21 reasons Dele will be great http://www.espnfc.us/english-premie...reasons-why-tottenham-star-can-be-world-great
epl should adopt a 2 year rolling point total to determine the best team, like the world golf rankings IMO.
Damn, buying away tickets for a London derby is expensive as fuck. Whatever, I'm feeling good all over.
Arsenal have to make up a match vs. Leicester midweek between the FA Cup semis and the NLD now. Pretty rough stretch of fixtures for them. Add that to our home form and their away troubles, I will be disappointed if we don't run them off the pitch. edit - Just realized we play Palace midweek between the FA Cup semi and NLD, so there won't be much advantage there from a rest standpoint. We should be looking to run it up vs. them regardless.
Alli not making the 6 man short list for the PFA POTY award is just absurd. He will win young POTY for the 2nd year running, but he is undoubtedly one of the best players regardless of age this season. It isn't all about the number of goals, it is about the importance of them and his ability to show up when it matters most for us. Two goals against Chelsea, the equalizer in the 88th minute vs. Swansea and the assist to kill it off, a vital 3rd goal vs. Everton in extra time, goals vs. Man City in both fixtures, the opening goal vs. Watford which opened the floodgates. A Tottenham player will win the young POTY for the 5th time in 6 years though, so we have that going for us.
Lovely read on Dele, highly recommend. https://www.fourfourtwo.com/feature...urs-star-a-new-type-modern-english-footballer
http://www.espnfc.us/tottenham-hots...ksen-does-not-need-awards-mauricio-pochettino Good quotes from Poch on the importance of Eriksen. He also discusses how Christian and Dele both operate as number 10's in our system. LONDON -- Mauricio Pochettino has hailed the importance of Christian Eriksen, saying the "special" playmaker is happy to let his Tottenham teammates take the accolades. Top goal scorer Harry Kane was nominated for the PFA Player and Young Player of the Year awards on Thursday, while Dele Alli is the favourite to retain the latter -- but there was no recognition for Eriksen, despite his importance to Spurs' title challenge. Eriksen has 11 league assists -- no-one has more -- and he has created 88 chances in the Premier League this season, more than anyone else. Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne is second with 75, while Spurs' next best is Alli on 42. He has also covered more ground than anyone at Spurs this season and scored seven goals, but Pochettino said he did not need praise for his form. "He is so special. We always call him 'Golazo' because he is capable of scoring unbelievable goals. The recognition from us is massive. He feels that we love him. It is true he is so quiet, so calm, he is a very relaxed person but he loves football," Pochettino said. "He is a player that does not need too much feedback from the fans, the media, the people outside. He always has a smile, he is a happy person and I like him a lot because he does not need to be recognised. He needs only to feel the love from us inside the club. I like that a lot." The 25-year-old was off-colour in the autumn but his return to his best has coincided with Tottenham's surge up the table, and they could move to within four points of league leaders Chelsea with a record 12th-consecutive home win against Bournemouth on Saturday. Eriksen has always been a regular under Pochettino but he has previously been unhappy at playing a wide role, rather than his favoured No. 10. This season the Spurs manager has often used a 3-4-2-1 formation, using Alli and Eriksen as No. 10s, and he believes the system has brought the best out of both players. "Do you think Dele Alli plays in the No. 10 role in my team?" Pochettino asked reporters. "The No. 10 role doesn't exist. There is a No. 9 and we play with two No. 10s. It's like some [other] teams that play with two No. 8s. "I think it's important, no? That is what it means to be flexible, because if you have two players like Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen, who both can play in the pocket, in behind the No. 9, you must create a system that can fit them both. "You can see Dele or Eriksen with a No. 9 -- Harry, Vincent [Janssen], Sonny [Son Heung-Min], I don't know -- use the pocket and we create many different things to try to swap the positions -- they play on the right or the left, sometimes drop [deep] to try to build from the back when the teams play deeper. "We try to play now with two No. 10s that play facing the opponents' goal, not with their back to the opponents' goal. I think that the formation and the system and the philosophy helps a lot Christian and Dele. And they help a lot with the system and the philosophy that we play. It's in both directions."
Absolutely toying with this team. Son is quickly becoming a sure bet for his second Player of the Month.
Who in their right minds would want to face us? Most goals for, least goals against, 7 wins in a row in the league, nothing but wins at home since Halloween (only the two early draws against Leicester and Liverpool all season). 17 games played at home, 8 conceded.
Just finished the recording of the match. We are in ridiculous form right now. Harry Kane was a monster all match, between his hold up play and quick flicks to other players in attack it was a great performance. On the goal he just abused that back line. Loved Poch's reaction after Vinny slotted one home. Hooray for Mousa.
Rumors of a new Dele deal to be sealed in the summer. It would put him on par with Harry and Hugo as top earners at the club and run until 2023. Might as well wrap up Toby at the same price and call it a day IMO.
http://www.skysports.com/football/n...roving-all-the-time-under-mauricio-pochettino Spoiler Tottenham made it eight wins in a row against Bournemouth on Saturday. Regardless of whether they can catch Chelsea this season, there's no doubting they are a team on the up under Mauricio Pochettino, writes Nick Wright. Tottenham's 4-0 victory over Bournemouth was a significant one - and not just because it closed the gap on Chelsea. With 15 wins from 17 home games, Spurs have now taken more points at White Hart Lane than in any other Premier League season. With 71 overall, they have already surpassed their total for the whole of the last campaign. Saturday's game was about as one-sided as it gets. Eddie Howe's side were utterly overwhelmed, recording their lowest share of possession all season and mustering one shot on target to the hosts' 14. But it was nothing new. Spurs have scored four or more goals on 11 separate occasions this season. They have scored 28 in their last eight games alone. Chelsea remain four points clear despite their defeat to Manchester United, but Tottenham have scored more goals and conceded fewer. They have created more chances and kept more clean sheets. The attention tends to gravitate elsewhere, but Spurs are on course for their best season in over half a century. Their projected points total would have won them the title last year. Their constant improvement under Mauricio Pochettino should not be overlooked. Harry Kane and Dele Alli have led the charge on the pitch with 36 goals between them, but Tottenham's progress owes more to the man in the dugout. Without the budget of his rivals, Pochettino has brought the best out of what he's got. Instead of buying stars, he's moulded them on the training field. It is a triumph of coaching. His starting line-up against Bournemouth featured eight players who have been at the club since the very start of his tenure. From Kyle Walker and Jan Vertonghen to Kane and Christian Eriksen, every one of them has improved under his guidance. In Alli, Toby Alderweireld and Heung-Min Son, the pattern is the same. "I have to give Mauricio Pochettino a lot of credit because that team is well coached," said Sky Sports pundit Thierry Henry on Saturday. "You can see that they work a lot in training tactically. Every time they play you can see they know what they have to do. Pochettino did it at Southampton, he did it with Espanyol, and once again he's doing it here." According to Premier League tracking data, Saturday's meeting with Bournemouth was the seventh consecutive game in which Spurs have outrun their opposition. That brutal intensity, which made life so difficult for Howe's side, reflects the players' commitment to Pochettino's way of playing. "There are no passengers in this Tottenham team," said Jamie Redknapp on Sky Sports. "Everybody is at it. Everybody is closing and pressing. They all buy in to it. You can see the energy they play with because the amount of times they win the ball up the pitch. It becomes infectious. "Every time somebody goes to press the ball, someone is in behind them. It happens all over the pitch. You have to be well coached, but you have to buy into it. You have to be young and you have to be full of energy which is what this Spurs side are at the moment. Whether they can go on and win the league, that might take a bit of a capitulation from Chelsea, but they are right in the mix." Even more encouraging for Tottenham is that the players clearly appreciate that they are part of something special. The likes of Kane, Alli and Hugo Lloris could undoubtedly earn more elsewhere. Instead, they have signed new long-term contracts this season along with seven other first-team players. The same applies for Pochettino. The Argentine signed a new five-year deal at the start of the campaign and frequently describes his work at Spurs as a "long-term project". When the Barcelona job became available last month, he emphatically rejected speculation linking him with the position. "In football I know it is so difficult to keep your values and to be loyal - with your heart and emotion," he said. "But for me before being a manager, before being a player, being loyal is more important." Since that public show of faith, Tottenham's players have responded with four resounding victories in a row. So whether or not they can overhaul Chlesea and win the title this season, Tottenham have everything in place to continue their improvement in the years ahead. Moving into a new stadium will present challenges as well as opportunities, but Pochettino will be there and so will his exciting young group of players. It might not be long until the silverware starts to follow.
Congrats to these boys, Some of these other selections are ridiculous. Cahill over Toby? No Jan? 14 clean sheets and no Lloris? Mane over Eriksen?
Doesn't sound like a man angling for a move away, IMO. http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/foo...ll-win-trophy-with-current-team-a3519216.html Toby Alderweireld insists it is only a matter of time before Tottenham win a major trophy. Spurs have not taken a significant prize since claiming the Carling Cup in 2008, but Mauricio Pochettino’s team are in the hunt for both the FA Cup and the Premier League. Tottenham face Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley on Saturday and are also four points behind the League leaders with six games remaining. Their rapid progress makes Alderweireld feel confident about the future. He told Standard Sport: “With this team, and with the people working for it, we will get a trophy — 100 per cent. If it is not this season, then it will be the one after. We will do everything we can to make it happen this season. “Sometimes it is all about details. Last season we didn’t win the League (Spurs were beaten to the title by Leicester) but we kept going. This season we already have 71 points — one more than we got in the whole of last season. “Even with the disappointment of last season we have kept fighting, and this season we are in an even better position. Regardless of what happens during the rest of this season, we have to keep improving and get better for next season as well. “The desire to achieve something and to get better, as a young group, is there. We want to play better than we did last season. We want to become better. It says a lot about the mental strength of the team.” Tottenham are also keen to agree a new contract with Alderweireld, after reaching similar deals with nearly all their key players since the start of 2016.
He really is magic, you know. Mauricio Pochettino. Hugo Lloris has claimed Mauricio Pochettino is the main reason he is still playing for Tottenham. Speaking to ESPN FC at a Kumho Tyres event, the Spurs captain said: “The main reason [I am still a Tottenham player] is Mauricio Pochettino. That’s the truth and I cannot hide that. “I have a lot of respect for the man, a lot of respect for the manager,” he added. “We have a great connection and when you get something strong like that, it’s never easy to find it again in your life or in your career. It’s very simple. “And then, in football, everything is possible. The only thing that I know is that I enjoy my time at Tottenham and especially under Mauricio Pochettino. I believe that with him the club can reach the level we all want.” The Frenchman is a bonafide fan favourite at White Hart Lane, and the supporters will be thankful for Pochettino’s influence in keeping the skipper at the club. Lloris went on to speak about how he knew Pochettino was special from the start. “I still remember the first time I spoke to him by phone, just a few days after he signed here as manager. It was very simple. He tried to describe his philosophy of football, the way he wants to play, the way he wants the team to work. And his ambition. He’s a winner and he has a lot of ambition, individually. “He has created something very special inside this building [Hotspur Way] because I can tell you that the club we are at the moment is not the same as it was before he signed.”
At minimum, IMO. In seriousness you aren't going to get every player you think deserves a nod into the team, I'm fine with 4. I think Rose is the best LB in the league but has missed a significant portion of the season due to injury. I would have been ok if he was left out had it meant Toby was involved in the team. Eriksen is always overlooked so I expected him to miss out. In the end it really doesn't mean shit with how early they do the votes, it is a bit absurd.
Wasn't going anywhere with it but was genuinely curious. I don't think any club is ever deserving of that many guys unless maybe they just completely ran away with the league and were just dominant
You could make arguments for all of them, some way stronger than others. You are never going to get that many from one side in though, unless like you said they just go completely rampant. 4 is more than a fair representation for us in the end, and pretty impressive considering some of our best players didn't make the cut. For me Mousa Dembele is the most imposing player in the squad, but without consistent end product everything else he does for the team kind of gets overlooked.
U23's coach Ugo Ehiogu passed away after collapsing at the training ground yesterday. Very sad situation. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/apr/21/ugo-ehiogu-dies-heart-attack-tottenham-hotspur
awful news :( lots of reaction on twitter from the youth guys and you could tell he was very important to them