Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v RB Leipzig

Absolutely.

Eriksen probably didn't either.

 

I ain't a Jose fan and still disagree with sacking Pochettino but Jose had no choice tonight.
We are paying for Pochettino getting rid of Llorente with no replacement...that was his choice not Jose's.

EVERY player put a massive shift in tonight and but for one mistimed challenge would have got a draw.
We lost at home to Ajax but won away so there is hope.

The only **** thing about tonight was the three behind me who spent 90 minutes slagging Maureen off instead of getting behind the team.

Criticism is fine but it has to be fair otherwise it's just whining.

As far as I am concerned we put a real shift in against a VERY good team...and that was without 2 key players.

The players and Jose did their best and that is good enough for me...it ain't his team and he has only had 3 months.

And we are still in this

COYS

 

Keeps playing like this and I will! Lol.

Winks is simple but he understands his job, in a 433 partnered with two elite midfielders all he has to do is graft his arse off and then give them the ball and as we saw they can make stuff happen, problem for them is that there's no Kane or Son to finish off what they create at the moment.

Gio and Tanguy are giving me loads of hope for next season though, think they're absolutely fantastic and well worth the money we paid (so long as they stay fit!). Kane and Son will ****ing love them over the coming seasons.

 

Winks is a water carrier...but it has to be in a 3. He can't play in a 2 at anywhere near the same level.

 

Didn't manage to watch the game but enjoyed catching up on the written reports on here

Apparently Dele threw a hissy fit when he was substituted, kicking his boots off?

I was done with him months ago and can see that quite a few posters are in the same boat too. Him and Dier first out the door come June. We might actually get some money for them which we can reinvest in players who don't peak at the age of 22.

 

Not letting Llorente go without replacing him and things could have been different...Pochettino owns that all by himself.

 

There was a lot of moaning from him at other players on the pitch too...and although he worked really hard it was no more than every other player so it looked like he went full Trippier at times!

 

I don't even know what to label him but he seems to understand that Gio/ Tanguy know what to do with possession and so if his job is to simply pass it to them then happy days. The fact he doesn't need to take 5 minutes to turn like Dier is also helpful, although if we had 2014-2018 Eric Dier then that three would be phenomenal right now as he'd shield the back four and allow the other two to flourish going forward.

 

threw his boots and had a bit of a sulk on...head in hands deep thought with angry demeanour

on the pitch he’s just not sharp enough in his link up play for us to look fluid. That’s not because he was asked to be the most forward tonight. He’s the same in midfield nowadays after his initial burst when Jose joined. That burst of form just proves that his mentality is off. He obviously can’t find it in himself to motivate his own desire and pull out his abilities.

 

I'm not going to blame Mourinho completely for that, as the squad is clearly hampering him.
His bench selection tonight was ****, though.
He's claiming that lots of our attacking players are knackered, so why make so many of the subs defensive?

Vertonghen, Tanganga, Dier and Skipp was overkill. He was never going to put Skipp on, so why pick him?
I'd prefer him over Dier, in all honesty, but the manager isn't going to make that decision.
Sessegnon should've been on there, at the very least.

I'm normally a big fan of tonight's ref, but I thought he had a bit of a shocker, unfortunately.
No issue with the ridiculous, Aurier-esque penalty tackle. He got that spot on.
He let them City the **** out of us, though. Any attempt to break? Foul.
It became particularly stark once Ndombele got on and he was being fouled, carrying on anyway and getting fouled again.
He set an early marker by booking Lo Celso, then failed to act accordingly. ****ty, diving, hacking ****s.

 

Shocking sound quality on the press conference, for some reason.

 

To be honest I am getting bored with him.

His filming of that SE Asian geezer and making a Coroner Virus "joke" was a disgrace. The club has banned opposition fans for singing racist dog eating chants against Son yet Dele does the same ****

Our biggest strength used to be our unity as a team...we stood or fell as one.
In the last 18 - 24 months that lesson was lost on Trippier, Rose, Dier and now Dele.
Vertongen and (to his credit) Dier showed how to respond to being subbed.

Coming round to @C. Kane 's thinking re selling him.

 

Pochettino got plenty of criticism when he got it wrong, particularly when he was stubborn about it. Jose should too.

We spent most of them game lumping it up to a striker that wasn't there, Aurier seemed completely unaware he was up against a dangerous forward and spent the entire game leaving space behind himself. It was the same way we always play, there didn't seem to be any new ideas despite us losing Son. Thank **** for Gedson and GLC tracking back, otherwise we'd have been really embarrassed.

Lets hope Leipzig start the return leg as nervously as they finished the first. That's our best chance at this point.

 

Just back home (managed to avoid @remembercolinlee in the High Road so got here safely!)

Strange match, showed far too much respect for an hour then they scored and we remembered that we were allowed to play too.

Big shout out to Lo Celso MOTM by some distance, great to see the real Davinson Sanchez back too dealt pretty well with that cocky German **** who judging by tonights display will fit in a treat at the mousers if the rumours are true as he is a first rate arse!

Hugo also good and Ndombele and Lamela changed the game and must play at the Bridge on Saturday.

Winks got better as the game went on but it was the absentees that hurt us tonight, not just the obvious 2 but Sissoko as well.

Now that Davies is fit can we please bin off Serge and get Tanganga in at RB on regular basis, seeing Aurier in the flesh tonight just showed me just how much of a liability he is, constantly out of position, never busts a gut to get back and whilst he could get credit for getting into some good crossing positions he failed to deliver every time, he has had a good go now time to give Japhet the shirt please Jose.

Gedson looks like a bench player at the moment to me some good aspects to his game, some not so good.

Finally the elephant in the room is any striker better than no striker? Troy Parrott maybe young, he may have issues that need addressing, but tonight we needed a goal, with 10 minutes to go it would have worth putting him on and giving it a go, we had 2 defensive midfielders and 2 defenders on the bench (and Dier can play both). I really don't think that in situations like we were in today that Troy (or Jose) can lose if he is given 10 mins Bergwyn and Lucas had both bust a gut I wouldn't say either had a great game but you couldn't question their effort taking one of them off and giving an actual CF some time might have changed it he wouldn't have offered less than those who stayed on and thats not criticism of either of them just the facts as I see them.

 

Totally agree about the ref, was pleased when I saw who we had before the game - but tonight he was poor, so many fouls and so few cards.

They were a horrible team of fouling ****s, there 'game management' was up their with Juves I can offer no greater praise for it and I hate it, and they were allowed to get away with it by a weak referee or maybe UEFA have an agenda after all 4 finalists last year came from 1 country!

 

Truth is we are not winning this cup without our best attackers. Even if we got through, once we come up against the real cream of the crop...we are out.

We need to focus on top 4 so that we can tackle this competition with a fit squad plus summer additions and a pre season for Jose.

lets hope Jose picks up a few pointers tonight to get the best out of these players against the chavs

 

We win 2-1 and we are through

COYS

 

I'm not wildly enthused by Mourinho's comments post-match.

Yes, we're really in the **** but now's the time to work your magic show what you've got as a coach and a leader. I want "We will fight them on the beaches..." Behind closed doors, go and rant and rave at Daniel Levy about the mess we're in but now's when you show your qualities to the world.

I'm expecting a lot more than...

"We are really in trouble, if it was just this game I'd say no problem but we have FA Cup and Premier League games."

...that's what I expect from fans. I'm expecting the manager to praise the fans, enthuse the players and say that we will give everything between now and the end of the season (even if he knows that we're in serious trouble and we're going to throw the second leg).

Then, he can start addressing the fact that he's built a team that can only win games by scoring 3 goals because we've decided to give a distinctly average right back, a free role on the pitch, when we need to defend with our lives.

 

"Tottenham face an arduous task to keep their Champions League hopes alive after defeat at home by the highly impressive RB Leipzig in the first leg of their last-16 tie." - The BBC, Wednesday night

"Liverpool's defence of their Champions League title hangs in the balance after Saul Niguez's early strike gave Atletico Madrid an aggregate lead going into the second leg of their last-16 tie at Anfield." - The BBC, Tuesday night

Nice to see balance in their match reports...

 

So Parrott is not yet ready but is he our only striker in the academy? We had ONE offensive player on the bench. I am fully aware that maybe none of the younger players are ready but at least have them on the bench if we are chasing a game.
This is their time to prove otherwise. I could name countless examples of other teams bringing on young players when their backs were up against the wall and having an impact.
Jose: Stop moaning at your dealt hand and turn it into a winning hand! That's why you are paid millions. That's why you are special? Did you have so many top players at Porto?