OMT - Tottenham Hotspur Vs Norwich City

[Finney Is Back]

Just utter crap. 2-0 down would have been utterly deserved, and although I'm glad it did - it's a fudging disgrace that VAR overruled that goal, no matter how sorry it made our lads look.

Take Foyth and Ndombele off. Neither can handle the press - Ndombele's too slow, and Foyth is just awful. Weak, lightweight, dozing, slow - or a combination of all four.

Bring Sanchez on for Ndombele, bring Dier on for Foyth.

Switch it up - Dier-Lo Celso midfield, Sessegnon, Eriksen, Dele and Kane up top, Sanchez, Toby, Verts, Aurier back line.

I don’t understand this post at all. Ndombele was excellent, broke Norwich’s press just about every time. Why would anyone want to replace Spurs’ most press resistant midfield player for our least press resistant one?

My take on the game was that we played pretty well overall. We were badly undone by a typical Foyth moment when we had seen off the home team’s fast start and got on top in the game. Then simply had an unlucky moment in a second half that we completely dominated after a good double sub by the manager at half time.

Foyth’s all too common ridiculous decision making shows why it is essential to send young players on loan to the lower leagues. If he had done that for a team like Northampton and cost players their win bonus then he would’ve been kicked all over training the following week. Foyth clearly has something as a player but we cannot afford for him to learn on the job with us and cost us a CL place.

 

[Finney Is Back]

Thought what TN did really well was receive ball turn and look for an option and if no obvious one run forward with the ball a la sissoko. The ability to swivel when collecting the ball seems to be beyond Dier, winks can do it but then looks square rather than for a forwards pass and never ever runs with the ball. Most teams against us sit back occupying space making it difficult to find an easy pass (especially with the lack of movement of our front players) so the ability to run forward creating space by drawing players on to you is key. Let’s hope Tanguy is fit to play again next game.

If we can somehow get Soumare in from Lille then him and Ndombele would be a brilliant pairing. We would dominate every game and be able to play through opponents press with ease.

 

[Bishop]

If we can somehow get Soumare in from Lille then him and Ndombele would be a brilliant pairing. We would dominate every game and be able to play through opponents press with ease.

I'm all over this idea. It sounds perfect, I'm going to need to keep an eye on Soumare to see if he matches up with your scouting report.

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[SteveAWOL]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1211240446028066816

 

[parklane1]

Of course, the truth is neither goal happens if Dier is on the pitch.

I am not sure that would be the case but i agree Dier was missed yesterday, having seen Tanguy play well yesterday i Would love to see a C/M of Dier, Tanguy and a re-signed Eriksen.

 

[braineclipse]

Undone by individual errors and a somewhat freak own goal. Becoming a bit of a habit unfortunately.

Some real positive signs in the second half, particularly Ndombele. Some players struggling somewhat with two games in 48 hours is to be expected, but I thought the effort and mentality was top notch in the second half as Mourinho pointed out.

 

[Jurgen the German]

Aurier was here for all of Trippiers last (so called poor) season.

Aurier player 8 PL games
Trips played 27

Pretty much tells you all you need to know.

Trippier is a dreadful defender and scored nonsensical own goals. Just because Aurier is crap doesn’t mean it was the wrong decision to sell Trippier.

 

[Legohamster]

Aurier was here for all of Trippiers last (so called poor) season.

Aurier player 8 PL games
Trips played 27

Pretty much tells you all you need to know.

Wasn’t serge injured for large chunks of the season?

 

[milo]

Trippier is a dreadful defender and scored nonsensical own goals. Just because Aurier is crap doesn’t mean it was the wrong decision to sell Trippier.

How's Trippier doing this season?

 

[SteveAWOL]

Wasn’t serge injured for large chunks of the season?

Indeed...

 

[Jurgen the German]

How's Trippier doing this season?

Honestly don’t know and I don’t care and more importantly I’m not sure how why it even matters. What matters is he was poor for almost all of last season. He has always been a poor defender but his offensive game was pretty much non existent last season which meant he was giving us next to nothing.

 

[milo]

Honestly don’t know and I don’t care and more importantly I’m not sure how why it even matters. What matters is he was poor for almost all of last season. He has always been a poor defender but his offensive game was pretty much non existent last season which meant he was giving us next to nothing.

He certainly was poor last season but he wasn't his whole time with us. He's doing really well this year and holding his own in a decent team with a manager who is very focused on being strong defensively. In fact, they've conceded the least goals in La Liga.

 

[braineclipse]

Honestly don’t know and I don’t care and more importantly I’m not sure how why it even matters. What matters is he was poor for almost all of last season. He has always been a poor defender but his offensive game was pretty much non existent last season which meant he was giving us next to nothing.

The season before that he was making the loss of Walker seem like a fairly minor inconvenience.

Aurier has made the loss of Walker feel like getting a kick to the nuts only for someone to walk over and steal your wallet and take a tinkle on your face immediately after.

Trippier was poor last season, I'm not so sure he would be poor now under Mourinho. I'd take a maybe poor Trippier over Aurier any day.

 

[Spur of the moment]

Every footballer thrives on self-confidence and self belief but it seems none more so than Trippier. Defending was never his strong suit, he was always more of an attacking wing back who needed to work hard as a defender to compensate for his lack of finesse at the back. However when confronted at the highest levels by tricky, pacy wingers his weaknesses were always liable to be cruelly exposed - and so it proved.

As he himself later confessed, he allowed his WC success - most of which it has to be acknowledged came against inferior opposition - to go to his head. This overconfidence led to him royally fudging-up for us the following season. Predictably enough the crowd started to get on his back which in turn led to even worse form as the season progressed.

By the same token it's no surprise to hear he's been doing well at Atletico under Simeone. Clean slate, new country, a manager who knows exactly how to get the best out of him and HEY PRESTO his confidence returns, he starts turning it on once again and the crowd adore him once more.

With footballers t'was ever thus.

 

[Bishop]

He certainly was poor last season but he wasn't his whole time with us. He's doing really well this year and holding his own in a decent team with a manager who is very focused on being strong defensively. In fact, they've conceded the least goals in La Liga.

Trippier was never individually a good defender I can't believe you watched him prior to 18/19 and thought he was a good defender? Any and I mean any attacker with any degree of trickery or pace got past him like he basically wasn't there. He was also often out of position up the field because he lacked the athleticism to get back in time.

Thinking Trippier was ever any good as a pure defensive RB is absence making the heart grow fonder.

There is a reason Poch never settled with him, he knew what he was lacking and wanted a better player. That Aurier hasn't proved to be that player doesn't mean that we were wrong is seeking improvement because Trippier was bloody awful.

Ps. what Athletico do is irrelevant to us, they don't play the same system nor have the same emphasis that we do. Aurier would equally look competent for them.

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[thfcsteff]

Agreement.

Aurier has been poor defensively, he makes poor decisions far to often but to try and blame him for this oh is nonsense.

Toby handled it poorly, just because he's a fans favourite people don't want to lay the blame where it belongs and that's if you must even blame someone, ogs are unfortunate incidents, no one does it on purpose.

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Anyone watching us who sees Toby more than 5 yards out from his own box will know cover could well be needed as a ball over the top does him. I would hope the players know that too. Aurier must know it, and if he didn’t I am pretty sure someone will have told him by now. It might seem harsh criticizing Aurier, but watch it again from 30 seconds before the goal, the pattern of play. Aurier potentially has two to deal with. He should immediately tuck in and close down Pukki as an option. The problem is he is simply not a good defender, and added to his infuriating lapses of concentration, we get punished every time.

Toby? I wanted him out, but seeing as Mourinho evidently sees him as a potential elder, I am going to have to accept him. But his loss of pace/leap have been clear for a while.

 

[nayimfromthehalfwayline]

What to make of the game?

Much like many under Mourinho, we started inexplicably flat, but sorted things out for the second half.

Undone, yet again, by defensive brainfarts - not systemic issues.

Managed to dominate in large part, playing some good stuff - but always vulnerable on the break.

Midfield looked 10x better for having NDombele in there for Sissoko.

Eriksen played well (not amazing, I think the hype on him is more about having a baller in there than the usual Dier/Sissoko pairing. I also think first half in particular he played exactly how many slag Winks for), but I wonder if a DM would have helped the balance more.

Lo Celso looks to me like an Eriksen/Lamela hybrid. And Id like to see him get more games - maybe even in more central areas.

Alli looked out of sorts to me, but Ill put it down to an off day and no more.

Sessegnon seems to have got the short end of the stick on here, I thought he was alright. Annoying lack of desire to take players on directly - I accept - but otherwise I liked him. Worked hard, well positioned, used the ball really well. I thought he got sold short by Eriksen and Alli in particular, who seemed intent on playing between themselves and ignoring Sessegnon (who was often well positioned or making a run at the time).

In fact I think its a clear strength of his that he will run in behind and we need to start finding him with passes to suit more often (I realise we havent had many players like that over recent years so it might take some getting used to). I also quite liked him at LB, he didn an Aurier job without the constant fear of a rooster up.

Mourinho, again, made key contributions in subs. I dont think he gets his first 11 "right" every time - though he is learning - but I do really like how proactive he is in fixing issues.

 

[glorygloryeze]

It's so painful to see how easy it is to attack and score goals against us these days; not having a DCM is absolutely killing us!

 

[Finney Is Back]

What to make of the game?

Much like many under Mourinho, we started inexplicably flat, but sorted things out for the second half.

Undone, yet again, by defensive brainfarts - not systemic issues.

Managed to dominate in large part, playing some good stuff - but always vulnerable on the break.

Midfield looked 10x better for having NDombele in there for Sissoko.

Eriksen played well (not amazing, I think the hype on him is more about having a baller in there than the usual Dier/Sissoko pairing. I also think first half in particular he played exactly how many slag Winks for), but I wonder if a DM would have helped the balance more.

Lo Celso looks to me like an Eriksen/Lamela hybrid. And Id like to see him get more games - maybe even in more central areas.

Alli looked out of sorts to me, but Ill put it down to an off day and no more.

Sessegnon seems to have got the short end of the stick on here, I thought he was alright. Annoying lack of desire to take players on directly - I accept - but otherwise I liked him. Worked hard, well positioned, used the ball really well. I thought he got sold short by Eriksen and Alli in particular, who seemed intent on playing between themselves and ignoring Sessegnon (who was often well positioned or making a run at the time).

In fact I think its a clear strength of his that he will run in behind and we need to start finding him with passes to suit more often (I realise we havent had many players like that over recent years so it might take some getting used to). I also quite liked him at LB, he didn an Aurier job without the constant fear of a rooster up.

Mourinho, again, made key contributions in subs. I dont think he gets his first 11 "right" every time - though he is learning - but I do really like how proactive he is in fixing issues.

Interesting that you feel the midfield was 10 x better for having Ndombele instead of Sissoko. I would say that it was far more due to having Ndombele instead of Dier that made the difference here. I say this because the player who was playing in the exact same position as Dier has been playing as the deepest most central midfielder was actually able to receive the ball from his defence and get it forwards with good movement, dribbling, decent mobility and effective passing, four things which are completely alien to Eric Dier's game.

In the first half I agree that Eriksen did tend to play a bit too conservatively, akin to the way that Harry Winks plays. It was a 5 or 6 out of 10 type performance (again - akin to a typical Harry Winks game). It was the second half where Eriksen started to grab the game by the balls and became our main creative force, getting on the ball constantly and playing good passes in the opposition's last third of the pitch. I have yet to see Winks perform that way for Spurs (perhaps because he hasn't been played enough in a midfield position that allows him to do this?) Eriksen may not have been amazing but he was still probably the best player on the pitch and certainly Spurs' best player.

Lo Celso looks to be a decent footballer, although he does seem to want too much time on the ball. However I am starting to become a bit concerned as to what Lo Celso's role will be in Mourinho's favoured 4-2-3-1. I'm not sure that he is one of the deeper two midfield players and doesn't look to have enough pace to play as either of the wide two of the three. It therefore seems he is competing with Dele to play as the free player in the centre of the three and it looks as though Mourinho likes that player to be playing quite high up the pitch close to Kane, is Lo Celso physical enough to play that role in the PL? I can't help but think that he was bought by Poch specifically to play in his favoured diamond formation and might be a bit of a square peg for Mourinho's system

 

[Finney Is Back]

It's so painful to see how easy it is to attack and score goals against us these days; not having a DCM is absolutely killing us!

I'm not sure that either of Norwich's goals came from us not having a genuine DCM? I thought that Norwich probably also only created perhaps two chances other than their goals?