Forgetting the penalty fiasco yesterday, something that’s grated on me is Son’s injury and how it possibly could’ve been prevented. I missed the Shkendija match (seen highlights since) but read one or two reports and comments on social media that Son looked dead on his feet at the end of the game. Baring in mind we’ve played Sunday-Thursday and have done two huge trips (both circa 2,500+ mile round trips I believe), with Son playing 90 mins in them all (think only Davies is the other to have done so) surely it was logical to have started Son from the bench against Newcastle? This poor squad management has been a thing for years at Spurs and it really annoys me, Kane has been the biggest victim of it and it now seems Son has too. We have Son, Bergwijn, Lucas, Lamela plus Dele and Sessegnon who can all play in a wide forward role yet we’ve ran one of them into the ground whilst others have been in and out the side, some completely out. It’s why getting a new striker is pivotal to avoid this happening to Kane again but considering we have multiple players who can play in the same position as Son, it’s frustrating that over these bunch of games - especially where pre-season has been limited - he’s been ran into the ground and now we’re paying for it.
I noticed Josh King's name coming up again today, and surely it's not a coincidence considering he can also play on the wing while Milik and Weghorst play through the middle?
Jose was also predicting that we would suffer more injuries each game because of the ridiculous schedule of games. In which case you have to ask why play Son every game until the inevitable happens? Jose always uses logic in his pronouncements but where is the logic in not resting Son for one of those games. He is building a a good looking squad but there is little point if you don't use it.
We made the same mistake post-restart last season, too, as we persisted with the same players even though Son was looking knackered with 4-5 games to go and our right flank pairing of Aurier/Lucas were genuinely becoming insufferable with how incapable they were at getting the ball to a teammate
The Standard's West Scam correspondent writes... https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/fo...ot-be-changed-until-next-season-a4557776.html Couldn't we have a consistent application of the laws of physics instead?
If the federations, leagues and players all refuse to play until the laws are changed back to make handball only an offence if it is intentional: a law that has been perfectly satisfactory for longer than most of us can remember, then they have the power to force the hand of IFAB and FIFA/UEFA
Okay, I'll try again... please log in to view this image It's beautiful, isn't it? Seeing the ball being passed to our right back and not disappearing off the face of the earth. The last time I remember seeing that was when Foyth started at RB against Crvena Zvezda last season, and as a result there's a much better flow of passes than we were getting last season, as best demonstrated by the regular service Lo Celso was getting from Winks, Hojbjerg, Winks, Doherty and Winks That being said, the thick slugs from Doherty to Hojbjerg (and back again) and Hojbjerg to Winks indicate there's still too much back and forth passing between midfielders, and Davies was certainly getting less of the ball than we're used to seeing - which is less of an issue for this match, but if we see similar with Reguilon in the team that's going to be a problem
One match isn't a good enough sample. However our goals per shot ratio has been 7th, 5th and 3rd in the PL over the last three seasons which demonstrates we are already well better than most so you are simply wrong to identify it as an issue.
Transfermarkt has stats which show we are doing very well on this measure. https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/premier-league/chancenverwertung/wettbewerb/GB1/saison_id/2017
We're currently 11th, with a conversion rate of 12% (50 shots, 6 goals) This is actually an issue, because if we are going to play counter attacking football we need to be more clinical and it should be around double that rate, for example Leicester's 30.8% (12 from 39) is the upper reaches of where we should be
A large part of the issue is tied to how so many of our counters break down due to players straying offside in our early games, which is putting the onus on Son to create something himself - which is a bit of a bugger for the next few games...
I didn't actually think of that. It's as much a pen as the one we conceded last week against Soton where it comes off another player onto the arm. Thanks, now I'm even more annoyed.
Newcastle's conversion rate this season is low, but they've scored from every shot on target! They still somehow managed a win, a draw and a loss.
https://www.skysports.com/football/...ms-in-handball-controversies-dermot-gallagher Dermot Gallagher: Not only are the refs right about everything, but they're actually victims, if you squint really, really hard.
Really. The point of the game of football is to put the ball in the net more times than the opposition,or you won't win.We've gone barmy in one away league and screwed up in two home league games. That ain't good!
When it comes to the handball rule I do feel some sympathy with the refs because they can only apply the laws as they stand, they don’t make them up. Where I don’t feel sympathy are decisions like the decisive free kicks we’ve ‘conceded’ against Everton and now Newcastle this season, both of which are just completely incorrect decisions and instances of poor refereeing judgement. Technology absolutely has a role to play in how the game is officiated, goal line tech is excellent and I’m happy for it to be used for offsides as that is a binary decision to make, video technology will just help make it more accurate. I’m sure there’s some additional tech that could make offside rulings even faster over the next few years. Where I think the intersection of laws and technology fails is in more nuanced incidents where an element of intent and avoidability has to come into play for any sensible refereeing decision to be made. The two situations that immediately come to mind are handballs such as Dier’s this weekend, and incidents of dangerous play where some measure of intent can come into play (rightly or wrongly).