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OMT Tottenham Hotspurs vs SCBC

Man of the match

  • Total voters
    44
  • Poll closed .
We tried to just manage the game at 3-0 and conserve energy. It didn’t work, we lost control, but at the end of the day we won 3-1 and the players probably did save a bit of energy compared to normal.

I’d say job done last night on the whole, only down side is Tripps got injured again.
 
I would say also on Southamton, if they were a bog standard mid table team who just had a bad day at the office and were 3-0 down, we probably wouldn’t have suffered so much against them while we tried to slow the tempo ourselves. But I think because they had a new manager in the stands, they were probably keen to impress.

A lot of teams just taking a regular beating would probably just cut their losses at 3-0 as well, rather than going the extra mile to impress or demonstrate any progress.
 
Good to get back to winning ways by beating Southampton. After the disappointing defeat to Arsenal, we badly needed this win to lift our morale. Despite the win, it was a strange match. We scored all our goals at the start of each half and then went into sleep mode for the rest of the match. It could have been costly for us as Southampton scored a late goal and also had a few other goal scoring chances before that as well. Fortunately for us, they didn't make use of their chances.

Well done to Kane, Moura and Son for the goals. It was a crucial time for Kane to score our first goal so early in the match. Apart from the goal, Kane also assisted our third goal for Son. Despite this, thought Kane had a quiet match as he didn't get any other clear cut chances. Wish Kane had scored 1 or 2 more goals as that would made him the current top scorer. Credit also to Moura and Son for getting our other goals. Maybe Son should have scored at least 1 other goal in the first half as well. Eriksen also did well to assist the goal for Kane.

Our midfield had a mixed match. Both Dier and Winks were not really tested for most of the match. But we failed to fully control the midfield. This allowed Southampton to make far too many attempts on our goal. Somehow I think Sissoko would have helped our midfield more in this match. Also, not sure why the inexperienced Skipp came on for the last 3 minutes. Thought players like Nkoudou or Llorente deserve to get playing time instead.

It is disappointing that our defence failed to keep the clean sheet yet again. Alderweireld and Foyth did well for most of the match while Lloris made a few good saves as well. But we still ended up conceding the late goal. It seems like we always lack concentration for the last 5 minutes of the match. We really need to fully concentrate for the whole match and stop conceding these late goals.

Despite the win, we really need to be more ruthless against bottom teams. We have yet to score more than 3 goals in any of the league matches this season. With the top 4 race being so tight, goal difference might make a huge difference at the end of the season. Let's hope we will be more ruthless and score more goals in our coming matches.
 
BrainOfLevy said:
There's been a lot of comments on this on here and Twitter, in a 'lol that's classic Poch' as if it's something wrong with him.

I look at it like this - he is one of the most obsessed coaches around about physical condition. He is obsessed with data. Everything he does with regards to conditioning is probably something he has applied the most thought to.

I think he likes to get minutes into players, and likes to build their endurance. I think if a player needs rest, they get rest and don't play, but I don't think it's very common that key players get 'rested' and subbed off after 65 mins for arguments sake. I don't think Poch thinks about it like that. I think he likes the key players to in a peak condition, and I don't think there has ever been a point where our key players have been seriously underwhelming as the season progresses. They all seem to get better. I don't have the precise data to answer it properly, but we just have to trust him. It's all about leading to performances across the season, and building endurance and flow. He rests more for injury prevention, but plays more for form. Think of it that way.

A lot of our system is based on being physically better than the opposition, particularly as the season progresses. We withstand more than others and we run more. To do that well the players need minutes. If you think back to previous seasons, he has played Eriksen and Dele in early League Cup rounds against lower league opposition because they needed minutes. He doesn't think about it like rest, unless they are close to an injury. Remember how early season everyone says Kane looks tired, and then all of sudden he goes on a run? I swear it's happened every year since his second first team season. It isn't rest he needed, it's minutes.

I think 16/17, we peaked perfectly towards the end, and were so unlucky that Chelsea went on a ridiculous run earlier on in the season. Last season, I think we peaked too early (likely because of more intensity / tempo given in the CL group stages) and this season he is clearly trying to manage the entire squad so we can last the course. I also think he knows about individual players to the point where he knows where their breaking points are. I think Kane can handle more than most, and I think Dele often gets subbed on 85 mins if he's started. There are small adjustments, but generally it's about getting the minutes into the players so they can hit peak condition at the business end of the season.

I think giving players a rest because we are 3 goals up is very much a Harry Redknapp style 'think about winning the game today' kind of thing where as Poch is more a 'lets think about how we manage ourselves across the season' and he doesn't let individual circumstance deviate himself too much from the plan, and that's why our form is generally consistent and predictable.
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I appreciate the long and detailed reply @BrainOfLevy but i think there are a lot of assumptions you're making that are quite counter-intuitive especially when you compare Poch to the very best coaches around: even Pep, who has possibly the deepest squad ever seen in PL, rotates his players and brings players on later in games to give others a rest, try new formations and team shapes etc. It's not like our players aren't human and potentially have human physical frailties like other teams - i think the increasing number of long-term injuries we as a squad are suffering highlight this.
Fans at Soton also complained of his lack of rotation and how he constantly played the same players. I think that he had more reason/excuse at Soton who had a smaller squad; there is far less excuse with us.
And getting minutes into Kane for conditioning? How many more does he need?? What about Llorente/Janssen or any other attackers - do they not need minutes to get conditioning?? Does then Poch actually want Gareth Southgate to play him for every minute for England even in friendlies to get minutes for conditioning??

As i say, thanks for the detailed reply but a lot of things you're saying seem to defy logic.
Perhaps this chat can be picked up back in the Pochettino thread.
 
Gazza Dazzla said:
No, there are 2 parts to the sentence you quoted, controlling the game, which I said didn’t work (maybe this is the bit you disagree with?) and conserving energy, which I think they partially did. So...
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Managing the game rather than controlling it.

I would accept that we didn't control the game. If that's what you meant then I don't disagree.
But I do think that isn't the same as managing - which is what you did say. Our game management was alright.
 
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