Well now, that's the sort of result that I feel we should be getting against the lower teams and it's sweeter because Albion were improving. I thought that we gave them too much possession after the penalty went in, that we became a bit complacent but Berahino was a live wire and we coped with him quite well. Might have changed my mind about him. Let's face it when we were losing at home in the PL to Albion etc we were a team in transition and we now seem to be settling. I feel a little more confident now about our next three.
A good result for us. Was that the first goals WBA have conceded under Pulis? We pressurised well apart from the period of the first half after we scored our goals, when we let them in a bit. Lloris was as ever very important. The usual suspects - Lloris, Vertonghen, Rose, Walker, Mason, Eriksen and Kane did well, we've come to expect good (at least) performances from them and its nice to be establishing a core of players who I would consider reliable. Chadli looked good on his comeback cameo and I think he'll be starting in the NLD next week, and Stambouli impressed as I feel he pretty much always does. I'd rather have him than anyone else in midfield with Mason if we can't have Bentaleb. Paulinho was pretty anonymous in the first half but improved markedly in the second half. Woeful shot from distance at one point but his distance shooting has never been that hot for us! Dembele was ok, better than I've come to expect from him. I still don't think he will be here past the summer though. Fazio looked alright but he always, always has a mistake in him. Maybe we'll see him get better like Demichelis has this season, you never know. Lamela frustrated throughout but we've spoken enough about that above this. Can't fault his effort and attitude but he just doesn't have 'it' like Eriksen or Kane do. He pretty much did the same thing all game. The one time he had a chance to get a ball in he threw a few stepovers and promptly ran into two WBA players and lost the ball. Its odd to be bitching about the team after a good away performance and a 3-0 win! To be hyper critical we could have created more from open play and we shouldn't have let them into the game like we did in the second half of the first period. Thankfully we have an excellent goalkeeper. Hopefully once the likes of Chadli and Townsend return to the team we may have more balance and width in the side, and moving Eriksen inside will help him be more effective still. Plus Bentaleb is to come back in and he will improve us.
Don't worry about bitching Huddle, I totally agree with your point there as I made a similar one in the post before yours.
Totally agree about Lamela, He did ok today kept things very simple and worked hard. He should be doing better though its not much to expect a bit of magic from him in games like this. Townsend should be in the first team ahead of him. At least he drives at his opponent. Yes he disappoints with his end product but he just edges Lamela for his attitude and desire. Out of the four attacking positions im very happy with Kane, Eriksen and Chadli. All three have goals in them. We just need a top class RW/RF to take us up a level, and of course suitable back up. Back to the game, an excellent performance from the boys, apart from last 20 in the first half. (thank god we have a world class keeper). Kane and Eriksen have 20 and 11 goals respectively between them which is superb. Fazio was very good apart from his usual lapse and Rose was excellent too. Kane and Eriksen, well they just produced what we expect of them COYS
Probably our 2nd or 3rd best performance of the season I felt. Albion had about a 15 minute spell in the first half where they could/ should have scored but thanks to Hugo's heroics he kept them at bay, apart from that it was a relatively easy win. Hugo, Kane, Eriksen, Rose and the second half Paulinho stood out for me. Nacer looked good in his cameo too as did Stambouli. Fazio again has a good game yet nearly costs us a goal with that poor back pass, he really is a weird problem, plays solid for 95% of the match yet you can guarantee he'll gift the opposition a scoring chance, if he cuts that momentary lack of concentration out he'll be a top CB in the Prem alongside Jan. Anyway, 3 goals and a clean sheet - what you been smoking, Spurs?
I think if Lamella did not have such a price on his head we may not be so hard on him. I feel that he is not the finished article yet. He has way more potential than Townsend IMO but needs more experience and guidance. I think the fact that we have an Argentinian manager is the reason he is playing in the first team as much as he does. Next season could see a whole different player provided he receives the right guidance.
20 goals in 27 games for Kane is some record - especially for a player loaned around for a few years, who never looked like making it. That £26M need not have been spent on Soldado.
Kane is almost the opposite of Lamella with no price and a local lad our expectations were perhaps a lot lower (they shouldn't be) he has come from no where to be atm the top striker in the league Wow!
Because Kane missed some chances against Sheff U I thought perhaps his goals would now dry up but no. The big tests come for him very soon though, do it against Arsenal and liverpool Harry...........................please.
I think Kane has a clear mind when he plays. You couldn't say that he has any great physical asset - like pace or skill or strength- but when he gets chances he has great focus and sangfroid, which makes him deadly in front of goal.
Great to see Chadli back today Strange that Poch kept Paulinho on all game as thought he wasn't very good.. Guessing Mason still being eased back and maybe Dembele still feeling the effects of the injury picked up on weds. Overall very good performance
Excellent performance overall, though I have to admit we look peculiarly prone to give up leads. We also look peculiarly likely to take them, which is more important. How teams play against teams that try to play football with them is importantly different, IMO, than how they play against teams that sit back. The last few teams that have tried to play football with us have regretted it. One factor is that not only are players going at it in a rather Argentinian gung ho style, for the most part, they’re also remarkably big and strong. This was one of the few times I watched a high def feed from close enough to see clearly, and it was an eye opener. Dembele, Eriksen, Kane, Lloris and Vertonghen were superb, I thought. Dembele bugged the crap out of the West Brom defenders with his ability to maintain possession, and, interestingly, showed an ability with key passes in the box that belies his perpetually not-ambitious-enough range of passing from farther back. I’d thought Soldado was the most suitable Eriksen replacement at CAM, and now it seems clear, surprisingly that it’s Dembele. He and Paulinho should not, however, play in deeper lying roles for different reasons. Dembele always slows up our break, and Paulinho, as I saw all too clearly, is simply a liability: shaky in possession and unwilling to tackle. He can be good at CAM, to be fair. He has the admirable habit of getting the ball towards the goal quickly and often in a slightly surprising way. Did I mention I was really impressed with Dembele at CAM? He drew the foul resulting in Eriksen’s goal, and sent an excellent pass to Kane for his first after drawing half West Brom to him. The other player I thought was a real liability was Fazio. I don’t understand how he captained a Europa League winning side. I’d guess they don’t play a high line, though. Dier is clearly better. to me. I thought Lamela was good in what I think was meant to be an unambitious role. He was a stark contrast with Paulinho in that he always ran, harassed and tackled. It’s very important that most players do that for Pochettino’s system to work. I would say Townsend, who has improved vastly this year, edges Lamela on the right. But Lamela was a very willing worker today and helped his team. Rose was good. He continues to put in a serious shift and creates problems with his pace and determination. Walker was okay but no more, I thought. I’m not at all sure he’s better at RB than Chiriches right now. Mason was reasonably good, and Stambouli was quite good, as usual, I’d say.
What Kane has is enough pace and enough strength, and he uses what he has very well. He has a very sharp football mind and is technically better than he looks at times, especially around the box. Plus he seems to be extremely fit and a very willing runner. I think at the moment some teams still underestimate him. Next season will be big for him as more players and managers will have a good measure of his ability.
Goalkeepers should be more aware of their positioning because he left Eric a lot of space to the left as we look to aim at.
followed by you're going downnnnn, you're going downnnnn you're going down, you're going down, you're going down brilliant day, best performance of the season for me
Yes yido I agree, better than the Chelsea match because no goals were conceded. I'm totally happy for the first time this season.
Interesting watching Danny Murphy's analysis on MOTD. He showed how our midfield trio were very much interchangeable, with Eriksen pretty much having a free role. Although he nominally started on the left, he was, as the map showed, very rarely there. He seemed to have a free hand to orchestrate play from wherever he saw fit and in fact spent most of the time centrally, or on the right side.
