*** Tottenham Hotspur vs. Leicester City *** OMT

[F10]

The highline is no excuse for general mayhem when we get crosses and corners into the box.

It just seems like our general awareness is very poor when defending. I think twice on saturday Jan just let his opponent go and they got free headers...

 

[braineclipse]

Its no doubt that I high line and high pressing can catch our full backs out. It seems that the centre backs have a license to roam and Benteleb will fill in. But if our full backs are caught high then its all too easy for the opposition to get in down our flanks, this in turn pulls a centre back out of position.

I said before the game that it was obvious Leicester wanted to exploit this much in the same way Liverpool and Man United did. Its becoming a blueprint for opposition sides if they are willing to change their formation. Walker is getting caught out more than most as he loves to get forward. But he needs to look to himself for accountability and pick and choose when he bombs on. Rose seems to be getting a decent balance of both. But even then he was caught out up the pitch when Eriksen turned it over it Walker did not cover the left side for the cross.

We do have problems down the sides when defending against counter attacks, but it's also true that this is a problem for many teams.

Look at the goals yesterday. First one is the only one where this really was a problem, but we still had Walker and Dier in the middle when the cross came in from the right. In fact we were 3 against two defending against that break, with one more (Eriksen I think) the next one coming back. It's not really a shortage in numbers.

Most teams struggle to defend against counter attacks. I think it's a bit too simplistic to just blame it on the full backs pushing on. I think it's the entire team that needs to do better. There's a few too many turnovers, our pressing isn't good enough so we're not winning the ball back quickly often enough, full backs pushing on a bit too often could be part of it, but (imo) just one factor out of many.

Rose did nothing wrong for the first goal.

 

[Sandman]

The highline is no excuse for general mayhem when we get crosses and corners into the box.

It just seems like our general awareness is very poor when defending. I think twice on saturday Jan just let his opponent go and they got free headers...

agreed. In the Defence thread i mentioned that Walkers positioning is all over the place. Also Verts seems to think he can stroll out of defence whenever he likes and is not picking up his man either. Walker I think is playing bad. Verts I just feel has moved on in his mind. He gets annoyed at others but does not seem to analyse his deficiencies.

 

[Sandman]

We do have problems down the sides when defending against counter attacks, but it's also true that this is a problem for many teams.

Look at the goals yesterday. First one is the only one where this really was a problem, but we still had Walker and Dier in the middle when the cross came in from the right. In fact we were 3 against two defending against that break, with one more (Eriksen I think) the next one coming back. It's not really a shortage in numbers.

Most teams struggle to defend against counter attacks. I think it's a bit too simplistic to just blame it on the full backs pushing on. I think it's the entire team that needs to do better. There's a few too many turnovers, our pressing isn't good enough so we're not winning the ball back quickly often enough, full backs pushing on a bit too often could be part of it, but (imo) just one factor out of many.

Rose did nothing wrong for the first goal.

I agree Rose did nothing wrong for that first goal. ~The 1st goal was down the side of the centre back. But the main issue with that goal was Walker letting Vardy inside of him and not staying tight on him as he should have. But they had more chances from that kind of channel pass.

I just think that with some of the players being allowed to push on, sometimes sit, sometimes others cover them, sometimes come out to intercept that our basic shaped at the back gets out of kilter and it leads to panic in the defence. Its not the first time verts has tried to intercept a pass in midfield that he has failed to do and its allowed a goal from the space he has left in behind. Its not the first time Walker has failed to be stronger on the ball and let runners inside him. Felaini and vardy in two games. And they are supposed to be the two out of our 4 that are the best. Dier is still learning and Rose is winning people over.

 

[braineclipse]

I agree Rose did nothing wrong for that first goal. ~The 1st goal was down the side of the centre back. But the main issue with that goal was Walker letting Vardy inside of him and not staying tight on him as he should have. But they had more chances from that kind of channel pass.

I just think that with some of the players being allowed to push on, sometimes sit, sometimes others cover them, sometimes come out to intercept that our basic shaped at the back gets out of kilter and it leads to panic in the defence. Its not the first time verts has tried to intercept a pass in midfield that he has failed to do and its allowed a goal from the space he has left in behind. Its not the first time Walker has failed to be stronger on the ball and let runners inside him. Felaini and vardy in two games. And they are supposed to be the two out of our 4 that are the best. Dier is still learning and Rose is winning people over.

I agree that we have to do better. Partly as a unit including the front players, partly the defenders have to do better individually too.

We seem to be having a lot of problems on the right. Walker, Dier, Townsend along with one of Mason/Bentaleb. Personally I would like to see Fazio and Lamela back in, thought we looked much stronger defensively with those two, even though the problems with Fazio's pace when Walker was high up the pitch were evident.

 

[braineclipse]

I think it's important to also remember that we had a lot of problem breaking down (smaller) teams earlier this season, a problem that had been present for several years before that too.

Yes our defensive record has been poor in 2015, conceding the most goals of any team in the league (21). But at the same time we've scored the most goals of any team in the league with 26.

There's a balance between attacking and defending, Pochettino hasn't quite found that balance yet. But it's not just the balance between those it's how it's implemented. Unsurprisingly getting that right is taking some time.

 

[Sandman]

I think it's important to also remember that we had a lot of problem breaking down (smaller) teams earlier this season, a problem that had been present for several years before that too.

Yes our defensive record has been poor in 2015, conceding the most goals of any team in the league (21). But at the same time we've scored the most goals of any team in the league with 26.

There's a balance between attacking and defending, Pochettino hasn't quite found that balance yet. But it's not just the balance between those it's how it's implemented. Unsurprisingly getting that right is taking some time.

I think the balance is that when you get a goal up you are a little less gung ho. And even more so when you are 2 up. But on saturday at those points both full backs were still bombing on way too much. Im not saying its their fault. But there is a balance. When the opposition pushes on to get at you then you hit them on the break. It was a way too open game. And personally I feel we were lucky the pen turned the tide back in our favour.

 

[braineclipse]

I think the balance is that when you get a goal up you are a little less gung ho. And even more so when you are 2 up. But on saturday at those points both full backs were still bombing on way too much. Im not saying its their fault. But there is a balance. When the opposition pushes on to get at you then you hit them on the break. It was a way too open game. And personally I feel we were lucky the pen turned the tide back in our favour.

Were we really gung ho with our full backs at 2-0? Again, at least for the goal we pushed Rose up the pitch. Pushing one full back forward is hardly gung ho.

I agree that we were too open (not just at 2-0), but not sure how much the full backs attacked were at fault for that.

 

[Sandman]

Were we really gung ho with our full backs at 2-0? Again, at least for the goal we pushed Rose up the pitch. Pushing one full back forward is hardly gung ho.

I agree that we were too open (not just at 2-0), but not sure how much the full backs attacked were at fault for that.

its what it felt like whilst watching it. I remember at 2-0 thinking we are way to open, why cant we sit a little more. Then they got their first goal and it was panic stations.

 

[Jordinho]

 

[Jurgen the German]

agreed. In the Defence thread i mentioned that Walkers positioning is all over the place. Also Verts seems to think he can stroll out of defence whenever he likes and is not picking up his man either. Walker I think is playing bad. Verts I just feel has moved on in his mind. He gets annoyed at others but does not seem to analyse his deficiencies.

Walker's positioning has always been bad. And he hasn't improved at all in this regard. Is this something you can actually improve on? Surely it's instinct just as Adebayor and Defoe's instinct to always be offside.

 

[Mumorn]

Walker's positioning has always been bad. And he hasn't improved at all in this regard. Is this something you can actually improve on? Surely it's instinct just as Adebayor and Defoe's instinct to always be offside.

Danny Rose was poor positionally, though it was to be expected from a left midfielder playing left back. He has improved tremendously, that's what gives me hope for Walker.

 

[imcallingbullsh*t]

Strange thing is that when walker returned we looked a lot more stable having a specialist RB.
He also said that he had worked on his defensive positioning and that he needed to improve this side.

At the moment he isnt bombing forward as much and seems to be all over the place, and teams are planning to attack him as a weak link.

Its certainly a team thing rather than individuals but we certainly need to sort out the issue. Fazio isn't the solution, he may be part of it. I dont think swapping bentaleb and mason out solves much either, or we will become a vision of AVB then.

I think we just need to trust poch to sort it out over the summer, maybe its time to have a look at Fazio and Dier together, or even shift Dier and Vertonghen around and see what happens.

 

[braineclipse]

Strange thing is that when walker returned we looked a lot more stable having a specialist RB.
He also said that he had worked on his defensive positioning and that he needed to improve this side.

At the moment he isnt bombing forward as much and seems to be all over the place, and teams are planning to attack him as a weak link.

Its certainly a team thing rather than individuals but we certainly need to sort out the issue. Fazio isn't the solution, he may be part of it. I dont think swapping bentaleb and mason out solves much either, or we will become a vision of AVB then.

I think we just need to trust poch to sort it out over the summer, maybe its time to have a look at Fazio and Dier together, or even shift Dier and Vertonghen around and see what happens.

Walker looked a lot better with Lamela ahead of him and Fazio next to him.

Walker will bounce back, just as short drop of form I think. But hopefully he'll be given a bit more protection meanwhile.

 

[SteveAWOL]

Walker looked a lot better with Lamela ahead of him and Fazio next to him.

Walker will bounce back, just as short drop of form I think. But hopefully he'll be given a bit more protection meanwhile.

Indeed, with Townsend scarcely tracking back on the right wing plus young Dier frequently caught out of position at RCB, no wonder Walker is having such a torrid time lately.

 

[Jurgen the German]

Finally watched the whole game. Thought we were fine up until they scored, Chadli scores and 3-0 is a different proposition for Leicester than 2-0.

This is not news, but it's a high risk game playing two centre mids so far forward and two full backs who also bomb forward, especially when we are so fragile at the back at the moment. I understand to some extent, we need be offensive against the lesser sides at home, but the balance needs to be there.

Walker is out of position pretty much every time the other team attacks.

I want to like Mason as he's a home grown player, but I just don't see what he excels at. Barely noticed him on Saturday.

Given how bad we are defensively, 6th would represent a good first season. As good as Kane is, I can't see him doing it every game and that's basically what we require as we ship so many goals.

 

[Kandi1977]

Finally watched the whole game. Thought we were fine up until they scored, Chadli scores and 3-0 is a different proposition for Leicester than 2-0.

This is not news, but it's a high risk game playing two centre mids so far forward and two full backs who also bomb forward, especially when we are so fragile at the back at the moment. I understand to some extent, we need be offensive against the lesser sides at home, but the balance needs to be there.

Walker is out of position pretty much every time the other team attacks.

I want to like Mason as he's a home grown player, but I just don't see what he excels at. Barely noticed him on Saturday.

Given how bad we are defensively, 6th would represent a good first season. As good as Kane is, I can't see him doing it every game and that's basically what we require as we ship so many goals.

^^THIS! Unfortunately we don't have a lot of options there, though I would like to see Stambouli get a run of games instead of Mason.

 

[mudshark]

Given how bad we are defensively, 6th would represent a good first season. As good as Kane is, I can't see him doing it every game and that's basically what we require as we ship so many goals.

If Kane gets injured, the rest of our season disappears down a very deep hole. Vardy's first goal since September, was it? Probably the last one he'll score before they're back in the 2nd Division as well. Says it all.

 

[Sandman]

Indeed, with Townsend scarcely tracking back on the right wing plus young Dier frequently caught out of position at RCB, no wonder Walker is having such a torrid time lately.

Whilst I agree that he is getting no help from Townsend. And Dier is maybe not shouting at him like Fazio would to get into position. Walker is now a pretty experienced Full back. But he still takes up the wrong positions, and fails to notice runners which are his responsibility. He needs to look at his own game and improve it. Whilst it helps for the Centre back to organise him a Full back should know his basic duties. I almost miss Naughton at this stage.

 

[mopitt]

No worries, I will be at White Hart Lane on saturday and I have never seen Spurs lose live yet.

This will be an easy 3-0 With goals from Kane, Lamela and Soldado.

Good Luck

As I said, we'd win 4-3 With Kane scoring a hat-trick