Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Swansea City

I think this is where we will need to see the next step of innovation from Poch & Co.

We started his time with us pressing all over the pitch, which worked against a lot of teams but left us very open to good teams who could play around us, and didn't help us at all against teams that parked the bus as we'd just box them in and constrict the space, and leave ourselves vulnerable on the counter.

Then we began to press more situationally and wisely, and incorporated 3 at the back as our 1st choice formation. This works well against teams we have to defend against (Dortmund) and if we have the right WBs, against teams who park the bus - as long as we have the right midfielders in place to create.

What we're now finding is that if we don't have the right WBs - Davies is improving but is not as effective as Rose at his peak, and Trippier isn't consistently effective and Aurier is still being incorporated into the team - that we lack width, pace and the ability to stretch teams out, even on as large a pitch as Wembley. I think that there could be some mileage in starting our next game of this nature in a 4-2-3-1 with Son on the right and GKN on the left with Eriksen as 10. All that said, we miss Dembele or Winks too who for various reasons aren't starting all our games. Having one of them in the engine room should significantly improve the tempo of our play and help us exploit space and ultimately, score goals.

Our main problem is when we don't have Dembele and lack a player to transition the game quickly and set the tempo. Against Swansea we gained possession multiple times in situations where a player dribbling or passing the ball forward quickly would have created a dangerous counterattacking situation. But the players jogged forwards and invariably played indirect passes, so by the time we had the ball in the attacking third Swansea has their defence and midfield set to contain us. This can in part be mitigated with quick wingers/WBs but the real problem is in the heart of midfield, where Dier is not a creative force.

Poch is a very good manager and has done wonders for the club so far but if he can find a solution to our current ailments then he's taking a step closer to really being able to be considered one of the top managers currently around.

 

Spurs draw 0-0 with Swansea, meanwhile Vincent Janssen scored for Fenerbahce.

Normal service has been resumed.

 

4 of Manure's 7 shots on target went in.
None of our 8 shots on target went in.
Manure had 16 shots, we had 26 shots.
Manure were given a penalty for handball, we were denied a penalty for handball.
Manure "thrashed" Everton, we "played badly".
Of course stats doesn't say everything but I think it shows that the situation isn't quite as bad as we think - and most certainly it's got nothing to do with Wembley.

 

Last season at home- played 19, won 17, drew 2 & lost 0.

This season at 'home'- played 3, won 0, drew 2 & lost 1.

But the problem isn't Wembley?

 

Wembley was never going to be the fortress that WHL was last season but that doesn't make it the reason for the results so far. If we played those matches again we would most likely get 7 or even 9 points based on the number of chances created and our usual hit rate. If Everton had scored their two one-on-ones, they would probably have won today, as Man Utd were totally off the pace for most of the second half, but a present of a goal and a lucky penaltly made the score look very one-sided. There is much more luck in football than people allow for.

 

There is one particular aspect of the comments on here that I don't understand at all: wasn't Son at wing back a big success? We gave no real chances away while he was playing there and he had one of the best chances we created. It seemed an inspired piece of tactics to me: recognise that Swansea were not going to attack so play a winger instead of one of the wing-backs. If Pochettino had gone for it by playing Sissoko on the other side instead of Trippier and put Winks in midfield instead then we might have had the extra creativity we needed. Mind you if the ref is going to give a free-kick for a non-existent handball by one of our players instead of a penalty for him being tripped while ignoring a blatant handball in the area by Swansea then it makes the whole match a lottery.

 

Last season we won 17 drew 2 but didnt lose any mate.

 

You need to look at those figures again, maths not a strong point with you?

 

Of course! Thanks, B&W. Silly mistake - just put it down to old age!

Oh and a ps....... I don't think Lamela would fit in this team's normal line-up, and I'm not convinced he'll ever play for us again. And, to be honest, that's not a scenaro that bothers me. I don't miss him.

 

Then it should, he is a player who can unlock tight defences which is something you are going to face a lot more this season after the last couple of years performances.

 

I don't know Audrey. On the hope that Lamela makes a full recovery, I'm quite excited to see him play in the '2' behind Kane. I always felt that he didn't suit the '3' system as he never played centrally due to Eriksen or Alli but lacked the pace and right foot to play wide and cut inside. Giving him the freedom of the final third as the 2 have it now could be a masterstroke and at the very least would give Alli the arse kicking he so clearly needs. It's either that or we have to wait until january for Barkley to do it.

 

That's right. If we didn't create any chances or if we weren't dominating games it would be Wembley. Just how is it "Wembley's" fault that Lloris made that horrible goalkeeper error? Moreover, if we are not doing well because we are not "at home", then how come we won our away matches?

 

Or we just drop him now and play Son and Eriksen behind Kane and an actual defender at left-back.
Even if we play a three behind the striker, we could use Sissoko or one of the youngsters there. Edwards, perhaps?
Any of those options should give him a wake up call, even if signing a new contract doesn't, assuming that happens soon.

 

We should look at the guy that takes them for Denmark, he looks handy from the dead ball.

 

Using Sonny at left back isn't something that we should have done against Chelsea but I didn't have so much of a problem against Swansea. Ben Davies had a knock and risking him wasn't an option that we should have been contemplating with the DoF out for who knows how long? With the Ajax 3 at the back, we're likely to be pretty secure against Swansea and the wing-back is more of a wide midfielder/winger in those circumstances. It was a reasonable option given the extent of our injuries and I don't see that any other fit player would have made a better fist of it.

A bigger problem is that Ben Davies is now our most/second most creative player. We really missed what he's brought to the team this season. The other 3 midfielders had limited effect in creating chances. Eric Dier's not a bad player but even he wouldn't claim to be a playmaker. Kieran Tripper's game is about getting crosses in. I thought Harry Kane looked tired after the Dortmund game and for me, he came deep too often to get the best out of Trippier. Dele was AWOL for pretty much the whole game and too easy to mark out of things.

Moussa Sissoko shouldn't be starting games if we have any other fit option. I don't mind him coming on to hold what we have in a game but his absolutely woeful lack of end product isn't fitting for a team of our ability and intentions. His passing is seriously limited and he has zero finishing skills. He makes Steffen Freund look like Frank Lampard. Okay, Big Vic and Winksy are injured and Mousa's obviously still limited in how often he can play. We need one or possibly both of Barkley/Gomez if Mousa and Erik Lamela are not going to be really fit for the second half of the season to avoid being that limited too often.

 

Utd didn't thrash Everton. For the third time this season, Utd finished strongly against tiring opponents when pacy substitutes were introduced. Martial is looking top class at present.
Utd don't get as many shots away as Spurs because more moves break down in and around the box - one two many passes, poor first touch from Lukaku etc.
The handball for Utd's penalty was as clear cut as you'll ever see too.
Utd have been much more clinical in front of goal so far this season. Yesterday's game would have been 0-0 or 1-1 last season. Matic's presence in the team, Ibrahimovic not slowing up the play and the effective use of subs has been the main difference so far.
Spurs haven't been ruthless so far; Kane has started scoring now August is over, but Alli hasn't found his form, Son is just coming back from injury and there is nobody like Martial, who can come off the bench and score.[/QUOTE]

 

Sorry Brian, but I thought that picking Son as a wingback was a terrible decision.
He looked utterly knackered when he came off against Dortmund and still isn't 100%, so why start him in such a demanding role?
It doesn't get the best out of him anyway and just nullified his threat, while leaving us a bit weak down that flank.
Should've benched him and picked Walker-Peters there, who's played the role a lot and could do with game time.

The other alternative was just to pick Vertoghen at left-back and push Son into a three behind Kane.
Dier and Sissoko would've covered the extra ground in midfield and we'd have had more punch up front.
I'd have preferred Dembele or Winks in there, but still.

I totally agree about Trippier's main threat being crosses, but that begs two questions, for me.
The first is why we consistently failed to get players into the box for him to find and why our buildup was often so pedestrian.
The second is what possible sense there was in moving him over to the left, where he was completely useless in attack?
Every ball to him just came back inside, he was never going to beat his man and he became utterly predictable.

 

Apologies not needed, it's all opinions. I'll take Son at left WB before seeing Trippier out there again. KWP might well have been a better option but it is untried and I wouldn't criticise Mauricio Pochettino for that call ahead of a few others.

From being at the game it appeared to me that Trippier didn't cross the ball on a significant number of occasions because there wasn't anyone in the area likely to get on the end of it. Harry Kane looked weary and kept coming deep and Dele Alli was too well marked and lacked any dynamism. If the ball was knocked back to the edge of the box it was to Eric Dier and Sissoko who repeatedly belted it into the crowd.

Personally, I didn't disagree with Trippier's decision making but Mauricio Pochettino should have reacted and had Llorente on the pitch after an hour. Maybe dropped Christian Eriksen deeper to improve our passing from those deeper positions and get us at their defence before they had time to set up.

 

Lot's of people claim the answer to breaking down teams who park the bus is to use width. Allow me to claim otherwise.
When teams played 4-4-2, and it was two banks of four, then the width helped as you would take one of the back four out wide leaving two CBs to defend against two strikers when the ball came into the centre. It's a 50/50.
Now however, teams like Swansea played with a back bank of 5 and four in front-not interested in attacking so don't care that they only have one upfront. If we play the ball wide, he is covered by their LB/WB and they have three CBs defending against one striker. (midfielders coming to help are covered by their midfielders).
My solution is a midfielder who can dribble past two players and pull the other defenders out of position. ( you need the ball between the two banks , and to be in control of the ball). Who are our dribblers? Dele; who is not doing it this season, always wants to nutmeg and players have got wise to him. Dembele; very good but not a goal threat, probably playing too deep as well. Harry can, but it ideally needs to be from midfield so you then need a striker in front of him. Son; plays out wide not mid.
The player in my opinion who can do the job is a certain Marcus Edwards. It is exactly how he won the penalty for the first goal and the way he scored the fourth against Dortmund for the U19's last Wednesday.

 

Why was my reply to Diego deleted?