End of league season player reviews.

[Maltese Falcon]

I think it can be a real leveller, Liverpool will have 3 weeks to stew in their title failure - could motivate or devastate...

We should get players fit, though Id be amazed if Winks started, been a long time since he saw any football.

Really Id expect Poch to know his team now, and be prepping and drilling them as we speak.

I posted in the match thread Id go with this:
.....................Lloris
KWP....Alderweireld...Vertonghen...Rose
......................Sissoko
..............Eriksen........Alli
.....Moura............................Son
.......................Kane

but I would be surprised to see Poch do that, Id expect a more conservative
.....................Lloris
Trippier..Alderweireld...Vertonghen...Rose
....................Wanyama
...............Sissoko....Alli
.....................Eriksen....
...............................Son
.......................Kane

Nothing unconservative with your first choice. In fact I would say that unless Poch goes for a front 3 of Lucas - Kane - Son, we don;t have a chance. Lucas and Sonny are essential because they are the only two players who have the stamina and speed to keep up with Alexander-Arnold and Robertson. Unless we clamp down on those two full backs, we'll be overwhelmed.

KWP is a step too far - Trippier will play, no doubt; let's just hope he doesn't do one of his unfortunately common brainfarts.

Wanyama? Bench at best and even that may be too generous seeing his last games.

 

[Hotspur75]

Nothing unconservative with your first choice. In fact I would say that unless Poch goes for a front 3 of Lucas - Kane - Son, we don;t have a chance. Lucas and Sonny are essential because they are the only two players who have the stamina and speed to keep up with Alexander-Arnold and Robertson. Unless we clamp down on those two full backs, we'll be overwhelmed.

KWP is a step too far - Trippier will play, no doubt; let's just hope he doesn't do one of his unfortunately common brainfarts.

Wanyama? Bench at best and even that may be too generous seeing his last games.

Hm, defensive considerations for the selection of Son and Moura? We have to score too, not just defend. I think there is no reason for Poch to NOT play 4-2-3-1 for this one-off massively important game, and I too think he will play Trippier, and not play Wanyama. My guess, if Kane is fit, would be:

Lloris; Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose; Dier, Sissoko; Eriksen, Alli, Son; Kane.

A shame for Moura, but he is our best impact player off the bench. Personally I think we would be better off not playing Kane from the start (lack of rhythm), and play Son up top with Moura in the three, and gamble on their speed going forward.

 

[Maltese Falcon]

Hm, defensive considerations for the selection of Son and Moura? We have to score too, not just defend. I think there is no reason for Poch to NOT play 4-2-3-1 for this one-off massively important game, and I too think he will play Trippier, and not play Wanyama. My guess, if Kane is fit, would be:

Lloris; Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose; Dier, Sissoko; Eriksen, Alli, Son; Kane.

A shame for Moura, but he is our best impact player off the bench. Personally I think we would be better off not playing Kane from the start (lack of rhythm), and play Son up top with Moura in the three, and gamble on their speed going forward.

Have you people actually seen Dier (and Wanyama for that matter) in the last month? Do you seriously believe that they should get anywhere near the first 11 in Madrid? The only player who could be considered is Winksy but i fear that he will not be fit enough to start.

Yes - defensive considerations for Son and Lucas! I am fully confident they can cope and also launch counter-attacks when the opportunity calls.

Eriksen and Alli are good tacklers and willing runners. Let's put our best 11 on the pitch; Dier or Wanyama certainly don't fall into that definition.

 

[Hotspur75]

Have you people actually seen Dier (and Wanyama for that matter) in the last month? Do you seriously believe that they should get anywhere near the first 11 in Madrid? The only player who could be considered is Winksy but i fear that he will not be fit enough to start.

Yes - defensive considerations for Son and Lucas! I am fully confident they can cope and also launch counter-attacks when the opportunity calls.

Eriksen and Alli are good tacklers and willing runners. Let's put our best 11 on the pitch; Dier or Wanyama certainly don't fall into that definition.

Ok, you have a point. But if I follow your reasoning, that means either Eriksen or Alli alongside Sissoko in the two, with mainly defensive duties. That would really make me feel uneasy. Let's play to Alli's strengths, he holds the key to success (like in Amsterdam in the second half). I am not convinced that Eriksen/Sissoko as the shield before the defence will be strong enough to counter the energy of the Liverpool midfield. I would certainly not play Winks ánd Kane - too risky.

 

[Jurgen the German]

Son is the main man after Kane in terms of playing CF when Kane isnt available. Poch has played Moura off of Kane far more than I've seen Son play centrally off of Kane. Like I've said previously Son is still patchy, he had his hot streak and hes not on form right now so I see it more likely all things considered that Moura would be selected ahead of Son if it was one of our AMs playing centrally off of Kane....

Honestly I’d start Son AND Moura. Son is arguably our X factor player. Personally I don’t think the term streaky applies to him anymore.

This may be controversial but I would be more inclined to put Alli on the bench. He’s not had a great season by his standards. Moura has scored two hat tricks in recent weeks! I just can’t see how Poch can possibly leave him out.

 

[mephitis]

Player of the season Sissoko, most improved, most influential, most likeable (big shouts to Son & Lucas on that front). But I did make the comment to the guy next to me in the south stand when Sonny got player of the season "Shirt Sales". Definitely goal of the season though (but pushed really, really close by Lucas' second in Amsterdam.

 

[90291Spur]

THEY ARE ALL HEROES. EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM.

 

[Finney Is Back]

Lloris 6. Some great performances, some poor ones.

Gazzaniga 7. Did very well for a back up keeper when he came in

Tripper 4. A poor season. Defensively awful and becoming less effective in attack now that teams know they can get tight to him and he will never try to go on the outside of them.

Aurier 6. Markedly better than last season. Becoming less rash. I also think he is a more effective attacking player than Trippier as he will mix it up with early crosses and look to get on the outside of his opponent as well.

Walker-Peters 5. Has been OK when he has come in. Needs more games, unlikely to get them at Spurs so should be loaned out to see if he sinks or swims.

Alderwield 8. A good season overall. Needs a new contract as we will not be able to replace him with a better defender unless Levy really shells out for De Ligt (which I cannot see).

Sanchez 6. A few highish profile blunders and still needs to improve his decision making in defence, but OK overall

Verts 9. Pushed Sissoko close to player of the season. The best centre half at Spurs, also the best left back at Spurs, could probably play in midfield and be the best midfielder too. Super Jan indeed.

Foyth 5. Has promise but is more rash than chicken pox. Another that needs a loan so that he can improve his decision making without costing us games.

Rose 7. Started the season poorly when coming back from injury but has looked like the old Danny Rose in recent months. Need a version of him over on the right hand side

Davies 6. Decent season. Rarely does anything wrong, the perfect back up and I think he should get more games as the left sided centre half when we play a back three.

Dier 4. Shocking season, admittedly disrupted by injuries. However when he has played he has looked terrible, slow, poor first touch, gives the ball away often in dangerous positions, attempts tackles he can't win and gives away fouls. He is a strong challenger to Trippier for our poorest player of the season. Hopefully he can have a summer of rehabilitation from injury and come back better next year. However I wonder whether he would be better off dropping back into Alderweireld's centre back position next season where his limitations will be less exposed?

Sissoko 9. What a turnaround. Player of the season. A warrior, has consistently dragged our team through games. Probably the first midfield player on Poch's team sheet these days.

Wanamya 5. Injury prone season. I suspect he has a Ledley King type knee injury that is hampering him. Started to look OKish again in recent games but nowhere near back to his previous levels. I wonder whether we could prolong his career by converting him to a centre half so that he has less running to do?

Eriksen 8. Nowhere near his best but instrumental in us getting results in key games. When he is on song he is pure poetry in motion. I think he is knackered after having to play too much football because we have too many players in our squad who are fragile.

Lamela 5. A decent start to the season but, yet again, missed too many games through injury. I don't think we can afford to have an overseas player who misses upwards of half a season, especially with seeming to prefer working with a smaller squad.

Winks 6. Has been excellent at times, but another who is missing too many games through injury. With him, Wanyama and Lamela all seeming to be injury prone, I think Poch needs to decide which one of three we keep as we cannot carry any more than one injury prone player.

Skipp 6. A decent break through season at a young age. However if I compare him to Bentaleb in his first season, he doesn't look to be in quite the same class. He is hard working, positionally aware and tidy but I'm not 100% convinced he has that x factor to make it to the top. Needs a loan so that he can play more and develop

Lucas 8. A good season. I think he has been a little underused by Poch. I would love to see us play a 3 up top with Son left, Lucas right and Kane through the middle next season, would scare the hell out of teams.

Dele 7. Sometimes looks sublime, at other times looks slow and ponderous. I think Poch is trying to convert him to a deeper midfielder and I think he can be successful from that position but he needs to play with a bit more urgency to do so.

Son 8. Blows a bit hot and cold, but helped drag us through at times with his goals.

Kane 7. Hasn't looked as clinical this season although he still produced a decent amount of goals per games played. Please have a summer off instead of going away with England Harry.

Llorente 6. Has a pretty much impossible job coming in for a few minutes or the odd game. Made even harder as we don't play to his strengths. When we do so (i.e. the second half of the Ajax game) you see how effective he is. I wonder whether it is possible for us to do better than him for a third choice striker, maybe we should give him a contract for another season?

Poch 9. Not sure how he has managed to drag us through the season. We have been the walking wounded and had key players missing for large chunks of the season. I don't think any other manager in the PL would've got us 4th place with the circumstances we have had to operate in.

 

[nayimfromthehalfwayline]

Nothing unconservative with your first choice. In fact I would say that unless Poch goes for a front 3 of Lucas - Kane - Son, we don;t have a chance. Lucas and Sonny are essential because they are the only two players who have the stamina and speed to keep up with Alexander-Arnold and Robertson. Unless we clamp down on those two full backs, we'll be overwhelmed.

KWP is a step too far - Trippier will play, no doubt; let's just hope he doesn't do one of his unfortunately common brainfarts.

Wanyama? Bench at best and even that may be too generous seeing his last games.

Thats my thinking, but I just cant help feeling Poch will try and play it safer, hence my second selection.

I fully expect he will play Trippier, I just think that will be a bad idea.

And honestly I think he would play Wanyama too. Wanyama hasnt been as bad as people say, and he does do a critical job. He and Sissoko in the middle would be an attempt to lock down the centre of the pitch and negate their play through the centre.

I could see him going for that, Id much rather he didnt - but can see it all the same.

 

[Raziel]

@DubaiSpur had it closest for me re opinions

My view vs. individuals is more core components of team

- Core attacking players -> 8 out of 10, nobody managed a brilliant full season, but lots of key contributions and important goals
- Creative Midfield group -> 6.5 out of 10, stuttering season, fatigue & injuries, lack of options
- Defensive Midfield -> Take Sissoko out of this group and score is likely a 4 out of 10, 2nd worst area of team for season
- Full Backs -> 4 out of ten, a core part of strategy, has failed to deliver in attack or defense, consistently targeted by opposition
- CB Line -> 7 out of 10, good job by Jan/Toby, was expecting a little more this season from Sanchez/Foyth
- GKs -> 7 out of 10, Great moments in between some shakey ones, Gazza established as #2

Poch & Levy -> 8 out 10, how the fudge we got through this season with top 4, stadium delivered and a CL final .. almost a miracle.

 

[alekaras]

Son is the main man after Kane in terms of playing CF when Kane isnt available. Poch has played Moura off of Kane far more than I've seen Son play centrally off of Kane. Like I've said previously Son is still patchy, he had his hot streak and hes not on form right now so I see it more likely all things considered that Moura would be selected ahead of Son if it was one of our AMs playing centrally off of Kane....

I wouldn't be surprised if Poch played both Moura and Son and used Kane in a Llorente-type role (with the difference being that Kane can do so much more and is much more mobile). That should give the Lollerpool back line quite a bit to worry about and also ease the burden on Kane, who will be coming back from injury.