I seriously want some love for my reverse jinx post...sent 30 secs before the equaliser...even by my standards, this was remarkable
I was also baffled by your tactics today. He also had a solid 2 weeks to prepare for this game so the almost complete unpreparedness was shocking. You invited pressure from the first minute and I'm not sure what shape your midfield was supposed to be holding but it certainly wasn't one I saw in geometry. A lot of us Spurs fans have a soft spot for your lot (if you look at our league prediction thread I think most of us predicted 5th or 6th for you), not just because of the healthy amount of business between the two clubs over the years but more down to the fact that you've got a tradition of playing the game the right way. But the speed at which you've regressed over this season is mystifying. I only say this because we were well below par today. Sluggish in the first half and wasting set-pieces appallingly, I didn't think the '3' of Son-Alli-Lamela worked whatsoever, nor did expecting Eriksen to turn into Luka Modric. Dier and Alli in particular looked exhausted as the game progressed and Kane had the appearance of a man recently sedated. Defensively we were pretty solid apart from the ball-watching that led to your goal. Walker is my scapegoat this season but today he was magnificent. But then again - would he have had so much time and space to roam forward had Montero started? A lot have pointed to Eriksen as our MOTM and I would agree with that if the game had started with the 2nd half. Across the 90 minutes, Walker barely put a foot wrong. Every single pass back was well timed and weighted, he didn't allow himself to be dragged out of position and his forays forward caused you all sorts of problems. MOTM for me Best of luck for the rest of the season; I don't think you'll go down, only because there are at least 3-4 teams in the mix who are worse than you. But unless you improve drastically over the summer I fear for you next season.
Walker was MOM for me as well CK. The reason I haven't gone with the flow and suggested Eriksen is because I thought he was wasteful at times. It all seemed a bit flat at the halfway stage and looked like going tits up, but an inspiring interview during the break with Alan Gilzean, seemed to lift the crowd, who then lifted the players and although Fabianski was in fine form, I couldn't see us not scoring, such was our second half dominance. Chadli's goal was massive to our season, and Danny Rose's winner was even bigger. Make no mistake, this was a big win at the start of a big week, and at the end of the season, we may well look back on today's last 20 minutes as the defining moment of the season. COYS
I really hope your right OS...what impressed me most was how our subs changed the game...MP seems to have a knack of doing this in the past few months. Can't remember seeing a spurs team who look they believe in each other like this lot do...we have been behind against Swansea (twice), Palace, Everton, City, Sunderland and Bournemouth. ..that's 17 points won after going behind...and we have only lost 1 match from a leading position...says a lot about the team spirit
I was surprised by the negativity on here at half time. For me both teams had a handful of decent chances, they scored one (slightly luckily), we didn't (slightly unluckily). But overall we were in control and making chances and I just have such faith in this team now that we will keep plugging away and make things happen. I said during the game that playing Eriksen deeper than Alli made some sense and it really does - he consistently runs further than any other player on the pitch so getting back into position isn't a problem plus midweek he must have won the ball for us more than almost anyone on the pitch - he can get into position and double up and help win possession perfectly well. But that's not to say that he's being asked to be a holding midfielder any more than Lamela or Kane are - but every one of those players has a well-defined part to play in closing the opposition, harrying and winning the ball back. It's about positioning and organisation and effort more than your build or even tackling ability. Eriksen isn't a DM but then Alli isn't a winger (and arguably the squad doesn't even contain any wingers) and Chadli isn't a striker. Dier's a midfielder who spends half the time the deepest of a back 3, the CBs position themselves as fullbacks when we have possession, the fullbacks are wingers...basically what I'm saying is that when Sherwood declared "there's no such thing as a defensive midfielder" he sort of had it half-right - the difference Poch has made is that he's actually implemented a way of playing and training that makes Sherwood's statement true whereas Sherwood didn't show signs of not simply giving players relatively traditional jobs to do (DM, CF, RW etc). Basically what I'm saying is that, whether how I've justified Eriksen's position in the team is accurate or not the point is that Poch, who sees him every day in training and seem to be excellent at communicating to players and getting them to learn his methods, seemed to think it was a good idea and that's good enough for me. I think we have an extraordinarily capable backroom staff these days who know a bollock-load more about football than me and have direct knowledge of these players' abilities, attitudes and personality. I was agnostic about Poch when he arrived - I had no reason to expect anything special. And over a year and a half in I have only seen evidence to have, literally, 100% faith in the man and his staff. If they say something'll probably work I think it has a very high chance of working - it's why I was bizarrely unfazed about us not getting a striker in January. I honestly think Poch might be a genius. As with several of our players the only worry I have about him is overtures from Barcelona or Real Madrid - great problems we're having nowadays as Spurs fans! The result was honestly never in doubt for me today. We are just better than basically every team we come across nowadays. I still think we've only been outplayed once all season (Anderlecht away?). COYS!
So the main talking points from today's matches are... i.) Spurs got a deserved win that the BBC say shows "title character" ii.) Arsenal royally flubbed at Old Trafford iii.) We were spared months of the Mouser-loving media droning on about the COC Final being the start of great things In other words... please log in to view this image
Walker was excellent and I was just surprised that there were so many calls for him to be subbed at half time. He balanced attack and defensive responsibilities well and his influence on the final result shouldn't be underestimated. I didn't think we played badly, although we should have converted a couple of chances (Lamela/Son) and defensively we were a bit vulnerable especially on the left. I thought Dier was strong throughout and Eriksen was back near his best. Overall, it's a 3 good points and we are better off against L'Arse and no further behind Leicester - so all's well
@DGC Ah, the big difference is, of course, that even where we are in the table, at this part of the season, none of us are saying "this year is our year!" If the Mousers were in our position, they'd already have the bunting up for the street parties.
...and the worst of it would be you'd have a load of Mousers crying on the National news, all saying "Da boys dey did it fer Cilla, la!" and we'd have the unbearable prospect of hearing Mickey Dim getting emotional on TalkShite.
I was getting more and more concerned leading up to our eventual equaliser (and then winner) that it just wasn't going to be our day yesterday, it was quite possibly one of the most dominant attacking performances we've produced this season yet Fabianski somehow managed to channel his inner Hugo Lloris, a number of superb saves (mind you, Hugo made some cracking ones too). Absolute credit to this team and manager though, this sort of game in previous seasons would've seen us give up and concede defeat yet the hunger and belief from all to just keep going and chase the win was superb. I thought the two full backs were outstanding, as was Eriksen who really controlled the game from that deeper role, Hugo deserves a shout for the key saves too. Kane looked a little timid, which is understandable, a couple of times I saw him not go full stretch when going up for a header but after a broken nose I certainly don't blame him, Alli looked a little off the pace at times although he did have treatment right before the game on his ankle so maybe he wasn't 100% despite playing the full 90, hopefully he's ok for West Ham, thought Mason looked lively when he came on and Chadli done more in his 30 mins than Son and Lamela, I think one of those two have to make way for him in midweek. Another great result to keep up the momentum, going into two of the biggest games this club will have, both teams will look to batter us and dent our title push, this'll be the last time we and West Ham face each other at Upton Park so I'm sure their lot will be wanting to put on a performance, especially after the reverse result earlier in the season, whereas Arsenal really need a win to keep up the pace with us and Leicester, now we'll see just how big our lad's bottle is.
