OMT: Mighty Tottenham Hotspurs vs Brentford - Sat, 21 Sept, 3pm

[Bullet]

Looked like it hit his shin, but he did mean it. Just like that famous Rooney volley

 

[Robbo]

They had to draw a line somewhere, and everyone will have a different opinion on where that line should be, but if you start looking at potential 2nd yellow cards, do you start looking at every yellow card, or fouls as they can add up to a yellow.

For me, I feel the game would be too stop, start. You want to reduce the stoppages in the game, rather than add onto it

Agreed about drawing the line, but I think they drew it at the wrong place. There are many pretty consequential decisions not being reviewed, even if it's plain to see for everyone the ref got it wrong.

I don't want more stoppages either, but that's more to do with the reviewing process than the VAR review itself. Some things refs miss are clear as day from real time TV images, or at most from a short replay.

I'm not advocating for VAR to scrutinize every litte detail, but rather for VAR to be able to pick up and quickly correct clear and obvious mistakes. Like fouls and handballs the refs don't see, and corner kicks not given/wrongly given.

I'd also like VAR to be able to issue yellow cards for incidents the ref doesn’t pick up that are clearly punishable; like for instance holding back an opponent for a counter attack, kicking the ball away, etc.

This won’t be a perfect solution either, but done properly I believe it will be better and more logical than how VAR is applied today. The key element, of course, will be to ensure VAR decisions are swift and cause minimal disruption to the flow of the game - something they admittedly already struggle to do today.

 

[Robbo]

The word blatant would get stretched
Look at todays game
Id like var to challenge the ref on Reya feigning injury to get the second quarter team meeting… thats cheating and intentional… miles worse than the keeper dropping and handling a ball

I agree that's a much bigger problem, which IMO is more complicated to fix - but not impossible either. It will probably include modifying the rules of the game, and won’t be fixed by VAR alone.

But it doesn't mean we shouldn't also implement an easier solution to fix lesser problems, like Vicario's handball/other fouls the refs miss on a regular basis. See my previous post for my reasoning.

 

[glorygloryeze]

Good win and good atmosphere.
It was quite awesome actually seeing that Brentford goal go in as the South stand were belting a very loud rendition of Oh When The Spurs go marching in
Great finish (same old, same old i grumbled, but i knew that the team who scored first in this fixture hadn't gone on to win in the last 2/3 seasons so i was relaxed...plus it was very early, so..)

Such a great feeling to see both the Solanke and Johnson get those goals for different reasons. If our passes up front were more assured, both could have doubled their tallies.

Some thoughts:

- The pressing was great and Maddison, whilst i still got annoyed at how he slowed the ball down a few times, was a big part of that
- Solanke worked his absolute socks off; Richarlison/Lankshear can't come back soon enough because this soldier will be needing a rest!
- Bentancur had one of his best games for us i felt; as has often been said, he can be a Rolls Royce of a midfielder in the right set-up...a dedicated DM would allow him to become a GREAT number 8, imo
- Kulusevski needs to work on his shooting! As does Son!
- Son had a poor game, yet got two assists (and with better decision-making could have had more)
- Udogie going forwards is almost pointless these days. Very solid defensively and it might help to make it that he rarely ventures past teh half-way line so that he and VDV can be sweeper double-act because he is bring next to bleep-all when he gets forward
- Vicario, deary me: flip-flopped between prime Thorsvedt and Lloris on Stella...caused us problems but also pulled out some amazing saves
- Defence and defensive shape still not quite right for me, but much quicker gong forwards so hopefully that will mitigate things more than has been seen recently (we'll see over the next couple of weeks!)
- Good timings of substitutes, Bentancur looked knackered by the time he went off...i was initially worried when Bissouma got that early yellow, but he had a solid game after that, and was crucial in starting the move that led to the great third goal (and for me that was ironic in that it involved all 3 that i felt were slowing us down the most, now THAT was what i call quick forward passing)

All in all a good performance and result overall. Let's hope this is the beginning of a more upward curve for Ange and the team as mich bigger tests await over the next month or so.


COYS