Spurs (A) Post Match Thread

ChicagoBlue said:
REALITY CHECK: We are SECOND in the League, a shoo-in for the CL next season, in the League Cup final, a good draw in the FA Cup and playing fucking Real Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League after winning our group AGAIN this season...and all of that after winning 7 of the last 8 domestic trophies available over the last two seasons!
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All of this is very true, CB. And from a fan's point of view, especially a long-standing fan, such as myself and, I strongly suppose, yourself, there are ample grounds to be pleased. Nevertheless — and here is the disjunction — in terms of where the club now sees itself as rightfully sitting, this is a somewhat unsatisfactory season. Because if the club now aspires to sit at the very top table, with the likes of Real Madrid, Bayern, Barca, Juventus — and it does — then it should be aiming to win the league every single season or, given the impossibility of that, certainly pushing hard for it. With the occasional CL title, to boot.
So for those who've been through York away, etc. (I was not at York away, indeed I was far away from the UK at the time), it's only really relevant to relativise City's “failure” this season from a long-term supporter's point of view. The club as it now stands is a million miles from that period. And the club does not compare itself with Watford, Norwich, Aston Villa, does not even think about being outside top four, at the start of any given season. Getting top four is a given for the club and team. It's expected. Certainly, it has to be earned, but the team is that good that is it expected that it will be earned. That is exactly the measure of how very far we've come in the last ten years. And that's as it should be, frankly, because a huge amount of money has been put into this club, and a lot of long-term strategic planning, of which the CFA is only the most spectacular example. I went to the match on Sunday with a mate who is a neutral. He just loves to see good football. Right through the first half, and for much of the second, except for that fifteen minute period of mayhem, he was expressing astonishment at how effortlessly good City were. And you know what? He was right.

And that brings me to my second point.

I'll tell you what's really getting on a lot of people's tits — myself included. It is that we've have almost never been truly outplayed this season. We have now lost six games, and drawn three, (not counting the loss to Atalanta and United the other night, in neither of which were we poor) and of those nine games, you could make a very strong case to say that we should have won about seven of them. Perhaps only in the game against the dippers were we actually outplayed, and even then there's those on here who'd take issue. Who could seriously say that we actually played badly in either of the Spurs games? Certainly not any neutral supporter. We should have won both, by a country mile. We're 2-0 up at half-time against Wolves. We lose. We're 2-1 up against Palace, having turned it right round, with four minutes to play. We draw. We're all over Newcastle. We draw. This has been happening over and over and over. It's just incredibly frustrating, given the overall quality of our approach work which, actually, is just about as good as last season and the season before that.
 
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herrock said:
The miss from Aguero, penalty miss from Gundogan, dreadful pass by sterling to gundogan, mahrez's shocking corner , both of zinchenko's yellow cards & otamendi stepping out of position were all situations that we should have done better in. We played some great stuff at times but costly mistakes week in week out is tough to take. Get Laporte and get this season going again.
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I agree with your post, however, I feel that Laportes next game will be the match against R.M.
 
Lovebitesandeveryfing said:
All of this is very true, CB. And from a fan's point of view, especially a long-standing fan, such as myself and, I strongly suppose, yourself, there are ample grounds to be pleased. Nevertheless — and here is the disjunction — in terms of where the club now sees itself as rightfully sitting, this is a somewhat unsatisfactory season. Because if the club now aspires to sit at the very top table, with the likes of Real Madrid, Bayern, Barca, Juventus — and it does — then it should be aiming to win the league every single season or, given the impossibility of that, certainly pushing hard for it. With the occasional CL title, to boot.
So for those who've been through York away, etc. (I was not at York away, indeed I was far away from the UK at the time), it's only really relevant to relativise City's “failure” this season from a long-term supporter's point of view. The club as it now stands is a million miles from that period. And the club does not compare itself with Watford, Norwich, Aston Villa, does not even think about being outside top four, at the start of any given season. Getting top four is a given for the club and team. It's expected. Certainly, it has to be earned, but the team is that good that is it expected that it will be earned. That is exactly the measure of how very far we've come in the last ten years. And that's as it should be, frankly, because a huge amount of money has been put into this club, and a lot of long-term strategic planning, of which the CFA is only the most spectacular example. I went to the match on Sunday with a mate who is a neutral. He just loves to see good football. Right through the first half, and for much of the second, except for that fifteen minute period of mayhem, he was expressing astonishment at how effortlessly good City were. And you know what? He was right.

And that brings me to my second point.

I'll tell you what's really getting on a lot of people's tits — myself included. It is that we've have almost never been truly outplayed this season. We have now lost six games, and drawn three, (not counting the loss to Atalanta and United the other night, in neither of which were we poor) and of those nine games, you could make a very strong case to say that we should have won about seven of them. Perhaps only in the game against the dippers were we actually outplayed, and even then there's those on here who'd take issue. Who could seriously say that we actually played badly in either of the Spurs games? Certainly not any neutral supporter. We should have won both, by a country mile. We're 2-0 up at half-time against Wolves. We lose. We're 2-1 up against Palace, having turned it right round, with four minutes to play. We draw. We're all over Newcastle. We draw. This has been happening over and over and over. It's just incredibly frustrating, given the overall quality of our approach work which, actually, is just about as good as last season and the season before that.
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I can't disagree with the majority of that post. When you create 20+ shots on goal in a match - and don't convert any - what is the solution? We know the players are capable, so how do we fix this?

There are many games we could have won this season - even with our poor strike per goal ratio, however our biggest problem (by a mile this season) is our inability to keep a clean sheet. Not just 'keep a clean sheet' - many times we don't even look confident when the ball is hoisted towards our defenders. The teams that have defeated us by a 1 or 2 goal margin didn't have many more chances on goal. 2 shots on target all game - 2 goals etc. We don't have any real 'Generals' in our squad since the departure of Kompany, (i.e guys that organise and are willing to ensure that everybody knows their role, without simply bollocking their teammates when things get a bit hairy). That has been lacking this season. We have talent in abundance, but we absolutely need to shore up our defence with more capable talent. I'm not saying anything new here - I think we all know our main problem and I fully expect it to be addressed for next season.
 
Scottish Cityzen said:
I think a second centre back similar to the level of Laporte will have a bigger impact on our defensive stability.

Eddie has let in a few soft goals this season but he’s also faced a lot of unstoppable ones. Possibly his game has dropped a bit, like a lot of the squad since the title challenge slipped.

He gives us a lot that an average all round keeper can’t. Hopefully he will keep on improving.
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Solid reply mate, can't disagree with any of it, I'm hoping it's just a dip in form. Seeing some progression next year would be good.
 
Lovebitesandeveryfing said:
All of this is very true, CB. And from a fan's point of view, especially a long-standing fan, such as myself and, I strongly suppose, yourself, there are ample grounds to be pleased. Nevertheless — and here is the disjunction — in terms of where the club now sees itself as rightfully sitting, this is a somewhat unsatisfactory season. Because if the club now aspires to sit at the very top table, with the likes of Real Madrid, Bayern, Barca, Juventus — and it does — then it should be aiming to win the league every single season or, given the impossibility of that, certainly pushing hard for it. With the occasional CL title, to boot.
So for those who've been through York away, etc. (I was not at York away, indeed I was far away from the UK at the time), it's only really relevant to relativise City's “failure” this season from a long-term supporter's point of view. The club as it now stands is a million miles from that period. And the club does not compare itself with Watford, Norwich, Aston Villa, does not even think about being outside top four, at the start of any given season. Getting top four is a given for the club and team. It's expected. Certainly, it has to be earned, but the team is that good that is it expected that it will be earned. That is exactly the measure of how very far we've come in the last ten years. And that's as it should be, frankly, because a huge amount of money has been put into this club, and a lot of long-term strategic planning, of which the CFA is only the most spectacular example. I went to the match on Sunday with a mate who is a neutral. He just loves to see good football. Right through the first half, and for much of the second, except for that fifteen minute period of mayhem, he was expressing astonishment at how effortlessly good City were. And you know what? He was right.

And that brings me to my second point.

I'll tell you what's really getting on a lot of people's tits — myself included. It is that we've have almost never been truly outplayed this season. We have now lost six games, and drawn three, (not counting the loss to Atalanta and United the other night, in neither of which were we poor) and of those nine games, you could make a very strong case to say that we should have won about seven of them. Perhaps only in the game against the dippers were we actually outplayed, and even then there's those on here who'd take issue. Who could seriously say that we actually played badly in either of the Spurs games? Certainly not any neutral supporter. We should have won both, by a country mile. We're 2-0 up at half-time against Wolves. We lose. We're 2-1 up against Palace, having turned it right round, with four minutes to play. We draw. We're all over Newcastle. We draw. This has been happening over and over and over. It's just incredibly frustrating, given the overall quality of our approach work which, actually, is just about as good as last season and the season before that.
Click to expand...

The second bit can only be a mentality thing.

We have certainly tossed at least 10 points away this season by not being professional and seeing out the game.
 
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