Football free night for me, I was out at a birthday party. I haven't even seen the lowlights yet - can't wait!.. Reading the comments here, it sounds like we dominated the game - again. Failed to either create enough clear chances, or take the ones we did create - again! And, finally, gave away a silly goal by falling asleep at the back - again! We really do need more incision and precision up front. If you can force a side who've come to defend to come out, then you have more space to put them away. We seem to do well against those teams who come to play football, but struggle against those who don't.
My concern is with playing an underperforming Eriksen alongside Carroll, who still looks a light weight at PL level. Despite having what seemed acres of space on the right to work with, especially 2nd half, all our most dangerous play was down the left through Davies. Lamela missed a couple of gift-wrapped opportunities from crosses from that side. Schmeichel did pull off a couple of good saves but his distribution is awful - and that game must have been up there for the record number of corners. Both teams had loads - pity that it was only one of theirs that made the difference! (Still haven't seen that clearly, but Dier seemed to fall back at quite a rate as if pushed?). And yes, the 3 officials were dreadful all night.........
Probably the most frustrating game of the season. To dominate so massively and leave with nothing is gutting, Leicester sat back more than Chelsea did earlier in the season against us and so to grab a winner from a corner just summed up our luck on the night. I don't really want to go into speaking too much about the ref as I'll just get incensed but it was without a doubt the worst refereeing performance of the season, must've been over 50 stoppages, about 40 were pathetic calls. Fair play to Leicester though, their tactic yet again worked to great success, they defended very, very deep and managed to contain us - although Kane and Lamela missed glorious opportunities. I couldn't see who was meant to be picking up Huth from the corner but it seemed so easy for him, just like their goal over the weekend, that was the sloppy Tottenham defending of previous seasons. I was a bit frustrated with Poch for not making subs sooner, the game was looking like a stalemate at half time due to Leicester's stubbornness and yet left it til about 70 mins to bring Dembele on, we needed a bit of pace to open them up as well and someone like Son (or even Rose at LW) would've been ideal to have on earlier yet only had 10 minutes. One thing was glaringly obvious was the need for a another striker, Harry really is looking ****ed in stages and we need someone to not only relive the burden but to also challenge and play in place/ alongside him, someone to help change the option too, ideally a pacey option like Remy or Berahino would be great but if not pace just someone else to help out, Charlie Austin should be someone to definitely look at. Hopefully we don't leave it til deadline day again but I think that's what will happen. Bad day at the office, after the results of other games that was an ideal opportunity for us to get three points and build our lead over rivals below/ chase those above and we blew it. Really disappointing.
Yeah it looked like he collided with Toby. The ridiculous thing is that exactly the same thing happened on Sunday for that man mountain's goal - I think it was Dier who obstructed Toby from tracking him! Speaking of Toby, he looked dead on his feet by the end of the game. That "cross" in stoppage time was the swing of a very tired foot. I think this is why we've started to see uncharacteristic errors creep into his game recently. I'd rest him against Sunderland and play Wimmer with Jan. I also don't see why Walker or Davies should keep their places after the games they had - especially the former who seemed dead set on giving Hugo a heart attack. Oh and SOS, my feeling is that Levy is waiting to see how we get on in the FA Cup. If we get knocked out, I've a horrible feeling he'll turn round to Poch and say 'you can make do with what you've got'. It would be such a Levy calculation to make.
Bloody hope not ,CK. I'd like to think Levy sees the need for a new striker regardless of competitions remaining, we still have Europa anyway but someone is needed to just have the option, we've done really well so far to get by with it but in the business end of the season it's somewhat suicidal to think Kane can maintain a high level of performance in every game remaining. At the very least we have another 20 games to go - 17 Prem, 1 FA and 2 Europa - with Harry looking jaded in games now, it's an absolute must to get someone in. It doesn't even need to be Berahino at £20m+, there are enough good £8m-£10m options that would be welcomed additions.
Already said in another thread I'd have him back in a heart beat. Ideal for what we need right now, though his form at Sunderland will not only make it hard to reach an agreement with them but also himself, as much as he loves Spurs he's getting regular games there and scoring a good amount, can't see him leaving that for a bench role.
Are we talking about the same Daniel Levy?! On a more serious note, I personally think that part of the problem is Poch. Whilst I'm a massive fan of his and I think he's the right man to take us forward, he is at times held back by a bit of a dogmatic personality. I mentioned this earlier with regards to his insistence on 100% reliance on youth that fails to grasp how important a old head is around the training ground and changing room. Judging by almost every interview he has given on the topic of transfers, it seems clear that he absolutely won't consider a player unless he is convinced that said player will fit into the 'system' perfectly. Now that is an admirable sentiment, but it seems that the majority of posters on here see this as a 'desperate times call for desperate measures' situation, and would be more than happy - as Harry was - to see a Saha or Gudjohnsen type signing come in to at leas help us muddle through, whilst sharing vast experience with the youngsters. Bring Crouchy back on loan?
[QUOTE="Citizen Kane, post: 8794379, member: 1034625" . Bring Crouchy back on loan? [/QUOTE] Thats a great shout actually he is actually one of the most effective sub Strikers I have seen
As I remember it, he wanted more money and a longer contract than we were prepared to offer, so off he went to Canada. Otherwise, I'd have loved to have kept him. He scores goals..
Thats a great shout actually he is actually one of the most effective sub Strikers I have seen[/QUOTE] Wouldn't fit the system at all. We don't have a pacy #10 to run on to his knock-downs, nor can we take corners, free kicks, or cross the ball with accuracy. But apart from that, he's a perfect fit
Aha! the famous whistle says it all! Haha I am part of the pro-Levy brigade if I'm honest, even if he does frustrate me by often leaving transfer deals late on but I hold a bit of faith. Agree about an experienced head around the place, wouldn't even have to be a starter on the pitch but bringing someone on regardless of whether we're winning or not would be ideal, plus just having around the place is always helpful, a number of players speak of influences on and off the pitch and how beneficial they are.
Wouldn't fit the system at all. We don't have a pacy #10 to run on to his knock-downs, nor can we take corners, free kicks, or cross the ball with accuracy. But apart from that, he's a perfect fit [/QUOTE] Very True, but he has been a game changer from the bench before and Son could play off him as a (reasonably) pacey 10! January signings would ideally have have premier league experience and he at least ticks that box. But definitely not a poch player
The point is that building the team spirit depends entirely on not signing people who will break it. Poch rightly won't take any risks on this. We are not desperate - we have a jigsaw of fine players missing two or three pieces. Signing a random piece doesn't help in completing the jigsaw!
I think it's always going to be a problem when you have a set system, a certain way you want to play the game, that you stick too. Any halfway shrewd opposition manager realises this an sets up to try and counter your methods. If your team is accomplished enough, maybe you can impose your style of play on your opponents, but we don't look capable of doing that in many instances. Ranieri knew exactly what to expect from us last night, and apparently, we didn't disappoint him. We saw The Goons run into the same problem against Southampton. Koeman knew exactly what to expect from Whinger's Gooners and countered it perfectly. Unless we can find at least one more midfielder with the guile of Eriksen, we look likely to continue to fail to pick apart well organised, packed defenses. I know some of you will point to Carroll, but he still has to prove himself at this level,for me. When I see him running a game and not getting outmuscled by the opposition, I might start to believe. If we can't do that, what's wrong with going to a kind of plan B? Using wingers, and maybe even a Crouch type centre forward? More than one way to skin a cat.
