Professional sports in results driven, don't know how anyone could judge this team without looking at the table or results. Sure this group is young and maybe a bit 'dumb' , but don't assume they will just get better next season repeating the same play every week. All the teams in top half are making progress, if we just rely on these kids to grow up, next season won't be much different. Like Poch said he knew the reasons for injuries, so expect a turn around soon or it's another bunch of BS, or just complete incompetency within the club.

9 minutes ago, icecoolguy22 said:

Professional sports in results driven, don't know how anyone could judge this team without looking at the table or results. Sure this group is young and maybe a bit 'dumb' , but don't assume they will just get better next season repeating the same play every week. All the teams in top half are making progress, if we just rely on these kids to grow up, next season won't be much different. Like Poch said he knew the reasons for injuries, so expect a turn around soon or it's another bunch of BS, or just complete incompetency within the club.

I can't see BlueCo's various billionaires settling for where we are, so I expect another shake up at the end of this season, though hopefully not more than 5 players in/out this time.

Remains to be seen if they also decide to make a management change. 

36 minutes ago, RMH said:

I don't look at the table, I look at the way we play and it is a disaster every week. Even teams in relegation places play more cohesive football than we do, and we have had a core of players (especially midfield and attack) playing together for the whole season and still haven't gelled. Our players are all over the place, don't understand the basics of playing as a team, we are not progressing and we are getting possibly worse. That's down to Pochettino.

Sheffield utd won 28 of their 46 games with that team just 12 months ago. Our team is assembled 12 months ago and won absolutely nothing together. 

We won United just days ago 4-3. The same team that drew Liverpool yesterday.

another fan who can't get his head around Poch's baffling decisions.

 

1 hour ago, evissy said:

Sheffield utd won 28 of their 46 games with that team just 12 months ago. Our team is assembled 12 months ago and won absolutely nothing together. 

We won United just days ago 4-3. The same team that drew Liverpool yesterday.

You cannot use the UTD game as a positive.... Yes the result was amazing, but it was pure luck.

I don’t think Poch is the long term answer but he isn’t the problem. There are issues beyond him which need sorting. For example,

1. Not being able to fix the number of long term injuries 

2. Recruitment - not being good enough. Most of the players that we’ve bought ok/good. They’re not elite. 

I saw this tweet below which summed it up. 
 

“When you spend £25m on 3rd choice Brighton keeper & $15m on 3rd choice Serbia keeper, you're not buying élite. They're not bad, but not prime Mendy, Courtois, Cech. They cost points. And that's where we are“

 

This is on the sporting directors. 

Edited April 8, 20242 yr by JM7

4 hours ago, Girish said:

All this talk about players liking Poch... is that really the case? Because they sure as hell aren't putting their asses on the line for him. And even if it's true, that's probably because we have got rid of all the experienced players that would have revolted against this weekly sh*t show by now.

On the contrary, I remember reading something about few players asking the owners to get rid of Poch... no idea how much truth there is to it though.

Liking and respecting arent the same thing. I don't think Jose or Conte in their prime were loved by all their players, especially given how intense their personalities are, but they were respected. I don't think Poch has the right personality to impose his will on this young group of players, that's why there's no reaction time and again when we fail on the pitch. 

To put it simply, he's a loser and they know it.

3 minutes ago, JM7 said:

This is on the sporting directors. 

Depends on the frame of reference. 

Is this squad capable of finishing Top 4? No. The sporting directors did a poor job building a squad if that was the intended goal. 

Is this squad capable finishing in a Europa League position (now that 7th grants it), and more importantly, capable of beating relegation sides like Burnley and Sheffield United? Absolutely. 

Just now, Sconnie Blue said:

Depends on the frame of reference. 

Is this squad capable of finishing Top 4? No. The sporting directors did a poor job building a squad if that was the intended goal. 

Is this squad capable finishing in a Europa League position (now that 7th grants it), and more importantly, capable of beating relegation sides like Burnley and Sheffield United? Absolutely. 

But the by product of the 2 issues that I mentioned (injuries and recruitment) means that we are unable and unlikely to get into Europe. The sporting directors have been unable to fix the issue. 

5 minutes ago, JM7 said:

I don’t think Poch is the long term answer but he isn’t the problem. There are issues beyond him which need sorting. For example,

1. Not being able to fix the number of long term injuries 

2. Recruitment - not being good enough. Most of the players that we’ve bought ok/good. They’re not elite. 

I saw this tweet below which summed it up. 
 

“When you spend £25m on 3rd choice Brighton keeper & $15m on 3rd choice Serbia keeper, you're not buying élite. They're not bad, but not prime Mendy, Courtois, Cech. They cost points. And that's where we are“

 

This is on the sporting directors. 

Agree that all aforementioned issues have massively contributed to our struggles this season but it's not as simple as absolving Poch of all responsibility. Even with injuries we still have a much better individual quality of players than the likes of Burnley or Sheffield, we should be beating them comfortably, but we couldn't because their managers squeezed a whole lot more from what they have at their disposal than Poch is getting from his group on a regular basis. It's his job to organize the team tactically, to teach them how to control the tempo, when to keep the ball and when to park the bus and keep it simple, how to be compact, etc. The amount of costly errors that lead to conceded goals and dropped points have been absolutely staggering. He's clearly not up to the task.

29 minutes ago, abramovich said:

Agree that all aforementioned issues have massively contributed to our struggles this season but it's not as simple as absolving Poch of all responsibility. Even with injuries we still have a much better individual quality of players than the likes of Burnley or Sheffield, we should be beating them comfortably, but we couldn't because their managers squeezed a whole lot more from what they have at their disposal than Poch is getting from his group on a regular basis. It's his job to organize the team tactically, to teach them how to control the tempo, when to keep the ball and when to park the bus and keep it simple, how to be compact, etc. The amount of costly errors that lead to conceded goals and dropped points have been absolutely staggering. He's clearly not up to the task.

I do agree to a point, Poch could have done more - changed tactics, tightened us up etc. 2 goals per game for the last 6 matches isn’t good enough. 
 

However, he has had limited players due to the injuries. Midfield looks worn out due to only having 3 midfielders the entire season. Defence looks shakey given our first choice defenders are out. The players that are available, simply are not good enough. 

52 minutes ago, JM7 said:

“When you spend £25m on 3rd choice Brighton keeper & $15m on 3rd choice Serbia keeper, you're not buying élite. They're not bad, but not prime Mendy, Courtois, Cech. They cost points. And that's where we are“

Sanchez is probably the most baffling transfer. Brighton were desperate to get rid and they still rinsed us for him. He should have been £10m tops. Not that we should ever have bought him.

3 minutes ago, Gonoir Beniashile said:

Sanchez is probably the most baffling transfer. Brighton were desperate to get rid and they still rinsed us for him. He should have been £10m tops. Not that we should ever have bought him.

Thing is, Sanchez is an obvious example of one of our signings being decent but not elite. It’s all over the pitch. 

18 hours ago, Frankie8Lampard said:

We have a lot of big players?

A really simple question I have, over this season how many convincing wins have we had? We haven't had a comfortable win in the league in 2024, the last one was probably at home to Sheffield United in December. We have genuinely gotten worse over the course of the season and of course Poch is looking at every other avenue to blame rather than look in the mirror 

51 minutes ago, JM7 said:

I don’t think Poch is the long term answer but he isn’t the problem. There are issues beyond him which need sorting. For example,

1. Not being able to fix the number of long term injuries 

2. Recruitment - not being good enough. Most of the players that we’ve bought ok/good. They’re not elite. 

I saw this tweet below which summed it up. 
 

“When you spend £25m on 3rd choice Brighton keeper & $15m on 3rd choice Serbia keeper, you're not buying élite. They're not bad, but not prime Mendy, Courtois, Cech. They cost points. And that's where we are“

 

This is on the sporting directors. 

Not the problem?????

Who picks the players? Poch

Who chooses the system? Poch

Who coahces the team on how to defend a cross? Poch

Who allows the players to keep playing tippy tap sh*t between the defenders? Poch.

Who keeps selecting the same players, over and over again, despite inept performances week in week out? Poch.

Who keeps playing the donkey with 2 left feet up front instead of playing a kid, or a broom - both of whom are better options and less of a liability than Wacko Jacko? Poch!

 

Yes - we have had injuries. Yes the players may be young....  But the sh*t we are seeing is 100% on him.

Some suggestions:

1) If the players are genuinely not good enough to be coached into cutting out the mistakes and letting leads slip - THEN STOP PLAYING THEM!

2) If Poch is genuinely instructing the team to go out and play fast free flowing attacking football, but the players ignore him, refuse and just want to pass 4392 times between the defenders - THEN STOP PLAYING THEM!

3) If poch spends 50 hours a week training the players on how to organise a defence and defend a cross, and the players forget what they have been told - THEN STOP PLAYING THEM!

4) If poch spents 120 hours a week in training Jackson how to hit a barn door with a banjo, but Jacko prefers to have his hair shaved and dyed again - THEN STOP PLAYING HIM!

5) If Poch is genuinely not happy with how the team plays - then START RIPPING INTO THEM ON THE TOUCHLINE TO SHOW IT. Because he sure appeard content, sat back with his arms crossed.

 

If he does these things, and it still isnt working, then I will be the first to turn around and say that it isnt on him. But until then, we must stop looking for the convieient excuse....

 

I have said, on numerous occasions that this is a long term project and there will be ups and downs....but he is showing zero progress. Under TT we couldnt score. Under Lamps we couldnt defend. Under potter we couldnt score. Under Poch we are now managing to score, but at the expense of giving up a min 2 goals a game...this isnt progress.

 

 

2 minutes ago, Valerie said:

We have a lot of big players?

I think he means Lukaku.... big = hefty.

Just now, nonotnowjim said:

I think he means Lukaku.... big = hefty.

Ah that makes sense, after all there is a lot of Lukaku out there.

How can he genuinely use tiredness as an excuse?

 

- a young team with bags of energy

- zero european games

- 70% of each game spent resting with the ball when pissing around with it at the back

- a squad of god knows how many to choose from - if they are tired, pick the kids!

15 minutes ago, nonotnowjim said:

How can he genuinely use tiredness as an excuse?

 

- a young team with bags of energy

- zero european games

- 70% of each game spent resting with the ball when pissing around with it at the back

- a squad of god knows how many to choose from - if they are tired, pick the kids!

100%, if these bunch of young lads are tired then it's Poch and his staff 

23 minutes ago, nonotnowjim said:

How can he genuinely use tiredness as an excuse?

 

- a young team with bags of energy

- zero european games

- 70% of each game spent resting with the ball when pissing around with it at the back

- a squad of god knows how many to choose from - if they are tired, pick the kids!

Its moronic to claim they're tired, all it shows is the squad has been mismanaged in a season where there's no way they should be tired. He's basically admitted he's sh*t.

19 hours ago, Frankie8Lampard said:

He should just stop doing press conferences, his comments just make my blood boil

"These types of teams"... It's one of the worst teams the Premier League has known.

He's a joke of a manager. Don't say "we" when it's become increasingly apparent that these terrible results are 75% on him.

 

4 hours ago, Sexyfootball said:

I can't see BlueCo's various billionaires settling for where we are, so I expect another shake up at the end of this season, though hopefully not more than 5 players in/out this time.

Remains to be seen if they also decide to make a management change. 

BlueCo recorded a LOSS of over £600million last year.

Dunno how they managed to do that but they did. 

Given PSG fans had the same criticisms of him as a manager, maybe he should start looking at himself

When we lost 3-0 away to Sheffield United under Lampard he said " they were stronger than us physically and mentally". 

It's the same story been going on for fecking years.

Don't they get embarrassed seeing teams all over the league, even at the bottom playing quick, fast , commited, brave football ?

That passage of play yesterday with a multitude of passes and going nowhere was typical