Yeah for sure, everyone here knows Tanguy needs time and whilst as I said there were times he took too many touches, he can be very pleased with how his debut went even if he hadn’t scored that screamer. As for KWP, I actually thought his attacking was really good. It was a little reminiscent of Walker in that he was bombing forward a lot to assist the RW, even if he wasn’t being passed the ball, he was drawing an opposition defender too him to open up space and that was something Walker always done with his speed. KWP will come up against much, much tougher opposition, including next week, but I was really happy with what I saw and I think with more experience and perhaps Poch giving some special attention to him, he could go a long way.
Yeah that wasn’t aimed specifically at you mate, I just like waffling. I agree with what you say here. Poch acknowledged it to post-match too, the team just wasn’t set up right. We probably don’t need Sissoko and Winks in a 3 man midfield at home to Villa, particularly when the first half gameplan seemed to be to not let Sissoko and Tanguy play their natural games. I suspect we might see the same three against City next weekend, which might not be awful, as long as whoever plays in the 3 up top work hard to stretch the game (as they did in the second half yesterday in stark contrast to the first half) and we get Tanguy and Sissoko on the ball in the middle third instead of sitting them in front of the opposition defence and expecting Winks and Toby to unlock it with no movement in front of them, no room to run in behind, and slow passing. But it’ll be a completely different game, probably much more dynamic, so I doubt we’ll have the issue next weekend. Probably quite the opposite because they look in very good nick!
Well here is one Eriksen doubter who would disagree. I have never said Eriksen isn't a very fine footballer, what we saw when he came on yesterday was how the type of play he is capable of, spreading the play with creative passing, is exactly what we need and yes it made all the difference. The point DH is that we have seen too many games when we lack that sort of creativity and Eriksen has been on the pitch.Yesterday he came on with a point to prove and perhaps a shop window to decorate. For far too many games last season the cry was 'where was Eriksen' as he went missing in game after game. Maybe he was playing with injury, in which case it was not his fault it was the management but either way he was ineffective. Sure we need an Eriksen maybe just not this Eriksen maybe we already have the new 'Eriksen' waiting in the wings or maybe he was the player we did not manage to get across the line THIS TIME. I do agree we should play him as long as he remains at Spurs and hope the chastening effect he might have felt as Madrid failed to turn up will spur him on to produce his finest for us until he goes. My doubts remain about this great but inconsistent player who too rarely shows what we saw yesterday.
I certainly haven’t seen this “too many games of inconsistency” you speak of, he had one bad patch of form last season and still managed to finish joint second in assists in the league, him at bad form is still better than 99% of the players in the league on good form. Him being the most creative player since he joined the Premier League would also somewhat disagree with your inconsistent narrative.
I am not impressed with stats I prefer to use my eyes. How come there was no queue to obtain his services?
So do I and he’s one of the best players this club has had in the Premier League era. The stats just prove your narrative is false. Because Zidane is wanting Pogba over Eriksen. The Madrid fans and Fiorentino Perez want Eriksen. Plus, elite players don’t have queues as not many teams can attract them. Why were Barca the only team in for Griezmann? Why are only Barca and Madrid after Neymar? Why were City the only team in for Rodri? Eriksen has already rejected Man Utd, who despite their recent form are still one of the biggest sides on the planet who could triple his wages easily.
I think he’s the most important cog in the machine and irreplaceable at the moment, hopefully Lo Celso can be another important cog but that will take time and there is a chance that Lo Celso won’t work out.
Because he'd only consider a very limited number of clubs. Man Utd were rebuffed, so who does that leave?
Nothing to do with Winks and everything to do with the system, in my opinion. The 4-4-2 diamond simply doesn't work, especially when facing a team that was largely parking the bus. It congests the middle, leaves us light out wide and restricts a number of our best players. Eriksen coming on saw a shift in tactics and that's what changed the game. Moura and Lamela started going wide, Sissoko moved more centrally and deeper and Villa got stretched, which created more space around the box. They went from nullifying simple crosses from the fullbacks to struggling to deal with a wide variety of options.
Careful there, as it can very easily be asked where was the queue for Ndombele or Lo Celso? On a wider scale, this summer where was the queue for Jovic, Rodri, Pepe, Maguire, De Ligt, Brandt, Kovacic, Malcom, Kean, Tielemans, Rabiot and countless other players who joined the first team who bid for them when transfer auctions were expected to break out?
Clear as day. I thought that they were going to give it because the ref stopped play restarting when the ball went out. Nope. They were making a sub.
Easy for some supporters to confuse their desire to sign player X with what their club ACTUALLY NEEDS (whatever that need is) . Nearly every player sold this summer to club X could have been bought by a bigger/richer club Y, if Y wished it to be so (Spurs are still in club X) .
I agree that whilst Eriksen coming on yesterday changed the game, he is far too inconsistent and has many games where he is ineffective. But he does have that ability when playing ineffectively, to play one killer pass that leads to a goal or or assist. Stats can hide his failings. Yesterday was the Eriksen we have grown to enjoy, I just wished he could be consistent. Also agreed that Winks going off didn't change the game. The change of the system when Eriksen came on was what changed the game. I thought Winks played to his strength very well. Poch did not select Winks for his creativity as he believed this would come from others. Winks is there to steady the ship and this he did very well. No frills, but some excellent tackling (including that sliding tackle and nutmeg) and keeping it steady. But Poch recognised this system wasn't going to win the game against AV.
Whilst I don't really rate him (as I'm sure some may have realised by now ), my gripe is more with the manager for persisting with him. Whether it's the diamond or 4231 or 433, I don't see the benefit of Winks in the starting XI. As I said earlier, he's a water carrier, we need players who are more progressive with the ball, especially from a starting perspective. If we were 3-1 up at 70 minutes yesterday, that's a time I'd bring Winks on to help see out the game with his ball retention but ball retention at the start of the game is pretty pointless if you're not actually doing anything with it.
And yet they weren't De Ligt is the perfect example of this: Juve had a clear run for him in spite the fact that Barca, Los Ladrones and PSG all have aging centre backs that they can't rely on for too much longer and the financial muscle to offer whatever transfer fee or wages they needed, and yet they didn't
Completely agree. The three main cogs in our team in my opinion are Vertonghen, Eriksen and Kane. Jan marshals the defence, Kane scores the goals and Eriksen makes us tick. If Jan doesn't play, Toby and Dave can generally do a very good job. If Kane doesn't play, Son and Lucas can generally do a very good job. If Eriksen doesn't play... No one can come close to replicating him, hopefully GLC will in time but we won't really know just yet.
But he's more progressive than other players that would normally play that role. He creates more than Dier or Wanyama, for example. They offer more physicality and are stronger defensively, but is that what we need against a team when we're going to have 70% possession?
It didn't really occur to me that Kane hadn't scored at the new stadium, but it's good that he's got that out of the way nice and early.
