Last ten minutes

[Pirate55]

Are we fading fitness wise or are we fragile mentally? For me I don't think we are any less fit than any other team. That is not the problem in my mind.

How often do Spurs not push home their advantage and get caught with a sucker punch late in the game? Quite often is the answer.

Man Utd and indeed any of the the title contenders do not settle. It is a winning ethos pushed primarily by the management and demanded by their fans. When your opponent is on the ropes that is the time to attack and certainly not to make defensive minded substitutions. Go for the extra goal and kill off the game.

Couldnt agree more.

Late goal which wins us points = feeling of elation
Late goal which costs us points = feeling of kick in the gut

 

[Ginola99]

Great idea. Would mean they would have to leave at least three men back, maybe four. Would give our defenders a better chance to clear as well,

Some team do this some dont. What would also help would be for whoever is left up field to anticipate the clearance and get infront of their man. And if it isnt cleared first time with a header to have some tactics that means when you clear the ball you dont hit it blindly up the field. If the corner is from the left then get lennon (or other threat) to start on the right but as the clearance is made it is hit to the left side of the pitch where the space is and he can attack from there... That way the players defending know where Lennon should be running without looking up, he will be hitting space at pace and we are on the move..

 

[Pirate55]

Some team do this some dont. What would also help would be for whoever is left up field to anticipate the clearance and get infront of their man. And if it isnt cleared first time with a header to have some tactics that means when you clear the ball you dont hit it blindly up the field. If the corner is from the left then get lennon (or other threat) to start on the right but as the clearance is made it is hit to the left side of the pitch where the space is and he can attack from there... That way the players defending know where Lennon should be running without looking up, he will be hitting space at pace and we are on the move..

I have thought exactly the same for some time. The player(s) left upfield should be coached where to stand and then everyone knows (without having to look up) where the attacker is going to be.

Its not exactly rocket science. Defoe always seems to be on the wrong side of the pitch in these circumstances.

 

[Ginola99]

I have thought exactly the same for some time. The player(s) left upfield should be coached where to stand and then everyone knows (without having to look up) where the attacker is going to be.

Its not exactly rocket science. Defoe always seems to be on the wrong side of the pitch in these circumstances.

It has bugged me for years. I look for it all the time and have yet to see any team with any obvious tactics on it.. As you have mentioned Defoe it is him mainly that I notice getting the wrong side of his man when we clear the ball..

 

[Pirate55]

It has bugged me for years. I look for it all the time and have yet to see any team with any obvious tactics on it.. As you have mentioned Defoe it is him mainly that I notice getting the wrong side of his man when we clear the ball..

Man Ure, Man C, Arse and Liverpool certainly do. Their attacker (Rooney, Aguerro) is usually about 10 yards from the half way line inside their own half and 10 yards in from the touchline. See if you can spot it now.

 

[Pirate55]

After Norwich game, time to re-visit this thread mefears.

 

[billyiddo]

a list of goals conceded in the last 10 minutes would be interesting to see

 

[Jordinho]

It's something that happen to us towards the end of games when we're leading. We let the other side dominate us. I'd say it's partially down to us not being able to maintain possession for longer periods and we're not solid enough defensively to rely counter attacking either.

 

[SpurMeUp]

Its a mental thing. A lack of mature winners in the team doesn't help.

Resilience. Determination. Perseverance.

Once in the lead, we slow the game because of a lack of the above. Instead of pass and move as when we were even, we dwell on the ball, try to pass around the back and get caught out.

Instead we should pass the ball quicker moving it away from back, where the opposition is putting more pressure, to the increased space in behind and down the flanks.

 

[Jurgen the German]

I appreciate that we have injuries at the moment, but I seriously hope AVB realises soon that Spurs don't do hanging on to leads and defending, our strength has ALWAYS been attacking. I want to see us play like we did at Old Trafford in the first half in every game game. I'm not saying we need to be gung ho, but please stop with the negative substitutions that invite the other team to come at us with 20-30 minutes left to play.

 

[milo]

I appreciate that we have injuries at the moment, but I seriously hope AVB realises soon that Spurs don't do hanging on to leads and defending, our strength has ALWAYS been attacking. I want to see us play like we did at Old Trafford in the first half in every game game. I'm not saying we need to be gung ho, but please stop with the negative substitutions that invite the other team to come at us with 20-30 minutes left to play.

I hope that the reason he is bringing on defenders late in the game is because we are short of quality attacking options and not because he is pre-disposed to trying to hold onto a slim lead.

 

[SpurMeUp]

I appreciate that we have injuries at the moment, but I seriously hope AVB realises soon that Spurs don't do hanging on to leads and defending, our strength has ALWAYS been attacking. I want to see us play like we did at Old Trafford in the first half in every game game. I'm not saying we need to be gung ho, but please stop with the negative substitutions that invite the other team to come at us with 20-30 minutes left to play.

Yes its like a boxer on the ropes. If you can counter and score then fine. But we haven't. So we should continue to take the game to the opposition and keep the balance that we'd had previously, only exploit the greater space available, as the opposition push forward.

I think it just takes balls to do - or in other words - confidence.

 

[seaside spur]

It's something that happen to us towards the end of games when we're leading. We let the other side dominate us. I'd say it's partially down to us not being able to maintain possession for longer periods and we're not solid enough defensively to rely counter attacking either.

I agree with that but we don't seem to have the legs late on to get enough players forward.
Anyway, why are we counter attacking after playing the game in the oppositions half for the earlier part of the game(in most cases)? The Goons carry on and get a hatful of goals, we just seem to stop.

 

[Jurgen the German]

I hope that the reason he is bringing on defenders late in the game is because we are short of quality attacking options and not because he is pre-disposed to trying to hold onto a slim lead.

It's frustrating because under Redknapp, we often dominated but couldn't break teams down, especially at home. This lead to the crowd getting anxious and even booing in some cases. Now we take the lead in every game, but are always hanging on for dear life at the end. It should play right into our hands leading in the 2nd half as we can hit teams on the break with our pace.

 

[billyiddo]

I hope that the reason he is bringing on defenders late in the game is because we are short of quality attacking options and not because he is pre-disposed to trying to hold onto a slim lead.

good point and one we will not know the answer to until much later on in the season. right now, as you say, we are limited in our attacking options whilst, supposedly, being a bit stronger defensively - maybe his hands are tied in what changes to make - bring on younger/less experienced players to try and attack a game or bring on someone more experienced to shore things up.

 

[indianspur]

I hope that the reason he is bringing on defenders late in the game is because we are short of quality attacking options and not because he is pre-disposed to trying to hold onto a slim lead.

well today he had Defoe and Lennon who he could have brought on to take advantage of Norwich piling forward after going a goal behind....Defoe and Lennon could have done some damage on the break and would also have given Norwich more to think about

 

[paxtonwolf]

a list of goals conceded in the last 10 minutes would be interesting to see

Saudi Sportswashing Machine Away 1pt dropped
WBA Home 2pts dropped
Norwich City Home 2pts dropped
Pananthinakos Away (77th min)
Chelsea Home
And tonight of course

 

[milo]

well today he had Defoe and Lennon who he could have brought on to take advantage of Norwich piling forward after going a goal behind....Defoe and Lennon could have done some damage on the break and would also have given Norwich more to think about

My preference would always be to bring on an attacking player. I think that bringing on additional defensive players invites pressure and sends a bad signal to the team.

We discussed this quite a bit after the game against United. Some thought that it was a tactical master stroke but I thought that we rode our luck and that 9 times out of 10 it would fail.

Like I said earlier, I hope that AVB is doing this because of lacking quality attacking options. I fear that the fans will turn against him pretty quickly if it is the way he approaches the game when everyone is available.

 

[DHSF]

My preference would always be to bring on an attacking player. I think that bringing on additional defensive players invites pressure and sends a bad signal to the team.

We discussed this quite a bit after the game against United. Some thought that it was a tactical master stroke but I thought that we rode our luck and that 9 times out of 10 it would fail.

Like I said earlier, I hope that AVB is doing this because of lacking quality attacking options. I fear that the fans will turn against him pretty quickly if it is the way he approaches the game when everyone is available.

Whilst I agree that he doesnt have the options on the bench I would argue two counts. a) Why change things in the first place? b) Why not replace like for like for like if the original tactics are working well and he doesnt need to either attack or to defend it out?

Today instead of Vert he could have put on either another midfielder on OR put Vert on but for another defender. If it aint broke dont fix it mentality. I think AVB has a certain way of closing games out but thats the problem closing games out - you can do it positively and actually counter it by attacking or invite pressure by sitting back.

I also do think it is a fitness issue - we press high up and a fair bit and that, no matter what, will affect players - hence the subs being important but not to sit back but to attack. I do think AVB wants us to absolutely hammer teams for an hour and get to an unassailable lead and then when we are tired we just pass it around and waste the last half hour.

 

[Jordinho]

There was really no need to put on Verts at all. Put on Defoe for Dempsey and drop Siggy deeper if need be.