*** OMT Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool FC ***

[Finney Is Back]

So is Højbjerg, but unlike Gio he keeps getting minutes and starts. It's baffling.

With it being likely both of them will be leaving the club this summer I suspect that there must be a difference of application in training. Maybe Hojbjerg is training like he still wants to be at the club whereas Lo Celso is training like he is already on the way out?

 

[Finney Is Back]

Just watched the MOTD2 highlights. Worth looking again at the build-up to the Liverpool second goal. Keep a particular eye on Bentancur, who is a good example of a player who either doesn’t know what he should be doing, can’t do it, or can’t be arsed - I’m not sure which.

He’s not the only one; but the way he is ambling around doing nothing in particular is embarrassing.

It wasn't just in the build up to that goal. There was a real lack of urgency from him throughout the game, especially in defensive actions. It is also often the same with Sarr and Bissouma when we're defending. I'm really not sure that any of them are particularly aware of what their responsibility is when we defend.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Doherty was through gross incompetence though.

True
But a decision was made

 

[Bedfordspurs]

It wasn't just in the build up to that goal. There was a real lack of urgency from him throughout the game, especially in defensive actions. It is also often the same with Sarr and Bissouma when we're defending. I'm really not sure that any of them are particularly aware of what their responsibility is when we defend.

There is just no balance in that midfield right now

 

[Finney Is Back]

As I said at the time
I know Arsenal met with other managers including a certain ex spurs manager. My company hosted them just before I joined. They couldn’t find anyone and stuck with Arteta. Strangely he hasn’t won anything with his team yet so we will see what evolve there I guess
Levy is chairman and part owner. I don’t think he sacks a manager because he wants him to. It’s because in his view the guy he is paying a lot of money too isn’t delivering. That’s the game now
I do think of fans showed some patience it would be reflected more on and off the pitch

So they stuck with Arteta then.... Quite often we haven't found our new manager yet when we sack the incumbent. Does that mean Arsenal are better run than us and therefore wouldn't go through the sort of debacle we had that summer when Nuno ended up being appointed?

 

[Finney Is Back]

Agreed. You look at Spurs, we should be 6th or 7th in the league based on resources. Where we are now is ahead of that so Ange, big picture, is doing a good job. I wonder where some of the people who think we’re underachieving think we should be and what that’s based on.

5th or 6th as opposed to 6th or 7th I'd say but I agree with the basic point.

 

[Finney Is Back]

ETH is a terrible manager, Poch has his issues and is at a club in chaos, I’d expect Sherwood to do a better job than those two. It’s the lowest of low bars.

We’ve been in relegation form for a couple of months.

Pochettino looks to me as though he is doing a very good job at Chelsea. Had loads of players chucked together and you can see that he is starting to build an energetic, young team with a clear way of playing. They have got better as the season has gone on and I think next season they will do significantly better than this season (assuming their owners stick with him).

 

[Baleforce]

Pochettino looks to me as though he is doing a very good job at Chelsea. Had loads of players chucked together and you can see that he is starting to build an energetic, young team with a clear way of playing. They have got better as the season has gone on and I think next season they will do significantly better than this season (assuming their owners stick with him).

I agree with that, but this season, finishing above them is table stakes.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

So they stuck with Arteta then.... Quite often we haven't found our new manager yet when we sack the incumbent. Does that mean Arsenal are better run than us and therefore wouldn't go through the sort of debacle we had that summer when Nuno ended up being appointed?

Arsenal are well run
I don’t think that’s up for debate

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Pochettino looks to me as though he is doing a very good job at Chelsea. Had loads of players chucked together and you can see that he is starting to build an energetic, young team with a clear way of playing. They have got better as the season has gone on and I think next season they will do significantly better than this season (assuming their owners stick with him).

He has stuck with it and playing younger, hungrier players has helped
Issue now is what they can and can’t do in the summer because they have gaps still in that squad

 

[Finney Is Back]

Interesting analysis here.

Really interesting that. Worth pointing out the bit at 8:05 though and I think where Postecoglou is getting frustrated.... Porro gets the ball back from Sarr and has a reasonably easy pass inside and forwards to Bentancur who would be able to receive the ball unchallenged. From there Bentancur could then move forward with it, pass inside again to Bissouma or play a first time ball out wide towards Sarr who woud've now run in behind.

Instead of that Porro goes backwards to Romero, who then plays it to Bentancur in the same position, though Bentancur now has his back to goal and no longer has the same time and space so has to play it really safe. We go from probably being in a position where we are in behind Liverpool to a ball back to our goalkeeper where Liverpool can again press us really high with impunity.

 

[Finney Is Back]

There is just no balance in that midfield right now

I think it is lack of each player being aware of what it is that they are supposed to be doing. We look really badly coached in terms of our defensive actions.

 

[Finney Is Back]

He has stuck with it and playing younger, hungrier players has helped
Issue now is what they can and can’t do in the summer because they have gaps still in that squad

I suspect they will sell Reece James for pretty big money and also Maatsen who is on loan at Dortmund and looking very good. That will probably be enough to keep the wolves from the door. They don't really need to make many if any signings, they have loads of players they just need to give Pochettino the the time to work with them.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

I suspect they will sell Reece James for pretty big money and also Maatsen who is on loan at Dortmund and looking very good. That will probably be enough to keep the wolves from the door. They don't really need to make many if any signings, they have loads of players they just need to give Pochettino the the time to work with them.

They need £102M before the end of june

Maatsen has been very good but wants Dortmund who I believe can’t afford the fee
Not sure where Rhys James will go and less so with his recent, constant injuries
I think they are gonnna hawk Gallagher round to create some kind of auction and try to get rid of Sterling
There is talk of them accepting £37m for Lukaku but again, I can’t see who is paying that with his wages too

 

[Finney Is Back]

They need £102M before the end of june

Maatsen has been very good but wants Dortmund who I believe can’t afford the fee
Not sure where Rhys James will go and less so with his recent, constant injuries
I think they are gonnna hawk Gallagher round to create some kind of auction and try to get rid of Sterling
There is talk of them accepting £37m for Lukaku but again, I can’t see who is paying that with his wages too

Maatsen, James and Broja would probably bring in about that amount between them.
They also have a couple of young Brazilians doing well on loan at Strasbourg.

It won't be at all difficult for Chelsea to make a transfer surplus of 100 odd million quid this summer. It might be difficult for them to sustain that over a number of years however.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Maatsen, James and Broja would probably bring in about that amount between them.
They also have a couple of young Brazilians doing well on loan at Strasbourg.

It won't be at all difficult for Chelsea to make a transfer surplus of 100 odd million quid this summer. It might be difficult for them to sustain that over a number of years however.

Borja is maybe £15m
James needs to get fit before anyone buys him and as good as he is … I can’t see an obvious buyer
If they sell the young Brazilians they will have losses against new spend

 

[SpurMeUp]

Unfortunately a lot of this shows that we are not very well coached, especially in a defensive sense. I know that Postecoglou doesn't do much of the coaching himself so maybe he needs to bring in some better coaches to help us.

All it shows really is we are work in progress. Goons were not as defensively polished as they are now a year or two ago. Same manager. There are big advancements to be made. But as with any organisation, they tend to made incrementally over time.

 

[alekaras]

I agree with you that we were definitely braver in some of our play. Something concerning though is that we ALWAYS try to play out from the back, even when the only pass the goalkeeper can make is a dangerous one in behind our fullback who sometimes then is facing his own goalline with two or three players converging on him. When only that ball is on then I think the keeper has to go long, at the very least that might turn the opposition as well as causing them to consider whether they continue to commit so many players to their press (Liverpool pressed us with zero consequence of an early ball in behind their high line yesterday, which meant that they had even numbers and sometimes even outnumbered us as we were trying to play it out).

Its very noble trying to always play out from the back but not particularly sensible. Especially when the opposition are overcommitting to the press as Liverpool were quite often on Sunday.

I agree, but I think at this stage he wants us to do it no matter what. That will allow him to better evaluate the players (who can hack it and who can't) and also instill the bravery needed to do it consistently. Fast forward a year or two and I think you'll see us go long more.

This is a learning year and maybe next one will be too. I'm pretty sure Ange knows how to set up the team to win a one-off game. But what he's trying to do in this phase of our development is to win the game playing his style of football. If we fall short, so be it, but changing tactics all the time will not ingrain the playing style and philosophy into the players. Once it becomes second nature you can then adjust slightly for the opponent. But first you need to make it second nature and chopping and changing in year 1 won't help.

 

[Bullet]

I agree, but I think at this stage he wants us to do it no matter what. That will allow him to better evaluate the players (who can hack it and who can't) and also instill the bravery needed to do it consistently. Fast forward a year or two and I think you'll see us go long more.

This is a learning year and maybe next one will be too. I'm pretty sure Ange knows how to set up the team to win a one-off game. But what he's trying to do in this phase of our development is to win the game playing his style of football. If we fall short, so be it, but changing tactics all the time will not ingrain the playing style and philosophy into the players. Once it becomes second nature you can then adjust slightly for the opponent. But first you need to make it second nature and chopping and changing in year 1 won't help.

Agreed, I think Ange has essentially said he would rather play his way and lose 3 games than change his style and get a couple of draws. This year is all about Ange seeing which players can play his way, not about points.
It might actually be a smart move in another way; if he got 4th this year and 6th next year it would be seen as regression, but if he gets 6th this year and 5th next year it will be seen as progress.

 

[P.D.]

Unfortunately a lot of this shows that we are not very well coached, especially in a defensive sense. I know that Postecoglou doesn't do much of the coaching himself so maybe he needs to bring in some better coaches to help us.

I think I'm right in saying that Ange doesn't have a core team that moves with him, he prefers to work with the coaches already at the club which feels pretty unique. So maybe he's not that way inclined to bring in specific coaches to fix things.