I agree - the big IF is whether he can genuinely be said to be fit for 120 after the layoff. If he is then there isn’t a question, he starts.
I’m hoping that adrenaline will carry him through should it have to go 120. The same applies to Pool players with this (as I think Firmino has just returned from injury too) but this is the Champions League final, every single player on that pitch should want to be busting a gut to help their team. If you’re tired, block that **** out and continue to run yourself into the ground, you can rest after the game. This potentially comes around just once in a player’s career, if that for many others, you have to give absolutely everything and some.
I expect Pochettino to go full "me boss, you not" on Kane regarding the starting XI. Any player who is not fit enough to last a 90 mins PL game is not in the starting XI.
"When you play for Chelsea you want to be the best in London. When Tottenham are in the Champions League final, that’s terrible." - Eden Hazard Let's make the little twat miserable before he ****s off to Los Ladrones
I'm a bit miffed that today the club put the really expensive seats in corporate up for sale at the standard £10 plus booking fee. I've got very decent tickets in the East Lower but amongst many others, would have loved to have had the chance to sit in true luxury for this one-off occasion. Letting these tickets go to those who hadn't decided to go until the last minute or to others who will now have duplicates is not great for those of us who committed to this from the off and just another ticketing let down which shouldn't be happening. The club have got to do this better.
It is probably a bit tricky for them as they would have to wait until the normal users of those seats confirmed they were free to sell on.
I'm sure that was the case but season ticket holders had up to a set date to decide whether they wanted their seat or not. Bending over backwards for some is unfair on others and a better balance needs to be struck. Currently, we are allowing some agencies to return unsold tickets up to a day before games and then putting them up for sale with no real notice, which just isn't right. I get that these are usually very expensive seats but if they're going to be empty, filling them as equitably as possible for others, should be the aim of the exercise. Currently, that ain't happening.
I generally agree but a season ticket is exactly that and gives no rights to go to any other event so the club can set a tight deadline. Some corporate areas may give you rights for all events on which case all the club can do is to sell them when they get notice that they are not wanted
Has everyone forgot that we could win an unprecedented cup double this Saturday? https://www.internationalchampionsc...nham-won-the-2018-international-champions-cup
For once found myself agreeing with a tactical article written on the beeb today, Stephen Warnock emphasising that if you stop Robertson and TAA, you've gone a long way towards stopping Liverpool as none of their midfielders are particularly amazing. I hadn't realised the two FBs have 11 and 12 PL assists respectively this season, 3rd and 5th in the entire league. That is ridiculous. To put it into perspective, the best any of our FBs have ever managed under Poch is 6 assists which Ben Davies notched up last season. Not even Rose and Walker at the height of their powers provided anything like that number of goals. It is frankly scary given how weak we are down the flanks (one flank in particular springs immediately to mind). I trust our CBs and Moussa to deal with what they have in the middle, but how do we deal with the threat down the flanks? I'd like to look at our game at Anfield for the solution. We started that day with 3 at the back - probably in an attempt to stifle them down the flanks. It didn't work and after a pretty poor first half we came out after half time battling really hard but not looking like we were going to score. Now, if my hazy memory serves me correctly, that game swung when we took Dave off and brought on Son. That was what gave the Pool backline something to think about. With Kane, Lucas, Dele, Eriksen and now Son on the pitch there wasn't a chance they were going to commit forward as often or as adventurously. 40 seconds later, Lucas equalised. Until then we'd had some decent chances but nothing like the chances that subsequently fell to Moussa and Dele to wrap up the points before Hugo's brain fell out his arse. I don't think using WB's is the answer. We need a frontline full of pace to keep those two feckers on the back foot for the entirety of the game. And they both need to be running the flanks, not leading the line down the center. And for that reason, we need Son & Lucas on the pitch at the same time and neither of them leading the line. Which means, against my earlier protestations, I have to concede that Kane needs to start. Not for his sake, not even for our goalscoring sake, but - ironically - to help us defensively. Hugo Anyone Toby Jan Rose Goat Alli Son Eriksen Lucas Kane Subs: Gazza, Dave, Davies, Dier, Winks, Lamela, Llorente Final answer please Chris.
Subs bench is 12 for this game. I’d go with that XI though (Tripps RB), just with Eriksen and Alli swapping positions.
Yeah more I think about it the more I'm convincing myself that we need Kane, Alli, Son, Lucas, Eriksen all on the pitch at the same time to completely throw Pool's usual attacking patterns. I'd worry about Eriksen that deep as he ducks out of challenges whereas Alli has a bit more bite to him and has also played there a few times against Pool specifically and has done an excellent job of it. My concern is that we'll end up seeing a semi-fit Winks, semi-retired Wanyama or semi-focused Dier start there and get totally overrun.
While using Lucas & Son to pin their fullbacks back is what I've been advocating, there is one wrinkle: Trippier's heatmap often has him playing more as a winger than a fullback, so how the hell are we supposed to have an effective overlap if him and Lucas are tripping over one another while Sissoko's having to babysit as an ersatz right back?
Earlier in the season I said Alli should be tried at CM. In a period of games he did play CM and for some reason looked so ineffective. Eriksen played CM quite a lot in our last batch of games and has looked pretty comfortable. May shy from a strong challenge but he’ll chase an attacker down for 90 minutes no problem, he’s also able to create from deep too, and if we have Son, Lucas, Dele and Kane to aim for... it's nice options for someone like him.
Trippier has been totally ineffective this season going forward. And for all the talk of his 'amazing delivery' fact is he has never managed more than 5 PL assists in a season. Now that we've seen what Pool's FBs can do his accomplishments here continue to dwindle. He needs to be instructed to never leave the fullback position, never attempt to play Mane offside, never move infield in search of the ball and never play a pass back to Hugo. Then I think we'll be ok. The key to all this rests with (in my system) Moussa and Dele. If they put in a shift the likes of which Forrest Gump would admire, taking it in turns to join attacks and babysit Trippier, we should be fine. The key is for Lucas and Son to get and stay in their FBs faces and for our midfield to be as mobile and energetic as possible, which is why I restate starting any of Winks, Dier or Wanyama would be a disaster. The rest should take care of itself. Pin the two feckers back and Pool will be forced to either go long and get Mane and Salah operating off the shoulder (see note 1b regarding Trippier, above) or to thread it through the middle. That's where Kane and Eriksen can pounce and pick up on mistakes.
Ultimately, it's the same question as to ST holders - "Do you want to use the seats?" I'm sure some were uncertain but the club held back the lot until today. I don't see that as a good decision and it is in line with other ticketing policies that aren't use friendly for members. It's always a balancing act but currently it isn't right.
Or go full 433 with Eriksen and Dele either side of Sissoko. That would make our midfield more creative and energetic than theirs.
