OMT - Tottenham Hotspur vs West Bromwich Albion

[SteveAWOL]

That performance from West Brom made them look worse than Stoke, Wycombe and Brentford when they played.
Still Mourinho wasn't confident enough to take Kane off.
Dropping back to protecting the lead at 2-0 nearly let them get into the game for the first time.
Mourinho again stat padding with 5 minute debuts so he can read off a list of young players he brought through in another press conference in 5 years time.

That’s some Jamie Redknapp level bitterness there!

 

[billyiddo]

Quiet on here today...

 

[StephenH]

Quiet on here today...

We are in a state shock after witnessing attacking football from Spurs?

 

[NoLimits01]

I flicked past the game twice before I realised it was us playing[emoji16]

 

[90291Spur]

I've been calling for Mourinho's head for the last few weeks, but give credit where credit is due, the team played well today.
Nothing wrong with bringing Scarlett on for 5 mins, give him a boost, and show that there is a path into the first team for the kids.

I would have liked Kane to have had at least ten minutes rest and a brief bale cameo to give him more competitive minutes.

 

[Spur of the moment]

I would have liked Kane to have had at least ten minutes rest and a brief bale cameo to give him more competitive minutes.

Baffling that Jose kept him benched all game. Bale may not be the player he once was but he's still capable of turning a game with a flash of brilliance out of the blue. For sure he's still some way short of full match fitness but how is he ever going to get there if he doesn't get minutes on the pitch.

 

[StephenH]

Baffling that Jose kept him benched all game. Bale may not be the player he once was but he's still capable of turning a game with a flash of brilliance out of the blue. For sure he's still some way short of full match fitness but how is he ever going to get there if he doesn't get minutes on the pitch.

Bale needs to have good hard think and go to a lesser league and play regularly and get properly match fit.

 

[Diamond Lights]

Played well today, so good to see us on the front foot for a change. Poor finishing let us know, but attacked well and importantly we had a connection between midfield and attack with Lamela, something we been desperate for weeks on end. The worry i have, is that it is all well and good doing this against WBA after months of negativity, but need to be more offensive minded in other games too.

Got no issues being defensive against Liverpool, City etc, but need to be far more offensie against lower teams as we cannot defend.

 

[spurspinter1]

Quiet on here today...

Imagine it wouldn't have been had we lost it but I'm not calling out that negative kind of attitude; I appreciate that a win like today doesn't undo a serious amount of frustration / difficult football to watch.

 

[braineclipse]

I would have liked Kane to have had at least ten minutes rest and a brief bale cameo to give him more competitive minutes.

That's a hell of a lot easier to say knowing that they didn't score and we won 2-0. Take Kane off for a 10 minute rest and WBA score quickly after that it could have been a very different story.

We desperately needed that win in the bag, I think Mourinho's decisions reflected that. Our confidence is already cracked, dropping points from a 2-0 lead against WBA could have been disastrous for us. Several players could have done with a rest, but the priority then and there was just the here and now, get the win.

Edit: Bale has shown quite clearly that putting him on for 10 minutes would increase the risk of us dropping points imo. Perhaps not by much, but at this time it wasn't a risk worth taking imo.

 

[braineclipse]

Played well today, so good to see us on the front foot for a change. Poor finishing let us know, but attacked well and importantly we had a connection between midfield and attack with Lamela, something we been desperate for weeks on end. The worry i have, is that it is all well and good doing this against WBA after months of negativity, but need to be more offensive minded in other games too.

Got no issues being defensive against Liverpool, City etc, but need to be far more offensie against lower teams as we cannot defend.

Better. Against poor opposition, but better none the less.

Need to build on this though.

 

[Kandi1977]

Better. Against poor opposition, but better none the less.

Need to build on this though.

A lot better! You can only play what's in front of you. The main thing is that we got out there on the front foot, with attacking intent. That wasn't there in the previous games. The difference was remarkable! Forward passes, movement, runs into space etc. We created quite a few good chances, which is not easy against a low block.
OK WBA aren't really solid atm, but still, it was a vast improvement, although not spectacular.

 

[braineclipse]

A lot better! You can only play what's in front of you. The main thing is that we got out there on the front foot, with attacking intent. That wasn't there in the previous games. The difference was remarkable! Forward passes, movement, runs into space etc. We created quite a few good chances, which is not easy against a low block.
OK WBA aren't really solid atm, but still, it was a vast improvement, although not spectacular.

Can only play what's in front of you, but as a predictor for future performances it has limited value.

The Everton game will be very interesting in that regard. Hopefully we'll see something similar in terms of attacking intent.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Can only play what's in front of you, but as a predictor for future performances it has limited value.

The Everton game will be very interesting in that regard. Hopefully we'll see something similar in terms of attacking intent.

It will be as they have been playing the low block now for some time too
So one team has to attack

 

[K.D.D.D.D.Soc]

I would have liked Kane to have had at least ten minutes rest and a brief bale cameo to give him more competitive minutes.

We are struggling with confidence and players off form, along with the perceived rubbish manager, it's hardly the time for an other Bale benefit game, he's not the player he was and no matter how much time he gets he never will be. Time to move on, I prefer to see young players get some time in games that are safe.

 

[Raziel]

That's a hell of a lot easier to say knowing that they didn't score and we won 2-0. Take Kane off for a 10 minute rest and WBA score quickly after that it could have been a very different story.

We desperately needed that win in the bag, I think Mourinho's decisions reflected that. Our confidence is already cracked, dropping points from a 2-0 lead against WBA could have been disastrous for us. Several players could have done with a rest, but the priority then and there was just the here and now, get the win.

Edit: Bale has shown quite clearly that putting him on for 10 minutes would increase the risk of us dropping points imo. Perhaps not by much, but at this time it wasn't a risk worth taking imo.

Jose is pragmatic, to your point, we needed the points and the win .. that comes first.

For me, the game highlights a bunch of things the current lazy narrative doesn't match
- Kane being there makes a difference, it would be even more of a difference if we had Reguilon & Gio as well
- Lamela made a difference and perhaps is an interesting view of the current challenges, i.e. PEH & Ndombele are a given, the third midfielder is perhaps the most important to our balance, too defensive and we get "clueless", too timid and we get "too slow/predictable", Lamela brought PEH type attitude plus ability to go forward and pass (held on to the ball a lot less than he has in the past as well)
- We still haven't solved the CB problem
- Bale needs to earn his spot, it's his head now, not his body that is the issue

 

[billyiddo]

The positives to take are that we setup with an attacking lineup :

Kane
Son
Moura
Lamela

4 attacking players on the pitch, fantastic

Then a midfield 2 that is good on the ball in support and no sign of Sissoko or Winks, brilliant.

Dropping Dier - finally


If you set the team up the right way and with the right balance between defense and attack then that's the type of performance you will get. If you field 2 attackers only and keep Ndombele pushed forward leabing no link between defense/midfield and the front players then you will get pushed back. Simple.

The negative is these players and this setup have been available all season so why haven't we been using it or something like it more often? I don't expect anything to come of it in the long run, but let's see if I'm wrong.

 

[Raziel]

The positives to take are that we setup with an attacking lineup :

Kane
Son
Moura
Lamela

4 attacking players on the pitch, fantastic

Then a midfield 2 that is good on the ball in support and no sign of Sissoko or Winks, brilliant.

Dropping Dier - finally


If you set the team up the right way and with the right balance between defense and attack then that's the type of performance you will get.

The negative is these players and this setup have been available all season so why haven't we been using it or something like it more often? I don't expect anything to come of it in the long run, but let's see if I'm wrong

Come on, the point is correct but this setup is neither ideal or been available all season

- Kane plays when fit, so did Lamela prior to his usual injury plus punishment period for Covid stupidity
- I agree that Dier isn't the answer, but neither is Sanchez and nothing Jose will do this season can change that (Sanchez and Dier are not good enough, Toby can't be overplayed and jury is out on Rodon)
- Lucas played very well, as did Lamela but both of them actually avoided their usual bad tendencies (Lucas runs down dead alleys, Lamela can hold on to the ball too much), so who gets credit for that?

But as I said above and I think your point aligns to, it's that midfield balance we need to get right, add Reguilon back in, we will be better.

 

[billyiddo]

Come on, the point is correct but this setup is neither ideal or been available all season

- Kane plays when fit, so did Lamela prior to his usual injury plus punishment period for Covid stupidity
- I agree that Dier isn't the answer, but neither is Sanchez and nothing Jose will do this season can change that (Sanchez and Dier are not good enough, Toby can't be overplayed and jury is out on Rodon)
- Lucas played very well, as did Lamela but both of them actually avoided their usual bad tendencies (Lucas runs down dead alleys, Lamela can hold on to the ball too much), so who gets credit for that?

But as I said above and I think your point aligns to, it's that midfield balance we need to get right, add Reguilon back in, we will be better.

We've always had at least 4 attacking players available to play in a front four and Hojberg + Ndombele have been fit all season i believe, so yes it has been available. That's the main point.

Dier being dropped is just a recent thing due to poor form but it shows that he isn't a blind spot.

 

[a spur from swansea]

After Emirates Marketing Project Saturday only got Man ure in March then Leicester away last game,top 4,so basically up to us how we perform,i think jose hinted this in his post match interview.

We have enough quality to beat most of the sides around us,just hope certain players stay fit and we pull our fingers out of our arse and start performing asap.