Bloody football. Brentford come back from 2 down to lead Villa 3:2. Some other mental stuff today. Köln with 2 added time goals to win a relegation fight while Heidenheim beat Bayern 3:2 having been down by 2.

Its going to be a nuts ending to the prem this year... 3 fairly solid claims for title not to mention Spurs and Villa punching on for 4th.
Rel zone is fixed I reckon, cant see Nottingham or the Toffs going down.  If/when Ange gets them to Europe again that would count as a fairly solid pass mark for first season I would think.

The EFL is interesting as well, havent seen Ipswich in the prem for a couple of decades at least and then Leeds/Leicester battle.... 

With the United result this morning, it looks like Tottenham will be in the champions league next year. Decent going after finishing 8th last season and losing your best player. But Spurs haven't really gelled yet when it comes to implementing Ange-Ball. That extra money will need to be spent wisely. 

Bump

I don't think Ange is totally void of pragmatism. They were up during a game a while back and for the last 10 minutes Ange sacrificed one of the midfielders to play five at the back. I think what Ange is trying to achieve is pragmatism without sacrificing principles. He want to get his team getting great at playing a certain style, and piling on the goals , rather than going up 1 or 2 goals and then trying to defend the lead. You notice with the top 3 they are constantly thrashing teams 3 or 4  nil, showing no mercy for the full 90. 

It's the same how Postecoglou lacked pragmatism in his last few months with the Socceroos when he kept insisting on playing 3 at the back like Liverpool were doing, even though the Roos were leaking goals, and nearly missed qualification. Even his first year at Yoko wasn't great.

I think at Celtic and Tottenham, his lack of pragmatism has a better chance of working because of the better quality players he has.

Tottenham fans are just coming to realise this aspect of Ange's personality. They're still mostly in the honeymoon period.

Agree with a lot of what you say, but this season ManU or Chelsea could still bag an FA Cup, which in the eyes of a lot of Spurs supporters is a better season than finishing in a UCL spot. 

Pressure will be on if either of them win it.

At the same stage in their first season in the EPL, Postecoglou has one less win than Guardiola and ETH.

Given the circumstances when he came in, I think that's a brilliant result... even though I think his lack of pragmatism has cost them a top 3 place.

Spurs fans OTOH are delusional. 

Would love to see Chelsea beat City btw .... just for the laughs ...and Coventry to beat Manure lol. 

Problem with Spurs is they only have a few genuine world class players; Son, Maddison and arguably VDV. Bissouma, Sarr, Richarlison, Udogie, Porro etc, are all good players, but not at the level required where you would expect to seriously challenge for the EPL title. Bentancur and Kulusevski were also rejects from Juventus, upper mid EPL players not truly elite. Angeball can only get you so far, with Spurs squad finishing 4th would be an excellent result, but they are a couple of rungs below Liverpool, Arsenal and City, and any expectations on them to win silverwear with the current squad they have are probably misplaced.

yep, Fulham play a damn good game when they put it together, P12th reflects their defense woes but not this game as much.
Funnily Spurs GA is just 2 better after the 3 today.
Could have been 5nil having seen soem of it.
Lucky they have the game in hand that would put them level with Villa, IF.
Luton next won't be a push over even though at home, they also play some good football but its a must win now before the Hammers.

r - l, spurs fanbase would have to have been dreaming pixies for any medals/trohys this season, they should be happy if Ange gets them back in europe thats a trophy compared to last season.

Well Banana Skin number #1 confirmed :) Horrible loss at the Cottage. Luckily Villa dropped points at WHAM. Albeit 5th spot looking likely to be another UCL spot for England. 

Tricky thing for Ange is the fanbase at Spurs by and large are desperate for a bit of silverware. They'll take anything. As time goes on if there isn't a sniff of a trophy, the fanbase will turn on him. 

Many are probably seeing Chelsea make a league cup final and an FA Cup Semi and say "i'll take that" even if it means finishing mid-table. Still no silverware and they'll probably lose next round to ManC anyway :)

every single week is big this season for every club tbh the way the comp has tightened up.
Sure next 3 fixtures good for them to bank points and the 4th game but against clubs avoiding relo are big, ie Luton/Forest.
Possible bannana skins, I hate playing against the relo clubs.
Toons no walk over following then the big 3 on the trot - if spurs survive all power to em but can't see it unless the wheels fall off the 3 contenders, only the gooners imo :)

robbos, yer cracker game of 2 halves as they say.
Arse are the only other club that can step up to that level now and then.
Amazed how LFC have nurtured young ones to step up against one the best teams ever let alone current quadruple winners and out play them totally 2nd half.

its the last 3 weeks in April that will define the season mate. 
Newcastle away
City and then Arsenal at home
Liverpool at Anfield.....

get 6-9 points out of that quagmire and top 4 or even top 3 is achievable.

Kamara a big loss for Villa, McGinn out for the next 3 games. 

Villa have the return leg against Ajax before 3 tough fixtures against Hammers, Wolves & City. 

Spurs have Fulham away, Luton home & Hammers away in the next 3 fixtures. 

A big 3 weeks coming up that could define Spurs season. 

High quality game the Liverpool v Man City game. Both high quality teams.

hehe, I'm with you re the london derby result and puking at the sametime :)

Yep I was at that game, Archie Gray was the victim. Was in Brisbane, not Sydney though.

Hahahaha its the hope that kills fans eh? Still, they could be the "kingmakers" this season. If they win the London derby Ill be a happy Reds and defacto Spurs (I just vomited in my mouth a little) fan. lol

hahahaha sheer 1990s assassination... 

Yeah was a fun game to watch. Villa was on the ropes before the red but after it was valiant that they kept the score down to 4.

Speaking to a Spurs friend, he is just happy to have the club playing entertaining football again... top 4 would be a win in their eyes. Top 3 a godsend... 

I know in football anything can happen but thats alot of wishful thinking Bohemia.
I'd be happy they stay above united and possibly take Villas P4, would be a epic recovery and more realistic.

Scary thing is that Tottenham aren't actually totally out of it to win the league yet.

They have an upcoming fixture against all 3 of Man city, Arsenal and Liverpool. If they win those 3 games, they close 3 points on each. It may sound fanciful that they win all 3, but that's the simple equation... if you beat those sides, you could win the league, if you don't beat them, you don't. No different equation to what it is at the start of the season.

Man City and Arsenal a chance of stealing 2 points off each other this week.

McGinn a well known thug. He butchered that young Leeds player in the pre-season match in Sydney a couple of years ago.

Lol. How's the tackle that got him sent off? Proper Roy Keane hack that.

yer I agree the mention of Johnson, impressive 22yr old.

Probably best performance I've seen so far... was a big big game...massive win. Totally dominated them...was just a matter of time before they scored.. Villa looked a bit sluggish.

Villa looked dangerous on the counter until the send off, switched to Celtic/Livingston.
Johnson looked lively on the left, not sold by Kulu on the right although don't watch Spurs that often.

yes sure was, I didn't see the game but by the result and checking the stats looks like spudz dominated - helps playing against 10 from 65min but 2 goals scored prior then.
2 more after 90mins.
Surprised AV fell apart at home but kudos to them and AP.

Massive win against Villa and the goal difference has been turned on its head between the two teams.