Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Tottenham Hotspur FC 2013/14

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Just watched MotD and Dele Ali had at least three good chances and should have put away at least one of them. But, yet again, he tried to be too clever with two of them hitting it with the outside of his right boot to try a curl it in for the first case and curl it over and away from the advancing keeper in the other. He seems to have aversion to simplicity and certainly in the second case just needed to leather it like that, indeed, very good TA goal or do what Son did for the winner, another excellent finish.

    Comment


      Playing Dele's advocate (sorry ) he wasn't the only one who was poor with his finishing yesterday. There were so many I doubt they showed them all on the highlights but Son missed at least three or four good chances, and there were a couple each for Lucas and Bergwijn too.

      I think you're right though that Dele is over-complicating things. The others were (generally) doing the right things with their shots but were just poor in execution, whereas Dele's misses came from choosing the wrong option. He does it with build-up play too, when he's not in the best of form, he'll try a blind back-heel when a simple pass that could keep the move going is a better option.

      I think it's because he's desperate to contribute and help the team that he might think he needs to do something special, but I think he'd be better served by sticking to the basics for a while to recapture his consistency. When he's in more consistent form his instinct of when to try the special flick or shot becomes much better.

      Edit: good result for us with the Man Utd win tonight, so once again we’re going into a match against Chelsea where a win will let us move ahead of them in the table. Let’s hope it’s a better result for us than last time! Small matter of the Champions League before that too.

      Edit edit: Son fractured his arm against Aston Villa, needs surgery, is expected to be out for several weeks.

      Ffffffffffff.....
      Last edited by EJG1980; 18-02-2020, 11:34.

      Comment


        So good and bad news then - the MU result gives us a real chance of getting ahead of Chelsea but we are now two primary strikers down.

        Ffffffffffff........... = understatement

        EDIT
        Could have been worse, much worse and luckily kept RBL down to one goal and could have scored at least one ourselves from the sound of it. Chances are we would have had to score in the away leg anyway and one goal still puts us right back on equal terms.

        But yet again Spurs start off lousily and it takes a spark from Lamela and Ndombele to get them going in the final 20 minutes. Certainly not CL winning form.
        Last edited by fallenangle; 20-02-2020, 02:42.

        Comment


          Originally posted by fallenangle View Post
          Could have been worse, much worse and luckily kept RBL down to one goal and could have scored at least one ourselves from the sound of it. Chances are we would have had to score in the away leg anyway and one goal still puts us right back on equal terms.

          But yet again Spurs start off lousily and it takes a spark from Lamela and Ndombele to get them going in the final 20 minutes. Certainly not CL winning form.
          It was a real shame we gave away the penalty. They were the better team and still on top at that point, but gradually we had been coping better with their attacks and reducing the frequency and quality of their chances, and then we basically gift them the goal.

          I have sympathy with the attackers struggling at the moment as the injuries and lack of rotation options means they're really being worked to the bone, so it must be tough to find your best form in those conditions, but we've got more options at the back so the defence have got less excuse.

          Lo Celso continues to shine, another superb display, he's far and away our best player at the moment. Having him in an injury free, fully fit, in form side is something I'm really looking forward to. Might have to wait a while for that!

          Third game in six days against Chelsea at the weekend (thanks TV schedulers for moving these matches to give us the least possible time off, way to help the English teams in Europe) so the players are going to have to really dig deep and somehow find a big performance. It'd be such a psychological boost if we could leapfrog them back into the top four.

          Saturday edit: Ah well, no boost. The late goal gave hope of a smash and grab point but we didn't really deserve anything from the game. We kept possession better for periods in the second half, but aside from one moment where Ndombele made a great run through and then took an extra touch when he should have shot, we didn't really create any clear cut openings during those periods.

          Some big matches coming up in March against teams around us in the league like Wolves and Man Utd. Gonna be tough to make top four but it's still doable.

          If you look at points gained since Mourhino became our manager, only Liverpool and Man City have picked up more points than Spurs, despite the fact that we've been well below our best for most of that time. So we're capable of putting together a run and grinding out the points, and all the teams around us are well capable of dropping points. The task is much harder now with no Kane AND no Son, but, you never know. Just gotta keep on going and hope for the best!
          Last edited by EJG1980; 22-02-2020, 14:53.

          Comment


            Damn!

            Didn't want to follow this whilst it was being played but curiosity got the better of me rather than waiting for MotD.

            Looking at the stats Spurs had more possession, better with their passing but the main thing was clearly we were lacking effectiveness up front. They had over twice as many shots on target. Sounds like a defensive set up which simply didn't work; let in two goals and the one we did get was an OG.

            Still not a disaster but I was hoping for at least a draw.

            EDIT
            Results today not good for us; MU winning 3-0 pushes Spurs down,1 point behind and from the look of it Wolves are going to do be doing the same.

            The Wolves match on 1/03 and MU on 15/03 could be critical now.

            EDIT 01.03.20

            Another very important game today against Wolves in regards to our final Premiership position. Then on the 15th we have MU, another biggie.

            Chelsea drawing yesterday was a useful result. A win against Wolves and we'll only be 2 points behind them and we could do with Everton spanking MU today as well.

            LATER EDIT

            Bugger.

            More shots, more possession, twice in the lead and twice the number of completed passes yet Spurs end up losing 2 -3.
            Last edited by fallenangle; 01-03-2020, 15:58.

            Comment


              Gah, very frustrating. A lot of what we did today was good, probably the most coherent and fluid we’ve looked going forwards for a few matches, but those defensive lapses... the defence was actually pretty good for the most part too, so it’s all the more annoying when out of nowhere they switch off / let the opposition waltz through far too easily.

              A real shame Dele didn’t score his chance to make it 3-1, right before Wolves made it 2-2. So disappointing to have been in the lead twice and end up with nothing. Gotta sort out that defence as we should have won today.

              Chelsea and Man Utd drawing, so a chance to catch up thrown away. Looking at it the other way around, at least the gap didn’t go up much after we lost. Fingers crossed we can keep our cup run going on Wednesday and then get back on track against Burnley (though that will be tough as they’ve been in great form recently).

              Comment


                Spurs v Norwich today is live on BBC Iplayer and Freeview Red Button.

                Looking forward to it particularly as on Wednesdays the TV is usually rubbish. Just hope it is a good game and Spurs do the business.

                Comment


                  Spuzz

                  Comment


                    Leading in the match and leading in the penalty shootout and still come away with the loss! Oy, and indeed, vey. A shame the goal we gave away came from an individual error again; I saw a stat that said about 75% of the goals we've let in since Mourhino became manager have come from set pieces or individual errors.

                    I've got a ticket for the Burnley match on Saturday and it's going to be interesting to see what kind of team we put out. Jose said in the press conference (pretty much) that we have to choose one or the other to prioritise between Burnley and Leipzig, because it will be impossible for him to play the strongest team in both. Bergwijn and Lucas both went off last night because they both felt they would likely get injured if they carried on playing, so who knows what kind of condition they'll be in for either match. Fun times

                    If it was me, I'd probably prioritise the Burnley match. I think managing to turn things around enough to battle to 4th (maybe 5th depending on what happens with Man City's appeal) in the league is more realistic than turning around the Leipzig tie AND then getting though against the likes of Madrid, Barca, Liverpool, Munich, etc., in the following rounds.

                    Comment


                      What was going on with Eric Dier? Crazy scenes.

                      Comment


                        Ruined my Wednesday evening watching that match.

                        Mediocre performance but we should have been 2-0 up at half-time.

                        It took until Norwich scored for Spurs to play with any urgency but if they'd put in that effort earlier they could have coasted home but, as said, we end up having to play extra time and then lose on penalties to rub salt into the wound.

                        Jan Vertonghen's performance was worthy of note and both Lucas and Lo Celso put in lots of effort in the first half but ran out of steam long before the end. Lamela came on and injected some more energy into the attack but ultimately to no avail. His penalty miss was so predictable - he could find a way of missing from inside the six yard box.

                        DA playing as a number 9 and as a holding player - what was Mourinho thinking? He's a lightweight midfielder, prone to loose the ball and he put in a performance which made it clear he was not enjoying his expected role.

                        What Mourinho said afterwards about some of the players being dead on their feet and using that as an excuse was weird. I have to ask why are they exhausted?

                        Poch's demanding training regime was disliked by some players but undoubtedly bought many of them up to their best fitness. However Spurs under Poch often lost form in March/April with over-training cited as the possible cause and added to the reasons he was sacked.

                        But now we're in March again and under Mourinho he is excusing his players' performance because they're tired. WTF?

                        I'm with Dion Dublin view on that expressed on the BBC yesterday after the match. Load of BS. We've lost two strikers to injury that is all - if they were carrying the team, as it seems is being suggested, it means the rest were cruising if they can't step up to the mark now without exhausting themselves.
                        Last edited by fallenangle; 05-03-2020, 13:38.

                        Comment


                          I didn't realise Spurs were doing Amazon's next All or Nothing doc.

                          Comment


                            Originally posted by fallenangle View Post
                            It took until Norwich scored for Spurs to play with any urgency but if they'd put in that effort earlier they could have coasted home but, as said, we end up having to play extra time and then lose on penalties to rub salt into the wound.
                            During that final ten minutes or so the most uttered phrase around us in the stands was "where was this for the past 60-70 minutes?". You can't go full tilt for the whole 90 minutes, but you want spells of pressure like that throughout the game, not only as a last ditch attempt to avoid extra time.

                            Originally posted by hudson View Post
                            What was going on with Eric Dier? Crazy scenes.
                            From what I've read, the basic gist is: a "fan" in the stands was shouting a lot of abuse at Eric Dier, and just happened to be sitting right by Eric Dier's younger brother. Dier's brother took objection to said abuse, so the fan turned his ire towards Dier's brother, which Dier saw so ran into the crowd to confront the fan / protect his brother.

                            As Mourhino said after the match, it's something you can't do as a professional, but, with a family member involved you can understand Dier's reaction.

                            Originally posted by hudson View Post
                            I didn't realise Spurs were doing Amazon's next All or Nothing doc.
                            Yup, they've been filming all this season. We've been having a dodgy season on purpose for the documentary, lulling our opponents into a false sense of security before we go for the big finale of coming back to shockingly win the Champions League
                            Last edited by EJG1980; 05-03-2020, 13:39.

                            Comment


                              Ah fair play to him then. I would have done the same.

                              Comment


                                Yesterday's match: while we probably needed the three points for the top four battle, if you look at the match individually, a point isn't too bad. Our form coming into the match was really poor and Burnley have been in great form, and Burnley away is a tough match regardless.

                                Definitely a game of two halves as we were pretty shabby in the first half, but much improved in the second and we were the better side in that forty-five. Again it was Lo Celso who was the big difference maker; when he doesn't play or is having an off day there's nobody in the team that can provide the accurate forward passing that he does, and we really struggle to be inventive.

                                The rest of the team improved too though, to take advantage of Lo Celso's presence, the likes of Dele and Lamela were much more effective, and Lucas had a good game off the bench too. Despite the usual Achilles' heel of looking like we could make a silly lapse at the back (with most of the nervy moments coming from Davinson Sanchez) I thought Eric Dier had a good game, a couple of great tackles and he never looked like the one who might make a mistake.

                                Fingers crossed we can improve again against Leipzig, rise to the occasion and have a memorable night.

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X