Tottenham Pre Match Thread

[George Hannah]

Actually truth be known it is time for every man in the team to roll their sleeves up and COMPETE - do that they will overcome

A stirring call to arms from the Bluemoon masthead!

 

[The slaughtered lamb]

At the end of November, following your 2-1 win at home to Norwich, they were 8pts behind you. So in 10 weeks they've picked up 9 more points. I'd say that's steady improvement at the least, combined with below par performances on City's behalf.

They've also had Europa League matches and topped their group. Granted, you've reached the League Cup final.

I don't think there's any doubt that had City had a full team to choose from in recent weeks that you'd be in better form and above Spurs. However, to say the above post is "bollocks" is quite frankly bollocks in itself.

It isn't bollocks any more than your post is.

You're choosing to compare the teams over a 10 week period, in so doing, completely ignoring the period immediately before that where we were considerably better than Spurs (as you say, 8 pts better). Before we played Spurs you probably thought we were the 'form' team because of what had gone previously. They then deservedly beat us at their place.

You can't compare teams over such a short period and any assessment of improvement is probably wide of the mark, based on too few results and fuelled by media bollocks. Fact is, we're 25 games in and they're 1 point in front of us. That's the only stat that matters.

I've no doubt that you, pavel and the other doom mongers on here think you're right but the implied probabilities are City 45 % chance of winning, Spurs 27%. That doesn't mean you're wrong but it means you're probably wrong.

 

[Latics Fan SJK]

It isn't bollocks any more than your post is.

You're choosing to compare the teams over a 10 week period, in so doing, completely ignoring the period immediately before that where we were considerably better than Spurs (as you say, 8 pts better). Before we played Spurs you probably thought we were the 'form' team because of what had gone previously. They then deservedly beat us at their place.

You can't compare teams over such a short period and any assessment of improvement is probably wide of the mark, based on too few results and fuelled by media bollocks. Fact is, we're 25 games in and they're 1 point in front of us. That's the only stat that matters.

I've no doubt that you, pavel and the other doom mongers on here think you're right but the implied probabilities are City 45 % chance of winning, Spurs 27%. That doesn't mean you're wrong but it means you're probably wrong.

Eh?

Form can be measured however you want to look at it. Going into November I'd have said you were in better form than Spurs. As of this Sunday I would say Spurs are in better form than you. If you want to be pedantic and say form is suddenly judged over a season then so be it.

 

[vmsuhail]

I'm predicting the match will go till 70 minutes before the stadium starts emptying...

 

[The slaughtered lamb]

It isn't bollocks though to suggest that maybe, just maybe, Spurs aren't vastly superior to us. In fact, you could say it's pedantic to quote stats over such a selective period as the last 10 weeks. There are probably even periods within that ten weeks where our form was better than theirs.

Like I say it isn't just me, the wisdom of crowds and 'recent' performance of the two teams says we should have much more confidence going into this game than some of the comments on this thread would suggest.

 

[uwe rosler 28]

With the 2 garcias cellina and angellino all involved last night do I take it they won't be involved this weekend?

 

[Latics Fan SJK]

I would say that Spurs are in 'better' recent form going into this game but there's a difference of 4 points between the teams since we last played, and as I pointed out, we have gone further in the league cup (which could have impacted our league form) and progressed in the far harder champions league in the same period. Pavels post was characterising our form as poor, I was merely pointing out that our form can't be that poor when compared with Spurs for the above reasons. That is why I said his post was b*ll*cks. A binary measure of points accumulated for one selective period of the season takes no account of the teams played. The 'fact' is that Spurs are 1 point ahead so if our form is poor this season then so must Spurs.

During the period I mentioned - so from November 1st onwards - City have played 22 games across all competitions, which is 1 more than Spurs. You've both topped your European groups, so regardless of the level of opponent in those competitions you can only beat what is put in front of you. You've both qualified for the 5th round of the FA Cup. You have had a couple of extra LC cup games. The league, however, is where the real difference in "form" is coming from, which if I was to take a guess is what the people in thread are alluding to.

City started the season better than Spurs and up until October you were comfortably ahead - 8 points.

Since the start of November, Spurs' form has picked up significantly whereas yours has stalled. They've earned 9 more points, scored 6 more goals, conceded 6 less goals with a win ratio of 60% - compared to City's 43%.

City / Spurs

Pld: 14 / 15
Won: 6 / 9
Drawn: 4 / 4
Lost: 4 / 2
Scored: 21 / 27
Conceded: 17 / 11
Points: 22 / 31

So yes, looking purely at the league table you can say that both teams have performed similarly throughout the season. What I can't understand is how you can disagree with some of your fans who say Spurs are in better form - the stats above show that.

 

[Latics Fan SJK]

It isn't bollocks though to suggest that maybe, just maybe, Spurs aren't vastly superior to us. In fact, you could say it's pedantic to quote stats over such a selective period as the last 10 weeks. There are probably even periods within that ten weeks where our form was better than theirs.

Like I say it isn't just me, the wisdom of crowds and 'recent' performance of the two teams says we should have much more confidence going into this game than some of the comments on this thread would suggest.

I agree - I don't think Spurs are vastly superior to City. What I do think is that they are in much better form than City (which is different from saying they are having a much better season - as they aren't).

 

[The slaughtered lamb]

Fair enough. Thankfully, the definition of form and the stats you're using don't have much impact on the most probable outcome, which is a City win.

 

[Phil1]

Fuck Spurs. We will win this one.
3-1.