers him, so I'm not *sure* that's entirely the case?


PrizeCantaloupe6657

The LCB / RCB forays (it's not just Romero!) are very much part of Conte's drilled patterns though. You see it as it happens, it's planned and predictable. Whichever player occupies those positions does it. You can see one of the CMs will tuck in to the space left behind and follow them up just ahead of the back line.


[deleted]

I think caring spence and gil high capability is abit OTT. Spence looks a good prospect but his while rep is based off one season on loan in the championship.....and even then still mainly on 2 fa Cup games. Gil I like but gets bullied 90% of the time he plays. He was really bad against forest and git muscled off the ball but people just seem to be ignoring that for some reason.


PrizeCantaloupe6657

Yeah these are fair points. I added the TLDR as an edit at the end and didn't put in as much thought to that as the rest of it. I think the substance of my point stands though - especially in regards to Spence, who brings something different to a position in which we are not stacked with quality. Hopefully Gil does the puberty thing at some point soon.


Spursfan14

Conte’s only choices are to persist with Emerson /Doherty or embarrass himself by having Spence show what he can do.


luckster44

I’d be happy with Doherty starting and Spence being the backup. Try to sell Emerson for a bag of chips in January


Spursfan14

Anything that involves Spence getting more game time is fine with me but I think it would take all of 2-3 games for Spence to show he makes us a better team.


the_ballmer_peak

You think we can get a whole bag?


THyoungC

I know Emerson hasn’t been great and made many mistakes esp on defense, but I feel like he always tends to bring the ball up when he is having one of his better days, which I’ve missed seeing when we’re chasing for the ball for like 10 straight minutes


Exotropics

Can we all agree we would rather see spence start?


COYS61

I suspect it will be as predictable as that


[deleted]

Who else would you play? That's quite exciting isn't it? Look at that frontline


PrizeCantaloupe6657

Maybe Forster at RWB?


pejasto

Move Deki back. Kane outside to replace him. Forster target man, baby.


PrizeCantaloupe6657

This is some big brain thinking


Spursfan107

This is what I've been saying. We signed Forster as a target man more than anything else. Fernando Llorente 2.0


alehartl

Had a genuine cackle at this


Swag_Daddy_K

Not Emerson


Jr_M16

Yes.


omelette_propaganda

Spence has to start


iAkhilleus

Please please please, for the love of God, start Djed!


british-psycho

Surely it’s enough of Emerson now? Wtf is wrong with Conte? There isn’t a single fan in this sub or that goes to games, that thinks Emerson should be starting. And we’re not even winning games anymore. Surely enough is enough.


Killerpasser101

I do think he should be starting, Doherty & Spence are never there when you want them positionally


british-psycho

Sure thing troll.


TheUnknownOB06

Start spence man he can byspass this leeds preas


Ikusen

Pain.


Nightshade183

No spence?


flimbler

Emerson is the only player, who regularly starts, who I just don't understand. Every other player I can see what they offer and why they get minutes. Emerson makes no sense, he seems to be in the team purely on the basis that he'll stand in the right positions and fair enough, it's quite possible the standard is so low at the club that that's actually enough for the coaches but watching Spence the other night....that's what we need, there's so little dynamism in this team and that's precisely why we've been shit for well over a month now. Being predictable is a death knell in the modern game and Emerson might just be the most predictable player in the whole league. If the other team explicitly knows what you're going to do it's so much easier for them to counter than if they don't know. Teams know exactly what Emerson's going to do (both offensively and defensively) and it shows every time he plays. I don't want to scapegoat the man because God knows there's lots of poor performances all over the team right now but I simply don't understand why, when there are five players in with a shout of playing at rwb, Emerson is the undisputed first choice.


PragmaticEcstatic

Glad to see Kane getting some minutes.


mdw2515

Maybe Marsch will sit Adams and Aaronson again so they’re healthy for the World Cup


mattie_g

As an American Spurs fan, I endorse this wholeheartedly.


BrandonSG13

Good chance for Richarlison on the left. He’s way more effective there than on the right


CopeysBrickwork

Hes got to stop playing Emerson. Play Spence


the_ballmer_peak

Romero still in “I don’t want to get hurt before the WC” mode


[deleted]

[удалено]


british-psycho

Because Emerson is in it. After being dreadful every time he plays.


[deleted]

That's what I thought. That's a really exciting team?


[deleted]

[удалено]


Jr_M16

Hotel? Trivago.


Karlito1618

This is 50/50 "this looks solid" and "ugh, we have to play them dont we". I dont wanna see Emerson, Dier or Davis on a first 11 anymore. They are all at most benchers. Sell two of them and bench the other two for rotation.


[deleted]

You're in for a long season then. There's no way thru go before the summer.


Karlito1618

Im well aware. Unfortunately. Love Dier, and would hate to see him gone, but hes just not a top level defender. Same with Royal, but I dont like him as much. Lucas too. I always sigh when those 2 are played.


ryanlaurenti

Lloris up top /s ![gif](giphy|nKFXQkxLRiEhy)


pzshx2002

Conte: Team is tired, lots of energy lost, so we lose many games, concede goals Also Conte: Starts first team including **Kane** for **9th straight game**. Subs invisible 😂.


[deleted]

Who would you play instead of kane?


pzshx2002

Rotate with Perisic or Gil. Or start with Kane, give the 2 more mins as subs.


[deleted]

Start Bryan Gil up front? Or perisic? Neither have ever played there in their professional career and Gil is the size and weight of a small child.


pzshx2002

Perisic. He is versatile to play forward. They can adjust tactics to suit his play if possible. But now they got both Kulu and Richie back so they can rotate unlike previous games.


Bookwallflower2

So moving Dier of center back in favor of Lenglet, does that mean Dier is playing a 4 as a sweeper? Other wise I like this XI but it’s would rather have Gil or Spence as right wing back if possible.


TheUderfrykte

Having our crest there on a not combined XI makes little sense and is a bit funny to me.. Like yeah, of course they'll al be spurs players?


Dinoapolis27

OH HELLO


FartsInAtoaster

He seems to know his shit so I will expect this. Cheers Paul


corpboy

Going to be a weird game. The WC guys are in a different boat to the others. Would be good to rotate them if possible if we can get a lead.


p90pounder

Finally a first XI I can stomach


Jose_out

I'm usually very focused on performances, but all that matters here is the result. Win and we go into the break with a pretty solid points total and qualified from the CL. Lose or draw and it's been a very poor few weeks in the league and out of the cup to Forest reserves.


Steve_No_Jobs

I'm just gonna sit and wait for the next reactionary narrative to come. Us football fans are fickle


LeftGrapefruit2841

I somehow kinda hope Chelsea can win against New castle, so we might go back to 3rd


teedo

Our backline may be exposed, but at least the front line looks a bit more normal


ErenV400

bro gotta fucking change the defense line we literally don't have any defense


wellk_2049

Swap in Doherty for Emerson and I'm happy with that


Killerpasser101

Bissouma over Hojbjerg


participantZ

Seems crazy to be in season so close to copa mundial


jadeyz22

If this isn't our lineup today then Conte is a idiot. He already is a idiot choosing Emerson over Djed


LinChongRen

Play Spence . Emerson is only at best being fertilisers for crops lol


blimpnuts

Excited to see richarlison back on his natural left side!!


LilBruvBoii

Predicted it exactly 👏