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*** OMT Tottenham Hotspur vs Aston Villa ***

Oh I see, so instead of this post had I said "Villa are a decent team with a very good coach in my opinion, but it feels like we're ready to burst and really punish a team at some point. I hope this is the game. Going for a big 5-1 win." for this game it would have been more accepted?

Meh. Im just pleased we put them to the sword, rather it was them than wolves as the goal difference took a big swing in our favour.
 
I actually had the same view as Ange from first half, felt we were the much better side, I thought that about Palace too and if we kept doing what we did chance would come, in both games they did. Yeh its lovely to come out and smash up teams from off but it's unlikely to happen all the time, even City and Liverpool have to bide their time in some games, Arsenal had to for the winner at the weekend. But we have gone back to early season form of holding the ball for a long time and starving oppo for ball which is key for Ange system and we are actually offering up less clear cut chances as we have been in the system.

There does seem to be abit of an unrealistic expectation of how football works on here at times, an expectation of some kind of utopia thay doesn't exist, in a 90 min game the most important thing is getting out of it with 3 points, if that's goals in first 10 or last ten it matters very littler TBH. As I've said loads on here, there are other teams in games that have a say in the matter too, the idea because we are Spurs that the oppo should roll over after a quick belly rub never fails fo make me laugh, you have to earn the right, for me that's what both halves of Palace and Villa were/are.
 
I don't really get the hype over Watkins, he's a bit like Rashford, he will go through a purple patch for 2/3 months then vanish for the rest of the season.

As you say, his finishing isn't great either.
I think he is an excellent player. Pace, power, good touch, great movement. He would be a good option to play number 9 for us.
 
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Excellent encouraging display by us today, despite the ref trying his best to fudge us over especially in he first half. So good to see a confident Johnson owning Cash time and again. We had them in our pocket in that second half. Sarr and Bissouma were both on fire today. Sad to see VDV get injured, he really is one fantastic defender, hope it's nothing serious. Dragusin didn't do much wrong except for the silly yellow he got. So nice to see Werner calmly finish in the corner as well, will do his confidence a world of good. Kulusevski can look a bit slow and ineffective, but he was instrumental for most of our goals today. Romero also solid, and it's hard to single out anyone really. All around good displays from our lads. Big Vic diving head first in to save us at 3-0, love to see it.

Well done, Spurs! Best match we've played for a long time. :)
I thought the ref was fine. Got Sarr’s yellow card wrong and there was a good tackle made by Bissouma that he incorrectly awarded a foul for but it is impossible for any ref to get every decision right. Most refs would’ve bottled the red card decision and let VAR decide. VAR wouldn’t have overruled if he’d awarded a yellow so he deserves a lot of credit just for making that decision.
 
I thought the ref was fine. Got Sarr’s yellow card wrong and there was a good tackle made by Bissouma that he incorrectly awarded a foul for but it is impossible for any ref to get every decision right. Most refs would’ve bottled the red card decision and let VAR decide. VAR wouldn’t have overruled if he’d awarded a yellow so he deserves a lot of credit just for making that decision.
I thought he was fine, for once we had a ref punish a team trying to kick us off the pitch, he also ignored alot of the afters from us on the sending off which.
 
Villa made a big mistake of only playing a two man central midfield. That meant that they lost control of the midfield as we outnumbered them and passed around them. So instead of playing through the middle, all they could do was hit long balls which we comfortably swept up through the match without any issue.

I had predicted that we would win comfortably 3-1, but a 4-0 actual score exceeded any actual belief that I had with the score. I just knew that Villa had leaked goals against Forest and Luton so they were there for the taking.

It was hard to identify who was man of the match with several top level performances including Son, Sarr and Porro but that’s just three players whereas any number could have been named and I’m probably doing something a disservice by not including them there but it’s 6am so just off of my memory.

I think now we have almost everyone back, hoping Richarlison will return soon and that VDV injury isn’t anything serious, I think we will finish the season strongly and show just how good we are as a team. I think 4th is absolutely our’s.

Finally…. I have one confession… I was wrong about Johnson. I believed him to be a waste of money, thought that he didn’t work hard enough off the ball, and that in attack he wasn’t good at decision making. I was completely wrong. The fee whilst still a significant outlay was clearly paid for a player that has significant potential, a homegrown player who is already able to deliver high level performances and get goals and assists for us, and who fights for the team and gets stuck in with tackles from the start to the finish. I’m definitely a big supporter of his off his recent performances and think he deserves to regularly start.

Oh and I almost forgot… well done to Werner for scoring again. If he can find his confidence from his two goals, which does appear to be returning, then his time at our club is going to be longer than just a few months. He finished very well yesterday and seems to have connected well with the crowd. He had his critics but it seems like people are on board with him now and he’s another who could get a lot of support at the club. Great to have him as an option.

Wanted to respond to these two points

- We utterly dominated Villa at home until they took out Bentancur (and the bench that day was much weaker), they are a well drilled side that often tries to adjust to opponent that are taking advantage of a year that Saudi Sportswashing Machine, United & Chelsea are bricking the bed, otherwise they would 7th-9th which is about right. They will have PSR/FFP issues moving forward because their owner has overspent, so their ability to improve from here will be limited.
- Johnson has changed in the last 2-3 games, I had a very similar opinion to you, mine was he wasn't brave, too many times he didn't show for the ball, didn't get stuck in, didn't make the brave play, I don't know if he was spoken to, it's just confidence but the last couple of games he's fighting for everything and it makes him a much better player.

Finally

- Kudos to the team, this was a you need (must) to win game, we had an advantage (8 days prep, them having played Thursday), we are the better team, needed to show up and win, which we did.
 
I thought the first half was pretty even personally. We started pretty well without really creating anything. Some people think just having lots of possession is dominating or battering but it’s not IMO. Second half undoubtedly we were far superior so overall we definitely were the better team by virtue of the second half alone. I was surprised they never even laid a glove on us. Yes of course going down to 10 men made it very hard for them, I still expected some sort of fight back from them. Vicario had a quiet afternoon beyond dealing with set pieces which I thought he handled well.

Slight concern once again is we seem incapable of putting together a complete performance for 90 minutes. Second halves today and last week were exceptional. First halves not so much.
Villa, like palace set up to to not lose
very different ways to deal with that and it nearly always takes a bit of time
 
I thought the ref was fine. Got Sarr’s yellow card wrong and there was a good tackle made by Bissouma that he incorrectly awarded a foul for but it is impossible for any ref to get every decision right. Most refs would’ve bottled the red card decision and let VAR decide. VAR wouldn’t have overruled if he’d awarded a yellow so he deserves a lot of credit just for making that decision.
He got a few wrong
he booked Dragu for the same thing villa did twice
he also missed several late kicks on maddison
the red was brave, but the right call
 
What a game. We were so energetic right from the start - especially Son - I think he made a record number of sprints for a spurs player, so glad he got the assists and goal.

Undoubtedly this is our best starting line up and while Dragusin had some shaky moments, he still looks the part and the drop off won't be as bad as before.

Without Richarlison I found myself getting irritated by Maddison. Always asking for the ball but didn't do much with it. He's lost something since his injury. not a lot of creativity with the ball and I thought Hojbjerg did better going forward l, although it was against 10 men Villa.

Brennan seemed to have grown.into a man in this match - taking tackles as much as giving it.

I think we've seen Kulu reach his potential in Angeball, which works better with Brennan who is more direct and gets past players with speed to put the ball in the box . Kulu holds on to the ball well but takes so long that the defence is ready when/if he decides to cross. He is also vetu one footed and opted to pass the ball back (unsuccessfully) instead of going for goal with his weaker right foot.

Still lots of work.for lange and paratici and I think this summer is going to be exciting with a longer runway behind them.

Top 5 and Champions league should be attainable with this first eleven .
 
I thought he was fine, for once we had a ref punish a team trying to kick us off the pitch, he also ignored alot of the afters from us on the sending off which.
How many times have we seen a situation like that end up with a yellow for the player making an unnecessary and potentially dangerous tackle and a yellow for one of the opponents for being unhappy about said tackle...
 
How many times have we seen a situation like that end up with a yellow for the player making an unnecessary and potentially dangerous tackle and a yellow for one of the opponents for being unhappy about said tackle...
Yeh in fairness inthiught he was yellowing Johnson for abit of evens but didn't so fair play
 
Agreed.
They're a sham. Maybe Watkins and Bailey get in our squad. I'd have Cash in there just so as he could get repeatedly smashed in training. McGinn's face looks like a bricky kindergarten art class kid project. The clam.
Think it is strange to call a team in 4th place with what you consider to be a far weaker squad a sham?

They either have a much better squad than you credit them with or they are really well coached and organised.
 
That's around a goal every 2.5 games in the peak of his career.

I'd be very disappointed if a player like that was anything other than backup.
I think in a system like ours he would score more. And your point was originally that he was no better than Werner. Which he palpably is! :)
 
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