Really interesting game. Thought Johnson and Spence were used to keep the pitch wide, to keep Walker pinned back and create space for Porro and Kudas on the other side. They did this really well and in the second half they caused Walker all sorts of problems. This was really clear from the stands. Think Johnson gets way too much criticism. Bergvall was excellent IMHO. Richarlison was easily Motm...he played like he does for Brazil. Kudas was brilliant. Seriously impressed. Hard to judge our season on this but a very good start. The min silence for jota and his brother was immaculately observed and walker got a warm welcome back. Finally, oliver refereed the match really well. Gave a corner for keeper time wasting in the 3rd minute which set a tone. Let the game flow but was consistent in his decisions.
Sitting at Kings X station waiting for my train eating my sarnie and to catch my breath. Need to get back in training for the walk to Seven Sisters I think..... Anyway, Gray much better second half. Kudus is going to be an absolute beast. Best game I've seen Richi play if I'm honest, superb work rate and two cracking goals. Solanki also excellent when he came on. Won't get too carried away, but you can almost see some tactics at play today. Who'd have thought? Final thoughts, I hope the captain's armband does not play heavily on Romero. He was all over the place at times today, and as for Vic....
You can see more and more the Premier League is about taking your chances. Before my stream collapsed I saw Wolves creating good situations against City but not turning the chances into goals. City of course were the opposite, a sniff and it's in the back of the net. The same with Spurs Burnley. Burnley played very respectable football and put us under pressure but failed to finish their creations. Spurs finished, goodnight and thanks very much. All the teams have top footballers, as you can see from all the poaching to the richer clubs, but unless you have decent finishers you will struggle.
Nice goal by Richarlison. I didn't see the game, but from the stats it looks like Burnley a had a go - which surprised me. Did they?
Clean sheet, contender for goal of the month from Richarlison and a good display by Michael Oliver. The end is nigh.
A comparison between Lineker and Johnson , I remember at the time the moaning was that Lineker did nothing for the team except score goals could be said the same for Johnson
I’d be intrigued to know what Johnson’s conversion rate is. Genuinely wouldn’t be surprised if he’s one of the highest in Europe. It feels like he barely ever misses, I don’t even think I’d be shocked if I found out he’s had a higher conversion rate than what Kane and Son had, granted Kane and Son’s will have been over way more time but the last year especially, Johnson has been absolutely brutal in front of goal, does **** all else but my days I’d put my savings on him more than any Spurs player when through on goal.
The lad gets so much stick around me, yesterday even from the first minute. It gave me great delight to sing his name when he scored....
For sure, Johnson isn't appreciated as he should be if based on his conversion rate, but I think part of the problem is what the fans expectations were of him as a player when he arrived at Spurs. I think we all maybe expected him to be more of a fast winger who took on and beat his man. Maybe that was his game in the Championship, but he's never really been played that way with us. So maybe the recent talk of playing him more centrally makes sense, particularly when we have those other skills available to us in Kudus and to a lesser extent Odobert. (Jury is out on Tel so far as to where his best position might be). For sure though, the guy is a clinical finisher
Certainly seemed to be playing more as a winger yesterday His goal is a good example of this, as he ran onto an angled through ball to score, rather than his bread and butter of the past two seasons of appearing at the back post
Agreed, he was quiet in the 1st half, but had more about him in the 2nd. He's just a good eye for goal in my mind....
The goal came through the inside left channel, although in the first half certainly he was staying out wider. He hasn't really got an understanding with Spence yet down that side though.
Is there still a place for a player like Johnson/Lineker in the PL? I don't know. Now the game is about all action players. Most forwards are expected to press, like a defender and work back, like a midfielder. Can you just be great at finishing, if you're not going to do the hard yards, can't hold the ball up and aren't blessed with searing pace? I guess that we will find out...but I can't help but think Johson would do his best work for a team that relies on playing a low block and can afford a player who isn't required to flog himself half to death in a high press. I don't think that's us, so something may have to give...especially if we recruit Savinho and have top options out wide.
