Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool

yeah result is all as shown by the fact we played much "better" football last season but got dicked .

 

Maybe Lucas ahead of Son but Pochettino will have a reason for the line up and he has been watching them in training for the three weeks. Hard not to pick Kane one of the worlds top strikers. If he hadn't and as is very likely the game was similar fans would have been incredulous as to why he didn't pick Kane. If you have x number of players in form and they are just enough to make the 11 fine. What do you do if you have 12 players in form? Football is a squad game at this level that's why everyone expects Spurs to buy players to improve. The main proof that Pochettino's decision on Lucas was correct is the fact none of our players had much success on the ground because of the Liverpool defence. What we needed was another Kane and the nearest we have to that is Llorente
Lucas instead of Son is a better call but can you hear the fans if we had dropped Son.

 

I’ve said starting Kane wasn’t the issue for me though. He was actually the best attacking player on the pitch for us yesterday (not that he was any good himself, just better than the others). I’ve also said that I’d have started Kane providing he was fit to play the full 90 (or 120 if needed).

My issue is starting a clearly unfit Winks who couldn’t manage a full game. I know I’ve been very anti-Winks but this isn’t a dig at Winks, this is a dig at Poch for playing an unfit player over another who’s been in-form and took us to that very final. We’ve played Eriksen at CM a lot whilst Winks has been injured so why not just keep with that? That also allows Lucas to keep his spot on the right, with Son left, Kane up top and Alli in behind.

 

I think last season´s was excellent. And what about the times Barcelona took apart Manchester United, absolute vintage. And Real´s dismantling of Juve was a master class of football. And what about the 2007 final with AC Milan getting revenge for 2005!!

A possible reason for last night´s game not being what you would expect for a final was that both teams were playing in an environment they are not acclimatised to - 3000 feet above sea level on a warm evening. You are not going to run around like crazy.

 

Sad that you guys lost last night but hopefully lessons were learned and an áreas on the pitch were identified as needing improving in order to chisel openings against a defence as miserly as Liverpool´s. A midfielder in the mould of a young Cesc Fabrigas!!!

 

Last Word On Spurs (@LastWordOnSpurs) Tweeted:
Despite a poor performance and a player not at his best this season, a tearful Kieran Trippier went to console the Tottenham Hotspur fans who remained, reaching out to each one that he passed.

It looked like a sincere goodbye from the Spurs defender.

Class Act

#THFC #COYS https://t.co/1ZullPQEi2

 

Always been a top professional and seems like a genuinely decent bloke. He’s had some good moment in a spurs shirt, but sadly some not so great ones what outweigh that.
He’s just shown over time that he’s not quite good enough for the level we’re consistently competing at, and therefore where we’re trying to get in the future.
Wish him all the best if he does leave.

 

The debate was big enough before kick off so it's Important now

Kane was poor...too much Kane this Kane that....he's not quite Ronaldo or Messi. He brought no urgency upfront...but at least he got to play in the final eh...I find him motivated selfishly at times and he exposes Poch the Romantics little ticker. Kane is getting singled out because his inclusion was causing an issue due to him being a necessity we can't cope without yesterday from KO, apparently. He showed no sign of a man who deserves that pedestal. I just hope people will realise for the future that he is part of the squad...as a collective we are of a certain level and nothing will change unless we improve what's around him.

Alli is another one...people are far too romantic about him...I'm sick of his no shows...then he will do something here and there and people latch onto it forever.

Son was poor too...Moura will spend the summer thinking he's destined to always be a bit part player.

Poch the Romantic needs to become Poch the pragmatist like most top Gaffers.

Over to the owners of the club...your move

 

Poch won't reach another level until he realises he's the boss.

I was talking to my City supporting brother and he made the point that your semi final was your final the way you celebrated it. It was way OTT and it's hard to reach the climatic euphoria again when you think 'job done'. Poch should have re focused us because job not done.

We lack success so we got excited but yesterday we got lost. It doesn't matter comparing our shots to theirs...I've watched Spurs under many guises too...I know when we are up for it and when we are over awed.

Well done on the Journey but the Final was a **** show from us for us...not compared to them and what they did but for us...we didn't do ourselves justice

 

You need to become serial finalists in all cup competitions for one to find its way back to the NWHL. There´s nowt like experience to losing in a final -just ask Liverpool who had lost their last three European finals plus another loss to Manchester City in the Caribou Cup, that they had competed in until last night.

 

One of the reasons I like Poch is that he uses data to make decisions not prejudice or mumbo jumbo. Kane and Son are both better players than Lucas so rightly got the nod. A hat trick more than 3 weeks ago is not any sort of indication of how Moura would have done last night. The match was one of those where a couple of changes of a few inches would have had us winning. If we hadn't given away the penalty and scored one of our 8 shots on goal then we would have likely won 1-0. Everyone would then be saying that our game plan was brilliant and Klopp was a serial loser. Managers can't actually affect the bounce of the ball during the match, however magic they are.
If we keep going like this we will eventually win something. If we can sign a few better players then we will have an even higher chance. But they won't be easy to come by.

 

This 100%

 

I don't think there is much room for tactical analysis when you concede a penalty within 30 seconds of the biggest game of your career. So, so cruel that it happened to moussa of all people but fact is once you're a goal down against the best defence in Europe all plans and all strategy go out the window. It may well be that our plan was to bring on Lucas or Llorente in the event that we went a goal down and found ourselves having to breach said best defence in Europe, but which manager in the world is going to make his first sub after 3 minutes?

It has been a worrying recurring theme this season both in the PL but especially in the CL. We start games terribly and end up a goal down before most people have even found their seat. What happened last night was unfortunate but Moussa just shouldn't have his arm up in the air in the box. Who is he pointing to or for? He looked nervous, simple as. And probably forgot his whereabouts as a result.

All in all I think i am in a good place. The fact that I may have just witnessed Toby, Eriksen and hopefully Trippier in a spurs shirt for the last time honestly doesn't bother me. It is that abundantly clear that this group will forever be close but no cigar, and that it is time to roll the dice and try a new approach. As Dona rightly says, there is no room for romanticism or sentiment in the pursuit of success. If in a month from now there hasn't been any movement, I will start to get nervous. Very nervous. But right now I am excited to see what the future holds.

 

I wonder how many of our players woke up this morning thinking "God,I was crap yesterday!?"

 

For me Sport is played by humans not robots therefore data etc cannot take everything into consideration to churn out the right answer

 

In theory I agree, but honestly believe that it was the circumstances of that victory that drove the celebrations rather than the victory itself.
I know how I reacted FFS , so can only imagine the impact if directly involved.

 

…….and I'm so surprised,as a very senior Spurs fan,that I'm not shocked by the defeat...or upset. These past seasons have been so weird that you just cannot predict who will "turn up" on a matchday. I feel sorry for the travelling fans who get shafted more than they get elated.....

 

Just about all of them I’d say mate. As well as the manager.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m immensely proud of the lads getting to the CL final but it all felt for nothing in the end with the performance they churned out.

 

Is Sucky a secret Spurs fan? He's been on here more than I have!

 

if you don't celebrate a win like that why bother playing / watching football and anyway i think we may have had a minor celebration at the end of our SF .