Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City

As someone alluded to, when other "top" teams grind out a draw or lucky win, people say that's the sign of a good team. When Spurs do it our own "fans" can't get on here quickly enough to slag off the team. We didn't play well but that's one bad game out of rather a large number and immediately people go beyond negative. Like they were when we hit a bad patch earlier on in the season. And as for our bad patch, it appears we are still second in the league. I think some people will never be happy. This was away to a team that many pundits thought would win the title this season. Have some perspective.

 

Great comeback, that was the best I've seen City play, an angry Pep team...they dragged us to the pits of Hell, but we refused to burn.

They have to take it on the chin about the Sterling foul like we had to take the Sane handball on the chin, that's football, that's life.

I'm happy with the boys today, we weren't going to win every game, we just got a draw away to a City team with a point to prove, whenever the win streak ended, some form of questions would be posed about the team.

Just hope Toby is rested and back for the Mackems, we should have got Fonte in, I did suggest it and his experience would have been sufficient for him to slot in for us if we had a CB disaster in this critical period. I don't have confidence in this seasons Wimmer he is too sluggish for the natural dynamic of our team.

P.s Sonny boy proves me right again, impact sub at best.

COYS

 

We really miss Lamela in these types of games. The intensity and full-blooded style of play is crucial against quality teams who have a point to prove. The reason Wanyama and Rose stood out as being probably our only 2 good players was that they possess the same characteristics, in abundance. Kane did but playing for England plus a medium-term injury appear to have knocked that particular stuffing out of him

 

Agreed strongly with it all except for the above. We're not a side that can afford expensive centrebacks that will mostly just sit on our bench and it's not how we do things, anyway. After Rose proved a lot of fans wrong, Kane proved a lot of fans wrong, Alli came out of nowhere, I think Wimmer deserves a lot more chances. I felt Wimmer's substitution today was more about the team's performance in the first half, rather than his performance in particular.

Son was great off the bench but he was even better against City when he started in the home game. His runs and pace were badly needed in our attack today and I'm sure we'd have done better, had he been on the pitch for 90 minutes, rather than 45.

 

People are complianing about Sane's hand ball but he shouldn't have been on the pitch. His tackle on Walker was no different than the Shawcross tackle that broke Ramsey's leg a few years back, 8 inches above the boot with studs up. If Walkers leg had been a tad straighter people wouldn't be talking about the penalty incident the would be taking about Walker sustaining a career threatening injury. Such tackles need to be stamped out and Marriner let the game down by not dealing with it properly.

In some ways it was justice that Walker was still in one piece and able to give Stirling, who would have probably missed anyway, a small shove to put him off.

 

Firstly, what a game yesterday. Amazed we got a point but the lads pulled it together and I think we deserved something from the game.

First half, City played us perfectly. Their quick front line was beating our offside trap - usually so reliable - perfectly, and the back 3 unit and the sitting midfielders were not functioning defensively in any meaningful way. They were cutting us to pieces but Hugo and Toby contrived to keep them at bay. We switched it up to a back 4 with Dier in midfield after a while, and credit to Poch for making a change as we seemed to stabilise.

It is worth noting that despite City being dominant in the first 45 minutes, and our players being well under-par compared to usual, they still couldn't breach the rearguard. That has nothing to do with luck, and everything to do with our best 2 defensive players, Hugo and Toby, still having enough in the locker to deny City a goal.

Second half they still couldn't create anything without us gifting it to them. The first goal, Hugo must do that 100 times a season and only once will it hit the offensive player's hand (which as people have said, we saw no mention of in the punditry, though it was very close and might be seen as a harsh handball) and fall perfectly for a tap in. Second goal, again Hugo will make those errors once in a blue moon (sorry). They couldn't score without two shocking mistakes.

The penalty was contentious and should have been given, but Karma in some ways - look at the decisions that have gone against us over the years, Rose's red card for one and the Balotelli stamp on Parker for another. And even in yesterday's match, City kicked our FBs to pieces with impunity but that didn't seem to matter to the ref.

So don't get me wrong we were well under par yesterday and I expect a reaction. But City were on it, played the perfect game to beat us, and couldn't score without one of the most consistently excellent players in the league making two hugely uncharacteristic mistakes. So I'm happy in a way, and I believe we'll pick up the performances again.

 

Just read an article on the BBC website Guardiola was highly critical of the officials but he praised Walker for admitting the push.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/38708166
In my view Walker rolled the dice and got away with it.

 

Just watched the highlights back again. Couple of observations:

For their second goal, looked like a foul on Wanyama in the build up. The type of foul that Marrinated wasn't giving all game, but a foul nonetheless.

I'd love someone to post a reverse-angle shot of the moment (I think it was Kolarov) passes through to Sterling. The latter looked marginally offside. Linesman was perfectly positioned but his view would've been obscured by Aguero returning from a clear offside position.

Having said that, we still didn't deserve anything from that but City only have themselves to blame. Should have been dead and buried by half time, but their £150m attacking trio of Aguero, Sane and De Bruyne cannot apparently afford the proverbial banjo.

 

Haven't seen or heard an Spurs 'fans' slagging off the team after this game. Citeh clearly upped their game and we were struggling to compete for 60 minutes or so - and that can happen against a top side.

But we didn't help matters and apart from the Lloris errors, you can't expect anything if you have a couple of players who are off the boil - and I think both Eriksen and Wimmer fell into that category yesterday. (Maybe understandable in Wimmers case due to lack of game time and perhaps Davies would have been the better option from the start).

We are a 'top side', playing some fantastic football at times, competing for arguably the hardest league Championship in football - and if we are going to achieve anything when we need to be firing on all cylinders. Eriksen didn't start the season well, but in recent weeks has been back to his best. Yesterday, in a rally hard game against a main rival, he was a shadow of that player. That's not slagging off the team, just stating the bleeding obvious.

A hard won point which will probably further boost confidence - just need to make sure we do the necessary in the next 2 games before the Pool game.

 

Eriksen IMO relies on players around him to provide the space for him to work in. He is a clever player with a sumptuous touch and an eye for winning passes and with that ability can win games for you. When the opposition are up for closing down the spaces, just like we do, he can disappear from the game. Can he add the 'fight' to his game? I can't imagine Pochettino has not tried to address it so it will be a surprise if he develops it. You could almost describe him as a luxury player and I suppose we are allowed one.

 

It was a terrific game and a really good advert for the often maligned quality of the premier league
City have only themselves to blame really for not being out of sight by half time but Spurs must take great credit for staying in a game where in the not too distant past I think they would have collapsed under the pressure

Games like this always have plenty of talking points be it possible red cards and penalties not given but I think ultimately we should just look back at the game with pride that 2 teams with so much at stake didn't make it the defensive borefest that's commonly provided when the top sides meet one another and went toe to toe for 90 mins looking to win the game

 

Not sure it was an advert for quality, but for the entertainment of the PL when teams play at such a high tempo. There were a lot of mistakes because of the frenetic pace, which made it a spectacle. It showed vulnerability in both teams when put under pressure - especially City, who have created enough chances at home to Chelsea and Spurs to win ten matches, but have finished up with one point and five goals conceded.

 

Well said. Apart from the bit about both sides looking to win the game. I'm still trying to figure out what we were looking for but it certainly wasn't the game.

 

I’m pleased the team came back from 2-0 to score two quality goals and get a point from one of their two hardest remaining fixtures. It was probably the worst time to play City, since their pride had been stung. They remain as talented as any team in the league. It’s their focus which comes and goes.

I’ve watched a number of our players get hauled down in the box while taking a shot, and have always heard that it’s not called if the player gets a shot off. I remember watching Kane get toppled over backward due to a choke hold being applied while he was trying to shoot. No one seemed bothered. Now there is a great hue and cry for what was nowhere near as blatant an incident. The Guardian had an interesting view, which was that while it isn’t called, in this case it should have been.

I would welcome the referees applying the rules as they’re written. It would force changes in bad rules, and level the playing field, since it would make it harder for the referees to gift their favorite teams points. However, proposing they should be applied here and here only is ludicrous. And the hue and cry about it by various people is inexplicable and bizarre.

So, thank you Pep Guardiola, who made that clearer than anyone. "Your first [question] is about the referee?" “I think he was trying to be honest in staying on his feet,” he said. “I think in this country you like honest people.”

 

The irony is that Sterling usually spends so much time throwing himself on the ground pleading for penalties, that when he stays on his feet and deserves one, he doesn't get it.

Still, **** 'im eh?

 

Citeh pulled Chelsea to bits in the same way at their place. If they'd been 3 or 4 up in that game after an hour Chelsea could have had no complaint. That team may contain some players that have had their best days but there's still the talent to put in a formidable hour or so as those 2 games showed. Their problem is that after that hour has gone, there's no defensive steel to see out the game they should win.

If Hugo hadn't got pissed at half time we'd have won that game because despite being schooled for an hour, we didn't give up and had the talent to exploit the gaps they eventually left. Every team has an off day or will meet a team in 'the zone' as we did yesterday. I'm impressed that we got something out of it.

 

In this case, yeah. But if anyone wants to see why pens need to be awarded differently, it's Exhibit A. Players dive because the refs reward them for diving, and punish them for staying on their feet.

 

Agreed.

But if you've developed a bit of a reputation for throwing yourself around, like Sterling; then even twats, like Marriner, eventually notice and start to bear it in mind.

 

I think we did deserve something. I don't see many teams getting anything at the Etihad when City are on that kind of mindset. Worst thing that happened to us was that they got hammered the week before. The City that lost to Chelsea and this City are 2 different animals. We won't win every game...let's see how we react in the Sunderland game, if we crack on then that's all good with me if we stutter I'm going read a lot more into yesterday.

 

6 points from the next 2 games is crucial. Chelsea face Liverpool followed by Arsenal so we're guaranteed at least 2 of our rivals will be dropping points over the next few weeks.