Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Eintracht Frankfurt

Positives - the back 3. Lenglet looking a decent signing.

negatives - the front 3. Get kulusevski back asap

 

Me too. But personally think it was a blessing not to see it all...

 

This is what’s concerning me too.

We look so much worse than from most of last season, sure we had some poor games then but we had some bloody great ones too and the football was decent in large parts.

This season it’s been Nuno-esque with the odd 45 mins here and there aside. Yet we have a bigger and better squad (that’s not being utilised)… just not making any sense.

Agree about raising hopes, we should never do it, we’ve had enough experience, lol.

 

Most of tonight`s team are playing every game, they will be jaded, hence they are slightly off it. Lack of rotation is taking the edge off a lot of our players imo.

 

A point away in Europe after the disappointment of the weekend isn’t to be sniffed at but that performance has left me angry. Yes the ref missed things tonight and it’s not Conte’s fault that the forwards are largely out of form and he’s missing Kulu more by the minute but so much of what we do just feels uninspired and turgid. This is, to an extent, Conteball when it’s not working, but I do wish he’d change things up a bit. Conte deserves the credit if time to work it out because of what he did last season and his reputation, but anyone else and I’d be close to baying for blood. I’m hoping something snaps for him and he makes a change of approach like he did at Chelsea but I’m not holding my breath.

That said the first half was good, with some real moments of quality leading to chances that if our players weren’t in a funk, they’d have put away. We looked more defensively solid than in the NLD, albeit against a very different team. Should have had a pen at the end I think as well. Second half was a bit more frustrating. No idea how the ref missed the pull down and then attempted stamp (for want of a better word) on Kane. Felt a bit for Gil who came on and tried to make things happen, but nothing came off and he got kicked around the park a bit. Still feel the subs were delayed and he could also have considered changing formation too.

It’s an improvement on the weekend and getting a result away in Europe hopefully proves a bit of a reset. But we badly need Kulu back to balance the front 3, if we persist with 343, and thankfully we’re going to see a different RWB at the weekend. Hope we’re on the road back to recovery but I think it’s a long way to go.

 

I see the ball get into the danger areas a plenty

But our attackers can’t put it away

Its nice scoring the 5th n 6th goal in a trouncing

our collective attacking play and clinical eye is letting this system down

 

“We have to become stronger as a squad. If we have the ambition and intention to play for these two big competitions - Premier League and Champions League - and you lost a lot of energy and players to injuries, you need a really, really big squad.”

Really poor from Conte. He’s got a big squad, he’s just not ****ing using it. Can’t imagine some of the players will enjoy those comments either and I stand by what I said earlier in that I won’t be surprised if we see a few transfer requests in January, including from new summer signings.

Don’t know what happened to him over the summer but this don’t seem like the same guy that reinvigorated us last season.

 

Sorry but I don't get this Nuno-esque stuff. I very seen it mentioned a few times on here and in the general media

We are the third highest scoring Premier league team this season with 19 goals.
We have scored in every Premier league game.
Our results were 4-1, 2-2, 1-0, 1-1, 2-0, 2-1, 6-2 and 1-3.
We have also hit the wood work 5 times (4th highest in the league) and had 115 attempts on goal (14 attempts per game...5th highest in the league)
I think we've also had a 4 goals ruled out (three correctly and one incorrectly).

There are some issues for us to overcome but the idea we are playing that turgid, unwatchable garbage from most of 2020 - late 2021 is simply not true.

 

I’m glad you’re enjoying watching us, though it seems the majority of fans aren’t.

 

And you know the football’s bad when Paddy starts taking the piss:

 

While I agree with much of your well thought out post your last sentence is where I would take issue.

I don't think we have a long way to go to become one of the most effective teams in the PL. For example if Kane & Son rediscover their form especially their collective form the whole team would be transformed. You pay attention to that point but don't seem to appreciate the importance of it. Even last nights game, what I saw of it, contained enough chances for a ticking Kane & Son to have easily won the night. This lack of form pervades the whole team. It doesn't matter what tactics you use if you miss the created chances you fail. The one area I would change is to play Kane so that we can take advantage of his passing vision, he is much more than just a striker.

 

This is dreadful, even allowing for some interpretation issues as Contes English word selection is sometimes off.

You're 100% right: this is a big squad with a helluva lot of talent both proven and potential.
By keeping to this narrow band of players game in, game out, he is draining the proven ones, restricting the potential ones - and managing to piss both groups off. As well as the fans.

As others have said, we are just fans not elite level coaches, but FFS! we have been able to predict the last few games strategy and that means that opposition can too. The singular 343 counter-attack tactic home and away is so predictable.

Also...4 points from 3 CL games would not be a bad return from a Group with RM, Barce or Milan. But if this club is serious about the level it wants to be it's bang average in this group and leaving the last 2 games to secure passage is risky in the extreme.

Frustrating!

 

I agree RCL to compare Conti with Nuno is a little bit ridicoulos but it is a cheap and easy way to describe some dissapointing performances from Spurs. Is it a case of everyone in the team just trying too hard? In my experience the best sporting performances come when you are relaxed and not thinking about much at all especially your 'form'. You have to trust your abilities and just go with it.
I am surprised at how conservative Conti is with changes. I can appreciate that hauling people off the park does not improve their self perception and can shatter fragile confidence but changing our midfield by one player would not be draconian.

 

I would just say look at Chelsea, look at Liverpool and look at United we are not alone in missfiring and we are still 3rd FFS.

 

I take your point and agree that both those teams are misfiring - although both are in a transition phase on or off the pitch.
How the **** we are in 3rd still is probably more of a condemnation of others rather than anything else.
I'm just concerned that the positivity at the club in the last 6 weeks of the 21/22 season is ebbing away very fast.

 

I’ve got no issues with the way our CL group is going

it’s never a stroll for any team who get far so with that in mind I’m hopeful

for me

our strikers are the issue

they can’t execute their portion of the plan

On the 65th minute we had attempted 9 shots at goal with 0 on target

Are we expecting Conte to run onto the pitch and put one in?

 

Particularly when it is the same players coming off every game...and the same players still sitting in the tracksuits at the end of every game.

 

There is the suggestion (can't remember from who, but it's from a source I bother to remember their suggestions...) that Conte is working on the basis that our front three have the talent to get his tactical tweak, so he's letting them get on with it rather than chop and change during games if the tweaks aren't working

Maybe they'd get them quicker if the ball got to them reliably

 

We are/were on a high as we saw the transfers coming in and the media were also talking us up. There was always going to be a let down as reality kicked in. The myth of 'we just need some signings' is always propogated by fans and the media when stability is a far more important issue. Look at Spurs following the 'Bale' money spend or Notts Forest following 20 signings, or Chelsea after a 250 million spend. The reality would appear to be that one top signing of the right position can transform a settled team. Examples; Viera for Arsenal (The first one), van Dijk for Liverpool, Cantona for United, and Mackay for Spurs. All took top teams to a higher level like Haaland will probably do for City. Quality not quantity is the answer. A club needing to sign a lot of players is in effect saying it is way off where it wants to be so it's likely to take a little time, perhaps a season, for that change to produce the goods and to be fair Conte has always said just that and we should look at next season to see the real fruits of the changes.

 

In "morning after the night before" mode, and tis
fair to say that game is an indictment of woeful
finishing.

As always, the issue is player mentality.
If the players are sufficiently angry with themselves
over the result (more so given the gift that
Marseille gave) , then the motivation for wins
in the next two home rounds should be there.