Ultimately 3 points and shows good character but I still feel that Spurs are very predictable and don’t have a plan b against sides that sit deep.
I hate scousers as much as the next guy but I’d much rather they win at the moment tbh, helps stop Arsenal going top.
He was MOTM. No chance we were turning that around prior to his introduction, we were so stale. Think it’s about 6 goal contributions in his last 9 games now in the league.
Tbf 8mins added on was minimum so maybe the ref was right to play on longer. They've definitely got the momentum though.
The issue is that far too often we seem to be preoccupied with trying to create the perfect, high percentage chance and wind up not creating any chances as a result - and that only changes when we find ourselves gambling on the low percentage chances as we need a goal Our first two goals today demonstrate this perfectly: for the first Johnson wad really battling to carve out some space to create something himself instead of laying it off, while for the second not only was Romero high up the pitch but TBH I doubt Maddison would have tried that chipped pass when we were focused on the high percentage chances
It can’t be denied he’s been largely poor for a lot of the season but the last two months he’s beginning to prove his worth. Still needs a lot of improvement in general but it’s nice seeing him getting involved in big moments now, will do his confidence the world of good.
Standard Varpool fare, Forest were also denied a penalty just before the goal, for shorts pulling, which (combined with the goal) understandably incensed the Forest staff. I`ve said this before, nobody has had a decision against Varpool since our game against them at WHL and the following fortnight long outpourings of media grief and hard luck stories. Likewise, that game has had a negative impact on decisions going our way also, once again today there was a foul on Werner that certain other teams would have been given a penalty for in an instant, but it was instead swiftly waved away.
It was worrying more of the same today, we looked limp first half and second half looked like things were not going to drop our way. Thankfully the subs had a positive impact though, Johnson in particular with great work for the equalizer. A word about Bentancur, hopefully it is match fitness but he looks below the standards of before his injury, I hope he has not been Sandro`d by that knee injury. We still can`t keep a clean sheet though, and I want to see us put a run together now.
Ally Gold done a piece a couple weeks back that said people at Spurs don’t expect to see the best of Bentancur until next season, which definitely implies we rushed him back too early (and probably twice too what with the ACL and Cash incident). I thought he looked decent in the first half today but then faded in the second and gave away that freekick for their goal. I’m still relatively positive that we’ll see him, Bissouma and Maddison too - who’s also looked iffy since returning - back to their best at some stage. All three are very, very good players when “on it”.
Kulusevski looks like he is 'protecting' a tweak in his leg. Shies away from running at the line which he used to do all the time or take the ball and run inside. He now seems to look to offload it asap. I hope I am over imagining this.
Nah as much of a difference he made, VDV MOM. The only one on it for 90 minutes today. He’d do better keeping them out the gauntlet than the new gladiators do!
This and what RBDB said.... Not sure if it's an injury he's shielding, but we need a lot more from him.
This He was superb today and if I recall it was his strength in a tackle that started the move for our 3rd goal. His pace is phenomenal, but there's much more to his game.
One interesting (okay, interesting-adjacent...) point about Johnson is that for his first two or three months there were regularly times he looked out of synch with the rest of the team, and didn't really start to look like he was on the same wavelength until December Which is similar to what we're seeing with Werner at the moment, where he's making runs that could open things up - if anyone else on the pitch actually noticed them
I think he was just looking far too timid. He’s got a really good amount of pace yet was barely utilising it and was often hesitant at taking his man on. Now he’s showing a bit more intent to get stuck in as well as run the line a bit. With Werner, we saw what happens when he has half or clear cut chances though, as we’ve seen for years prior too. If it’s not laid on a plate for a tap in where the goal was pretty much open there’s a higher probability of him ballsing it up. Like I said to PNP yesterday, I genuinely believe it’s a conscious decision amongst players to pass to him as a last choice. There’s a reason both Chelsea and Leipzig didn’t/ don’t want him, I don’t think we should either, we need to aim higher than these sort of rejects of sides of similar calibre sides to us.
