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**** OMT Tottenham Hotspur FC v Bodo Glimt ****

Simons and Bergvall (not his best outing tonight) should be 8s, with Paulinha at 6, would be my preference. Kudus owns the right wing now, but to my eyes Odebert is not ready just yet to offer the same counterweight on the opposite flank. His moments are good, but too infrequent and his press is poor.

Blagged that point really.
I'd be tempted to give Odobert a run of games there now, I think he could become a top player, needs to be given a proper go.
 
It was pretty much as expected - Bodo are a damn good side, and played us off the park for the first 60 minutes. The key problem was ball retention - we absolutely could not retain the ball under pressure, because:

A) neither Danso nor Van de Ven offer passing capabilities to beat the press,
B) Spence on the left completely negates our left-sided attack since he will always pass it backwards on his stronger right foot rather than drive into space, and opponents know that; and
C) Bergvall is a little lost in the #10 role since he doesn't have the space to turn and play through the lines, the way he does from deep.

Once we brought Kudus and Simons on, you saw an instant shift - Kudus was a monster at holding the ball under intense pressure (Bodo had 3/4 men on him at times), and Simons likewise evaded Bodo's press and found spaces between the lines, forcing them back.

The lesson from this draw is that our first eleven is not bad, but our second-string is woeful. It's the same lesson that we've been learning for years now - and it takes time, money and careful scouting to fix. Until then, we'll keep getting wobbles like this every time we try to rotate.

Take the point, move on.
 
What I would say is, if you are going to play EL or CL football you can't lay your artificial surface will visible wrinkles/creases in it. If Bodo think that's alright, then it's up to UEFA to turn up as say 'this is an effing joke'
It's perfectly fine. Absolutely nothing to complain about. Have you seen the state of some of the grass pitches? Doesn't matter anyway, as it's the same for both teams. Glimt have to play every away game in the CL on a different surface than they're used to. Don't hear them complaining about that.
 
I keep saying that we do not have a single high quality defender in the squad. All our defenders strengths lie when they are on the ball for me not off it. None of them are good 1 v 1, VDV has recovery pace but i think for his size he is weak in the air, poor positionally and gets done far too easily. X3 of our full backs started their careers as wing backs and frankly, it shows. They give the opposition too much space, they are awful positionally. I think Romero is still too rash he can be goaded into a head rush or lunge that leaves us exposed. There is a lot of running, fight and throwing bodies around but not a great deal of stand your ground, hold your line and create a wall that is hard to get at. That is a mental weakness in our defenders. The easy option (the one your instincts tell you to do) is go towards the ball and engage. Making sure you are in line and moving as one as a defence is far more important
I am very happy with our CB pairing of Romero and VDV. It is one of the best in the world. Porro should improve defensively, man marking and positioning, but he brings plenty to our game. At LB we could have improved this summer by bringing in Theo Hernandez but we opted not to. Udogie is poor defensively and is not to bothered running back when we lose the ball. Spence still has a lot to learn but he has been progressing nicely. I do agree that they look a bit lost at times and Frank should address this more. I think we have already seen progress compared to Postecoglou. Especially at defending corners and set pieces in general.
 
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Disappointing display, however I think the pitch had a lot to do with it, we never looked comfortable turning or changing pace.
They are obviously very accustomed to the vagaries of that surface, we looked like bambi on ice, and they were pumped for this game with being their first CL home game and against us.
 
I'm more concerned with how many we concede, by hook or by crook we still scored enough goals to win 2 games tonight, it was defensive mistakes that lost the points
I'm aware that the result is specific event based, but I'd be tempted to say that playing like we already won the match because we won the previous 2 for 60 minutes lost us the points. Bodø/Glimt are no pushovers, and this isn't the Europa League. This is centre stage.
 
It was pretty much as expected - Bodo are a damn good side, and played us off the park for the first 60 minutes. The key problem was ball retention - we absolutely could not retain the ball under pressure, because:

A) neither Danso nor Van de Ven offer passing capabilities to beat the press,
B) Spence on the left completely negates our left-sided attack since he will always pass it backwards on his stronger right foot rather than drive into space, and opponents know that; and
C) Bergvall is a little lost in the #10 role since he doesn't have the space to turn and play through the lines, the way he does from deep.

Once we brought Kudus and Simons on, you saw an instant shift - Kudus was a monster at holding the ball under intense pressure (Bodo had 3/4 men on him at times), and Simons likewise evaded Bodo's press and found spaces between the lines, forcing them back.

The lesson from this draw is that our first eleven is not bad, but our second-string is woeful. It's the same lesson that we've been learning for years now - and it takes time, money and careful scouting to fix. Until then, we'll keep getting wobbles like this every time we try to rotate.

Take the point, move on.
Very well said and summarised.
 
Who actually plays up top against Leeds? We can't have Richie lumbering around barely touching the ball for another 90mins. Maybe Tel will get a start, he couldn't be any worse.

Will Kolo be an option (even off the bench)
I'm more concerned with how many we concede, by hook or by crook we still scored enough goals to win 2 games tonight, it was defensive mistakes that lost the points

A bit concerning that we have been opened up easily at times. I don't think the midfield helped at all. Hopefully Frank will be working on that and some forward movement (he mentioned hold up was poor, and not just Richalison.... )
 
Agree with Xavi, Kudus and Bergvall.
Richy didn't have any balls and made the most of what he had. He pressured in that 2nd goal. He has done as well as anybody would tonight, maybe apart from Kane or Benzema type of player that would slid back and become a no 10 player in some instances.
As for Bentancur he scored a goal, disallowed by VDV clumsy foul. He is a very complete player and is the best CM at the club imo.

fair enough. i completely disagree re: Bentancur. I think Palhinha is the most complete. too mang games pass Bentancur by, he had absolutely no positive influence tonight, as per.
 
Will Kolo be an option (even off the bench)


A bit concerning that we have been opened up easily at times. I don't think the midfield helped at all. Hopefully Frank will be working on that and some forward movement (he mentioned hold up was poor, and not just Richalison.... )

it is concerning, its reminiscent of Jose's time, when it looks ok most of the time, but then someone does something unbelievably stupid and we concede
 
Will Kolo be an option (even off the bench)


A bit concerning that we have been opened up easily at times. I don't think the midfield helped at all. Hopefully Frank will be working on that and some forward movement (he mentioned hold up was poor, and not just Richalison.... )
The midfield and the defensive passing to them was a huge issue
Forwards IMO had nothing come their way as the defence didn’t move up
Bodo made the pitch small and we made it harder for ourselves with the shape we made
 
I’ve no idea what the commentators were on about, I thought defensively we looked atrocious yet all game they seem to be applauding them! All over the place, not following runners, then when we did we followed the wrong ones, no passing players on, leaving players in acres of space near the penalty area. If that was Ange’s defense people would be spewing!

However we dug in showed character and looked better with the subs. Time will tell if that’s a good point up there or not, I’ll be looking at their other results with interest.
The other teams they'll be playing are mostly better than us. They have city and Juventus at home and Dortmund, Atletico Madrid and Galatasaray away.
 
It was pretty much as expected - Bodo are a damn good side, and played us off the park for the first 60 minutes. The key problem was ball retention - we absolutely could not retain the ball under pressure, because:

A) neither Danso nor Van de Ven offer passing capabilities to beat the press,
B) Spence on the left completely negates our left-sided attack since he will always pass it backwards on his stronger right foot rather than drive into space, and opponents know that; and
C) Bergvall is a little lost in the #10 role since he doesn't have the space to turn and play through the lines, the way he does from deep.

Once we brought Kudus and Simons on, you saw an instant shift - Kudus was a monster at holding the ball under intense pressure (Bodo had 3/4 men on him at times), and Simons likewise evaded Bodo's press and found spaces between the lines, forcing them back.

The lesson from this draw is that our first eleven is not bad, but our second-string is woeful. It's the same lesson that we've been learning for years now - and it takes time, money and careful scouting to fix. Until then, we'll keep getting wobbles like this every time we try to rotate.

Take the point, move on.

Rotation isn’t the issue for me, it’s the set up
Bergvall isn’t a 10
Bents is best when he is pressing
Johnson needs a pass
Odobert and Spence means no left footer on the left
Richy can’t okay back to back games IMO
These are franks calls
Then the sole attacking set up is to play it wide we are then very predictable
 
The midfield and the defensive passing to them was a huge issue
Forwards IMO had nothing come their way as the defence didn’t move up
Bodo made the pitch small and we made it harder for ourselves with the shape we made

I also blame the forwards though. No movement to try and create space, or option for the pass. They just stood being marked.

Just wasn't a good game all round.
 
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