The Tottenham Thread 12/13

[Speaker]

Adebayor going to the ACON is a very convenient way for AVB to avoid dropping him.

If he has a good tournament, his confidence should be boosted and we'll have a much improved player on our hands for the remainder of the season.

What an absolutely first rate piece of management by AVB, truly outstanding work. To realise that his African born player would be out of form just in time for ACON, conveniently avoiding the tricky situation of dropping a player who is playing shite is an utter masterstroke.
How the press don't pick up on his utter genius is staggering.
He's like a ginger footballing god, Alan Ball reborn.

I'm sorry, but exactly where did THFC praise AVB for Adebayor going to the ACON? All he is saying is that it may be fortunate that Adebayor is off to the ACON as he is suffering from a lack of form at the moment, and his history of moodiness means that dropping him could be risky. All he said was that any potential moaning from Adebayor has been avoided, so in that way AVB has dodged a difficult decision. I really do not see where he has lauded AVB for it.

All he has done is indicate the potentially positive zeitgeist.<br /><br />-- Tue Jan 08, 2013 1:39 pm --<br /><br />

Spurs in talks with Belhanda now. Only 12M.

Fuck getting slightly worried about Spus now I can AVB taking them to that next level.

I can't.

I'm simply not convinced that AVB is actually all that good a manager at all, yes he did well in his short time at Porto, but in all honestly you could shave a chimp, throw a suit on it and name it Porto manager and you'd likely win the Portuguese league.

He is exceeding expectations by a long way in my eyes. We lost our captain, midfield playmaker, and attacking playmaker in the summer (king, modric, vdv). It would be like you lot losing kompany, yaya, and silva, and still being in 1st place.

 

[greasedupdeafguy]

Spurs in talks with Belhanda now. Only 12M.

Fuck getting slightly worried about Spus now I can AVB taking them to that next level.

I can't.

I'm simply not convinced that AVB is actually all that good a manager at all, yes he did well in his short time at Porto, but in all honestly you could shave a chimp, throw a suit on it and name it Porto manager and you'd likely win the Portuguese league.

He won 45 of 51 games that season and won 4 trophies which is an amazing achievement, you could easily say any manager could win the prem with money Mancini has spent. And he won the europa which Mancini had constantly fell short in so you have to give AVB great credit.

Belhanda is a top player though building a very good team spurs now.

 

[Speaker]

Fuck getting slightly worried about Spus now I can AVB taking them to that next level.

I can't.

I'm simply not convinced that AVB is actually all that good a manager at all, yes he did well in his short time at Porto, but in all honestly you could shave a chimp, throw a suit on it and name it Porto manager and you'd likely win the Portuguese league.

He won 45 of 51 games that season and won 4 trophies which is an amazing achievement, you could easily say any manager could win the prem with money Mancini has spent. And he won the europa which Mancini had constantly fell short in so you have to give AVB great credit.

Belhanda is a top player though building a very good team spurs now.

Would be a good signing i think. Ligue 1 young player of the year last season, and apparently they only want 15m euros. Levy signing written all over it. Fingers crossed.

 

[MSP]

He is exceeding expectations by a long way in my eyes. We lost our captain, midfield playmaker, and attacking playmaker in the summer (king, modric, vdv). It would be like you lot losing kompany, yaya, and silva, and still being in 1st place.

You had probably say the same about Redknapp last year in this time. But on the end your squad was not good enough and failed, though unlucky on the end.

Your position look good at the moment but it's not as good to be safe to not fail again on the end.

And btw, comparison with King from last season and Kompany is out of order. Kompany is very hard to replace, King from last season not really.

 

[stony]

Adebayor going to the ACON is a very convenient way for AVB to avoid dropping him.

If he has a good tournament, his confidence should be boosted and we'll have a much improved player on our hands for the remainder of the season.

What an absolutely first rate piece of management by AVB, truly outstanding work. To realise that his African born player would be out of form just in time for ACON, conveniently avoiding the tricky situation of dropping a player who is playing shite is an utter masterstroke.
How the press don't pick up on his utter genius is staggering.
He's like a ginger footballing god, Alan Ball reborn.

I'm sorry, but exactly where did THFC praise AVB for Adebayor going to the ACON? All he is saying is that it may be fortunate that Adebayor is off to the ACON as he is suffering from a lack of form at the moment, and his history of moodiness means that dropping him could be risky. All he said was that any potential moaning from Adebayor has been avoided, so in that way AVB has dodged a difficult decision. I really do not see where he has lauded AVB for it.

All he has done is indicate the potentially positive zeitgeist.

-- Tue Jan 08, 2013 1:39 pm --

.

THFC is the spurs equivalent of Chemical Ali, I was just having a little jest, no need to get your knickers in a twist.

 

[Dzeko's Right Boot]

People still doubting AVB? Despite him now doing a very good job at Spurs? They are on a very good run now, a bit of a juggernaut at the moment. People rate first impressions way too highly. Excellent manager, making excellent purchases. Spurs are going to be very good soon.

 

[Speaker]

He is exceeding expectations by a long way in my eyes. We lost our captain, midfield playmaker, and attacking playmaker in the summer (king, modric, vdv). It would be like you lot losing kompany, yaya, and silva, and still being in 1st place.

You had probably say the same about Redknapp last year in this time. But on the end your squad was not good enough and failed, though unlucky on the end.

Your position look good at the moment but it's not as good to be safe to not fail again on the end.

And btw, comparison with King from last season and Kompany is out of order. Kompany is very hard to replace, King from last season not really.

A fair point re: King.

However, on the 'Arry point, no he did not exceed expectations last season. Our form in the second half of the season was on a par with a team fighting relegation, not attempting to break into the top 4. A team containing Modric, VDV, Bale, and a firing Adebayor should have clinched third.

What has been impressive with AVB (for me at least), is that he has us in third (albeit with Chelsea holding a game in hand), after a major squad overhaul, with us leading the injury table for a large portion of the season, and running at a transfer profit. He also got neither of the players he himself truly wanted (Moutinho and Willian).

Oh and to the poster who said that we are worse off points wise at this stage in comparison to last, we are actually better off points wise when comparing corresponding fixtures. At the moment we have improved after selling 2 of our 3 best players.

Most Spurs fans at the start of the season said that they would be happy if we finished 5th. Due to the scale of the task set before AVB, I would still be happy with a 5th place finish.

 

[THFC6061]

He is exceeding expectations by a long way in my eyes. We lost our captain, midfield playmaker, and attacking playmaker in the summer (king, modric, vdv). It would be like you lot losing kompany, yaya, and silva, and still being in 1st place.

You had probably say the same about Redknapp last year in this time. But on the end your squad was not good enough and failed, though unlucky on the end.

Your position look good at the moment but it's not as good to be safe to not fail again on the end.

And btw, comparison with King from last season and Kompany is out of order. Kompany is very hard to replace, King from last season not really.

A fair point re: King.

However, on the 'Arry point, no he did not exceed expectations last season. Our form in the second half of the season was on a par with a team fighting relegation, not attempting to break into the top 4. A team containing Modric, VDV, Bale, and a firing Adebayor should have clinched third.

What has been impressive with AVB (for me at least), is that he has us in third (albeit with Chelsea holding a game in hand), after a major squad overhaul, with us leading the injury table for a large portion of the season, and running at a transfer profit. He also got neither of the players he himself truly wanted (Moutinho and Willian).

Oh and to the poster who said that we are worse off points wise at this stage in comparison to last, we are actually better off points wise when comparing corresponding fixtures. At the moment we have improved after selling 2 of our 3 best players.

Most Spurs fans at the start of the season said that they would be happy if we finished 5th. Due to the scale of the task set before AVB, I would still be happy with a 5th place finish.

Indeed we are.

Three points better off when compared with the identical fixtures in 2011-12...

 

[Josh Blue]

AVB and Spurs will keep improving. Fair play to him, he has had a lot of stick but I am a big admirer of his managerial ability.

 

[bluemiester]

He is exceeding expectations by a long way in my eyes. We lost our captain, midfield playmaker, and attacking playmaker in the summer (king, modric, vdv). It would be like you lot losing kompany, yaya, and silva, and still being in 1st place.

You had probably say the same about Redknapp last year in this time. But on the end your squad was not good enough and failed, though unlucky on the end.

Your position look good at the moment but it's not as good to be safe to not fail again on the end.

And btw, comparison with King from last season and Kompany is out of order. Kompany is very hard to replace, King from last season not really.

A fair point re: King.

However, on the 'Arry point, no he did not exceed expectations last season. Our form in the second half of the season was on a par with a team fighting relegation, not attempting to break into the top 4. A team containing Modric, VDV, Bale, and a firing Adebayor should have clinched third.

What has been impressive with AVB (for me at least), is that he has us in third (albeit with Chelsea holding a game in hand), after a major squad overhaul, with us leading the injury table for a large portion of the season, and running at a transfer profit. He also got neither of the players he himself truly wanted (Moutinho and Willian).

Oh and to the poster who said that we are worse off points wise at this stage in comparison to last, we are actually better off points wise when comparing corresponding fixtures. At the moment we have improved after selling 2 of our 3 best players.

Most Spurs fans at the start of the season said that they would be happy if we finished 5th. Due to the scale of the task set before AVB, I would still be happy with a 5th place finish.

All football fan bias aside, looking at things logically, AVB has had a very limited impact. In fact he's not really added anything. The truth is, no matter how it's spun, is that you are now slightly ahead of Arsenal, who lost RVP and Song. Statistically speaking RVP have more influence over his teams point haul than any other player in the Prem last season and by a long way.

Football is simple and fans try and over complicate it. Trying to suggest AVB has had a real impact in terms of coaching and tactics is a bit ridiculous when you consider the Arsenal lost RVP and are now just behind you. The rags gained RVP and have since opened a gap over us. At the end of the day had Arsenal still had RVP, do you really think you'd be ahead of them. I think if you are honest I think you'd say there is little to no chance of that. So even with the loss of Modric and VDV, it's still very hard to make a non biased case to suggest AVB has had much of an impact. The most positive thing to say about him is that he hasn't taken you backwards.

I'm sure as a pro AVB guy you'll try and convince yourself this isn't true, but come off it, football is about players. Coach's get ridiculously over rated.

Check this out, it'll make it pretty hard to deny that no matter how big a loss Modric was forn you, RVP was much greater. And this is a much more likely reason for you sitting above Arsenal than anything AVB has done. In fact, if you are being totally objective for AVB to prove himself an upgrade, I'd say Spurs have to finish easily clear of Arsenal (points wise.)

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.eplindex.com/13174/epl-clutch-goal-scorers-score-when-required.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.eplindex.com/13174/epl-clutc ... uired.html</a>


I've even seen Spurs fans trying to claim the AVB has improved Lennon and Defoe. They talk as if they don't realize playing more minutes, doesn't mean being better. In terms of actual productivity both are down on last season. For example, Defoe has scored 10 goals this season, but he's played 1702 mins. Last season he only played 1287 mins in total, yet still scored 11 goals. Yet there is a myth that Defoe is flourishing under AVB and many Spurs fans seem desperate to believe it's true in order to sustain the belief that AVB is having a big impact. He's not!

 

[THFC6061]

You should remember that Spurs lost three key players for 2012-13 - Ledley King, Luka Modric and Rafael van der Vaart - and had a further three first-choice players unavailable for most of the first half of the season - Younes Kaboul, Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Scott Parker.

Despite this, to be three points better off than in the identical fixtures last season is a testament to both AVB and Tottenham's squad in general for stepping-up when needed.

 

[St Helens Blue (Exiled)]

You should remember that Spurs lost three key players for 2012-13 - Ledley King, Luka Modric and Rafael van der Vaart - and had a further three first-choice players unavailable for most of the first half of the season - Younes Kaboul, Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Scott Parker.

Despite this, to be three points better off than in the identical fixtures last season is a testament to both AVB and Tottenham's squad in general for stepping-up when needed.

bet you lose to qpr

 

[dadnlad]

You should remember that Spurs lost three key players for 2012-13 - Ledley King, Luka Modric and Rafael van der Vaart - and had a further three first-choice players unavailable for most of the first half of the season - Younes Kaboul, Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Scott Parker.

Despite this, to be three points better off than in the identical fixtures last season is a testament to both AVB and Tottenham's squad in general for stepping-up when needed.

bet you lose to qpr

ha ha ha the rags will pull their pants down

 

[bluemiester]

You should remember that Spurs lost three key players for 2012-13 - Ledley King, Luka Modric and Rafael van der Vaart - and had a further three first-choice players unavailable for most of the first half of the season - Younes Kaboul, Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Scott Parker.

Despite this, to be three points better off than in the identical fixtures last season is a testament to both AVB and Tottenham's squad in general for stepping-up when needed.

Is it not true that over the previous 2 seasons you played 8 games without Modric and won 6, drew 1 and lost 1? Why is this never brought up?

You also never bring up that whilst you lost 3 key players, you also brought in Vertonghen, Dembele, Lloris and Dempsey. Yet SPurs fans talk as if you only lost players.

Weren't Sandro, King and Lennon missing for many games last season? Dawson and Huddlestone missed pretty much the entire season, yet were regular starters when you qualified for the CL.

There is no way around it, Arsenal suffered much more than you did. RVP's the closest thing we have in the Prem to a player who is as vital to his team as Messi or Ronaldo are to theirs. Without him Arsenal would have been way behind last season and Utd would not be above us this season. It's as simple as that. He scores match winning goals as key moments.

AVB hasn't been a failure, but to try and make out he's taken the club forward is just totally biased. He's done well and is a likable guy, but because his predecessor was less likable, many are desperately trying to make out AVB has done a great job, when it's not really true at all.

 

[THFC6061]

You should remember that Spurs lost three key players for 2012-13 - Ledley King, Luka Modric and Rafael van der Vaart - and had a further three first-choice players unavailable for most of the first half of the season - Younes Kaboul, Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Scott Parker.

Despite this, to be three points better off than in the identical fixtures last season is a testament to both AVB and Tottenham's squad in general for stepping-up when needed.

bet you lose to qpr

It wouldn't surprise me in the least.

 

[St Helens Blue (Exiled)]

You should remember that Spurs lost three key players for 2012-13 - Ledley King, Luka Modric and Rafael van der Vaart - and had a further three first-choice players unavailable for most of the first half of the season - Younes Kaboul, Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Scott Parker.

Despite this, to be three points better off than in the identical fixtures last season is a testament to both AVB and Tottenham's squad in general for stepping-up when needed.

bet you lose to qpr

It wouldn't surprise me in the least.

Kin hell my tottenham friend.I am only joking. I expect a 3 or 4 goal victory

 

[Speaker]

You should remember that Spurs lost three key players for 2012-13 - Ledley King, Luka Modric and Rafael van der Vaart - and had a further three first-choice players unavailable for most of the first half of the season - Younes Kaboul, Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Scott Parker.

Despite this, to be three points better off than in the identical fixtures last season is a testament to both AVB and Tottenham's squad in general for stepping-up when needed.

Is it not true that over the previous 2 seasons you played 8 games without Modric and won 6, drew 1 and lost 1? Why is this never brought up?

You also never bring up that whilst you lost 3 key players, you also brought in Vertonghen, Dembele, Lloris and Dempsey. Yet SPurs fans talk as if you only lost players.

Weren't Sandro, King and Lennon missing for many games last season? Dawson and Huddlestone missed pretty much the entire season, yet were regular starters when you qualified for the CL.

There is no way around it, Arsenal suffered much more than you did. RVP's the closest thing we have in the Prem to a player who is as vital to his team as Messi or Ronaldo are to theirs. Without him Arsenal would have been way behind last season and Utd would not be above us this season. It's as simple as that. He scores match winning goals as key moments.

AVB hasn't been a failure, but to try and make out he's taken the club forward is just totally biased. He's done well and is a likable guy, but because his predecessor was less likable, many are desperately trying to make out AVB has done a great job, when it's not really true at all.

Please, 6 months ago no one in world football would have preferred Dembele to Modric, and still no one in world football would rather have Dempsey than VDV.

Re Modric: Bale didn't win a game in Spurs shirt for the first two years he was here, should we never play him due to that? Ridiculous statement that is never brought up because it means sweet fuck all. Modric was our talisman, all play flowed through him. The fact is AVB has improved us, both performance wise and results wise, at the same time as having the spine ripped out of the team that finished fourth last season.

Why should we finish "miles ahead" of Arsenal? We haven't since the Premier League began. Arsenal lost RVP, but gained Podolski and Cazorla. They lost Song, but gained Wilshere who was out all of last season. Yes they are a weaker side because of it, but on paper so are we.

Chelsea's squad is vastly improved upon from last season, but still they are struggling. Which pretty much proves that players don't make clubs, managers do.

 

[Marvin]

Spurs after a shaky spell under AVB are looking good at the moment.

Sandro, Bale, Defoe some really top players.

Should take points off Utd, but probably wont. I wouldn't like to go to WHL at the moment.

 

[Bilboblue]

You should remember that Spurs lost three key players for 2012-13 - Ledley King, Luka Modric and Rafael van der Vaart - and had a further three first-choice players unavailable for most of the first half of the season - Younes Kaboul, Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Scott Parker.

Despite this, to be three points better off than in the identical fixtures last season is a testament to both AVB and Tottenham's squad in general for stepping-up when needed.

Is it not true that over the previous 2 seasons you played 8 games without Modric and won 6, drew 1 and lost 1? Why is this never brought up?

You also never bring up that whilst you lost 3 key players, you also brought in Vertonghen, Dembele, Lloris and Dempsey. Yet SPurs fans talk as if you only lost players.

Weren't Sandro, King and Lennon missing for many games last season? Dawson and Huddlestone missed pretty much the entire season, yet were regular starters when you qualified for the CL.

There is no way around it, Arsenal suffered much more than you did. RVP's the closest thing we have in the Prem to a player who is as vital to his team as Messi or Ronaldo are to theirs. Without him Arsenal would have been way behind last season and Utd would not be above us this season. It's as simple as that. He scores match winning goals as key moments.

AVB hasn't been a failure, but to try and make out he's taken the club forward is just totally biased. He's done well and is a likable guy, but because his predecessor was less likable, many are desperately trying to make out AVB has done a great job, when it's not really true at all.

Please, 6 months ago no one in world football would have preferred Dembele to Modric, and still no one in world football would rather have Dempsey than VDV.

Re Modric: Bale didn't win a game in Spurs shirt for the first two years he was here, should we never play him due to that? Ridiculous statement that is never brought up because it means sweet fuck all. Modric was our talisman, all play flowed through him. The fact is AVB has improved us, both performance wise and results wise, at the same time as having the spine ripped out of the team that finished fourth last season.

Why should we finish "miles ahead" of Arsenal? We haven't since the Premier League began. Arsenal lost RVP, but gained Podolski and Cazorla. They lost Song, but gained Wilshere who was out all of last season. Yes they are a weaker side because of it, but on paper so are we.

Chelsea's squad is vastly improved upon from last season, but still they are struggling. Which pretty much proves that players don't make clubs, managers do.

Fkn hell, is that true?

Even we finished above Le Arse in the Premier League era (before our takeover!)

 

[bluemiester]

You should remember that Spurs lost three key players for 2012-13 - Ledley King, Luka Modric and Rafael van der Vaart - and had a further three first-choice players unavailable for most of the first half of the season - Younes Kaboul, Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Scott Parker.

Despite this, to be three points better off than in the identical fixtures last season is a testament to both AVB and Tottenham's squad in general for stepping-up when needed.

Is it not true that over the previous 2 seasons you played 8 games without Modric and won 6, drew 1 and lost 1? Why is this never brought up?

You also never bring up that whilst you lost 3 key players, you also brought in Vertonghen, Dembele, Lloris and Dempsey. Yet SPurs fans talk as if you only lost players.

Weren't Sandro, King and Lennon missing for many games last season? Dawson and Huddlestone missed pretty much the entire season, yet were regular starters when you qualified for the CL.

There is no way around it, Arsenal suffered much more than you did. RVP's the closest thing we have in the Prem to a player who is as vital to his team as Messi or Ronaldo are to theirs. Without him Arsenal would have been way behind last season and Utd would not be above us this season. It's as simple as that. He scores match winning goals as key moments.

AVB hasn't been a failure, but to try and make out he's taken the club forward is just totally biased. He's done well and is a likable guy, but because his predecessor was less likable, many are desperately trying to make out AVB has done a great job, when it's not really true at all.

Please, 6 months ago no one in world football would have preferred Dembele to Modric, and still no one in world football would rather have Dempsey than VDV.

Re Modric: Bale didn't win a game in Spurs shirt for the first two years he was here, should we never play him due to that? Ridiculous statement that is never brought up because it means sweet fuck all. Modric was our talisman, all play flowed through him. The fact is AVB has improved us, both performance wise and results wise, at the same time as having the spine ripped out of the team that finished fourth last season.

Why should we finish "miles ahead" of Arsenal? We haven't since the Premier League began. Arsenal lost RVP, but gained Podolski and Cazorla. They lost Song, but gained Wilshere who was out all of last season. Yes they are a weaker side because of it, but on paper so are we.

Chelsea's squad is vastly improved upon from last season, but still they are struggling. Which pretty much proves that players don't make clubs, managers do.

That's absolute rubbish, it's not fact at all. Last season most pundits and experts were saying you played the best football in the country. This season there were times when you were booed off by your own fans.

It's not a ridiculous to point out your success without Modric. It wasn't to suggest you were a better team without him, but that you'd already shown you were perfectly capable of getting results without him. You just don't like it as it doesn't support the way you want to view things. I'm not saying Dembele is as good as Modric, but he's still a very good replacement. But the key point is that no matter how you spin it, Arsenal have lost have lost a far more important player.

You only finished a point behind them last season and as you say from the stat I showed you, RVP was worth way more than anyone else in the Premier League. You are both weaker, but Arsenal significantly more so than you. It's plain as day, but for some reason you don't seem keen to acknowledge it. This leads me to believe that you weren't a fan of Redknapp's and thus want to believe that things have improved by sacking him. When in reality things aren't really different.