Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Rochdale

All good, mate, cheers. Got the early train back this morning, no delays or anything so was pretty smooth all things considered.

 

Has anyone else mentioned the moment where, with an inch of snow covering the pitch, Percy ****wit-Jones tried to use his spray to mark out where the free kick should be taken from. The look on Lucas' face as the farce was unfolding in front of him summed up the VARcical state of affairs...

Also this little moment from Foyth

Is it worth feigning surprise that Humphrys got away with that blatant shove to the back?

 

I noticed something rewatching Son's sassing of VAR: Rose, Sissoko and Llorente are walking in perfect synchronicity

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Really impresses me with how good his ball control is. Still needs to physically fill out a bit, while he seems to have momentary lapses in concentration but we definitely don't need to worry about his actual skill as a ball playing CB, very comfortable moving with the ball and also picking out passes.

 

Good to see KWP congratulating him there

 

Thawed-just.

TBH - this was the first time that Llorente had good decent service. When I saw that line up, I thought, right if those three can't create goals for any striker
then we are in trouble.
I have said in the past , what we lacked to break teams down isn't width but players who are happy to run at the defence, who have the ability to go past their defence. We now have three players who are capable of that ( I don't think Dele is consistent enough in doing it ).
It's looking much better.

 

The word "sees" is ironic for yesterday.

 

Ironically and much to my surprise, up to the point that he endorsed the Rose for KWP ID from the muppet commentator, I thought Savage had been half decent. Was adamant Lamela goal should have stood and was as generally pissed with the VAR and the idiot ref as we all were.
Other than one mention that we ‘need to win a trophy’, he didn’t rise to the the almost perpetual clickbait emanating from the BT commentator.

 

He has also prepared his hair for the cold weather - mind you, it looked more like an over-baked loaf - which, ironically sounds like over-rated oaf

 

It'll be a cold day in hell before I compliment Savage. Bugger this could be the day!

 

To be honest,he couldn't miss 'em. I thought that was Darren Bent in disguise!

 

While it's fair to say that Foyth isn't a tank like the rest of our centre backs are, it's worth remembering that two of the words to best describe the challenges flying around in the Argentine league are "physical" and "agricultural", so Foyth's better equipped for the Premier League than people give him credit for.

On the subject of agricultural challenges, what're the odds McGahey moves to Middlesbrough in the summer? He strikes me as the perfect Pulis centre back, mixing up niggly fouls that the ref is completely oblivious to with clatterings that would make Charlie Adam blush.

 

When Winks broke through, a process culminating in his much deserved England debut, he played very simple, effective football and made it look easy - look for space, receive the ball, and his first thought was to get his head up and move the ball forwards. Real hallmark of a Poch player. Wasn't afraid to carry the ball forward in traffic or pass it as the situation demanded. He made it look so simple and easy you wondered why most far more experienced English CMs in the league couldn't or wouldn't do the same.

Now he seems to have lost all confidence in doing this. He doesn't seem to take up the same positioning and he is looking for the safe option first every time. He still has a lovely eye for a pass but we aren't seeing it nearly enough. It seems to be a mental problem, I don't know if something has happened to make him go into a hole a bit. Either way he needs to turn it around for the good of Spurs, England and his own career.

When he made his England debut I thought we were genuinely seeing a player who could play his way into a starting XI position for the World Cup this summer, now he's well, well off the pace and not affecting games enough to warrant it.

 

Graham Poll says...

"The decision to award an indirect free-kick after Son Heung-min's penalty was incorrect. Son feinted during his run-up — as the law allows — and not at the end of it, which is banned."

He finally gets something right and we still get nothing out of it. The fact that Paul Tierney, the VAR and Chris 'Rabbit in the Headlights' Foy thinks that it's 'Ungentlemanly Conduct', despite what the laws of the game say, indicates all you need to know about the refereeing standards these days.

 

That is the problem with VAR, the person or people using it must know the rules. If they get the rules wrong, then the VAR decision will be wrong. Perhaps a referees school is needed.

As an aside. Perhaps this should be posted on the No **** Sherlock thread.

 

What about the goalie's antics when he's performing like a chimp in a cage. When did that law change from no movement to jumping up and down etc etc?

 

Years ago. You're just not allowed to move ahead of your line now, IIRC. That doesn't stop most keepers, though.

 

It’s a game with a lot of rules for sure and there are undoubtedly some that are seemingly ambiguous, but there are only a handful that VAR should impact. It can’t be beyond the wit of the authorities and the officials to get those agreed and be able to come up with consistent, fast decisions. Surely....

On 2nd thoughts........