Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool

Kane being overplayed while Parrott (and, before him, Llorente) are part of the same issue: we have a long-standing inability to get into a comfortable lead that would allow us to shut up shop and give Kane a rest

Either we spurn countless chances before taking the lead in the last twenty minutes, or we go behind and need the first team to turn it around, or we lose control of the game and our comfortable lead gets chipped away at until we're clinging on by the end

If we could manage a game when 2-0 up at the very least we'd have had fitter fringe players and/or some youngsters with some on-field experience

 

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wearing white makes a big difference

 

You know, I think this highlights a few of our problems...

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1.) Nobody on the left flank, so the only available pass in that direction is to pass back to Tanganga...who isn't a wide player
2.) Nobody on the right flank (unless Aurier or Lucas has been cropped out of the bottom of the shot)
3.) Eriksen once again hiding behind an opposition player rather than make himself available for the pass
4.) Lo Celso needs to be about three feet closer to the right flank in order to create an out ball
5.) Son and Dele (I believe) are almost literally tripping over one another

Seriously, why is nobody looking for space to receive the ball? There's bloody acres of it on either flank and nobody's using it

 

1.) Nobody on the left flank, so the only available pass in that direction is to pass back to Tanganga...who isn't a wide player
Which is why he should've been replaced by Sessegnon. Add in his obvious discomfort after being crocked by Robertson.
2.) Nobody on the right flank (unless Aurier or Lucas has been cropped out of the bottom of the shot)
Aurier has been cropped out of the shot. Lucas is the deepest player in the four up top.
3.) Eriksen once again hiding behind an opposition player rather than make himself available for the pass
He'd already been subbed off. I think it's Lo Celso taking up the poor position behind Son and Lamela.
4.) Lo Celso needs to be about three feet closer to the right flank in order to create an out ball
The player in the bottom left of the picture? I think that's Winks.
5.) Son and Dele (I believe) are almost literally tripping over one another
Son should be wider. I think that Alli's either the player on the ball or he's so deep that he's not even in the frame.

 

Lucas is the one I was referring to thinking it was Eriksen (which was a bit of an oversight, since his is the only shirt available...), and his positioning is the worst of the bunch (and also an issue with Eriksen this season, hence the flub) as he's effectively marked himself out of the game as any attempt to pass to him will see the defender intercept the ball

As for the out ball, that's the player behind their number 20, which I think is Lo Celso (based mainly on the hair colour) because if was three feet closer to the flank then he's in space and there's an opening for the ball to be passed, but instead he's too central so eliminates the option and also has Lucas getting in the way

If that is Lamela up top, that also says something else: we have two right wingers in Lamela and Lucas in the shot plus Lo Celso who can play on the right, yet none of them are anywhere near the right flank, so that makes switching the ball out wide far more difficult as there's nobody to play a one-two with Aurier to create a gap in their defence (because Twatkinson didn't want to create space in their defence by actually doing anything about Robertson's attempts to emulate Charlie Adam)