Interpolic

Yeah we can beat anyone on our day but our day isn't necessarily going to be a cup final or whatever when the opposition have been there and done it many times. We should be aiming to win or overachieving in every competition we're in, there's a difference between that and expecting it though.

Yeah we can't say we need to win something this season considering who we're competing with. The likes of Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool are years ahead of us, and the deck is stacked in their favour for the foreseeable future. We will win something in the next few years but in the meantime need to focus on progressing on and off the pitch, which we're doing.

Yeah it must be Mourinho's agent planting this in the press all the time (that or lazy /mischevious journalism), cos it doesn't sound like our owners and never did.

Yeah I think he would as well as the best players adapt. But he'd need to be a lot fitter, a lot more in tune tactically and his lifestyle back then wouldn't work now. Which is why I'm saying him playing his game 20-30 years ago is much different to what players are having to do now, and him saying player faitgue is a myth doesn't mean much at all.

Think we'll play well tonight and fairly confident we'll win. It'll be the easiest team talk of Howe's season, how this is the kind of moment we fought all last season for. We obviously can't control what happens in the PSG game but have to hope Dortmund are motivated to win the group.

Relative to the time he was, yeah. And put his body on the line with his style. He'd need to make significant changes if playing today though. Sure he could have done it but the demands on players now are different.

The annoying thing about that Shearer soundbite and other similar opinions is that it implies that today's players are workshy or less committed than they used to be. When in fact they're putting in far more yards than Shearer ever did, making way more lifestyle sacrifices, playing far more games. Essentially players commit their lives these days so they are fit to play every 3-7 days, with maybe a couple of weeks off in summer if they're lucky. Yeah we all know they're paid very well for it but it doesn't seem sustainable to me.

Yeah it's not 1995 anymore, lads. If you compared the running stats vs now then they'd be night and day. Really think the authorities need to look at this now with the amount of injuries across lots of clubs and players clearly never getting a break. They seem reluctant to cut down the games, in fact the opposite is happening, so other measures that would help should be looked at. Like increasing the max size of a squad, relaxation of the loan rules etc. Just increasing the amount of games until enough players break to act is not good enough.

Christ, didn't realise he'd said that. We had 2+ good options for every position, and only a handful had shown signs of being injury prone (Wilson, Isak, Targett). Don't think we could have done anymore with the funds we spent in the summer, short of also investing in a crystal ball.

In what sense? Because they don't look similar players at all. Hojlund is a proper centre forward who can hold the ball up and compete physically with centre halves, whereas that's exactly what Tomasson wasn't. And obviously wouldn't have been asked to play as though he was, had Shearer not got injured.

You'd think you'd have picked up some perspective after all the shite you've watched then.

Unreal. Zero gratitude or perspective, cos we've lost a couple of games. We don't need supporters like this.

He's 19 and a very highly rated prospect, not least by Ashworth and Howe. If you think it was a mistake that's dead concerning though aye.

This has been pointed out to him many, many times.

Lull them into a false sense of security then bring Karius on for nobody after 30 mins, BANG extra player and goodnight Spurs

You've missed a player but otherwise this is spot-on.

We might lose here but Spurs' confidence will be brittle. They're still playing well for long spells but they're definitely not playing well over 90 minutes. If we can ride out the storm of their waves of pressure (which will happen) then we might be able to pounce on their high line and their nerves and nick a couple.

Our results and performances will be up and down while we navigate this pretty much unprecedented situation. Most fans appreciate and understand that. Tiredness is not a simple 1-10 gauge that reduces after every game. Every game is different and places different demands on the players. So no, we're not necessarily going to lose every game now because we lost last night. You're being wilfully obtuse here and as a result being unnecessarily harsh on players who have proven time and time again they will give everything for the cause. We won't be putting in performances like that when we have more players to share the workload, not that I thought the performance last night was apocalyptically bad or anything anyway. Before the Trippier mistake we were looking good for 1-3 points.

Why are you being so ridiculously over-simplistic?

I've been trying my best to warm to you recently but sticking you on ignore now. Can't read this utter bollocks from you all day again, and it will be all day across every thread. Laters.

If you'd said to me at the start of the season that we'd be playing the same 10 outfield players every 3 days in November/December, one of them being a 17 year old, with no options off the bench then I'd have thought there'd be a decent chance we'd be losing or drawing almost every game. Our season should be fucked right now but it isn't. Now isn't the time for inquests into our away form, I'd be stunned if that doesn't turn around once we have a decent pool of players to manage the schedule better. It's about sticking in and getting as many wins as we can til we're out of this insane situation.

Every game is different, innit? Tonight we were playing against a physical side that defended deep and got at us on the break. It wasn't a 3-0 game, I was fairly confident we'd get at least a point before Trippier slipped up. The Spurs game might suit us if we can soak up some pressure and expose the weaknesses of their high line. Our home record is very good and the players are clearly feeding off the fans to get them over the line in those games, so I'm not sure why that is increasingly being used as a stick to beat them with?

It's not as simple as a 5 day break should mean a good performance as opposed to a 3 day rest etc. I'm not sure why anyone would think it is. It's not as if there's ever been any question about the work rate of this group of players. They clearly look shattered. Subs and rotation are a huge part of the game these days and we have the benefit of neither. Some of those players must be wiped out. The likes of Gordon, Schar and Trippier never get a rest. The mental and physical fatigue is going to accumulate while we're in this shit position. They still manage to put in great performances like Chelsea, PSG and Man Utd but we're going to get nights like tonight while we don't have 15+ genuine first team options to choose from. It's a challenging situation that we can only manage as best we can until players are back / recruited. No use throwing toys out the pram that we're not winning every game in the meantime. Need to stick with it and realise we're amidst some freak circumstances but taking a step back we've never had it so good and the future is bright. Bit of perspective.

Jesus, it's like a sex offender's Spotify play list there pre-match.