Tag: Arsenal

  • A Tottenham Hotspur Blog: Conte Edition

    Welp! It happened. Conte and Tottenham have gone their separate ways. I don’t think anyone is surprised by this. The season was not working out as expected, and when the “most terrible/awfulness week ever” occurred where Spurs got knocked out of the FA Cup, lost in the Premiere League, and then got bounced out of the Champions League, everyone knew Conte was about to lose his job. I think the Conte press conference, the one after the Southampton 3-3 draw, was just Conte acknowledging that he’s about to get fired, so I might as well speak  my mind.

    So, where does this leave Tottenham with ten games left to go in the Premiere League season?

    Currently, Cristian Stellini has been named the interim head coach, which makes sense as he was Conte’s assistant coach at Spurs. Right now, as Tottenham is in fourth place, it would appear that his mission is to keep the team in fourth, which qualifies them for next seasons Champions League, if not move up the table.

    But, with this team, that seems like rather tall order. I don’t think they have a chance in hell of catching Man City, let alone Arsenal. And though Man United is one point ahead of Spurs, and Newcastle is two points behind, both of those clubs have two more games left to play on their schedule as compared to Tottenham. And, Spurs have both of those clubs left on their schedule, which means they are now must wins. In fact, Tottenham cannot afford to come out of any of these ten matches with no points.

    Then there is the biggest issue that is looming over the Summer; Harry Kane. Will he be back? It felt like Conte was brought in specifically to help this team win trophies, which at this point in Kane’s career, that’s the boxes he wants to tick. And I know I have been saying this for the past three seasons, but this Summer just might be the one where Harry goes to another club that is in a better position to win.

    It’s all too bad. I did like Conte. I thought he brought a passion to the club that Tottenham had been missing. But his passion did not translate onto the pitch. Under Conte this season, the team was always slow to start, and got behind early. They never looked like they wanted to win so much as they were trying not to lose.

    So long, Antonio Conte. I appreciated your effort.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Lit Awards Are RIGGED, Oh Tottenham, and My Nose is Stuffed Up

    (Got to Be Real…)

    This might not come as a shock to you, nor me, and maybe someone out there doesn’t know this, but Lit Awards are Rigged. I know how hard that is the believe, but I read this article by Dan Sinykin which says just that; The Lit Prize World is fixed so that a majority of certain people can win. Sinykin is reporting on the research that Juliana Spahr Stephanie Young, Claire Grossman did on the major lit prize winners, going back to 1918. To quote the article, “They (the authors of the research) found that half of the prize-winners with an MFA “went to just four schools: [University of] Iowa, Columbia, NYU, or UC Irvine.” Iowa has special clout: its alumni “are 49 times more likely to win compared to writers who earned their MFA at any other program since 2000.” Also, “…writers “with an elite degree (Ivy League, Stanford, University of Chicago) are nine times more likely to win than those without one. And more specifically, those who attended Harvard are 17 times more likely to win.” I know, I know – It’s hard to believe that people who go to elite schools keep the majority of prizes, money and contracts within their own group. You should read the article as it goes deeper into a few other aspects, but this pretty much confirmed what I knew when I was 18; if you don’t get into the right school, the likelihood of having a writing career is stacked against you.

    What a shitty week to be a Tottenham fan. Not only did they lose to Arsenal on Sunday, but they had the added fun of going down in flames to Man City on Thursday night. They were up two goals at half, and then the wheels came off the truck at the start of the second, and Spurs just looked out classed. Like they don’t deserve to be in the top four of the Premier League. Ung… At least I have the Cowboys to root for on Sunday.

    I think I have another cold. That two in the span of three months. Yuck…

  • A Quick Tottenham Blog

    Well, I don’t like telling myself that I told you so, but I did tell myself that I told you so. Yup. Spurs gave up an early goal to Arsenal, then another goal, and they were never able to recover. If Tottenham plays a not so good team, they can dig themselves out of a hole, but not when they are playing a high caliber team. Arsenal made them look bad. Spurs looked like they were out there fighting for it, while Arsenal was playing and having fun. The confidence coming off of Arsenal was deafening. I mean, just the ease and relaxed play that Saka had when he scored that first goal just shook Tottenham to the core. Lloris looked like he had been bonked on his head and didn’t know where he was when that goal was scored.

    Something has got to change on the defensive end of Tottenham if they have any hopes of staying in the top four of the Premier League, and, I hate to say this, but as of now, I don’t see them advancing in the Champions League. That backline needs to be strengthened, and they have to start winning in the middle of the field.

    My fear now is that Conte, Lloris and Kane will all be gone by the end of this season if they don’t finish in the top four. The owners have proven in the past that they have no issue with sacking managers, no matter if the team is building and moving in the right direction. As for Lloris, he’s still a top tier keeper but he is now moving towards the end of his career. What that means is that he cannot BE Tottenham’s defense; he needs a solid supporting cast, and it’s got to be more than Dier back there. Which leaves Kane. He’s a superstar, and he is not going to settle for a career without any major trophies. He was talking about this exact thing two years ago when he flirted with going to Man City. If moves aren’t made soon, Kane is off to one of the other big clubs.

    The ship needs to be righted, and time’s running out.

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  • ODDS and ENDS: China Visitors, North London Derby, and Fantasy Football

    (Crystal Pepsi wasn’t that bad…)

    I am very thankful and grateful for the people who look at this blog; There are my friends from high school, college, and my life in New York.; And there are the other writers and bloggers on this platform. I appreciate the time you spend on the posts, and the likes you give. Then I started to notice about a month ago, I was getting a shit ton of visitors from China, who are looking mainly at two posts; Short Story Review: “The Face in the Mirror” by Mohsin Hamid, and especially Short Story Review: “My Wonderful Description of Flowers” by Danielle Dutton. No one is leaving any comments or likes, so I am beginning to questions if this isn’t just a bunch of bots pinging these posts. Has anyone else encountered a situation like this? If this does happen to be real people looking at the post, then I guess I’m a little like the band Citizen Dick, cuz they were really huge in Belgium.

    The North London Derby is on Sunday! And Spurs gotta win it. Yeah, Tottenham needs to stop going into a hole in the first half, as Arsenal will not let up on them if they get a lead. This just means that my Sunday will be rather stressful. I want to be confidant about this team, but I still don’t feel that the defense has gelled together, and the Kane/Son combo has been nowhere to be seen this season. Ung… They are making me feel like I’m watching the Cubs again.

    Speaking of sports; I won my fantasy football league. I accomplished this feat with no skill, and all dumb luck. See, I let the computer draft my team, and all I did was adjust the lineup, which guaranteed me a losing season. But, there are so few people playing in my league, everyone got a spot in the playoffs. And that’s when my menagerie of players decided that they should start showing up. Hence, my amazing string of victories that lead to a Championship. My second, I would like to add. No one cares about this success, except me. And now you. You’re welcome.

  • It’s a Tottenham Blog Post

    I don’t know a whole lot about Premiere League football, but I am learning. And as a burgeoning Tottenham Hotspur fan, I am still taking in as much lore and history about the team as possible. One of the things I have down is that Arsenal is the chief rival, and when these two teams play, it’s a very big deal, and it even has a name; North London Derby. I got that much down.

    It does seem like every time that these two teams play, there is something very important on the line. Last year, the second match between them pretty much determined who was going to qualify for the Champions League. This year, it was to see who would lead the top of the table, as Arsenal was in first and Spurs were in third.

    The match didn’t go Tottenham’s way, and though Kulusevski was out with an injury, he wouldn’t have helped. Arsenal was clearly the better team and they were determined to prove it. And this is the part that makes me nervous about Spurs; they are a fragile team. When things start going bad in a match, it’s hard for them to right the ship. The second goal that Arsenal scored should have been stopped by Lloris. It was a fluke mistake, or accident depending how you look at it, but the end of the day, he shouldn’t have let that ball squeak by him. Which leads me to Royal’s foul. Did he deserve a red card for it? I don’t think so. But it was a stupid foul, done out of frustration. And Arsenal made they pay for it, scoring four minutes later. At the end of the day, Arsenal is still in first and Spurs are third, but instead of a one point difference, it’s now four.

    Tottenham have now suffered two losses in three matches, and in both cases a lack of focus has done them in. Sure, I understand the argument that Conte is putting too much emphasis on scoring, and the defense is lacking. Maybe that will get solved later in the season. Maybe.

    As for now, they face Frankfurt, in Frankfurt, for a Champions League Group match. I haven’t heard if Kulusevski will be back, but just as with the Arsenal match, I’m not sure he will be the key to their success. The team needs to come out swinging, and be that aggressive group that Conte keeps talking about. That’s what I will be looking for.

    Here’s the obligatory: #COYS

    (OY! Be a good lad, and share a little love with a guy trying to write about football! A like, a share, a comment would be ace! As would be subscribing to this blog!)