Etienne Capoue

[elltrev]

Excellent debut. Won the ball several times both by tackling and intercepting and very stable passing to add to that.

Almost Carrick-esque in the positions he took, willingness to find space to receive passes and move the ball on quickly. Probably not the same range of passing as Carrick, but seemingly more athletic with a greater range of movement.

I think he will be perfect as the holding player in a 4-3-3. Perhaps a better fit to that role than any of our other players.

As impressive as his ball-winning abilities looked, it was the stuff you mention in the boldest sentence that most impressed me. Well, perhaps not most impressed me, but most pleased me, as I felt that Dembele and Paulinho were really lacking in that department today.

 

[NaijaSpurs]

He was excellent (had a hint of viera about him). Hopefully he continues in this fashion.

I thought that too.



Capoue, Paulo, Dembele, Sandro - when we start with any 3 of those 4 we are gonna be beastly in midfield, especially when thay are all sharp and match fit

 

[NaijaSpurs]

I was gutted when he came on ahead of Sandro, but I guess AVB proved why he is the coach who sees them in training everyday

 

[elltrev]

I thought that too.



Capoue, Paulo, Dembele, Sandro - when we start with any 3 of those 4 we are gonna be beastly in midfield, especially when thay are all sharp and match fit

I do like the 'beast' factor of this quartet, and agree a trio of three of them would be beastly in tougher away games. But I wouldn't want a trio of them in easier games - defensive overkill and, more importantly, not enough pass-and-move ability to break teams down IMO.

 

[braineclipse]

As impressive as his ball-winning abilities looked, it was the stuff you mention in the boldest sentence that most impressed me. Well, perhaps not most impressed me, but most pleased me, as I felt that Dembele and Paulinho were really lacking in that department today.

Aye.

I posted some stats in his transfer thread showing that he was tied for the highest number of passes per game in the French league last season. Based on that and some of his youtube videos my expectations for him were (perhaps unfairly) high.

In a way we've missed a proper deep playmaker since Carrick. Hudd has played that role well, but lacked the mobility to make his own consistently. Modric fulfilled some of those roles obviously, but wasn't a dedicated holding player like Carrick. Perhaps Capoue could be that player...

 

[Spursalot]

I was gutted when he came on ahead of Sandro, but I guess AVB proved why he is the coach who sees them in training everyday

Well Sandro wasn't on the bench, so bringing him on would have been challenging.



Capoue looked good, especially liked his run down the left, players doggedly biting and nibbling at him but he shrugged one off and kept going. Will be an interesting battle for those 'big game' midfield positions.

 

[elltrev]

Aye.

I posted some stats in his transfer thread showing that he was tied for the highest number of passes per game in the French league last season. Based on that and some of his youtube videos my expectations for him were (perhaps unfairly) high.

In a way we've missed a proper deep playmaker since Carrick. Hudd has played that role well, but lacked the mobility to make his own consistently. Modric fulfilled some of those roles obviously, but wasn't a dedicated holding player like Carrick. Perhaps Capoue could be that player...

Agreed. Fingers crossed! I think that's such an important role. I wish Dembele would look to play it more, as he's so good at escaping opponents and at least has accurate (albeit generally conservative) passing...

 

[screen nayim]

Capoue looked like he's been playing with Spurs in the Premier League for years.

I think we're going to grow very fond of this lad.

Echoed. Amazing that he wasn't even a Spurs player (officially) until this week. Monstrously assured debut and our best newcomer for me today.

 

[SlumDilla]

Great passing range and like many mentioned before likes sitting in the hole of the defense and pushes up when we needed him to.

 

[the dza]

Very encouraging debut. It looks like we can play any combo of Sandro, Paulinho, Dembele and Capoue as the "two" in midfield and we will have solidity, athleticism, drive and decent passing from the given pair.

That part of our squad is now bullet proof and it's arguably the most crucial area of the field.

 

[Spur of the moment]

The critical question: how inventive are they? It's one thing to win possession, quite another to make it count in the last third. We failed to score in open play today despite dominating for long spells.

 

[the dza]

I think we still made good chances today; Sig and Defoe had 2 very good chances and Chadli had a good half-chance with a header. And that's without Bale rampaging around or another creative player (Willian?) signed. I think we'll be fine.

 

[THFC6061]

The critical question: how inventive are they? It's one thing to win possession, quite another to make it count in the last third. We failed to score in open play today despite dominating for long spells.

I don't think it's a question of creativity - it's more like our players need just a bit more time to gel properly and get used to the style of play and what's expected of them.

We created 19 scoring opportunities today, that's about one every five minutes.

 

[SlumDilla]

I don't think it's a question of creativity - it's more like our players need just a bit more time to gel properly and get used to the style of play and what's expected of them.

We created 19 scoring opportunities today, that's about one every five minutes.

Agreed. We could also do better to be more dynamic with our movement. Alot of times Walker and Lennon would just stand still and hope the other one would do something, instead of making inside runs or overlapping runs.

 

[africanspurs]

I don't think it's a question of creativity - it's more like our players need just a bit more time to gel properly and get used to the style of play and what's expected of them.

We created 19 scoring opportunities today, that's about one every five minutes.

dont agree

real creativity is a problem. what we saw yesterday isnt a surprise.

it will get better but not to the point where we are creating in a fluid manner

 

[Mosquito_Coasting]

If this guy can play a lot (and yesterday the signs looked good) then Sandro's position could be in danger as that's his weakness.

 

[billyiddo]

The critical question: how inventive are they? It's one thing to win possession, quite another to make it count in the last third. We failed to score in open play today despite dominating for long spells.

We had several clear cut opportunities to add to the pen, which on another day would have gone in so im really not that worried.

 

[El Guepardo]

If this guy can play a lot (and yesterday the signs looked good) then Sandro's position could be in danger as that's his weakness.

Which is what I said would happen pages ago. Sandro is a hero to us but his place is really under threat right now.

 

[SpursNorway]

There will be more than enough matches for both Sandro and Capoue. And with our injury history, I wouldnt worry much...

 

[Joesh]

I thought that too.



Capoue, Paulo, Dembele, Sandro - when we start with any 3 of those 4 we are gonna be beastly in midfield, especially when thay are all sharp and match fit

I agree, its strange for me it doesnt quite come across watching games on tv but when you are watching the game live, you really get a better impression of how intimidating these players are and you know we're not going to be out fought in midfield. You can definately imagine players pulling out of tough challenges with the likes of Sandro coming at them :lol: