***OMT Tottenham Hotspur v Burnlio, Sat Jan 24th, 3pm***

[glorygloryeze]

Were there ANY hopeful signs from this match at all?

 

[billyiddo]

Were there ANY hopeful signs from this match at all?

We were the better team and on balance of chances should have won - it's 'only' Burnley though so how much you can read in to that is up for debate

 

[glorygloryeze]

We were the better team and on balance of chances should have won - it's 'only' Burnley though so how much you can read in to that is up for debate

Was there any improvement in terms of our attacking passing and movement? Or was it same old on that front, i.e. little attempts to transition the ball through the middle and instead more getting it wide and crossing it?

 

[billyiddo]

Was there any improvement in terms of our attacking passing and movement? Or was it same old on that front, i.e. little attempts to transition the ball through the middle and instead more getting it wide and crossing it?

We were using the middle of the pitch a bit more than usual.

Pass map attached

 

[Finney Is Back]

Yeah I hear you.

Honestly my view was that I was done with the Frank project after the Villa match, because the season was over. The West Ham match made me think the players had given up on him and therefore a change was inevitable, but Dortmund showed they hadn’t given up. He put some plans in place for that game and they carried it out.

So now I’m like…I really don’t know. If the view of the club is that they genuinely see Frank as the long term guy, and the players believe in him, I’m happy to roll with it. Equally, if the opportunity comes to get Poch in I would do it,

I think Frank has been extremely unlucky, but this season should not have been this bad in spite of all the transition. The fact that so much of football in general this year is more direct makes me sympathise with Frank’s style to some extent. But I think the question for the decision makers has to be, is Frank able to get results consistently in the league, where he don’t have such a physical advantage like we do in Europe.

If a team play a low block against us (though I can't understand why any team would bother playing a low block against us) then we look OK (some of our fans are even conned into thinking we're playing attacking football). As soon as a team moves higher up the pitch and presses us we are in trouble.

 

[metalgear]

lots of attempted forward play and lots of desire to hold on to the ball
TF slotting players into their obvious roles
TF inventing the false 3 and the false 4

Were there ANY hopeful signs from this match at all?

 

[glorygloryeze]

lots of attempted forward play and lots of desire to hold on to the ball
TF slotting players into their obvious roles
TF inventing the false 3 and the false 4

Sorry, you are going to have to explain what you mean by the last line....

 

[metalgear]

Sorry, you are going to have to explain what you mean by the last line....

false defenders... who attack and score
like the opposite of the false 9

 

[Finney Is Back]

What I would say is that if we had 11 players that were crossing the white line and playing for the shirt for the entire 90 mins then it could have been different. I would encourage everyone to watch Xavi on the first goal and Spence on the second. First goal, Xavi gives Walker the freedom of the pitch to cross that ball. Xavi then did exactly the same thing again later in the game. Then we have Spence for the second goal doing an "Aurier". Spence knows he should be getting back and tucking in with those spare Burnley men in the box. Porro would have been sprinting. Spence cowardly raised his arm and pretended he was holding the offside as the ball hit our net. Now whether Spence could have influenced the ultimate outcome of the goal or not is not the point I'm making. If he's 100% committed then he should be expecting the parry or the ricochet and being a proper defender and getting back into the mix.

As a fan, it's way easier to accept human error than it is a lack of commitment or application especially from players as intelligent and talented as these guys.

Why is Xavi tracking Walker instead of his opposite number (Spence)?

 

[glorygloryeze]

false defenders... who attack and score
like the opposite of the false 9

Oh...

 

[WillWeEverBeGoodAgain]

How many games before it's valid to criticise Solanke? He's been away too long and he is off pace and not as sharp as before, which is understandable

Edgar Davids said in an interview after a long term injury in elite football you need 12 games to get back your match sharpness

 

[paxtonwolf]

We were the better team and on balance of chances should have won - it's 'only' Burnley though so how much you can read in to that is up for debate

But to be complimentary to Burnley they have just drawn with Man United and at Anfield, wrapped around an impressive 5-1 win in the FA Cup so right now they are in a half-decent run and far better than the Burnley we played on the opening day

We still should won though had we concentrated better

 

[Finney Is Back]

Were there ANY hopeful signs from this match at all?

We looked OK in the first half when Burnley were playing low block.

We also looked OK again late on at 2-1 down when we were desperately trying to get a goal and they were desperately trying to hold on to what they had.

Do those count?

 

[Finney Is Back]

Was there any improvement in terms of our attacking passing and movement? Or was it same old on that front, i.e. little attempts to transition the ball through the middle and instead more getting it wide and crossing it?

Not really no. Burnley played a deep, defensive game first half that meant we could play a few more central passes but when Burnley played higher in the second half we had no answer.

 

[Finney Is Back]

But to be complimentary to Burnley they have just drawn with Man United and at Anfield, wrapped around an impressive 5-1 win in the FA Cup so right now they are in a half-decent run and far better than the Burnley we played on the opening day

We still should won though had we concentrated better

Indeed.... Unlike us, Burnley have improved as the season has gone on.

 

[SteveAWOL]

How things have changed from a year ago today when our injury ravaged side lost to lowly Leicester… perhaps Joe Lewis’ kids should’ve replaced our motto, along with Levy, to plus ça change…

Foxes turn it around in second half | Tottenham Hotspur

Leicester City came from behind as we suffered another Premier League defeat on another tough afternoon at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday.

www.tottenhamhotspur.com

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[Muttley]

Why is Xavi tracking Walker instead of his opposite number (Spence)?

Teams will always get pulled out of shape. Jut look where Porro was.

Xavi was nearest man.

 

[Finney Is Back]

Teams will always get pulled out of shape. Jut look where Porro was.

Xavi was nearest man.

I think he was in the box with just about every other member of our team expecting a long throw.... We basically left Xavi to deal with 3 opponents Walker, Anthony and Humphreys - just another example of Thomas Frank's awful coaching.