***OMT - Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal***

[Baleforce]

Stat of the day. Wenger has beaten every Spurs manager he us faced (10 of 11). The exception? Christian Gross.

Time to bring him back???

to be fair he’d have a much easier time of things now, what with the oyster card system

 

[Pirate55]

What did he say?

We competed in a close match but small details changed the game. Today it went against us - Xacha should have been sent off and there were two refereeing mistakes in the lead up to the first goal.

It should be remembered we got the breaks against Real. Trips was offside for our first goal and Dele’s shot was deflected for our second.

Thems the breaks which change games.

 

[SpurMeUp]

Someone said about key players not playing, who? The onlyone I can think of is Toby! We were just not up for it today, end of! Let hem have a little bit of joy!

No Dier or Wanyama in midfield. No Toby.

But it was the lack of settled side, especially CM, that has concerned me. We weren't in great form against Palace. Add in international fatigue - Eriksen, Alli - plus away at the scum who have a 100% home record this season, and it was always going to be a tough game. I'm not dismayed by a lack of fight or desire. Maybe by our nativity. Poch might have set us up better in hindsight. Played 4 at the back with Dier and Dembele screening and Sissoko or Son in a more free role. Eriksen, Alli and Kane might have been better coming on as subs.

We miss having Wanyama in the squad and maybe even Lamela.

 

[DubaiSpur]

We competed in a close match but small details changed the game. Today it went against us - Xacha should have been sent off and there were two refereeing mistakes in the lead up to the first goal.

It should be remembered we got the breaks against Real. Trips was offside for our first goal and Dele’s shot was deflected for our second.

Thems the breaks which change games.

So we rely on luck to win games, is that it? If it's an evenly reffed game (and it was - if one of our lads was sent off for what Poch apparently thinks Xhaka should have been off for, we would have been f*cking livid) save for one unjustly given goal, does that justify the appalling lack of effort, being second to everything, *Alexis f*cking Sanchez* beating our dozy defenders (save for Davinson) to headers?

I'd have preferred Poch telling the truth - we were sh*t, we didn't want it, they did. If they had been a bit more clinical, it would have been 5 or 6-0, and then Poch wouldn't be trying to weasel his way out of acknowledging how unmotivated and uncaring his lads were with all this 'injusticia' nonsense.

 

[ringo]

Could have been 5-0 to them.

Pathetic. Utterly pathetic. No fight, no heart, no spine, no balls.

Three players can hold their heads high. Moussa Sissoko. Davinson Sanchez. Hugo Lloris.

Everyone else didn't deserve to wear the damn shirt today. Including Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen.

No one wanted it. Credit to Arsenal, they were the vastly superior team from the first minute to the 94th. But not one of our players wanted to win - dozy, lazy, disinterested, and ultimately lost without a single damn given.

I often see pundits trot out this 'wanted it more' line to excuse having to do more intellectually taxing tactical analysis...but that's all that it was today. They wanted it more. Unforgivably, our lot didn't want it at all.

If you think you're Real Madrid, lads, you're not. If Henry flatters you in Sky Sports interviews, if the pundits praise you, if the media purrs over you, you get big heads. You get soft. You believe your own hype.

And then you get shown up by a team that wants it more - and too late, you realize that is all that separated you from them.

Pathetic.

Much as I enjoy your posts - what exactly did Sissoko do to deserve your praise? He demonstrated appalling touch and positional sense. He ran with the ball a few times- and then lost it as often as not. He is the only player in the team that looks clumsy and comical at times. The best bit was when, square to the ball, and marked closely by two players one between him and the ball, he put his hand up (not particularly convincingly) demanding the ball! Sometimes I wonder if he is playing the same sport.

Sanchez absolutely - but Sissoko. For some reason he reminds me of Zokora.

 

[Pirate55]

So we rely on luck to win games, is that it? If it's an evenly reffed game (and it was - if one of our lads was sent off for what Poch apparently thinks Xhaka should have been off for, we would have been f*cking livid) save for one unjustly given goal, does that justify the appalling lack of effort, being second to everything, *Alexis f*cking Sanchez* beating our dozy defenders (save for Davinson) to headers?

I'd have preferred Poch telling the truth - we were sh*t, we didn't want it, they did. If they had been a bit more clinical, it would have been 5 or 6-0, and then Poch wouldn't be trying to weasel his way out of acknowledging how unmotivated and uncaring his lads were with all this 'injusticia' nonsense.

You are going far to far over the top. If you look at the stats for the match it was a close game. Some of our key players were off the pace for diffeent reasons.

Yes we were largely out played by some world class players having blinders - Ozil, Lacazette and Sanchez were all at the top of their game. Our top players were under par- Kane not fit, Dele not on form and Eriksen hungover.

It was a lot closer than you suggest. Although no doubt Arse deserved to win. But they undeniably had the key breaks today.

 

[harr1984]

Much as I enjoy your posts - what exactly did Sissoko do to deserve your praise? He demonstrated appalling touch and positional sense. He ran with the ball a few times- and then lost it as often as not. He is the only player in the team that looks clumsy and comical at times. The best bit was when, square to the ball, and marked closely by two players one between him and the ball, he put his hand up (not particularly convincingly) demanding the ball! Sometimes I wonder if he is playing the same sport.

Sanchez absolutely - but Sissoko. For some reason he reminds me of Zokora.

What a load of nonsense.....

 

[DubaiSpur]

Much as I enjoy your posts - what exactly did Sissoko do to deserve your praise? He demonstrated appalling touch and positional sense. He ran with the ball a few times- and then lost it as often as not. He is the only player in the team that looks clumsy and comical at times. The best bit was when, square to the ball, and marked closely by two players one between him and the ball, he put his hand up (not particularly convincingly) demanding the ball! Sometimes I wonder if he is playing the same sport.

Sanchez absolutely - but Sissoko. For some reason he reminds me of Zokora.

He looked clumsy and comical. Maybe, although his runs were bloody menacing - I'll grant that his *passing* looked clumsy and comical.

But everyone else save for Sanchez and Lloris looked League 2 level. Not even clumsy and comical - just useless.

Eriksen, slayer of Ireland - looked like a Sunday League player.
Dele Alli, hero against Madrid - couldn't be arsed.
Harry Kane, our leader and talisman - utter sh*te.
Dier, Verts, Davies, Trippier - just useless.

He cared. He tried. He ran. He fought. He tackled He pressed.

And, in doing all that, he proved our very best attacking player.

People get far too hooked up on the reputation of our lads like Eriksen, Kane, Verts and co. They can look as sh*te as Sissoko does, and today they looked far, far worse - they didn't even care.

 

[billyiddo]

Much as I enjoy your posts - what exactly did Sissoko do to deserve your praise? He demonstrated appalling touch and positional sense. He ran with the ball a few times- and then lost it as often as not. He is the only player in the team that looks clumsy and comical at times. The best bit was when, square to the ball, and marked closely by two players one between him and the ball, he put his hand up (not particularly convincingly) demanding the ball! Sometimes I wonder if he is playing the same sport.

Sanchez absolutely - but Sissoko. For some reason he reminds me of Zokora.

Done ok defensively but gave the ball away a lot with sloppy passing and control - no worse than the rest of our attackers today though tbd

 

[Glenda's Legs]

Could have been 5-0 to them.

Pathetic. Utterly pathetic. No fight, no heart, no spine, no balls.

Three players can hold their heads high. Moussa Sissoko. Davinson Sanchez. Hugo Lloris.

Everyone else didn't deserve to wear the damn shirt today. Including Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen.

No one wanted it. Credit to Arsenal, they were the vastly superior team from the first minute to the 94th. But not one of our players wanted to win - dozy, lazy, disinterested, and ultimately lost without a single damn given.

I often see pundits trot out this 'wanted it more' line to excuse having to do more intellectually taxing tactical analysis...but that's all that it was today. They wanted it more. Unforgivably, our lot didn't want it at all.

If you think you're Real Madrid, lads, you're not. If Henry flatters you in Sky Sports interviews, if the pundits praise you, if the media purrs over you, you get big heads. You get soft. You believe your own hype.

And then you get shown up by a team that wants it more - and too late, you realize that is all that separated you from them.

Pathetic.

It’s very disappointing that we did not play anywhere near the level we know we can but I think pathetic is a bit strong.

Kane wanted it but was clearly not fit. Question mark whether he should have been started but I can understand why he was. But when it clearly wasn’t working for him he should have been taken off sooner.

Eriksen tried to be involved but always seemed just that bit late to the ball, or with the pass, or weak with his shot. We all hoped he’d be buzzing after his mid-week hat-trick but I think we got the post-adrenalin-high version.

Dele really didn’t turn up. Sloppy touches, seemed to be pushed off the ball too easily. Still carrying a bit of an injury?

Son didn’t have much time but could have done better with the couple of half chances he had.

Our defence, Sanchez aside obviously, was shaky and disjointed.

Dembele is not match sharp.

The free kick leading to their first goal didn’t help. Who knows if we would have managed to contain them for longer.
We needed someone out there to, as the saying goes, “take the game by the scruff of the neck” but we lacked the leadership we would normally have.

We were outplayed and it hurts like hell to have to admit that.

 

[DeleHarry]

we still have a problem at AM, Lamela can’t come back soon enough

Oh dear we have a problem if we are reliant on Lamela

 

[DubaiSpur]

You are going far to far over the top. If you look at the stats for the match it was a close game. Some of our key players were off the pace for diffeent reasons.

Yes we were largely out played by some world class players having blinders - Ozil, Lacazette and Sanchez were all at the top of their game. Our top players were under par- Kane not fit, Dele not on form and Eriksen hungover.

It was a lot closer than you suggest. Although no doubt Arse deserved to win. But they undeniably had the key breaks today.

Oh, *now* they're world class players who had blinders. City snuffed them out with ease. Watford snuffed them out *at the Emirates*. Every team with a bit of spine has had joy against these *world class players*.

And us, Tottenham Hotspur, with pretensions of a 'power shift' and of being top dogs in North London - we were sent packing by these suddenly world-class players having blinders.

The difference - effort, heart, fight, desire. The will to win. They sent us packing in that department - and looked world-class as a result. We showed up and lost before kick-off, because we didn't *care*.

Stats are pointless. Stats will list Son's chance as a good one we missed, whereas it is simply obvious that *any* open chance that falls to Son has a 33% chance of being put in and a 67% chance of being blasted into interstellar space, because Son *doesn't do* easy.

They could have thumped us, if they had the energy to keep picking apart Dier and Vertonghen like they were helpless schoolboys. They didn't. Lloris saved us thrice. We got away with 2-0.

 

[harr1984]

Oh dear we have a problem if we are reliant on Lamela

No one is saying would be reliant on him, but he’s another quality option to have when Dele or Eriksen isn’t at it. He’s certainly one of our most creative players.....

 

[StephenH]

Pathetic, does spring to mind when you read some of bizarre post from some who are old enough to know better.

 

[DubaiSpur]

It’s very disappointing that we did not play anywhere near the level we know we can but I think pathetic is a bit strong.

Kane wanted it but was clearly not fit. Question mark whether he should have been started but I can understand why he was. But when it clearly wasn’t working for him he should have been taken off sooner.

He looked gassed from about the 15th minute onwards - but Poch almost never makes changes before an ungodly amount of time has passed, so there was no hope of that happening.

Eriksen tried to be involved but always seemed just that bit late to the ball, or with the pass, or weak with his shot. We all hoped he’d be buzzing after his mid-week hat-trick but I think we got the post-adrenalin-high version.

Dele really didn’t turn up. Sloppy touches, seemed to be pushed off the ball too easily. Still carrying a bit of an injury?

What is any of that but a lack of effort and desire? None of this was evident against Madrid - if Eriksen thinks he's too good to put a shift in on *derby day* because he thrashed goddamn Ireland, then he has a more suspect mentality than I imagined. Ditto Alli - if he thinks he deserves to coast through a game because he scored twice against Madrid, drop the fecker and play Georgiou or someone who *will* put a shift in. Play Sissoko.

Son didn’t have much time but could have done better with the couple of half chances he had.

Our defence, Sanchez aside obviously, was shaky and disjointed.

Dembele is not match sharp.

Son is a special case - I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I will *never* get my hopes up when he gets the ball in acres of space and with time to shoot. He will miss far more often than he will score. Son only does worldies - anything else, he looks useless. Our defense didn't look disjointed, it looked *weak* and lazy - when Alexis Sanchez is beating you to headers, you have a goddamn problem. Dier looked utterly lost, and Verts looked laboured and lazy with his headers and passes far too many times.

The free kick leading to their first goal didn’t help. Who knows if we would have managed to contain them for longer.
We needed someone out there to, as the saying goes, “take the game by the scruff of the neck” but we lacked the leadership we would normally have.

We were outplayed and it hurts like hell to have to admit that.

We were *outfought*. That is what is appalling. I don't care if we are outplayed, as long as we show fight and desire in this of all games. We didn't. That is unforgivable.

 

[Daisuk]

As much as I hate to admit it, dubai is spot on. We didn't show up, simple as that. Why we didn't is a fudging mystery. Just no grit on show. Poch must take his part of the blame for that, all our players should be fired up and powering on from the get go. It looked like they were all hung over today, bar sanchez and maybe sissoko.

What exactly causes this type of performance is difficult to say, of course. But fudge it. I'm done with this. On to the next.

 

[andybuk99]

Eriksen is a quality player but boy does he bottle a challenge!

 

[DeanoAustin]

So we rely on luck to win games, is that it? If it's an evenly reffed game (and it was - if one of our lads was sent off for what Poch apparently thinks Xhaka should have been off for, we would have been f*cking livid) save for one unjustly given goal, does that justify the appalling lack of effort, being second to everything, *Alexis f*cking Sanchez* beating our dozy defenders (save for Davinson) to headers?

I'd have preferred Poch telling the truth - we were sh*t, we didn't want it, they did. If they had been a bit more clinical, it would have been 5 or 6-0, and then Poch wouldn't be trying to weasel his way out of acknowledging how unmotivated and uncaring his lads were with all this 'injusticia' nonsense.

Ah stop. I’ve no problem with what Poch said as long as he doesn’t believe it.

It’s deflection in public which all the great managers do it. I’m sure he’ll be fuming.

 

[Baleforce]

Oh dear we have a problem if we are reliant on Lamela

we definitely have a problem, maybe he can fix it, if not we need to sign someone

 

[alekaras]

the only silver lining is it papers over the cracks for them. the Wenger Out phalanx will be silenced for a while


oh they'll be straight back into when they lose to Burnley next week

Or maybe they won't. They have quality, play very good football, and can beat any team on their day. Today is a case in point. Never write them off.