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OMT Spurs vs Olympiakos

Man of the match


  • Total voters
    44
  • Poll closed .
Three good players came in this summer, if we had managed to do the same the summer before, we'd be looking a lot different. Alderweireld, Rose, Eriksen, Wanyama and Aurier were all deemed surplus to requirements and are still here. Further new signings didn't happen because we couldn't shift those players.
Isn’t it funny how with every game, Lo celso is quickly becoming our most important player! :D
 
Individually and collectively we let that game slip. They were decent don't get me wrong, but we should have nailed the win!

Verts with a stupid pen. Alli and Lamela could have played in Kane for a winning tap-in, instead of trying the tight near post shot. Too much of our passing was sloppy or slow. 2 other observations:
  • we missed having a settled team. Sanchez getting used to RB, Ndombele finding his feet, Davies rusty, and players feeling out the shape and where to pass.
  • we don't impose our game on teams enough. We need a set way to play, then impose it. As we did against Palace. Pass it well, get the ball wide, get in behind.

At the end they were for the taking. If we have a game plan where to move the ball - without thinking - we nail the win. For example, work the ball with one-twos down the wing and be ready to attack the cut back. Instead we're making it harder than it need be. We go with the flow of the game. And by the time we've figured out our attack they are back in position.
 
I may be proven wrong but I think Poch has lost something. Maybe it’s respect amongst the squad. Maybe it’s just a case of familiarity breeding contempt. But we’ve been ordinary for 18 months now and I don’t see the same intensity, solidity or fluidity that we had a few seasons back.

That's why you need to keep refreshing the players and building from a position of strength. I think that we did away with a DoF at exactly the wrong time, Levy was understandably focused on the stadium but that has left us with a number of players that the manager doesn't want and an ageing squad.
 
I think some of you are in danger of losing the run of yourselves - this isn't the type of place that any team comes to and rolls over the home side
No one is complaining about the actual result, it’s the performance. I don’t care what stadium we are playing at, I expect our players to be able to pass the ball properly and play with some sort of cohesion. If we lose then fine but at least look like a team. This is a too often occurrence now, some posters have been trying to sweep these types of performances under the carpet for far too long. When we were a really good side this type of performance was a one off, now we’re watching it every other week....
 
Three good players came in this summer, if we had managed to do the same the summer before, we'd be looking a lot different. Alderweireld, Rose, Eriksen, Wanyama and Aurier were all deemed surplus to requirements and are still here. Further new signings didn't happen because we couldn't shift those players.

I remain unconvinced on the quality of incoming!
Sessegnon is one for the future, I agree
I'm not sure about the Argentinan lad not seen enough Ndombele I like
 
Isn’t it funny how with every game, Lo celso is quickly becoming a storm trooper mutiny pal! :D

Parrott is the answer.

Seriously though, Lo Celso was signed as a first team player but I still think that Poch would be easing him in at this stage. Eriksen had a stinker tonight, Lo Celso was signed as his replacement and would have been an option.

We also need to recognise that there were a number of players featuring tonight who were coming back from injuries, fine margins and all that.
 
I remain unconvinced on the quality of incoming!
Sessegnon is one for the future, I agree
I'm not sure about the Argentinan lad not seen enough Ndombele I like

I think that you are right to reserve judgement until they have settled in but they are players who have done very well elsewhere and were clearly our priority signings at the beginning of the summer.
 
The word that kept coming to me during that match was 'loose' - our passing was loose and so was the defending for 65 minutes. Such a shame that we couldn't build momentum from the weekend.
We seemed to gain some real control of the game from about 65 mins onwards and I felt more confident towards the end - this was probably around the time that Sissoko came on for Ndombele although not sure that was any more than a coincidence.

Probably a draw away is a decent result as long as you win your home games.
 
We got a point after a poor performance in a key game in the group. That has to be the positive thing. It was very important not to lose, as that would have put us in a precarious position. It was a very disappointing performance though. We very lucky not to go behind early, and then when we still go two goals up, we need to protect that lead much better.

It feels a bit like Arsenal all over again. I felt that we had ridden the storm by the time they scored, but then we lose focus and let them score a goal just before half time almost unopposed. Kane didn't bother to track back, Ndombele didn't bother to track back (or rather seemed almost incapable of moving throughout the game) and Vertonghen and Davies were all over the place and too slow.

And then before the second goal we made so many stupid decisions it was almost unbelievable. I think it was Winks (who I otherwise thought was our best player today), played a dangerous pass to Eriksen just outside our own box, Eriksen, for some reason, seemed to think he had all the time in the world in that position and failed to protect the ball, and Vertonghen commited a foul on a player with his back to goal 17 yards out.

Overall I thought we had them under better control in the second half. And if we had been a bit more accurate and taken better decisions in the final third, we could have had another goal. Alli could have passed to Kane for a simple goal, but took the shot on instead, either because of greed or because he didn't look up. Lamela the same, although it was a more difficult pass that time.

We seemed to lack energy today, maybe because of the heat. And too many players had a poor day. Davies looked very rusty and struggled with the speedster on their right side. He did well to win the ball and set up Moura's goal though. Vertonghen was similarly poor on the left side of our defence. Ndombele was dreadful. I worry a bit about him in the long term. He looks incredibly slow. And Eriksen was asleep all game and kept losing possession.

On top of that I am worried about the short break for the Leicester game after what seemed like an energy draining game today..
 
We got a point after a poor performance in a key game in the group. That has to be the positive thing. It was very important not to lose, as that would have put us in a precarious position. It was a very disappointing performance though. We very lucky not to go behind early, and then when we still go two goals up, we need to protect that lead much better.

It feels a bit like Arsenal all over again. I felt that we had ridden the storm by the time they scored, but then we lose focus and let them score a goal just before half time almost unopposed. Kane didn't bother to track back, Ndombele didn't bother to track back (or rather seemed almost incapable of moving throughout the game) and Vertonghen and Davies were all over the place and too slow.

And then before the second goal we made so many stupid decisions it was almost unbelievable. I think it was Winks (who I otherwise thought was our best player today), played a dangerous pass to Eriksen just outside our own box, Eriksen, for some reason, seemed to think he had all the time in the world in that position and failed to protect the ball, and Vertonghen commited a foul on a player with his back to goal 17 yards out.

Overall I thought we had them under better control in the second half. And if we had been a bit more accurate and taken better decisions in the final third, we could have had another goal. Alli could have passed to Kane for a simple goal, but took the shot on instead, either because of greed or because he didn't look up. Lamela the same, although it was a more difficult pass that time.

We seemed to lack energy today, maybe because of the heat. And too many players had a poor day. Davies looked very rusty and struggled with the speedster on their right side. He did well to win the ball and set up Moura's goal though. Vertonghen was similarly poor on the left side of our defence. Ndombele was dreadful. I worry a bit about him in the long term. He looks incredibly slow. And Eriksen was asleep all game and kept losing possession.

On top of that I am worried about the short break for the Leicester game after what seemed like an energy draining game today..

It was dele who made the pass to eriksen
Ndombele needs work to get up to speed
We will have a changed team vs Leicester
 
We must sound quite arrogant as fans
That’s a rough place to go
Made tougher with half a team changed
Not losing is key as we will smash them at home

Agreed. That we are upset at the draw shows the progress. If Olympiocos had outplayed us, I think we'd accept the draw. You could see we were the better side but we didn't impose ourselves - first defensively, then attacking, when we needed the final goal. That was the frustration!
 
I think that you are right to reserve judgement until they have settled in but they are players who have done very well elsewhere and were clearly our priority signings at the beginning of the summer.

Pochettino needs to sort what he has, as a priority!
Palace to Olympiakos is chalk and cheese in so many departments!

I worry how long Harry will put up with nights like tonight
 
That's why you need to keep refreshing the players and building from a position of strength. I think that we did away with a DoF at exactly the wrong time, Levy was understandably focused on the stadium but that has left us with a number of players that the manager doesn't want and an ageing squad.

Oddly from where I was a decade ago I agree with the director of football thing.

As Poch is the sitting incumbent he should choose the director of football and then if he leaves the director of football chooses the next manager. Otherwise the whole thing does not work.
 
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