*** OMT Tottenham Hotspur FC v Brentford FC ***

[Bedfordspurs]

And yet I think he is rotating the squad like he's always managed 2 games a week, which is impressive and is always on his mind no doubt. I also think he has managed the injury situation very well. Yesterday was a sign we are starting to see some confidence return. Special mention to Archie Gray, Xavi Simons and Mo Kudus. They were outstanding yesterday. As we're the crowd.

Having Destiny injured, again… is just nuts
We play with so few left footers it’s not actually healthy against good sides who will force players onto their right
DJed was top drawer yesterday but I don’t see other teams allowing him to run at them like he did yesterday

 

[K.D.D.D.D.Soc]

I think a lot of the comments on here show we can see a lot of potential in many of the players but there's not much agreement on what the starting XI should be or set up.
I think it's down to a few reasons, new players adapting to club and league, injuries, rotation, personal form and confidence. Along with new manager learning about them and what they can do.
As long as we don't fall into the relegation zone by new year I think we have to be patient and be ready to accept we are out of our depth in CL at present and its putting too much pressure on the team and manager.

 

[braineclipse]

As much as I've been pushing for patience re Frank i wont get too excited over todays performance as i think Brentford were really quite poor, especially wrt standing off our midfielders. If everyone gave us time and space on the ball we'd have looked better in previous matches too. Today was encouraging, but we need to see how we cope when the opposition are battling more - i have reservations about our options for a CM2 and the ability to handle that, i liked what I saw from Gray and would like to see how he fares in this setup against a team more on it

Yeah, difficult to say how much of that was us being better and them being poor. I also noticed the standing off. But none the less a good performance, and both ball progression and chance creation was good.

I definitely want to see more of Gray in a role like that. Maybe it will be more against teams we don't expect to be very good for now, but he offers a lot that we otherwise miss.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Yeah, difficult to say how much of that was us being better and them being poor. I also noticed the standing off. But none the less a good performance, and both ball progression and chance creation was good.

I definitely want to see more of Gray in a role like that. Maybe it will be more against teams we don't expect to be very good for now, but he offers a lot that we otherwise miss.

Well yesterday was the first time we have played a team that played midweek, when we did, and we had a day extra rest.
That’s possibly helped us (no way of knowing)
And the changes Frank made to the line up made us a better side with the ball

 

[braineclipse]

Well that was better today. Still a lot of frustrating moments when we refuse to pass forwards to open players.
But a lot better.

I'm still frustrated at Frank's use of subs. He waits far too long, several players blowing out their arses in the red zone, then the subs get 10 minutes which is pretty crap for them too after a week of training.

And it is bizarre to use only 4 subs, why not give a run out to one of Bergvall, Johnson, Tel? For one of Xavi/ Richie/ Gray? I guess Frank feels they were all vital and playing well, but Richie in particular was so deep into his red zone he'd gone into the crimson, then purple, then was edging into the violet.

I suppose Frank wanted Richie to head away late corners? But he can't play every game, he shouldn't start midweek for me. We know his injury history.

Palhinha 65
Odobert 74
Sarr 80
Danso 81

Agree that this seemed a bit strange.

Perhaps with our recent problems with form and results seeing this game out and getting a clean sheet was seen as more important for Frank?

Perhaps also somewhat reluctant to have too many of the younger players on the pitch at the same time when a single goal for them would make it a really high pressures situation?

 

[harr1984]

And yet I think he is rotating the squad like he's always managed 2 games a week, which is impressive and is always on his mind no doubt. I also think he has managed the injury situation very well. Yesterday was a sign we are starting to see some confidence return. Special mention to Archie Gray, Xavi Simons and Mo Kudus. They were outstanding yesterday. As we're the crowd.

Have always thought he's rotated well, oddly we still pick up injuries regardless

A lot of us were more confident once we saw the team sheet. At home to Brentford should definitely be playing our footballers eg Gray and Simons in midfield. I hope Frank has learnt that whilst there will be times a Bent/Palhinha midfield will have its uses we are much better served with more forward thinking midfielders.

Not going to get carried away, we've been here a few times before saying we will kick on from here and haven't. But hopefully Frank will use this as the template to go forward with and improve. Well done Frank and the whole team, solid and encouraging....

 

[lurker of old]

My first game for ages, and took my adult nephew to his first game. What are a refreshing change to see us on the front foot, winning fairly comfortably and Xavi and Gray looking like they have found their mojo. Disagree that the crowd were good though. We fans are always too lazy and passive against teams we are expected to beat - the night-time atmosphere on Tuesday will be much much better.

 

[braineclipse]

Have alwaus thought he's rotated well, oddly we still pick up injuries regardless

A lot of us were more confident once we saw the team sheet. At home to Brentford should definitely be playing our footballers eg Gray and Simons in midfield. I hope Frank has learnt that whilst there will be times a Bent/Palhinha midfield will have its uses we are much better served with more forward thinking midfielders.

Not going to get carried away, we've been here a few times before saying we will kick on from here and haven't. But hopefully Frank will use this as the template to go forward with and improve. Well done Frank and the whole team, solid and encouraging....

I agree, but still maintain that it's not just Palhinha and Bentancur, it's them and Sarr. And of the three of them Bentancur is the best "footballer".

 

[Bullet]

I would excuse Romero for that silly tackle from behind - he let his emotions get the better of him but it could have easily been a red because he wasn't in control and fortunate to get a solid contact with the ball

That could be a sliding doors moment for Thomas Frank.
A bit like Kane's rubbish deflected freekick against Villa saving Poch from the sack.
A red card for Romero there and we would have shrank back and faced a barrage.

Romero used to fight with Richie because he is Brazilian.
Romero has fights with Guimaraes because he is Brazilian.
Romero mullered Thiago from behind because he is Brazilian.

This has to stop; by all means Romero can secretly try harder against Brazilians and apply a bit more steel, but smashing through Brazilians, wrestling, provoking, it will end in red cards soon.

It's getting to the point I scan the next fixture to see which Brazilians we are facing.
Slavia Prague don't have any.
But Forest have loads; obviously big Murillo who will be a match for Romero, plus also Jesus Cunha Luiz Cuiabano Victor Morato.

 

[Lemonade Money]

That could be a sliding doors moment for Thomas Frank.
A bit like Kane's rubbish deflected freekick against Villa saving Poch from the sack.
A red card for Romero there and we would have shrank back and faced a barrage.

Romero used to fight with Richie because he is Brazilian.
Romero has fights with Guimaraes because he is Brazilian.
Romero mullered Thiago from behind because he is Brazilian.

This has to stop; by all means Romero can secretly try harder against Brazilians and apply a bit more steel, but smashing through Brazilians, wrestling, provoking, it will end in red cards soon.

It's getting to the point I scan the next fixture to see which Brazilians we are facing.
Slavia Prague don't have any.
But Forest have loads; obviously big Murillo who will be a match for Romero, plus also Jesus Cunha Luiz Cuiabano Victor Morato.

Just tell him they are all Brazilians.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

My first game for ages, and took my adult nephew to his first game. What are a refreshing change to see us on the front foot, winning fairly comfortably and Xavi and Gray looking like they have found their mojo. Disagree that the crowd were good though. We fans are always too lazy and passive against teams we are expected to beat - the night-time atmosphere on Tuesday will be much much better.

That was the best atmosphere at home for a league game in an long while I

 

[K.D.D.D.D.Soc]

That could be a sliding doors moment for Thomas Frank.
A bit like Kane's rubbish deflected freekick against Villa saving Poch from the sack.
A red card for Romero there and we would have shrank back and faced a barrage.

Romero used to fight with Richie because he is Brazilian.
Romero has fights with Guimaraes because he is Brazilian.
Romero mullered Thiago from behind because he is Brazilian.

This has to stop; by all means Romero can secretly try harder against Brazilians and apply a bit more steel, but smashing through Brazilians, wrestling, provoking, it will end in red cards soon.

It's getting to the point I scan the next fixture to see which Brazilians we are facing.
Slavia Prague don't have any.
But Forest have loads; obviously big Murillo who will be a match for Romero, plus also Jesus Cunha Luiz Cuiabano Victor Morato.

I find it so annoying when Romero gets selected for a booking for such tackles after watching years of every hairyarsed thug kick through Kane without even getting a freekick.

 

[Muttley]

For my part, if your post was in kind a response to mine, is that I'm coming at it from the angle wrt the players in midfields ability to play more expansive football, rather than Frank's desire or ability to line us up that way - i think a 4231 with our options for CM is a bit of a concern - today doesn't change that for me given how Brentford themselves played and not really testing us in that area

lol - yeah, I think your "excited" comment definitely got me asking myself whether I was or not. I clearly was, and can honestly say I've missed Sunday mornings when we've had a good win on a Saturday afternoon. Life is always that much better.

I do agree with you on the midfield although what I would say is that every game these kids play they get one step closer to managing the tougher midfield environments. Ditto with Xavi's assimilation to his new environment.

I found it interesting yesterday that Frank made 6 changes to his side from the midweek game. Brentford made 5. Even with a few missing through injury, that showed how deep our squad actually is. Frank will naturally play the mature heads in the tougher games and we'll probably see that Pal / Bents partnership reformed. Most of all though Frank is trying to move an entire squad forward at the same rate. I felt with Ange that he was focusing on that "best" eleven and even after 2 years we couldn't make personnel changes without constant mishaps. Frank is hopefully going about it the right way. It's early days, but you do get the feeling that more solid foundations are in the works with Frank.

 

[Robspur12]

Have always thought he's rotated well, oddly we still pick up injuries regardless

A team playing the number of games we do will always pick up some injuries. But aside from the long termers, TF is managing it better than we did this time last season and the turn around to bring those injured players back seems faster.
I don't want to speak too soon of course as the season has a long way to go. But take the 2 main CBs for example, at this stage in the last 2 seasons they were out and out for a long time.

And it's not just about Ange before everyone jumps down my throat, Poch used to push players until their bodies broke (some of that was because he didn't have many rotational options). I think so far TF and his team are managing the players game time really well as well as their recovery that's helping the injury situation.

 

[Muttley]

Having Destiny injured, again… is just nuts
We play with so few left footers it’s not actually healthy against good sides who will force players onto their right
DJed was top drawer yesterday but I don’t see other teams allowing him to run at them like he did yesterday

I don't think Djed was in the first phased of the game. I remember making comments about his decision making and output. Then all of a sudden something clicked and he was outstanding as he grew into the game. By the end, you felt he could have played for another 30 mins at that intensity.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

I don't think Djed was in the first phased of the game. I remember making comments about his decision making and output. Then all of a sudden something clicked and he was outstanding as he grew into the game. By the end, you felt he could have played for another 30 mins at that intensity.

Yeah he could have
They didn’t have the legs or the outballs
But he also had cover behind in Archie giving him the freedom and possibly the confidence to do what we was doing and trying

 

[Muttley]

A team playing the number of games we do will always pick up some injuries. But aside from the long termers, TF is managing it better than we did this time last season and the turn around to bring those injured players back seems faster.
I don't want to speak too soon of course as the season has a long way to go. But take the 2 main CBs for example, at this stage in the last 2 seasons they were out and out for a long time.

And it's not just about Ange before everyone jumps down my throat, Poch used to push players until their bodies broke (some of that was because he didn't have many rotational options). I think so far TF and his team are managing the players game time really well as well as their recovery that's helping the injury situation.

I hear you. Would our lack of intensity in the early part of the season be where Frank was feeling his way around the squad and ensuring that he got them all fit for selection rather than in the treatment room? Then as that evolved he upped the intensity to what we saw yesterday.

 

[Muttley]

Yeah he could have
They didn’t have the legs or the outballs
But he also had cover behind in Archie giving him the freedom and possibly the confidence to do what we was doing and trying

So, so important for Archie to have that level of game knowing that Sarr is imminently off to AFCON.

 

[Gilzeantoscore]

We were okay, but they were brick. Brentford are the worst side I have watched so far this year.

 

[Robspur12]

I hear you. Would our lack of intensity in the early part of the season be where Frank was feeling his way around the squad and ensuring that he got them all fit for selection rather than in the treatment room? Then as that evolved he upped the intensity to what we saw yesterday.

I don't think it's just one thing . It's a combination of managing game time, lowering intensity and possibly he's benefiting from the medical team having the experience of last year and changing things this year. Of course, I'm not party to what is happening behind the scenes. It's early days but in the list of positives I've made for TF, I credit him and his team with managing injuries reasonably well so far. Famous last words of course.