I love the style, I love the approach, I love the ambition, I love most of his comms. But - sure, a bit dramatic - I think Lange fucked the squad building & I think Ange has fucked the squad management/rotation. He has no trust in fringe players which imo has exposed first teamers to increased risk.
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My frustration with him comes from a lack of direction from the bench when we need to change the game.
With a weakened squad - yes, that is in the middle of a huge rebuild, & has a couple of gaps where it is hard to recruit exactly what we need - he is rotating to the extent he can, & managing to keep momentum up.
Presuming I should give the pod a miss?
Romero picked up a contact injury. So did Vicario. Bentancurs is a ban. Odobert & Richie had barely played before getting injured.
Only recently under Ange / Lange have we actually started doing another coherent rebuild - but unfortunately they do take time. Especially from the position we got ourselves into.
Question for me is will they allow the time...
https://pca.st/episode/322aa1fd-a993-4dca-80dc-1f000c411008
The problems happened when Levy treated the squad as though it weren’t short, resisted rebuilding, and fired managers/brought in the Contes and Mourinhos
Three first teamers needed in Jan at a minimum if we’re to have a reasonable season imo.
Odebert, Spence, Richarlison, Moore, Lankshear all hurt while barely playing. That isn’t on Ange. It isn’t perfect, but I think this is an overreaction.
It's 90% a squad issue. Missing 5 starters, our depth is also injured (Odo, Richy). Accepting youth also means accepting worse results, no?
Accepting more youth is also accepting a lower ceiling on our best games imo
Agree about the fullbacks in particular, Spence is the big caveat to what I'm saying tbf. Udogie on O and Porro on D have been weak links lately
We do have really bad injuries and they should be taken into account. However…
https://youtu.be/B0cySBRa3eg?si=BCero1VG8RQ6A-N1
He's stubborn but he's always said the fans will dictate if he's been a success or not. And I think the fans will be pretty vocal.
- Romero and Vicario were both contact injuries
- Bentancur is banned
- Richie
- Moore is ill, Solanke is ill
So it's only really VDV?
We've actually rotated fairly heavily in Europe and the Carabao.
So yes - better squad building would've helped. But I do think it's more bad luck than a refusal to rotate.
It's not the move I would have made, but it's the one the powers that be seem to have made.
What combination of Ange/Lange/Levy made that call, I don't know. But the focus on bringing in kids despite the holes in the squad needing addressed means they were writing off this season.
Gray: Been given plenty of minutes maybe should’ve been given more in the PL
Spence: Yeah should’ve used him more (or jettisoned in the summer)
Lankshear: Is a child who has already got more minutes than I’d have expected this season
And yes, Ange probably could and should have mitigated that with more rotation, but I think the lack of training time through all the games is...
Personally I felt and feel like Spence should have started today, but look what happens when Kulu finally gets a rest.
This project really needs another 18 months before it can be judged, but again...
And I can assure you spurs are not going to buy 3 first teamers in Jan. you might get 1 loan, but then who leaves?
If it still looks this way in December 2025 then there are reasons for concern, but judging this early leads to rash decisions which kneecap progress