Europa League Match Thread - Tottenham V Lyon

No - don't think he did (have a shot), but for half the match he was so isolated and struggling to just hang on to it - which to be fair he did better than recently. 2nd half he set up a couple of chances and fought hard. We should rightly expect more from him but he wouldn't be on the top of my criticism list this evening....

 

loved watching them ****s take their seatbelts off and leave the bus in the 89th minute to start playing football on the pitch.

**** off Lyon

 

Bale put some great deliveries in from set pieces and look to take advantage of the 'keeper being scared of him towards the end of the game but yeah, he struggled to get into the game at times and was well marshalled. I'm not totally against Ade doing what he did but as I said he needs goals and when we had our fullbacks pushing on he should've left it to someone else to drift outwide at times, he's more of a threat for us in the box. I like how Ade offers a good outball by working the channels when we're ahead in the game but when we're chasing the game and the defence are sitting back, he should be the one looking to cause the centre backs problems, not leaving it to Holtby, Bale and Lennon to try and play striker.

 

Tweet from Benny:

Fergie time?Again?LOL is a good stuff i like it lolol well done spurs we never give up!!! One man ll not eat a. (Rose beef) tonight lol...

Whatever he's on, i'll have some

 

crazy basterd

 

I am, frankly amazed, at the amount of negativity aimed at Dembele on this board.
I've been trying to find reason for all the disgruntlement on here and have watching him for a while and especialy throughout the last two games.

OK, Dembele might be taking his time in getting back to full fitness and in the meantime has had some under par moments. He might not be the 'type' of player that some on here particularly like., but he is without doubt the type of creative midfielder Spurs need now.

He oozes more class then some critics care to identify with. His close ball control is probably the best at the club.
His ability to pick the right pass is one of his best traits and he'll make himself available for the quick return pass. If he's in the mood, he can glide pass any opponent, with ease., not to mension his defensive duty-ing and tackling.

Spurs have not missed Modric this season and why???....... cause we have a better alround player in Dembele, who at times this season, particularly before his injury was awe-inspiring.

A formidable opponent.., Spurs would be poorer without him.

 

Agree that some of the Dembele bashing is a little unjust.

However I don't think he is anywhere near as important to the team as Modric was, it's just a shame Modric prefers getting splinters to playing football...

 

Took me back to the distant past.
Spurs 1 Setubal 0 1st leg

It's Setubal 2 -0 with us heading out when up steps Martin Chivers for a free kick....CHEEVERS!!!!......bang! 2-1.Crowd ready to commit suicide as we go through.........CHEEVERS!CHEEVERS!CHEEVERS!!!!

 

Form is temporary, whatever the reason may be. Class is permanent - Dembele is class..

 

Just a few stats to finish the day:

63% Possession - away from home that's very impressive.
87% pass success - We're pretty much Barcelona
7 interceptions/5 fouls, 6 crosses/0 successful - GoodBenny/BadBenny

I think this probably says more about how unreliable stats are out of context. We had lots of the ball but didn't get anywhere most of the time, the passes were often unadventurous and Benny's crossing was crap... oh wait

 

and something i dont think Modric will ever have the Moussa does....the ability to score a very important goal.

 

Great stuff from the team. They and AVB proved me wrong and I'm delighted

 

I think that it is BECAUSE we all rate Dembele so highly that our expectations are high - and when he plays as badly and with so little energy and skill like he did for (let's be honest) 89-91 minutes of last nights game, then he is going to be slated. That he turned it around at the end and came up with the goods is fantastic and great credit to him - but I don't think there were too many of us who actually expected THAT!!

Hopefully, this will get him back on track to being one of the best MF in the PL - because he certainly could be

 

That's the point.Ade is a striker,Gareth a midfielder,Ade should have been the biggest threat,sorry i just have never rated him,trouble is he is all we've got with Jermaine Injured

 

Well said Bajan

Totally agree NSIS

 

The whole game. Should be an ultra fast direct download.

fairplay-uefa.el.2013.02.22.lyon.vs.tottenham.720p.mkv (2.19 GB)

https://mega.co.nz/#!iJ1DGZRD!RnbnAxTzU_ITLs8tIyoRAEAquVsvFbjkACx9TDNYiOY

 

As relayer pointed out, its because Dembele's overall performances have decreased, he set the bar fairly high by some of his performances early this season, although I must admit even back then I found him inconsistent and I've always had this nagging feeling that he is going to flatter to deceive overall and won't have a high level of consistency.

This doesn't mean I dont rate his talent, as I do, he's strong, superb at keeping the ball in tight situations, has drive and capable of looking awesome on his day, yet we have to see more of it.

Also, we do miss Modric, not sure how anyone could say we don't? as Dembele rarely plays risky passes, prefers to play it safe and Modric's vision is on another level to Dembeles, plus I think Modric was underrated at times due to his lack of goals, fans like to see that final pass or final touch into the net, yet Modric was just as important at creating and Dembele needs to up his game in a creative sense.

 

Great result.
A German ref who doesn't give much to English sides anyway, in France, in front of Platini, was always going to be difficult.
Poor performance by many in the respect they didn't win their individual battles.
Lyon were pretty well drilled, boring, but you have to deal with it, once again, we're pretty inept with this personnel.
Dembele plays much better with Sandro, him and Parker haven't been good together. Its always a bit last ditch with Parker, Sandro nips things in the bud earlier and a bit further up the pitch, it makes all the difference imo.
Parker is a stopper and not much else these days, if you expect a fair bit of pressure fine, when you're playing a park the bus team he's the last player you want in MF.
I think its aswell Inter aren't the team they were, and I expect they will do the same to us as Lyon and Lazio.
I'm glad now we didn't get CL this season, would have been a battle with City for the worst English team! a lot has to change before next season thats for sure.

 

Given the Dembele/Parker combo is too slow in the outlet, I wonder whether AVB will have a look at
a Dembele/Livermore combo now.

 

His main job in the system that we use isn't to score goals though, in my opinion, Tots.
He's there to hold up the ball, manipulate the opposition's defence and bring our dangerous midfielders into advanced areas.
Goals is a close second, admittedly, but he did the first part pretty well last night, for me. His confidence appears to be returning and then goals will follow, I think.

I agree.
I wonder how many Europa League games Platini's attended this season? That's two of ours, so far. Is he a fan?