I think it's more a case of a few injuries in very specific areas. I said before the season that ditching Wimmer - who for all his faults at least had PL experience - for a 19 year old Argentinian prodigy - left us badly exposed if we lost a CB and DM to injury at the same time. The simple logic being: Foyth wouldn't be ready to cover at CB, which would force us to either go 4 at the back or push Dier back to CB, leaving us with a brittle CM adding to the current 'kings of contraception' (they're just so good at pulling out), Alli and Eriksen. What I didn't anticipate was that Dembele would decline so rapidly, adding to the problem even more. Having watched 3 poor performances in a row, I think it's pretty clear that the tactics are all wrong. We need a midfield enforcer to give our powder-puff girls more time and space for their flicks and showboating. If this means reverting to 4 at the back? So be it. 3 at the back clearly isn't working either. Without Dembele starting at CM, our line up should by default be: Hugo Who Cares Dave Jan Davies Dier Winks Eriksen Alli Son Kane
I'm wondering whether Alli had a flash in the pan season last year because as you have noted some of you, he has been disappointing.
...And the season before that when he was superb...and the one before that when he helped MK Dons to promotion. He needs to work on adapting his game to the new reality that he is being double marked every game. He also needs a kick up the arse to stop the fame getting to his head. Lamela or Barkley's boots should be sufficient for that.
I was thinking Barkley could fill Alli's boots as I was asked earlier who should replace him. Buying Draxler and a bit of tinkering too. Lanzini should Eriksen decide to leave.
Draxler is a good shout. We supposedly flirted with the idea during the Aurier deal but it didn't get anywhere. Truth be told he has established himself at PSG despite intense competition and is under contract until 2021. We'd probably be priced out of a move and I doubt he'd be interested in joining us. I was hesitant about Barkley in the summer but am now very keen to bring him in asap. As for Lanzini, wouldn't mind him as an upgrade on GKN but he ain't fit to lace Eriksen's boots.
Opponents are paying him (and the team) respect by man marking key players and sitting in defensively (parking the bus). He's a marked man now. He needs to learn to adapt his game; he isn't going to find the same space between Kane and the midfield; his runs into the box are now picked up by defenders. At 21, he doesn't yet have the nous to find the space and to make runs which aren't telegraphed by defenders. I'm sure he'll be more consistent as he reaches his peak in the next few years when he is able to read the game better and be one step ahead of the opposing defenders. Few players become the finished article before they are 23 or 24 at least.
This might explain why, contrary to reports, Lamela wasn't involved today... Meanwhile... Errm... Yeah, I'll just let it speak for itself...
I have no doubt that off the field, Ben Foster is a thoroughly nice man. But on the field he is a time wasting git who was driving me nuts today. That it took until the 82nd minute for him to be booked, was due to weak refereeing from a poor referee. Of all the poxy goals we have given away in my years of watching us, today's was up there wth one of the worst for a long time. At least make the opposition work for a goal, not present it to them on a plate. Despite being under par throughout the team, at least we kept going and thank goodness we were able to get something out of the game. A match to forget and a dire atmosphere in the stadium. I am well fed up of going to Wembley.
Will no doubt be accused of making excuses, but this was spot on. Foster was warned 2 or 3 times in the first half, including snatching the ball from a ball boy to further delay proceedings, carried on at every opportunity until eventually getting booked. No respect for the laws of the game or, indeed for the fans who pay big bucks to watch at least 90 minutes - not 80! Jones bottled his responsibilities.
Oh where to start Firstly, West Brom played well and could have won it in the end. Secondly, Dele needs to learn when to play a safe pass and when to take risks. He was reckless for the first goal imho. Thirdy, Eriksen needs a rest. He looked a yard off the pace today. Fourth, Pochettino did change things much quicker than usual and it had a positive impact. Llorente occupied some in the West Brom defence giving Kane a bit of space and Dembele bullied them. Fifthly, Foster should have been booked for what he did with the ball boy ... that was his third or fourth bit of time wasting in the first 25 minutes. At half time I said to my mate that the ref wouldn't book him until the 85th minute...it was the 80th. He was continually warning him and hurrying him up in the first half so I have no idea why he did not punish him earlier. It was even more farcical when he booked a West Brom player for time wasting cos he was indicating that a player needed treatment. The ref booked him then let the trainer on ????? Finally, we are effectively playing all our games away from home...wembley feels wrong and looks wrong...none of the noisy fans are together (I always tried to get tickets in park lane or shelf side at the lane for the atmosphere...I have sat all around Wembley and apart from the Real Madrid match it has been a poor atmosphere. We are in and around 4th place...that imho is the best we'll get this season. So today's point could well be vital come the end of May...COYS!
The problem to me is that we lack decent width when Trippier and Davies play as wingbacks. Neither's going to get in behind or beat a man with any regularity, especially in Trippier's case. He literally never does it. Megson dealt with this by having Gibbs man-marking a right-back today, which is virtually unheard of. This left massive gaps between their left-back and centre-half, which we completely failed to exploit. We need to use different systems for different opponents. Not the wildest idea in the world. When we're up against an open side that's going to give us space, then the 3 at the back is fine and works well. When a side's going to sit back and hit us on the break, then we don't need the 3 and we do need width.
He also booked Dier for telling him to do something about Foster's endless time wasting. Ridiculous. The keeper did exactly the same thing on every goalkick or free-kick that he took. It was utterly predictable. Take forever setting up, piss about a bit with the ball, bounce it, then walk back and wait until the ref waves him on, then take a couple more seconds. It was like he was daring the ref to book him. I've no idea why he put up with it for so long.
To make it weirder he pulled us up twice for taking free kicks too quickly. As soon as he booked Foster the time wsting stopped. As for only 2 minutes added time in the first half and 5 in the second? There is supposed to be 30 seconds per substitute (Think there were 5 today) and 30 seconds for a goal that alone makes 3 minutes in the second half. Should have been at least 7 minutes in the second half and 4 in the first. It was really frustrating to watch live. And while the ref made no game changing screw ups he allowed a player to blatantly cheat for 80 minutes.
The Powers That Be need to address goalkeepers timewasting, even if it's just for their own commercial ends. Nobody wants to watch a total lack of action. It's very, very dull. I could be wrong, as I haven't seen a replay, but there was a tackle on Eriksen in the first half that looked a lot like a game changer. A poor pass at the back put him in and the defender was either the last man or very close to it. It would have been a booking at least, if it was given as a foul, but Jones didn't give it. No idea if it was right.
I'm wondering,as I sit here ticked off after that one,if any of us will ever see the championship trophy won again by Spurs in our lifetime? We may as well stop turning cup competitions into reserve tournaments and try win those bloody things!!!!!
