Tag: Man City

  • 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.

  • 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.

    (You know, following is caring. If you haven’t already, please take a moment to subscribe and follow this blog.)

  • Premier League Week 3: A Tottenham Win, Brentford’s Heartbreaker, and Leeds

    Tottenham Hotspur took on Wolverhampton this Saturday, and it was a mixed blessing of a match. A win is a win, so I’ll take it – No complaints there. But the start of the match, Wolverhampton looked pretty solid, as they had some good chances that they just couldn’t convert. What I thought the Wolves did great against Spurs was shut Son out of the match, which third match into the season, I have yet to see Son be Son. Either way, Spurs had another slow start, and the first half of the match left me feeling like this is a team that keeps bending to opponents, but not breaking. In the second half, Tottenham came out fighting, and it really felt like it was only a matter of time before that were able to strike. It came in the 64th minute when Harry Kane got a header to score which was all Spurs needed to get the win. This match did feel like another test, and Tottenham proved that they could keep it together to stay undefeated. Yet, this still doesn’t feel like a team that finds ways to win, but a club that refuses to lose.

    Then there was my dark horse team Brentford that lost a heartbreaking nail biter at Fulham. The match started off awful for the Bees who gave up two goals early, one being in the first minute. Brentford hung in there with Norgarrd scoring at the end of the first half, and Toney scorning an equalizer in the 71st minute. But Fulham’s forward Mitrovic was able to put the match away at the 90th minute. Sure, there were four minutes of stoppage time, but Brentford was spent. This was a match of two very scrappy teams fighting it out for respect in the League. Fulham just got promoted last year, and Brentford looking to prove they belong here as well, especially after the drumming the handed Man United last week. I’m telling you, and I know nothing about football, keep your eye on Brentford.

    Hey! Leeds beat Chelsea 3 – 0. That just made me happy, as clearly I’m not a fan of Chelsea. Nor of Arsenal. Or Man City. I’ll throw Liverpool in there as well. But Hey! Leeds looked awesome! No disrespect to Leeds.

    On to Week Four!

    (And, as always, if you are find this insights insightful, then don’t be a bother, give a like, share a share, or sound off in the comments. It’ll do you good, as I knew your father, I did!)