Tag: English Football

  • WTF Tottenham!?!?!

    Did anyone else see the Newcastle v Tottenham match on Sunday? If you did, you must be a Newcastle fan. If you are a Spurs fan, you probably stopped watching after twenty minutes. It was a slaughter, a complete dismantlement of Tottenham. Newcastle scored five goals in twenty-one minutes, which isn’t a record, but should be. Sunday is where Spurs’ season died. It had a good life; lots of hope and promise, but it was not long for this world.

    It is one of the biggest sports clichés, but Newcastle wanted it more. They can see an open spot in the Champions League just sitting out there for anyone to take. Arsenal and Man City have run away with the season, and that will be an interesting finish to see who will win the Premier League.

    BUT! The race to secure the last two qualifying spots for the Champions League could be an exciting race!

    But it won’t.

    If Spurs played like a team with a little fire in their guts, then those last two slots would turn into this epic race between Spurs, Newcastle and Man United…

    But it won’t…

    It is so completely frustrating that Tottenham has all the pieces for a high caliber, trophy winning team. You look at the line up, and you’d think they’d be sitting at the top of the table. Even a few years ago, they had a weaker and banged up squad, but they still made it to the Champion League final.

    Where is that team? Where is that drive? That desire to win?

    I don’t know… I grew up a Cubs fan, so I am used to a sports team sucking all the time. I guess I need to start bringing my Cubs mentality to Tottenham matches.

  • 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.

  • There Went the Season

    Poor Tottenham. They got bounced out of the Champions League yesterday in the most limp noodle fashion imaginable. In the stretch of eight days, they had two losses and a draw; they got bounced from two tournaments and lost to a middle of the table team in the Premier League. It’s hard to imagine a worse week for the team.

    Sadly, I think things are about to get worse for them. Liverpool and Newcastle are nipping at their heels, fighting for the fourth spot on the table to qualify for the Champions League next season. Though Spurs have a rather friendly schedule coming up with five matches, I don’t think their head is in the game. They’re gun’na blow it.

    That’s what I witnessed from them against Milan yesterday. It wasn’t an inspired or aggressive team. It really did feel like they gave up at half time. Like they decided they weren’t going to win any trophies this year, so why bother.

    I think this is the end of the Antonio Conte era. My guess is that he’ll finish out the season, and they just won’t renew his contract. And then there will be an offseason of speculation of who will come in. Who has the ego to rein in this team, deal with the egos, win trophies? Maybe next year…

    Not that I know anything about football…

  • 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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  • 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

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