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** Tottenham Hotspur vs Sheffield United Capital One Cup Semi Final Second Leg OMT **

Pirate55 said:
I think you will find that Townsend was playing AM! He was adequately neutralizing his full back. Why don't you think one of the DMs should have taken up the covering position?
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No mate, it's on Andros.
You need to watch the highlights again. Look at the state of play when Sheff Utd have the ball just inside in our half for the first goal. Eriksen is coming across to close the runner, both Paulino and Stambouli are deep middle, Davies is the one who is slightly caught square and (I think) Dier is the CB who doesn't see this and step up. I don't blame him there. I don't even blame Davies. Because look at the top of the picture and you will see the sub lurking in acres of space whilst Townsend is literally trotting back. I don't care how far up he is, he needs to CLOSE that space OFF as an optional ball across. As the ball is delivered there are actually 4 of ours on two of theirs; ball gets across. Verts has come across to cover Dier, so Walker has to come across to cover the other player. IF Townsend has tracked back, that is a harmless ball across the box which no-one gets too and we shepherd it out.

Second goal...as the ball is pumped forward, two men are onto the passer. The back line is slightly flat, but again, Adams is just sitting wide whilst Townsend is drifting in the middle of the field in no-man's land simply not looking around him or being aware of his job at that point, which is to COVER! Like Lamela spent the entire game doing extremely well. As the ball hits the front wide-right, all the geezer has to do is swing it across and he will be aware that ANY half-decent ball leaves Sheff Utd with an extra man because Townsend is simply walking...we do a decent job slowing the man down, he has to link about to beat Davies, we have shut off any clear avenues of space for him to play the ball into except, hang on! WHO's that man at the back? He receives and checks back as someone makes a run for him, Townsend looks up from just outside the box, bricks himself because he KNOWS he's failed to track the man again, and the guy has so much time to slot the ball in it hurts.

I would add that the first goal could have seen a better bit of presence from Vorm, but I am fast learning not to expect that...
 
Pirate55 said:
I think you will find that Townsend was playing AM! He was adequately neutralizing his full back. Why don't you think one of the DMs should have taken up the covering position?
Click to expand...
For the same reason I don't think Rose or Vorm should have been out there covering - it's not what they're supposed to be doing in that situation.
 
Pirate55 said:
And where should the DMs be?
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As a rather general rule of thumb I really do not think our defensive midfielders should find themselves wide of our right back when the opposition are attacking down our left. It seems to me that it would leave rather massive holes down the centre. Imagine if they had scored from a pass into central midfield or in front of the central defenders and one of our defensive midfielders had been found all the way over on the right side of Walker? I really don't think you would have been happy about that!

Pirate55 said:
I think you will find that Townsend was playing AM! He was adequately neutralizing his full back. Why don't you think one of the DMs should have taken up the covering position?
Click to expand...

Had Townsend played all game, I think that would have been fair. You cannot expect a winger/wide forward to get back and help out his full back against the opposing winger every time throughout a game and you can't really expect a player to reliably get back there every time late in the game when they're tiring.

When he came on, for Lamela who was working hard and playing alright, in a good - but somewhat edgy situation in a semi-final like that. Is it not really fair to expect a winger to put in a bit of an additional shift defensively and get back to cover some space behind him when necessary? Is that really too much of an ask? I don't think so. Bit harsh to put all the blame on Andros, but I really think we should be able to expect a bit more.
 
Pirate55 said:
Can you please provide a link if you want me to review these defensive lapses.
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Nope.

You can find them if you want to mate.

Just pointing out what I saw. If you feel motivated, go searching, otherwise trust me on this one ;)
(highlights are available on THTV and there's a 6 minute clip if you type a search into youtube)
 
braineclipse said:
As a rather general rule of thumb I really do not think our defensive midfielders should find themselves wide of our right back when the opposition are attacking down our left. It seems to me that it would leave rather massive holes down the centre. Imagine if they had scored from a pass into central midfield or in front of the central defenders and one of our defensive midfielders had been found all the way over on the right side of Walker? I really don't think you would have been happy about that!



Had Townsend played all game, I think that would have been fair. You cannot expect a winger/wide forward to get back and help out his full back against the opposing winger every time throughout a game and you can't really expect a player to reliably get back there every time late in the game when they're tiring.

When he came on, for Lamela who was working hard and playing alright, in a good - but somewhat edgy situation in a semi-final like that. Is it not really fair to expect a winger to put in a bit of an additional shift defensively and get back to cover some space behind him when necessary? Is that really too much of an ask? I don't think so. Bit harsh to put all the blame on Andros, but I really think we should be able to expect a bit more.
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I think that is precisely why Poch made the move. Lamela had worked his gonad*s off, was tiring, and Poch wanted to keep the engine up.
 
Yep, Townsend's fault

If you're brought on late, trying to prove a point, in a semi-final, trying to show you should play at Wembley... you don't just walk about, you track back.
 
Thanks for the link, Steve. I have reviewed the goals now and think Brain's analysis is fair. Still, I believe it is incorrect to put all the blame on Townsend. While he could undoubtedly have done better, the main culprit IMO was Walker who left the man he was marking on both occasions and didn't win the crucial ball. I also think Stambouli should have got back quicker for the first goal to fill in the gap left by Verts being dragged out. If he would have been central, then there would have been no need for Walker to have come inside and he could have concentrated on marking his own man, who scored the goal.

Anyhow, that's how I saw it. Townsend' s culpability was tangential. If he had dropped deeper into the penalty area, he would have invited his man further forward and not been available for a counter attack.Onwards and upwards . Great win today!
 
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