Spurs, Liverpool or Arsenal for Top 4?

Loooool the same team that finished two points off Chelsea last season will finish 6th this season GL pls

@ Lex you are talking about Benitez's Chelsea that everyone was (wrongly, imho) bashing on this forum?

I like Arsenal very much and have always supported them, but let's face it - all the other contenders got stronger. I can't see Man Utd falling below 2nd place with their consistency, Man City have a great squad, Chelsea's got Mourinho who will manage 1-0 and 2-1 victories to get them the necessary points and Tottenham has some impressive signings.

I rate Liverpool because of how they played in the second part of last season and think they can do better this year.

Wenger has to pull another miracle out of his hat to get this team (I repeat, without any signings) in 4th spot. I hope he does, but the competition this year is bigger than ever.

well if you only consider those 3 players then ya that 2010-11 tottenham team was better but if you look at the other improvements i would say this spurs team absolutely has the potential to be better, definitely better than last season which is more important imo.

lloris> gomes, vertonghen > gallas, walker > corluka/hutton, soldado > crouch, sandro > palacios, and most importantly avb > 'arry

so overall ya i think this team is better imo, but they still have to prove it.. and the jury is still out on eriksen, lamela, and paulinho so we will see if they perform or not.

and whos to say eriksen will sign?  nothing seems to be set in stone in regards to this transfer but if they get him it would greatly improve their squad.

KennethCole wrote:Sam made a good question...

Bale, Modric and VDV or Lamela, Paulinho and Eriksen?

That's not the right question though.

The real comparison is Bale, Modric, and VDV vs. Lamela, Paulinho, Capoue, Dembele, Eriksen and Soldado

Soldado is GOAT, will be second only to RVP this season IMO

Bale, Modric and VDV aren't better. Bale's only GOAT season was the one just past, was good before that but not incredible, the current squad is better, dat depth. I backed them last season so I'm not gonna say they'll qualify for sure, but I would be surprised if they didn't. Modric is overrated and they sold VDV at the right time.

The Reds are coming up the hill boys...

yes if arsenal buys somebody..

this season around maybe no ... if arsenal dont buy any good quality players...

why ... its not just arsenal... city chelsea tottenham and other EPL has strengthened their squad... and it becomes even more difficult.

arsenal is doing pretty good now but it will take a toll on them at some point...

Arsenal will be fighting for the 3-2 position in my honest opinion.

Loving all the Soldado love, especially the claims that he's going to be second only to RVP for the golden boot.

He's looked average at best, so far. He's been predictably disconnected from the run of play for long stretches in matches, especially today against a side that likes to keep possession. I this is going to continue, his conversion rate will need to be spectacular for him to achieve the heights some were predicting.

Of course, all that could change. However, I can't say I've been impressed by much outside of his technique from 12 yards.

on tottenham fc forum

before the game: we would win 4-1. 3-1, 2-0

after the game: we were the better side, this is just a sad taste of english football were one team parks the bus, or WE NEED TIME TO GEL..

just loling, every season, I go to that forum to laugh my ass out

funny thing on the forum is nobody is talking about how Spurs did nothing with the ball when they had it

donttreadonred wrote:Loving all the Soldado love, especially the claims that he's going to be second only to RVP for the golden boot.

He's looked average at best, so far. He's been predictably disconnected from the run of play for long stretches in matches, especially today against a side that likes to keep possession. I this is going to continue, his conversion rate will need to be spectacular for him to achieve the heights some were predicting.

Of course, all that could change. However, I can't say I've been impressed by much outside of his technique from 12 yards.

Oddly, I thought this was his best game for us thus far.

To be fair, to this point it's not really his fault, we have no real central play maker and he is getting crap service off the left flank from Rose.

Overall, he has done decent with balls coming off the right from Townsend and Walker. We saw that today with a great one time ball off a cross from Townsend in the 10th minute, but Scensny handled it very well.

Again, he got in a great position to put away the deflection from the Defoe shot, but Paulinho just held onto the ball way to long on what would of been a tap in goal should he have passed the ball to Soldado or Vertoghen sooner.

He has also provided good creative service on the right side of the box when he's been forced out wide. Late in the game he threaded a ball to Walker in the box and Walker muffed the shot completely.

best quote so far from the game from reddit

The difference between Arsenal and Tottenham was creativity. Arsenal got walcott in behind and he sent in crosses that backpedaling Spurs defenders couldn't deal with - but Townsend, good as he was, beat his man and found six Arsenal players ready and waiting to intercept. A deserved win for Arsenal - they were simply more creative. Tottenham will be much better for having someone like Eriksen - they need more creativity through the middle otherwise having a golscorer like Sodlado isn't going to do any good

I personally thought GoonerJay had the best summation of the game. I pretty much agreed with most of the points he made in his post.

Still have no idea why Townsend was subbed off instead of Chadli because Arsenal literally had nothing for him on the right. You have a versatile Lamela who can play every position on the front line, but AVB decides to remove his most effective player instead  

I hated the 4/4/2 last season and the 4/3/3 seems to be just as bad without a central play maker. No idea how Holtby didn't at least get a run out in this one.

donttreadonred wrote:Loving all the Soldado love, especially the claims that he's going to be second only to RVP for the golden boot.

He's looked average at best, so far. He's been predictably disconnected from the run of play for long stretches in matches, especially today against a side that likes to keep possession. I this is going to continue, his conversion rate will need to be spectacular for him to achieve the heights some were predicting.

Of course, all that could change. However, I can't say I've been impressed by much outside of his technique from 12 yards.

He's a poacher and is getting no service at the moment.

Wait until Lamela and Eriksen start playing.

Soldado is Koscielny's Bitch .

Spurs knew what they were getting into when they bought him and I do too. Spurs connect the play to him and he'll score buckets, his record speaks for itself.

I'm not upset or unimpressed by Soldado. I knew he wouldn't offer much outside the box. I'm impressed by what I do see that matters for him though. His movement inside the box has been superb, his finishing has been good when he gets the opportunity, and his positioning pretty good as well. He had a shot blocked today and I don't know if it would have gone in but his run and then sudden cut back was superb and lost all of the Arsenal defenders in the box. That can be expected of him and to me that's what matters.

Spurs struggled the same way they are now last season trying to adopt AVB's system and with incoming new players. Tottenham scored 3 goals in the first 3 fixtures and took 2 points from the first 3 games. They got better last season and they will again this season, time is just needed.

I'm not expecting much from Soldado without service. But that's not a problem that will last forever. I still put him up to have a 20+ goal season at least.

I don't think we'll try for top 4.

We are top of the league and will be in for the title...

38, 1-0 wins...hopefully win the league with 114 points

something-red wrote:

donttreadonred wrote:Loving all the Soldado love, especially the claims that he's going to be second only to RVP for the golden boot.

He's looked average at best, so far. He's been predictably disconnected from the run of play for long stretches in matches, especially today against a side that likes to keep possession. I this is going to continue, his conversion rate will need to be spectacular for him to achieve the heights some were predicting.

Of course, all that could change. However, I can't say I've been impressed by much outside of his technique from 12 yards.

He's a poacher and is getting no service at the moment.

Wait until Lamela and Eriksen start playing.  

Of course he's a poacher. He's never been anything less or anything more. To suggest that a pure poacher is going to finish 2nd in the golden boot race is ambitious to say the least. Players like Suarez and Van Persie get their goals partly because of the team play around them, but also because they can create for themselves. They are complete strikers. I'm not convinced that Soldado will do the same.

The fact that Soldado's playing style is dependent on the play around him will hamper his tally this season. Lamela looks like he may take some time to acclimate to a more physical, faster-paced league. Eriksen may need a similar bedding-in period. With Dembele, Paulinho and Capoue looking imposing, but not necessarily creative, Soldado could be in a for a bit of a dry spell until the new flair players find their feet.

donttreadonred wrote:

something-red wrote:

donttreadonred wrote:Loving all the Soldado love, especially the claims that he's going to be second only to RVP for the golden boot.

He's looked average at best, so far. He's been predictably disconnected from the run of play for long stretches in matches, especially today against a side that likes to keep possession. I this is going to continue, his conversion rate will need to be spectacular for him to achieve the heights some were predicting.

Of course, all that could change. However, I can't say I've been impressed by much outside of his technique from 12 yards.

He's a poacher and is getting no service at the moment.

Wait until Lamela and Eriksen start playing.  

Of course he's a poacher. He's never been anything less or anything more. To suggest that a pure poacher is going to finish 2nd in the golden boot race is ambitious to say the least. Players like Suarez and Van Persie get their goals partly because of the team play around them, but also because they can create for themselves. They are complete strikers. I'm not convinced that Soldado will do the same.

The fact that Soldado's playing style is dependent on the play around him will hamper his tally this season. Lamela looks like he may take some time to acclimate to a more physical, faster-paced league. Eriksen may need a similar bedding-in period. With Dembele, Paulinho and Capoue looking imposing, but not necessarily creative, Soldado could be in a for a bit of a dry spell until the new flair players find their feet.

What? He looked like this wasn't even his first North London Derby when he stepped on the field. I was really impressed with his play and composure. Had a very Totti feel to him on the pitch.

Motogp69 wrote:

donttreadonred wrote:Of course he's a poacher. He's never been anything less or anything more. To suggest that a pure poacher is going to finish 2nd in the golden boot race is ambitious to say the least. Players like Suarez and Van Persie get their goals partly because of the team play around them, but also because they can create for themselves. They are complete strikers. I'm not convinced that Soldado will do the same.

The fact that Soldado's playing style is dependent on the play around him will hamper his tally this season. Lamela looks like he may take some time to acclimate to a more physical, faster-paced league. Eriksen may need a similar bedding-in period. With Dembele, Paulinho and Capoue looking imposing, but not necessarily creative, Soldado could be in a for a bit of a dry spell until the new flair players find their feet.

What? He looked like this wasn't even his first North London Derby when he stepped on the field. I was really impressed with his play and composure. Had a very Totti feel to him on the pitch.

Calm down. I'm not saying he's a waste of money. He will come good, and this is the one transfer this window that I am truly jealous of. However, I can't say as I agree regarding his performance on the day. He looked a bit slow to make decisions and a bit taken aback by the nature of a few challenges. Neither of which are surprising from a player who recently moved from Serie A. (Note: this is not a criticism of Serie A. It's merely an observation that the pace and physicality of the Premier are a different level. That doesn't necessarily make it "better".) That said, his quality was evident. His touch was nice and his movement was very good, but we're talking about Arsenal's defense here. It's not exactly your cold, rainy night away at the Britannia.

I'm merely saying that I don't think he's going to be the spark that ignites Soldado right away. The two will likely have a good relationship by mid-season, but it's a little dangerous and unrealistic to expect chemistry in their first few competitive matches. The good news for Spurs is that he has about a month before Tottenham come up against top-quality opposition in Chelsea on Sept. 28th.

Thought Lamela did great.Soldado is great with the ball outside the box in what I have seen from him at Spurs but Inside the box he gets no service.

I think the main problem is that Tottenham haven't started their most technically gifted players and other teams basically have only Soldado to worry about in the attacking phase which makes him the focus from the other team.Others will shift in and out of the game.Having Eriksen and Lamela on the flanks would shift focus away from Soldado and leave him more space in the center which in my opinion would have him score more goals.

Soldado is bang average. Giroud can't pass and has terrible ball control yet is still the better player or at least the same level. Defoe in 30 minutes yesterday looked more threatening.

Arsenal with Ozil coming in along with a couple of depth signings are better than Spurs in my opinion. Only Lloris would get into Arsenal's team.

Liverpool's first XI is just as good as Spurs as well perhaps even better. They lack serious depth though. One of the worst benches of all time yesterday. Would even go as far as to say it was a bit irresponsible.

This is definitely set up to be an exciting season. Hardly anything will separate the Top 6 sides this year.

lol at everyone hyping up Spurs suddenly back tracking after one result.

It doesn't mean anything. Calma.

Our squad or bench isnt that bad tbh.Most were out injured or in the stands yesterday.

Bench will be once we have players back from injury and suspension

Aspas Moses Sterling Allen Toure Cissokho Kelly .Not that inferior in quality to Spurs imo

Can't see us getting close to either of them now Ozil is going to Arsenal

since Arsenal bought Ozil... Arsenal to finish top 3... or think they might even finish top 2.