Postecoglou sack? Who would want to join Spurs ‘circus’ mid-season?

Sacking Ange Postecoglou makes no sense for Spurs mid-season, while we have stout defences of Manchester United.

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Why sack Ange in his second season?
The clamour for getting rid of Ange is increasing, but for many Spurs fans, in fact all the ones I know, the general consensus is “why bin him off now”?

It’s not news to anyone that Spurs sack managers around this time of year. Levy has form here. But what is the benefit of getting rid of Ange now? Who, really, would want to come to this circus who’s going to be a genuine upgrade?

Let the bloke see out the season; the club won’t get relegated, and finishing top four is becoming ever more unlikely. That said, we still have three chances of an Ange Second Season Trophy, and a group of players who, a few aside, are good at kicking a ball around. A young coach, tactically flexible and with a history of blooding youth players might well want to join come the summer.

I have my eye on McKenna at Ipswich. Seems to be grounded in the reality of Ipswich’s position in the Premier League unlike say, Russell Martin, and is acting accordingly, that is to say he plays the opposition as opposed to says ’this is who we are’, and is admired by the players he coaches (and coaching players to improvement is something I can’t say I see much of from Postecoglou).

But we can’t go around sacking coach after coach….after coach when we know the real issue is the bloke who keeps employing them.
Dan Mallerman

READ: Spurs are exciting?! Make that ‘exhausting’ if you are a fan under Postecoglou

Man Utd optimism barring Bruno
Sweet Christ, Rami in with his latest wild hot take.

Yeah, we lost, with a corner again and two other poor goals conceded while we scored two decent enough ones. And let’s not forget, this Forest team has been flying. We’ve just changed manager. All new formation, players not all suited etc

Also, fairly critically, only 8 points back from 4th. Can we overcome that? Maybe, although I wouldn’t bank on it considering the teams in the top 4. But 6 from European places? Yes, that’s achievable. All the teams there have a good wobble in them.

Next, Ashworth hasn’t “walked away”; he’s been sent packing. Literally marched out of the front door. Bear in mind, he’s been here for 5 months, left Newcastle under a cloud and was leading the charge for us to sign Southgate in the summer. Certainly sounds like he didn’t align with the vision and won’t be missed, much less lamented. That last was a near sackable offence in itself!

Now, on to the players. There’s a solid core there but with some critical gaps (although not left back; we don’t play full backs in this formation…). We already knew this. Some players have been given the chance and failed. Others are being worked on. Others are waiting for their chance (i.e. not a match against 3 of the top 5). Still others are plugging a gap until the right option is there (*cough* Dalot *cough*). Some have surprised people. Talking players connecting, Rashford and Hojlund are often on the same wavelength and Amad is the key player for both but needs to be eased. We don’t need him or Mainoo crocked.

One thing that is definitely needed is someone else taking set pieces. Bruno is not and never has been it. So so many wasted opportunities as a result of a vague ball, if it even makes it past the first man. De Ligt is more than capable in the air, and obviously the slab is too. Hopefully Yoro as well.

But the biggest issue is not conceding from them. We lampoon thin-skinned Arsenal fans for being haters turned lovers of the corner routine, but it’s always been an important part of the game, and was for all of Sir Alex’s reign of terror. How many vital free kicks and corners from Beckham in 99 alone? If you can’t offer a threat at them, teams will be happy to give up free kicks and corners.

Again, Bruno is not that man. He’s also not good in the heart of midfield, he’s wasteful in possession, takes too many shots that have no chance and has an allergy to passing to strikers. However the biggest problem is that Mount is also not taking the chance to replace him. Nor is Garnacho. If we do pick up Angel Gomes and Edwards, or Mainoo moves forwards, then that could be an answer but right now he just needs to step down from set piece duty as without him at all we’re somehow worse.

I said before, we just need to get through these three games and see how things look. We had Arsenal neutralised until they started exploiting their corner routine. We shouldn’t have lost against Forest, and wouldn’t but for two bad mistakes (lovely swerve on that shot in terrible weather though – can we do a swap with Bruno?).

One thing is for sure though, the performances aren’t all bad. There’s good to build on, there’s issues to fix. The rest of December can set things right. I’m confident it will.
Badwolf

MORE MAN UTD COVERAGE ON F365…
👉 Ferdinand demands Man Utd sell their ‘s**t’ players in ‘brutal’ rant: ‘Get them the f**k out’
👉 Amorim wants Man Utd to get rid of £350k-a-week duo in January transfer budget ‘boost’
👉 Man Utd ‘nepo baby’ is ‘going around acting the big shot’ and Brailsford’s ‘bag man’

…Same old catastrophising on the United squad from the usual suspects. Many seem to understand or at least profess to understand that a new coach needs time to bring about changes with the team. Yet, as soon as a few results go awry the toys fly out the pram and we’re back to the drama, the crisis, and binning off 90% of the squad. I’m sat here just enjoying watching my team have a plan and some semblance of identity.

I’m sure improvements can be made in certain areas but it really isn’t that bad. This squad, when coached well, is certainly capable of challenging for 4th in the league. Amorim won’t have the opportunity to make that happen this season but 5th – 7th is well within reach. You have to give the guy time to coach his way. There’s already been signs of significant improvement and as that progresses your opinion of these supposedly useless players will change.

If we look at the squad reasonably then there is maybe one or two positions that need immediate attention with the rest to develop over time like every other team.

GK: Onana / Bayindir – good, no change

RCB: Yoro / Mazraoui – good, no change

CCB: Maguire / De Ligt – good, no change

LCB: Martinez / Shaw – this is a problem area especially as Martinez looks to be struggling with the amount of space he must cover. No immediate need but probably look to buy a starter in the summer.

RWB: Amad / Dalot – good, no change

LWB: Malacia / ??? – this is the major concern and needs rectifying in the January window.

CM: Ugarte / Mainoo / Casemiro / Eriksen – good starters bad backup. Kobbie is still very young so getting another similar player would probably help lighten his load plus a true DM as backup for Ugarte is required.

AM: Bruno / Garnacho / Rashford / Mount – ok for now but long term bringing in an elite no10 type player will be needed to really get the most from this system.

ST: Holjund / Zirkzee – the Dane looks good in this setup and back up will do in the short term. Looking at either an elite starter or veteran backup seems likely in the summer.

If we’re talking winning titles and reaching UCL finals then obviously more needs doing but that’s not where the team is at. The immediate goal is Champions League qualification and this is achievable with only minor changes and some more coaching.
Dave, Manchester (if Ashworth wasn’t working out seems smart to get rid quick, waste of money but it’s a below the fold story for any other club)

…I have to laugh/scroll-past people who make claims such as the whole squad needs a clear out, they’re all shit. Man Utd players are not shit just because of where they are in the table. Presumably the whole City squad are worthless now given their current run by the same logic?

If you look at the squad value in the premier league from transfermkt, Utd sit 5th behind (in order) City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool. (Premier League 24/25 | Transfermarkt)

On that valuation, 5th is a reasonable expectation of where they should be in the table with a few places above or below called over/under achieving. This tells me exactly what my eyes also tell me whenever I watch utd against whoever they are playing – Utd have the quality to be higher in the table but they are playing a lot worse than the sum of their parts – for years they have had no playing style, that is not going to be fixed overnight and a few shiny new players is not the answer either (although it is what the club have tried to do every year).

Amorin is using matches as his training and may well be rotating players more than he should but I’m backing him to turn things around and we’ll have much more of an idea after he’s got 15-20 games at utd under his belt. But don’t let that spoil a great opportunity for stupid knee-jerkery…

Also, if you look much further down the value table you see Bournemouth, Brentford and Fulham, squads valued at less than half of Utds, and are currently above Utd in the table. That is testament to how the circus at Old Trafford has been functioning. Rome wasn’t built in a day and the circus won’t be dismantled in a day either (although travelling circuses seem to do a good job of that – maybe Utd should get a new sporting director with an actual circus background…)

So please, laugh at us for a myriad of reasons but the quality of the squad does not excuse the league standing.
Jon, Cape Town

You can have Dalot
Neil, thanks so much for bringing some joy in these times of woe.

As a Utd ST holder I’ll happily drive him to Villa Park myself…I’ll even cover the fuel and rent till he finds somewhere to live. I guarantee after multiple high fives to team mates after his mistakes you will be regretting the no caveats

To paraphrase Joey Tribbiani ‘I’d happily rip off my arm just so i have something to throw at him’.
Red Red Robin

Man Utd are meme-tastic
Aside from the obvious why sign a DoF if you are only going to buy players to fit the manager, shouldn’t there be an overarching game plan in the first place?

I wondered as Van Nistelrooy got some decent results out of United during his interim spell – and getting a bit of a tune out of Leicester – whether a) he stole Amorim’s new manager bounce and b) whether they should have kept him on for the remainder of the year.

Of course, getting in a manager who simply gets something out of the current squad without a longer term goal isn’t the best long term plan. After all, that’s what happened with Ole. While it’s not clear if Van Nistelrooy has a philosophy or not.

The whole Ashworth saga does make a mockery out of the whole INEOS being clever sport managers. It’s one thing to show a certain business ruthlessness in making quick, tough decisions but the hypocrisy of the sheer waste of contract payouts compared to the money saving firing of low paid staff is stunning.

At first I thought Amorim’s statement of United ‘being a big club but not a big team’ was quite savvy – and then the Ashworth firing dropped. Makes one wonder how you measure ‘big club’ these days. Must be purely in memes.
Paul McDevitt

MORE MAN UTD COVERAGE ON F365…
👉 Ferdinand demands Man Utd sell their ‘s**t’ players in ‘brutal’ rant: ‘Get them the f**k out’
👉 Amorim wants Man Utd to get rid of £350k-a-week duo in January transfer budget ‘boost’
👉 Man Utd ‘nepo baby’ is ‘going around acting the big shot’ and Brailsford’s ‘bag man’

Chelsea might just have a plan
Is Chelsea’s current PL squad worth more than they paid for it? Probably yes.

Do Chelsea need to add many players over the next 5 years to keep progressing? Probably not.

What are the 5 biggest overspends in the current squad: Fofana, Cucu, Enzo, Mudryk, Disasi (cost €380m) currently worth? About €250m = Minus €130m

What are the 5 best value signings: Palmer, Sancho, Jackson, Tosin, Madueke (cost €150m) currently worth? About €400m = plus €250m.

What do Clearlake have to show for their crazy first year of spending? 5 or 6 current first team players.

Looks like those chimps down the bridge aint doing so badly after all!!
Ben Teacher

What about FFP?
With Chelsea playing so well I have one question to ask… when do they get their points deduction? Is it due this season or does it not start until after the City one finishes when hell freezes over? Is it like games in hand, where you have a points deduction in hand?

With tax exile Sir Jim, in between asking for taxpayers to fix his stadium, has got rid of concession tickets for the express purpose of giving pensioners’ money to millionaire footballers is it time to say bollocks to FFP? Its clearly not working.
Alex, South London

The Gravenberch turn
Responding to Mike, LFC, Dubai’s ask about worst takes in the mailbox we’ve come to regret… my regrettable entry is a view Mike himself might share: I said last year Bayern Munich fleeced us for Ryan Gravenberch, that he was a useless footballer incapable of graft, and that he was of the lowest technical ability. Hmm, I was a bit (more than a bit) misguided there.

Gravenberch is one of the first names on the team sheet and one of my favorite players to watch. My complete 180 on Gravenberch has actually given me a lot of pause; it’s fundamentally changed how I see footballers I perceive as “poor.” Like there are many, many awful players out there but now I’ll wonder if they also have a Gravenberch turn in them. By that I mean not only the spinny, juking midfield move he employs, but that any poor player could have a surprise turn, going from wretched to top class virtually overnight.
Eric, Los Angeles CA

Bad take
Leicester flavoured hot take for you. Patson Daka was going to be the new Jamie Vardy and rip sh*t up. To be fair, this was confidently stated after a 4 goal haul v Spartak Moscow in the Europa League the season he joined.
Rob, Leicester (the correct response was: who needs a new Jamie Vardy when we’ve got the old Jamie Vardy fuelled by a continuous reaction process involving red bull and skittles)

Commentary nonsense
Monday night’s Sky Premier league coverage featured some textbook commentating spam, perhaps best summarised by the following pearl from Andy Hinchcliffe:

“West Ham are going to struggle to get into the top half of the premier league this season, let alone the top 10 …”

Quality.

Hearing such gems helps to offset the innate anger I feel when someone says “he’s giving 110% !”

.. oh that’s nice of him, doing something that is totally impossible. I suppose for his next trick he might try a spot of walking on water or teleporting.
Sparky, LFC