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Eric Dier

Bullet said:
Anyway - regarding those pass maps, very noticeable how the passing was sideways first half and penetrative second half when Brighton opened up.
If you look at the "first half" images, nearly all of the passes in our half were pointless side to side "after you, no, after you" passes.
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But that was only to be expected? Even the likes of Barcelona and City can find themselves forced to pass sideways ad nauseum when confronted by teams that park the bus. You cannot just pass your way through a wall of ten demented defenders.

One answer is to play cat and mouse by passing across the middle in order to disrupt your opponent then pounce once you spot a gap. Another is to get the ball out wide and in behind their defence and a third is to send crosses over and hope you find one of your own to nod it in. We tried all three first half then got lucky when Harry ran into the wall.

That we were more direct second half when Brighton opened up was wholly predictable.
 
Gazza Dazzla said:
Wouldn’t that be at least partly to do with Brighton coming out and attacking us a bit more 2nd half? First half was literally 11 men behind the ball, back 6, 3 protecting and Murray half pressing Toby and Jan. 2nd half I felt they noticeably pushed up the pitch and committed more forward which left the gaps to move and pass in to.

That’s my take on it anyway.
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That's what I said "when Brighton opened up"
 
Spur of the moment said:
One answer is to play cat and mouse by passing across the middle in order to disrupt your opponent then pounce once you spot a gap.
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Yes, that is my point. We weren't disrupting them nor passing quickly to probe and find gaps.

Players were passing the buck, the centre back roll is faced with 1 presser and not seeing any reasonable options, so he slowly rolls it 20 yards to his mate at the back, takes a touch, looks up and likewise he doesn't see an obvious pass, so he rolls it to the full back, who feels pressured and knocks it straight back to the centre back, same again so he just rolls it across to his mate, across again, back again, never truly probing, zipping the ball at speed, trying to turn and hurt the opponent, and I'm including the midfield in this. All players should receive the ball with (1) a good first touch (2) a picture in their mind of where everyone is (3) the ability to turn or lay it off to hurt the opponent... but each time they came deep to receive the ball they just knock it straight back to the defender who thinks "er, cheers mate".

Eventually Kane comes all the way deep to do their job for them, as they are SO non-penetrative.

It's like a striker that never makes a run to lose a defender. All strikers should start a run left if they want to go right, they should drop deep if they then want to spin in behind, they should threaten to sprint and then come deep if they want to get it to feet.

This is the basics.
Seems like our deep midfielders just receive the ball and control it and then think "woah, someone is coming towards me, I'll just lay it back to that guy" and then they get 95% pass completion.
 
Bullet said:
Yes, that is my point. We weren't disrupting them nor passing quickly to probe and find gaps.
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Completely disagree, I thought we were doing exactly that. Going forward we were looking much livelier than of late. Dier was spraying quality first time passes out to the flanks; both Trippier and Rose were getting in behind the defence and putting crosses over; Moura was making runs down the left and through the middle but mostly coming unstuck; Son was attempting shots from the edge of the box that were getting blocked/forcing corners and although Kane was struggling to free himself from the shackles it was his attempt to bulldoze through the wall that eventually created the scoring opportunity.

Different ways of seeing the same thing I suppose. One cup half empty, the other half full.:p
 
Phucking hopeless first half v Huddersfield. Better 2nd half playing in the back 3. Fortunately for him, the other midfield options are also playing rubbish, so he'll stay in the team. But when the cheque-book opens, I think Poch is gonna be after an upgrade or two in central midfield.
 
He has been pretty awful this season. His positives were that in possession he may be hesitant but in general was a good passer, his leadership skills and will to win and some aggression in our midfield. But today he looked slow, could not pass to a barn door and was lucky not to get hooked. Its shocking that Wanyama looks worse than him when he comes one. What has happened to the pair of them?
 
the dza said:
Phucking hopeless first half v Huddersfield. Better 2nd half playing in the back 3. Fortunately for him, the other midfield options are also playing rubbish, so he'll stay in the team. But when the cheque-book opens, I think Poch is gonna be after an upgrade or two in central midfield.
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Agreed.
And then I watch Jorginho and Kovacic for Cheatski, looking the real deal. Frustrating. Money.
 
the dza said:
Phucking hopeless first half v Huddersfield. Better 2nd half playing in the back 3. Fortunately for him, the other midfield options are also playing rubbish, so he'll stay in the team. But when the cheque-book opens, I think Poch is gonna be after an upgrade or two in central midfield.
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Many saw CM as the main major upgrade we could do with in the summer. This really needs rectifying...
 
Bullet said:
Agreed.
And then I watch Jorginho and Kovacic for Cheatski, looking the real deal. Frustrating. Money.
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The worst thing is, at the back-end of the season before last, Dier and Wanyama lined up in centre-midfield together and were excellent. Did everything, dominated opponents, controlled games, passed the ball brilliantly. Wanyama has gone to sh1t because of injury and he ahsn't been able to put a run of games together. No idea if he can get his form back. Dier just seems to have slowly coasted downhill. He needs to up his game.
 
the dza said:
Phucking hopeless first half v Huddersfield. Better 2nd half playing in the back 3. Fortunately for him, the other midfield options are also playing rubbish, so he'll stay in the team. But when the cheque-book opens, I think Poch is gonna be after an upgrade or two in central midfield.
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Amount of stray passes in dangerous areas or across dangerous areas was too sloppy.
 
I don't know why people bother following Spurs when City and Liverpool have 20 to 30 players who never make a mistake and play brilliantly each game instead of bunch of crap players like Dier, Davies, Sisokko, Sanchez, Vorm, Kane, Son, etc. My real interest now is not our results but what player has been singled out for abuse by our "fans", some people on here laugh at WoolwichTV without realising the irony.
 
K.D.D.D.D.Soc said:
I don't know why people bother following Spurs when City and Liverpool have 20 to 30 players who never make a mistake and play brilliantly each game instead of bunch of crap players like Dier, Davies, Sisokko, Sanchez, Vorm, Kane, Son, etc. My real interest now is not our results but what player has been singled out for abuse by our "fans", some people on here laugh at WoolwichTV without realising the irony.
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Great post. Dele was invisible today.
 
K.D.D.D.D.Soc said:
I don't know why people bother following Spurs when City and Liverpool have 20 to 30 players who never make a mistake and play brilliantly each game instead of bunch of crap players like Dier, Davies, Sisokko, Sanchez, Vorm, Kane, Son, etc. My real interest now is not our results but what player has been singled out for abuse by our "fans", some people on here laugh at WoolwichTV without realising the irony.
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Who has said Dier is crap? He has some good attributes, and all of our midfielders give the ball away at some point. But none of them consistently sloppily give the ball away in dangerous areas at him. It’s not like he can’t play football, some of his long balls are fantastic which makes his regular sloppy passes even more infuriating. He has far more brain farts than Walker ever did...
 
Criticism of his ballwork today is fair enough, but I think it’s clear his off the ball running and influence over his teammates justifies his inclusion.
 
K.D.D.D.D.Soc said:
I don't know why people bother following Spurs when City and Liverpool have 20 to 30 players who never make a mistake and play brilliantly each game instead of bunch of crap players like Dier, Davies, Sisokko, Sanchez, Vorm, Kane, Son, etc. My real interest now is not our results but what player has been singled out for abuse by our "fans", some people on here laugh at WoolwichTV without realising the irony.
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Yeah, I mean, why even have a forum? Just do one post where you say "all our players are great, COYS!" and close it down.

Dier hasn't been playing well for quite awhile now imo. If a player does well, I'll say so, if he does badly I will say so. The way Dier has been passing the ball this season has not been good enough for a central midfielder in a top side. Simple passes going astray in dangerous areas pretty much every time he plays at the moment, it's not good enough.
 
the dza said:
Yeah, I mean, why even have a forum? Just do one post where you say "all our players are great, COYS!" and close it down.

Dier hasn't been playing well for quite awhile now imo. If a player does well, I'll say so, if he does badly I will say so. The way Dier has been passing the ball this season has not been good enough for a central midfielder in a top side. Simple passes going astray in dangerous areas pretty much every time he plays at the moment, it's not good enough.
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I don't expect people to be gushing over players, but there's plenty of it on here and I think it's fine to say a player has not been playing well lately or may not be good enough, it's the childish way some carry on and appear to get some pleasure in slamming a player. We need better players in every position, but these are what we have and as long as they try their best they get my support, I've never played favourites since I was a kid and just wish these bandwagons didn't get started.
 
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K.D.D.D.D.Soc said:
I don't expect people to be gushing over players, but there's plenty of it on here and I think it's fine to say a player has not been playing well lately or may not be good enough, it's the childish way some carry on and appear to get some pleasure in slamming a player. We need better players in every position, but these are what we have and as long as they try their best they get my support, I've never played favourites since I was a kid and just wish these bandwagons didn't get started.
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Which posts are these you reference? I’ve not read the whole thread, but the last few, mine included, suggested he was too sloppy in dangerous areas..which he was.
I’m certainly not picking on him.
 
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