***OMT - Tottenham Hotspur v Monaco***

[AuroRaman]

I can't be arsed to look it up but I have to assume our average age was pretty young, as usual, and that Poch and the lads will learn from this and grow more strongerer.

Yup it was a young team, perhaps even one of the youngest ever in a CL match? Agreed, will have been a good learning experience for them.


Sitting on my porcelain throne using Fapatalk

 

[johnola]

Load of gonads to say we were outclassed.

Really enjoyed the game. Couple of their guys were excellent. Our fans expect so much it is nuts.

 

[DubaiSpur]

And whom might be responsible for making sure that the squad is properly prepared, both mentally and physically? Perhaps Senor Poch??

The man never stops talking about passion and its place in 'futbol'. I'm confident he tried his best. If he meant what he said, then perhaps there's a larger problem with our players (in terms of willingness to fight) than we're being told.

 

[DubaiSpur]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/tottenham-the-biggest-club-england-8838047?

'Pochettino added: “If this was basketball, I would have taken them all off.”'

Wow. He sounds properly tinkled, if that quote is accurate. And now I'm tinkled - in my mind, the lads fought well enough in the period between the 35th minute and the 70th, but Poch clearly thinks differently, and I'll defer to his judgement.

 

[Mr_B]

if you're going to lose a game in the CL group stages, its better if its the first game. Monaco like most french teams in a league where not many goals are scored, are well organized defensively. Janssen looks like a championship player, Kane's having another slow start to a season so we are lacking in the final third again. We play better when we play on the counter on the road, we've never been good at breaking down teams who put 10 men behind the ball. I still expect us to qualify from the group, its just a shame to get nothing from such a memorable night.

 

[Seedy Ron]

I didn't think Poch helped with some of his subs tbh. Kane looked leggy throughout, yet still made the full 90, and we mucked up the formation that was going quite well (with Dembele deep and Dele further forward) to keep him on when Janssen entered the fray (Dele seemed to be directed to go wide, and disappeared). Would've liked to see a straight swap there.

Disappointing night on the pitch, great night to be a part of off it, and all in all not the end of the world.

 

[Hemant]

... and what did most of us think of Lamela in his first season, costing then Spurs record high signing at 30 million ? We aren't a team built of ready made mega stars, but talented youngsters that take time to grow and improve.

Today's fan just think of instant success ignoring the fact that successful teams are built over time. Last time out in the CL we had Modders, Rafa and Charlie who'd been in the CL. Plus we had the King in defense and we had won the Carling Cup a couple of seasons prior, at Wembley.

I think the Wembley factor also means we have to adapt to a new stadium, it's a boost for us but also the team we are hosting. Very happy to see we almost filled it out, just awesome, Levy can see the pound signs, but Poch will have to think of a way to overcome top sides in there, but, more importantly, how to get the lads settled in this atmos.

I thought he was over-rated for the fee, was too one footed, came sideways into central areas and did not punch his fee. As a young player I hoped he would be more effective and perhaps be more direct or use his undoubted skill to actually go past a player in time.

I know he can finish, does have a good eye for a pass but isn't effective enough in most games, but in few he can be exceptional. How long do we give him? Poch ruthlessly got rid of Lennon, but Lennon was repeatedly outstanding on that pitch for Spurs and England. If you don't believe me ask Evra.

It is about how we play now, we can't wait for the team and players to develop tomorrow, ad infinitum.

 

[LCLC]

We lost to a good team (although there are lots of much better teams in the comp) and hopefully we learn and progress. No need to panic just yet, even if we haven't been good so far this season.

Some points that struck me.

1. Kane is struggling and seeing as we have back-up I think his title as an 'undroppable' needs to be challenged and he needs to sit there for a couple of games and get his teeth into something again (whilst also building his sharpness)

2. Alli is not a CM and is not good enough to play there. He lacks discipline, a first touch and can be lose with the ball in there. He got outclassed yesterday and it was a massive error playing him there last night in a game where fine margins can turn the tide.

3. Poch should not have try to bulldoze lamela into the team. He needed to be ruthless and drop him or son depending on match needs and form. This unbalanced the side and meant we looked lost for the first 45.

4. Wanyama currently is much more deserving of the DMC spot if it is a pick between him and dier. He has been good this season whilst Dier has largely looked poor in every game bar Stoke. Similarly to kane he looks off the pace and low on confidence with the ball. Personally I think we should have gone with the same team as Stoke, however last night wanyama deserved the start considerably more. Poch seems to have favourites and I hope he can see that currently dier isn't in good form and could use a few weeks on the bench.

5. Janssen looks fine to me and will be a good prem player. He's strong, clever and clearly is a good finisher. Judging him coming into games for 20mins isn't a good barometer. He is a different animal to soldado and is an asset even when not scoring. I would be keen to start him next game instead of kane.

6. Selection wise and tactically Poch didnt help himself last night. In fact in some big games he has made some poor decisions over the pAst few years, but seems to have always learnt the lession.

This is just the way I saw it but we need to improve considerably to get out of this group.

 

[nayenezgani]

How we didn't win that I'll never know.. At the very least we deserved a point.

Complete domination bar a couple of sucker punches. I rate our chances to do them in on their turf.

Onward and upward, our support sounded bloody unreal!

 

[Hemant]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/tottenham-the-biggest-club-england-8838047?

'Pochettino added: “If this was basketball, I would have taken them all off.”'

Wow. He sounds properly tinkleed, if that quote is accurate. And now I'm tinkleed - in my mind, the lads fought well enough in the period between the 35th minute and the 70th, but Poch clearly thinks differently, and I'll defer to his judgement.

I personally didn't think the players were lazy or didn't fight hard enough. Both Walker and Alli were shattered at the end. They tried. I thought the understandable error was trying to incorporate Alli, Son (for his good performance against Stoke) and Lamela for his display against Monaco last time. I wanted Dembele to start, and I suspect we would not have conceded those goals if he had. Not just for his possession, defensive strength but his ability to beat a man. I said on page 2-4 of this thread they had athleticism and ability. Silva could go past players. That broke our system. Aside of Dembele we don't really have anyone who can do that. However, to be fair to Poch, he was right not to start Dembele, as he clearly needs more games. So with hindsight Wanyama probably should have started.

However, I didn't understand why Sissoko did not come on before Janssen, as he does have some pace and directness. (Also I would have taken off Lamela before Son) We lost our way for a bit until Sissoko did come. I hope we get GKN fit very soon, as we really need some trickery and speed, not to mention a game-changing scorer, I feel we missed out on Sturridge, probably wages put us off from bidding.

Poch blaming effort might be a reflection of his disappointment, just as some of our fans are.

 

[nayenezgani]

Was a wake up call for me...I really had convinced myself that we had a very good team. Oh well, at least I learned now how horribly inadequate we really are.

I've got the razor blades ready, I'm just drawing a warm bath for you now.

 

[90291Spur]

I've got the razor blades ready, I'm just drawing a warm bath for you now.

I'll chip in a toaster for the bath.

 

[Spurs7891]

Typical Spurs ! When you put too much hope on them, they would always let you down ! This is a very disappointing result. Thought we will start the CL with a morale-boosting win over Monaco especially after the way we thrashed them in EL last season. Instead we didn't do enough and end up with this defeat at home. Maybe the pressure of playing at Wembley got to the players. Or maybe Pochettino simply got complacent looking at his team selections.

Our lack of consistent goal scorers was one of the main reason we lost this match. The likes of Son, Kane and Alli got chances to score but wasted them. In fact, if Son had scored from his chance early in the match, we could have won this match. Instead, it put pressure on us when they scored soon after that. It was a stupid mistake by Lamela to give away the ball in midfield. After scoring 4 goals against Monaco last season, thought Lamela would have another good match. Instead he had a poor match. But he did assist the goal for Alderweireld with a well-taken corner. Maybe Lamela should have stayed longer instead of being replaced by Janssen in the 70th minute. Somehow feel Lamela could have created more chances for us late in the match if he had stayed on.

Not sure why Pochettino didn't start the more experienced players like Dembele, Sissoko and Wanyama in midfield. Our lack of quality and experience in midfield was exposed dearly by Monaco. As soon as I saw Dier and Alli was playing in midfield, knew we would be in trouble and so it proved. Dier simply made too many mistakes in midfield causing us to get outplayed by Monaco. I am convinced we could have won this match had Dembele started this match.

After keeping the clean sheet against Stoke last week, it was really disappointing the way our defence conceded both the goals. It was mistake by Lamela and Davies for both the goals but Vertonghen and Alderweireld should have been more alert in both the occasions. Also felt Lloris could have reacted faster for the second goal. Credit to Alderweireld for getting our only goal. But wish he had concentrated on our defending more.

Well, we started the CL in 2011 with a defeat to Young Boys in the qualifying stage. Remember we were getting humiliated 0-3 by Young Boys before Keane and Pavly scored to make it 2-3. And now we have started this CL campaign with another poor performance and defeat. Hopefully we will recover just like in 2011 to go on to have a another successful CL campaign this time.

 

[glasgowspur]

For whatever reason we seem to lack confidence and intensity.
We aren't finishing our chance with the aplomb of last season or pressing as hard.
We haven't turned into a bad team overnight though, I'm sure it will return.

 

[Daisuk]

Kind of irrelevant, but what are our stats at the new Wembley like? We won our first appearance there against Chelski in 2008, but have we won there after that? I can only think of defeats. Lost to United in the league cup final 2009, lost to Portsmouth in the FA cup semi whenever it was (2010?), lost to Chelski in the FA cup semi in 2012, lost to Chelski again last year, lost this one now against Monaco. That's at least 5 defeats on the trot at the new Wembley, and no games won there after 90 mins of football. We even lost there to Celtic in a friendly at the Wembley cup of 2009, and drew against Barcelona. Different teams and managers, obviously, and it shouldn't matter, but not a great stat to have to your name at the stadium you're playing your home matches at in the CL.

 

[scaramanga]

I thought he was over-rated for the fee, was too one footed, came sideways into central areas and did not punch his fee. As a young player I hoped he would be more effective and perhaps be more direct or use his undoubted skill to actually go past a player in time.

I know he can finish, does have a good eye for a pass but isn't effective enough in most games, but in few he can be exceptional. How long do we give him? Poch ruthlessly got rid of Lennon, but Lennon was repeatedly outstanding on that pitch for Spurs and England. If you don't believe me ask Evra.

It is about how we play now, we can't wait for the team and players to develop tomorrow, ad infinitum.

 

[The_Midlands_Yid]

Support was amazing last night, my throat is still sore this morning. As for the match, losing is devastating but not the end. We will qualify for the last 16, no doubt about it.

 

[indianspur]

Kind of irrelevant, but what are our stats at the new Wembley like? We won our first appearance there against Chelski in 2008, but have we won there after that? I can only think of defeats. Lost to United in the league cup final 2009, lost to Portsmouth in the FA cup semi whenever it was (2010?), lost to Chelski in the FA cup semi in 2012, lost to Chelski again last year, lost this one now against Monaco. That's at least 5 defeats on the trot at the new Wembley, and no games won there after 90 mins of football. We even lost there to Celtic in a friendly at the Wembley cup of 2009, and drew against Barcelona. Different teams and managers, obviously, and it shouldn't matter, but not a great stat to have to your name at the stadium you're playing your home matches at in the CL.

well something has to change because next season we will play all our PL games at Wembley too. This sh!t losing run and poor performances there have to stop

 

[Gazza Dazzla]

well something has to change because next season we will play all our PL games at Wembley too. This sh!t losing run and poor performances there have to stop

I said the same last night to a mate, we'd better sort it out soon otherwise next seasons gonna be a right bastard!

 

[Craig_J]

Support was amazing last night, my throat is still sore this morning. As for the match, losing is devastating but not the end. We will qualify for the last 16, no doubt about it.

My thorats sore as well but personally I thought the atmosphere was very flat apart from certain points. Before we got our goal I could hear whispers of nattering all around me!