Europa League Match Thread - Tottenham V Lyon

well according to some we play great football and near the level of the great dutch teams so it depends who you're asking

 

Just noted some comments about 'strikers reading crosses' and I can't understand why it is now entirely the strickers fault for not totally reading where the winger is going to place the ball.

Wingers don't always produce the crossed ball when the striker wants the ball. Half the time they don't even cross the ball when the striker is best placed to receive it.
It is harsh criticism to faultfind a lone striker for not always being in the right place,... all the time.
The best a striker can hope for (even the best of strikers) is that the winger gets the ball near him (the striker), with a quality pass.

To this end strikers are advised/coached to find space and anticipation is of course helpful.
Wingers are advised/coached to look (glance) towards the penalty area to pick out a team mate before putting in the cross.

This amounts to shared responsiblity IMO., one is not at fault without the other.

 

Point taken, but don't you think the best strkers are those who take a gamble if they're not sure where the cross is coming to ?? I am sure some of Alan Shearer's goals were taken because he was prepared to gamble and make a move towards where he anticipated the ball was going to be. My gripe with Adebayor is he is not doing this at the moment, he is slow to react and at this stage of the season he should be a damn sight sharper than he currently is, whatever circumstances his season started under.

 

Agree in principle with this OS - but certainly the example with Ade on Thursday was when he actually was too quick to react and the ball came in from Bale behind him!!! To be fair, bearing in mind what has generally happened this season, Bale probably thought it was a safer bet to put it there!!!

The chance in the first half was Dempsey being too slow as I recall - hardly surprising given the rest of his recent performances. Lots of effort, undertaken with a lack of pace and with little result.

 

If a winger is putting in dangerous crosses then a predator will know how to read them, which is why some fans want to see us sign a striker with different qualities.

Also i praised him for working hard off the ball and tracking back but thinking about it more, a lone striker should really keep his position and leave our midfielders to work hard and win the ball back.

Although I accept the lone striler isnt an easy role especially when we have a lack of support through the centre so possibly it may sound harsh on ade at times, yet for a man of his experiemce i expect him to read the game better and show more composure.

 

Lyon won their game at Bordeaux 4-0 today. Looks like they fielded the same side as they did against us though, so I'm hoping that they'll have worn themselves out a bit!

 

Yep - bet they were really pushed winning 4-0!!!

 

I've just logged on again, OK! lets see, right.

In short all good strikers gamble, to different degrees. Not just Newcastles' Alan Shearer, with respect to them and him.

With your understanding of the game O.Spurcat, I'm sure you know that the final pass is sometimes more important and can be more potent then most people think. And you also know, spectators will always choose to glamourise the striker (when he has scored), at the expense mainly of everyone esle who had played a part in the goal. For me, and many others who have played these roles., the 'goal maker' deserves more praise and consideration, when the plan comes together.

Your gripe with Adebayor is justifiable IMO, in that, he is much much slower then last season and we have all witnessed his dreadful first touch, so far this term. However I still think it might be worth perservering with Adebayor, theres a desent player in there somewhere. I believe he just needs to get some of the negativity off his back.

 

I agree with you, but it's not like we've got much choice at the moment. I'd like to see Kane or Obika on the bench on Thursday, just to give us some sort of option up front.

 

Yes PNP, one of them must surely, get game time soon (off the bench). :

Lets hope we win the game early on Monday., say 3 nil up with 25mins to go. Then we should give either Kane or Odika some play time. A good 25min stint might prove to be fruitful for one or either of them.

 

I went on the lyon (english speaking forum) takes a 1 minute to register to see what there fans are saying about the game.

This was there team agaisnt Bordeaux

Vercoutre, Réveillère, Bisevac, Lovren, Umtiti, Gonalons, Fofana, Grenier, Lacazette, Lisandro, Gomis

please log in to view this image

Which was practically the same line up agaisnt us, so they don't have much squad depth.

Also, no surprise to see them uploading this:

please log in to view this image

And here are highlights of their 4-0 win

[video=youtube_share;LiMIGmX9Des]http://youtu.be/LiMIGmX9Des[/video]

 

I hope either Obika or Kane is on the bench, I'd prefer Obika.

 

http://www.ligue1.com/ligue1/article/ol-explode-in-bordeaux.htm

 

I think that Bordeaux might have done a Swansea and rested some players for their 2nd leg Europa League game against Kiev.
The line-up looks quite different to that of the 1st leg.
http://www.ligue1.com/ligue1/feuille_match/76161
http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleagu...57/match=2010039/postmatch/lineups/index.html

 

I was looking for something to that effect in a preview or report, didn't find anything, so good spot PNP.

 

My theory is we'll be better with Lyon needing a goal. Let's see if my theory is worth anything.

 

We should be able to hit them on the break,perfect for a high line

 

I thought Lyon did a good job last game of playing reasonably aggressively while keeping defenders back far enough to stop breakaways. The longer they don't score the better chances we'll have.

 

I think that Lyon will be pretty happy with the game staying scoreless for most of it's duration.
Their away goal is only useful if we don't score and it becomes a negative if we score twice, even if they were to score three.
We need to score, in my opinion.

 

I agree, but it's a bit of a game of chicken. As long as it's scoreless there will be a certain point when they'll have to leave themselves more open.

I find the tactics of a two leg series very interesting. (Though I understand there are those who aren't quite so intrigued...)