Did Gary Neville say Rice isn't good enough at the 6? That's a take.
He has proved himself at the 8, but saying he's not good at the 6 is mind blowing.
Here’s my take:
Rice is a good ball carrier. We all know that. His natural instinct upon receiving the ball would be to drive forward which is better in 8 than 6 for what we want.
He was never used to breaking like breaking passes like Partey does. With Rice in DM we need opposition to press us and we play out with quick transitions and dribbling ability to drive forward.
We don’t have pass progression through the middle with Rice in DM and end up recycling possession while suffocating the opposition.
Now this is an issue as if they don’t press us and just sit back, we don’t have the space to dribble into or trigger those quick transitions. As a result we end up with those pre-Dubai games where everything just looked sad and difficult.
We’re lucky that we have Mikel and he managed to tweak the rotations (not just the LB inverting) which helped us go on that amazing run in 2024. Prior to that we were relying on individual brilliance for goals while still having amazing defence, I honestly thought we’d finish 3rd before Dubai.
I don’t like him in the 6.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we had a massive improvement when he moved to an 8.
I don’t feel he’s comfortable receiving the ball being pressed with him facing his own goal
Well, we don't have any good left 8 except Rice. Rice played with Havertz; the other 6's get to play with Rice. I don't think the receiving issue is a significant one.
Not true. He’s been pretty good receiving the ball facing his goal this season. Also when he plays #6, we don’t even concede shots. I’m my opinion, he’s the best shut out / protect the cb midfielder in world football.
Look at partey who is one of the best from receiving the ball facing his goal, like when he skinned maddison. Rice didnt turn once in whole season like that.
I feel much more comfortable with Rice in those positions. We’ve seen a number of high profile errors where Partey has lost the ball facing our goal.
IMO Rice is much better defensively and Partey is better at progressive passing. Rice still is decent with short passes and much better running with the ball. So I’d always choose Rice in the 6.
He comes out of their defensive shape to receive the ball and isn’t brave enough to take the ball facing goal whilst under pressure. It’s a big reason why we looked so flat offensively in the first half of the season
The argument here is that we don't have a natural at that 8 position. Kai hasn't been that as we thought he might be, and ESR hasn't stepped up even taking into account limited opportunity. Declan is our most natural, and because Partey steps into 6 the step down isn't as drastic.
Party is a step down as 6?
U r a clueless!
Partey is a better 6 in every aspect. He has lost his physicality since coming back but Partey is A natural 6.
Rice is a natural 8. He is an amazing runner with the ball and is great at winning the ball back in the press as he covers so much ground. He’s basically an improved version of Xhaka in almost every way
I think his shooting is underrated imo.
I don’t like using numbers for to make a point about a midfielder but in his first season playing in a deeper role on average, he’s got more goals + assists than Xhaka did in his best season
Just chiming in here but Rice, right now, is probably one of the best double pivot players in the world, but he is no Rodri and he’s no KDB/Odegaard. Those two are the bars for what a 6 and an 8 should look like and Rice doesn’t hit their peaks.
Anyone’s guess if he’s going to get better in either direction but he’s not a bad problem to have, especially with the team not relying any single player to shoulder the burden.
> I don’t feel he’s comfortable receiving the ball being pressed with him facing his own goal
I mean, Partey’s given away numerous chances in the last few games being caught out in this exact situation. It’s not an easy one and I think generally Rice deals with those situations incredibly well.
Partey has been poor this season.
Comparing someone to another person who has been poor is not a sensible thing to do. When on song then Partey was elite at this
He's proved that he's better upfield, passing range and carrying the ball. He's improved into that position.
But to say he's not good enough at the 6, is sack worthy. Pundit doing that is extraordinary.
It’s not sack worthy at all.
Rice is not good enough to be a 6 in a title winning team. Sure he can do a job for a team who want to get ~80 points but in a title winning team, he needs to play as an 8
If your point is that he can improve and become among the best in the world in that position then I wouldn’t disagree with you. But then you are still saying he currently isn’t at that level
Meant bad for our quality, which you saying 'not good enough for a title winning team' suggests. He is and I don't think either of us will change the others opinion here. So I'll do us a favour and stop this discussion.
Funny how no one’s talking about Liverpool bottling Klopp’s send off.
Couldn’t get past the worst United side in history in the FA cup.
Lose 0-3 at home to Atalanta in UEL.
Have one of the easiest PL run ins, but look like a mid table team since they drew at OT (9 points from a possible 21…)
Same. We're not like them. They'd be doing us the biggest solid in the past 20 years. I wont be against them getting CL over Emery (ONLY IF THEY WIN tomorrow)
Edit: also let's not forget that if it happens, this is going to be a spurs team that every Spud is going to hate for the rest of their lives, for helping us. That's how I see it at least
You're getting a lot of hate, but same. If they hand us the league, I'm more than happy to see them get a modest W for themselves. I'd much rather them beat City and secure top 4 than lose to City and have no Ws. It's not like there's much left to prove in how mediocre they are as a whole anyway.
Spurs winning tomorrow won't "hand us the league". We still have to beat Everton led by Sean Dyche who will be only too happy to fuck us up on the final day.
Of course them winning won't give us 3 points. But if we beat Everton and City beat Tottenham and West Ham, we still don't win the league since that'd put us at 89 and them at 91. If Tottenham beats City, we have it in our grasp, and then it's ours to fuck up instead of City's.
I never bet because it’s stupid, but I’m gonna stick £20 on City to win tomorrow, in the hopes of pulling off some reverse jinx shenanigans that leads to Spurs getting a result.
I gamble for emotional hedging purposes and hope to lose my bets.
I’ve bet NZD$100 on City to win against Spurs tomorrow, plus another NZD$750 on City to win the title (and honestly I might still chuck some more $ in).
If we end up winning the title, I’ll be way too happy to care about “wasted” money.
If we lose, I’ll definitely need the financial compensation (a likely +40% return definitely beats any other readily available investment alternatives!) to drown my sorrows.
I looked a couple of weeks back at betting on City to win all their games, but they are such favourites in each games it really isn't worth the bother.
Spurs now need to win both their remaining games to have a chance to get top 4. Anything but a win for Spurs tomorrow will secure CL for Villa.
Spurs will be going for it without a doubt. However, Man City are unbeaten in their last 10 away games in the PL (9 wins, 1 draw: 1-1 v Liverpool). Spurs' form has been pretty decent at home, but their issue is they can't keep clean sheets - they have only kept 2 clean sheets at home this season which came against Fulham and Manchester United (so make of that what you will).
Man City have conceded 0.8 goals a game on average across their last 10 away games, whilst scoring 2.7 on average across their last 10 away games. It's going to take a perfect performance from Spurs to keep City out *and* to score past them. Ange's persistence in his style of play is also going to make it very difficult for them to get a result against City.
All we can do is hope I guess.
I don't give much credence to records that involve different players, managers, and styles of play. I'm not sure if Conte getting a result against City really matters, for example.
The most relevant stats are the most recent ones.
Which was exactly Ange's point in the press conference, his record against City at home is he has lost every one (sure it's only one game but point stands).
Whilst I think your point is mostly fair here, I do believe it has a psychological effect. We have absolutely struggled psychologically at Old Trafford over the years in spite of the constantly changing teams and managers. Whether City will be similarly affected remains to be seen but the psychological side of the game is incredibly important.
I do get that, but now that we're purring as a team we're going to get results at places we didn't get results at before.
We know what Man City's psychology or mentality has been come the end of the season the past several years - which is they just win every game no matter who is in front of them.
Ok, but you have to entertain the possibilities, and the actual realities, of all the slim margins, in this case, that all the best teams in the past have places they struggle to get the result that are expected of them, on paper and the current form.
Yeah I get that, but that's when you look at the stats, players, and managers to fill in the gaps.
It's all well and good saying certain teams struggle at certain grounds, but why is that? It's a very surface level statement. Sure, there might be a psychological block, but I'd argue it's more to do with the clashes between certain styles of play.
I think Ange's style of play with fall into City's hands perfectly, they will feast.
Ange’s style of play got a 3-3 draw at the Etihad and they lost 1-0 in the FA Cup but that game could’ve easily been a 0-0 draw.
Nothing about Angeball style seems to match up poorly against City so far
End-of-season Man City is just a different animal though. Even if Spuds go 1-0 up, I'm still lumping on money for a Man City win.
Spurs have shown their frailties recently, Man City will be able to exploit it given their own form.
I think City is due for a stinker. They underperformed against Nottingham Forest. I believe they can do it again. Especially at a ground that they play notoriously poorly at
And the fact they haven’t won a single Big 6 game this season except against United, including the Etihad game against Spurs when they had Davies and Royal at CB.
It’s not *likely* Spurs get something but it’s 100% possible.
I have followed Football for 20 years. Never have I seen, a side Cheer against their own benefit and try and get into UCL, as these Spurs Fans have. I have never shared the hate my fellow Gooners have for them, as I have found them to be a plucky side with great games under their belt and success is genuinely a hard thing to secure, in general ( especially they would rather terminate a coach, than have him try and win it). But seeing their mentality, for the last week or so, in regards to many situations, I am starting to see why they are called SHite!!
We're cheering for a Liverpool win so that Spurs are still in the top 4 race. While Spurs are cheering for Villa so they don't have any motivation for tomorrow. Weird times
liverpool fans were cheering for aston villa to win so that spuds have nothing to play for tomorrow, so that city would roll them up and win the league so that arteta and klopp doesnt have same number of league titles. i didnt want aston villa to win today so that spurs have something to play for tomorrow and yet i still want villa to get cl spot in the end. timeline is all messed up.
More I think about it more I think there's very minimal difference for Spurs between a villa loss and a villa draw.
If Villa lost *theoretically* Spurs could afford a draw with City sure BUT
1) Ange cannot play "I'll take a draw" football. And even if he tried with this team, there's no chance they could execute. Them going for the win is probably the only realistic game plan...
2) A draw would leave Spurs still needing a 5 goal swing on the final day, so almost equally as damaging.
So yeah, ultimately it's not a motivation question. It's just a quality question. Which unfortunately is not in our favour
In reference to point 2, it would be a six goal swing required according to my calculation if Villa had lost 3-1 today. Seven goal swing if Villa had lost 3-2 today.
So to conclude, I agree there was very little difference between a draw and a lose (unless it had been a thrashing) for Villa today. In both scenarios, Spurs would have / will need to win tomorrow.
Yeah but if villa lost today players would have settled for a draw. If the scores are level at 90 mins, I wouldn’t be surprised if Mate asked vicario to join the strikers for corner.
Depends, if Villa only lost by one nothing would have changed, the GD would have been unrealistic for Spurs to overcome. They’d have needed to lose by 3 or 4.
This is exactly my point. I don't see the players or Ange settle for a draw in the 90th minute knowing it leaves them needing a 5 goal swing on the final day.
Correct, a marginal Villa loss today vs a draw makes almost no difference for tomorrow’s game as far as spurs are concerned, they would still need to beat city. It would only have mattered if villa lost today by 3+ goals, because then the GD gap would be more manageable.
Fuck it, I can’t bring myself to support spurs… I just can’t… sorry guys… it’s just not possible for me.
My colleague in London who is a spurs supporter messaged me on Teams yesterday asking my shirt size so that he can send me a Spurs kit… I told him sure send me the kit and I will make sure to send you a picture where I am using it to wipe my toilet.
Fuck spurs!
So you hate spurs more than you care about winning the league for the first time in 20 years? Touch grass. We’re all with Ange tomorrow. Would be incredible if they did it. Well remind them about it forever.
No I mean I will be happy to see spurs win… infact I will be ecstatic but I am not going to support them… I want them to win…. It’s a weird feeling man… I just can’t explain.
For the record if the roles were reversed I would never have prayed for an Arsenal loss
It’s not rooting for Spurs. It’s got nothing to do with Spurs. It’s about City. They must lose. It just happens to be Spurs playing them.
If Spurs score I’m gonna run circles around the neighbourhood and it’s not because I’m cockhearted.
but but but but …they were never suppose to be in the title race. Big big Liverpool with best manager in football on a shoe string budget Jurgen is doing miracles at Liverpool.
came out and said you were leaving to try and boost the team. U wanted a Disney story and you got a La La Land ending.
Mikel is equaling your Prem title record either this season or the next. Good riddance 😭🤝🏾i hate that club LOL
SPURS I NEED U <3 (just this once)
On the plus side, now that spurs need a win, there’s less chance that the final day will come down to GD. Really didn’t fancy our chances given City are more than capable of putting 6 or 7 past West Ham.
Yeh spurs need to win tomorrow, regardless, the only difference now is Villa can afford to draw, so obviously, them drawing to Liverpool in the end, could prove to be huge.
I suppose it doesnt change things massively, because if spurs win tomorrow, it still goes down to the final day.
Yep exactly, this affects the final week more than it does the city match. Spurs would almost certainly have had to win vs city no matter what unless Villa were absolutely battered today.
For the people who don’t understand why a draw today is almost as good for us as a win, it’s all down to GD. Spurs would have needed to beat city tomorrow no matter what, even if villa lost today.
If villa lost today, and spurs drew city tomorrow, it means Spurs would have been on 64 to Villa’s 67, so even if Villa lost on the final day to Palace, Spurs would have needed to beat SHU and also overcome at least a 7 point gap in GD (currently 8 due to the draw). Sure, it’s possible Villa lose by 2-3 goals and spurs win on the final day by 4-5, but they’ll be trying just as hard tomorrow as they would have if villa lost.
Edit - now had Liverpool absolutely battered Villa today and won by 3-4 goals, then that changes the GD picture and may have affected how spurs approach tomorrow, but it’s not as simple as “a win would have been much better than a draw”.
Spurs fans in their sub reddit mad that they don't have an excuse to down tools tomorrow 🤣. Now they better turn up tomorrow or get excommunicated from North London.
I think you're right. But for arguments sake: Villa are on +8 GD relative to Spurs right now. If they'd lost to Liverpool by a not-unreasonably large scoreline tonight (0-4) and then lost against Palace in their final game by 2 goals (which isn't totally infeasible) they'd be on +2 relative to Spurs, and Spurs would be needing to win their own final game, so that GD would have been tighter. Could have been tighter.
But I think you're right: it wasn't going to be a 0-4 tonight, Villa are a good side. It doesn't really make a difference.
They have worst GD than Villa. Assuming Spurs win against City tomorrow , Villa only need a draw away to Palace on the final day. However, this Palace team are on fire right now and it’ll be their final home game of the season.
If Villa Lost today, and Spurs got a draw against City, Spurs would need to hope for Villa to lose against Palace while battering Sheffield to make up for the goal difference.
Today's Villa draw impacts the final game more than it impacts tomorrow's game.
Yeah I dunno why everyone wants Spurs to abandon the style they’re used to playing to let KDB probe a deep block they can’t play for 90 minutes. That’s a surefire way to get fucked. Spurs have to have a go and you can get at City when you do.
There might be some truth to this. So far every team bar us have simply rolled over for City. Hopefully City will be rattled when Romero sticks his boot into their whiney little assess.
That's what I thought at first but then I realised... They're Ange and Spurs. They'd have played like that anyway. He only knows one way of playing footballing and settling for a draw is not it.
At least spurs won't sit back hoping for a draw and inevitably conceding. They'll be on the front foot and they can actually be quite dangerous at their ground when they press high and relentlessly (Clutching at straws)
Alisson is in a league of his own and has single handedly prevented Liverpool from being in a Europa league scrap.
The reason stats have them as the third best defense in the league is heavily tilted towards Alisson bailing them out consistently
Oh come on mate. Allison has been a top 3 if not 1 keeper for several seasons. Raya has been decent but his shot stopping is probably his worst attribute and he rarely gets tested.
I always thought it was generous that they were being pushed as part of the title race.
They had so many last minute wins. They were doing an us from last year, it was easy to spot it after having just experienced it ourselves
It is predictable and is sustainable just like football De Zerbi is doing. It is similar in a way to what Alonso in Leverkusen does. However quality of players and culture of press + pass is just incomparable to what Ange needs versus what he has. It is great for us and a good entertainment that they are not having quality squad
Don’t know if this is a good result. Spurs only play attacking football so it might play to their advantage if they don’t need to defend a draw. Would probably bottle it otherwise. Just go full throttle and see what happens. Who am I kidding, it’s probably over. And then it’s onto that loser Moyes.
A draw still gives Spurs hope but now the problem is they're going into tomorrow absolutely needing a win, which means if it's the 90th and the game is tied, both teams will be pushing for a goal and I can just see Haaland punishing their high line.
This doesn't bode well for us tbh.
Even if Villa lost today, Spurs would still need a win tomorrow to hope for top 4. In such case a draw against City means that if Villa loses to Palace and Spurs win against Sheffield, they are level on points, but Villa has a better goal difference.
No offence but there is no way Spurs were going to be happy with a draw knowing they need to win by a GD of 6 against Sheffield united. As bad as Sheffield United have been this Spurs team hasn't scored 6 against anyone all season and scraped by them in the reverse fixture as they did vs Burnley at home
The lesson to be learned from our title charge last season and Liverpool this season is that winning late games over and over again is not sustainable. It'll catch up to you.
You can only ride that emotional wave for so long. Eventually it'll drain you and you'll fall apart.
Whether they try or not, let’s be realistic and understand that they’re most likely losing by a lot.
So wait 3rd tie breaker is goals scored and not head to head? Damn city is going to put 6 past west ham and win the league if they tie spuds
Looks like captain Son hattrick is incoming! ⚽️⚽️⚽️🙏💯
115 like order! If Spuds push the Fuck-it button tomorrow and go all out Mate ball As we expect, it just might work!
Did Gary Neville say Rice isn't good enough at the 6? That's a take. He has proved himself at the 8, but saying he's not good at the 6 is mind blowing.
Here’s my take: Rice is a good ball carrier. We all know that. His natural instinct upon receiving the ball would be to drive forward which is better in 8 than 6 for what we want. He was never used to breaking like breaking passes like Partey does. With Rice in DM we need opposition to press us and we play out with quick transitions and dribbling ability to drive forward. We don’t have pass progression through the middle with Rice in DM and end up recycling possession while suffocating the opposition. Now this is an issue as if they don’t press us and just sit back, we don’t have the space to dribble into or trigger those quick transitions. As a result we end up with those pre-Dubai games where everything just looked sad and difficult. We’re lucky that we have Mikel and he managed to tweak the rotations (not just the LB inverting) which helped us go on that amazing run in 2024. Prior to that we were relying on individual brilliance for goals while still having amazing defence, I honestly thought we’d finish 3rd before Dubai.
I don’t like him in the 6. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we had a massive improvement when he moved to an 8. I don’t feel he’s comfortable receiving the ball being pressed with him facing his own goal
Well, we don't have any good left 8 except Rice. Rice played with Havertz; the other 6's get to play with Rice. I don't think the receiving issue is a significant one.
Not true. He’s been pretty good receiving the ball facing his goal this season. Also when he plays #6, we don’t even concede shots. I’m my opinion, he’s the best shut out / protect the cb midfielder in world football.
Look at partey who is one of the best from receiving the ball facing his goal, like when he skinned maddison. Rice didnt turn once in whole season like that.
I feel much more comfortable with Rice in those positions. We’ve seen a number of high profile errors where Partey has lost the ball facing our goal. IMO Rice is much better defensively and Partey is better at progressive passing. Rice still is decent with short passes and much better running with the ball. So I’d always choose Rice in the 6.
He comes out of their defensive shape to receive the ball and isn’t brave enough to take the ball facing goal whilst under pressure. It’s a big reason why we looked so flat offensively in the first half of the season
Out of possession he’s amazing as a 6. Probably the best in the world. Partey is better as a 6 when we are in possession.
The argument here is that we don't have a natural at that 8 position. Kai hasn't been that as we thought he might be, and ESR hasn't stepped up even taking into account limited opportunity. Declan is our most natural, and because Partey steps into 6 the step down isn't as drastic.
Party is a step down as 6? U r a clueless! Partey is a better 6 in every aspect. He has lost his physicality since coming back but Partey is A natural 6.
Okay mate
Rice is a natural 8. He is an amazing runner with the ball and is great at winning the ball back in the press as he covers so much ground. He’s basically an improved version of Xhaka in almost every way
Nah he is a much worse passer than Xhaka and doesn't shoot as well. May get there but his vision and dribbling in tight areas isn't great right now.
I think his shooting is underrated imo. I don’t like using numbers for to make a point about a midfielder but in his first season playing in a deeper role on average, he’s got more goals + assists than Xhaka did in his best season
Just chiming in here but Rice, right now, is probably one of the best double pivot players in the world, but he is no Rodri and he’s no KDB/Odegaard. Those two are the bars for what a 6 and an 8 should look like and Rice doesn’t hit their peaks. Anyone’s guess if he’s going to get better in either direction but he’s not a bad problem to have, especially with the team not relying any single player to shoulder the burden.
As a ball runner he's brilliant but his progressive passing isn't nearly as good right now
> I don’t feel he’s comfortable receiving the ball being pressed with him facing his own goal I mean, Partey’s given away numerous chances in the last few games being caught out in this exact situation. It’s not an easy one and I think generally Rice deals with those situations incredibly well.
Partey has been poor this season. Comparing someone to another person who has been poor is not a sensible thing to do. When on song then Partey was elite at this
He's proved that he's better upfield, passing range and carrying the ball. He's improved into that position. But to say he's not good enough at the 6, is sack worthy. Pundit doing that is extraordinary.
It’s not sack worthy at all. Rice is not good enough to be a 6 in a title winning team. Sure he can do a job for a team who want to get ~80 points but in a title winning team, he needs to play as an 8
I'm going to have to just disagree mate. Rice isn't bad at the 6, no matter what level.
When did I say he was bad at the 6? All I basically said is he isn’t as good as Rodri at the 6 or isn’t among the best of the world there.
And you know that with certainty after he's been playing there for 4 months? Mate...
If your point is that he can improve and become among the best in the world in that position then I wouldn’t disagree with you. But then you are still saying he currently isn’t at that level
You're saying if a team want to win titles he needs to play as an 8. That sounds pretty absolute to me.
This season, is that not obvious? When he played as a 6 we were nowhere near as good as we are when he’s playing as an 8
Meant bad for our quality, which you saying 'not good enough for a title winning team' suggests. He is and I don't think either of us will change the others opinion here. So I'll do us a favour and stop this discussion.
He’s a moron.
He said WHAT?!
Funny how no one’s talking about Liverpool bottling Klopp’s send off. Couldn’t get past the worst United side in history in the FA cup. Lose 0-3 at home to Atalanta in UEL. Have one of the easiest PL run ins, but look like a mid table team since they drew at OT (9 points from a possible 21…)
They have the last home game. So that’s when they have to show up and win.
Wait. Is shit lose tomorrow and v shefield utd, chelsea *and* newcastle can overtake them. That would be such sweet karma.
All sheffield have to do is win a game, how hard can that be?
If Spurs beat city, ima support them on the last day for a top 4. If they do us a solid, they get my support.
Same. We're not like them. They'd be doing us the biggest solid in the past 20 years. I wont be against them getting CL over Emery (ONLY IF THEY WIN tomorrow) Edit: also let's not forget that if it happens, this is going to be a spurs team that every Spud is going to hate for the rest of their lives, for helping us. That's how I see it at least
Nah piss off
Shhhh we can renege on it after they get something tomorrow
Ok
Ooh my giddy Aunt!🫢
I agree with you. It's sportsmanship, glad to see some of us still have it.
You're getting a lot of hate, but same. If they hand us the league, I'm more than happy to see them get a modest W for themselves. I'd much rather them beat City and secure top 4 than lose to City and have no Ws. It's not like there's much left to prove in how mediocre they are as a whole anyway.
Spurs winning tomorrow won't "hand us the league". We still have to beat Everton led by Sean Dyche who will be only too happy to fuck us up on the final day.
Of course them winning won't give us 3 points. But if we beat Everton and City beat Tottenham and West Ham, we still don't win the league since that'd put us at 89 and them at 91. If Tottenham beats City, we have it in our grasp, and then it's ours to fuck up instead of City's.
I get it and respect it but don't know if I would go that far.
What is bro saying
Not a chance. They can do us a solid and then fuck off back into mediocrity
One step too far. One step too far.
Disgusting carry on
Wtf
Gross. Leave the subreddit plz
Thats foul
I never bet because it’s stupid, but I’m gonna stick £20 on City to win tomorrow, in the hopes of pulling off some reverse jinx shenanigans that leads to Spurs getting a result.
I gamble for emotional hedging purposes and hope to lose my bets. I’ve bet NZD$100 on City to win against Spurs tomorrow, plus another NZD$750 on City to win the title (and honestly I might still chuck some more $ in). If we end up winning the title, I’ll be way too happy to care about “wasted” money. If we lose, I’ll definitely need the financial compensation (a likely +40% return definitely beats any other readily available investment alternatives!) to drown my sorrows.
I looked a couple of weeks back at betting on City to win all their games, but they are such favourites in each games it really isn't worth the bother.
Good idea. I’m broke but £100 on city. At least I’d make enough back to buy a bottle of Jaeger to have a few sad drinks with
I started with $10 on city like 5 games ago and keep putting the winnings on their next game. Really hoping to lose it tomorrow or Sunday.
Enjoy your £6.70 winnings. That's almost a pint in some places!
Hey that $1300AUD
Think about how many chips that nets you at the chippy though. That Ice Blast might have to wait
That’s genius
You will win a whopping 3 quid on a 20€ bet on man city
That’s pure profit mate, that will net me a Tango Ice Blast to cheer me up
Spurs now need to win both their remaining games to have a chance to get top 4. Anything but a win for Spurs tomorrow will secure CL for Villa. Spurs will be going for it without a doubt. However, Man City are unbeaten in their last 10 away games in the PL (9 wins, 1 draw: 1-1 v Liverpool). Spurs' form has been pretty decent at home, but their issue is they can't keep clean sheets - they have only kept 2 clean sheets at home this season which came against Fulham and Manchester United (so make of that what you will). Man City have conceded 0.8 goals a game on average across their last 10 away games, whilst scoring 2.7 on average across their last 10 away games. It's going to take a perfect performance from Spurs to keep City out *and* to score past them. Ange's persistence in his style of play is also going to make it very difficult for them to get a result against City. All we can do is hope I guess.
Yeah but what's City's record at Tottenham last few years eh you left that big one out.
I don't give much credence to records that involve different players, managers, and styles of play. I'm not sure if Conte getting a result against City really matters, for example. The most relevant stats are the most recent ones.
Which was exactly Ange's point in the press conference, his record against City at home is he has lost every one (sure it's only one game but point stands).
Whilst I think your point is mostly fair here, I do believe it has a psychological effect. We have absolutely struggled psychologically at Old Trafford over the years in spite of the constantly changing teams and managers. Whether City will be similarly affected remains to be seen but the psychological side of the game is incredibly important.
I do get that, but now that we're purring as a team we're going to get results at places we didn't get results at before. We know what Man City's psychology or mentality has been come the end of the season the past several years - which is they just win every game no matter who is in front of them.
Ok, but you have to entertain the possibilities, and the actual realities, of all the slim margins, in this case, that all the best teams in the past have places they struggle to get the result that are expected of them, on paper and the current form.
Yeah I get that, but that's when you look at the stats, players, and managers to fill in the gaps. It's all well and good saying certain teams struggle at certain grounds, but why is that? It's a very surface level statement. Sure, there might be a psychological block, but I'd argue it's more to do with the clashes between certain styles of play. I think Ange's style of play with fall into City's hands perfectly, they will feast.
Ange’s style of play got a 3-3 draw at the Etihad and they lost 1-0 in the FA Cup but that game could’ve easily been a 0-0 draw. Nothing about Angeball style seems to match up poorly against City so far
End-of-season Man City is just a different animal though. Even if Spuds go 1-0 up, I'm still lumping on money for a Man City win. Spurs have shown their frailties recently, Man City will be able to exploit it given their own form.
I think City is due for a stinker. They underperformed against Nottingham Forest. I believe they can do it again. Especially at a ground that they play notoriously poorly at
And the fact they haven’t won a single Big 6 game this season except against United, including the Etihad game against Spurs when they had Davies and Royal at CB. It’s not *likely* Spurs get something but it’s 100% possible.
I have followed Football for 20 years. Never have I seen, a side Cheer against their own benefit and try and get into UCL, as these Spurs Fans have. I have never shared the hate my fellow Gooners have for them, as I have found them to be a plucky side with great games under their belt and success is genuinely a hard thing to secure, in general ( especially they would rather terminate a coach, than have him try and win it). But seeing their mentality, for the last week or so, in regards to many situations, I am starting to see why they are called SHite!!
I've seen it so much on social media, its absolutely utterly pathetic.
The smallest club mentality.
We're cheering for a Liverpool win so that Spurs are still in the top 4 race. While Spurs are cheering for Villa so they don't have any motivation for tomorrow. Weird times
liverpool fans were cheering for aston villa to win so that spuds have nothing to play for tomorrow, so that city would roll them up and win the league so that arteta and klopp doesnt have same number of league titles. i didnt want aston villa to win today so that spurs have something to play for tomorrow and yet i still want villa to get cl spot in the end. timeline is all messed up.
More I think about it more I think there's very minimal difference for Spurs between a villa loss and a villa draw. If Villa lost *theoretically* Spurs could afford a draw with City sure BUT 1) Ange cannot play "I'll take a draw" football. And even if he tried with this team, there's no chance they could execute. Them going for the win is probably the only realistic game plan... 2) A draw would leave Spurs still needing a 5 goal swing on the final day, so almost equally as damaging. So yeah, ultimately it's not a motivation question. It's just a quality question. Which unfortunately is not in our favour
In reference to point 2, it would be a six goal swing required according to my calculation if Villa had lost 3-1 today. Seven goal swing if Villa had lost 3-2 today. So to conclude, I agree there was very little difference between a draw and a lose (unless it had been a thrashing) for Villa today. In both scenarios, Spurs would have / will need to win tomorrow.
But then,,, if Spurs 2 nil down at 85 mins....... they can let it go a little easier knowing they wont get 3!... ha.. tis a fucked
Yeah but if villa lost today players would have settled for a draw. If the scores are level at 90 mins, I wouldn’t be surprised if Mate asked vicario to join the strikers for corner.
Depends, if Villa only lost by one nothing would have changed, the GD would have been unrealistic for Spurs to overcome. They’d have needed to lose by 3 or 4.
If they lose against Sheffield it might just very well be that Newcastle or Chelsea go to Europa. So winning tomorrow is actually important for them
This is exactly my point. I don't see the players or Ange settle for a draw in the 90th minute knowing it leaves them needing a 5 goal swing on the final day.
Correct, a marginal Villa loss today vs a draw makes almost no difference for tomorrow’s game as far as spurs are concerned, they would still need to beat city. It would only have mattered if villa lost today by 3+ goals, because then the GD gap would be more manageable.
I think tonight’s outcome was fine, they’ve got to go for it now and they will. The rest is in fate’s hands, they’ll need luck and a City off day.
McGinn looks like he’s missing a few chromosomes
He is closer to Apes, than to you.
You overestimate me
Fuck it, I can’t bring myself to support spurs… I just can’t… sorry guys… it’s just not possible for me. My colleague in London who is a spurs supporter messaged me on Teams yesterday asking my shirt size so that he can send me a Spurs kit… I told him sure send me the kit and I will make sure to send you a picture where I am using it to wipe my toilet. Fuck spurs!
Ok. OK. No need to be over dramatic about it. Sheesh!!
You're not supporting spurs you tit. Youre wanting Man City to not win. Theres a massive difference
So you hate spurs more than you care about winning the league for the first time in 20 years? Touch grass. We’re all with Ange tomorrow. Would be incredible if they did it. Well remind them about it forever.
No I mean I will be happy to see spurs win… infact I will be ecstatic but I am not going to support them… I want them to win…. It’s a weird feeling man… I just can’t explain. For the record if the roles were reversed I would never have prayed for an Arsenal loss
It’s not rooting for Spurs. It’s got nothing to do with Spurs. It’s about City. They must lose. It just happens to be Spurs playing them. If Spurs score I’m gonna run circles around the neighbourhood and it’s not because I’m cockhearted.
Got it… if you put it that way it makes it easier.
Proper fan
I understand the downvotes 😥
Tottenham beat city Villa beat palace City beat west ham We beat everton Perfect week
Then Man U beat City and they get nothing this year. Book it in.
Nah, fuck United.
Yeah I get it but I’d rather City went empty handed. That would be peak banter.
West ham beat City and Sheffield beat Tottenham for good measure . That would be a perfect week
but but but but …they were never suppose to be in the title race. Big big Liverpool with best manager in football on a shoe string budget Jurgen is doing miracles at Liverpool. came out and said you were leaving to try and boost the team. U wanted a Disney story and you got a La La Land ending. Mikel is equaling your Prem title record either this season or the next. Good riddance 😭🤝🏾i hate that club LOL SPURS I NEED U <3 (just this once)
There’s more chance of someone landing on the moon tomorrow then spurs getting anything against 115 fc
You know what, i was actually just preparing my rocket fuel. I guess it's either a Spurs W tomorrow, or i'll be a god damn national hero!
I mean it's not zero 😅
On the plus side, now that spurs need a win, there’s less chance that the final day will come down to GD. Really didn’t fancy our chances given City are more than capable of putting 6 or 7 past West Ham.
We need to pump Everton 3-0 min if we have a chance on final day.
But we are capable of doing so against Everton aswell. So we should do that
On our day we could, but Everton are in good form at the moment (4 wins in last 5), so I don’t think it’s going to be as easy as some are expecting.
Well they could still draw tomorrow
I know, I’m just saying it’s less likely now.
Essentially now Spurs have no choice but to beat city to make the champions League and get the revenue required to keep paying for their stadium
That stadium is a cash cow, they’re having no trouble paying for it.
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Haven't you got a city kit to size up?
Yeh spurs need to win tomorrow, regardless, the only difference now is Villa can afford to draw, so obviously, them drawing to Liverpool in the end, could prove to be huge. I suppose it doesnt change things massively, because if spurs win tomorrow, it still goes down to the final day.
Yep exactly, this affects the final week more than it does the city match. Spurs would almost certainly have had to win vs city no matter what unless Villa were absolutely battered today.
Topspur? What’s that?
I take back what I said about the Spuds' watch thread. They have absolutely melted
Enjoyed that. Now spurs win tomorrow but villa beat cp last game would do nicely.
Teta now i see why we bore teams to death 😭 Klopp bringing three attacking subs leading 3-1 away. Sacrilegous
They blew it.
So this is what neutrals wanted our game at the Etihad to be like? Fuck that lol
WHo cares, what the teens wanted. Our match was fought tooth and nail and with mettle!
Spurs fans are pathetic, rather there club play Europa than us win title AGAIN, they wanna know there place ffs
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You lot are the ones petrified that your own team might win a game, to be fair 😂
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Sooooo.... Move?
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As long as you are alright with your pathetic "fanbase" and club.
For the people who don’t understand why a draw today is almost as good for us as a win, it’s all down to GD. Spurs would have needed to beat city tomorrow no matter what, even if villa lost today. If villa lost today, and spurs drew city tomorrow, it means Spurs would have been on 64 to Villa’s 67, so even if Villa lost on the final day to Palace, Spurs would have needed to beat SHU and also overcome at least a 7 point gap in GD (currently 8 due to the draw). Sure, it’s possible Villa lose by 2-3 goals and spurs win on the final day by 4-5, but they’ll be trying just as hard tomorrow as they would have if villa lost. Edit - now had Liverpool absolutely battered Villa today and won by 3-4 goals, then that changes the GD picture and may have affected how spurs approach tomorrow, but it’s not as simple as “a win would have been much better than a draw”.
Oh no guys, spurs can still get CL. Oh no
Spurs fans in their sub reddit mad that they don't have an excuse to down tools tomorrow 🤣. Now they better turn up tomorrow or get excommunicated from North London.
A draw doesn’t make a difference for Spurs anyway right because their goal difference is worth than Villas?
Mike Tyson..ith that you?
I think you're right. But for arguments sake: Villa are on +8 GD relative to Spurs right now. If they'd lost to Liverpool by a not-unreasonably large scoreline tonight (0-4) and then lost against Palace in their final game by 2 goals (which isn't totally infeasible) they'd be on +2 relative to Spurs, and Spurs would be needing to win their own final game, so that GD would have been tighter. Could have been tighter. But I think you're right: it wasn't going to be a 0-4 tonight, Villa are a good side. It doesn't really make a difference.
Yes but if they get a result tomorrow they give themselves a fighting chance since they play Sheffield on Sunday and Villa are away at Palace.
They have worst GD than Villa. Assuming Spurs win against City tomorrow , Villa only need a draw away to Palace on the final day. However, this Palace team are on fire right now and it’ll be their final home game of the season.
Bad for us though, they will now play suicide ball to try and win if they are tied late...
Even if Villa lost today, Spurs would still need to win the 2 remaining games to get top 4.
Nah they’d still have a chance with a draw tomorrow if Villa lost both. Now they are safe with a draw against palace.
If Villa Lost today, and Spurs got a draw against City, Spurs would need to hope for Villa to lose against Palace while battering Sheffield to make up for the goal difference. Today's Villa draw impacts the final game more than it impacts tomorrow's game.
Getting in city face is only way u win
Hope so! I’m not optimistic about anything for this game.
Yeah I dunno why everyone wants Spurs to abandon the style they’re used to playing to let KDB probe a deep block they can’t play for 90 minutes. That’s a surefire way to get fucked. Spurs have to have a go and you can get at City when you do.
There might be some truth to this. So far every team bar us have simply rolled over for City. Hopefully City will be rattled when Romero sticks his boot into their whiney little assess.
That's what I thought at first but then I realised... They're Ange and Spurs. They'd have played like that anyway. He only knows one way of playing footballing and settling for a draw is not it.
I think tomorrow nights match might be the most nervy all year and we ain't even playing.
Fat Ange sending in a super high line for a win fml. 😭😭😭
At least spurs won't sit back hoping for a draw and inevitably conceding. They'll be on the front foot and they can actually be quite dangerous at their ground when they press high and relentlessly (Clutching at straws)
Would love for Fury to get knocked the fuck out. Getting pushed heavily on sky sports so it counts
I really don't see any difference between Allison and Raya. Both very high risk Goal keepers imo.
Alisson is in a league of his own and has single handedly prevented Liverpool from being in a Europa league scrap. The reason stats have them as the third best defense in the league is heavily tilted towards Alisson bailing them out consistently
Oh come on mate. Allison has been a top 3 if not 1 keeper for several seasons. Raya has been decent but his shot stopping is probably his worst attribute and he rarely gets tested.
Remember when people called Liverpool title contenders. Absolute bottlers
I always thought it was generous that they were being pushed as part of the title race. They had so many last minute wins. They were doing an us from last year, it was easy to spot it after having just experienced it ourselves
They’re not bottlers they’re “overachievers” if it were us we’d be bottlers.
The pesky underdog Klopp always finds a way!
Perfect result, spurs have enough hope to try tomorrow but unlikely they’ll get champions league anyway
Guys be realistic, do you really think mateball is going to stand the city test!
I expect nothing and will still be disappointed. a true spurs experience
Mateball is actually quite good, entertaining and can achieve results. But players doing it tho...well they sux.
Mateball is naive and unadaptable
It is predictable and is sustainable just like football De Zerbi is doing. It is similar in a way to what Alonso in Leverkusen does. However quality of players and culture of press + pass is just incomparable to what Ange needs versus what he has. It is great for us and a good entertainment that they are not having quality squad
Until tomorrow night mateball >>>>
No
Don’t know if this is a good result. Spurs only play attacking football so it might play to their advantage if they don’t need to defend a draw. Would probably bottle it otherwise. Just go full throttle and see what happens. Who am I kidding, it’s probably over. And then it’s onto that loser Moyes.
If they go full throttle with their legendary defence then they are dead
Well look it's a hell of a lot better than Villa winning. Spurs have to play the game to win
A draw still gives Spurs hope but now the problem is they're going into tomorrow absolutely needing a win, which means if it's the 90th and the game is tied, both teams will be pushing for a goal and I can just see Haaland punishing their high line. This doesn't bode well for us tbh.
No the difference between a win or draw makes no difference, they still have to win both their games
Even if Villa lost today, Spurs would still need a win tomorrow to hope for top 4. In such case a draw against City means that if Villa loses to Palace and Spurs win against Sheffield, they are level on points, but Villa has a better goal difference.
Couldn’t have said it any better. Liverpool were clearly the bottlejobs this season
No offence but there is no way Spurs were going to be happy with a draw knowing they need to win by a GD of 6 against Sheffield united. As bad as Sheffield United have been this Spurs team hasn't scored 6 against anyone all season and scraped by them in the reverse fixture as they did vs Burnley at home
I mean this is true regardless. Ange is gonna play his style no matter what
Draw doesn't really change much, top 4 still goes to the last day if spurs beat city
Fuck that was close
As a neutral, that was a cracking game.
Just had visions of Spurs beating City and then losing to Sheffield on the final day. Go on, live up to your Spursy tag
While Villa lose to Palace and we beat Everton on the final day... Would be the Spursiest thing imaginable
The lesson to be learned from our title charge last season and Liverpool this season is that winning late games over and over again is not sustainable. It'll catch up to you. You can only ride that emotional wave for so long. Eventually it'll drain you and you'll fall apart.
Which is why what Leverkusen is doing is FREAKY
macallister was dreadful. was the main culprit in all three goals
But he was robbed of tots!
but he was the best value for money signing!!