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OMT Tottenham Hotspur v Brighton

Man of the match

  • Total voters
    77
  • Poll closed .
We weren't terrible, it was just very frustrating to watch but we knew what to expect. Brighton did exactly the same last season at Wembley and even when they went a goal down they didn't significantly change the way they played, from what I remember.
 
billyiddo said:
Hard to evaluate games like tonight... were we at fault for not doing enough to break them down or did Brighton just put in a stellar backs-to-the-wall defensive display? Hard to create openings against teams which set up to defend their penalty area like they did tonight but we kept going till the end trying to find a way through and didn't lose our heads or patience in doing so
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k

our final ball wasnt there, our crosses never got to Llorente, either due to good defending, poor delivery or poor movement by Llorente. Its hard to break down teams that dont want to attack. Rose was doing the right thing and driving forward from deep to open spaces. Needed more of that from Son and Lucas.
 
Biggest problem was our lack of options off the bench, partly caused by injuries, partly by not replacing Dembele and partly because we're 1-2 attacking players short in the squad. Poch then compounded that by picking 3 defenders and a DM on the bench
 
Spursman said:
k

our final ball wasnt there, our crosses never got to Llorente, either due to good defending, poor delivery or poor movement by Llorente. Its hard to break down teams that dont want to attack. Rose was doing the right thing and driving forward from deep to open spaces. Needed more of that from Son and Lucas.
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Crosses are easy to defend against, particularly when you have ten men in the box. We still need to deliver them because you need to vary your attacks and try and create space when playing against a team sitting back.
 
nayimfromthehalfwayline said:
Brighton are going to go full Burnley on this one, IMO.

Ultra defensive, sat back and hitting on the break.

Its going to be a tougher game than many expect.

That said a win is imperative, and Im sure we can do it.
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Hate to be one of those quote-yourself-tossers but I cant believe how spot on this was.

Not that Im suggesting predicting Brighton to play a backs against the wall 11 man defence is exactly enlightened, but in the "Full Burnley" aspect.

The whole game was like a severe and terrible case of deja vu.

Even down to the nasty niggles and time wasting.

And the VERY late goal! (Moura in the 85th that time!)
 
thfcsteff said:
I always find it weird when people say we were "terrible" in games like last night. When a side plays basically outside their own penalty box in two compressed lines, it is pretty fudging hard to get through them. I'd say baggings on Llorente is unfair. Obviously he has no place starting a match like this, but it isn't his fault he's picked. The key moment came because we showed enough patience to continually work the ball to players who can produce magic when magic is needed. If we'd played the first-half like that we'd have won by a few. These are the sort of games we did not used to win.
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Great post. I was genuinely frustrated, angry and annoyed after 87 minutes but couldn’t really fault the players. Eriksen especially was looking to get on the ball and play a pass for the whole game. Signs of him coming back to his best even though he got a lot of time and space up to 25 yards from their goal.

Before the game, I saw nothing but a comfortable win for us but didn’t think they’d camp on their 18 yard line like they did. They didn’t even really look to hit us on the break much. A lot of the time they just lumped it out to Lloris, Toby or Jan and didn’t have a man within 50 yards of them.

I guess I was annoyed I’d sort of banked the 3 points and that Poch probably got it wrong starting Llorente. But I thought we played pretty well given how Brighton set up.

fudge how we did it. 3 points so happy days.
 
thfcsteff said:
I always find it weird when people say we were "terrible" in games like last night. When a side plays basically outside their own penalty box in two compressed lines, it is pretty fudging hard to get through them. I'd say baggings on Llorente is unfair. Obviously he has no place starting a match like this, but it isn't his fault he's picked. The key moment came because we showed enough patience to continually work the ball to players who can produce magic when magic is needed. If we'd played the first-half like that we'd have won by a few. These are the sort of games we did not used to win.
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It's the kind of game where I think that we would have benefited from Winks being fit. If we started him for Llorente, we can play Moura and Son alternating playing centrally and Winks can sit with Eriksen on the edge of the box switching play. Sissoko breaking between the lines would have been a big help too.
 
nayimfromthehalfwayline said:
Hate to be one of those quote-yourself-tossers but I cant believe how spot on this was.

Not that Im suggesting predicting Brighton to play a backs against the wall 11 man defence is exactly enlightened, but in the "Full Burnley" aspect.

The whole game was like a severe and terrible case of deja vu.

Even down to the nasty niggles and time wasting.

And the VERY late goal! (Moura in the 85th that time!)
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It was Eriksen that time too (back in December). One minute into injury time. :p
 
Spursman said:
k

our final ball wasnt there, our crosses never got to Llorente, either due to good defending, poor delivery or poor movement by Llorente. Its hard to break down teams that dont want to attack. Rose was doing the right thing and driving forward from deep to open spaces. Needed more of that from Son and Lucas.
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It's this. Llorente had a shocker last night.
His first touch was largely poor. He barely got out of a canter (I know pace isn't his thing but I really thought he looked so leggy last night). His movement was, to be honest, fudging non-existent.
I never saw him bust a gut to get into a good position when we worked the ball wide. I didn't see him ever try and get across the front of his marker. If the ball didn't go within a yard of him he didn't bother to go for it. He didn't win any knock downs of note to link play. His all round game was appalling.

Had Kane had been fit, he'd have dropped deep to help win it and then look to burst into the spaces for the balls to be whipped into. He'd have latched onto things and tried to stretch their two centre half. Llorente just didn't ever do this and I think he made it a very, very easy night for Dunk and Duffy. Which in turn meant they could focus more on blocking the likes of Eriksen, Moura, Alli and Son's shots.

I appreciate Brighton clogged the box up and space was limited, but that's where clever strikers earn their mettle! They find the small pockets, they get across their markers, they out muscle them, then earn fouls, they link up play...He did none of this and looked absolutely devoid of any skill. It's no wonder we gave up putting the ball in the air to him or crossing it. He had two tall CBs on him and he did nothing to try to alleviate that.

I really think the likes of Alli and Eriksen's games suffer when they have to play with Llorente. I can't imagine they enjoy it at all.
 
nayimfromthehalfwayline said:
Hate to be one of those quote-yourself-tossers but I cant believe how spot on this was.

Not that Im suggesting predicting Brighton to play a backs against the wall 11 man defence is exactly enlightened, but in the "Full Burnley" aspect.

The whole game was like a severe and terrible case of deja vu.

Even down to the nasty niggles and time wasting.

And the VERY late goal! (Moura in the 85th that time!)
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I think there should be more of this quote yourself tosser stuff:D A lot on here are quick to jump on a poster when they get something wrong, why not blow your own trumpet when you call something bang on....
 
Daisuk said:
It was Eriksen that time too (back in December). One minute into injury time. :p
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So it was, must have looked at the wrong match report.

Had it in my head it was Eriksen, checked and found Moura :confused:

Just checked again - I saw Burnley and somehow clicked on Barca below them and saw Moura 85'.

Possibly the only time in the history of the world Burnley and Barca have been confused :D
 
harr1984 said:
I think there should be more of this quote yourself tosser stuff:D A lot on here are quick to jump on a poster when they get something wrong, why not blow your own trumpet when you call something bang on....
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Ha! Really not trying to blow my own trumpet, was more just surprised at how spot on it was.

Not that I enjoyed it at all. I fudging hated that Burnley game and I cant say I enjoyed last night much at all either.

While I completely understand and accept people play the game differently etc, and you cant really blame a struggling team for being defensive - I really do find that specific sort of approach to a game really unpalateable.

Both Burnley and Brighton had no intent to play in a positive spirit, or "play" at all. They wanted only to spoil, to foul and niggle, to waste time, and to basically cheat a result. Except, neither had any real intent to attack either.

I think its horrible.

And I think its a world away from (say) an Allardyce like defensive approach, where the intent is always to go and score when given the chance. Its boring, but its extreme pragmatism rather than the anti-football above.
 
nayimfromthehalfwayline said:
Hate to be one of those quote-yourself-tossers but I cant believe how spot on this was.

Not that Im suggesting predicting Brighton to play a backs against the wall 11 man defence is exactly enlightened, but in the "Full Burnley" aspect.

The whole game was like a severe and terrible case of deja vu.

Even down to the nasty niggles and time wasting.

And the VERY late goal! (Moura in the 85th that time!)
Click to expand...
BEFA1527-430A-4953-B829-D004AE306495.jpeg
 
How is Rose winning the MOM vote? Sure he was decent. Showing determination. But Eriksen was the only threat at the end. The one who didn't hide, who took it upon himself to dictate the game and ultimately win it with an immense pinpoint shot while under pressure. He doesn't always get a lot of love from fans. Maybe because he's a bit cold. Not the most lovable character. But he is one awesome footballer.
 
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