Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Fulham

["Thanks for that Brian"]

We had 15 shots yesterday and only 9 against Southampton. Return was one goal and five goals. Not sure what the manager can do to even that out

This would be a valid point, if all chances are created equal...which they aren't, of course.

Sonny was 1-on-1 four times against Southampton and his finishing in such circumstances is excellent. How many such chances did we create against Fulham?

Unfortunately, every man and his dog knows that we're going to try to get him in behind the defence. That tactic (like defending deep for 70+ minutes) has been rumbled and is why we're now experiencing diminishing returns from Mourinho's limited management.

 

[humanbeingincroydon]

So many of our dropped points can be blamed on us not following a quite simple mantra: accentuate the positives, hide the negatives

What are our positives?
- A superb all-round forward in Harry Kane
- A lethal option coming off the left flank in Son Heung-min
- A player like a rugby player performing ballet in Tanguy Ndombele
- A player who'll run himself to bloody stumps in Pierre Emil Hojbjerg
- A left back we've been crying out for since Danny Rose became fat and moody in Sergio Reguilon
- A CB who can pass the ball 40+ yards to feet in Toby Alderweireld
- A goal threat from an attacking midfielder in Gio Lo Celso

What are our negatives?
- A brainfart per game guaranteed from Serge Aurier
- A CB who gets easily outmuscled in Eric Dier
- A complete inability to play past the 60th minute from Ndombele
- A guaranteed mistake per game from Davinson Sanchez
- A CM who can't pass in Moussa Sissoko
- A GK with poor accuracy from his kicks in Hugo Lloris
- A RW who receives the ball and is pretty much guaranteed to lose it in Lucas

The fact that so many of those positives can be exploited for our benefit if we press the game, while all of those weaknesses can be exploited by our opponents if we sit back and let them control the game, should be obvious - because let's be honest, they're obvious to all of us and have been for months

Case in point, if we don't want Ndombele to get knackered due to chasing the game for 30-40 minutes, how about...not have him chasing the game for 30-40 minutes? And that can be said for a lot of our frontline, they look shattered around the 75-80 minute mark because they're having to run their bollocks off trying to close down runners or chase down any half chance we manages to send in their general direction, which wouldn't be the case if we maintained control of games we were leading at any point after the 46th minute. And if our opponents have figured out our weakness at RB coupled with our weakness to set pieces, which almost always combine to cost us goals and points in that order, we should not be sitting back as that's inviting pressure on ourselves

The point is, we not only need to kill games off, but it's our central midfield that needs to kill off games by setting the tempo - but the problem is we surrender midfield by sitting back, therefore let the opponents set the tempo, and the only way to regain it is if we nick a second goal on the break

 

[remembercolinlee]

We had 15 shots yesterday and only 9 against Southampton. Return was one goal and five goals. Not sure what the manager can do to even that out

Yesterday's second half performance was shockingly poor...only it was not surprising because we have seen us play poorly in one half of most matches for a very long time.this season we have played well over both halves in the United, City, Chelsea and Arsenal games.
In every other game we have been poor in one half.

But the biggest issue is we are boring. Sorry to bang on about it but football is about passion, pride and entertainment. JM is lucky there are no fans there cos asking season ticket holders to cough up £1000 a season and members to hand over £55 membership (£165 for us in total) plus a minimum of £50 per ticket for "smaller games" and expecting them to be happy with what is being dished up is a joke.

I have support spurs from being 6 or 7 so that's 47 years. In total we have won 2 FA Cups, 2 League Cups and 1 UEFA Cup...roughly 1 Cup per decade so I am not irritated by the lack of trophies even results.

I hated watching us under bloke in a coat cos we were boring as hell yet he won a cup and was considered a serial winner. I was glad he was sacked cosI hated watching us.

I loved Jol..no trophies but he gave us entertaining football. I feel the same about Redknapp.

Every manager will have a tough time and I have only wanted Bloke in a coat, AVB, Dim and JM gone...and the common thread is that non of them are interested in delivering excitement.

Football is not statistical, it is not about boring your fans stupid.

JM was the wrong choice...I thought it at the time and see nothing to change my mind.

Unfortunately we are stuck with him cos sacking him will mean serious questions will have to be asked about Levy.
Dim, AVB, Ramos, Santini, Hoddle and Pleat were all car crash decisions...they lasted a total of 7 years.
Only Jol (not his choice), Redknapp and Pochettino improved us.
JM clearly looks like he'll be in the first category imho.

3 good choices out of 10 is inexcusably poor imho.

 

[PowerSpurs]

This would be a valid point, if all chances are created equal...which they aren't, of course.

Sonny was 1-on-1 four times against Southampton and his finishing in such circumstances is excellent. How many such chances did we create against Fulham?

Unfortunately, every man and his dog knows that we're going to try to get him in behind the defence. That tactic (like defending deep for 70+ minutes) has been rumbled and is why we're now experiencing diminishing returns from Mourinho's limited management.

We had five really good chances: Reguilon in the first half free on the penalty spot, the one Hojbjerg passed to the keeper, Sissoko right through at the start of the second half, Son played through by Ndombele and the Reguilon offside goal where Son should have stayed onside.

 

[PleaseNotPoll]

Case in point, if we don't want Ndombele to get knackered due to chasing the game for 30-40 minutes, how about...not have him chasing the game for 30-40 minutes?

Or, as we should've done yesterday as he got booted all over the place, take him off. We've got plenty of options there.

One of Ndombele's problems and it's one that was especially true in this match, is that he'll draw a lot of physical play and get knocks.
Anyone that's got Amazon can go back and re-watch the match. Feel free to do it and check out the kick-off of the second half. He's already ****ed.
The more he plays, the more he'll adjust and become able to deal with it.

In the meantime, we need to find a way to start him and get the best out of him.
If that involves taking him off when he's flagging, then so be it.
We've got Lo Celso (when fit) or Alli that can slot into that role easily.
The latter showed his ability and the appropriate attitude against an admittedly poor Marine team.
Chucking him on against a tiring Fulham side shouldn't be an issue.

 

["Thanks for that Brian"]

We had five really good chances: Reguilon in the first half free on the penalty spot, the one Hojbjerg passed to the keeper, Sissoko right through at the start of the second half, Son played through by Ndombele and the Reguilon offside goal where Son should have stayed onside.

I'm pretty sure being offside precludes the last one being a chance and playing Sissoko in advanced positions and creating chances for him, is pretty close to being the same.

None of the others was as good as the chances Sonny scored against Southampton and his apart, fell to players not renowned for their goal scoring because teams are concentrating on dealing with Kane and Son, as they've scored 85% of our goals. They're also starting to look like men who could do with a couple of weeks off, as they're being overplayed and flogged around the pitch closing down because our defence is protecting the six yard box..

We're not creating the quality of chances that we scored from earlier in the season because we're a one trick pony and that only works so often.

 

[littleDinosaurLuke]

So many of our dropped points can be blamed on us not following a quite simple mantra: accentuate the positives, hide the negatives

What are our positives?
- A superb all-round forward in Harry Kane
- A lethal option coming off the left flank in Son Heung-min
- A player like a rugby player performing ballet in Tanguy Ndombele
- A player who'll run himself to bloody stumps in Pierre Emil Hojbjerg
- A left back we've been crying out for since Danny Rose became fat and moody in Sergio Reguilon
- A CB who can pass the ball 40+ yards to feet in Toby Alderweireld
- A goal threat from an attacking midfielder in Gio Lo Celso

What are our negatives?
- A brainfart per game guaranteed from Serge Aurier
- A CB who gets easily outmuscled in Eric Dier
- A complete inability to play past the 60th minute from Ndombele
- A guaranteed mistake per game from Davinson Sanchez
- A CM who can't pass in Moussa Sissoko
- A GK with poor accuracy from his kicks in Hugo Lloris
- A RW who receives the ball and is pretty much guaranteed to lose it in Lucas

The fact that so many of those positives can be exploited for our benefit if we press the game, while all of those weaknesses can be exploited by our opponents if we sit back and let them control the game, should be obvious - because let's be honest, they're obvious to all of us and have been for months

Case in point, if we don't want Ndombele to get knackered due to chasing the game for 30-40 minutes, how about...not have him chasing the game for 30-40 minutes? And that can be said for a lot of our frontline, they look shattered around the 75-80 minute mark because they're having to run their bollocks off trying to close down runners or chase down any half chance we manages to send in their general direction, which wouldn't be the case if we maintained control of games we were leading at any point after the 46th minute. And if our opponents have figured out our weakness at RB coupled with our weakness to set pieces, which almost always combine to cost us goals and points in that order, we should not be sitting back as that's inviting pressure on ourselves

The point is, we not only need to kill games off, but it's our central midfield that needs to kill off games by setting the tempo - but the problem is we surrender midfield by sitting back, therefore let the opponents set the tempo, and the only way to regain it is if we nick a second goal on the break

When you consider the first two positives, the retreat after going 1-0 up is even harder to fathom.
On paper at least, your attacking options look stronger than your defensive ones - which makes the tactic of trying to hold on to a 1-0 lead (as per Palace,Wolves & Fulham) very odd. Your defensive record is sound if you look at the stats in isolation, but they hide the bigger picture. You should be making these teams defend rather than defending against them. Mourinho nas acquired some good attacking options - so why not use them?

 

["Thanks for that Brian"]

When you consider the first two positives, the retreat after going 1-0 up is even harder to fathom.
On paper at least, your attacking options look stronger than your defensive ones - which makes the tactic of trying to hold on to a 1-0 lead (as per Palace,Wolves & Fulham) very odd. Your defensive record is sound if you look at the stats in isolation, but they hide the bigger picture. You should be making these teams defend rather than defending against them. Mourinho nas acquired some good attacking options - so why not use them?

You've not read the last 6 or 7 pages, have you?

 

[littleDinosaurLuke]

You've not read the last 6 or 7 pages, have you?

No

 

[PowerSpurs]

Yesterday's second half performance was shockingly poor...only it was not surprising because we have seen us play poorly in one half of most matches for a very long time.this season we have played well over both halves in the United, City, Chelsea and Arsenal games.
In every other game we have been poor in one half.

But the biggest issue is we are boring. Sorry to bang on about it but football is about passion, pride and entertainment. JM is lucky there are no fans there cos asking season ticket holders to cough up £1000 a season and members to hand over £55 membership (£165 for us in total) plus a minimum of £50 per ticket for "smaller games" and expecting them to be happy with what is being dished up is a joke.

I have support spurs from being 6 or 7 so that's 47 years. In total we have won 2 FA Cups, 2 League Cups and 1 UEFA Cup...roughly 1 Cup per decade so I am not irritated by the lack of trophies even results.

I hated watching us under bloke in a coat cos we were boring as hell yet he won a cup and was considered a serial winner. I was glad he was sacked cosI hated watching us.

I loved Jol..no trophies but he gave us entertaining football. I feel the same about Redknapp.

Every manager will have a tough time and I have only wanted Bloke in a coat, AVB, Dim and JM gone...and the common thread is that non of them are interested in delivering excitement.

Football is not statistical, it is not about boring your fans stupid.

JM was the wrong choice...I thought it at the time and see nothing to change my mind.

Unfortunately we are stuck with him cos sacking him will mean serious questions will have to be asked about Levy.
Dim, AVB, Ramos, Santini, Hoddle and Pleat were all car crash decisions...they lasted a total of 7 years.
Only Jol (not his choice), Redknapp and Pochettino improved us.
JM clearly looks like he'll be in the first category imho.

3 good choices out of 10 is inexcusably poor imho.

I generally agree that Mourinho is a poor fit to the club and I don’t think Poch deserved to be sacked.

 

[The RDBD]

When you consider the first two positives, the retreat after going 1-0 up is even harder to fathom.
On paper at least, your attacking options look stronger than your defensive ones - which makes the tactic of trying to hold on to a 1-0 lead (as per Palace,Wolves & Fulham) very odd. Your defensive record is sound if you look at the stats in isolation, but they hide the bigger picture. You should be making these teams defend rather than defending against them. Mourinho nas acquired some good attacking options - so why not use them?

Spurs have insufficient decent players who when under pressure can :

- hold up the ball in CM
- run the ball out of defence
- make accurate weighted passes in transiton

So all these teams have to do when Jose-ball goes 1=0 up,
is to apply the pressure in MF.
Don't go mad with it, Don't over-commit players.

The pressure will tell as Spurs become more paralysed.
An opportunity will come (error or otherwise) , Be ready to take it.

 

[Dier Hard]

I generally agree that Mourinho is a poor fit to the club and I don’t think Poch deserved to be sacked.

He definitely did, he’s a strong part of the reason we’re still in quite a mess in certain areas as he allowed a squad to decline and then persisted with absolute dross (a lot of which is still here and playing). The Poch of 2014 would’ve raised his eyebrows at the Poch of 2019. He had to go, for his own sake and ours.

 

[Dier Hard]

Don’t suppose he fancies dusting off his boots does he?

Anyone up for Gallas and Ledley at the back?

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[bigsmithy9]

Like the "Leicester season",we are doing our best to miss out of the top position. We could have stayed there with more consistency. But no........!

 

[Citizen Kane.]

Don’t suppose he fancies dusting off his boots does he?

Anyone up for Gallas and Ledley at the back?

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Good grief this is awful. Sanchez gets turned so easily and Dier is just nowhere near anything, zero positional awareness.

But it's ok. Our manager looks at them and sees 2012 Sergio Ramos alongside 2007 John Terry.

 

[Dier Hard]

Good grief this is awful. Sanchez gets turned so easily and Dier is just nowhere near anything, zero positional awareness.

But it's ok. Our manager looks at them and sees 2012 Sergio Ramos alongside 2007 John Terry.

I think he’s definitely looking at Dier a lot differently to most. Even the commentators every game are talking as if Dier’s turned into prime Vidic or something. The other two maybe not so much as Jose keeps rotating them in and out the team but it begs the question as to why isn’t he giving Rodon a go? We’ve got a young, highly rated CB that we paid £15m for just twiddling his thumbs most weeks, he deserves a run of games now. He’ll be rusty and his lack of experience will no doubt have a mistake or two but I’d rather persist with someone with the belief they’ll get better than a keep going with a dead horse in Toby or a head case like Sanchez.

 

[vimhawk]

We had five really good chances: Reguilon in the first half free on the penalty spot, the one Hojbjerg passed to the keeper, Sissoko right through at the start of the second half, Son played through by Ndombele and the Reguilon offside goal where Son should have stayed onside.

Quite right. That's why I can't get quite as excited about this draw as I did about the other recent ones. We did have plenty of good chances to win it. The time to get really upset is when we get outplayed and don't create anything - and for all the doom and gloom often displayed here that didn't happen. Now of course it could be much better, but as long as we create chances like we did v Fulham, we'll win more than draw.

 

[Spurlock]

We have had 38 shots on target this season in the league

only City have more with 40

We create plenty chances for a team that doesn’t attack and isn’t pretty on the eye

 

[Spurf]

We have had 38 shots on target this season in the league

only City have more with 40

We create plenty chances for a team that doesn’t attack and isn’t pretty on the eye

Imagine what we could do if we attacked teams.

 

[Spurlock]

Imagine what we could if we attacked teams.

like I said we have had more shots on target than anyone bar CIty this season

have a little think about what that suggests