As soon as we have the ball going into their half it goes wide, then backwards, then central, then wide, then backwards....Lennon and Townsend have to play on their proper sides. We've looked threatening a few times in the first 15 when Lennon came in at pace off the left and his lateral movement made some space, but apart from that they aren't working well as inverted wingers. Townsend, as ever, has had a couple of wasteful and self-indulgent shots. Dembele is once again demonstrating why he is so frustrating, he's shown some nice touches and looks as strong in possession of the ball as ever but he hardly ever plays a forward pass and is very very left footed. Kane and Soldado have showed some glimpses of interplay but its clearly a partnership that needs more time. Stambouli has looked generally tidy in possession and has broken up play well. I wouldn't mind us moving to one up top and bringing on a better ball player in a midfield 3, as long as Townsend and Lennon get out onto the left and right respectively to keep the width. Hopefully we have another gear to step up to in terms of tempo too.
Well next season perhaps we will be playing against players who are of the same caliber as ourselves, in the Championship
Very unimpressive, how do we manage to look so naive against a side struggling in the Championship. We do not have a player in midfield with a good football brain as far as I can see. I am seriosly disappointed in Dembele he has skills but his decision making is awfull. Only Lennon fillls me with any hope but not where he is playing atm. Not good!
I'm not sure we do have this extra gear to move up too! Tim Sherwoods stock as a manager goes up and up the more the season progresses. It's clear the players are just not that good. We are a very average side. Lloris is our only player you could actually say is class. The rest flatter to deceive. I am trying to think positive and see what Pochetinno is trying to achieve but honestly the football isn't much better than when AVB was in charge and that is saying something!
Yeah, to be fair we have created a few chances, but wasted them. It looks obvious to me we should be trying to cross and dribble in from the wings much more than we're doing. We're bringing in Lamela in the hopes he can do his salvage job on our cup games again.
Yes it does. I think his plan was to screw around in our own half until the other team got its confidence and poured forward, then hit them on the break. Whatever it was, it certainly worked better than what we're doing this year. Ah, you've got to be kidding. An inviting ball into the box and no one bothers running for it. I understand it was a miscommunication, but it looks a lot like lack of desire. They're playing a bit more open this half, which should be a hopeful sign, but we're not moving quickly enough.
Do you use screw around in the USA as we do RWAEB ie for sexual liasons? I have to say I missed that aspect of our play, no wonder they're knackered.
Reverse psychology and all that! Lamela is really infuriating as he has so much talent. I'd like him to go away in the summer and do what Ronaldo did years ago and bulk up a bit. Also just do the simple things a bit better.
Screw around in the great American language means either to have a casual sexual encounter, or to waste time and dither aimlessly, depending on context. Funny that I don't have any self-consciousness about mixing the two meanings. I do often use "fart around," which only means the second, and not the first. Finally, "Fool around" works almost exactly like screw around, except fool around has the connotation of a romantic encounter which progresses past flirting and short of parking the car. Though I guess "parking the car" as a euphemism for sex probably isn't used outside the US. Breaking news: Lamela does have a right foot!
I've got to say, we get a lead against Brighton, and it's hearts in mouths time. Any other team anywhere near our level would kill this game off with another goal, methinks. Brighton could have had two pens, and deserved at least one. Dembele is such a good dribbler and ball winner, but his passing and decision making are iffy. I remember seeing some shots-hitting-woodwork stats. Soldado certainly seems to have a gift for it.
What's Vertonghen playing at in this half? Poor concentration at the back and wandering about up the pitch.
