Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United

Let's give it a few more years before we go public

He doesn't seem to have quite the same range of passing, but there are elements of his game - the comfort on the ball and intelligence that belies his age, as well as his desire to make things happen - that do remind me of Modric.

 

With regards to range of passing, I think it's possible that that will grow with more confidence and experience. I'd argue that it's not necessarily due to him not having the vision or ability to do it. 91% pass completion, isn't a bad place to start from, even if his focus was more on retention than immediate penetration.

 

Let's just ignore the fact that, five years ago, we were comparing Tom Carroll to Modric...

 

Indeed.
Probably why Spurs need to sign the Coric boy (to allow such comparisions to be made) .

 

Occam's razor for our lack of scoring is lack of players near the man in the odd outfit. Both our first two goals were created by players who closed on goal and happened to be in the right place to take advantage of a lucky bounce. Both our second two were created by Son's darting runs into the area. Winks and Kane were fresh from not having played the week (or more) before. Son was fresh from sitting out most of the game. This is an argument for more rotation, as is Winks' strong game. It also backs up a piece I saw explaining Liverpool and Chelsea this year, and Leicester last, as partly owing to lack of European competition.

 

Comparisons with Modric are completely OTT at this point. Winks has no resemblance, physically or with regard to loyalty and team spirit, to a rat.

 

Some of you were, perhaps.

I was comparing him to the boy in Goodnight Mister Tom.

 

It is a good start, but bear in mind that the average PL team will rack up passing accuracy stats in excess of 75% success rate on a regular basis, whilst the top clubs - ours included - will average in the 80's across a season.

At this level, it's kind of a given (or at least it should be) that your passing SR will be extremely high. What separates the Modrics from the Paulinhos is WHICH pass you choose to make. It's all well and good playing 5 yard sideways slide-rules and racking up an Opta-busting accuracy level. It's another story entirely being able to pick out the killer ball. Since Modric left, we haven't had anyone do that with regularity. Some of Toby's diagonals are superb and Dier's ball for Eriksen's offside goal was top drawer, but there is a severe lack of it at the moment which is why we so often find ourselves doing an excellent AVB impression.

 

Sure (and agree so much about that donkey Paulinho passing it sideways). Just saying it was his first start, and (to an extent at least) there's a balance between giving it away and playing the potentially killer ball. Also, obvs the more he plays with the other lads, the more understanding there'll be between them. I obviously don't need to tell you that it's not just about the guy on the ball.

 

Five years ago we did not have a manager that would give a 20 year old his full debut in a local derby!

 

William Miller was in Oliver Twist, not Goodnight Mister Tom!

 

Er - Danny Rose?

 

That was over 6 years ago now, so technically he's right.

 

And he was only 19....

 

Hmmm, Rose, Dier and Winks debuted in local derbies. They all scored.

What deserving youth player do we want to score against Chelsea? Or which 11?

 

OK I get the point. I should have said one our own.

 

CCV.

 

That Rose goal is one if those that I don't need to look up online if I want to watch it again. It just plays in my mind's eye in immaculate detail, complete with Jonathan Pearce's commentary and slow-motion replays from different angles.

 

Well watch it anyway CK

 

My brain plays it in HD