Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Wolverhampton Wanderers

Unbelievable stuff!

I was listening to it on the radio today whilst rolling one after the other...don't blame me...why can't we enjoy a game for once. I texted my lad '3-0 ' next minute...bang penalty fest Ffs.

Feel for Foyth...Trippier thinks he's fackin Cafu...he's no Alan Hutton.

 

Just a **** Gary Neville

 

I’m a Paxton patron. So whaddya mean “gissasong!” ???
I give you one every bleedin’ week!!

 

The bloke had Beckham to do his crossing for him, only time he passed the half way line was to moon some Scousers

 

Very true. As spursy as you boys went last night theres been a resilience in grinding results out as a team.

You boys have looked pretty poor in most games of the season but you are still eeking out the three points.

I'm not sure if this a reflection of tiredness in your team or the fluidity being missed (alli and eriksen are the two that really make the attack click, especially with kane) but you boys are hanging in there.

The competition for top 4 is looking strong though, man u are starting to grind out a string of wins and arsenal looked pretty good against the pool last night.

 

Pochettino's been talking about the players' game management for awhile and it was clear as ever today. Lots of poor decision making, taking risks in our own half, slack defending , constantly trying to make quick counters when we could do with some possession to take the sting out of the game. It's not something we're used to seeing under Pochettino. Wolves wanted the game to be end to end and we obliged. Even Lamela, who was excellent, was guilty of it.

I do think the players are up against it though. The ones that are fit are being pushed very hard, we can't field the same 11 from one game to the next because we're constantly getting injuries. Even young Amos, who we were trying to bring through to plug the gaps is out for the season. Sanchez, who has been better lately, clearly wasn't ready for a 3rd game in just over 5 days.

Foyth was left out to dry a few times by Toby and Trippier but the lack of experience is noticeable. On the first pen he should have been able to pull out of that challenge. I haven't seen it again but the second looked harsh to me but there's an issue with him not being strong enough and he's overcompensating by being a bit over aggressive at times. Jan's not a big physical presence but he uses his body well and makes it awkward for attackers even when he can't win the ball, Foyth needs to look to do the same.

Ah well, 4th place, 3 points off top, it aint bad.

 

It's a bit of everything really. The ones who went deep into the World Cup, plus Winks and Wanyama didn't have a proper preseason, that's about half our squad. Wanyama, Rose, Jan and Alli have all had long injury lay-offs, whilst Winks, Foyth, Eriksen, Aurier, Lloris, Dembele and now Dier are all picking up injuries and Son had to go to play tournament football every 3 days in Asia. The only players who have been free of these problems are Moura, Lamela and Sissoko, who despite not being key figures prior to this season, have been our best players(allowing for Sissoko's Sissoko-ness).

We just don't have the squad to manage this many problems. We've even had 7 of our 11 league games away from "home", it's a miracle that we're doing this well, our CL form is more what I'd expect across all comps tbh.

 

We are missing Dembele, Wanyama, which is the strength in midfield and Eriksen and Dele the creation in midfield. It's not really surprising that we lack control in games without them. On top of that we are missing Vertonghen at the back, our most experienced defender.
It's a good job we have Lamela, Lucas and Kane up front because it is they who are dragging us through games we could easily lose.
Surely we can only get better as the season progresses, it's amazing that despite all that and despite the supposed improvement of our rivals we are still only a couple of points from challenging.
If we can get through to January and still be in touch we could still explode into the season as the new stadium comes to life.

 

You missed out Dier. So that's him, Wanyama, Dembele, Eriksen and Alli for the majority of that match.
Also started without Vertonghen, Rose and Sanchez at the back.
That's probably 6 starters and 8 that are definitely in the 18.

Trippier and Davies are looking a bit dodgy at the moment and I don't think that we've rotated them enough.
I can understand why we've basically got to start the Welshman all the time, but Aurier and Walker-Peters are capable replacements at right-back.
If you combine all of these matches with their international commitments, then they're going to get burned out.

 

He's also awful at penalties. Gazzaniga's performance in the shoot-out against Watford makes quite a stark comparison in that area.

 

Absolutely dreadful, especially for a great shot stopper. Shilton was appalling too but I always put that down to him having a big heavy frame and being fairly short. Hugo's whippet thin and should be pretty good from 12 yards. HE ISN'T.

 

It feels like an extension of our set-piece issue. I'm not convinced that we practice any of them. It doesn't look like it.

 

I did but I wasn't just talking about yesterdays match. Although Dembele has played, and made a difference IMO, I don't think he has played an entire game, except for one. Sissoko has provided some muscle, and you have to respect his effort, but we are all aware of his limitations. Winks has been coming back to form rather than being at the top of his game.In fact the more you think about it the worse our position reveals itself to be. You could say that only Lamela, Lucas, and Toby have been up to speed for most of our games. When you talk of Dier he is just coming out of a really poor run of form where he seemed incapable of passing the ball.
The more I think about it the more crazy it is that we are still in the top four.

 

I think that Sissoko could improve dramatically as a player by simply learning his limitations and quickly moving the ball on.
His overall play has been pretty good, he works hard, covers a lot of ground and makes some great runs.
If he would just pass the ball earlier and not overdo things or try to do too much, then he'd be 100% better.

 

Penalties are bloody hard to save. Keepers have to choose a direction and hope for the best.
What baffles me about Hugo is the way he doesn’t really dive in any direction with any particular conviction. He seems to make a half hearted attempt at going one way, and then just....sits on his arse.

 

Good point PNP

 

He is French!

 

That's been the issue with Dier this season: in the past his role was to get the ball and quickly lay it off to whichever of Dembele or Eriksen was closest. This season, however, he's been put in a position where he needs to initiate attacks and its exposed how weak his passing is - although being able to lay the ball off to Winks has relieved some of that pressure in recent weeks

 

He's often been used too far forward.
The worst example was probably the first half at Old Trafford. We played a midfield diamond and he was on the right.
Switched him to the base after the break and our whole midfield improved dramatically.

I think that we've had similar issues with Kane and Moura being used in the wrong way.
We need our best striker leading the line and a right-winger playing on the right of the three.
It's often been the other way around or Kane playing deep and Moura used on the left. Doesn't work.

 

This is at the crux of our lack of control. We are asking Sissoko, Winks & Dier to play beyond their security zone. All three are at their best when linking play to our creatives Dele & Eriksen, or our muscle Wanyama & Dembele. without both they are trying to fulfill roles at the limits of their abilities.