Tottenham 4-1 Saints - Match Thread

[Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd]

My preseason predictions were...

Hammered on the opening day.

Ralph gone after 8-10 games.

Relegation.

First one correct. Glad I backed Spurs to score 4 or more as I'm now £50 better off.

I hope to God he's gone by Monday morning. Nothing has changed since last season. He looks totally lost and devoid of ideas. 

The only reason he plays 5 at the back is because we don't have two decent centre backs capable of playing in a back 4. He's increased the numbers at the back and they still concede 4.

He left our best striker on the bench so can only assume Che is leaving. He then took off a striker and left us without a recognized striker on the pitch. 

His post match interviews are atrocious. Same old excuses and he then admits we can't compete with the likes of Spurs. Talk about negative. Meanwhile, Fulham are holding the Champions League finalists. 

Any manager who loses a game 9-0 needs to take a good look at themselves and make sure it doesn't happen again. Not Ralph, he goes out and repeats the feat the following season. Once again proving that he never learns from his mistakes. 

How many times in pre-eason did he play Valery, Bednarek and Salisu in a back 3? So why did he start them today? 

Ralph is a clueless prick. I really wish he'd just fuck off. 

Who next? In all honestly, I'm beyond caring and it's only the first day of the season.

We had our chance to get Eddie Howe and missed it. 

Right now I'd take anyone with a bit of Premiership experience. 

Chris Hughton would be better than this muppet. 

 

 

 

 

Edited 7 August, 2022 by Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd

[Lord Duckhunter]

Quite an easy game to sum up.

Manager picked the wrong team, bunch of son-in-laws minced around, good job Spurs went through the motions the last 20 mins.  

[East Kent Saint]

It can only get better but will it ? will we care anymore ? Like Boris will we get someone worse if Ralph goes ? Is there any hope?

[Thereisonlyonemickychannon]

5 hours ago, Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd said:

My preseason predictions were...

Hammered on the opening day.

Ralph gone after 8-10 games.

Relegation.

First one correct. Glad I backed Spurs to score 4 or more as I'm now £50 better off.

I hope to God he's gone by Monday morning. Nothing has changed since last season. He looks totally lost and devoid of ideas. 

The only reason he plays 5 at the back is because we don't have two decent centre backs capable of playing in a back 4. He's increased the numbers at the back and they still concede 4.

He left our best striker on the bench so can only assume Che is leaving. He then took off a striker and left us without a recognized striker on the pitch. 

His post match interviews are atrocious. Same old excuses and he then admits we can't compete with the likes of Spurs. Talk about negative. Meanwhile, Fulham are holding the Champions League finalists. 

Any manager who loses a game 9-0 needs to take a good look at themselves and make sure it doesn't happen again. Not Ralph, he goes out and repeats the feat the following season. Once again proving that he never learns from his mistakes. 

How many times in pre-eason did he play Valery, Bednarek and Salisu in a back 3? So why did he start them today? 

Ralph is a clueless prick. I really wish he'd just fuck off. 

Who next? In all honestly, I'm beyond caring and it's only the first day of the season.

We had our chance to get Eddie Howe and missed it. 

Right now I'd take anyone with a bit of Premiership experience. 

Chris Hughton would be better than this muppet. 

 

 

 

 

Spot on.

But you forgot one obvious point with Ralph.

We are going to get stuffed 9-0 at some point as well.

How is he still in a job. Lost 9-0 twice in a year! It is so embarrassing 😳 

[whelk]

7 hours ago, CB Fry said:

Such a silly question.

Get someone else. Just like Pochettino was someone else once. Just like Ralph was someone else once. He wasn't some universally suggested name on this forum at the time. Adkins wasn't either. Koeman wasn't. They were just someone else.

I think Sports Republic have some ideas.

 

Exactly. Like Sports Republic are sitting round a table saying basically there is only Sean Dyche so we need to stick with this guy who doesn’t know what he is doing,

[Dman]

8 hours ago, CB Fry said:

Such a silly question.

Get someone else. Just like Pochettino was someone else once. Just like Ralph was someone else once. He wasn't some universally suggested name on this forum at the time. Adkins wasn't either. Koeman wasn't. They were just someone else.

I think Sports Republic have some ideas.

 

Spot on, I’ve been banging this drum for ages. The ‘who could we get / do better’ argument is fucking ridiculous. 

We may be a bit of a shambles, but there would be hundreds of top level coaches interested In taking the job, should it come up. 

They might improve us, they might not. But at this stage, it has to be worth the risk. 

[Convict Colony]

It would make SR look very stupid if there were to sack Ralph after 1 game having had the opportunity at the end of last season.

I would expect they need to make a balanced decision so maybe after 5 games they might have a look at it.

[Sarnia Cherie]

With just one pitiful match under our belts Ralph must be firm favourite for the first Premiership manager to be shown the door this season. I have given up trying to work out his tactics. Get rid of him before too much damage is done. He has been here long enough and is clearly never going to change. Yesterday showed that.

[CB Fry]

10 minutes ago, Convict Colony said:

It would make SR look very stupid if there were to sack Ralph after 1 game having had the opportunity at the end of last season.

I would expect they need to make a balanced decision so maybe after 5 games they might have a look at it.

There's no early International Break weekend this season, its not until end of September this time. Basically that feels like an obvious working deadline for any club looking to go early with a manager change.

Edit: thats 7 games including homes against Brentford and Leeds plus a couple of aways we should expect to get something from. Would be a fair assessment period for a manager 3 years in.

Edited 7 August, 2022 by CB Fry

[DT]

The players all clearly think he’s a sham. Give him Leeds and then sack him if we don’t win. The cumulative performance has been appalling, and now he’s blaming everything and anyone but him for his cluelessness tactically and motivationally. 

[Alan Sugarfree]

31 minutes ago, Convict Colony said:

It would make SR look very stupid if there were to sack Ralph after 1 game having had the opportunity at the end of last season.

I would expect they need to make a balanced decision so maybe after 5 games they might have a look at it.

He won’t be gone before the Leeds game, but defeat in that and a negative reaction by the fans may see them pull the trigger then than wait any longer.

SR should have got rid at the end of last season.

[Convict Colony]

Posted some names on the ralph thread but if I was SR I would be getting Marco Rose (available) to start watching out games and researching our players.

[jabei]

12 hours ago, vectraman said:

I expected us to lose, no surprise there. Spurs are a very decent side, will I’m sure be top four again. 
 

However the concern for me was Spurs didn’t need to play well to beat us. They didn’t get out of third gear, got to 4 up and eased off (thankfully). 
We went 2-1 down, came out at half time and instantly conceded again (offside) thankfully. 
Heads went down at 3-1 and sat there I was convinced 6 or 7 were going past us. Luckily Spurs were done with us, but my word we were so open at the back. Kane was fortunately crap and Son not at his best. 
Could have been so much worse….
 

I thought they didn't get out of second gear....however, I thought we were actually playing okay for a while before the OG. Ralph is right that killed the game. At that point what you need is a strong leader on the pitch...Someone to make sure heads don't drop and the team continue fighting. We don't have that. Usually it's the captain. I know it's not the done thing to even think about criticising JWP's application or talent so I won't, but I certainly don't think he's an effective captain.

[Singapore Saint]

55 minutes ago, Convict Colony said:

It would make SR look very stupid if there were to sack Ralph after 1 game having had the opportunity at the end of last season.

I would expect they need to make a balanced decision so maybe after 5 games they might have a look at it.

Do you think SR are going to make a decision based on whether they look stupid doing so? I think not. If ya gotta do it, ya just gotta do it.

[hypochondriac]

I think the most frustrating thing for me was we have changed large parts of the coaching team, many players  the formation and yet we seemingly played exactly the way we have always done. This suggests sadly that it's Ralph who is the problem. Imo he will be gone in a few weeks. 

[macca155]

He isn't going to be sacked after one game, that's ridiculous.

The club are trying to build a team, it won't happen overnight. In a way it would easier if we were in the Championship, get some momentum like Brentford.

As it is the team is on a horrific losing run, and the fan's patience is stretched beyond all reason.

I made a big mistake and looked at the last 10 (real) results.

1-4, 1-4, 1-2, 0-3, 1-2, 2-2, 0-2, 1-0, 0-6, 1-1

Smacks of a team that has lost faith in the manager to me.

Ralph has to conjure up a few wins to get some confidence growing, and some hope.

Otherwise SR will have no choice.

 

[LiberalCommunist]

Possibly the worst performance ever from Kane and Son and we lose 4-1. 

Back to the drawing board Ralph. No more free hits. 

[Sheaf Saint]

As bad as yesterday was, there were some positives to draw from it.

Lavia looks very tidy and assured for such a young lad. Didn't look fazed by the occasion and I think he will prove to be an excellent signing.

Aribo looks like he will be a very useful addition to our attack, when he's played in the right position that is. Was a mistake moving him up front in the second half IMO.

Despite looking a bit nervous with his kicking, I thought Bazunu looked like an upgrade on Macca. He came and collected a few balls that Alex would never have come for. He's a young keeper, making his first PL appearance away at a team with the best strike partnership in England (and Europe, maybe?). A few nerves can be excused.

As for the striker situation - well it's pretty clear now that Arma is not up to playing a lone striker role in the PL. I still think he has something to offer in a different setup but he was completely anonymous yesterday. Taking him off at HT was the right thing to do, but not replacing him with Che was bizarre. There just has to be something in the transfer rumours because leaving him on the bench and putting two MFs up front is an insult to him otherwise. 

Ralph has said we will get another striker, so hopefully our options won't be so limited in that department for the rest of the season. If Che is off then we need another two IMO. So, being as generous as possible here, I don't think the attacking changes made yesterday would have really been Ralphs's first choice if he had other options. 

The main thing for me, as so many have already alluded to, is that we had all summer to prepare for this game, and the formation and tactics were a total fucking shambles. I could overlook us losing away to Spurs on our opening day if we played OK and gave them a good game, but for us to look so lost and gift them a big win without needing to play anywhere near their best is seriously alarming.

Once our transfer business is complete, Ralph will have no more free passes left. He'll have to start delivering, and if he serves up any more baffling formations and tactical shitshows like yesterday then he simply has to go, otherwise we are dead certs for relegation. 

[Saint Billy]

Yet another painful watch on Motd. 

The same issues persist. Regardless of who's playing and who you bring in, if you have a manager who does not know how to set up his side and play them in their best positions you are going to see a shit show game after game as we have done for three years. 

Sports Republic need to recheck Ralph's stats since he's been here and realise that he is their biggest issue. He is not going to change, he is not going to miraculously see the light and start getting the fundamentals right. We will continue to suffer embarrassing heavy defeats with a team so low in moral that a Sunday league side could turn them over. 

Ralph is the problem please get rid. 

[macca155]

5 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

As bad as yesterday was, there were some positives to draw from it.

Lavia looks very tidy and assured for such a young lad. Didn't look fazed by the occasion and I think he will prove to be an excellent signing.

Aribo looks like he will be a very useful addition to our attack, when he's played in the right position that is. Was a mistake moving him up front in the second half IMO.

Despite looking a bit nervous with his kicking, I thought Bazunu looked like an upgrade on Macca. He came and collected a few balls that Alex would never have come for. He's a young keeper, making his first PL appearance away at a team with the best strike partnership in England (and Europe, maybe?). A few nerves can be excused.

As for the striker situation - well it's pretty clear now that Arma is not up to playing a lone striker role in the PL. I still think he has something to offer in a different setup but he was completely anonymous yesterday. Taking him off at HT was the right thing to do, but not replacing him with Che was bizarre. There just has to be something in the transfer rumours because leaving him on the bench and putting two MFs up front is an insult to him otherwise. 

Ralph has said we will get another striker, so hopefully our options won't be so limited in that department for the rest of the season. If Che is off then we need another two IMO. So, being as generous as possible here, I don't think the attacking changes made yesterday would have really been Ralphs's first choice if he had other options. 

The main thing for me, as so many have already alluded to, is that we had all summer to prepare for this game, and the formation and tactics were a total fucking shambles. I could overlook us losing away to Spurs on our opening day if we played OK and gave them a good game, but for us to look so lost and gift them a big win without needing to play anywhere near their best is seriously alarming.

Once our transfer business is complete, Ralph will have no more free passes left. He'll have to start delivering, and if he serves up any more baffling formations and tactical shitshows like yesterday then he simply has to go, otherwise we are dead certs for relegation. 

Great post, sums it up.

When a new manager comes in, and I think it's when now, he'll need to work some magic fast.

The only saving grace is that there are other desperate clubs around this year.

[saintant]

1 hour ago, Convict Colony said:

It would make SR look very stupid if there were to sack Ralph after 1 game having had the opportunity at the end of last season.

I would expect they need to make a balanced decision so maybe after 5 games they might have a look at it.

Beg to differ - after seeing not an iota of difference yesterday from last season's final 12 games, despite new players and coaches and a summer to improve things, it would make SR look very wise to sack Ralph now. I don't see him presiding over many, if any, wins and every game is vital. We don't want to be looking around for a new manager who will come in having to play catch up because we've not had the balls to make a tough decision until too late. As others have said Ralph is a busted flush.

[gordonToo]

12 hours ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

With the likes of Djenepo and Valery running at players from deep we frequently gave the ball away. Saints struggled to put any decent passing moves together. Possession retention seemed poor. 

That's it in a nutshell. All the opposition has to do is wait for us to lose possession and then hit us hard and fast on the break. Just a complete lack of quality and technical nous everywhere. Spurs were playing at a different level and they knew it.

[saintant]

33 minutes ago, macca155 said:

He isn't going to be sacked after one game, that's ridiculous.

The club are trying to build a team, it won't happen overnight. In a way it would easier if we were in the Championship, get some momentum like Brentford.

As it is the team is on a horrific losing run, and the fan's patience is stretched beyond all reason.

I made a big mistake and looked at the last 10 (real) results.

1-4, 1-4, 1-2, 0-3, 1-2, 2-2, 0-2, 1-0, 0-6, 1-1

Smacks of a team that has lost faith in the manager to me.

Ralph has to conjure up a few wins to get some confidence growing, and some hope.

Otherwise SR will have no choice.

 

Maybe look at the last 13 league results - it makes even worse reading. 5 points from those games 3 of which came from a fortunate win against Arsenal and a goal difference of -24. Ralph has more chance of conjuring a non existent rabbit from an empty hat than conjuring a few wins. SR should act now and not leave a new manager having to clear up more of Ralph's mess as that may even limit the number who'd even want the job.

[Sheaf Saint]

4 minutes ago, macca155 said:

Great post, sums it up.

When a new manager comes in, and I think it's when now, he'll need to work some magic fast.

The only saving grace is that there are other desperate clubs around this year.

Indeed. Everton are already in serious trouble. DCL injured before the season started, and Mina and Godfrey both going off injured in the first game. All 3 of them are seemingly made of glass and can't be relied on to play even half a season. No replacement for Richarlison as yet. 

I would still fancy us to finish above them this year even if we don't replace Ralph. 

[Baird of the land]

16 minutes ago, Saint Billy said:

Yet another painful watch on Motd. 

The same issues persist. Regardless of who's playing and who you bring in, if you have a manager who does not know how to set up his side and play them in their best positions you are going to see a shit show game after game as we have done for three years. 

Sports Republic need to recheck Ralph's stats since he's been here and realise that he is their biggest issue. He is not going to change, he is not going to miraculously see the light and start getting the fundamentals right. We will continue to suffer embarrassing heavy defeats with a team so low in moral that a Sunday league side could turn them over. 

Ralph is the problem please get rid. 

Yes a horrible. It's never nice watching us lose but if you can at least say we made it hard for the opposition it ives solace. Yesterday we rolled over and made it easy. As MOTD pointed out just putting zero pressure on the ball is suicidal and a way to relegation.

 

[saintant]

21 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

As bad as yesterday was, there were some positives to draw from it.

Lavia looks very tidy and assured for such a young lad. Didn't look fazed by the occasion and I think he will prove to be an excellent signing.

Aribo looks like he will be a very useful addition to our attack, when he's played in the right position that is. Was a mistake moving him up front in the second half IMO.

Despite looking a bit nervous with his kicking, I thought Bazunu looked like an upgrade on Macca. He came and collected a few balls that Alex would never have come for. He's a young keeper, making his first PL appearance away at a team with the best strike partnership in England (and Europe, maybe?). A few nerves can be excused.

As for the striker situation - well it's pretty clear now that Arma is not up to playing a lone striker role in the PL. I still think he has something to offer in a different setup but he was completely anonymous yesterday. Taking him off at HT was the right thing to do, but not replacing him with Che was bizarre. There just has to be something in the transfer rumours because leaving him on the bench and putting two MFs up front is an insult to him otherwise. 

Ralph has said we will get another striker, so hopefully our options won't be so limited in that department for the rest of the season. If Che is off then we need another two IMO. So, being as generous as possible here, I don't think the attacking changes made yesterday would have really been Ralphs's first choice if he had other options. 

The main thing for me, as so many have already alluded to, is that we had all summer to prepare for this game, and the formation and tactics were a total fucking shambles. I could overlook us losing away to Spurs on our opening day if we played OK and gave them a good game, but for us to look so lost and gift them a big win without needing to play anywhere near their best is seriously alarming.

Once our transfer business is complete, Ralph will have no more free passes left. He'll have to start delivering, and if he serves up any more baffling formations and tactical shitshows like yesterday then he simply has to go, otherwise we are dead certs for relegation. 

Who, apart from Ralph, ever though Adam Armstrong could play the role of lone striker?

[Appy]

People saying we can’t sack him after one game, we’ve won one in 13. 
 

The man has completely lost the plot in terms of selection and formations, he’s already started shifting the blame to the players. 

[Whitey Grandad]

19 minutes ago, Appy said:

People saying we can’t sack him after one game, we’ve won one in 13. 
 

The man has completely lost the plot in terms of selection and formations, he’s already started shifting the blame to the players. 

Presumably that’s “won two games in 14”?

[Smirking_Saint]

Ive slept on it… overall Im not dissapointed we lost, I was expecting it, Spurs are a good outfit.. but the manner of the loss ?

Ive never been Ralph out, but there is just too many issues that we can disect;

Djenepo… ok, he looked offensively good in pre season but even then we saw he struggles to defend with any ability at all, fails to read the play, mark a man or tackle with any strength.. so what is he doing at LWB against a team that plays high attacking WBs and Kulu/Son ? Especially with a recognised LB on the bench

A Armstrong… ok he needs minutes, but he is almost certainly not a lone striker, we have that on thr bench in Che Adams and AA showed he wasn’t up to the task, effectively went missing for 60 minutes. And then to bring Stu Armstrong on upfront ?

S Armstrong - Arguably one of our better attacking players, fans like him, ralph likes him.. doesn’t mean you need to press gang him into a side as a striker, either play a tactic that accommodates him or accept he doesn’t fit

Valery - I thought he had a decent pre season tbf, but lets be frank, we have 6 other senior CBs in the club, there’s no reason to be starting

352 - It just doesn’t work, its a formation that needs significant tactical training to be familiar with and CBs really need to trust each other, because otherwise you get a lack of anyone taking responsibility at the right times, and we saw that yesterday. We also play it SO aggressively, often camped on the edge of the opposing box, and push both wide CBs forward too.. its asking for breakaway goals and we saw that

Mental fragility - A theme Ive seen with us for years, maybe an issue with youth, maybe a lack of real leaders… I just don’t know anymore but we capitulate when the game goes against us, there is zero fight in this squad, zero.. Im not even sure how you begin to address that effectively

Im still optimistic we’ll be ok, we should have more incoming, we should have more than those below us, but yesterday was worrying to say the least, we don’t seem to have learned anything since last year

On the plus side Lavia was very good, but yeah.. thats it really

[Give it to Ron]

44 minutes ago, Appy said:

People saying we can’t sack him after one game, we’ve won one in 13. 
 

The man has completely lost the plot in terms of selection and formations, he’s already started shifting the blame to the players. 

So I think it’s something like we lost all those games last season , who didn’t I play?

Ok let’s give them a game instead.BK played loads of games in Germany yet can’t get a game ahead of a player Birmingham fans think was abysmal there and never played yet now he is Ralph’s messiah.

[Charlie Wayman]

1 hour ago, hypochondriac said:

I think the most frustrating thing for me was we have changed large parts of the coaching team, many players  the formation and yet we seemingly played exactly the way we have always done. This suggests sadly that it's Ralph who is the problem. Imo he will be gone in a few weeks. 

It's bl👀dy obvious that Hasenhüttl is the problem and it has been bl👀dy obvious for a bl👀dy long time.

Still far too many wets on here  finding excuse for our dear Ralphie;

"he's part of SR's new project"

"needs more time to bed in youngsters"

"what do you expect with the players and the coaches he has at his disposal"

"it's only one game, too early to make a judgement"

"usual bedwetters panicking after one match against a top top top top top top team"

 

As long as this sentimental twaddle pervades the corridors of this forum and no doubt the corridors of St Mary's we will be stuck with the clueless twit.

With a sell-by-date that expired at least a year ago this bloke is way past the point where he is of any use to us. Get him out before he wreeks the place.

 

[saintant]

10 minutes ago, Smirking_Saint said:

Ive slept on it… overall Im not dissapointed we lost, I was expecting it, Spurs are a good outfit.. but the manner of the loss ?

Ive never been Ralph out, but there is just too many issues that we can disect;

Djenepo… ok, he looked offensively good in pre season but even then we saw he struggles to defend with any ability at all, fails to read the play, mark a man or tackle with any strength.. so what is he doing at LWB against a team that plays high attacking WBs and Kulu/Son ? Especially with a recognised LB on the bench

A Armstrong… ok he needs minutes, but he is almost certainly not a lone striker, we have that on thr bench in Che Adams and AA showed he wasn’t up to the task, effectively went missing for 60 minutes. And then to bring Stu Armstrong on upfront ?

S Armstrong - Arguably one of our better attacking players, fans like him, ralph likes him.. doesn’t mean you need to press gang him into a side as a striker, either play a tactic that accommodates him or accept he doesn’t fit

Valery - I thought he had a decent pre season tbf, but lets be frank, we have 6 other senior CBs in the club, there’s no reason to be starting

352 - It just doesn’t work, its a formation that needs significant tactical training to be familiar with and CBs really need to trust each other, because otherwise you get a lack of anyone taking responsibility at the right times, and we saw that yesterday. We also play it SO aggressively, often camped on the edge of the opposing box, and push both wide CBs forward too.. its asking for breakaway goals and we saw that

Mental fragility - A theme Ive seen with us for years, maybe an issue with youth, maybe a lack of real leaders… I just don’t know anymore but we capitulate when the game goes against us, there is zero fight in this squad, zero.. Im not even sure how you begin to address that effectively

Im still optimistic we’ll be ok, we should have more incoming, we should have more than those below us, but yesterday was worrying to say the least, we don’t seem to have learned anything since last year

On the plus side Lavia was very good, but yeah.. thats it really

There is currently nobody below us.

[FarehamSaintJames]

Nobody expected us to beat Spurs, but they expect a real line up and to go down fighting as a minimum

[badgerx16]

4 hours ago, East Kent Saint said:

It can only get better...........

Not necessarily.

[Saint Matty 76]

There weren't many positives (being in the home end not one either, although the safe standing was class).

Lavia looks a serious player though, we just need to find one of these gems in an attacking position. 

[AlexLaw76]

We used to be decent at aggressively pressing the opponent.

 

[Tank]

It was using Saints as a cash cow [selling on our best players on] that did for us before and it will do for us again ... The new wide boy er I mean owner says it was this policy which attracted him to Saints, Ralph is the greatest proponent of it.

There is as much incentive to build up a team spirit as there would be among a bunch of contenders for Miss World. Nobody is going to work their balls off to make someone else a star. 

Get rid of the cash cow philosophy or we will be in the championship next year.

[Whitey Grandad]

37 minutes ago, saintant said:

There is currently nobody below us.

Don’t be so ridiculous. Are you really, seriously looking at the league table at this stage of the season? 

[saintant]

Just now, Whitey Grandad said:

Don’t be so ridiculous. Are you really, seriously looking at the league table at this stage of the season? 

No, merely pointing out a fact.

[Dragon_man]

9 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Quite an easy game to sum up.

Manager picked the wrong team, bunch of son-in-laws minced around, good job Spurs went through the motions the last 20 mins.  

As we walked out alongside some spurs fans they were pissed off that their team gave up in the second half. They thought GD could be important at the end of the season and that they should have hammered us.

[Smirking_Saint]

8 minutes ago, saintant said:

No, merely pointing out a fact.

You knew what I meant though

[Tamesaint]

20 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Don’t be so ridiculous. Are you really, seriously looking at the league table at this stage of the season? 

The BBC website had a league table at half time FFS.

[Fozzybear]

18 hours ago, Vancouver Saint said:

So I'm posting before reading other comments. Thought there were plenty of positives in that. Game turned on a ridiculous own goal just when we were pushing for an equaliser that killed it as a contest. Lavia looked really good. Djenepo played well in his new position. Bazunu is a real goalkeeper. Aribo will get some goals. Perraud back.

Downside, obvious failings - suicidal defending, Failure to stop crosses. Valery starting? No striking threat. Romeu and S Armstrong off the pace.

Spurs will spank plenty of teams at home this season - the depth of their bench is ridiculous when you see the four subs they can bring on at once.

No Che Adams...suggests Forest sale might be real - I'd be okay if that meant we got Timo Werner, otherwise silly to sell.

We will beat teams around us if we play like that minus the obvious mistakes.

Thanks for posting a sensible and structured analysis, rather than the howling 'woe is me, we're all doomed' response. It's good to hear the positives, as well as the negatives. Glad to hear that Lavia sounds like a great player in the making - looking forward to seeing more from him, and Aribo. 

[gordonToo]

1 hour ago, AlexLaw76 said:

We used to be decent at aggressively pressing the opponent.

 

Valery was where he should be in the 5 at the back set up- it's KWP that's out of position and ball watching.

[S-Clarke]

Just now, gordonToo said:

Valery was where he should be in the 5 at the back set up- it's KWP that's out of position and ball watching.

He needed to get tighter quicker, at that point he wasn't marking anyone. it wasn't just a fault of him but a lot of our players just stood off of Spurs yesterday and let them ping crosses into the box from both sides or take a crack from the edge of the box. It was a very passive display from a team that is usually front foot engaged. If we went that way because we don't trust the defenders to play in a 'front foot' way, then given we still shipped 4 goals that's a pretty damming indictment on the quality of our centre backs. I include Salisu in that who has been nothing more than an absolute liability for months, more so than Bednarek.

KWP had a bit of a bad one, not sure if he's been affected by talk of moves away etc, but he wasn't on it defensively. 

[Whitey Grandad]

2 hours ago, saintant said:

No, merely pointing out a fact.

It’s not a fact. There is no such thing as a league table at the moment and there won’t be until several rounds of matches are played. There are six teams who haven’t even played a game yet. Why are they in your table? If you put them in they all have to be at the bottom. Or the top. 

[Lord Duckhunter]

12 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

It’s not a fact. There is no such thing as a league table at the moment and there won’t be until several rounds of matches are played. There are six teams who haven’t even played a game yet. Why are they in your table? If you put them in they all have to be at the bottom. Or the top. 

No they don’t. 

[LiberalCommunist]

If they are on zero points, and have zero GD, then they are very much lower mid table above the teams that have lost the first round of games. 

You might not want it to exist, but it does. 

[Lord Duckhunter]

2 minutes ago, LiberalCommunist said:

If they are on zero points, and have zero GD, then they are very much lower mid table above the teams that have lost the first round of games. 

You might not want it to exist, but it does. 

Exactly, it’s not a difficult concept to grasp. 

[CB Fry]

29 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

It’s not a fact. There is no such thing as a league table at the moment and there won’t be until several rounds of matches are played. There are six teams who haven’t even played a game yet. Why are they in your table? If you put them in they all have to be at the bottom. Or the top. 

It's just incorrect to say there isn't a league table now. There is, it's here, published on the official Premier League website. Newsflash: It's not 1991 anymore.

https://www.premierleague.com/matchweek/7831/table

Teams with zero points and zero goal difference are above us in the table. Its not that complicated.