iirc if Marseille win they are definitely through irrespective of the other game, at least as runners up. I can't remember us ever being in a group that was still completely open going into the final fixture. Unfortunately for us, the Velodrome is a cauldron of noise and hooliganism and I think we will ****e ourselves.
Conversely, they really need a win there so that might help us. If we get too passive and in our shells though then we’re ****ed, in front of that crowd.
There appear to be two areas of ongoing confusion. Firstly whether the defender deliberately played the ball or not. I haven’t seen replays but under the circumstances it’s surely an entirely subjective decision and therefore to contravene the on-field decision would surely require a certain standard to be met (like the defender looking away from the ball when it touches him, which I don’t think he is). Second it appears some people are confused about the laws and whether the direction of travel matters. I’ve seen some suggest that it does and some that it doesn’t, and some suggest that whether it does or not depends on if the offside player is ahead of the ball. I’m not wording that well, but basically apparently it might matter whether Emerson plays the ball forward or back before it touches the defender. I can’t face going and trying to work out the laws right now or to read much more tbh. I’m also following along on the Graun’s live text where they’re saying that Kane looks behind the ball anyway, which of course makes it moot. And Conte’s comments after the game and Hojbjerg’s aside to the camera as he walked off the pitch suggest this one might run. VAR has given us some great moments as a fanbase but also some complete sucker punches and today is one of the latter. I don’t know if it’s a net-good or not but I do know that the current situation, where the laws seem to keep changing and nobody seems to definitively know what they are, and where the technology interrupts the matches in such a time-consuming way, isn’t much fun. At least not when you’re on the wrong end.
At least still in our own hands although to many arsenal players/ex-players in the Marseille team to make me feel confident.
Ok I’ve worked it out. Some may remember that I posted a while back about the offside tech in the CL this season being semi-automated but there being some ****ery about not sharing the automated imagery until next season’s competition. We all joked that some sort of fun controversy would happen, and, well…here we are. So the image I shared earlier isn’t the image that they made the decision from, I believe. We won’t get to see that. But per the automated tech, Kane was definitively in front of the ball. One mystery solved. So actually it turns out that this is one of the only situations that offside isn’t truly binary. Kane was off but he’s on if the defender deliberately plays the ball. So the subjective decision about that is what took so long and ultimately what lost us the three points. I think. Again I haven’t seen a replay more than once but overruling that feels harsh. If the ref’s original decision is goal, then can you prove a player definitively tried not to touch the ball? Because surely that’s the standard needed. Anyway, if we finish our second half chances or don’t bollocks up the first it’s all moot. For the thousandth time, you have to play well enough so the marginal decisions and one-off situations don’t matter. Much improvement over 90mins needed.
I'll ignore the bullshit offside call for a minute. The defender slaps the ****ing ball with his hand. Just a reminder that these bent officials were on VAR for the CL final v the plastic Scouse. I'm sure that's a massive coincidence, just like the big smile on that ****'s face.
I had thought that too. That if the goal was ruled out for offside then they’d look at handball. I imagine, if they looked, that it wasn’t given for the same reason it was ruled a deflection and not a deliberate attempt to play the ball - proximity to Emerson and speed of the ball.
Okay , home from the game and caught up on the recording and the comments here. My addition is their number 2 pushes Kane in the back. And second, we can't actually see where the number 2 is relation to Kane. He might be playing him on side anyway. Kane is blocking the view . Who can say that his big toe isn't in front of Kane?
Well that was certainly a game of 2 halves, and the first time I have been to a match with a significant VAR decision and I will come back to that later. First half was as poor as I have ever witnessed live, there was just nothing of note from us, we were so slow and passive in possession, no intensity and no energy and we could easily have been out of the game at half time. No one played well, but Dier, Doherty and Hojbjerg were particularly appalling, and Lucas just looked like a player that hasn't played all season. 2nd half was a massive improvement (which wasn't hard), but whilst we huffed and puffed and were certainly better, it was still a struggle and as the half progressed and they bought on more and more defensive players, we didn't create a host of clear cut chances, but were well on top though Sporting were always dangerous on the break. Bryan Gil made a real difference when he came on and when we finally scored you felt that was only 1 winner and that was almost what happened but for our old friend VAR. Now the actual decision has been done to death both here and on TV so I am not going to go into that. What I will say is that the length of time taken (4 mins I believe, it seemed longer), is ridiculous, and is further proof that football is now just about TV and they don't give a **** about the paying fan. Ultimately the first half performance was so bad that we maybe didn't deserve to win on that alone, but we at least showed spirit and a great improvement in the 2nd and ultimately I think that we were unlucky not to win. We won't win next week that is a very difficult game and whilst they have to win and that could play into our hands we also don't turn up on nights like that!
"This decision creates a big damage, I hope the club understands this," said a fuming Conte after the game. "I think the club has to be strong. I repeat that this situation creates a big damage." Conte nudging Spurs to make a big deal out of it I make him right
Passmap time please log in to view this image Obviously this is an example of needing a passmap for the first 45 and the second, as I very much doubt that our first half map looked like this What does stand out is the combinations between the back three and the pivot look like they're supposed to, with nobody bafflingly out of position messing up the lines or two players occupying the same three square feet as each other There's certainly a few cracks, though: after a few weeks of the anti-Emerson mob lionising Doherty he isn't finding any teammate other than Romero enough to register which certainly stands out looking at the traffic between him and Lucas, while Kane's dot has dramatically shrunk compared to the past few weeks. And as for the line from Son to Perisic which doesn't seem to be reciprocated... On the plus side, though, we're seeing the ball played from midfield to the forward line with Bentancur regularly getting the ball to Son while Hojbjerg is getting it to Kane What does seem to stand out is that we did seem to pin Sporting back, which takes me back to what I said about why a map for the first 45 and the second, as I doubt their midfield was sat that deep in the first half but they certainly were in the second please log in to view this image Of course, r/coys are salivating at the thought of signing Pedro Porro as if The Sheikh Mansour Team don't have a buyback clause for him...
He’s probably doing his best to deflect the blame that’s on him for the appalling first half. Second half showed we know how to attack. He’s holding us back. Getting pretty sick of him now to be honest, boring football and constantly moaning. And you just know that Emerson waltzes back into the XI on the weekend whilst Gil and Spence won’t even get off the bench.
but he’s right that we shouldn’t just take it on the chin…we should moan about it because it’s important. You’re right and I don’t get why he’s being that way…baffling. Like that same fear that grips everyone that joins Spurs and puts them in a shell has gotten hold of Conte too I think Emerson and Doherty are equally **** btw…they both look like they’ve been forced to receive the ball. Maybe the club will recruit properly for the most important positions in Contes system. Gil gave me that same feeling of optimism I get whenever Kulu receives the ball…no brainier for a start against Bournemouth imo
I’ve said the same RE Doherty and Emerson. There were even debates over the summer where I said we should sell both and there was some fight for Doherty because he had one good month in two years at the club, we as a fanbase need to stop clinging to micro positives in awful players. Same happened with Winks just because he played well in 3 or 4 European games, people would then forget the 100s of awful ones elsewhere. Conte persisting with the pair is only making things worse for him. I was buzzing to sign Gil, he was watched by just about every top club, I’m certain he’s gonna turn out to be a class player but that won’t happen if he sits on the bench or in the stands here. The physical nonsense Conte says about him is bollocks too. Plenty of smaller framed players have been successes in the Prem. Agree about the the optimism and excitement he brings just like Kulu. These are players we pay to watch, they’re what makes football really enjoyable.
I cannot recall whether Spurs EL slot was guaranteed after round 5 of the 2016-17 CL group stage, or whether the round 6 tie was an away game. The pressure is really on Conte and the squad now for this game. Performances between now and then akin to what has generally been served up this season will make it even worse.
It’s been a frustrating season so far, with some fortunate results making our league position look better than we actually are. When we don’t get these results and/or the performances are terrible, all hell breaks loose amongst the fans, which i sort of understand, as we’ve experienced turgid crap from several managers over the last 10 years or so, and quite frankly we’re fed up with seeing it over and over again. However, this time around I genuinely don’t know what we can do. Many fans are growing tired of Conte, but it wasn’t long ago that we needed a proven winner at the club to show “ambition”. We got that wish in Conte. Who is the alternative? the way I see it, is we’ve got a “square peg in round holes” situation, but from top to bottom within the club because we’re undergoing a long overdue rebuild. Things haven’t quite clicked together and we haven’t pushed on this season, but I honestly believe this can be fixed, but it’s going to take time and we have to be patient. could conte use other players at his disposal like Spence and Gil? Yes. could he also be a bit more flexible with his tactics and subs? Yes Are there players who we’re sentimental about like lloris, who perhaps we now need to think about upgrading? Yes. are there players that are loyal like Dier and Davies, but now need to be squad players, and/or perhaps be moved on? Yes do we need to get shot of the likes of Lo Celso and Ndombele to allow us to push on? Yes Do we still need to strengthen in key areas such as WB/CB/AM? Yes. IMO we’re where we are because all/most of this coincides with one another and it’s preventing things from marrying up. the second half last night showed how we can control a game, and dominate. We’ve got decent performances in us. Conte may be responsible for the team selection, but it’s down to the players to put in a performance. Last night’s first half was ****e, but the second was very very good. No changes were made at half time.. so explain that one?! Ultimately some of the responsibility is with those same players, who need to perform for 90 mins, not 45. but I expect to see more of the same until we find resolutions to gaps in the squad and general quality, which will (IMO) fix the frustrations we have with Conte and the crap football we’re playing. But until then, I don’t see things coming together in the way we would like. Some of the players just aren’t good enough, and conte isn’t going to budge either. Stalemate. but could someone else to a better job? If so, I’d love to know who. Patience is the only answer, IMO.
