OMT - Tottenham Hotspur - Leicester City

[markysimmo]

Horrible game to watch yesterday, weird sort of feeling around the ground before and during the game really

We've lost our zip our spark currently, Eriksen needs a spell on the sidelines for me, has played well once this year tops

Rose once again the pick of the bunch, Janssen good too, Alli in the first half

As for Leicester and the ref, horrible team, literally got away with murders in the first half, all they can do is foul foul foul hoof

 

[Hotshot-Tottenham]

We are not as good as we like to think we are.3 draws is the equivalent of losing 2 games.I think we will finish 5-6 we don't seem to be on the same level.Still not to sure about this Bisela method not really proven to be that successfull.we seem to expend a lot of energy for not a lot of reward

Eh?

3 draws = 3 points.
2 defeats = 0 points, with no guarantee that we'd win the hypothetical 3rd game.

I'd take a draw over a defeat every time. Just keep those points ticking up.

 

[Hotshot-Tottenham]

Points lost at the start of season = points lost at the end of season.

Not to mention he impact on confidence if lost early for the rest of season.

Probably not much Poch can do right now except tinker with personnel and tactics but Jan window we desperately need to add goals, pace and guile, in that order.

But we have more points at this stage this season than last. We're improving.

No team ever takes all the points they "should". Read pool at Burnley, arsenal at home v Boro, Man U at home v Burnley and Stoke.

I'd rather finish the season strongly than start that way. Mind the gap.

 

[paxtonwolf]

Horrible game to watch yesterday, weird sort of feeling around the ground before and during the game really

We've lost our zip our spark currently, Eriksen needs a spell on the sidelines for me, has played well once this year tops

Rose once again the pick of the bunch, Janssen good too, Alli in the first half

As for Leicester and the ref, horrible team, literally got away with murders in the first half, all they can do is foul foul foul hoof

Spot on. As posted earlier, one of the worst atmospheres from a Spurs POV I have encountered, bearing in mind we werent getting beat 2-0 or 3-0. Leicester fans owned the ground yesterday.
But if anyone not knowing anything about football came to the game and then found out the team playing in Blue were the current champions they would be thinking what sort of f#ckin league is this, when a team like that were supposedly the best team.
I thought WBA and Stoke were bad, but that display of non-football yesterday was up there with some of their awful displays of late

 

[paxtonwolf]

But we have more points at this stage this season than last. We're improving.

No team ever takes all the points they "should". Read pool at Burnley, arsenal at home v Boro, Man U at home v Burnley and Stoke.

I'd rather finish the season strongly than start that way. Mind the gap.

One positive...like for like, its one more point than we got in the corresponding fixture last season....(finds straw to clutch)

 

[milo]

One positive...like for like, its one more point than we got in the corresponding fixture last season....(finds straw to clutch)

Another positive, we have done that with Kane, Dembele and Alderweireld being out for chunks of that.

 

[mudshark]

Ranieri has our number all right. Allow no time or space in the final third, so that every element of your move has to be coordinated and done right if you are going to break through, and we aren't good enough collectively at the moment to get every element right at the required pace. If it's not the accuracy of the pass, it's the timing of the run that's off; if it's not the timing of the run, it's the touch to control; if it's not the touch to control, it's either hesitation before applying the finish or the quality of the finish itself, with too much either going off-target altogether or straight at the keeper. We played smack into their hands, as well, repeatedly slowing our build-up, allowing them to get numbers in position defensively, like resetting the pieces on a chess-board. Our general effectiveness in the opponent's half has fallen off in my opinion.

 

[braineclipse]

Disappointing result, but overall a decent performance. We hit the crossbar twice, they scored from their first shot on target after a bad individual mistake.

We're only 3 points off top after what has so far been our most disappointing run this season with 3 draws in a row. I'm confident our form/luck will turn around.

 

[diego_maradona]

Disappointing result, but overall a decent performance. We hit the crossbar twice, they scored from their first shot on target after a bad individual mistake.

We're only 3 points off top after what has so far been our most disappointing run this season with 3 draws in a row. I'm confident our form/luck will turn around.

We used to make 2 or 3 of these a game during AVB's last season and Sherwood time.

 

[paxtonwolf]

Ranieri has our number all right. Allow no time or space in the final third, so that every element of your move has to be coordinated and done right if you are going to break through, and we aren't good enough collectively at the moment to get every element right at the required pace. If it's not the accuracy of the pass, it's the timing of the run that's off; if it's not the timing of the run, it's the touch to control; if it's not the touch to control, it's either hesitation before applying the finish or the quality of the finish itself, with too much either going off-target altogether or straight at the keeper. We played smack into their hands, as well, repeatedly slowing our build-up, allowing them to get numbers in position defensively, like resetting the pieces on a chess-board. Our general effectiveness in the opponent's half has fallen off in my opinion.

This.

I have never known a team be so polite when we have a breakaway. In recent games it seems like when we break we kindly stop halfway, wait for the defence to get back, then carry on. Whereas earlier in the season at Stoke we were superb on the counter. Cant understand what has happened in the last 2 months

 

[diego_maradona]

This.

I have never known a team be so polite when we have a breakaway. In recent games it seems like when we break we kindly stop halfway, wait for the defence to get back, then carry on. Whereas earlier in the season at Stoke we were superb on the counter. Cant understand what has happened in the last 2 months

I think its this aggression Poch has referred to. Sometimes its about the quickest way to strike at the oppositions heart.

 

[kanoute16]

We are not as good as we like to think we are.3 draws is the equivalent of losing 2 games.I think we will finish 5-6 we don't seem to be on the same level.Still not to sure about this Bisela method not really proven to be that successfull.we seem to expend a lot of energy for not a lot of reward

Ahhhh feeling sorry for yourself eh? Self-deficating bollox from a so called Spurs fan, again and again!
We are as good as we think we are because we proved what we are capable of when we have a fully fit team last season and are in the mix. That Kane bloke is pretty damned good it seems, we've lost a great attacjer and this for me is the issue. We need to put the ball into the goal more.

I tell you when we were actually brick enough for you to make the remarks you are making - the days when GG and Hoddle managed us, Gerry Francis without Klinsmann and Teddy, Ardiles and his 5-0-5 formation! These were terrible times, not this.

Your moan also seems to suggest that because we are currently struggling to convert possession into goals that this will just continue until May. Every team has a slump and every team comes out of that if they have the quality. Be patient, be thankful that you have ambitions of winning a league or whatever else you are expecting and be fudging patient.

 

[kanoute16]

fudge I forgot about the Gross years, jesus those were bad

 

[Kandi1977]

This.

I have never known a team be so polite when we have a breakaway. In recent games it seems like when we break we kindly stop halfway, wait for the defence to get back, then carry on. Whereas earlier in the season at Stoke we were superb on the counter. Cant understand what has happened in the last 2 months

Yeah! During the games I'm tearing off what little hair I have left. It's so frustrating the way we (don't) counter attack. We have so many opportunities to break, but almost every time we stop, make a pass backwards and don't go forward until they have all players back in position again, so we can start our pre-defined passing routine going from left to right and back again, until we need to pass all the way back to Lloris and start all over again. It really buggers me why we seem to intentionally not take the counter attacking opportunities! And the few times we do take them, we are usually really crap, making the wrong pass more often than not.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Yeah! During the games I'm tearing off what little hair I have left. It's so frustrating the way we (don't) counter attack. We have so many opportunities to break, but almost every time we stop, make a pass backwards and don't go forward until they have all players back in position again, so we can start our pre-defined passing routine going from left to right and back again, until we need to pass all the way back to Lloris and start all over again. It really buggers me why we seem to intentionally not take the counter attacking opportunities! And the few times we do take them, we are usually really crap, making the wrong pass more often than not.

It could be because other than the full backs we lack real pace

It's why is like to see NKodou given a sniff

 

[Kandi1977]

It could be because other than the full backs we lack real pace

It's why is like to see NKodou given a sniff

You don't need lightning fast players to counter-attack. It's about timing and not letting the opponent get time to get back. That also requires that passes are made into space, not to feet! But we always play the pass to feet, which requires an extra touch to control the ball, and slows it down.

 

[We are Tottenham]

We need Harry back asap

What...Harry boy redders you mean

 

[Bullet]

You don't need lightning fast players to counter-attack. It's about timing and not letting the opponent get time to get back. That also requires that passes are made into space, not to feet! But we always play the pass to feet, which requires an extra touch to control the ball, and slows it down.

Yes Eriksen and Alli are plenty fast enough to break.

So frustrating when we fail to take advantage of situation after situation, then we give away one chance and it is ruthlessly taken

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Yes Eriksen and Alli are plenty fast enough to break.

So frustrating when we fail to take advantage of situation after situation, then we give away one chance and it is ruthlessly taken

I think having that pace is vital to a good counter

 

[Pandy]

This.

I have never known a team be so polite when we have a breakaway. In recent games it seems like when we break we kindly stop halfway, wait for the defence to get back, then carry on. Whereas earlier in the season at Stoke we were superb on the counter. Cant understand what has happened in the last 2 months

Really don't think missing Kane helps in this regard.

Janssen holds the ball up well and can bring players into play, but Kane's movement is better from deep at present. One marker of this is the lack of time we see Janssen on the wing, whereas Harry would spend large portions of the game driving out wide and coming back into the left channel (see Arsenal 2-2).

Also, when not on the counter, Kane occasionally drops very deep in order to take long shots. The opposition know his ability to shoot from range, and are left with a dilemma as to whether to stand off or close the shot, with the former giving space for the shot and the latter opening holes in the centre of defence. Bale would drop deep like this during AVB's reign, when we were unable to break teams down, and would cause havoc (usually from long shots, because the movement around him was so poor).

Kane's return isn't going to be a silver bullet that transforms our performances, but he is our only world-class attacking player. Of course he was going to be missed.