I thought it was a good match today, 2 teams trying to play football and as a result we got an open game that either side could have won. Both teams had spells of dominance but I thought overall we shaded it and whilst I think that a draw at Swansea is not a bad result, we could have won the game and carried on our good run. Eriksen was clearly the outstanding player on the pitch, but he always is if the match is open. I thought Lamela was OK and unlucky to go off before Chadli. Alli looked good again but his decision making was a little off today. I also thought that Walker was very good and had a great battle with Montero who was Swansea's most potent threat but not as good as Gary Birtles suggested on the stream I was watching!
He is a threat in the sense of his positive play but his decisions on when to shoot and when to pass spoil his whole game. Not sure if it's teachable but it might be worth working with someone on this aspect of his game. Watch Kane his decision making is excellent most of the time and is a key part of his contribution to the team, although that is suffering atm as the media go on and on about his lack of goals. Get a new record FFS
Was that who it was? He said ray Wilkins was an old team mate of his and having just googled them they were. So I guess it was. He was a ****ing berk. Constantly saying X should have passed here and Y should have shot then. The 2 best were saying eriksen should have shot when 2 players would have blocked it rather than delaying and shooting just wide and that Montero should have crossed early despite not having any team mates there. Then when Montero was miffed at his team he says "don't moan at them mate just cross it, its their fault if they aren't there". When the replay comes on he then said "he does have a point with what he's saying to his team mates"
Exactly yet no one really mentions the fact that Rooney hasn't scored an away goal in the PL for nearly a year now. Kane doesn't score for a handful of games and suddenly the press are all over it and he's a one season wonder. Mightn't have something to do with him wearing a Spur shirt would it? Nah, surely not!
If anyone was wondering why Wilkins was there yesterday, I've been told that he now works for Villa. He was scouting Swansea, who they play later in the month. No idea why Ljungberg was there, though.
A helter-skelter game for both sets of fans. Good support from Spurs TBF and a far more honest performance from TH (despite the booking for diving). As many have said it could have gone either way without either side dominating for long periods although Spurs had longer periods in charge. We could say we hit the bar, you could say, 'What the **** was Kane doing?, we could claim both fee kicks should have been saved, you could say, 'What the **** was Kane doing?. But the reason I'm commenting is twofold. 1) This season the Swans have been poor (Man U aside) and yesterday was not a good performance, even at 2 - 1 up people were commenting we played like the team trying to catch up. So 4th for Spurs playing like that and wasting the clear chances that came your way (although most were long range efforts - 11 on target?? Not sure I recall Fabianski making 9 saves!! maybe wrong or maybe they didn't cause a problem) is a bit fanciful. Wouldn't mind you getting top 4 at all though. 2) Only Townsend caused any real problems so I'm stunned he's getting so much stick on here. Other players had their moments but every time Townsend got involved he ripped Taylor apart and you looked dangerous. Good luck for the rest of the season I think we'll struggle.
Looked dangerous maybe but looking the part is not quite enough. Townsend messed up at least two chances for goals yesterday by being greedy.
Our best 11 players this year are: Lloris Davies Vertonghen Alderweireld Walker Mason Dier Alli Eriksen Lamela Son Other players who should arguably start are Kane, Clinton, Chadli and perhaps Bentaleb and Dembélé. We’ve been playing well overall, but rely on a high energy style, and looked a little tired both games this week. Probably most posters want us to take the two cups we’re still in seriously. I’d like to see us keep rotating the fullbacks and GK as we’ve been doing, and start rotating the eight remaining spots among the names above regardless of whether it’s a cup. Everyone would play 3 of 4 or 2 of 3 games, depending on fixture congestion. Add in Townsend and perhaps Clinton as impact subs, and it kills two birds with one stone. It gives game time to players who should get it, and keeps the team fresh enough to play a high energy style all year. We need to pick up a new right footed CB and a DM in January, and do our best with those spots till then. Good luck as well. I like Swansea for playing good football and think you’ll do pretty well this season. I’m not sure why you’re having trouble now, tbh. Your team ought to be able to get seventh or eighth. The rap on Townsend is no end product, which has been true for years. But there’s no doubt he injects pace into our team when brought on as a sub. You have a point in the sense that from the moment we settle down in the other end, nobody has had an end product this year for us. We’ve scored almost exclusively from set pieces and on the counter. So someone like Townsend who at least causes trouble and adds interest is doing relatively well.
The Townsend issues is another reason why we need more rotation. If people think they are going to get very limited chances to play they will always tend to try to show themselves in a good light. I think if he had a run in the team we would see a much more confident playuer.
Yeah, I think there are a number of players who won’t bring our level of play down if we play two or three at a time. The one time Townsend looked really good this year was when he subbed in with Lamela--when he had some hope of winning a starting spot, in other words--and did what we want him to do: dribble down the right and deep into the box before cutting the ball back.
I'd prefer a first and second eleven, a settled team has time to develop. Use the second eleven in the cups. When individuals broke through into the first they would know how the team plays and their position in it would be clearer. I understand your point about Townsend but tend to think his poor decision making runs deeper than just lack of opportunity.
Thought it was a good game on Sunday, we were better in my opinion and should've come away with three points but there were good bits of play by both sides. Sloppy defending really cost us, which so far this season hasn't been a regular occurrence so I'm hoping it was just a one off as the defence has been impressive so far. As the commentator on the stream I was watching said, Walker was pretty much in the CB position when Montero was played the pass out wide and although we know Walker is lightning, I think he left himself with too much to do and ultimately didn't prevent the cross and Ayew, one of the smallest guys on the pitch, was unmarked and headed home, so neither Toby or Jan are blameless either in my eyes. Kane's sliced own goal was also really poor, I know it was a freak accident and 9 times out of 10 that gets cleared but I felt he should've been glued to the near post and thus could've headed the ball or been in a more comfortable position to have dealt with it. I thought he also had a really poor game, I think twice I saw him in positions where a pass would've been more beneficial but he went for the shot, I think he's so desperate to prove himself again that he's forgetting a few basics that would be much more important to the team. The goals will come, there's no doubt about it in my opinion, just needs to keep calm and stick to the basics at times. Eriksen's freekicks were amazing, the first I initially thought took a deflection as Fabianski was flat-footed and the ball wasn't more than a yard away from him but somehow he just ****ed up his positioning and Eriksen took advantage. The second was incredible though, to loop it at the far post over the keeper takes incredible skill and technique, he really is a wizard from those areas. No one really stood out for me, Alli done a few nice moves but also lost possession a few times, Dier wasn't as involved as he usually is and no one else really took a grip of the game. Lamela, Chadli and Townsend (when he came on) were poor. Not a bad result but does feel like two points dropped rather than a point gained. Onto Brenda-less Liverpool after the internationals, a team we owe a beating after recent seasons.
As I said before, I was relieved we kept the unbeaten run going in a game I thought we were going to lose. The positive of Eriksen looking back to his best outweighs the still-disapointing points total. We now have three players who are creating goals at a good clip in Lamela, Eriksen and Son, which is what we had last year. Our defending is vastly improved, and I’d say our overall play is much better as well. We’ve now scored 6 in our last two games, compared to five in our first six. Our defending was worse against Swansea, but you don’t have to look far for the reason. Dier and Lamela, who have worked extremely hard, looked tired. We have got to rotate more to make the system work through fixture congestion, it’s as simple as that. The good news is there are a number of players who would provide little or no dropoff if they came in, including Chadli, Bentaleb, Dembélé and (see below) Kane. The defending for the first was not good, no doubt. Dier deserves some blame for not tracking Ayew, as well as the CBs for not remembering he’s very good heading the ball from distance. But it was 3/4 a very well executed break to 1/4 bad defending, to me. It looked like last year in the sense that we kept committing more forward to try to win the ball in midfleld, until when they did win it we had no one defending the back four. They did everything right, from getting the ball down the field quickly to crossing accurately, precisely and with tempo to a perfect header. I agree about Kane. We have 11 players who really deserve their spots at this point (some of us have mixed feelings about some of the defenders, granted) and Kane isn’t one of them. Would a break be good for him? If Son and Mason were fit right now, I’d have trouble leaving them, Alli, Lamela or Eriksen out.
I think he’s a good player to have against the strongest teams. He’ll help control the midfield. But I agree that against weaker teams he’ll make us more likely to drop points. Put another way, if Dembélé starts against anyone, the chances of a draw increase.
Overall a good performance and pleased that energy levels didn't show the usual post Europa lethargy. I think if you'd offered most Spurs fans 2 draws from 2 tricky away games, with the added bonus of seeing Eriksen back to his mercurial best, you'd struggle to find unhappy customers. We are 7 unbeaten in the league which is a fantastic run given the chaos and instability reigning at most of our immediate rivals. Bloody annoying that Pool sacked Brenda before our game though; now they'll all raise their game for the new manager. Two lingering concerns after today are: 1) my namesake - again. I saw a Gary Neville analysis recently that highlighted how Harry seems to be operating much more like a 10 than a 9 this season, often drifting deep or wide to deliver the ball into danger areas when in reality he's the one who should be in those areas ready to apply the finishing touch. I've always thought his skill set lends itself more to playing slightly behind a natural goalscorer. He reminds me a lot of Sheringham in his movement, vision, decision making and strength with both feet. Both lacked the explosive pace or 'selfish gene' to play as out n out strikers. Sheringham flourished alongside poachers like Jurgen. Heck - he even made Armstrong look good! Maybe Kane is playing like this because he's a bit low on confidence? Maybe because teams are doubling up on him this season and he wants to mix things up a bit and keep them guessing? Maybe he's been instructed to play this way? I'm really not sure, but the fact is this season - with Eriksen, Son and finally Lamela all looking very handy in the roving #10 spots, he really shouldn't be playing there full stop. 2) I mean this as a praise, but the level of quality in our starting XI is now such that the rest of the squad is being exposed for the below average lucky dip that it largely is. We reached a similar level under Harry when more than a couple of injuries to players meant we really struggled. I refer specifically to the introductions of Townsend and Dembele, who both once again contributed nothing of note to the game. I don't think either player is that bad, but as the level of quality of our first team finally goes up, their ability to fill anything resembling a useful squad role will go down. Beyond Njie, Bentaleb, Rose and Wimmer, unless I'm forgetting someone there aren't many players in our wider squad who I'd trust to 'do a job'. I hope that at the end of a long and gruelling season playing MP's high octane system, this lack of depth doesn't come back to haunt us.
