Tottenham 2017/18: Suck it Arsenal

Gunfighter 09

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Screw that, I want our striker to want every damn goal. All of them.

As for Kane's team first attitude, I think the defense that he plays, especially when compared to the other strikers at his level, answers that question quite well. He touched that ball, on a pass that was targeted towards him. That is his goal and I like the fact that he wants it.

It is going to be awesome when he passes Salah at the end like he did Lukaku last year.

CartyFree had some good content on this topic, and how awesome Kane is:

The goal is Kane’s 25th of the season, making him only the third player in Premier League history to score 25+ goals in three consecutive seasons, after Alan Shearer and Thierry Henry.....For trolling-related purposes and context, note that Chelsea’s Didier Drogba only managed 25 goals in a season once in his career. Kane is now at 103 goals, one behind Drogba’s Premier League career total of 104. (Kane also, as I understand it, has more career Premier League hat tricks.)
https://cartilagefreecaptain.sbnation.com/2018/4/11/17225392/tottenham-hotspur-news-premier-league-harry-kane-goal-christian-eriksen-stoke-city-golden-boot
 

Kliq

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Tough game yesterday. City came out with the strategy of letting the fullbacks get out wide but playing tight near the center, making sure only a perfect cross into Kane was going to work and Davies and Trippier were not up to the challenge. The midfielders worked hard after the first 30 minutes to win back the ball but they lacked true quality when it counted and couldn’t really generate a great opportunity. They needed solid passing in the final third and aside from Eriksen’s 1-2 with Kane that got them the goal, they didn’t have it. I did think Lucas Moura once they brought him on played well and gave them some of that attack off the dribble that Lamela lacked.

The defense was a mess; Sanchez was awful and lost Jesus and Sterling on both of their goals and played a roll in the clusterfuck that led to the penalty. The team really misses Tobi. They also wasted a great performance from JV; who was everywhere on defense while also dribbling and pushing the ball upfield; he was by far Spurs best player yesterday.
 

Kliq

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Thanks for that one DrewDawg.

It sucks not getting the full three against Brighton; the team doesn't look super sharp heading into the big FA Cup tie with United on Saturday. Son did really well to manufacture that goal for Kane. I didn't get a great look at the foul that led to the penalty, but it looked pretty unnecessary to me.
 

Kliq

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I think it has taken some time; but not having Alderweireld and Rose healthy, and of course selling Kyle Walker, have really hurt the squad. Just like City, United sat very tight in the middle and basically dared Spurs to whip the ball in and complete a perfect cross. Eriksen managed to do just that; but for the most part Davies and Trippier lack that extra quality to really make the better teams pay for giving them plenty of space on the wing and time to deliver a cross. I don't know if Kane is 100 percent, but I do know that teams are relaxed when the fullbacks had the ball on the wing; and when Walker and Rose were out there, that was strength for Spurs and not a weakness that could be exploited.

Another issue is the team's lack of ability to generate almost anything on the break. All of the good teams possess the ability to catch their opponents napping, but against City and United, Spurs have been very lethargic in building their attack. I'm not sure this is unusual, but Kane was playing in the box when defending corner kicks, and actually had a couple clearances today. Typically, wouldn't he be the target man waiting at midfield to control a pass and then send a through ball to one of the wingers?
 

Gunfighter 09

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And Felani lets Drew Dawg off the hook. Now let's give this bullshit fake holiday the 0.01% of our attention it deserves.

A win tomorrow and Liverpool doing us a solid next week would be optimal.

On another note, are any of you guys going to the Barcelona or Roma games this summer? I have tickets to both and would love to share a beer.
 

Mugsy's Jock

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And Felani lets Drew Dawg off the hook. Now let's give this bullshit fake holiday the 0.01% of our attention it deserves.

A win tomorrow and Liverpool doing us a solid next week would be optimal.

On another note, are any of you guys going to the Barcelona or Roma games this summer? I have tickets to both and would love to share a beer.
I'm not sure of my schedule this summer, but if that's an LA week for me I'll definitely be going. Will keep in touch as it gets closer.

Can I assume getting tickets somewhere in the Rose Bowl shouldn't be too hard to pull off relatively last minute?
 

Kliq

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Nice win this afternoon to get us back on track. If Harry Kane didn't score for his next 54 Premier League game; he would still have a better goals:games ratio than Didier Drogba.

No reason they can't close out on a winning steak with a remaining slate of WBA, Newcastle and Leicester.
 

Gunfighter 09

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So, do we root for a draw in the Chelsea-Liverpool match?

538 has us pegged for 3rd now: https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/soccer-predictions/premier-league/

How important is third to you? With a Chelsea loss, Spurs only need one draw in the final three to clinch 4th, assuming an +11 goal differential holds up, but they would need 7 points out of the last three to clip Liverpool for 3rd.

If Liverpool & Chelsea draw (which would clinch UCL for Liverpool ) and Spurs beat the worst (albeit desperate) team in the league on Saturday, they will only need two points out of the last two matches to clinch third.
 
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DJnVa

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Important? I mean, it’s better than 4th, but I’m not sweating 3rd or 4th.
 

67YAZ

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Last year the difference in EPL prize money was roughly £2m per position. That’s about the biggest distinction I can see.
 

DJnVa

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Finishing ahead of a rival is a nice distinction too. They win out it doesn’t matter what others do.
 

Gunfighter 09

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If it starts a new round of Liverpool fans crying about penalties, I desperately want Spurs to clip them for third.
 

Kliq

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Crappy performance against a crap team; their really limping down the stretch and their complete inability to catch anyone on the counter is a problem; particularly late in this one where WBA had to go ultra-aggressive.
 

coremiller

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Kane hasn't looked anything like his former self since he came back from injury. He's dragging down the whole team right now.
 

eddiew112

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Ugh. Well, two games at home against teams with nothing to play for. Can the boys pull themselves away from Fortnite for a week and get the job done please?
 

Zososoxfan

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Kane hasn't looked anything like his former self since he came back from injury. He's dragging down the whole team right now.
This. Normally you excuse his mis-hits and poor decision making because he's banging in goals, but when he's not doing that, the offense grinds to a halt.

Also, my Binky Lamela finally got a chance to start and I'm ready to fully admit (the last person to do so) that he is behind Alli and Son. He's behind Eriksen too obviously, but Eriksen has a different role (so does Son arguably, but Lamela started ahead of Son and not Eriksen on Saturday).
 

Kliq

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Low-key a huge game this afternoon against Newcastle. No Dier, Toby coming off the bench. Son gets the start over Lamela.
 

coremiller

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It's a good thing Spurs don't have a history of randomly shitting the bed against Newcastle at the end of the season, or I'd really start to get nervous.
 

Zososoxfan

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That's a horrific tattoo on the back of that dude's head. Good grief. Spurs D looking nervy right now. Losing the ball too easily in MF and getting no help from the front 4.
 

Zososoxfan

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We'll sing it in France,
And we'll sing it in Spain.
We don't want to fly to
a place near Bahrain.
Blues tried to stop us,
but look what we did.
We left Arsene without a grin.
 

Kliq

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Not their best performance; the defense still has holes and watching Sanchez is driving me crazy. A real quality team would have put at least a few across Lloris’ line today. That being said they made a few key plans when they had to and Kane had a very nice finish to put Spurs ahead. A real chance at third place this weekend.
 

Zososoxfan

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Not their best performance; the defense still has holes and watching Sanchez is driving me crazy. A real quality team would have put at least a few across Lloris’ line today. That being said they made a few key plans when they had to and Kane had a very nice finish to put Spurs ahead. A real chance at third place this weekend.
I thought Sanchez was OK, but he wasn't getting much help from Cissoko or Wanyama in the middle in the second half. The fullbacks were also leaving tons of space behind, especially Trippier on the right. Davies played more at home, but still got caught out some. Add that to the fact the front 4 weren't pressing all that effectively and the defense was nervy in the second half. On the same note, they were very unlucky not to score another 1-2 goals.
 

Kliq

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A wild last game to secure three points; and Kane cracks 30 but doesn’t win the golden boot.

Third place isn’t so bad; particularly in a competitive league that saw five teams make the CL knockout stage. I think the big thing was they should have probably made the FA Cup finals and they should have made the CL quarters, and they came up short both times. The defense needs some consistency; there were injuries this year and the transfers were largely unimpressive. The best teams exploited their weaknesses and had no trouble scoring against the likes of Aurier, Sanchez, Davies and Trippier. The goals for the summer for me are to shore up the back line in some fashion and pray that they don’t sell any of their key attacking players.

I liked what Lucas Moura has shown in his limited time; he seems to have good pace and can touch the ball around defenders and “create his own shot” to borrow a basketball phrase.
 

Gunfighter 09

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I agree with all of the above, strengthening the defense, which could be as simple as playing Toby and Rose again, giving KWP more time and finding one more DM, should be the priority. I certainly wish they could go back in time and keep Yedlin. Of course, we will also have the annual search for the second striker that will undoubted lead to great disappointment and a March/April injury for Kane due to overuse.

I think we all would have taken third place, ahead of Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea at the start of the season, especially considering they were playing 38 games away from the Lane this year. But you are right, those two blown leads against ManU and Juve put quite the damper on the joy from this season. Either way, I am loving the fact that Spurs just had what would have been their greatest EPL season ever four years ago and we are a bit disappointed.
 

coremiller

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Poch signs new 8.5 million pound per year contract through 2023

Hopefully this means big new contracts for our core players in the coming weeks, and significant investment during the summer. Great news for the club either way.
Poch is nothing if not a shrewd negotiator. He knows his value and dropped some hints about leaving to get a better deal. But he deserves it. Finishing 3,2,3 the last three years with Spurs is an enormous achievement. Glad to see he's sticking around.

I'd love to know what promises Poch got about the transfer budget and control over new signings.
 

DJnVa

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I read tonight that players were waiting to see what Poch did and this might herald some extensions. Some rumors tonight said this summer transfer window was a big part of this.