Mumorn
Vic Buckingham
Looked very tidy.
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Preseason 2014
- Thread starter Jordinho
- Start date
Looked very tidy.
SpurMeUp
Gary Stevens
We have so many midfield options. Younger players like Bentaleb and even Holtby have the most promise, but are they consistent enough and ready to be first choice? The midfield and who Poch builds his side around in the middle, is the big unanswered question. Out of all of our midfielders, Eriksen is the only one who you'd guarantee a place to. Who will the rest be?
Mumorn
Vic Buckingham
Our very own Steven Davies.
thfcsteff
Garth Crooks
Poch obviously likes shape, he obviously likes quick passing and he seemed to keep it quite narrow to allow wide space to be taken…first half was more of a 4-3-3, second was more of a 4-2-3-1 (of course both are pretty similar…I like the idea of perhaps Lamela Lennon and a.n.other (Lennon? Townsend if he can find it again? Cebellos?) behind a striker (that never happened yesterday I'm just speculating), question will be whether we will find Soldado as quickly as we need to in order to profit.
Thought Carroll looked really good but it's not rocket science, we've needed a cycler for some time (since Luka left), thought Lennon proved that he still has plenty to give, was surprised to see Rose being a bit more defensively focussed, not just bombing around wily-nily and remembering to do his primary job (coming back to cover). Still have to think Davis is coming though, because Rose will absolutely lose his focus (leopards don't change spots, etc, etc)…I 'think' there 'might' be a player in Fryers at CB, Fredricks was really really good (not dissimilar to Kieron Gibbs), Veljkavic OK and Kane played a couple of wonderful balls and looked useful enough. I thought Capoue looked off the pace…Holtby? Really surprised me. Much much better than I thought he could be...
Have to say it was generally a very very encouraging match, if only because it's clear what Poch wants to see and it's clear that he will weed out weaknesses fast. He is fully aware of our defence.
Thought Carroll looked really good but it's not rocket science, we've needed a cycler for some time (since Luka left), thought Lennon proved that he still has plenty to give, was surprised to see Rose being a bit more defensively focussed, not just bombing around wily-nily and remembering to do his primary job (coming back to cover). Still have to think Davis is coming though, because Rose will absolutely lose his focus (leopards don't change spots, etc, etc)…I 'think' there 'might' be a player in Fryers at CB, Fredricks was really really good (not dissimilar to Kieron Gibbs), Veljkavic OK and Kane played a couple of wonderful balls and looked useful enough. I thought Capoue looked off the pace…Holtby? Really surprised me. Much much better than I thought he could be...
Have to say it was generally a very very encouraging match, if only because it's clear what Poch wants to see and it's clear that he will weed out weaknesses fast. He is fully aware of our defence.
Mumorn
Vic Buckingham
UK. All ready for Celtic.
thfcsteff
Garth Crooks
In a 4-3-3 he stands a decent chance. Still don't know if he'll be first 11 personally, but he was good yesterday...
SpurMeUp
Gary Stevens
And that's it, does Holtby have enough to be starting week in and out? I'm not sure he does. But he needs to be playing consistently to see what he can do. It's the same for a lot of our midfielders. Poch will have to make some tough choices, and stick with a team...let them develop. But at Spurs the pressure is always on to get results.
There will be the Europa of course and cups. Maybe we'll see two sides develop, a cup team, and a PL team. We have the personnel in most areas for two teams.
Modric THFC
Jimmy McCormick
Only because Holtby decided as usual that positions on the pitch dont apply to him and he went roaming so much that people thought he was playing in a 3 man midfield.
thfcsteff
Garth Crooks
He roamed with a little more purpose than I've ever seen him before. I think it's intriguing that the manager is looking to play systems which can adapt so quickly…I was also really really encouraged to see Carroll get so much time as I absolutely think he could be really important. So far as Holtby, I can see Poch wanting Bentaleb in his position; a smarter player with no less fire? Who knows? he does have options though, which is great…we even saw Lennon switching in there first half at times! I liked that!
thfcsteff
Garth Crooks
I think a lot of people were surprised by his outing TBH...
Mumorn
Vic Buckingham
would be interested in some stats. thought he was ok at best. seemed to give ball away alot.
thfcsteff
Garth Crooks
I'd also be interested in his stats. Perhaps I have lower expectations of him? He just seemed like a player who really wanted to play for us, and he seemed to be functioning better within what was absolutely a system.
NaijaSpurs
Les Ferdinand
Confirmed what I had already decided about Dawson
NaijaSpurs
Les Ferdinand
I rate Holtby
braineclipse
Steve Sedgley
Yes, but mainly from trying to create things and perhaps trying a few things that were a bit too difficult. Rarely by having poor touches, misplacing easy passes or running down blind allies.
Spot on (all of it really, although my expectations for Holtby are higher than yours). I really hope this is a sign from Poch that at least one of the deep two in a 4-2-3-1 or at least two out of the central 3 in a 4-3-3 needs to be proper ball players, no ifs, no buts, all kinds of coconuts. But can't read much into it with so many players missing.
Shocking amount of easy passes misplaced in that first half, although the pitch probably played a part it's a continued cause for concern. At the very least if we're going to play from the back and with him the other players in the back 4 and the deep midfielders must be excellent on the ball. With Walker also being a bit meh on the ball I will keep being slightly concerned.
braineclipse
Steve Sedgley
Seems like a very strange stat to get hung up on without context for a player type like that. Depending on what you mean by "create something" I might also disagree with that, we need someone that can find the right passes to the players that create the chances. In short someone to find the attacking trio in a 4-2-3-1, not necessarily someone that can create the chances themselves.
According to whoscored only Gaston Ramirez out of the Southampon players completed more than 0.1 through balls per game last season with his 0.3.
Pinging through balls from deep into space is a very small portion of being a deep playmaker/ball playing midfielder/ball cycling whatevers. As a quick example, literally the first player I thought of for comparison and context was Michael Carrick. His last 3 seasons at Man United he has the following through ball stats (Accurate through balls / attempted through balls, both from whoscored.com): 0/2, 3/12, 4/7.