Rose is one of the top P/L backs,had a bad time last season,but had no protection,didn't really recover from injury,and none of the team covered themselves in glory last season,think fans will see a Different Rose this season,back to his best
Watched MOTD2 last night. I didn't realize that one of our goals came off the back of 48 passes, that involved all 11 of our players. One of the pundits said that if that had been Barcelona the media would be waxing lyrical about it. We absolutely bossed that game! Oh, to be able to play like that every match! What really impressed me about our play was how there was movement across the entire field, as soon as we got the ball. And, also, when we lost the ball, how every man in lillywhite pressed an opposition player, denying them space to move. It's exactly how Poch got Saints to play. We have far better players and greater depth than Poch had with Saints, so if he can get us playing like that every game, we are going to be awesome! It is now official - I am seriously excited about Spurs under Poch! Please, Mr Levy, don't f** this one up!
I always thought Rose's delivery was underrated by fans last season as the strikers were making a mess of them so it was good to see Adebayor getting on the end of one of them yesterday. He's still got a long way to go to prove himself as a quality full back but for now me and Totsfan can feel a bit smug
Totsfan & YV Last season Rose was left exposed far too often and as a result he looked a poor player at times. I said at times during the season that he could be a quality player if he was given the protection that walker had with Lennon/Townsend in front of him. (Naughton & Vertonghen were both exposed whilst at left last season as well) Yesterday he had Chadli in front of allowing him to motor forward and be available around the box. When he was forward Chadli dropped to cover the gap left. Rose is a very good left back.
Yeah, Chadli had a big role in it by covering as well as also having a big say in the attacks. I'd written Chadli off and was disappointed to see him starting but he was brilliant for the whole 90 minutes. I seem to remember him saying he wanted to play more centrally as he wasn't a winger but on that kind of performance, starting on the left is exactly where he should be. The more I think about the game, the more I think he was our best player by a margin. Lamela, Eriksen and Adebayor seemed to want to bring out the tricks and go for glory when the game was won but Chadli was totally professional throughout and simply carried on working as hard and making the same decisions he'd make at 0-0 or 1-0 up. I know you said you felt Capoue was man of the match and he did a lot of work that went uncredited too but I don't think QPR really tested him that much as we broke up so many of their attacks before it even got to him.
Lamela was a demon, though. He hounded every ball, running down any player near him. He broke QPR's play up on several occasions. For me, Lamela was MoTM by a long chalk.
Sounds like a few of you are starting to fall for Poch. Very early signs of course, but no doubt yesterday was a positive. From a very quick reading of some of these posts, and the MOTD2 highlights, I gather: -Poch is getting the best out of some players who didn't really perform last season -You're pinging the ball amount nicely -Rather than playing wingers, you're instead playing a system where attacking midfielders/forwards interchange behind the one striker -Your full-backs, particularly on one side, are showing themselves to be an important part of your offensive game, and make up for the above lack of wingers somewhat -When you're out of possession, there are few, if any, passengers. Even the attacking players are putting in a defensive shift, to try and win the ball back asap I also presume that you're playing it out from the back, and looking to counter-attack at every opportunity? Now if that is broadly correct, then that is Poch all over. Enjoy it, because it's generally great. (I say generally, because there is no plan B, as you no doubt have been made aware of. Against us, the lesser teams would sometimes stick ten men behind the ball, maybe even all eleven, and just not let us play through. And it was at the point that I and so many others just wished we had a winger in our squad who could instead try and get in behind the back - because getting through them or counter-attacking them was proving impossible. That said, you have better quality players than we did last season, so maybe teams doing that to you will not prove to be such an issue)
Good to see Sir Les correct them when they made out Lamela was ostracised last season - he was feckin' injured!
It's certainly early days and whilst there's the elements in all that you're talking about I think people do realise that this is what it's like when it's going right. The main reason to be pleased, I feel, is that we were playing exciting football again. From what we saw there was something to cheer and get behind as fans. With Sherwood it was only exciting in the sense that he created chaos with his team selections which often lead to us scraping results in high scoring games. With AVB there was the control there but the moments where we really attacked a team were few and far between. Long may Pochettino reign.
Cheers for that Brendy, I was really happy with Poch's appointment as I was a big fan of his work with you guys, admittedly he wasn't my first choice to replace Sherwood but he was high on a list of guys who I would've been happy with, so I was really pleased with his appointment. In regards to the Plan B, I personally think that depends on the squad available to any manager, as you mention yourself you wish you guys had a winger (this can stand for any other positions too), so technically you could blame Poch for not getting the club to invest in a winger but while there's not one available, it's technically impossible to actually have a Plan B if you don't have the depth in the squad to be able to change things about. Luckily for us, our squad is huge and we have a different style of keeper, defender, midfielder and striker for all positions. He's already shown in his 3 games with us he's happy to change it up a bit when needed and I think that's due to the players he has at his disposal from the bench/ squad. So far it's been nothing but positives for Poch in his short Spurs career to date, he didn't panic against West Ham after we went down to 10 (most managers would've sacrificed a midfielder/ striker to strengthen up the defence), brought Holtby, Kane and Townsend on later on and eventually it was Kane that set up the unlikely hero in Dier to help nick us 3 points. Against Limassol, we were finding it hard to break them down, he brings on Lamela, Dembele and Chadli who all played a part (Lamela especially with two assists) in helping turn the result around and then against QPR, his pressing game didn't need any changes as it completely tore QPR a new one. I can see why many of your fans were disappointed with his departure, he seems a very good and exciting coach and already seems to be working wonders with some of our players judging by the positive start. Of course it's way too early though to suggest if he'll be the next messiah so to speak or another managerial flop but early signs suggest maybe, just maybe we've finally got the right manager for our bunch of players.
Whatever words he used in that interview, watching him there it's clear that yesterday was a very emotional day for Harry. He wasn't interested in talking about QPR in the slightest. I genuinely hope that when he retires from management, some kind of role is offered to him at Tottenham. It would be a real real shame if that's not the case imo.
This is a problem that we have come up against season after season and we haven't yet had a team/manager who has managed to break down these teams. Against QPR and Harry in particular, it was clear that we would not have that problem as Harry plays open football. The week before we struggled against Big Sam. The top teams always manage to break teams down; often by the shot from outside the box taking a lucky deflection ( but you have to take those shots) or from a set piece. Yesterday we at last scored from a corner; Kane and Townsend have been shooting and Eriksen-well we know what he can do from a free kick. It will be interesting to see how MP manages us in these situations.
After two games, most everything remains uncertain. But it is reasonable to hope Spurs will play attractive football, at least except against the teams which park the bus. As far as that goes, I'm hoping Pochettino is getting a little more flexible. It's clear we need to get more width to get around the parked bus, we have the players to do so (Lennon, Rose, Townsend, Walker eventually) and he may be starting to use them. But so far, so good. Cheers, St. Brendy and good luck. For the most part.
