TOTTENHAM ARE STILL A BIG CLUB!

That's a pretty tough fourth seed team looking at the other groups

Lmao we are SO fucked

So great that for the first time we take on youse Spurs. #ilxmassive

Barcelona was always my dream fixture, maximally psyched

woof

are there dates for these matches yet

not yet but might you be around these parts, ohhh psv-spurs would be a hoot to go to, will keep an eye out

thats the thought alright

Wait, what?

There is a change this season - with games not being played at 19:45 BST anymore.

Most games will kick off at 20:00 BST, but two group matches every day will start at 17:55 BST - so get ready to leave work quickly on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

yeah thats late for leaving work

Dyche out.

... wrong thread.

https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/aaron-lennons-greatest-superfan-meet-20-year-old-turk-who-cant-get-enough-burnleys-no25

something to warm your cold, cold hearts

As someone who got into football (and Tottenham) right around the time of Jol/Lennon/Robinson, I guess 2006-2007ish?, this hit me right in the heart, thank u for this. also gave me an idea for a new dn

This is probably the best best place to talk about Sissoko. Is it really just a matter of switching him into central midfield? Perhaps he should have been there all along, Lord knows he's barely competent on the right but that's where he seems to have played on every occasion prior to this season.

well...his form was awful in an individual control/pass/position way regardless until even three or four games ago

but a run of games and maybe knowing he had a run coming due to fixtures and injuries definitely seems to have solidified that aspect

tactically then, playing with aurier on his right and behind him definitely suits, theyre both better for the way they naturally move and cover each other.

but the move to central formally (hes always been a central midfielder, this craic of callin him a rw because he gets up a bit of speed never looked right) and carving out a destroyer/carrier role in a tweaked tactic has definitely given him the platform for the last two performances. worth remembering that he destroyed us in that role on more than one occasion as a newcastle player, so im not sure im ready to call it a flash of genius to find that in him all of a sudden

i think not being the last line of defence in front of the centre halves nor being tasked with quickly recycling the ball with a bit of craft four times a minute definitely avoids two of his big weaknesses

hey presto we now have a way of taking the ball seventy yards and pulling an entrenched opponent asunder without dembele

got to credit his mentality too, even if im slightly dubious about his technical limitations not putting a ceiling on his reliability

aurier and sissoko's synergy was woven in toulouse ofc

Yeah he may have always been a central midfielder but he never seemed to start there, he usually would start in one of the wide positions. These tend to be fluid revolving attacking positions when Eriksen/Dele/Lamela* start there but Sissoko had neither the tactical quick thinking or the passing ability, he'd tend to run at the fullback and then not be able to cross particularly well at the end of it. It wasn't just that he was being played too wide, he was also too far up the pitch.

Whereas he's fantastic pressing and harrying players and rampaging through the middle. The Dembele role is absolutely the best one for him in our team (and it's an essential one for us I think).

*I'm excluding Son and Lucas from this as their roles tend to be more direct.

Admittedly two of his recent notable contributions have come from a decisive pass from an advanced position on the right, but he's clearly bringing more than that to the team now.

He was France’s best player by a mile in the Euro 2016 final at CM, more or less, and talked up by the Telegraph at the time as ‘a successor to Yaya Toure as the Premier League’s most complete central midfielder’ but I guess Dembele and Wanyama’s excellent season after he joined meant he was shunted out right.

He's always been able to summon the occasional monster performance. First couple of months at Newcastle people were talking about him as the signing of the season. I'm sceptical that he's going to start delivering it on a consistent basis at this point in his career though

they should have two off already obv

alli letting us down badly until that amazing pass

Lucas uh got the uh ball there first ref

LOL the Arsenal, doubly hilarious given how desperate the media is for their revival.

That was fun. Dele the best kind of cunt tonight.

yesssss

https://statsbomb.com/2019/01/tottenhams-january-shopping-list/

This is excellent.

ooo lovely

love to read some new names. skipp has looked decent so far in a CM/DM sort of role and seems a likely option.

Probably the best argument for signing a proper defensive midfielder as soon as possible is that we're significantly constraining Winks' development as a playmaker. I thin whoever plays on Sunday is likely to have a very difficult game against a resurgent Pogba though - although I've never seen him have a good game against us.

just change your name to harry jinx ffs

skipp seems like a not-quite-as-good winks but appreciate both are as matt says probably developing without the platform of a support player beside them

obv skipp some years younger than winks when he debuted too

so much goes play has been going through pogba lately. the united midfield is still yet to be fully realised so mb it cld all be snuffed out quick but there are a lot of threats there and chief among them poggers the hard-to-mark long-legged marauding menace

little piece from michael cox on dembele: http://www.espn.co.uk/soccer/english-premier-league/23/blog/post/3751901/premier-league-will-lose-its-most-unique-player-when-mousa-dembele-leaves-tottenham

Tottenham have planned a "top-level meeting" to discuss how to deal with Kane's absence over the next couple of months. Loan signings are being considered, as well as the potential promotion of 16-year-old academy striker Troy Parrott.

No pressure Troy

Troy Parrott, Harry Winks, Oliver Skipp. I have to commend the Tottenham policy of only developing young players with entertaining names.

my client skipp can kick a ball very far away

Yeah, yeah, whatever, does he prefer Oliver and Olly? Either way, we've very excited about his name.

anyway

i am calm. the flower opens in its own time.

troy parrott may not be an adequate replacement this week for harry kane, but a fortnight of poch magic and it'll be lol arry oo

llorente will score a goal a game in february

vinny janssen GOAT for ten games

whatever. energia universale finds its way.

Fucksake

🇰🇷 South Korea 2-1 Bahrain 🇧🇭

Sonny progresses to the quarter-finals 👏#AsianCup2019 pic.twitter.com/uTVKllsLf4

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) January 22, 2019

rushed home in time to see dier do that

Korea trailing Qatar 1-0 with nine minutes to go. Fingers crossed.

We are all Qataris now.

He's coming home

The prodigal Son returns!

yesss

are Qatar good now? Assume they've gotten a few ringers in