OMT - Tottenham Hotspur Dons v Watford Town

[Pirate55]

We are defensively frail at the moment. Think we need to go back to three at the back to solidify us. It will help Sanchez having both Verts abnd Toby there. It will also help our full backs - all of whom (bar Davies who is currently well out of form) to play to their natural attacking wing back strengths. Do it Poch - and do it now!

 

[Bedfordspurs]

We are defensively frail at the moment. Think we need to go back to three at the back to solidify us. It will help Sanchez having both Verts abnd Toby there. It will also help our full backs - all of whom (bar Davies who is currently well out of form) to play to their natural attacking wing back strengths. Do it Poch - and do it now!

But then out attack becomes brick

 

[SteveAWOL]

Glad to see that the OS has match highlights, as didn’t realise that Carabao Cup is being shown on some channel by the name of Quest which doesn’t even have catchup service available on TiVo

 

[Pirate55]

But then out attack becomes brick

It's pretty brick ATM in case you hadn't noticed!

 

[milo]

We are defensively frail at the moment. Think we need to go back to three at the back to solidify us. It will help Sanchez having both Verts abnd Toby there. It will also help our full backs - all of whom (bar Davies who is currently well out of form) to play to their natural attacking wing back strengths. Do it Poch - and do it now!

I don't think that you can read too much into a performance by a scratch side in a competition that is our lowest priority.

 

[Pirate55]

I don't think that you can read too much into a performance by a scratch side in a competition that is our lowest priority.

We have been defensively frail almost all season.

 

[Baleforce]

If anything, it will help Toby and Verts to have Sanchez back there to deal with any attacker who uses the genius tactic of running.

 

[Spurs7891]

Happy to see us win and progress to the next round of the League Cup. But it was another unconvincing Cup match under Pochettino. We had to come from behind to lead, only to concede the late goal to bring the match to penalties. We have a shyte record in penalties but fortunately for us we won this time. We have been involved in 15 penalty shoot outs in history and this is only the 4th time we have won the penalties ! As expected we rested many regulars and that affected the balance of the team as usual. I think the biggest mistake was starting without Kane or Llorente as the regular striker. Even with Moura and Lamela in good goal scoring form, our attack were toothless until Llorente came on late in the second half.

It was always risky to start without any recognized striker especially when we lack regular goal scorers. Fortunately, we were inspired by the individual brilliance of Lamela yet again. It was Lamela's inch perfect pass which forced the Watford defender to foul Alli from which Alli scored the penalty for our first goal. Lamela then started and finished the attack for our 2nd goal. Credit to Dembele for the perfect pass to Lamela scored the well-taken goal. For once, all our penalties were perfect as Son, Lamela, Llorente and Alli scored their penalties. Was worried about Lamela taking the penalties as he was the only one missing the penalty when we beat Hull 8-7 in penalties in the League Cup Round 4 match in 2013-14. Credit to Lamela for having the guts to take the penalty despite missing previously. This means Lamela becomes the first ever Spurs player to be involved in 2 penalty shoot outs which we won ! Vertonghen, Kane and Dembele also scored in the 8-7 penalty win over Hull but they were not involved this time.

Our midfield had a mixed match. We played well in patches but looked unconvincing at times. Good to see Wanyama and Sissoko returning from injuries. But as expected they looked rusty. Dembele did well to assist the goal for Lamela but he still didn't look at his best. In fact, Dembele made a few mistakes which put our goal in danger. Still not fully convinced of Winks but he had a decent match.

Our defence can't seem to keep the cleat sheet nowadays. We have now conceded 9 goals in our last 5 matches. It was annoying the to concede another 2 goals in this match, especially the second goal. Just when we thought we had won the match, we had to concede late in the match. We had enough time to block both the goals but we were too slow to react. Sanchez always seems to get panic whenever he is under pressure. Alderweireld made a few crucial blocks but we still looked shakey in defence. Credit to Gazzaniga for saving the 2 penalties. He was unlucky to concede the second goal which was deflected by Davies into goal but he looked assured apart from that. Hope Pochettino will make Gazzaniga as our second choice goalie above Vorm.

Despite this win, still not fully convinced Pochettino will take the Cup competitions seriously this season. He took big risk by resting many regulars and starting without any striker against a fellow PL team like Watford. We were fortunate to win the penalties this time but we cannot rely on luck all the time. We need to show more effort if we want to do well in the Cup competitions this season.