But we did! A brilliant pass put Walker through but he dithered, there were too great balls in by Townsend and Chadli was well found on the edge of the six yard box.
It seems that, once you take the big step down in quality from Eriksen and Kane, attacking player-wise, our two most effective players are someone who's quite useless but somehow gets a few assists and someone who's quite useless but scores the odd goal. We've let a lot of our second-rate attacking players go in the last few years who would probably improve this team.
I guess he means the incident where Defoe grabbed Alderweireld's shirt and then got a slight tug as he let go.
I think that Chadli and Davies are both decent enough players, but I really don't think that they complement each other at all. Rose brings the best out of the Belgian, while I think that a more traditional winger would be better for the Welshman.
Ailderweireld (didn't think spellcheck would help me out with that one) holding Defoe's arm in the first half when Defoe stayed on his feet and got his shot in with his left. If he'd stopped playing or done that sort of dropping-to-the-floor thing, arms raised as if to say "ref, what was that?" (as he had every right to in my opinion and I *hate* diving and simulation) then he likely could and should have got a penalty.
There are positives to be taken out of all 5 of our matches this season. There are positives to be taken out of all 5 of our matches this season but there are also negatives. Most of us on here have and still are giving the team time and willing MP to succeed. We were unlucky v united. We played really well v stoke until the last 10 mins We battled well v Leicester and only a defensive laspe let us down We played well against a very good Everton side and with a bit of luck could have won. We kept a clean sheet, battled well, scored a good goal and won today. But while all that is legitimate, it is also legitimate to point out how slow and ponderous we are in attack and how lucky we were today. No one is calling for MPs head ... in fact on other threads the majority want him to be given time AND the players he wants...but that doesn't take away from today's match being mainly boring, that waiting until the 76th min to get a shot on target is poor and that, had we been playing City or Arsenal or Palace or Southampton or Everton etc etc like that we'd have been comfortably beaten
As PS pointed out, Defoe clearly pulls Alderweireld's shirt before the Belgian does anything. If we're going with the correct decision, then it should've been a free-kick to us.
That's the one! I know they both had hold and it looks worse on slow-mo replays but if you're the one who ends up, arm outstretched grabbing the attacker's arm with them not holding you, in the box, as they're trying to get a shot away...well good luck!
As bad as we may have played , credit to Sunderland who probably played their best game of the season with both Kaboul and Defoe trying their best to prove a point. They controlled the midfield with M'villa ( who was a target of top clubs) closing down very effectively. RCLhad we been playing City or Arsenal or Palace or Southampton or Everton etc etc like that we'd have been comfortably beaten Each game and opposition has to be played so against other teams we will set up and play differently--- we played Everton and were not beaten let alone comfortably.
I am very pleased we finally got a win I'm sure that will help the whole team psychologically. This team looks what it is, full of class but young and naive. I fully expect us to get better and better as the season goes on. We were very clearly a class above Sunderland today and apart from the brief period following our goal Sunderland struggled to stay with us. In the end we tired them out and dominated and could have had 2 or 3 more goals. Let's be patient let's enjoy the progress I am convinced that if we keep this squad intact, perhaps add a top striker, by the end of this season we will be a force to be reckoned with. The only cloud on my horizon are injuries. Last season we were very lucky with few injuries : This season it's a little ominous atm. please log in to view this image R Mason Knee Injury no return date please log in to view this image N Bentaleb Ankle/Foot Injury no return date please log in to view this image C N'Jie Muscular Injury 17th Sep 15 doubtful please log in to view this image M Dembele Ankle/Foot Injury 17th Sep 15 doubtful please log in to view this image C Eriksen Knee Injury Should return after the international break. 17th Sep 15
How very Spurs: we were far better against Everton and Man Utd yet got a point between the two games, while today we were poor yet got the win. There's an encouraging sign that maybe, just maybe, Poch has a backup plan after all - playing with inverted wingers wasn't working, so we brought on Townsend on the hour to stretch their defence as a more traditional winger - although it should've been Chadli going off instead of Son, given you could actually tell Son was on the pitch for most of the game. There were a couple of odd tactical choices, though: surely we should've had Mason as No.10 and Alli in central midfield, while the game once again demonstrated Chadli is only effective with Rose supporting him from left back - if Davies starts at left back, we should be playing one of Pritchard, Townsend or Lamela on the left (or, here's an idea, just switch Chadli to the right with Walker supporting him)
I have to say, I disagree with this comment. We were the better team in the first half, imo. Second half you were the better team and our legs went, you just about deserved the win, no complaints about that
I am not disputing that you played very well in the first half and it would not have been a surprise if you had a lead, but that was sheer effort on your part and it took its toll in the second half. Spurs did not play that well but the class was still obvious. IMO
Our best player on the day seemed to be Dier, admittedly followed closely by Mason. Kane worked hard, Alli showed a few flashes and Townsend looked sharp when he came on. But apart from that we were hardly impressive and some, including Chadli, were half-assed. A lovely move for the goal, but otherwise a very uninspired performance, with some very worrying defensive lapses in the first half. Credit to Sunderland for that first 45 mins, but overall, we look ponderous and laboured - and way short of even a top 8 finish. But 3 points is 3 points I suppose..... certainly an improvement on that front.
But we played well that day v everton...our passing was better and we created chances throughout that match...my criticism was about today
Better lucky than good is the moral of Spurs’ season so far. As has been mentioned, our worst game of the season was our only win. I didn’t like the lineup. As disappointing as our start was in terms of points. we’d only somewhat arguably been the better team in all four games. Bringing on a new player smelled like desperation to me, and the combination of him, the new-ish Alli and our laziest player resulted in us getting outworked in the first half. I was afraid Son would be neither ready nor fresh. We’d been playing reasonably well due to a little continuity, I thought, and once we brought on two players who had had a part in building that we looked much better. If only Townsend would go wide and cross more often he’d be a good player for us.I would have preferred Carroll or Pritchard to Son today. Brilliant performances from Dier and Mason, good from Alli, Townsend and Lamela. The back four were okay but no more, and all our other attackers weren’t good. Bad finishing has been our problem this year. Our buildup, while still too slow at times, has been improved. We’ve done a better job creating chances. We’ve just been fluffing almost every single one. Son, Kane, Lamela and Chadli all had bad misses off good chances. Oh, and our leader in assists last year, who I’d jumped on the bandwagon in giving up on, gets our best assist of the year today in his 25th minute of the season. The assist was very similar to all his assists: from 5 - 50 yards outside the box in the middle of the field, he threads a perfectly weighted ball to a runner heading in on goal to get him in alone on the keeper. I have no idea how he keeps finding this pass when it seems so hard for anyone else to do it. (Mason has a couple, tbf). It was also noticeable how he and Townsend helped bring us to life at the 70 minute mark. We did look determined to out work Sunderland and do everything we could to get that goal, and the determination was rewarded. That Lamela loan collapsing doesn’t seem like such a tragedy now, to put it mildly, even if he did miss an open header. I don’t have too many problems with Pochettino. We’re one of only a couple of teams to have edged the run of play in every game this season. Bad finishing will kill anybody, and it’s been been killing us this year. One of my biggest criticisms so far is starting Son today. I’d say we were lucky to get the win today, because that’s true as far as it goes, but if we had the results we should have, I think we’d be at 2 wins and 3 draws. Oh, and our Spurple third kits get a big thumbs up. Clean design, and whoever made them tearaway was a genius. I think it seriously took some of the venom out of the crowd to see their grabbing highlighted for all the world to see.
I didn't think they created much either, they had the better of the first half with Defoe hitting the post(I think Lloris saves that if it's on target) and the penalty shout, which was another good chance for Defoe but after that they didn't really have anything. We didn't create anything of note until about an hour in but they were defending well, particularly against our crosses. Then Townsend and Lamela came on and we took advantage of a tiring side. It might not have been entertaining or particularly pleasing to watch but this is the second game this season where the opposition looked tired in the second half so for all the lack of chances we were at least still doing something useful. We did it a number of times last season too, you can't play well every week so it's useful to have other ways of winning matches. There's still a lot for us to improve on but I think today's game was positive overall.
