The Journeyman
Andy Turner
For me, Mason & Bentaleb is our best midfield pair. They were poor today however and I'm sceptical they could be better on less than 48 hours rest. I also don't want either to get injured.
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*** Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester United OOMT ***
- Thread starter Maltese Falcon
- Start date
For me, Mason & Bentaleb is our best midfield pair. They were poor today however and I'm sceptical they could be better on less than 48 hours rest. I also don't want either to get injured.
milo
Jack L. Jones
I'd still rather play them against United and rest them against Chelsea if needed. We have a far better chance of taking points from this game than we do of the following one.
Maltese Falcon
Niko Kranjcar
Did you see Leicester simply walk through our middle yesterday, with Bentaleb and Mason nowhere in sight? And it's not the first time it has happened. We have again become very vulnerable to attacks through the middle. I am not dissing the two kids because they have contributed much more to our better offensive play but they are kids and with them in the team we WILL lose the central midfield battle and we WILL lose the game. Would I prefer someone else to Capoue? Of course - but he is the only genuine defensive midfielder we currently have; and he was pivotal at the Emirates. In fact his best games seem to come against the better sides. Unless we can hold on to the ball, again we WILL lose and Dembele is our best player to do that especially in a slightly more advanced role. Both have big game experience which Mason and Bentaleb are currently short of.
I agree we can beat United but not with yesterday's team - they are too green and they clearly look exhausted. We need fresh players in midfield with experience and, for this game, Capoue and Dembele fit the bill.
milo
Jack L. Jones
The problem is that you are forfeiting all creativity from the base of midfield for a defensive stability that Capoue and Dembele have frequently failed to provide too.
markysimmo
Johnny nice-tits
Rooney playing very well in his new midfield role, do we know the possible make up of their side tomorrow, hopefully their defence is still waffy
Maltese Falcon
Niko Kranjcar
Fair point but let's be honest - our creativity has mainly come from Eriksen & Kane and we haven't exactly been tearing teams a new one.
Ericksen and Bentaleb ? There is not a tackle in them, I don't really don't see what Bentaleb offers, he recycles the ball neatly ? ( plays it back or square but mostly gives it away) always running along side the game and not influencing it, with the ANC coming up I would bench him and give him another look when he comes back, the mid two are so important to the way we play and with the players we have no combination is outstanding, I would personally go for Dembele and Mason.It will be interesting to see what players MP goes for in January.
Rossi22
Pedro Mendes
I love Mason and Bentaleb but they shouldn't be run into the ground, Mason only did 45 yesterday so he should be ok but Nabil's had a long run of games, he could do with a sit down and I think Dembele is perfectly capable of putting in a good performance. Rooney and Mata are hardly the most dynamic of CM pairings either.
braineclipse
Steve Sedgley
Disagree. First of all I didn't think Mason and Bentaleb were as poor as you're claiming against Leicester. Average-ish game from both imo. Secondly, even if it was the case that they didn't play well against Leicester they both played well against Everton and Chelsea. I really don't see how you can claim that we have no strength in the middle with those two after those games.
This is what makes it difficult imo. Two quick games, arguably on a downwards trajectory, can't expect huge performances. Poch will make a good decision I think.
Dembele perhaps. He has the pace, physicality and discipline to do a job like that I think.
Not sure a man marking job is the right decision for this though. We have to get than Saudi Sportswashing Machine did yesterday (also going by highlights), but that was Saudi Sportswashing Machine without Tiote, I think we'll be looking to get closer to him than that regardless.
braineclipse
Steve Sedgley
Disagree. First of all I didn't think Mason and Bentaleb were as poor as you're claiming against Leicester. Average-ish game from both imo. Secondly, even if it was the case that they didn't play well against Leicester they both played well against Everton and Chelsea. I really don't see how you can claim that we have no strength in the middle with those two after those games.
This is what makes it difficult imo. Two quick games, arguably on a downwards trajectory, can't expect huge performances. Poch will make a good decision I think.
Dembele perhaps. He has the pace, physicality and discipline to do a job like that I think.
Not sure a man marking job is the right decision for this though. We have to get than Saudi Sportswashing Machine did yesterday (also going by highlights), but that was Saudi Sportswashing Machine without Tiote, I think we'll be looking to get closer to him than that regardless.
The egyptian
Carlo Cudicini
I am really confused, from one side 5/3/2 formation may be the best tactic for Lamela to play against, while on the other side Lennon showed that he is superior against high profile teams. If I have to pick one, I will choose Lennon.
Against Manure, you have to watch for the attempt to stretch the width - so I would go with more defensive FBs
Someone has to cover Rooney's use of the space in middle - Dembele might be best option of pace, physicality.
We have to hit them on counter - Lennon/Erikson/Mason -> Kane/Soldado
To me, this one is simple, the side that takes their chances wins, unfortunately in our last two games we have failed to take advantage several times
Someone has to cover Rooney's use of the space in middle - Dembele might be best option of pace, physicality.
We have to hit them on counter - Lennon/Erikson/Mason -> Kane/Soldado
To me, this one is simple, the side that takes their chances wins, unfortunately in our last two games we have failed to take advantage several times
Rossi22
Pedro Mendes
I think it suits Lennon more. Lamela will come inside(onto Young's stronger side) and straight into three CBs and a whole host of midfielders. 352's weakness is the space behind the wing back, Lennon can exploit that better than anyone else.
The egyptian
Carlo Cudicini
I agree with your last sentence, and with the fact that the space behind wing back is the major weakness of 352. The matter is that I don't rate there CBs high.
mudshark
Chris Armstrong
Don't know about man-marking, but I think we'll need to press from at least the halfway line to try and inhibit Rooney and Mata. If we allow them time on the ball, they will waltz straight through us. I'm not sure we'll be able to do either effectively, though, so I'm expecting United to win by at least 2.
Two shaky defenses, as I said earlier, comes down to who takes chances, unfortunately they have RVP/Rooney/Falcao ..
Pirate55
The Last Man Standing 17/18
Two inconsistent sides with shaky defences, HOWEVER they have much better players than us in almost every position (how many of our players would realistically get in their first team? I can't think of any personally).
So they SHOULD beat us easily. If we are at the top of our game and they are off theirs, then we might get something out the game but it is a big ask imo.