Preseason 2014

[Kandi1977]

With his RIGHT foot also!! Must have been a miss-hit!! :ross:

 

[nelto]

Decent work out.

G'night all...

 

[Modric THFC]

Doesn't help that we have Tom Carroll protecting the back four. Good, little passer. But no Sandro.

This second half team are a long way off being able to play Pochettino's style collectively. Individually too, some of them.

He'd be fine if Holtby could just stay in position ever.

 

[The Journeyman]

Some positives there in first half. Inter-changes between front four v good. Thought Capoue looked decent too and Kaboul fit, for first time in a while.

Rocky outings for some of the young lads - Ceballos, Fryers especially - with such a big squad, may be hard for another kid to make a Bentaleb style breakthrough this season.

 

[Raziel]

So just back from the game, obviously two very different halves

1st half Toronto didn't have a sniff, couldn't get the ball and when they did, Capoue in front of Kaboul/Veljkovic shut down everything
2nd half, no protection and Dawson/Fryers did not look good, Walker played at half pace but was able to stop anything down his side, Rose showed all he does is foul players.

Tactically some interesting things

- both Lennon & Townsend (our pace players) played through the middle
- for a defensive LB, Davies spent a lot of time in the opposition half (looked much better than Rose)
- for both Davies and Rose, when they moved forward, Mason/Holtby came onto the LB space and covered.
- FBs (Davies/Naughton/Rose) were almost always a pass option up front when we had possesion

Player observations

- Walker/Eriksen both played at half pace
- Friedel looked slow for both goals
- Soldado/Lamela seemed to have a few good link up plays together
- Kaboul actually looked decent
- Ceballos was trying too hard, needed to relax
- 2nd half team, only Walker/Holtby likely to get a start against West Ham
- Brief glimpses from Carroll/Falque/Ceballos, but Mason/Veljkovic looked the best of youngsters

Edit* and obviously Lamela has a great left foot, not sure if anyone saw on tv, but he actually spent a bit of time in 2nd half warming up and stretching on sidelines, kid seems raring to go.

 

[greatwhitenorf]

Norfie was there tonight. Pitchside. Let's inject a little reality to the evening's proceedings.

First off, of the starting 11 Toronto presented tonight, only four would be considered starters. The back four was composed of a starter in midfield who was shifted back for this game, a sub, a callup from tier two who normally plays midfield and a lad barely 20. There were two players in midfield who start most, but not all, games. Up front, Defoe obviously starts and got into this game because he's suspended for the next MLS match. His striking partner, Gilberto, is a sub who assumes the same underachieving role Soldado did last season.

Currently third, Toronto played away in Houston this past Saturday night, a 4,200 km round trip. About the same as Spurs visiting Dynamo Kiev. They host defending champion and first place Kansas City on Saturday and play away to second place D.C. Utd midweek. They have far bigger fish to fry than beating Spurs in a meaningless friendly and played the game accordingly.

In that context, Spurs looked world beaters against a bunch of second rate MLS players. They looked beatable against a bunch of second and third rate MLS players in the second half.

Try to restrain your enthusiasm. There's a lot of work to be done.

That said, fun night. Place was packed, but lots of people leave their seats and gather at the north end stand-up bar. Lot of Spurs fans. Couldn't believe my ears when I heard anti-Spurs chants coming from behind the south end goal. Looked round and there were two sad sacks in Popguns shirts with a Liverpool fan in their red shirt. Pathetic.

 

[tommysvr]

Ledley has just turned up to a downtown bar

 

[NickTB]

Ledley has just turned up to a downtown bar

Let's hope the doorman aren't as ****y as the ones in Faces...

 

[jimmyb]

Norfie was there tonight. Pitchside. Let's inject a little reality to the evening's proceedings.

First off, of the starting 11 Toronto presented tonight, only four would be considered starters. The back four was composed of a starter in midfield who was shifted back for this game, a sub, a callup from tier two who normally plays midfield and a lad barely 20. There were two players in midfield who start most, but not all, games. Up front, Defoe obviously starts and got into this game because he's suspended for the next MLS match. His striking partner, Gilberto, is a sub who assumes the same underachieving role Soldado did last season.

Currently third, Toronto played away in Houston this past Saturday night, a 4,200 km round trip. About the same as Spurs visiting Dynamo Kiev. They host defending champion and first place Kansas City on Saturday and play away to second place D.C. Utd midweek. They have far bigger fish to fry than beating Spurs in a meaningless friendly and played the game accordingly.

In that context, Spurs looked world beaters against a bunch of second rate MLS players. They looked beatable against a bunch of second and third rate MLS players in the second half.

Try to restrain your enthusiasm. There's a lot of work to be done.

That said, fun night. Place was packed, but lots of people leave their seats and gather at the north end stand-up bar. Lot of Spurs fans. Couldn't believe my ears when I heard anti-Spurs chants coming from behind the south end goal. Looked round and there were two sad sacks in Popguns shirts with a Liverpool fan in their red shirt. Pathetic.

A second half Spurs team which contained only one player likely to be a first choice this coming season..........playing his first 45 minutes in five months, after injury.....and not a single DM.

Yes, the opposition in the first half was at half strength and barely motivated. But Spurs were a long way off full strength too - not to mention full fitness. Besides which, the point isn't so much the result as the style of play. That will be the same regardless of the opposition and the importance of the match. If Pochettino was able to get Southampton quickly playing that way, then there's no reason why he wouldn't be able to get superior players at Spurs doing it as well.

And after the last couple of seasons, what we saw yesterday in the first half was a joy to behold and a mouth watering sign of things to come.

 

[jimmyb]

He'd be fine if Holtby could just stay in position ever.

Holtby was doing the job asked of him by Pochettino.

Problem was the second half team as a whole being unable to execute the game plan. The pressing was as haphazard and lacking in intensity in the second half as it had been organised and ferocious in the first. And that meant that a player like Carroll was badly exposed playing a role to which he isn't ideally suited.

 

[metalgear]

so were the players playing exactly in the same style for both halves?

is it anything like this:

or has he made adaptations to our players?

from the highlights i saw what he did with soton but it looks like we lack fitness:

[h=3]Overall objectives of Mauricio Pochettino[/h] Overall, the objectives of Pochettino’s formation and philosophy are:


1. To pass the ball vertically.
- Whether this is in to the centre forward for runners to go past him or to get it out wide to get in order to cross the ball.


2. Be fluid in all forms off attack.
- You will quite often see Lallana, Lambert and Rodriguez changing positions, as they seek to keep the defence guessing where they’ll be. This can often put a defence off balance.


3. To crowd and always have a man over in central midfield.
- This is where the player on the right, often Steven Davis, was beneficial. He would drift inside to create four players in the middle. Moving in with Wanyama, Schneiderlin and Lallana outnumbers teams who play three men in the centre.


4. Regain the ball through intense pressing.
- This helps dominate possession and generates scoring chances through winning the ball closer to the opponent’s goal.


5. Quick transition times between defence and attack
- This is done through pressing, players inter-changing positions and vertical passing.

 

[Raziel]

Metalgear, imo

1. Yes, we looked for the pass, didn't always come off, but Eriksen, Lennon, Holtby and interestingly Walker looked much more for the on the deck pass
2. First half yes, noticeable interchanges with Lennon, Soldado, Eriksen, Lamela
3. Center of pitch was always crowded, interesting result seemed to be our FBs were open a lot for a pass
4. We pressed, wouldn't call it intense as I never felt we were flat out in the game, despite it being a really nice temperature to play
5. We played out the back, other than the odd terrible Friedel distribution attempt.

 

[metalgear]

^ cool ... seems like we've finally got a manager who can introduce a proper footballing system, AND manipulate our players into doing it right.

nice to see ben davies came out fine, lamela and soldado connecting, i'd say we are already an improved side!

can't wait for our first home game against qpr - tantalizing old vs new manager match up

 

[Sandman]

Rose showed all he does is foul players.

I generally agree with what you said but not regarding Rose. I think there is a growing campaign against him almost with the comments he is getting. I personally thought Davies looked fairly slow, nothing special and nothing bad. But the defense was not pushed at all in that first half. 2nd Half rose had a lot more coming at him. He did not let anything come from his side of the pitch and was also way more attacking. He put in a great cross for Kane who should have scored and had some good link up play with Cabellos and Falque. He still had a nutty moment when he pushed over a defender shielding the ball, almost like he wants to proved he is strong. but for me he was he better left back last night. Of course its Davies first game etc but I would not say Rose is out of the equation to start the season.

 

[Raziel]

I generally agree with what you said but not regarding Rose. I think there is a growing campaign against him almost with the comments he is getting. I personally thought Davies looked fairly slow, nothing special and nothing bad. But the defense was not pushed at all in that first half. 2nd Half rose had a lot more coming at him. He did not let anything come from his side of the pitch and was also way more attacking. He put in a great cross for Kane who should have scored and had some good link up play with Cabellos and Falque. He still had a nutty moment when he pushed over a defender shielding the ball, almost like he wants to proved he is strong. but for me he was he better left back last night. Of course its Davies first game etc but I would not say Rose is out of the equation to start the season.

On that we have to agree to disagree, Rose played 45 minutes and was probably responsible for the majority of the fouls we conceded, most very clumsy pushs/run into back of player, took out DeRosario at least 2 or 3 times. Yes he did put in one decent cross, he also fail to beat his man several times and had a classic row Z cross as well.

To me, it was a typical Rose display (what we saw all last season), mostly rash challenges, poor passing with the occasional getting himself into a decent position (not scoring) and occasional decent cross.

Perhaps Poch can find the player inside there somewhere, but I don't see it

 

[Cochise]

http://tottenhamhotspur.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/full-match-1st-half.html

Finally got a chance to watch the first half (missed it due to work). The whole midfielder dropping into fullback role was something that I noticed too, not just in this game, but also againt Seattle where Holtby was often picking the ball up at RB.

Lennon really did look like a different player. Jol did say years ago that he thought that Lennon would end up playing behind the striker and a lot of his best work came from when he picked the ball up in that area. He also made a few very good forward runs past the striker which would have resulted in a 1v1 with the keeper had he been picked up.

Mason's first time passsing was quite impressive and he has good vision and it was his pass which started the move that got us our first goal, firing out quickly to Eriksen in space on the right. I much preferred his performance alongside Capoue to that of Carroll on Sunday night.

The Destroyer role looks to be very important to the side and it really was obvious how much we missed having one in the 2nd half. Capoue's passing also looked better than against Seattle.

 

[El Guepardo]

Who can provide the best reason why Manchester United beat LA Galaxy 7-0 and yet we've struggled to get results on our tour.

Manchester United have played reserve players, against a side who are mid season, so why the moral boosting victory whilst we're not really tearing up trees?

I understand that these games are friendlies but the 7-0 victory does make you sit up and admire the result, irrespective of it being a friendly. I think the scoreline would suggest that they're more prepared for the season ahead than we are.

So what factors have caused the gulf between the scores of ourselves and Manchester United?

 

[Lemonade Money]

Who can provide the best reason why Manchester United beat LA Galaxy 7-0 and yet we've struggled to get results on our tour.

Manchester United have played reserve players, against a side who are mid season, so why the moral boosting victory whilst we're not really tearing up trees?

I understand that these games are friendlies but the 7-0 victory does make you sit up and admire the result, irrespective of it being a friendly. I think the scoreline would suggest that they're more prepared for the season ahead than we are.

So what factors have caused the gulf between the scores of ourselves and Manchester United?

tottenham 5-0 roma

 

[Mumorn]

Who can provide the best reason why Manchester United beat LA Galaxy 7-0 and yet we've struggled to get results on our tour.

Manchester United have played reserve players, against a side who are mid season, so why the moral boosting victory whilst we're not really tearing up trees?

I understand that these games are friendlies but the 7-0 victory does make you sit up and admire the result, irrespective of it being a friendly. I think the scoreline would suggest that they're more prepared for the season ahead than we are.

So what factors have caused the gulf between the scores of ourselves and Manchester United?

Ander Herrera. Didn't he get all 7 assists or something :lol:

 

[milo]

http://www.reddit.com/r/footballdow...dly_toronto_fc_v_tottenham_hotspur_23jul2014/