Great win, but a couple of worries. Harry Kane. i know he has been scoring like clockwork as usual, but he seems to have lost some sharpness. Poor today in terms of goal threat and even in recent games where he has scored, Kane has hit one when he should have had three. Lamela. Poor. poor, poor! Back to his worst. hanging on to the ball too long, taking too many touches and not playing the early ball. Son and Moura are much better options, as both are pacey and direct. Sissoko was better than Lamela.
I agree. It was a bit of a weird game. We played well as a team, but I think it was one where the system got us through, as individually there were a lot of below par performances, mainly to do with slackness on the ball. Son was great, Alli was good, and it was nice to see Aurier have a solid game.
Kane - it has to be said he played an absolutely world class pass which he has managed to normalise. But other than that, he did look less sharp. Overly keen to get shots off and not in the right areas. He’s allowed one of those games every now and then though of course.
Lamela - shame that it was the worst game I’ve seen from him since he’s been back. Shielding the ball but not doing it successfully. The wrong passing option almost every time. Hopefully that’s out of his system quickly, because he is much better than that.
Sissoko - I thought had a really good cameo. On the ball, fine. But there was a point that summed up his value to the squad. Last 5 mins, Eriksen has the ball, Davies bombs forward and Eriksen tries a silly back heel that was never going to work. Davies is way out of position and we lose the ball. But who is there in the left back position making sure no danger really develops? It’s Sissoko, and that’s exactly what Poch was talking about, the play in transition, in this case attack to defence. Those sorts of things look simple, but they aren’t easy, and not all players are able to fill that kind of role because they don’t have the concentration.
Otherwise, Moura with a nice cameo. Jan and Sanchez good. Davies was another I thought was just really poor with the ball today and I expect better from him. Dembele and Dier fine.
