Agreed. Lamela will be back to square one confidence wise if he isn't rewarded with a start against Toon. They're not the sort of team to stifle out the opposition so he should get plenty of chance to play.
Agreed re lamela and Newcastle. So far this season, we've not really seen any great performances from any of our attacking players (other than Townsend), so it's important that someone who steps up gets rewarded. Lennon on the left isn't working, so lamela there for me, too. I guess the other two will be Townsend and holtby. On another positive note, I thought dembele and capoue looked like a solid partnership tonight, that offered something different to that of paulinho and sandro. Coys!
So then ... Adebayor will be travelling to Tromso (impending "illness" or not) . Brad and Kane for that game. Would like the coaches to have the guts to let Veljkovic play at CB too.
I thought Capoue looked rusty, understandably so. Dembele's been really good this season but it's been difficult with Sandro coming back and playing so well too. Might be interesting to see the two of them playing alongside eachother at somepoint but I'm happy to go for one of them plus Paulinho at home as we need a man that gets forward more.
Yes rcl....Sheriffs goal, I've been watching 5 minutes behind you lot since the first half! it became clear a large espresso was needed so i paused it and when I came back and picked the laptop up, I found it occupied my brain more to keep it like that!
Really? Defoe was bloody awful. He still has no idea how to stay onside, he dropped deep at the wrong times and his runs seemed to be poorly timed, too. Soldado had a poor game against Everton, but Defoe's last league start was a disaster.
Yeah he did look rusty, but for a first game back and all things considered, it was a good performance. Agree completely on dembele's performances and the various partnerships.
Positives + Lamela looking like the player we hope we signed, taking on players, dribbling past players, and he deserved his goal + Walker's display down the right + Defoe breaking Chivers' record + "Jermain Defoe, he's a..." chants, hopefully meaning that the police have gone back to ignoring Peter Herbert + Better attacking play than previous Europa games + A more consistant display, rather than having one good half and one crap one as we're used to + 90 minutes for Kaboul + 60 minutes for Capoue + Harry Kane getting some time + A noisy crowd Negatives - Occasional sloppiness at the back, notably Eriksen's error in the first half and for the goal - Defoe only got nine touches in the first half - ITV showing their usual level of support for us when the game was pulled back to 2-1 - The crowd volume noticeably dropping when the score went to 2-1 - What was with the ball? Every time it touched someone, be it Defoe for his half chance in the first half or whenever Sheriff's defenders headed it away, it left a chalky mess all over their faces. Was Kate Moss a guest of honour tonight?
This implies that Soldada has had a good game(s) since joining the squad. I can't remember one., but I guess your willing to wait from now till the Summer Solstice for Soldada to start scoring.
Especially when he damn near gifted Sheriff a goal. He did get a few good deliveries in during the second half to redeem himself - and his set piece delivery was better than Lamela's.
Yeah, Eriksen improved in the second half. I think the whole team needs a bit of time at the moment, I'm glad we have the Europa League as a proving ground for players not currently in the team.
I try and avoid criticism of Defoe or Soldado as the current system doesn't play to their strengths and operating as a striker in a lone role waiting for service and support (which doesn't arrive) means what should they do? abandon their position and go looking for the ball, or just try and stay alert and make runs in the hope a ball arrives. Ideally we need someone like Aguero, Suarez, Torres, or dare I say it, Bale. Dynamic athletic that wants the ball outside the box, someone that will be driving forward, swapping positions through the middle and wing, as currently our striker is easily marked and the centre backs have an easy job. There where stats showing how few touches Soldado has, now Defoe is getting criticised for hardly touching the ball, so I think we should focus more on the set-up and realise Defoe or Soldado aren't going to flourish unless we provide them with the right support.
Sorry about that- We continued at the same level in block 35 (1882). In fact we half cheered their goal as there were no Sheriff fans so we felt it only right they get some support.
Also more important for lamela, as how much pre season did he have with Roma? in many ways the cup games and odd sub appearances are his pre season with us, hes probably just getting up to speed overall and he knows how important this year is for his world cup place.
I have to say that I do agree with what the commentators said - when we click, we're going to be really quite good I think.
Only saw first half online but was impressed with Lamela doing what some of the others haven't been doing- running at a massed defence. Just shows what can happen if you try it. I think that it might be the best thing to kick start his Spurs career.
