Tottenham Hotspur v Wigan Athletic Match History 2005-2013 & OMT

[SubZero]

I suppose motivating them should be easy enough. Martinez walks in changing room with a Tv and video... "REMEMBER THIS?" ...*walks away

He doesn't even have to show them the full game. At 1-1 at half time, it's the most massive implotion I've ever witnessed on or off a football pitch.

 

[AdamB]

Hopefully we'll go back to 4-2-3-1 for the next game. I really don't think that our 3 man midfield offers enough goal threat

 

[diego_maradona]

Hopefully we'll go back to 4-2-3-1 for the next game. I really don't think that our 3 man midfield offers enough goal threat

Worked 3 times v City! I think the systems have merits in different given circumstances.

 

[kanoute16]

Chill fellas, it happens....

Spurs v Man Utd this year.

Man Utd 2 - 3 Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur 1 - 1 Man Utd.

But they ended up winning the league

will we end up in 4th?

 

[The Moonlit Knight]

Hopefully we'll go back to 4-2-3-1 for the next game. I really don't think that our 3 man midfield offers enough goal threat

A midfield three of Parker, Dembele and Huddlestone certainly won't offer a goal threat. I think if you are going to play Huddlestone you can only play one of Parker and Dembele. You need a goalscoring midfielder in there too, and I'd play Sigurdsson along side them if I was the coach. Now Lennon is fit we will probably switch back to a four man midfield with a player in the hole (Bale Bale Bale!) anyway.

 

[paxtonwolf]

Just back from the DW.

Obvious negative is we didnt win, but glass half-full guys lets take some positives. This team just dont give in anymore, late goals 3 games on the bounce, and really unlucky not to have come away with aa 3 points, how they held on from the Bale free kick is beyond me.

Believe! Its still not over yet, admittedly a lot lot tougher, but not over.

Good support early doors, but very nervy in the 2nd half, not the usual noise we have come to expect. Hats off to the guy in front of me, never stopped trying to get the chanting going. I tried my bit to help him out, but at times we were fighting a losing battle.

 

[mudshark]

Worked 3 times v City! I think the systems have merits in different given circumstances.

You could make the argument that the main reason we beat City last weekend is because we were so fudging second-best in the first 70 minutes that we lulled them into the mother of all false senses of security. Today, we managed to keep it up for nearly the full 94 minutes. It doesn't really bode well that we have only kept a clean sheet twice in 2013 either (0-0 v QPR and 1-0 v West Brom). The last occasion was 10 games ago now, and counting.

 

[paxtonwolf]

If that same team finishes above 16 others then I would say yes.

Especially if that team beats Man Utd, Emirates Marketing Project, Arsenal, Liverpool over the course of the season.

Agreed.

All teams lose games they shouldnt. QPR took 4pts off Chelsea without even conceding a goal. They also lost at Southampton and blew up at Reading

If we win finish 4th after 38 games then we have deserved it, irrespective of how the points came

 

[BrainOfLevy]

To win a game is to nullify your opposition while exploiting your own strengths.

Correspondingly, against Wigan, it meant realising the mistakes that had led to us losing it last time (slow start, no penetration, lacklustre break-away defending) and denying them the opportunity to employ their favoured tactics (6 across the back, 3 men hounding Bale/Dempsey/Defoe), while closing them down effectively and maintaining concentration for the full ninety minutes.

We were given the perfect start: a ludicrously lucky goal that would have forced Wigan to come out and play, stretching the game and allowing us to create more opportunities in our favor.

We then did what no top team should ever do: concede directly after scoring. We switched off at a corner, Jan casually lost his man and Boyce scored, meaning we held the lead for a grand total of one minute.

We lost concentration when we most needed it. And then, Wigan could play the way they liked: defensive and reliant upon break-aways.

So we failed the first 'What have we learned' test. We didn't concentrate, again, despite being punished for it in the disastrous home game.

Having done that, though, we could at least have sprung into action at the start of the second half, getting at Wigan with quick, purposeful passing when they were still trying to take the lead. But we didn't. We gave the ball away, made stupid errors and allowed them time and space on the ball outside our area. They scored. 2-1. Now they could sit back to their heart's content. So again, we failed to learn from last time: don't let Wigan take the lead.

Finally, having made consecutive errors of judgement, we compounded them by putting in an utterly inept attacking display, devoid of threat or purpose. We were petulant ,conceded stupid free-kicks and played at a snail's tempo: perfectly suiting Wigan. Again, a stupid thing to do.

In summary, we learned nothing from the last time we played Wigan. They were no better than they were at the Lane. We were just equally as bad as we were then.

Mate, I agree that we conceding that goal from a corner was awful but it's not really something that can be analysed or whatever, it happened, it was annoying but it doesn't mean we haven't learned from errors. We could spend the next week not doing anything else but learning about set piece defending and we could still concede one, that's just football.

But for the rest of the first half, against a team like Wigan who can dominate possession against good teams, we looked better. We did have penetration. We created chances and looked threatening. It wasn't the best we've ever played. It wasn't the perfect away performance but it gave us a good base for the second half if we could not concede. It was promising.

Then we conceded the second. It was just a sweet goal. It's not because we haven't learned from past mistakes. Then they sat back and showed no ambition, and in those circumstances it's hard for any team to find any space.

 

[BrainOfLevy]

thats not my argument, i'm saying that if we have superior players to another team and are mentally and tactically prepared correctly we will win

But that clearly is not how football works. For any team, not just us.

 

[King of Norway]

Mate, I agree that we conceding that goal from a corner was awful but it's not really something that can be analysed or whatever, it happened, it was annoying but it doesn't mean we haven't learned from errors. We could spend the next week not doing anything else but learning about set piece defending and we could still concede one, that's just football.

But for the rest of the first half, against a team like Wigan who can dominate possession against good teams, we looked better. We did have penetration. We created chances and looked threatening. It wasn't the best we've ever played. It wasn't the perfect away performance but it gave us a good base for the second half if we could not concede. It was promising.

Then we conceded the second. It was just a sweet goal. It's not because we haven't learned from past mistakes. Then they sat back and showed no ambition, and in those circumstances it's hard for any team to find any space.

We have conceded from a corner in 5 of our last 6 matches though. That is awful, and it does suggest that we haven't learned from our mistakes. And I think you are wrong. It is possible to analyse goals conceded from corners and try to improve on it.

After getting such a perfect start, and we actually played well in the first 9 minutes too, it wasn't all down to a lucky goal, I couldn't believe we allowed them to walk straight up the other end and score the equaliser. Not just the corner itself, but how easily they got into the position to win the corner. Sometimes you have to wonder how badly our players actually want this CL-spot. They always talk the talk, but then they allow their concentration to slip during games. Getting that lead was perfect, Wigan would have had to throw men forward and open things up for the counter-attack, but then we hand the initiative straight back to them. It killed us.

 

[rosenthal]

61.3% ball possesion - 85% succesrate
16 goal attempts to Wigan's 7

 

[Baleforce]

But that clearly is not how football works. For any team, not just us.

there is always exception to the rule granted, look at United against us, but we seem to not be up for it more often than everybody else, most teams have 2 or 3 games a season where they just don't turn up, we have about 10, underachievement is ingrained in the club it seems

 

[BrainOfLevy]

We have conceded from a corner in 5 of our last 6 matches though. That is awful, and it does suggest that we haven't learned from our mistakes. And I think you are wrong. It is possible to analyse goals conceded from corners and try to improve on it.

After getting such a perfect start, and we actually played well in the first 9 minutes too, it wasn't all down to a lucky goal, I couldn't believe we allowed them to walk straight up the other end and score the equaliser. Not just the corner itself, but how easily they got into the position to win the corner. Sometimes you have to wonder how badly our players actually want this CL-spot. They always talk the talk, but then they allow their concentration to slip during games. Getting that lead was perfect, Wigan would have had to throw men forward and open things up for the counter-attack, but then we hand the initiative straight back to them. It killed us.

I know you can analyse set piece goals but I was trying to say that it's not something that we can point to in this instance and say 'we haven't learnt from the previous Wigan game' which was the context.

I'm not sure how much set piece training though actually affects how often you would concede. Paul Lambert would talk throughout the season of constantly training Villa at set pieces and yet they would concede from at least one every week it seemed. It's also to do with the make up of your squad, what kind of players you have, how good they are in the air etc.

Anyway, I don't know what point I'm trying to make. It's clearly fudging annoying to concede like that but after the goal I thought our first half performance was encouraging. We don't know how the second would turn out if Wigan didn't score a peach and then sit back for 40 minutes. But as soon as a team does that it's very hard to find any space to attack. We were clearly not very good, and didn't look like we would score. But that's also a consequence of the type of squad we have and the options available.

Really agree with the points earlier though that 4-3-3 would work a lot better with Sig offering goal threat. Not sure why he wasn't introduced early in the second half when it was clear they would just try and defend, but I guess it was between him and Lennon and we chose Lennon.

 

[BrainOfLevy]

there is always exception to the rule granted, look at United against us, but we seem to not be up for it more often than everybody else, most teams have 2 or 3 games a season where they just don't turn up, we have about 10, underachievement is ingrained in the club it seems

We're in with a shot for 3rd on the 6th highest wage bill/turnover generation in the league. We're doing just fine.

 

[Baleforce]

We're in with a shot for 3rd on the 6th highest wage bill/turnover generation in the league. We're doing just fine.

i agree, but there are different perspectives to take into consideration, from zero you are exactly right and at the start of the season i'm sure most of us would have suarez'd that, but bearing in mind our position a few weeks ago, for me at least, failing to qualify for the CL will leave me absolutely crestfallen, lamenting the games like today where we didn't achieve what we were clearly capable of

 

[SteveAWOL]

61.3% ball possesion - 85% succesrate
16 goal attempts to Wigan's 7

We only managed to get 3 of those attempts on target though, Wigan had 5. Doesn't really help that once again over half of our shots (56% today) were taken from outside the area.

#WAFC 2 #Spurs 2 FT
Possession%: 39-61
Passes: 324-525
Accuracy%: 75-86
Final 3rd: 96-137
Accuracy%: 64-63
Shots (OT): 7(5)-16(3)

https://twitter.com/EPLIndex/status/328178293771730946

 

[We are Tottenham]

DEFOE had the chance to redeem himself for the ineptness of his presence... After Bales last minute freekick and Huddies shot - the ball suspended in the air for all of 3 seconds, allowing him time to premeditate his shot 6 yards out from goal unchallenged - surely he has to SMASH this into the net - what does he do.... SCUFFS it completely. That was the time. What a waste. How can a pro footballer not connect with a slow dropping ball completely. Unbelivable. He had ages to think about it - and no one was challenging him!
I may look back at that moment next season wistfully.

Defoe can score good goals.... but whenever its an important game...he'll miss..


Like the FA cup last shot at stammy Bridges 5 years ago......he blasted over the bar..could have tied it up for us!

Anyway... I dont choose or buy our players...but if I did I would have too get rid..

same as Adebyour....what a waste of quality......DOSH....................


nothing against Defoe..cept ..Spurs need better......


I'm feeling bitter... why are we so lapse in defense?

anyway ...why are we always on a cliff edge?

We did so well at the Lane..against City..I dont understand..we should have so much better mentally!

 

[billyiddo]

i agree, but there are different perspectives to take into consideration, from zero you are exactly right and at the start of the season i'm sure most of us would have suarez'd that, but bearing in mind our position a few weeks ago, for me at least, failing to qualify for the CL will leave me absolutely crestfallen, lamenting the games like today where we didn't achieve what we were clearly capable of

ive never felt at any point this season that we were the 3rd/4th best side in the country, we aren't as good as either Arsenal or Chelsea. i said before the Arsenal game i thought we needed to win that and move 7 points in front of them to give ourselves any chance of seeing out the season in that position as we were always likely to drop a fair few points in our remaining games. when taking ours and Arsenal fixtures in to account was not as big of a lead as it seemed on paper. for those reasons should we fail to finish top 4 it wouldn't hit me as a failure or a disaster or whatever

 

[paxtonwolf]

61.3% ball possesion - 85% succesrate
16 goal attempts to Wigan's 7

Just caught that on the BBC report. It certainly didnt feel like that at the game. Really felt like they outshot us on the day. Until the last five mins I hardly recollected their keeper making a save.
Bizarre, how differently how preceive a game sometimes