*** OMT Tottenham Hotspur FC v Aston Villa ***

[Bullet]

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[fernadez]

View attachment 20640
This is grim
Like really really bad
We have great coaches
We have players who can play football
But not using the centre of the pitch, again, at home is just bad bad tactics

2 things

Said during the game that Tel and Odobert were playing the same position. Only one should start and neither of them should start up front.

Second Xavi spent the game too high up with his back to goal in spaces impossible for him to receive the ball. Who's fault that is no idea. But there was no way to play through the middle as there was nobody to pass to. It reminded me of those Maddison performances where he goes missing. For me playing in that position you need to go and find the ball if it's not coming to you,

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Agreed, you would think our closing down would be good with Palhinha and Bentancur in DM.

I've noticed VdV likes to turn sideways, put his hands behind his back, bend forwards and stick his back leg out like a badger. Meanwhile the attacker shifts it and bends it round him. Personally I don't see why VdV tries to do that move, it is very passive and the attacker just uses him as a guide; for me VdV should be rushing out and staying 'head on' rather than doing this dance.


We did have a couple of good chances that we muffed or air shot, it could have gone our way and then people would be praising us.

My biggest gripe, as always, is the late and slow subs. When the team are clearly blowing out of their arses because they've just flown around the world and played 2 tough matches for their countries, bring on the fresh legs. We have a deep squad, let's use that depth for more than a few minutes.

Also, if you think of our strongest recent attack with Son Kane Deki Madders and then swap in Solanke and Johnson last year... and then remove all 6 of those players... that is the forward line we are left with now.

He had the subs waiting
And waiting
And waiting
Really odd
And the lack of goals in the team is a really scary thing

 

[Bedfordspurs]

2 things

Said during the game that Tel and Odobert were playing the same position. Only one should start and neither of them should start up front.

Second Xavi spent the game too high up with his back to goal in spaces impossible for him to receive the ball. Who's fault that is no idea. But there was no way to play through the middle as there was nobody to pass to. It reminded me of those Maddison performances where he goes missing. For me playing in that position you need to go and find the ball if it's not coming to you,

I’d say that Romero would try to find him
I think from some other data I saw Pedro was the guy who found him the most

 

[DeanoAustin]

Treat people as nothing but revenue streams and the result is that they will treat what they're paying for as a product and as such expect a certain level of satisfaction.

Only way to reverse that is to make people feel valued as more then a replaceable figure on a balance sheet.

Serious question, what do you expect the club to do that they aren’t currently doing? And what did they do in the 60s/70s/80s etc to make people feel valued that they aren’t doing now?

 

[Baleforce]

He had the subs waiting
And waiting
And waiting
Really odd
And the lack of goals in the team is a really scary thing

he did, it did seem like the ball stayed in play for ages though, and then they had a corner, which is a bad time to make changes

 

[thfcsteff]

I hope we wont have to wait until 31st January for a new LWF solution. Nothing we have tried there so far has really worked

...I hear there's an experienced world class forward in LA who has a 'temp clause' in his deal allowing a short-term move to another club in the Jan window hahahahahahah...

 

[thfcsteff]

I think out of all the games to start Palinha and Bentancur together (other than against City and Liverpool) it was this one. Villa play with a narrow 4 in midfield and like to attack through the middle, so I think their selection made sense.

Ultimately though I think we can’t be too upset with this result. Their second goal was incredible. 3 unbelievable actions in a row. I don’t hate losing to something like this. I just wish we took our chances better.

Still trying to work out whether it’s an us under Frank thing or whether the league is just like this now, but we’re very reliant on direct play. We have to get the luck of the bounce and we simply have to take our chances when they fall our way. I know this is considered smart percentage football but it feels to me a bit like ceding control, making games like this a coin flip and so these sorts of results can happen.

Frank likes to create chances via crosses. He's always been very clear about that. I personally like to see chances created on the deck/channels as well as from crosses; I hope that comes when the likes of Deki are fit. I think you're right re: coin-flip games, and Frank's post match comments actually support that. He essentially said this was the game he was expecting. In which case, my question would be why we/he could not find the extra ounce of personality or tactical/sub deployment to make decisive moves at 1-1 when the game was sitting to there to won. Villa made two decisive attacking changes on the 60th minute, we made one. We're the home team. I think these are details worth looking at?

 

[thfcsteff]

View attachment 20640
This is grim
Like really really bad
We have great coaches
We have players who can play football
But not using the centre of the pitch, again, at home is just bad bad tactics

When Romero doesn't play, we pay.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

When Romero doesn't play, we pay.

But you can’t have an attacking model based on one centre back

 

[mudshark]

Lightweight and shot-shy.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Lightweight and shot-shy.

Shot shy because the ball is always wide

 

[thfcsteff]

2 things

Said during the game that Tel and Odobert were playing the same position. Only one should start and neither of them should start up front.

Second Xavi spent the game too high up with his back to goal in spaces impossible for him to receive the ball. Who's fault that is no idea. But there was no way to play through the middle as there was nobody to pass to. It reminded me of those Maddison performances where he goes missing. For me playing in that position you need to go and find the ball if it's not coming to you,

He moves into pockets of space all over the place a fair amount. We lack the speed and nous of passing and movement to take advantage of him right now. Let's hope that synergy develops, but how many times did Xavi get the ball and there was no great option around him...

 

[thfcsteff]

But you can’t have an attacking model based on one centre back

Of course not. Hopefully that should be obvious. But it is also a fact that right now, our attacking model is based on wide players getting balls into the box; if you want passing from the deeper positions, it is all Romero.

 

[thfcsteff]

Shot shy because the ball is always wide

I counted at least four times when between them, Odobert, Xavi, and Tel drifted inside, had a pocket of space and rather than look for goal decided to either lay off square or try to jink across for a 'cleaner' shot.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Of course not. Hopefully that should be obvious. But it is also a fact that right now, our attacking model is based on wide players getting balls into the box; if you want passing from the deeper positions, it is all Romero.

In the box to a CF who isn’t there
It’s really really basic stuff
He can fix it
I really like Frank
Bug he has to be brave and do it quickly

 

[Bedfordspurs]

I counted at least four times when between them, Odobert, Xavi, and Tel drifted inside, had a pocket of space and rather than look for goal decided to either lay off square or try to jink across for a 'cleaner' shot.

It’s tactical
It’s the ask form the coaches

 

[Bishop]

When Romero doesn't play, we pay.

Remember I said to you before it's a broken model when you're relying on a CB to essentially be your "playmaker."

Id like to see a ball playing 8 added to the squad as well as a quality LWF and CF. Until we have these things I think the side will always look somewhat unbalanced and missing something.

 

[harr1984]

Of course not. Hopefully that should be obvious. But it is also a fact that right now, our attacking model is based on wide players getting balls into the box; if you want passing from the deeper positions, it is all Romero.

I don't get it, it's such a basic tactic just throwing it into the box and why? Who are we hoping to get on the end of all these crosses? Tel? Odobert? Simons? I would have understand if we had a couple of attacking aerial beasts but we don't.

We look very one dimensional and if the excuse for a lack of creativity is missing Romero then that says it all....

 

[thfcsteff]

In the box to a CF who isn’t there
It’s really really basic stuff
He can fix it
I really like Frank
Bug he has to be brave and do it quickly

I think that's the subtext of what people are saying???
Look, let's be honest, we have not found any way to utilize our top scorer last season. If Solanke was fit, I'd get it. But we are in a position where Richy is sadly proving me wrong (I thought he'd stepped up), Tel is a student, and Muani has been crocked, yet we have not even tried to adapt play to use Johnson through the middle and look to get him, Xavi and Kudus working as a triangle which utilizes quick passing into channels and in behind. Villa played with that high high line; what better a moment to see if we can either pop balls in behind via VdV and Porro for Brennan, or to play an extra carrier such as Lucas or Pape to make those 20-30 yards and find Johnson on the floor? It would at least be worth trying IMO...

I think there's a lot going on, and I think the manager is dealing with a lot he has never dealt with before. It is going to take him some time to find his groove/get things very right.