Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v AS Monaco

Was a nice touch watching all the corporate ****ers up an leave on the 85th minute lest their brogues got besmirched by the footfall of the common muck. Must've been 10,000 empty seats by the 88th minute.

Welcome to Wembley...

 

Really frustrating to lose after all the positivity at the beginning of the game. Great atmosphere and the team started really well.

The loss is hard to take but to be fair, they were 2 excellent finishes from what was really their only 2 chances. Defence was definitely suspect on those occassions, Jan was backing off so far he could've picked the ball out of the net for the first, but the rest of the game we dealt with their threat well. In attack, some of the build up play was really good again but some poor decision making and poor finishing let us down. Monaco's defenders also put in a lot of really good last ditch challenges too.

Wasn't very impressed with Kane, Janssen, Davies or Jan tonight but the rest did well, great to have Dembele back and Sissoko looked lively again off the bench. Walker was our MOTM, I think, love watching him bomb down the wing.

 

Agree with most of that but thought Janssen did well and looked dangerous and made a great chance for Kane.
Also thought Son was average and Eriksen and Lamela were not much (if any) better.
In fact it was Lamela who gave the ball away in our half that led to the 1st goal.
His biggest improvement has been his tackling which I thought was weak tonight.

 

On the atmosphere...I thought it was pretty positive and good all night. It kind of went flat after their 2nd goal for around 10 minutes (which is hardly surprising) but even at the end we were chanting. And the team were not booed on the final whistle which loads of fans from loads of clubs seem to do at the first poor performance or result...<cough> gooners <cough>

 

Apart from giving the ball away for their first and a superb corner for our goal, Lamela was invisible. Christian Eriksen and Son disappeared again and if GKN and Sissoko were fully fit, then the new French lads would be starting on Sunday.

 

Yes, form has been poor all season even though unbeaten. I am waiting for the Sunderland result to see if it follows the Stoke result.

 

The Guardian report has it spot on
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...-monaco-champions-league-group-e-match-report
No need to panic. If we played that match 10 more times we would win 8 and draw 2.
No need for a Plan B. Plan A is working fine but will never lead to us winning every match

 

It wasn't that bad a performance although Eriksen , Veetonghen and Lamela need to start earning their money - and quick. Unfortunately, Eric D also chose to have an off day...
What worries me is the naivety that we showed: desperate to make a mark on the game instead of easing into the competition. That led to conceding the first and possibly another breakaway goal in the first half.
Walker was again wxcellent and good to see Dembele back - and I thought Dele, Toby and Davies did OK. Sissoko also showed a bit in his brief cameo.

We just need to learn how to play at this level, because Monaco mugged us last night.

 

I would agree there is no need to panic. Both Rose and Dembele playing 90min would win us matches like that.

A growing small concern for me though is that, despite having cover in Janssen, I don't see Pochettino resting Kane for poor form. The idea of continually trusting Kane is perplexing when we have options, especially when resting him might just work to increase his desire to score, or Pochettino calls it, passion. It may also jumpstart Janssen into the necessary gear.

 

Took the words right out of my mouth LockStock, I think Janssen WILL start coming into his own now but the Kane situation must be looked at.

 

****ing irritating... Hugo did 2 things all game and both were picking the ball out of his net. Pace was slow, we were punished for our lapses, they weren't.

 

My first champions league match and in all honesty it was a huge disappointment. If the teams form had matched the quality of the support we would have won the match comfortably.

Monaco came with a plan and executed it very well, they were a much better team than the one we saw at WHL last season for sure. Too many of our players just didn't show up, this has already been well documented by other posters so I wont cover the same ground. I did think Dembele made a difference when he came on, and although Alli wasn't at his very best he was the most likely to make something happen for us. I would like to have seen Sissoko come on at the same time as Jansen did because we very flat at that point and he may have made more of an impact.

It's only match day 1 and we have 5 more opportunities to prove we are ready to play at the top table, we all know that we can play much better than we did last night and I hope that Poch learnt some things last night to help us move forwards. I look forward to returning Wembley for the next one, hopefully following 2 good performances away from home in this competition that have got our European adventure back on track.

 

I actually thought Ben Davies played well last night. He commited to every tackle and I can't remember him losing out on a 50/50.
He was often left on his own against that Lemar lad, too. Overall I thought he did a decent job or holding his own. Just a shame that he's not a bit more attacking. Solid performance though, IMO.

 

Is it just me or does our build up play always seem to follow the same philosophy no matter if it's working or not? It frustrates the hell out of me.

I wish I could find a satirical cartoon to illustrate the madness of it sometimes but, it feels like the whole team is trying to barge down the drawbridge when either side, there's open gates with a single unarmed guard standing there looking completely unbothered.

 

And another thing, can someone please explain to me WTF a Leicester/Mahrez piece is doing at the top of the Spurs homepage on the BBC website?

 

I read this board occasional and hardly post. I left at 85 minutes to get away from travelling with all the scum bags that would have been left at the end.

At Baker St before the game a group of Spurs fans rocked up told everyone to move out of the ****ing way so they could get on the tube. When they did not get on the tube they pointed at the black TFL worker and started singing 'Adebeyor..... (you know the rest).

Got to the stadium a Korean guy taking a photo with his dad and a bunch of lads start singing -''you eat dogs with son''

Corporate ****er or racist idiot, i would go with the former.

 

Total ****s, whoever they are. They should get down to their spiritual home in Stratford!

 

One of the reasons I stopped going to football and just watch it now.

Normally in the group stages Spurs score well in Europe, maybe it's still to come.

 

That's desperately disappointing for all Spurs fans. Everyone we encountered was great. Lots of families with youngsters going to their first game who were so excited. Walking up to the stadium was incredible with everyone in such high spirits. Credit to everyone that a disappointing result and (for us) flat performance was met with disappointment but general good humour afterwards.

To any small number of idiots who want to drag our club's good name through the mud and abuse people for being decent and different from you:

Do us all a favour and f*ck off to Chelsea, West Ham or Millwall. You'll feel right at home. None of us want you around.

 

Safe to say I'm absolutely ****ered this morning...

On the whole it was a good day out, beers, atmosphere and being part of a record attendance felt really special though it was spoiled by the result and then the procedure getting out the stadium and onto the trains but a great experience nonetheless.

Was really disappointed with the performances of some, most notably Kane who ****ed up every chance he had by taking too many touches, though Davies, Lamela, Son (such a contrast from Stoke!) and Vertonghen were also poor. Alli tried making things happen but was doing too many tricks at a time where we just needed to move the ball quicker. Dembele looked great when he came on, so glad he's back and he should be fine for a start on Sunday. Sissoko also added real intensity when coming on, a shame we didn't get him on sooner because he was doing his best to make something happen and if only Janssen's pass was a touch softer Sissoko would've beaten the keeper too it, speaking of Janssen, I really want him to start in place of Kane on Sunday, I think Kane could do with knowing he's not always going to be guaranteed starts now and Janssen looks lively when on the pitch so should be given a full 90 to prove himself.

Getting out was a nightmare, much worse than at the cup finals, the police/ stewards kept on holding us for about 25-30 minutes intervals, it was usually only 10-15 if I remember rightly when I've been there previously, didn't get home 'til gone midnight and I have to be up at 5 for work.

I still fancy us to get out this group but we've got to play like we did in the second half with the addition of being more clinical while the sloppiness of the first half needs to be cut... Otherwise we'll be cut from the competition.

EDIT: Walker my MOTM for the record, bombed it back and forth like a mad man. What a start to the season he's had. Blowing away any competition he'll have at club and international level.