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*** Tottenham Hotspur vs Crystal Palace***OMT ***

They were let have the ball in their own half and sat deep so that the three would have little space.
Mason and Bentaleb would have knocked balls into feet regardless and hoped something would have broke.
Dembele and Stambouli 'bossed it' in their own half holding possession pointlessly AVB style.

I think that is key, we can have 75% doing nothing or 25% doing something, that is what is most important. I think having Mason and Bentelab would have been considered a weak midfield but their energy would've given us something stats can't show.It just takes 1 moment, 1 mistake, 1 effort closing down that makes the difference. Perhaps today we went back to trying to dominate possession at the risk of doing little with it and letting the opposition a chance to punish us.

Please, let nobody blame the ref, ala Mourinho....
 
Bentaleb and Mason are our most effective DM duo. Do you deny that? They might be world beaters, they might be absolute crap, but they are still our best DM duo, and the only two who have shown any ability to control the flow and direction of a game. We did not have those two today. We did not even have one of the two today. Their replacements were not nearly as good, and we ceded control of the game fairly early on until we were hanging on by our finger tips by the 70th minute.

Again, the only other option that Poch had was Lennon (in terms of immediate subs he could have made), and he wasn't a silver bullet. For better or for worse, I don't think Poch trusts a large number of our players: hell, I don't even think he's completely convinced by Stambouli, our bargain bin Schneiderlin replacement. He has few trusted options to call on to change the flow of a game, and that isn't going to change until we get the players he wants in. So blaming him is pointless, and counter-productive.

They may well be our best partnership but im not certain on that. They have been in midfield when we have lucked out some wins at Villa and Hull so that for me does not show they are world. Beaters. I hope they are though as they have come through the system and it always feels good to produce your own players. But constantly getting on other players is not the point. Dembele did well against Chelsea and I thought him and Stambouli were good in not great. But certainly not the problem. We had control of the game all first half. And it was down to them, as Townsend And Chadli were useless. But it changed after the pen. And i blame that on the formation change.

Lennon is not a superstar but when someone is playing as bad as Townsend its a no brainer for me. Everyone says Stambouli was a bargain basement low level player. Dont forget Schneiderlin was not even being spoken off a year ago. He has been worked up by Poch. Give him a chance with some of the players we have. How many games has Stambouli played now? 4 or something int he prem?

He need to change the game. And that was to give KAne more support. I Agree apart from Lennon there was little choice. This is why we need some wing forwards for our squad. And another striker. We currently have 5 for 3 positions. One possibly on his way out. And two still finding their way in the prem.
 
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good dive. That shows Stambouli never touched him. Ball never changed direction which is why the ref from his position gave it. he starts to go down early, then stamboulis knee contacts his trailing leg and he really throws it down. That and the Kane pen were travesties.
 
As i said never a pen and he bought it all day long. Cheating knobber. Still it turned the game around for his team so im sure he'll be happy
 
Back to type for the season. Awful. We need to face however close we get to the top 4, we're not close to it. We just need to hope for a cup win to get anything out of this season.

Chin up old boy! Apart from a couple of sub-par performances (Townsend, Fazio) we competed extremely well for most of that game. It was just one fractionally mistimed tackle that turned things against us. Once that pen went in it was always going to be squeaky-bum time, given Palace were playing right out of their skins to impress their new manager. None more so than Zaha who would have given even the best FBs the runaround in that kind of form.
 
it's not a pen, but it looks like one, you can't go to ground in the box, there was no need either, Ledley isn't good enough to score from there
 
In your opinion. And I think you are failing to see what Pochettino is trying to do long-term with the squad and the club. I will tell you I know for a fact that he thinks at least 8-9 players are absolutely replaceable and would happily do so if circumstance would allow. he is shuffling the hand he's got and making the best of it. What the **** can he do with wasters like Capoue foisted on him? He has to be careful how many kids he drafts in at a time. He has to be careful how he manages the squad he's got. As for your proclamation at the end about recruitment, you genuinely think you're alone in that thought?

Nah. Get behind the manager. Unless you cannot see what he is trying to do.

I like some of the things Poch is trying to do - giving youth a chance, faster transitioning etc, - but I also worry about other aspects, especially his inability to get our players motivated for the lesser games and I haven't exactly been blown over by the players that have been recruited under his watch. Vorm, Davies, Dier, Fazio and Stambouli have not exactly been fantastic for us. I am prepared to give him time but I really need to see his stamp on the team and squad progress us in the right direction. The jury is still out for me. We need more performances like against Chelsea to prove it wasn't a one off . I really want him to succeed though.
 
good dive. That shows Stambouli never touched him. Ball never changed direction which is why the ref from his position gave it. he starts to go down early, then stamboulis knee contacts his trailing leg and he really throws it down. That and the Kane pen were travesties.

This was the difference today unfortunately. We didn't deserve to win the game but they got a penalty they shouldn't have had and we didn't get a penalty that was clear cut. Cost us at least a point. Thems the breaks.
 
Chin up old boy! Apart from a couple of sub-par performances (Townsend, Fazio) we competed extremely well for most of that game. It was just one fractionally mistimed tackle that turned things against us. Once that pen went in it was always going to be squeaky-bum time, given Palace were playing right out of their skins to impress their new manager. None more so than Zaha who would have given even the best FBs the runaround in that kind of form.

When was Fazio sub-par? Enlighten us all.
 
Ref had a big say in the result but our biggest fault today was we were toothless in attack IMO. Nothing really stuck up top. Townsend, Chadli were poor and Eriksen and Kane not a lot better. I thought Dembele was decent enough, the best of our lot really, but with Stambouli I don't see anything that warrants his inclusion going forward. Capoue was no better though. A missed opportunity to be sure.

I thought Stambouli was significantly better than Dembele, both defensively and offensively. He broke down a fair amount of Palace play, and moved the ball forward fairly quickly. Both were poor compared to Mason and Bentaleb though
 
This was the difference today unfortunately. We didn't deserve to win the game but they got a penalty they shouldn't have had and we didn't get a penalty that was clear cut. Cost us at least a point. Thems the breaks.

we also scored a goal that was blatantly offside. It happens.
 
I thought Stambouli was significantly better than Dembele, both defensively and offensively. He broke down a fair amount of Palace play, and moved the ball forward fairly quickly. Both were poor compared to Mason and Bentaleb though
I think that is your opinion of the players rather than their performances.
 
You've just confirmed why the ref shouldn't of given it....


Sent from my Magellanic flightless steamer duck using Rufous gnateater

Maybe he shouldn't have given it but he thinks he's seen a foul and has a split second to call it. It's not an outrageously bad decision that merited the sort of abuse the poster I quoted gave him.

Thought we were okay today although some players had stinkers. The three behind Kane were poor especially Chadli. Poch made some bad decisions too.

Really ****ed off but we have to keep faith with this fella and allow him to build his own team and learn from his mistakes.
 
I like some of the things Poch is trying to do - giving youth a chance, faster transitioning etc, - but I also worry about other aspects, especially his inability to get our players motivated for the lesser games and I haven't exactly been blown over by the players that have been recruited under his watch. Vorm, Davies, Dier, Fazio and Stambouli have not exactly been fantastic for us. I am prepared to give him time but I really need to see his stamp on the team and squad progress us in the right direction. The jury is still out for me. We need more performances like against Chelsea to prove it wasn't a one off . I really want him to succeed though.

Vorm - why hasn't he been a good signing so far? He was signed to be a back-up for Lloris, and he's played that role very well.

Davies - better than Rose, and apparently motivates Rose to up his game in training. Will get better. Again, not sure what the issue is with him.

Dier - brilliant opening, played out of position, received some horrendous abuse and then went into his shell a bit, poor lad. Still a great talent, acquired on the cheap.

Fazio - bargain bin replacement for the likes of Musacchio and Lovren, but has performed admirably well and has settled into the side next to Verts.

Stambouli - utterly bargain bin replacement for Poch's first choice, Schneiderlin - don't even think Poch particularly wanted him, but he's been....alright so far, I guess?


A bit of unjustified criticism there, imo.
 
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