*** OMT Tottenham Hotspur v Wolverhampton Wanderers ***

[Bullet]

That was awful. The whole system seemed to rely on Davies and Royal being tricky number 10s or goalscorers. That is a crazy system.
So many slow plays, stilted, no clue what to do, just square passes and recycling, like we hadn't drilled any ways of actually scoring.
@Bedfordspurs you should watch it, it was really demoralising. So toothless, so clueless how to generate a goalscoring chance.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

That was awful. The whole system seemed to rely on Davies and Royal being tricky number 10s or goalscorers. That is a crazy system.
So many slow plays, stilted, no clue what to do, just square passes and recycling, like we hadn't drilled any ways of actually scoring.
@Bedfordspurs you should watch it, it was really demoralising. So toothless, so clueless how to generate a goalscoring chance.

I probably will when I get home next weekend

 

[thfcsteff]

It's tough to measure when both Udogie and Porro were missing (first time both have been out for a match this season I believe)...I still think if we could sign a world class 6 - press resistant metronome who can also break lines - we'd be in better shape. I would love Bents to work out in that role long-term but concede it might not be 'him'...

...I will say that I thought Deki, once again, was really poor for most of the game. Two flashes of inspiration and energy from him, one was the goal, the other actually taking a pop and nearly scoring long range. Other than that, too much no right-footing it. And turning into trouble. And losing the ball...

 

[lurker of old]

If Madders can be as good as Eriksen it will be fantastic, but he has a way to go. I can't remember Eriksen having an off day like Madders had today - but then maybe the players around him made up for it. I seem to remember Eriksen scoring from free kicks, but again, my memory is pretty shot.

 

[Jordinho]

If Madders can be as good as Eriksen it will be fantastic, but he has a way to go. I can't remember Eriksen having an off day like Madders had today - but then maybe the players around him made up for it. I seem to remember Eriksen scoring from free kicks, but again, my memory is pretty shot.

I mostly remember Eriksen for his failed attempts at playing passes through a low block. We seem to be falling into that trap quite a lot this season.

 

[Baleforce]

If Madders can be as good as Eriksen it will be fantastic, but he has a way to go. I can't remember Eriksen having an off day like Madders had today - but then maybe the players around him made up for it. I seem to remember Eriksen scoring from free kicks, but again, my memory is pretty shot.

Really, he was brick for the last year he was here at least.

He did score about 500 free kicks in his time here though yes.

 

[SpurMeUp]

They were very very impressive today I thought. Deserved the 3 points and really had the better of the chances. Aside from a Davies sitter and a Deki shot from the edge of the box, we created nothing. They had a game plan and executed it brilliantly.

Like most, I massively underestimated Gary O'Neil.

The irony of this? That we played the very same way a year ago under Conte. It was a disappointing game. And I think the reason fans are so miffed is also the reason the team lost. In short, both fans and the team thought we'd show up and win today, and as you say underestimated Wolves. Few seem to agree, but I thought we did have their number second half, and were marginally the better side. And where we lost the game was giving away free - unchallenged - shots on our goal.

We are work in progress. This side haven't played together and fans just expect that everyone is back = instant synergy? Fans showed up expecting a win. The team showed up expecting a win. The truth is we are work in progress. We are now only developing the settled squad, not purring. And praise Wolves as you will, I will back Ange and his way of playing to the hilt, over a Contesque low block and break. We are only just ridding teh culture and smell of this limited, small-time, setup. There can be a place for it in some games. But we need to break from that mentality and be the attacking possession-based side. Because these are the sides that win things. City, the goons, to some extent pool, they all play a game where passing and controlling a game is paramount. We have work to do. Fool us for thinking we'd arrived already.

 

[Baleforce]

The irony of this? That we played the very same way a year ago under Conte. It was a disappointing game. And I think the reason fans are so miffed is also the reason the team lost. In short, both fans and the team thought we'd show up and win today, and as you say underestimated Wolves. Few seem to agree, but I thought we did have their number second half, and were marginally the better side. And where we lost the game was giving away free - unchallenged - shots on our goal.

We are work in progress. This side haven't played together and fans just expect that everyone is back = instant synergy? Fans showed up expecting a win. The team showed up expecting a win. The truth is we are work in progress. We are now only developing the settled squad, not purring. And praise Wolves as you will, I will back Ange and his way of playing to the hilt, over a Contesque low block and break. We are only just ridding teh culture and smell of this limited, small-time, setup. There can be a place for it in some games. But we need to break from that mentality and be the attacking possession-based side. Because these are the sides that win things. City, the goons, to some extent pool, they all play a game where passing and controlling a game is paramount. We have work to do. Fool us for thinking we'd arrived already.

I think we put in a better performance today than we did in the win against Brighton or the draw against Everton, but Wolves are a better side and didn’t waste the chances we gifted them.

 

[P.D.]

If Madders can be as good as Eriksen it will be fantastic, but he has a way to go. I can't remember Eriksen having an off day like Madders had today - but then maybe the players around him made up for it. I seem to remember Eriksen scoring from free kicks, but again, my memory is pretty shot.

They're different players though, Eriksen was able to play much deeper. Maddison is better at those little through balls and in and around the area in general but he's not going to run a game from further back like Eriksen sometimes did.

 

[NaijaSpurs]

I just cannot get my head around 664 passes with so little to show for it

 

[metalgear]

Have we even been playing Ange ball for the past month or so?

It's slow and sideways.

Because we've been.found out? We don't counter direct to goal instead allow defences to organise with 2 banks of 9 in the box, where we insist on crossing from the byline to the 6 yard line..so easy to nullify. So we've been forced to play sideways.

 

[El Guepardo]

We won’t get top 4. We perform under the sum of all parts and I was an idiot to think that we were in the title race. We’re not even close. Yesterday was awful. Devoid of energy, passion, idea and yet aside from Udogie and Porro we had our first team available and looked awful. I think we have two weeks off but what’s going to change before we play next?! Aside from Udogie & Porro back…. May as well just sleep through rest of the season as all the early excitement has burned out to nothing. Where was ‘Angeball’? Yesterday was more like watching ‘painted wall’.

 

[tommysvr]

The “Ange has been found out” narrative is a bit overblown in my opinion. Yeah he needs to find some solutions, but this is a problem we’ve faced more or less since Harry Redknapp. The majority of teams will come to Spurs and sit deep, defend in numbers and look to counter. The past few years, where we’ve played like Wolves did has maybe changed the perception but I remember many frustrating matches under Poch, AVB and Redknapp where we just could not break a team down. Matches that stick out like Fulham 0-1 in 2013 where Berbatov scored in the 52nd minute. Hull when Giovani scored that screamer of a free kick. West Brom have done it a few times. It’s nothing new, but it’s up to Ange to find a way through it.

And it’s up to us to give him more than 9 months to do it.

 

[metalgear]

Sone

Exactly. The players simply aren’t turning up at the moment.

So disappointing. We are so far from where we should be, performance-wise.

Sometimes players don't turn up when they can't or no longer want to execute the strategy. Same has happened before with Mourinho and Conte, we looked like winning something at the beginning but was not sustainable. Even so, its the job of the manager to motivate players. Or remove them

What we know for sure is that we played at a higher level and Intensity just a few months ago, so something has slipped. Maybe we will get our mojo back when we have our best eleven, but can't deny teams are successfully making it harder for us to play

 

[metalgear]

The “Ange has been found out” narrative is a bit overblown in my opinion. Yeah he needs to find some solutions, but this is a problem we’ve faced more or less since Harry Redknapp. The majority of teams will come to Spurs and sit deep, defend in numbers and look to counter. The past few years, where we’ve played like Wolves did has maybe changed the perception but I remember many frustrating matches under Poch, AVB and Redknapp where we just could not break a team down. Matches that stick out like Fulham 0-1 in 2013 where Berbatov scored in the 52nd minute. Hull when Giovani scored that screamer of a free kick. West Brom have done it a few times. It’s nothing new, but it’s up to Ange to find a way through it.

And it’s up to us to give him more than 9 months to do it.

Overblown or not it's a matter of perception.

Fact is we are coming up with teams who know how to defend against us more effectively and consistently. And sadly we haven't seen a lot of variations in the way we play.

 

[metalgear]

What a bunch a whingers! '

We haven't been "figured out". As though there is a moment when teams unlock the secrets of the opposition

The main issue today was bad defending. It does not matter the system, or whether you have a plan E F G H I J or K, if you allow the opposition a free header on goal from a corner, and a free shot on goal on the break (when you have ample men back), you are not winning many games. Simple. Fuk all to do with Ange and his system nonsense.

Even if we didn't concede did you think we were attacking well?

 

[SpurMeUp]

Even if we didn't concede did you think we were attacking well?

What has that to do with my post you quoted btw?

We only scored once, so no we didn't attack all that well. But we were blunted, up against a low block. Remember them? Only last season we'd also grind out games in a similar fashion and halt teams in their tracks. At times City and other highly successful sides also come up against such systems and fail. It is important to get the first goal against these sides as it opens the game up.

 

[tommysvr]

Overblown or not it's a matter of perception.

Fact is we are coming up with teams who know how to defend against us more effectively and consistently. And sadly we haven't seen a lot of variations in the way we play.

But our team is also not fully accustomed to playing this way. We've had maybe 12 games with our first XI, with loads of interruptions throughout the season; injuries, suspensions, AFCON/Asian Cup. Every team has to deal with them. But we are so early in a major rebuild, a completely different style and culture around the club and it will take time to iron out these sorts of issues.

It doesn't make the performances any more palatable -- I'm extremely frustrated and disappointed. But our eyes need to be on the longer term, rather than simply riding the waves of week-to-week results. With Conte and Mourinho that's all we could do, because they were never going to be here long enough for anything else. But we're back in 2014/15 with Poch, where we had runs like this:

 

[mudshark]

That was the worst so far, and it's been coming round the mountain for a while now. We haven't been seeing this mythical "way we play" for months, really, it's been fickin turgid, and we have been picking up points in spite of that. We have been worked out in my view, and no amount of dry-humping the edge of the opposition box game after game (until we lose the ball and concede the sort of goal you point and laugh at at schoolboy level) will change that. Playing Spurs next? Here, just watch this video. But we don't need a Plan B, apparently.

 

[El Guepardo]

is it fair to say that the next two weeks is Ange’s biggest test with us so far? How can he reinvigorate us? How can he get us back to attacking play which is good on the eyes and gets us the points?