There you are answering your previous post. When other teams started to sus us out (and it's not just that, injuries, suspensions and world tournaments all played a part) when other teams sussed us out they started to block their penalty areas and man mark. It then needed our players to step up and they haven't/couldn't. At last in the last 30 minutes at Liverpool we saw Son remember that he had to take on players and dribble past them. It worked straight away. Bisouma was doing that at the season's beginning as was Maddison. Kulusevski was going past players but stopped doing so. Sar always tries to do that but he's very young and has lots to learn IMO but a great prospect nevertheless and good enough even in this raw state to be in our team. Udogie is also very young but his drive is sorely missed although it was good to see Skipp's cameo in the role. Is it confidence? Yes that took a battering against Chelsea (like it always bloody does) but it's also the need to step up in the skill area and for Son to go past players again. I am with Ange, it's not his way of playing, it's the ability of the players to do it. That's why we need some new higher grade players as well as our existing players stepping up. We see time and again, play our game fast and we are very dangerous. Play it slow and start with the side to side stuff and we are knocking at a door that's firmly closed. Goals are nearly always scored from fast even frantic play. Unless you are City or the great Barca side you simply cannot pass your way deliberately into the net.
We saw that flourish against Liverpool because they totally switched off after the fourth goal and Klopp made a host of changes that disrupted their rhythm. Same thing happened at Brighton. So while it was nice to finish those games on a bit of a high (whereas Spurs of old would have folded and conceded 2 or 3 more), I wouldn't read too much into it in terms of any quality on our part. I certainly didn't see anything special in either game, aside from the opposition's methods to stop us simply vanishing as they switched off which left us far more room to work with. We definitely need better players as the current crop can't or won't play at that speed against well organised opposition. And I agree that this is partly a confidence thing brought on by the system and lack of midfield control: every pass in the final third is made with the lingering fear that if it is misplaced, the opposition will counter and due to lack of cover will be in on goal within 3 passes. That fear currently only disappears when the game has gone anyway. We need it to disappear due to having players who aren't scared in the first place, and I think that is what has been bothering Ange so much recently and certainly comes across in his comments.
You are not giving enough credit to Son. It's been quite a while since we have seen him attack defenders in the box.
The games could in theory be less taxing than the training, we don't know. We do know that Celtic were knackered in Ange's first season as they adapted to his style. So the number of games is only one factor. It could also be confidence rather than tiredness. As I have said elsewhere the interrupted season which has been stop start helps no one. So there are many factors to this issue.
I don't think that tiredness has anything to do with it. I don't see tiredness, I see round pegs in square holes and some injuries. Maddison and Bentancur in particular are shadows of what they were before they got injured. We don't have a holding midfielder and we only have one striker. The system's struggling because of choices that the manager's made. The squad's not good enough and that's not on him, but he's got to make do. Stick a youth striker in the XI or on the bench. Drop injured players. It's not hard.
I think he knows what he needs and this season has hopefully showed him who’s compatible with the way he wants to play and who doesn’t fit. I’m expecting a lot of players to be leaving this summer. If it’s only 2-3 then he has to change the way he what’s to play to suit the squad he has. I don’t think he will do that so wholesale changes is the only way forward. All that said, even with more suitable players, I still have huge doubts on his style for the PL.
I think it's mix. Certain players started the season with loads of energy and have visibly tailed off. I'd put Porro and Udogie at the top of that list. Others do seem to be slowly making their way back to full sharpness from lengthy lay offs. But the majority don't seem to understand their roles in the system. I'd aim this at all the CMs aside from Bentancur who gets an injury pass, and would also include Kulusevski, Maddison and Son to an extent.
There was a similar post a few years back when all the defensive players were Dier and all the attackers were Dele. Seemed a good idea at the time...
Dele has set himself a target of making the England squad in 2026. That would be an amazing comeback. Dier has also made an amazing comeback after being rubbished at Spurs he is now playing regularly for Bayern Munich. As Jimmy once said: It's a funny old game.
The current goal-scoring prowess of VDV + Romero puts that of the peak Pochettino defence in the shade.
Interesting comparison between arteta's and ange's first full seasons. (Worth remembering that Arteta also had from November to May the previous season too).
My (ever increasingly robust) analysis is that you will have the measure of a Spurs manager by no later than their second full season.
Which has been a bit of an issue of late, given the last few flamed out partway through their second season...
