*** OMT Tottenham Hotspur v West Bromwich Albion ***

[Chachaboom]

When Poch went to Southampton they adopted his methods quite quickly.

At us seems like the players are clueless. Are our players not able to learn?

I wouldn't fancy them on the Krypton Factor put it that way.

 

[billyiddo]

When Poch went to Southampton they adopted his methods quite quickly.

At us seems like the players are clueless. Are our players not able to learn?

The team looked like they knew what they were doing last week against Sunderland

 

[jurgen lineker]

we simply cannot succeed in the modern game without a midfielder who can pass the ball quickly and intelligently. if anything its more difficult against lower tier teams who play 8 compact players defending. the odd time we drew them out of position and had a spare man in the final 3rd, our final pass was poor quality.
if we stick with dembele, capoue and paulinho then we will have this every week - laboured passes to feet with no penetration.

we are desperate for schnederlin and jay rodriguez. if these two were playing today we would a) penetrate more and b) get in behind alot more.

whoever is responsible for our current crop of players has a lot to answer for.

Spot on.

With the current crop we have available at the moment it might be an idea to play with 3 in the middle of midfield in order to create a role for Eriksen where he is in a position to pick up the ball a little further back so that he is in a position where he can help orchestrate play and construct moves at an earlier stage. I guess this could be done with a 2 in the middle also but i'm not so sure Eriksen has the discipline or the work-rate to play that role.

I could be wrong but i'm not entirely sure he is the type that enjoys the advanced role all that much, i reckon he'd be more comfortable in a position where the play is ahead of him and where he gets a little more time on the ball.

 

[Jurgen the German]

players had played together for a few years, mix in with that a system they had in process before that left them organised.

Which makes chopping and changing the managers so often even more perplexing/stupid.

 

[superspurs]

We played the game as if all we had to do was turn up and win, happens a few times every season for as long as I can remember.

WBA out run us and put more effort in, they deserved their win.

 

[Mumorn]

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino believes his sides’ slow start cost them as West Brom came away from White Hart Lane with a 1-0 win this afternoon.A Europa League hangover is another excuse possibly on offer as Spurs had to travel to Belgrade for a clash on Thursday night, their first of six group games this side of Christmas.

However, Pochettino was not open to blaming a lack of energy as Albion impressed on the day and deserved their narrow win.

The Spurs boss feels a draw may have been a fair result but was not happy with his teams’ showing, making it back-to-back home defeats and no win in four games in all competitions for the north Londoners.

“The beginning of the game was wrong,” a clearly agitated Pochettino said.

“We were very slow, we moved the ball very slow, there was a slow tempo. In football, you need to play quick.

“The way that we played, I think was wrong because we played very, very slow from the beginning.

“I am angry or disappointed - I don’t know the best word to show my feelings.

“We had a bad day. I am very disappointed because we had a very bad day, we played very slowly.

“During the game, the team looked very nervous. I think the result is not fair because I think a draw is, if you analyse the game.”

Pochettino refused to blame Thursday’s Europa League trip to Partizan Belgrade for the disappointing performance in a match he admitted he needed to “fix” their toothlessness in front of goal.

Spurs managed just one shot on target and looked flaky at the back, with the players not showing the same passion their manager did on the touchline.

“This is my surprise,” Pochettino said when it was suggested his players were subdued. “I think we need to show more.

“We need to show more because each and every game in the Premier League is difficult.

“Maybe West Brom arrived to White Hart Lane with only two points and last in the table, but we need to show respect.

“I believe that we were wrong in our way and we played very slow, there was a lack of movement. You need play football that is aggressive.

“We were wrong, we were wrong in this way. Always it is difficult when the opponent believes in themselves and you need to show that you are the best team in the way we play, always you put risk in your game.”

There were no such problems for West Brom, who fully deserved their win after a performance that belied their lowly position.

Joleon Lescott would have capped a fine debut with a first-half goal was it not for an unfortunate block by team-mate Craig Dawson, who should have won a penalty after his header was handled by Emmanuel Adebayor.

Hugo Lloris was also tested on a number of occasions but West Brom were not to be denied a first league win under Irvine.

Eyebrows were raised when the Scot was named Pepe Mel’s successor in the summer, with the Baggies’ alarming start to the season exacerbating fans’ concerns.

“Watching Match of the Day last night, the table didn’t look very nice,” Irvine said of the pressure.

“When you’ve got a game in hand, it does not necessarily mean you’re going to get the points from that game, especially when you are coming to White Hart Lane.

“I suppose I would be lying if I said there wasn’t an element of relief, but the over-riding emotion is one of real pleasure for the players, for the club as a whole, everybody involved and, of course, for our fans. I am more pleased than relieved.”

 

[SteveAWOL]

At least it's 1 more shot on target than the team managed on Thursday... 8-[

@StatsZone: #THFC 0-1 #WBA http://fft.sm/3dKUz8 Baggies' first win at the Lane since 1984; Spurs register just 1 shot on target

 

[markysimmo]

Well that was good

 

[thfcsteff]

The thing is, Soldado has great close control and a good first touch, but he also seems to like dropping deeper than everyone else at the start and in the middle of breakaways. At the moment he doesn't seem comfortable leading the line, preferring to be part of the build-up. Now, that in itself isn't a deal breaker for him: if we had a fluid front four, I think he could play the 'Lambert' role to perfection, dropping deep, taking defenders with him and then turning and slipping through passes into the vacated space for the onrushing Lamela/Chadli (wide forwards) to run onto. But we don't have that fluidity yet: you can see the players trying one-twos and passes into space, but at present it isn't working because of the lack of chemistry between the three.

Ade's good for now, due to the state of the team: I agree with that. But the more pressing concerns are these:

1) We don't have pace in the side beyond Lamela (who seems intent on cutting inside, thus negating his speed somewhat) and Rose. Walker's pace enough to offer us more attacking width once he returns to the RB slot, but his injury troubles concern me.
2) The centre of our defense. Christ on a bike, the insanity and terrifying demonic rituals that go on in that area.....
3) We're not yet pressing as a unit, and
4) There is no leadership on the field.

Now, number one necessitates the arrival of a genuinely pacy left-wing forward at some point. Chadli's a good option there, but his inability to beat Pocognoli in that one-on-one is symptomatic of the overall problem with playing him in end-to-end situations. Rodriguez would have been great, Depay likewise, but...well, The Game is About Positive Net Spend and all that. There'll be no movement in January for painfully obvious reasons, so we'll just have to hope Townsend improves enough to offer us that option this season. Number two, again, could have been solved this summer, but we missed out on both our first and second choices and ended up release-clausing the relatively cheap Fazio, so how he works out is anyone's guess. Three will come with time, I feel: four, I don't know how to solve.

Agreed mate.

 

[thfcsteff]

Full credit to the manager. He sees it and is unafraid to say without calling anyone out. Nicely done. Here's to acting on it.

 

[Jurgen the German]

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino believes his sides’ slow start cost them as West Brom came away from White Hart Lane with a 1-0 win this afternoon.A Europa League hangover is another excuse possibly on offer as Spurs had to travel to Belgrade for a clash on Thursday night, their first of six group games this side of Christmas.

However, Pochettino was not open to blaming a lack of energy as Albion impressed on the day and deserved their narrow win.

The Spurs boss feels a draw may have been a fair result but was not happy with his teams’ showing, making it back-to-back home defeats and no win in four games in all competitions for the north Londoners.

“The beginning of the game was wrong,” a clearly agitated Pochettino said.

“We were very slow, we moved the ball very slow, there was a slow tempo. In football, you need to play quick.

“The way that we played, I think was wrong because we played very, very slow from the beginning.

“I am angry or disappointed - I don’t know the best word to show my feelings.

“We had a bad day. I am very disappointed because we had a very bad day, we played very slowly.

“During the game, the team looked very nervous. I think the result is not fair because I think a draw is, if you analyse the game.”

Pochettino refused to blame Thursday’s Europa League trip to Partizan Belgrade for the disappointing performance in a match he admitted he needed to “fix” their toothlessness in front of goal.

Spurs managed just one shot on target and looked flaky at the back, with the players not showing the same passion their manager did on the touchline.

“This is my surprise,” Pochettino said when it was suggested his players were subdued. “I think we need to show more.

“We need to show more because each and every game in the Premier League is difficult.

“Maybe West Brom arrived to White Hart Lane with only two points and last in the table, but we need to show respect.

“I believe that we were wrong in our way and we played very slow, there was a lack of movement. You need play football that is aggressive.

“We were wrong, we were wrong in this way. Always it is difficult when the opponent believes in themselves and you need to show that you are the best team in the way we play, always you put risk in your game.”

There were no such problems for West Brom, who fully deserved their win after a performance that belied their lowly position.

Joleon Lescott would have capped a fine debut with a first-half goal was it not for an unfortunate block by team-mate Craig Dawson, who should have won a penalty after his header was handled by Emmanuel Adebayor.

Hugo Lloris was also tested on a number of occasions but West Brom were not to be denied a first league win under Irvine.

Eyebrows were raised when the Scot was named Pepe Mel’s successor in the summer, with the Baggies’ alarming start to the season exacerbating fans’ concerns.

“Watching Match of the Day last night, the table didn’t look very nice,” Irvine said of the pressure.

“When you’ve got a game in hand, it does not necessarily mean you’re going to get the points from that game, especially when you are coming to White Hart Lane.

“I suppose I would be lying if I said there wasn’t an element of relief, but the over-riding emotion is one of real pleasure for the players, for the club as a whole, everybody involved and, of course, for our fans. I am more pleased than relieved.”

He's right, except when he said a draw would have been a fair result.

 

[thfcsteff]

I hope he installs Vertonghen and Fazio and persists with them going forward. Didn't think Kaboul or Chiriches were good enough before today and what we saw from them this afternoon has only strengthened my views.

I agree, those two need to be given a run as our CBs...

 

[Baleforce]

time to give soldado a run as well, Ade has shown nothing this season

 

[Jordinho]

Full credit to the manager. He sees it and is unafraid to say without calling anyone out. Nicely done. Here's to acting on it.

If he saw it early on, why didn't it change? Why did it stay that way for the full 90 minutes?

 

[Jurgen the German]

time to give soldado a run as well, Ade has shown nothing this season

Yeah this too.

 

[Modric THFC]

If he saw it early on, why didn't it change? Why did it stay that way for the full 90 minutes?

****ing this.
What the **** was he doing starting Kaboul and Chiriches.
The team fell apart from there.
We couldn't press because we had no base. When Kaboul and Chiriches pushed up they were vulnerable in behind.
We couldn't press because they always had an out ball causing Kaboul and Chiriches all sorts of problems.

So we started to drop off. We couldnt get possession. Our game fell apart.

 

[Spurs@HKMaOnShan]

****ing this.
What the **** was he doing starting Kaboul and Chiriches.
The team fell apart from there.
We couldn't press because we had no base. When Kaboul and Chiriches pushed up they were vulnerable in behind.
We couldn't press because they always had an out ball causing Kaboul and Chiriches all sorts of problems.

So we started to drop off. We couldnt get possession. Our game fell apart.

rose is a problem too, he offered no support to Chirecash

 

[Hemant]

I think that's all perfectly logical. Inverted wide forwards would give us three men attacking the box instead of just the lone forward or the two up top, while also getting the wing-backs bombing down the outside to provide width. Persisting with 4-2-3-1 will give us a familiarity with the system Poch is most familiar with, which will in turn help him understand when things are going wrong more easily than he could perhaps do should we just switch to Sherwood-style tactics-less 4-4-2 up to the big man malarkey. Playing from the back...well, I'm surprised you think that's illogical given what this club supposedly stands for.

There will be a long period where we'll struggle to adapt to his system. Does that mean that the process is worthless? No f*cking way. There's more fluidity and movement on display in Poch's system than there ever was under AVB. That alone reassures me that things will get better down the line.

3 wide men attacking the box or inside the box? How many times have we had that this season? Are we scoring more goals now than under AVBs 4-2-3-1? My hope that POCH was going to make the system work was based on seeing the fluid high intensity pressing that he tried at Toronto, but he has lost Holtby and it seemed to work with Lennon, Lamela and Eriksen, but it was essentially Lennon and Lamela's energy which allowed it. That seems to have disappeared.
Playing from the back should be the first option, especially for Spurs' traditional style, but not every time, at times you need to clear your lines. If Chiriches had done so today rather than try to control the ball and gave away a needless corner than we would not have conceded. Watching POch's training session in Toronto, he spent a lot of time getting the ball to be played to CB, then to keeper, then to FBs near touch line, all it succeeds in doing is conceding possession in your own half. OK to do this if there is space but not if opposition is pressing you.
Also, you speak of wing-back's, sorry to make this work you might need, as someone said on another thread, Cafu and Roberto Carlos, at their peak. The system is asking too much of our FBs, Rose did well today but he only had one player in the box to aim for when he crossed.
As I said, I hope things do get better down the line but to not criticise Poch until we get relegated, I have a word for that:
'B@@@@@s!

 

[Modric THFC]

rose is a problem too, he offered no support to Chirecash

I think Vertonghen is gonna end up playing out the left again once Poch realises that his best back four is Walker Dier Fazio Vertonghen

 

[Joesh]

****ing this.
What the **** was he doing starting Kaboul and Chiriches.
The team fell apart from there.
We couldn't press because we had no base. When Kaboul and Chiriches pushed up they were vulnerable in behind.
We couldn't press because they always had an out ball causing Kaboul and Chiriches all sorts of problems.

So we started to drop off. We couldnt get possession. Our game fell apart.

Agreed, I'd love to have heard the half time team talk as it seemed to have no effect at all. I was expecting us to come out firing second half and instead it was more of the same. He is talking like it was out of his control, we started with the same weak attitude many times last season. He must be aware of this and especially against teams like West Brom, you can't let them dictate the game and grow in confidence.

36,000 people could see we were playing too slow, this guy is our manager - he is the only person who can change our game. Why no subs at half time?? Why start with those 2 cb's??? Yes, Poch we too are surprised and disappointed...