Redknapp's Spurs v Pochettino's Spurs

[beats1]

Fair enough, I took that startling lineup from the side that beat Arsenal 8-2 but looking at that team they are better than today's so I will concede that point.

LOL arsenal lost 8-2 to a midfield containing Anderson and Cleverly

 

[Shadydan]

Whilst I've only read this final page I think you both have valid points. Can we say that he top teams have stagnated somewhat & the other 15 odd teams have strengthened ? Therefore you are both right.

This is exactly my point yes.

 

[Sevens]

Interesting thread.

Very different teams but for me Redknapps would win both a one-off and over the long-term.

You have a team there with a brilliant blend of experience and world class talent. Friedel, King, Gallas Parker all with years of top level experience and the right winning mentality and then near to or actual world class players and game changers in: Lennon,Modric,Bale,VDV!


Our team now if good don't get me wrong and would give that team a good fight but the class would shine through that team was on another level.

Give it a year or two as this current crop develop and we may have some different responses to this hopefully.

Indeed. In fact I'd say there is no comparison. We had two forwards who had both played for Real Madrid. We had two midfielders who would go on to play for Real Madrid. We were superbly balanced (until Lennon got injured and Harry messed up switching to the unbalanced mess of a 4-2-3-1 for a dozen or so games) and could even afford a player or two to have an off game.

Whilst it is understandable to get excited I think people are getting way over enthused by our current team. It's way too early in the season to be crowing. We've only played 12 league games and we've won under half of them. We're behind Leicester City, are level on points with West Ham, are a point clear of Southampton and only 2pts clear of Palace. Which demonstrates that the table at this point of the season isn't reflective of very much.

Like Redknapp's final season, top four is on though. For exactly the same reason. I loved that Redknapp team and it was by far our best in the Premier League era. However we also over rated that team. It wasn't as good as Utd, City, Arsenal or Chelsea. We got 4th as much down to Chelsea having a stinker in the league as ourselves being so good. The same should apply this year. Because we should be too far ahead of Chelsea for them to catch us and we are definitely best of the rest. I still can't see us finishing ahead of City, Utd or Arsenal.

 

[Sevens]

Under Redknapp we had great players where individuals usually worked some magic

Now we are a team that consistently performs above the sums of its parts

I'd say that Redknapp team was better balanced than the current team though. Up until he switched to 4-2-3-1 and we looked woeful. To be fair almost everyone plays 4-2-3-1 nowadays and most teams look an unbalanced mess.....

 

[Sevens]

I've followed this team for over ten years now. I think it says a lot that when naming my all-time Spurs team, I get at least 5 players from that Redknapp side. The talent at his disposal was incredible, and 4th was a huge underachievement - we had the best centre back pairing in the league, the best central midfield pairing, the best winger, the PL Young Player of the Year, and a great goal scoring duo up top. And yet we finished 4th.

Give me Poch every day of the week. This man is taking us places.

Kaboul & Gallas were not the best centre half pairing the league. King barely featured in the last two seasons of his career and when he did he was sadly poor and a shadow of the player he had been.

 

[Sevens]

I think it's the other way round, I mean these days the top teams (top four) aren't as strong as they used to be but the middling to lesser teams are definitely harder to beat now.

The best teams in the league are weaker than they used to be. The middling teams are the same or slightly worse. World football is going through a rut. I primarily blame it on the money and over coaching.

In the Premier League a lot of teams switched to 4-2-3-1 with high line pressing which is an anti-football formation that most teams simply cannot get right on a consistent basis. As a result we now have the better teams not being balanced or effectively utilising their better players. Teams also seem to have forgotten how to deal with crosses.

Interestingly this season we are seeing a move away of 4-2-3-1 from some of the teams. Leicester, West Ham and City have regularly deployed two banks of four. There has even been the move to the odd back three.

 

[Luka Van der Bale]

The best teams in the league are weaker than they used to be. The middling teams are the same or slightly worse. World football is going through a rut. I primarily blame it on the money and over coaching.

In the Premier League a lot of teams switched to 4-2-3-1 with high line pressing which is an anti-football formation that most teams simply cannot get right on a consistent basis. As a result we now have the better teams not being balanced or effectively utilising their better players. Teams also seem to have forgotten how to deal with crosses.

Interestingly this season we are seeing a move away of 4-2-3-1 from some of the teams. Leicester, West Ham and City have regularly deployed two banks of four. There has even been the move to the odd back three.

Disagree with your opinion on 4-2-3-1; also it is most certainly the formation West Ham have been playing this season.

 

[Luka Van der Bale]

Kaboul & Gallas were not the best centre half pairing the league. King barely featured in the last two seasons of his career and when he did he was sadly poor and a shadow of the player he had been.

21 matches in his last season is more than 'barely featured'.

 

[Sevens]

Disagree with your opinion on 4-2-3-1; also it is most certainly the formation West Ham have been playing this season.

Not when I watched West Ham and I despise 4-2-3-1. I despised it before we ever switched to it. It's especially bad with inverted wingers. It just doesn't flow or lend itself to attractive football unless you have world class players. On the plus side it's made the league more unpredictable because historically the big boys simply cannot get it right.

 

[davidmatzdorf]

The top Premiership teams appear to be less dominant, but that is because the middle-table teams are a great deal better. This is a direct result of the increased television receipts, which has enabled them to buy some players of international class, in addition to their local players of competence, but no inspiration.

Instead of just being "hard to beat", all but the worst Premiership teams are capable of playing actual football - of outplaying the top teams if they have a bad day, not just holding out against them.

The apparent (and deceptive) decline in the top teams is also resulting from there no longer being a defined "top 4". As well as the afore-mentioned middle-table teams, there has been a definite "top 7 or 8" over the past several years.

The gap is mainly narrowing from below, not from above.

 

[Sevens]

21 matches in his last season is more than 'barely featured'.

That's less than half of our overall games that year and let's face it, he was poor in a lot of those 21 games too. Especially when he came back from injury. I was a massive King fan but he was finished. The defence that year was protected superbly though by Parker and Modric, and the fact that we dominated games so well that our defence was rarely put under pressure. And when it was I feel Friedel's contribution was very under rated. His positioning was world class and he made well over a dozen great saves that year.

 

[Sevens]

The top Premiership teams appear to be less dominant, but that is because the middle-table teams are a great deal better. This is a direct result of the increased television receipts, which has enabled them to buy some players of international class, in addition to their local players of competence, but no inspiration.

Instead of just being "hard to beat", all but the worst Premiership teams are capable of playing actual football - of outplaying the top teams if they have a bad day, not just holding out against them.

The apparent (and deceptive) decline in the top teams is also resulting from there no longer being a defined "top 4". As well as the afore-mentioned middle-table teams, there has been a definite "top 7 or 8" over the past several years.

The gap is mainly narrowing from below, not from above.

Disagree on the middle teams to be honest. And historically a lot of middle teams have had great players. Southampton of 15/16 is weaker than that of 13/14 IMHO and yet I bet it finishes higher up the table.