Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Leeds United

If our squad is really the third best we must have had fantastic performance in transfers since five clubs have spent more and three of those about twice as much.
Hojbjerg has been playing well in the opposition half but he makes dreadful mistakes in defence. I am at a loss as to why no-one else sees that.

 

Is that so ??

You better define 'performing' then (otherwise there is no "outperforming" ) .

Remember to be precise in your definition (how many PL
points should the current squad accrue in a season, what
should the GF/GA totals be ?? ) ...

 

Let the one who has made mistakes, and accepts
criticism therein, make the first criticism ...

Conte needs to get his finger out,

The defence is sitting both too deep and in numbers,
inviting pressure from the opposition with little to no relief.

A criticism BTW that is posited solely on the numbers ...

 

The defence is the obvious issue this year. We’re scoring at a fair rate especially considering our cohort of forwards have been decimated and Som has been out of sorts even when fit. But we have conceded almost twice as many goals as Newcastle and Arsenal above us, and 7 more than City. We’re also losing too many games, grinding out draws hasn’t been the order of the day yet, which is probably also a function of the goals conceded.

Defensive reinforcements will be the order of the day in January, you’d think. I expect we’ll want competition/replacement material for Dier, maybe a RWB, and possibly a forward too if we look to move Gil out on loan or maybe even offload someone like Lucas.

 

If I am right and we have the fifth best squad (and we paid the 6th most money for it so that would itself be outperforming) then coming higher than 5th would be outperforming. No more detailed analysis is necessary (or indeed possible).

 

I've struggled to find this anywhere:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/uMHMEKduOsA
https://www.reddit.com/r/coys/comments/yutmit/rocas_tackle_on_dier/

Just an absolutely stonewall red card.
Ridiculous analysis from Efan Ekoku, who seems to have a real issue with us.
At least he realises he's ****ed it up, though. What's VAR's excuse?

 

Since January we have. We improved our XI immensely with Bentancur and Kulusevski for just £51m (factoring in the future buy fee for Kulusevski), both players right now would easily fetch £50m+ each, not that I'd entertain any offers for them. They're proof that just one or two stellar signings can really boost a team's overall output.

Then in the summer we added more quality to improve the squad and XI with Perisic, Bissouma, Lenglet and Richarlison. Not many teams can boast a player of Richarlison's quality as their fourth best forward, even if I have my doubts about his suitability with us, similarly with Bissouma as currently our third choice CM, albeit I do feel in time he'll find a way to muscle into the regular XI as he's a very, very good player.

When you factor in those 6 players especially and add them to players like Kane, Son, Hojbjerg and Lloris (despite recent errors), there's a lot of upper tier quality in our squad and XI. Not forgetting solid existing squad players who do a decent job too.

There's only about 5 players - plus those out on loan - that aren't of the desired quality in any capacity and that's Emerson, Doherty, Sessegnon, Sanchez and Lucas, even then, one or two aren't completely terrible, there are just other/ better options people would like to see given the chances they keep being given.

As for Hojbjerg's supposed dreadful mistakes in defence, I think the reason no one else sees them is because they don't really exist, or certainly not to the degree you're claiming.

 

1, What is the definition of "Nth best" squad

2. There will have to be a high (rank) correlation in the PL,
between final league position and squad gross worth,
stretching over many yeats

If you cannot define 1, or show 2, then you are very wrong.

 

Hojbjerg has regularly made defensive errors leading to goals, on Saturday the first goal was down to him not getting a tackle in, I have also seen him fail to close down shots on more than one occasion and the ball ended up in the net. In my opinion he could be upgraded upon or at least not be a guaranteed starter for every game, his passing could be better and he is not really mobile enough. I am not bashing him completely, he is a good player and a valuable squad member with a terrific attitude, he chips in with a few goals and assists also, but he does have some limitations.

 

Good comment on reddit there when someone said they knew it was red when the offending player pretended to be injured. I think we can all say that we've seen players sent off for similar fouls. And that's all I'll say. No, hang on a minute, I was going to say what is VAR doing at the time, but as we all know that is now a pointless question. We are wearing the wrong colour for them to be interested. Just a tip defenders, don't try doing the same assault on a team wearing red!

 

1 For this purpose, money paid for it will be an adequate definition as there should be a strong correlation between money paid and ability.
2 I don't have the time to do 2 but it is quite clear that the correlation is high since Man City and Chelsea, who have paid the most money out have had the most success. And if it wasn't true then there would be no point in buying expensive players and some clever club would have noticed that.

 

He should be a decent squad option,but yeah he shouldn’t be first choice. I thought Skipp and/or Bissouma would usurp him this season but for different reasons they haven’t.

Conte is obviously a big fan of him.

 

Why wouldn't he be, whilst he does have his limitations, he has also been one of our best and most consistent players this season (and throughout Contes time with us), along with Bentancur, Kane and Kulusevski,

I think most of us would like to see Skipp play more and get the opportunities, but he hasn't taken the few he has had and whilst it is not easy to come into the team for the odd game here and there and make an impact it is what you have to do if the player in possession of the shirt is playing well.

 

1. Take your time (no rush) , and I suggest you use club
revenues as a simpler derivable equivalent for "Nth best" ..

2. You will find the correlation for the period from 2015-16
to now is deviating significantly from long(er) term stats.