Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea

Believe me now?

 

We need to drop Kane, that's what we need to do, we need to drop Kane. Goodnight gentlemen.

 

Sissoko was alright to be fair, but cannot rely on him for flair etc.

 

Poch?

We dont have any alternative ideas...a bit predictable as a squad.

We do seem to have a fluidity issue with the way Kane has played his game since his return. A part of me thinks...his effort(runs about a lot) is causing him to take up spaces best left for our other attackers to exploit. As a result our other attackers are trying to make the best of scraps.

Fluidity is missing badly

 

Barring the second half against Dotrtmund, we've not played well for weeks but that was truly dreadful. We never looked like we were in it, even at 0-0. In a game against them, that's unforgivable.

Some major ****ing problems to sort for Saturday.

 

That’s OK then. Stupid of me to think that Mariner was actually watching the game

 

Yep...sell the useless tramp ... actually we should

 

A boot up Eriksens arse would be a good start!

 

He barely had a touch and he's nowhere near match-fit. He was a passenger against Burnley for most of it too, barring the goal.
He should've been gradually reintroduced after missing quite a lot of football.

No. Selling a player that's scored a ridiculous number of goals because he's being managed wrong is silly.

 

Can anyone tell me what is the point in Lamela? Gives the ball away every time, can't pass, can't score and can't control his temper. A complete headless chicken.

That said I can't think of any player who did alright tonight. Maybe Winks but that's it.

Please let Dele be back soon, we need some more creativity and fast. When Eriksen is terrible we don't seem to have any ideas.

 

No .Having Kane back is not the problem. Not having Dier is the problem

 

If you say so.

 

Bugger, I'm dreading the Arsenal match now.

We'll be lucky to finish 4th, let alone 3rd at this rate.

The own goal was simply bad luck, it happens. But once again, Poch hasn't learnt by rushing Kane back. Spurs were winning without him, why change things? Kane should have to earn his way back into the team rather than rely on automatic selection.

 

SIGH.

 

Not sure he would have made much difference today to be honest. I like Dier, don't get me wrong but the whole team is unbalanced at the moment, and I suspect it's not helping by not having a Dier/Dembele/Wanyama type player available but I still believe Poch was wrong to change a winning formula by rushing Kane back too quickly.

 

He looked fine to me, we just didn't get him involved enough.

Yeah, to be honest, not much wrong with the centrebacks either, we just conceded a great goal by Pedro and Trippier being an idiot.

 

There’s several reasons for the fluidity issue. It’s not just kane being rushed back from injury, as some have said. I truly believe that even if he was fully fit we’d have the same problems. Opponents have seen us use the same players for a very long time now, so they just set up to frustrate us.
Kane marked by two+ players.
Timid trippier forced backwards to prevent the cross, knowing he won’t run down the wing.
Davies unmarked because, well, what’s the point? - he never attacks anyway.
Son man marked and surrounded so he can’t break away.
A wall of midfielders, (including our opponents furthest man forward sometimes) sitting just a few yards away from our defensive midfield players so they have to play sideways or backwards.
Compact central defensive areas when out of possession to make us huff and puff on the edge of the box, forcing a long shot, (which they know we won’t do).

Same stuff from us each week, praying that we’ve got enough quality in the side to get a result.
As time goes on, the performances are getting worse because our opponents are getting better against the same players, and planning for managers is easier because there’s no “unknowns” to worry about.

 

Utd have pulled back 8 points on Spurs in the last 10 games.
Unthinkable a couple of months ago.
Things change so quickly in football.
Which is why there is no point getting too up or down.
Things will change again.
At this stage of the season, there are so many factors to consider. Injuries play a part.
It's a test of squad depth - and that means the ability to bring in a number of players at one time without disrupting the team's general play and performance.
Without wishing to sound like a stuck record, this is where the failure to sign new players is now a problem.
Take certain players out of the Spurs team and the replacements aren't of the same standard.
Kane's injury, Alli's absence, Dembele not replaced, Son flogged to death....no players able to come in and offer anything approaching what those players do.
No decent wide players either means no alternative way of playing.
Spurs first XI - a match for anyone.
Spurs back up players - ordinary.

 

Winks was our best player tonight and all he done was make a few neat passes and had a great shot on goal. This is the level where we/ I are now praising. Not even trying to dig Winks out as he didn't do anything wrong but it just shows that A) How **** we were and B) The fact that a few good passes and a shot on goal is deemed worthy of being praised for in a side who's (supposedly) got aspirations of challenging for a title.

Would not bat an eyelid if Lloris, Trippier, Davies (he needed to maintain last season's form), Winks (despite improvements, still isn't good enough when compared with rival CMs), Wanyama, Lamela were all moved on, we may as well include Lucas too because he's seemingly well down the pecking order again, not pushed on from early season form and I highly doubt he'll want another situation similar to where he was at PSG, then there's the absolute deadwood like Janssen, Vorm and Nkoudou, too. Doing nothing last summer and January now means there's a **** load of things to do this coming summer - and that's on top of the likelihood of losing key players like Toby and Eriksen.

Absolute **** show on our hands. We really did **** up a golden opportunity this season to push on, instead we've stagnated and are on the verge of regressing.