Interesting to see this again. MOTD really should have shown it all because ... I used to get frustrated when a build up resulted in KWP turning back and passing to a central defender and the loss of momentum ... ... but in this case we created more space by coming back and then passed through the space and scored. It is a masterclass in opening a team up
There was a video on this a while ago. And the empty stadiums helped us refine it away from the groans of the stadium. Gist being if the option isn’t open rather than playing a risky ball we just recycle and try again I think it was this one :
The key in this case being that the patience of going back was then combined with a quick transition and movement to use the space that had been created by luring Spurs into a press Another thing in the vid is mention of us having a full back or midfielder available to support the back 2 We ended up With an isolated back 2 too often on Wednesday and we could have got caught out more than we did
This video was from when we had Bertrand so we kind of didn’t have a choice then - he was back anyway. Now it requires more discipline
Interesting reading on the Spurs Not606 page. I went over there expecting hysteria and read a lot of down to Earth discussion about what was wrong with the team and how and where it needs overhauling. Very interesting - apart from Libby trying to sell JWP to the ****ing Toon …..
Wait - Libby was on the Spurs Not606 page trying to sell a saints player to Newcastle ? How very odd. That or I have missed an obvious joke
Not a joke - go and look yourself …… I don’t know if he was just trying to wind them up, but I was unimpressed with his comments ….
Heh, I think it was more of a masterclass of atrocious defending. None of the forward/backward movement should have shifted Spurs' defense that much. What happened was that Romero inexplicably decided to mark the space five feet in front of Broja, presumably to cut out a pass that was never going to be on. That resulted in Davinson Sanchez pressuring Broja to deny him a potential uncontested header, and because no one picked up the runner, you effectively had a 2v1 at the back post on any ball that cleared Broja/Sanchez. That lone Spurs defender committed too late (probably because Adams is in about 20 yards of open space behind him, so if he overruns the cross, Che can just walk it into the net, and also because Emerson is just not very good defensively) and Elyounoussi got a free header. What's crazy is just how many Spurs players are in the picture when that ball is put in. There are three Saints in the box, and there are three Spurs players, which is risky defending at any time. Yet in addition to the two players doubling KWP, you have three more just standing in a clump on the edge of the box. They aren't marking anyone; JWP could have passed it into Armstrong's feet if the cross wasn't on. They aren't dropping into the defensive line to account for the fact that Davies has stepped out to the flank to mark KWP. They aren't picking up Elyounoussi's run-adjacent movement. They're just kinda there because they haven't worked out that there are better places to be.
For Mo`s goal, I don`t think the spuds defenders were expecting the cross to be whipped in first time from the position JWP was in, and the way he was facing, so it caught them on the hop. Didn`t learn their lesson however!
They also didn’t expect a run and a header from Elyounoussi of all people The Adams goal on the other hand …
Sometimes you can surprise someone in what seems a battle of wits, by doing the exactly the same thing again.
You only have to fool some of the people some of the time. Mr Ward-Prowse chose the right people at the right time.
