Europa League 2019/20

[hughy]

Winners of the EL go into the champions League. They could still get knocked out and potentially come down to EL

Shit good point.

 

[Shadydan]

I don't get this concept of "service". It is not like he didn't go to Barcelona when he joined us, because he wanted to do us a favour first.

And I don't think you examples are all that comparable. Eriksen went from a CL finalist to Inter. The others went from a worse version of Spurs to a much bigger club than Inter (maybe with the exception of Keane at the time).

Even so the biggest issue I have with Eriksen is his %#&#% lack of professionalism for the last half a season he played for us. If he had given it his all then fine. I have 0 issues with Carrick. Even Modric after that crazy summer played well in his last season for us. Eriksen didn't. Not that I care much, but I admit I'm glad Inter didn't win as without Eriksen I would not care at all between those two teams. Let's say 50/50. With Eriksen it isn't 100/0, but let's say 51/49. And I expect quite a few Spursfans to feel that way without necessarily "hating" him (certainly some of those as well, but I doubt there is really that many).

I have to bring up the concept of service because fans are crying about his head dropping in that last season and a half yet they're conveniently forgetting about the previous 4 seasons where he was arguably our key player who was essential to our form under Poch. It's totally relevant seeing as he gave us 6 years which is a long time in this modern day and could have easily left the project (like Walker did) in his prime or when he was comfortably one of the best players in Europe, he chose to stay.

He went to Inter big deal - he went there because he has a higher chance of winning something and look at the contrast in both teams's fortunes this season. Inter are or were much closer to winning something than we were when he left and were very close to, it's 100% justifiable. Berbatov to Man Utd ffs which is 100x worse, Eriksen was offered to Man Utd and he turned them down, yet Berbatov is a hero, it's utter nonsense.

And despite all this he could have easily signed on to make sure he got a higher wage and then acted selfishly and then forced his way out the club, unlike past players we've had who are lauded now, at least he was true to his word. Fans should be blaming the club whether it was Levy or Poch or whoever for not identifying that he needed replacing sooner rather than later or at least bringing in a capable backup to get him out of his comfort zone.

Also this may not mean alot to some but he still follows Spurs on social media and is still liking posts so he see's a lot of this shit from fans and it honestly makes me sad that we can't at least show some respect a player of his caliber, he also put a good word in for Hojbjerg to come to Spurs, he didn't have to so he still hold the club close to his heart.

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

Eriksen becomes first player to lose champions league and europa league finals in space of two seasons....

You can take the man out of Tottenham but you can't take Tottenham out of the man.

At least that's what I was sent earlier.

 

[topper]

You can take the man out of Tottenham but you can't take Tottenham out of the man.

At least that's what I was sent earlier.

Makes no sense - you do that and you're left with Totteh; which is a strange name!

 

[Marty]

Are Sevilla in the EL next season?

If so I think we should just try and win the Premier League instead. Probably easier.

They are in the top seeds in the CL draw thanks to this win so we just hope they don't stuff up the group stage because it's likely they get an easy draw.

 

[JimmyG2]

Fantastic player and was superb for us but I do have big doubts about his mentality in these really big occasions. Was invisible last year. Yes, he was on his way out but there's been plenty of players over the years who knew they were leaving a club but still produced on the day.

I think he has a tendency to hide.

Hid on the bench for most of this one.

 

[Havre]

I have to bring up the concept of service because fans are crying about his head dropping in that last season and a half yet they're conveniently forgetting about the previous 4 seasons where he was arguably our key player who was essential to our form under Poch. It's totally relevant seeing as he gave us 6 years which is a long time in this modern day and could have easily left the project (like Walker did) in his prime or when he was comfortably one of the best players in Europe, he chose to stay.

He went to Inter big deal - he went there because he has a higher chance of winning something and look at the contrast in both teams's fortunes this season. Inter are or were much closer to winning something than we were when he left and were very close to, it's 100% justifiable. Berbatov to Man Utd ffs which is 100x worse, Eriksen was offered to Man Utd and he turned them down, yet Berbatov is a hero, it's utter nonsense.

And despite all this he could have easily signed on to make sure he got a higher wage and then acted selfishly and then forced his way out the club, unlike past players we've had who are lauded now, at least he was true to his word. Fans should be blaming the club whether it was Levy or Poch or whoever for not identifying that he needed replacing sooner rather than later or at least bringing in a capable backup to get him out of his comfort zone.

Also this may not mean alot to some but he still follows Spurs on social media and is still liking posts so he see's a lot of this shit from fans and it honestly makes me sad that we can't at least show some respect a player of his caliber, he also put a good word in for Hojbjerg to come to Spurs, he didn't have to so he still hold the club close to his heart.

Barbatov didn't leave a CL-finalist. And he left for a Ferguson-managed Utd - not a Utd we have been better than. Not sure how this is remotely comparable.

Also one of the reasons we struggled so much this season was because of Eriksen. We were within a shot of top 4 and probably would have ended up so if Eriksen had played his normal game for a full season.

Service suggests some sacrifice. Really no sacrifice here.

 

[Legacy]

I have to bring up the concept of service because fans are crying about his head dropping in that last season and a half yet they're conveniently forgetting about the previous 4 seasons where he was arguably our key player who was essential to our form under Poch. It's totally relevant seeing as he gave us 6 years which is a long time in this modern day and could have easily left the project (like Walker did) in his prime or when he was comfortably one of the best players in Europe, he chose to stay.

What? Where were all these transfer offers coming from that he turned down to choose to stay at Spurs? I must've missed them.

He went to Inter big deal - he went there because he has a higher chance of winning something and look at the contrast in both teams's fortunes this season. Inter are or were much closer to winning something than we were when he left and were very close to, it's 100% justifiable. Berbatov to Man Utd ffs which is 100x worse, Eriksen was offered to Man Utd and he turned them down, yet Berbatov is a hero, it's utter nonsense.

I don't think I've ever seen someone refer to Berbatov as a hero. Besides, he moved on 12 years ago and time mends all wounds. People let go of the hatred after a time, the same will happen with Eriksen in a couple of years.

And despite all this he could have easily signed on to make sure he got a higher wage and then acted selfishly and then forced his way out the club, unlike past players we've had who are lauded now, at least he was true to his word. Fans should be blaming the club whether it was Levy or Poch or whoever for not identifying that he needed replacing sooner rather than later or at least bringing in a capable backup to get him out of his comfort zone.

How could he have forced his way out of the club? Only Inter tried to sign him when he was available at a cut price in January or for free in July. Who would have tried to get him to force his way out of the club if he signed a new contract and gave Levy all of the negotiating power?

Most people aren't pissed that he left. Go back and read his player thread from last summer. The general consensus was people wanted him to stay for the season and then leave on a free in the summer than for us to sell him before the start of the season because a fit and firing Eriksen would've given us a bigger chance of top 4 than anyone we could have replaced him with.

But what we got was a constant stream of limp dick performances from him. Supposedly a player who sees himself as good enough for the best teams in the world, one of our best players and our main playmaker put in "meh, can't be arsed to try too hard in case I get injured" performances. And you think that is acceptable?

You want to give him credit for being true to his word, how about him being true to his contract? I'm pretty sure there aren't any clauses in a player's contract that allows them to put in half performances in their final 12 months.

Berbatov, Keane, Bale and Modric all gave 100% effort and quality when they were on the pitch. Their leaving still left a bitter taste, but at least we can say that their inclusion in the team wasn't actively detrimental to the team's overall performance.

That's the difference with Eriksen and that's why he's getting more hate than he probably deserves if you look at his overall career at Spurs. And even so, people will let go of that hate eventually and just remember his better years with us.

 

[Shadydan]

Barbatov didn't leave a CL-finalist. And he left for a Ferguson-managed Utd - not a Utd we have been better than. Not sure how this is remotely comparable.

Also one of the reasons we struggled so much this season was because of Eriksen. We were within a shot of top 4 and probably would have ended up so if Eriksen had played his normal game for a full season.

Service suggests some sacrifice. Really no sacrifice here.

It's comparable because of our past good players who have all left the club and acted up to force a move. I don't understand your argument, would you want him to stay despite his head not being at Spurs just because no big club has come in for him? Unless it's a league rival in particular Arsenal/Chelsea the club he signed for shouldn't be a concern so I don't get why this constantly gets brought up.

And yet he should have been replaced in the summer, that's not his fault. It was clear he didn't want to be at Spurs after the CL final so blame the club for not replacing him, of course he's not going to play up to his normal level.

Have already explained what I meant by service, no need to take it out of context.

 

[doctor stefan Freud]

Conte is a collossal bellend.

Club buys him about 10 players for huge amounts of money and he continuously slags them off for not supporting him.
Second he loses the final he says 'he might not be inter manager next season'.

Just such a whiny, entitled arsehole. No doubt he's a winner but such a charmless ****.

He lost me the moment he started jumping up and down in front of the Chelsea fans whenever his team scored a goal, mouth and eyes agape like a teenage boy unexpectedly spraying his duvet for the first time and thinking he was some sort of god because his bellend had suddenly issued forth. The ballbuffer

 

[Shadydan]

What? Where were all these transfer offers coming from that he turned down to choose to stay at Spurs? I must've missed them.

That's because you probably have a bad memory:

Agent: English club plus sides from across Europe wanted Christian Eriksen

CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN'S agent has revealed at least four clubs were interested in signing him before he penned a new contract with Tottenham.

www.dailystar.co.uk

Now that everything is closed down, I can tell you that the situation has never really changed since Christian was 14 years old, and the first club rang, they have continued to come in the latest period. There has been definite interest from four Champions League teams from France, Spain, Italy and England.

Two of them have played in a Champions League final not so long ago. One of the managers was Laurent Blanc, who even spoke openly about his interest some time ago. Christian is flattered by all the interest, but he never wanted to do anything with it. As I said, he’s just happy at Tottenham, and he has always wanted to be there for a long time.

^^

I don't think I've ever seen someone refer to Berbatov as a hero. Besides, he moved on 12 years ago and time mends all wounds. People let go of the hatred after a time, the same will happen with Eriksen in a couple of years.

He literally played in Ledley King's testimonial for the Spurs legends, I don't recall too many people saying anything about that back then, also he's very much revered alongside Spurs greats.

How could he have forced his way out of the club? Only Inter tried to sign him when he was available at a cut price in January or for free in July. Who would have tried to get him to force his way out of the club if he signed a new contract and gave Levy all of the negotiating power?

Take a deep breathe and re-read what I said, I said he could have signed a new contract, took the higher wage then acted like a **** and forced his way out of the club, just like other players who are held in higher regard acted and thus got their way.

Most people aren't pissed that he left. Go back and read his player thread from last summer. The general consensus was people wanted him to stay for the season and then leave on a free in the summer than for us to sell him before the start of the season because a fit and firing Eriksen would've given us a bigger chance of top 4 than anyone we could have replaced him with.

Leave on free in the summer yeah I don't think anyone was happy with that outcome, even if they were that's an entirely stupid scenario that's counter productive for the club.

Again, he made it clear that he didn't want to stay, the club should have sounded out a replacement for him, he downed tools long before that - if you're going to blame anyone blame the club for not sorting things out quicker.

But what we got was a constant stream of limp dick performances from him. Supposedly a player who sees himself as good enough for the best teams in the world, one of our best players and our main playmaker put in "meh, can't be arsed to try too hard in case I get injured" performances. And you think that is acceptable?

You want to give him credit for being true to his word, how about him being true to his contract? I'm pretty sure there aren't any clauses in a player's contract that allows them to put in half performances in their final 12 months.

You could probably point the finger at half of our squad for his poor performances from 2018 onwards, pretty much everyone downed tools, whether that was down to physical or mental exhaustion, or not believing in the project or just not being focused. The only player to come out with and credit that season was Sissoko, the rest had either stagnated or gone backwards so why does Eriksen get the blame for this, or how comes everyone seemingly overlooks the other player's performances. No I don't think that's acceptable and already made reference to the fact that he downed tools for a year and a half so not sure where you're getting that from?

I think I'd rather credit him for not taking the big bucks when the opportunity presented itself and then down tools which he could have easily done.
'

Berbatov, Keane, Bale and Modric all gave 100% effort and quality when they were on the pitch. Their leaving still left a bitter taste, but at least we can say that their inclusion in the team wasn't actively detrimental to the team's overall performance.

lol This revisionism needs to stop, all those players had their moments where they would strop around the pitch and not put in any effort, you're acting as if Eriksen is the first to do this. What is sticking in people's heads is the fact that Eriksen's form is synonymous with Spurs's form, when he stopped playing well, Spurs stopped playing well - so if anything he is guilty of his own success. Players not performing isn't anything new, not that I'm justifying it but it's an understandable circumstance seeing as many other players had taken the same stance last year.

That's the difference with Eriksen and that's why he's getting more hate than he probably deserves if you look at his overall career at Spurs. And even so, people will let go of that hate eventually and just remember his better years with us.

Alas you've just made an interesting point about time being a healer. You're happy to hate Eriksen now but over time admit that he doesn't deserve hate and realise that he is due a lot of respect, that is the utter epitome and stupidity of football fans who prefer to waste energy hating players who want to move to better their career for the sake of achieving something rather than moving on. Fans just don't like to be told home truths about their own clubs, ultimately him moving to Inter was a slap in the face of Spurs fans because the truth hurts.

 

[sausage]

Makes no sense - you do that and you're left with Totteh; which is a strange name!

Not if you're a mancunian Roma fan

 

[sausage]

 

[RichieS]

Did Savage just suggest someone is feigning injury in a cup final?

Was about to respond: "Where's Justin Edinburgh when you need him?". Then I remembered. ?

It's his lifestyle he's an absolute party animal

Didn't he get drunk and run himself over at some point?

 

[Legacy]

That's because you probably have a bad memory:

Agent: English club plus sides from across Europe wanted Christian Eriksen

CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN'S agent has revealed at least four clubs were interested in signing him before he penned a new contract with Tottenham.

www.dailystar.co.uk

^^

All half decent players generate interest from other clubs. That in no way indicates those clubs would be willing to actually put the money in to sign him. He had "interest" from Real Madrid last year, but they were nowhere to be seen when Inter made their bid.

He literally played in Ledley King's testimonial for the Spurs legends, I don't recall too many people saying anything about that back then, also he's very much revered alongside Spurs greats.

Berbatov played and scored in the only cup final that King won. Why would people be pissed that King wanted him in a testimonial, which is a generally meaningless game anyway? He's one of the most talented strikers we've had, at least in the last 30-40 years, it's hardly surprising that people remember him in that regard.

Take a deep breathe and re-read what I said, I said he could have signed a new contract, took the higher wage then acted like a **** and forced his way out of the club, just like other players who are held in higher regard acted and thus got their way.

Okay, he didn't do that. Instead, he ran his contract down and forced the club to sell him for relative peanuts. That's far more beneficial to Spurs and he should get credit for that.

Leave on free in the summer yeah I don't think anyone was happy with that outcome, even if they were that's an entirely stupid scenario that's counter productive for the club.

Tottenham + Eriksen = top 4 and Champions League money. Tottenham + £16m - Eriksen = Not top 4. Yeah, very counter productive.

Again, he made it clear that he didn't want to stay, the club should have sounded out a replacement for him, he downed tools long before that - if you're going to blame anyone blame the club for not sorting things out quicker.

A player downs tools but it's not his fault, it's the club? I thought he made it clear that he wanted to leave the club but he'd be professional while he was still here? Half assing your job isn't what I call being professional. I'd say someone downing tools is exactly the same principle as someone trying to force their way out of the club.

You could probably point the finger at half of our squad for his poor performances from 2018 onwards, pretty much everyone downed tools, whether that was down to physical or mental exhaustion, or not believing in the project or just not being focused. The only player to come out with and credit that season was Sissoko, the rest had either stagnated or gone backwards so why does Eriksen get the blame for this, or how comes everyone seemingly overlooks the other player's performances. No I don't think that's acceptable and already made reference to the fact that he downed tools for a year and a half so not sure where you're getting that from?

I think I'd rather credit him for not taking the big bucks when the opportunity presented itself and then down tools which he could have easily done.
'

Yeah, there were a lot of performances in that time. The difference being only Eriksen decided he was going to force a move away to a "bigger club" to "win trophies"

lol This revisionism needs to stop, all those players had their moments where they would strop around the pitch and not put in any effort, you're acting as if Eriksen is the first to do this. What is sticking in people's heads is the fact that Eriksen's form is synonymous with Spurs's form, when he stopped playing well, Spurs stopped playing well - so if anything he is guilty of his own success. Players not performing isn't anything new, not that I'm justifying it but it's an understandable circumstance seeing as many other players had taken the same stance last year.

Show me a consistent run of games where any of those players were clearly not putting the required effort in when they were trying to leave the club.

Alas you've just made an interesting point about time being a healer. You're happy to hate Eriksen now but over time admit that he doesn't deserve hate and realise that he is due a lot of respect, that is the utter epitome and stupidity of football fans who prefer to waste energy hating players who want to move to better their career for the sake of achieving something rather than moving on. Fans just don't like to be told home truths about their own clubs, ultimately him moving to Inter was a slap in the face of Spurs fans because the truth hurts.

I don't hate Eriksen at all, it's been a long time since I got that emotionally invested in football. I'm just not arrogant enough to claim that anyone who does is stupid.

Gareth Bale moved on to better his career. He carried the Spurs team in his final year before moving for a world record fee and justified his transfer. How many people hated him compared to understanding the move?

Eriksen moved to a team that was, at the time, a lateral move at best. From a Champions League team to a Europa League team. And he can't even get off the bench. That's hardly a slap in the face of Spurs fans.

If anything, I don't understand why he didn't just give his all at Spurs for the remainder of his contract and see if any of the bigger clubs would take him on a free. I don't see how his move to Inter can be seen as a "win" in his eyes.

 

[Havre]

It's comparable because of our past good players who have all left the club and acted up to force a move. I don't understand your argument, would you want him to stay despite his head not being at Spurs just because no big club has come in for him? Unless it's a league rival in particular Arsenal/Chelsea the club he signed for shouldn't be a concern so I don't get why this constantly gets brought up.

And yet he should have been replaced in the summer, that's not his fault. It was clear he didn't want to be at Spurs after the CL final so blame the club for not replacing him, of course he's not going to play up to his normal level.

Have already explained what I meant by service, no need to take it out of context.

My argument is that Eriksen didn't behave professionally. If he had played like Modric, at his best, in his last season then at least I would have respected him for that. He didn't. And my argument for not "blaming" the others to the same extent is that the situations were different. When you just manage top 4 and RM are willing to make you the most expensive player in the world then you cannot compare that to moving to Inter.

I do blame the club. ITK suggesting he wasn't honest with us though. However that I don't blame him for until that is confirmed by other sources.

Anyway. We won't agree. A bit surprising if you can't even see why some don't care for Eriksen any longer. There are good reasons for it in my opinion (within the context of football).

 

[LeParisien]

My take ...

When Sevilla switch the ball from right to left they are in a clear 3-4-3 formation with their left back pushed up to join the midfield. Man Utd have a back 4. When the left back receives the ball Wan Bissaka applies the press. But this means we now have a 3 v 3 on the Man utd back line.

View attachment 71725

The first error was in Man Utd’s RW (Greenwood?) not tracking the Sevilla left back. The effect of this was to leave the Man Utd défense exposed.

Then Lindelöf has to come across and cover Sevilla’s left forward who has cleverly dragged him wide which leaves Maguire and Williams covering almost the entire width of the pitch. See here:

View attachment 71722

So United are in trouble. Sevilla then play the one two and Wan bissaka is CRIMINALLY slow in tracking back. Outrageously so. He’s made mistakes for both goals in a European semi final ..!

Lindelöf has had to come away from the centre so maybe absolve him ?

And then the ball comes across and for my money Maguire isn’t actually defending the space or the man he is meant to. He’s ball watching and gets sucked in when he doesn’t need to.

See these two photos:

View attachment 71723

View attachment 71724

It looks worse on Maguire in real time.

And then of course I don’t know what Williams is doing but he had a shocker. Occasion got to him? He’s young and he’ll learn from it.

So this is all round dreadful defensive play. From the right forward to the right back to Maguire to the left back. And we haven’t even mentioned the midfield who didn’t enter the equation at all (so easily bypassed!). You’d really like your RCM to come and help out there but no.

Gotta question the quality of defensive coaching happening at United. This is basic stuff at this level. Makes you glad we have Mourinho.

The left back in this post (pushed up to midfield and who got the assist) was Reguilón!!