Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Sheffield United

It's all well and good saying that spurs should give Poch more time to turn things around. But the problem is that it's evident that poch doesn't want to be at spurs. He has dropped hints left, right and centre that he would prefer to be elsewhere.

Someone has to blink first.

 

Come on DH, I wrote that back in mid-August, well before it became clear how much of an uphill struggle the summer had left us with. Had I sat down to write it on Sep 1st I assure you it would have read very differently. Since then I have said numerous times that I will accept finishing 5th or 6th (I still want a domestic trophy) if we use this transition season properly and complete the rebuild by the end of July 2020.

 

I accept that to an extent Colin. My main point was if you compare our squad at the outset of 09/10 and the squad at the outset of 19/20, I think the contrast is as clear as our trophy cabinet.

 

Poch won’t resign because he loses the huge payoff he will get if he’s sacked and also then he can act like Levy did him wrong.

He knows he’s in a no lose position atm.

 

We shouldn't be in a transition season six years into a manager's tenure, especially as it's yet to reach its full potential. It's not like where Fergie hung up the gloves at Utd once he achieved that league title with an ageing squad, most of these players have many years in the tank. This should've been the season to at least match that of 16/17.

There was a lot of excitement and expectation coming into this season and that's because we knew the quality of the squad was on paper the third best in the league. Some how, we've managed to massively underperform thus far and for me the buck stops with the manager. His comments in the summer, his demeanour in interviews, his poor selections and substitutions just stink of a man who's not fully committed, and if the manager isn't fully committed, we can hardly blame the players.

 

I think the point was no one thought your squad was long in the tooth or void of ability or getting on.

You have only changed your mind on this because of how badly you are playing at the moment. Whose fault is it? Who knows.

Just as we were cack under mourinho in 16/17 we employed conte and pretty much the same group of players smashed it the next season.

I cant seriously believe the players have dropped off so fast. Likewise i dont think poch is a bad manager but something is seriously wrong and the longer this malais goes on, the more damage will be done to poch (again see jose who lost his aura of winner after we sacked him second time)

 

Well it certainly seems Liverpool have the PL in their pocket and City have hit a bump (shame!).Liverpool had a fair defence last year and a couple of goalscorers.
This season a buy from Southampton at center half (how did we miss him?) has added the necessary cement to that defence. Sometimes your lucky,sometimes you are not!
I've always thought a great defence and 2 goalscorers and you don't look back.
We have a couple of goalscorers (off colour at present!) but our defence needs shooting!

 

Time for the pass map...

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Looking at that, it becomes clear what went wrong
i.) Kane and Alli were playing far too deep, with Alli practically a central midfielder while Kane occupied the space Alli should have been in while also playing deeper than Ndombele was
ii.) Lo Celso and Ndombele were occupying the same space on the pitch, clogging up the channels
iii.) Ndombele was too far up the pitch, as him being so high up meant he wasn't offering an option for Davies or Sissoko

That third point is critical: in the match against Red Star the sitting FB was on the right and the running FB on the left, so in that match Lo Celso would drift to the right to receive the ball from Foyth and either take it forward or lay it off to Ndombele. But against Sheffield United the sitting FB was on the left and the running FB on the right, so what we needed was someone to receive the ball from Davies - yet both Ndombele and Lo Celso drifted to the right, reducing Davies' passing options while also leaving Sissoko isolated, and this is what led to Kane and Alli dropping so deep as well as the constant stream of passes back to Dier and his constantly being pressed onto his weak foot by the Sheffield United players who knew how to deal with that

 

What a shame that MOTD didn't have a "production error" where Lo Celso's goal against Red Star was spliced into the highlights...

 

Those maps look like my wife in the super market riding her trolley and doing figure eights wearing me out trying to keep up with her.

 

Looks like my missus trying to park.

 

By the way.Where was that Brighton team that beat us up?

 

That day it was more to do with our incapabilities I’d say, Smithy.

 

Picture us as one of the best trees on the street,then termites attack us and we begin to rot. Time to knock the old tree down and plant another(?).