Exactly. The only reason the game tonight was remotely interesting was because of the way Liverpool played.
If two teams played like Tottenham, I bet you would be bored as hell.
Interesting, but that’s where I was coming from.
Despite his flaws, I loved Wenger and apart from the final few seasons brought about an enviable level of consistency I’m not sure we’ll see again.
I agree that we need to drop a load of dead wood but the players you’d keep are decent quality. They’re just not playing and my (possibly poor) conclusion is that it’s the manager or dare I say even the club itself.
Well done for both missing my point. Whilst @Bobthebuilder may prefer a different game as a one off entertainment the reality is that there is no more a guarantee of entertainment when two alleged “footballing” sides meet than when two sides of differing styles meet but it’s the latter which keeps us interested. Indeed was it not the guy who wrote The Numbers Game who did some work with the EPL which showed that fans were more likely to be disappointed by the former than the latter over the course of the last 20 years?
@JOF the only reason the game tonight was interesting was because of the way both teams played. It introduced a challenge for both to solve. Two teams playing the ball on the floor is great as a one off but usually the challenge then is about who makes the least defensive mistakes. Leeds v Liverpool was a great example of that.
It’s also why fans of EPL clubs exist in as much a bubble as their clubs. Largely oblivious to the moral vacuum at the heart of their clubs and the EPL itself and entertainingly ignorant of how the model has damaged the FL and the international side. Whilst fans of EPL clubs often have a second lower team it’s noticeable how fans of EFL clubs absolutely don’t. There are specific reasons for that.
I’d argue that football ceases to be interesting the moment pure on the ground football becomes the norm. The key ingredients are contrast and pace. It’s why I could never be as excited by Barcelona under Pep or indeed City under Pep. The excitement came in watching people try to figure out how to destroy what they did not replicate it. Give me Liverpool and their pace over City and their possession any day. YMMV but look at last nights games.
The Liverpool game was for me game of the season thus far. Liverpool use multiple tactics and it’s easy to forget that they changed their style last night to unpick Spurs. Pace was part of that. The Arsenal game was only interesting because Southampton have pace. Fulham game ditto. Ditto the Palace game.
I too was a huge Wenger fan history will remember him in the same light as Herbert Chapmen his leaving should have been structured with a young understudy like Mikel gradually taking over but there is a rot at our club starting at the very top.
The taking over of the Kroenke family coincided with our slip out of the top four and successive managers have taken the blame and the fall.
Huge investment is needed at our club a player here and a player there won’t cut it.
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Lols, I was just going to point out who won the Prem, and where, in 2015 in reply to a post, however that post has now gone!
Yes you are right I just checked and I did forget that title but removed the post purely because it’s an endless argument and a pointless one.
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An interesting fact I didn’t know whilst just checking Jose’s wins (thanks @Jamiewednesday) was that he really wanted to join Liverpool and only joined Chelsea (after having a dig at them) once Liverpool signed Benetiz.
Another interesting fact; across Jose’s three title winning seasons at Chelsea, they lost just 9 games (and 5 of them were during the 2006 winning season). I do remember a lot of them being quite entertaining. That said I can’t remember ever being bored supporting Chelsea, you never know what you’re going to get next.
Apart from Sarri, that really was dull.
I just watched the hi-lights of Arsenal v Saints last night which I always try to do now 24 hours after watching the full match as I am prone to letting my emotions run away with me and cloud my judgement whilst watching the game live.
It was definitely a point won after going down to 10 men and it was good to finally see a return of a bit of the fight that Mikel had begun to instil in the team and great to see Auba score again and the shining light that is Saka.
Yes but Jose had a monster of a team at Chelsea in his first stint and the second wasn’t to shabby either the one he has presently at Spurs simply doesn’t compare.
Hey Bob. What I saw was the celebration of a player who feels betrayed by the club he served so loyally for so long. The malaise at Arsenal has little to do with Arteta, and much to do with being employed by sharks.
One example among many in recent times: Arsenal players took a 10 percent wage cut on the understanding that it would save the jobs of staff. Instead, 55 people were laid off.
Honour and integrity were bywords for the club that used to play at Highbury. Not anymore.
If you took the time to read all my posts you would see I agree with 90% of what you say but Theo betrayed by Arsenal is a joke and if I’m a biased delusional fan and he was, then bigger fool him for hanging around so long.
In the real world he was paid probably close to £20,000,000 to kick a ball a round a pitch which from the age of 16 until his late 20’s he did reasonably ok when he wasn’t injured.
Criticising Mourinho’s counter attacking style of football does not mean that I propose he builds a team to play in a similar style to Liverpool, or any other style. I really doubt he has the desire or motivation to build a team to play in a style like Liverpool or Man City or Ajax or Bayern Munich and so on and so on.
If we cast our minds back to when he was managing Man United, I think there is a clue what to expect in the longer term.
He toiled and troubled trying to get the team to play his way, not too dissimilar to the current Spurs team, the end result was a Trophy season and Europe playing ‘effective’ counter attacking football. That, however did not last very long. The following season, the supporters and pretty much everybody else involved in the club, including some very disgruntled talented players, like Luke Shaw and Pogba to name two, realised it was unpleasant to watch and unpleasant to play in.
Motivation and desire dropped off, results suffered and eventually the inevitable happened, he was booted out of the club along with his football philosophy to a sigh of huge relief from every one connected with the club past and present.
He spent a year or so on sabbatical, somewhat she’ll shocked I would say, doing punditry work, observing, talking and, I assume reevaluating his own football philosophy.
He arrived at Tottenham proclaiming that he has a very talented team of players who require very little tinkering. He spent the rest of the season trying out different styles and tactics, all good except the results were not very good. Why?
Season 2020-21, the pressures on, so he reverts to type and unveils what we are currently seeing. My view is that whilst this may garner some good results, and may very well give the fans a trophy (not the EPL), I really can’t see the supporters accepting this style of football long term and certainly not playing this way in Europe.
And I certainly don’t buy into the mantra that he is ‘getting the best out of what he’s got’ view. He inherited a very good side, he said so himself, who had beaten Man City and Ajax on the way to the Champions League Final playing some very good football. Most of the players are still at Spurs, he has either decided not to use them and the ones he uses are asked to engage in a style of play that was roundly rejected at Man United. Are talented players, with aspirations to play in Europe and playing the kind of football that they enjoy, or at least comfortable playing, going to accept this style of football long term, of course not.
It maybe a pragmatic approach in the short term for Tottenham, but it’s certainly not realistic in the long term for a club like Tottenham.
I do read and enjoy all your posts, Bob. However, I disagree with you about Walcott’s reaction. He thinks he was betrayed, hence the celebration. Whether he’s right to think that is another matter.
You must agree that Arsenal in the Kroenke era are a long way from the grand old club of the past.
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Agreed Sam Kroenke and his feeble looking son Josh are in this mess up to their necks.
If he wins trophies most Tottenham fans will love it, especially Levy.
As to style, I thought the fly-on-the-wall series on Spurs showed pretty clearly that from Day One he has been trying to instil a ‘hardness’ and ‘meanness’ into the players: that ‘we win, whatever’ mentality. Mourinho’s been very successful at it at serveral clubs and I admire him for it.
Perhaps, if Tottenham win the treble!
Reading a level of thought into this that really isn’t there. It was a player celebrating a goal. Also a great example of the sense of entitlement EPL fans have nowadays.
That’s really sad of Walcott feels betrayed by a manager who was loyal to a fault. You can reel off umpteen players like Ramsey, RVP and Diaby etc who were given huge amounts of support.
Walcott never really delivered and I guess Wenger did end up playing him sporadically (after he failed to deliver consistently) but he was given ample opportunity.
I like Walcott but he was well known for not fully developing and delivering the end product, assist or precision of play that Wenger wanted.
I have no ill feeling about his celebration last night. It’s been so long since he left and for a striker that doesn’t score often I can understand him wanting to enjoy the moment.
Anyway, enough about Arsenal and Spuds, what about West Ham, eh? Now there’s a proper London club! 
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