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Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Vitesse

Discussion in 'Tottenham Hotspur' started by PleaseNotPoll, Oct 19, 2021.

  1. PleaseNotPoll

    PleaseNotPoll Well-Known Member
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    Thursday 21st October 5.45pm
    Europa Conference League Group Stage
    Gelredome​

    Our weekend of being party poopers is followed up by a trip to Arnhem in the Netherlands.
    We have the unfortunate task of facing a club with close ties to Chelsea in Vitesse.
    Thankfully and slightly mystifyingly they don't have any loanees there for this campaign.
    It's going to be a tight group with Mura cast out at the bottom, if the starting games are anything to go by.
    Can Espirito Santo put us into a good position in these back-to-back matches against the Dutch?

    Vitesse's roots echo our own, being started as a student cricket club before taking up football.
    They're the 2nd oldest side in the Netherlands still in existence, losing out to Sparta Rotterdam by a year.
    Despite this they've never won the title, coming 2nd six times in their early history until 1915.
    Their only major silverware was the KNVB Cup, the FA Cup equivalent and that was in the 2016/17 season.
    They have played a number of seasons in European competition, though.

    One of their claims to fame is the sliding pitch at their home ground, the GelreDome.
    It's arguably an inspiration for our own and is part of the financial boost that's seen them stay in the top flight.
    It slides out under one of the stands and they also have a retractable roof.
    Here's the pitch in action:


    Vitesse's current manager is Thomas Letsch, a German coach who never played professionally.
    He spent some time with Red Bull Salzburg before moving to their feeder club at Liefering.
    Poor results in Germany saw him move to Vienna, where he was also sacked, before moving to Holland.
    His first two seasons with Vitesse saw them finish 7th and 4th though, so he seems to have found his home.
    They're currently in 6th place in a tightly packed table and 3rd placed Utrecht only have one more point.

    Our hosts beat Dundalk narrowly in their opening qualifier for this tournament, winning 4-3 on aggregate.
    They faced a tougher task in the next round in a low countries derby with Vincent Kompany's Anderlecht.
    A 3-3 draw in Brussels where the hosts missed an injury time penalty gave them hope of advancing.
    They scraped through after taking a 2-0 lead, conceding late to make it edgy and nervous.
    Here are the highlights of both matches from the Belgian's Youtube channel:



    Their two matches in the group so far were a 2-0 away victory over Mura and a 2-1 home loss to Rennes.
    Having seen both of those teams play against us, I can't say that I find that surprising.

    Matt Doherty and Ryan Sessegnon appear to be our only confirmed absences for this one.
    Daan Reiziger appears to be theirs.

    Lineups for each side's last league game:

    Spurs: Lloris; Royal, Romero, Dier, Reguilon; Hojbjerg, Skipp; Moura, Ndombele, Son; Kane.
    Subs: Gollini, Tanganga, Sanchez, Davies, Winks, Lo Celso, Alli, Bergwijn, Gil.
    League form: WLLLWW.

    Vitesse: Schubert; Doekhi, Rasmussen, Bazoer; Dasa, Tronstad, Gboho, Wittek; Fredericksen, Openda, Darfalou.
    Subs: Van Haveren, Houwen, Yapi, Cornelisse, Hajek, Oroz, Domgjoni, Vroegh, Huisman, Gong, Von Moos.
    League form: WLWDWW.

    Ref: Harm Osmers (GER). 36-year-old Bundesliga ref. Went to the World Cup. Not much European time.

    TV: BT Sport 1.

    How would you like to line up for this one?
    Would you stick with much of the same lineup from the Newcastle game, tinker a little or change it completely?
    Which system and tactics would you use and what are you expecting Vitesse to go with?
     
    #1
  2. humanbeingincroydon

    humanbeingincroydon Well-Known Member

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    Hopefully their fans don't break another stadium...
     
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  3. PleaseNotPoll

    PleaseNotPoll Well-Known Member
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    For anyone that missed it:


    That's at the end of their derby game against NEC Nijmegen, who are both from Gelderland.
    They're just across the Waal/Rhine from each other. The stand is quite ****ed:
    please log in to view this image
     
    #3
  4. redwhiteandermblue

    redwhiteandermblue Well-Known Member

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    In a couple of weeks, Spurs have gone from a smoking ruin to an interestingly poised team that's playing watchable football.

    The good
    1. Suddenly it's round pegs in round holes. A center forward who led the league in both goals and assists last year, and has just got off the snide; pacy wingers, one of whom accounts for a lot of goals; a highly creative player at 10 who is fun to watch, just scored his first goal, helped with the third and put in by far his best performance; two CMs who play like CMs; one good CB, one highly decorated GK captain and two attacking FBs.
    2. They're coming off two of their best matches.
    3. I've rarely seen Spurs misplace as few passes as they did versus Newcastle.
    4. Their manager seems to realize that the best way forward is to tweak the traditional attacking 4-2-3-1.
    5. The manager keeps winning PL teams together, barring special circumstances.

    The bad
    1. The squad got two managers with opposite philosophies fired.
    2. They've fallen down the table five straight years.
    3. Their best player is desperate to leave
    4. Their manager was nobody's first choice, and still seems about a 3/10: decent guy and competent, but not the right style, and not a very impressive resume.
    5. You get the feeling that while Spurs may do fairly well against teams that give them time and space, they'll (continue to) collapse when pressured.

    The ugly
    That third kit. Hey, is that Sergio Leone?
    please log in to view this image
     
    #4
    Last edited: Oct 19, 2021
  5. Dier Hard

    Dier Hard G'day mate!

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    Ally Gold has said the ten outfield players that played on Sunday aren’t currently training ahead of the Vitesse game (or aren’t out on the pitches, maybe doing work inside?).

    So if that’s the case it’s possible that it’s going to be a completely different XI for tomorrow night… Because that’s worked out well in the past.
     
    #5
  6. KingHotspur

    KingHotspur Well-Known Member

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    Smart move, the league has to be the priority. Can’t risk anyone important getting injured over this poxy ECL tournament.
     
    #6
  7. Dier Hard

    Dier Hard G'day mate!

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    It’s not a poxy tournament. It’s a chance for silverware and entry into the Europa for next season, something that isn’t a guarantee in the league for us.
     
    #7
  8. PleaseNotPoll

    PleaseNotPoll Well-Known Member
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    Assuming that we do rest the whole first XI from the Newcastle game, who would you pick?
    Gollini; Tanganga, Sanchez, Rodon, Davies; Winks, Lo Celso; Bergwijn, Alli, Gil; Scarlett?
    It's a very flat back four and the midfield doesn't offer it a lot of protection.
     
    #8
  9. KingHotspur

    KingHotspur Well-Known Member

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    We hear this every year in Europe and then get knocked out by a team that is hardly a giant of European football. The squad isn’t strong enough to compete on multiple fronts so I’d rather see the league given priority. Prize money for finishing 1-2 places higher is a big difference
     
    #9
  10. Dier Hard

    Dier Hard G'day mate!

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    I doubt it’d be any different from that, aren’t many other choices to be made other than picking Doherty which I doubt anyone wants to see over Tanganga (or Rodon, with Tanganga moved to CB).
     
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  11. PleaseNotPoll

    PleaseNotPoll Well-Known Member
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    Just to offer an alternative, you could pick a back three/five and play Tanganga, Rodon and Doherty.
    Not ideal, by any means, but I'm not sure how to pick a sensible midfield without any holding players.
     
    #11
  12. humanbeingincroydon

    humanbeingincroydon Well-Known Member

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    Given the personnel, if we're going for a fully-rotated side I'd go 3ATB
    Gollini; Tanganga, Sanchez, Rodon; Doherty, Winks, Lo Celso, Sessegnon*; Bergwijn, Scarlett, Gil

    Obviously that has flaws, namely being light in the middle and Doherty on the pitch which basically necessitates having Hojbjerg and Kane or Sonny on the bench, but with Skipp/Hojbjerg as our midfield pivot that does demonstrate that our midfield is one CM short as the likes of John and White are a year or two shy of being credible options to come into the team
     
    #12
  13. Dier Hard

    Dier Hard G'day mate!

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    The squad is strong enough, it was also strong enough last season to do well in Europa, the problem has been our player’s mentality as well as managerial mistakes. If they approached it right last season we could have well been in that final.

    There’s roughly about a £5m difference between finishing say 8th and 6th. To a premier league club that’s nothing. Winning a trophy of any kind will always excite fans though. I’d take 7th and the ECL over 5th or 6th and nothing any day.
     
    #13
  14. humanbeingincroydon

    humanbeingincroydon Well-Known Member

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    SpursWeb have proved that winning trophies doesn't excite fans, as the other day they posted an article slamming ENIC for failing to deliver a single trophy in twenty years

    I wonder if a certain Baddiel-faced malcontent is one of the sites they plagiarise...
     
    #14
  15. Dier Hard

    Dier Hard G'day mate!

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    I think that’d be far, far worse though. The original selection isn’t great by any means but at least has a feel of some attacking potential. In a back 3/5, Doherty and Davies as WBs in an already defensively minded formation would be eye gouging to watch. Especially if it meant keeping Winks as one of the midfielders too. Scarlett would yet again have next to zero service.
     
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  16. humanbeingincroydon

    humanbeingincroydon Well-Known Member

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    Isn't Sessegnon fit?

    I mean he managed to appear in the team photo without leaving the stadium on crutches, so that counts...right?
     
    #16
  17. humanbeingincroydon

    humanbeingincroydon Well-Known Member

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    Explains the lack of subs on Sunday

    Doesn't explain how we didn't think Tanganga, Davies or Lo Celso didn't need a few minutes in their legs, though
     
    #17
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  18. crackerman jack

    crackerman jack Well-Known Member

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    I get your point but Sunday's game is so much more important. If it means resting our first 11 and doing crap tomorrow night so be it. Losing tomorrow is not a big deal, losing on Sunday would be ****ing awful
     
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  19. Dier Hard

    Dier Hard G'day mate!

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    Resting all of the first XI doesn’t really give us any assurances of a win on Sunday though. If we lose tomorrow and lose on Sunday there’ll be egg on Nuno’s face and rightly so.

    We do actually also need to win tomorrow as it helps towards topping the group, doing that ensures we go straight into the last 16 and avoid the playoffs.

    We could’ve definitely taken some of our big guns if for insurance purposes only, especially as we get 5 subs in Europe, it’s a lot easier to manage the squad with those extra available changes.
     
    #19
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  20. The Huddlefro

    The Huddlefro Well-Known Member

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    I'm surprised he's not taking some players for the bench but not surprised he's making so many changes. After this one we have the two most difficult away games out of the way and battering Mura at home has been good for our GD in the group. The travel is often more of an issue for player fatigue than playing (though mercifully we don't have too far to go this time), so we'll be able to go reasonably strong at home to Vitesse and Rennes. I'd settle for a draw tomorrow if it guaranteed a win at the weekend, though football doesn't work like that - there's no guarantees obviously.
     
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