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OMT Tottenham vs Fulham

Have to say I thought it was a solid enough 1-0 win away from home. If we take two of the three sitters we missed (and they were sitters) that is a comfortable win.

It git a bit more disjointed second-half because we essentially took off all our possession/touch players. Dele showed he is very close to being back to his old self, and if we can start with that front four plus Reggie and Aurier in some of the bigger games to come, I feel good about our chances.
 
Have to say I thought it was a solid enough 1-0 win away from home. If we take two of the three sitters we missed (and they were sitters) that is a comfortable win.

It git a bit more disjointed second-half because we essentially took off all our possession/touch players. Dele showed he is very close to being back to his old self, and if we can start with that front four plus Reggie and Aurier in some of the bigger games to come, I feel good about our chances.

It was a calculated risk from Jose with the lineup

- I really don't think that game is even close with Aurier & Reguilon starting
- It probably wasn't close if Kane took his chances

We went with the slightly weaker back line today, strong Sunday, rotate Thursday, strong Sunday (Scum) again.

Not pretty, but these are the choices that need to be made, if we get away with it, then credit, if we fudge up, then blame
 
It was a calculated risk from Jose with the lineup

- I really don't think that game is even close with Aurier & Reguilon starting
- It probably wasn't close if Kane took his chances

We went with the slightly weaker back line today, strong Sunday, rotate Thursday, strong Sunday (Scum) again.

Not pretty, but these are the choices that need to be made, if we get away with it, then credit, if we fudge up, then blame
Yep
 
Idk, that second half was a tough watch. Fulham had enough to draw with us again. A dodgy HB law aside they would have. Yes Fullham played above themselves second half, and with better finishing they were our equal, so I was a little dismayed for our prospects in the run in. We need to expect teams to push back, and we need to be able to control games better. Mourinho knows this.

For me, some of the core issues were when we were trying to break. With 2 or 3 defenders marshaling our one attacker and outball, don't try and force the pass them! Turn, lay the ball off and keep the ball moving quickly. Instead we always always always tried to hit the ball long and break. In the end we didn't have any conviction, we were just recycling possession giving them back the ball. We seemed to lose our shape in midfield, and revert to that placid defensive shape, unable to get out of it.

A man of Mourinho's talents needs to work with the side on how to transition out of such defensive shape when the break isn't on. As we seem to repeat this often.

On the flip side, we've played a whole lot of football, we got a vital win, and we go again very soon on Sunday. We managed to rotate the fullbacks and still get the win, and we didn't conceded. Just want to see us come out and control games like that not just sit back on the ropes.
 
Idk, that second half was a tough watch. Fulham had enough to draw with us again. A dodgy HB law aside they would have. Yes Fullham played above themselves second half, and with better finishing they were our equal, so I was a little dismayed for our prospects in the run in. We need to expect teams to push back, and we need to be able to control games better. Mourinho knows this.

For me, some of the core issues were when we were trying to break. With 2 or 3 defenders marshaling our one attacker and outball, don't try and force the pass them! Turn, lay the ball off and keep the ball moving quickly. Instead we always always always tried to hit the ball long and break. In the end we didn't have any conviction, we were just recycling possession giving them back the ball. We seemed to lose our shape in midfield, and revert to that placid defensive shape, unable to get out of it.

A man of Mourinho's talents needs to work with the side on how to transition in such positions. As we seem to repeat this often.

On the flip side, we've played a whole lot of football, we got a vital win, and we go again very soon on Sunday. We managed to rotate the fullbacks and still get the win, and we didn't conceded. Just want to see us come out and control games like that not just sit back on the ropes.

controlling games doesn’t mean you will get the results
What matters is a thing your chances
The games we have drawn we still had the better chances in
Just score a reasonable share of them and we will be ok
Kane missed sitters tonight
We missed relatively decent chances vs West Ham too
Do it at the right end of the pitch and the other end becomes less of a problem
 
controlling games doesn’t mean you will get the results
What matters is a thing your chances
The games we have drawn we still had the better chances in
Just score a reasonable share of them and we will be ok
Kane missed sitters tonight
We missed relatively decent chances vs West Ham too
Do it at the right end of the pitch and the other end becomes less of a problem

Sure they played well, but Fullham are in the bottom 3. If we are chasing the ball as much as we were second half - lets be honest - we are not close to being a svelt team yet. I don't think Kane's chances were all that clear cut to be honest. But we had to work much harder to track Fullham second half, than if we'd been dictating the tempo. Not to mention that a draw was probably a fair result, given they scored but for an impossible to avoid HB. We need to be better!
 
Idk, that second half was a tough watch. Fulham had enough to draw with us again. A dodgy HB law aside they would have. Yes Fullham played above themselves second half, and with better finishing they were our equal, so I was a little dismayed for our prospects in the run in. We need to expect teams to push back, and we need to be able to control games better. Mourinho knows this.

For me, some of the core issues were when we were trying to break. With 2 or 3 defenders marshaling our one attacker and outball, don't try and force the pass them! Turn, lay the ball off and keep the ball moving quickly. Instead we always always always tried to hit the ball long and break. In the end we didn't have any conviction, we were just recycling possession giving them back the ball. We seemed to lose our shape in midfield, and revert to that placid defensive shape, unable to get out of it.

A man of Mourinho's talents needs to work with the side on how to transition out of such defensive shape when the break isn't on. As we seem to repeat this often.

On the flip side, we've played a whole lot of football, we got a vital win, and we go again very soon on Sunday. We managed to rotate the fullbacks and still get the win, and we didn't conceded. Just want to see us come out and control games like that not just sit back on the ropes.

Go watch the game again, watch how little Doherty/Davies contribute to that transition out of the defensive shape

Look at the game against Burnley (pass map below), Doherty did nothing like what Aurier did there. This is not a game to analyse to death, played the gamble and won, move on ..


dqsgrdww4ek61.jpg
 
Sure they played well, but Fullham are in the bottom 3. If we are chasing the ball as much as we were second half - lets be honest - we are not close to being a svelt team yet. I don't think Kane's chances were all that clear cut to be honest. But we had to work much harder to track Fullham second half, than if we'd been dictating the tempo. Not to mention that a draw was probably a fair result, given they scored but for an impossible to avoid HB. We need to be better!
He had a 1 on 1 with the keeper and a header unmarked from 6 yards at the keeper
Honestly they were bankers by his standards
They would have got a draw if they actually could shoot and create
They passed the ball well, but had no edge at all. That’s why their relegation candidates and were fighting for other things
We do need to be better but we really weren’t as bad as some want to make out
I just checked the stats
Actions areas were 26.2% their third and 27.1% our third.., exactly how I saw it. Nice football but nothing much happening. Their goal that got disallowed needed an error from us too don’t forget
 
He had a 1 on 1 with the keeper and a header unmarked from 6 yards at the keeper
Honestly they were bankers by his standards
They would have got a draw if they actually could shoot and create
They passed the ball well, but had no edge at all. That’s why their relegation candidates and were fighting for other things
We do need to be better but we really weren’t as bad as some want to make out
I just checked the stats
Actions areas were 26.2% their third and 27.1% our third.., exactly how I saw it. Nice football but nothing much happening. Their goal that got disallowed needed an error from us too don’t forget

The header wasn't easy to get the power needed off that cross. Kane got it on target but it wasn't a gimme. The 1-1 he was stretching with the keeper rushing out, almost impossible to lift that over the keeper when Kane's already stretching to connect with the ball.

I don't disagree, Fullham showed why they are in the bottom 3, they couldn't finish. But a better side would have. That is the issue.

@Raziel completely agree about Davies. He's so low on confidence when going forward, during attacks he's just an extra body who passes back. Defensively he's competent. Doherty, with regular games, is more able to contribute to attacks. Just see his Wolves stats or his positive play for us. But he needs a run of games to get into a rhythm. He's not a world-beater but he offers more than Davies.
 
The second half was painful to watch but we should have been a couple of goals ahead at half time.

Here's hoping a clean sheet will give some confidence back to our defenders but I have to say that I'm really unimpressed with Doherty so far. I'd go so far as to say that he sucks. Davies also had a pretty miserable game, even by his relatively low standards, as he kept giving space out wide in the second half, but Doherty was absolutely useless in the first half. He got everything wrong whenever someone tried to play him in the final third.

It's a shame we have so many positions to strengthen because I'm not even sure he's a decent back-up option. Davies, at least, offers something different from Reguillon and Sessegnon. Hopefully, he'll get better next season.
 
This game reminded me of Sven's regular post match interview whilst England manager - "first half good, second half not so good". This then leaves with the opposite takeaway from the West Ham game when you end on a negative.

It was a worrying reminder of those games in December/January where we nearly give away a lead although on this occasion (unlike Palace and Wolves) it did feel as if the change in the second half was more down to Fulham raising the tempo, pushing us further back, rather than any intended tactical instruction by Jose. I guess you have to look objectively and consider that from a Fulham perspective they will have the reverse narrative and may question why they didnt start the game as they did in the second half.

We saw the benefits of flaws of the shape and personnel we had out. We look very much at home pressing high in the first half but in the second the almost 4-2-4 shape looked very shaky against a midfield that was outnumbering us.

Unlike other occasions luck was on our side with the disallowed goal - I still think the handball that went against us at Sheffield U last season (when Lucas was fouled and then the ball cleared against his shoulder before ending up at Kane's feet) will forever be the most ridiculous handball interprettation but you can feel sympathy for Fulham - as Parker correctly said the law is a daft one though it was correctly followed.

That said Lamela coming on made a big difference - his role as a 'closer' was much needed and it felt as though once he was on the ball was always about 15 yards higher up the pitch.

In conlsuion you feel that from the first half you've seen enough to think we've definitley turned a corner and that we'll continue to create better chances every game but the second half still give syou the nagging feeling that we're still vulnerable.
 
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