***OMT TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR vs KAA Gent - 2nd Leg***

[Bedfordspurs]

Son was good down the left, way better than Davies. Davies just isn't skillful enough to pose any genuine threat out wide. Son did great until he went right sided and central... as usual he should just stay left and jink about over there and either pass, shoot or win a penalty.

Son was good down the left and then went central and was toss

Son is a good player but he drifts around too much which doesn't help

 

[braineclipse]

Well today I do not think creativity was the issue, rather we had loads of chances that we just wasted

In the first half?

 

[Rorschach]

That I do not disagree with, it shows how weak our squad is

Certainly up front we are. Son can be a game changer but he is frustratingly inconsistent (tonight included). The Janssen transfer just hasn't worked and might never. I still think we'll persist with him for another season though.

 

[glorygloryeze]

But we can be positive. The oldest attacker player is how old? Eriksen turned 25 this month. Kane 23, Alli 20, Son 24. Janssen 22. We could do with an older attacking player on our books. Payet or Costa were two players that came to mind in the summer that would have helped.

There is a nativity to the side. Whether Dier's lapses, not being cute when other teams win the refs calls, not taking key chances. We're still pretty decent, and much to build on.

That's the thing; i used to say similar, then i've realised that our attacking capabilities have actually been getting worse. We have scored the 2nd least of all the top 6, and our scoring rate and decision-making up front is getting worse month on month

 

[Bullet]

The match stats say 25 attempts on their goal with 3 on target..
The 3 on target includes our two goals..

Thanks. I guessed during the game that 70% of our shots went over, 20% went wide of the near post, 5% saved and 5% goals.

Turns out you are saying it was 88% off target and 4% saved and 8% goals.

Jesus Christ, why were we shooting at row Z all game, did somebody put a hex on the goal again?

 

[SpurMeUp]

Certainly up front we are. Son can be a game changer but he is frustratingly inconsistent (tonight included). The Janssen transfer just hasn't worked and might never. I still think we'll persist with him for another season though.

Poch has to be brave enough to play him. Build up Janssen's confidence and form in training, and let him get consistent minutes in games. Even if its 20 minutes each time.

 

[Rorschach]

My point is that what really killed us was our poor decision-making at the back and up front. The sending-off happened when we were playing no differently to how we played for the majority when we had 10 men. The second off is a distant 3rd reason why we lost the tie imo.
We had 11 men last week after all...

We'll disagree on that. The sending off doesn't happen and we win that match IMO. What happened last week is irrelevant to this match.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Thanks. I guessed during the game that 70% of our shots went over, 20% went wide of the near post, 5% saved and 5% goals.

Turns out you are saying it was 88% off target and 4% saved and 8% goals.

Jesus Christ, why were we shooting at row Z all game, did somebody put a hex on the goal again?

A big issue is against teams that sit deep we shoot from distance and we do that not when we're desperate

I don't know what we can do against the bus Parkers but we have to change something

I like the idea of the extra forward as it's someone else for them to think about bit Poch doesn't seem to want to do that

 

[Rorschach]

Poch has to be brave enough to play him. Build up Janssen's confidence and form in training, and let him get consistent minutes in games. Even if its 20 minutes each time.

I agree with that though the circumstances have to be right. For instance against Fulham would have been ideal.

I do think Janssen needs some help with his positioning and movement. IMO he's trying to get involved when there is no need. Hopefully Poch will sort that out.

 

[Bullet]

Thank GHod the Ranieri news is taking a bit of attention away from our encrapulation

 

[glorygloryeze]

And now with no EL games, we can assume the likes of Sissoko, Janssen and Nkoudou will barely get any minutes from now until the summer. Sigh..

 

[SpurMeUp]

That's the thing; i used to say similar, then i've realised that our attacking capabilities have actually been getting worse. We have scored the 2nd least of all the top 6, and our scoring rate and decision-making up front is getting worse month on month

We lack composure and conviction in the final third. Also don't use the flanks all that well unless Walker and Rose are involved, and then we could do with players supporting them to get to the line and cut the ball back. We are not clinical in attack. Kane was at times, but if he and Alli are not scoring, our goals for column suffers. Sissoko has never scored goals, and Janssen hasn't got into any sort of rhythm. Still nothing to be despondent about. In hindsight we should have spent he money on Mane and an older forward like Henderez imo. All to easy to say now and we're still way better than we've been in recent memory, with almost a neutral spend.

We hinted at being something which makes it harder when we fail, but we're still an impressive side all things considered.

 

[wiziwig]

And therein lies the rub

Far more important than alli or the ref imo

Both Eriksen & Wanyama scored by showing class and passing the ball into the net, but everything else was Andros Townsend!

Baffling that game after game we're so profligate

 

[thfcsteff]

Over the two games the refs have been rather poor I agree. But that's no excuse for our lads. We've quite simply not been good enough.

We have been the better side but poor where it counts tonight. First leg was appalling.


Sitting on my porcelain throne using glory-glory.co.uk mobile app

 

[Daisuk]

And now with no EL games, we can assume the likes of Sissoko, Janssen and Nkoudou will barely get any minutes from now until the summer. Sigh..

Well, as it's the finish to a season, I'd almost dare say we'd be lucky if they didn't get any play time (not that I particularly dislike Janssen or Nkoudou, far from it), as it would mean a pretty much fit first team for the rest of the season (which we all know isn't going to happen). I'd be surprised if they didn't get more time this season.

 

[glorygloryeze]

We lack composure and conviction in the final third. Also don't use the flanks all that well unless Walker and Rose are involved, and then we could do with players supporting them to get to the line and cut the ball back. We are not clinical in attack. Kane was at times, but if he and Alli are not scoring, our goals for column suffers. Sissoko has never scored goals, and Janssen hasn't got into any sort of rhythm. Still nothing to be despondent about. In hindsight we should have spent he money on Mane and an older forward like Henderez imo. All to easy to say now and we're still way better than we've been in recent memory, with almost a neutral spend.

We hinted at being something which makes it harder when we fail, but we're still an impressive side all things considered.

I like your optimism...

 

[scaramanga]

I agree with you, in one respect Dembele looks like our best player by miles - he strides around smashing up other players, fending them off, gliding about like a Rolls Royce with a broken steering rack, left then right (no not really, left every time and you fall for it every time)... but is he actually helping us?

Contentious I know, but is his gliding about really what we need? What we need is for an attacking player to get the ball as soon as possible. There is a myth that Dembele draws players towards him and then we exploit the space. The truth is that he beats a man, then lays if off, but by then there is plenty of cover.

Dembele is the only player in our first 11 (Winks appears to be able to from what I've seen) who can break the press. We need that because it seems fairly clear to me that we can struggle when teams set up that way.

It's only really effective when he has a passer next to him, which is why I think our only significant attacking threat has either gone around or over the midfield lately.

In terms of dropping someone, I would drop Dier. He was at fault for the first goal (weak attempted header) and the second goal (trying to play offside, then chesting it to the attacker, then allowing him to score past him).

Dier has been in poor form for a long time now, we should drop him and play Winks. Whatever the formation, if that means a back 4 or Wanyama staying back, that is Poch's job.

I'd like to see Dier given a run where he was so good for us last season.

He's been poor this year but has been all over the place and is clearly not suited to his current position.

 

[SpurMeUp]

I like your optimism...

The oldest attacking player in the team has just turned 25. They're all on long contracts. Lots to be optimistic about. There will be a mini enquiry of sorts at Spurs if we spent £47m on two bench warmers. That wasn't a good use of funds, when we needed an experience option we could turn to up front.

 

[thfcsteff]

Good job. Try it again with 11 against 11 instead of 12 against 10, and I might have more sympathy.

They deserved their result last week. They deserved nothing today.

Well said.


Sitting on my porcelain throne using glory-glory.co.uk mobile app

 

[glorygloryeze]

The oldest attacking player in the team has just turned 25. They're all on long contracts. Lots to be optimistic about. There will be a mini enquiry of sorts at Spurs if we spent £47m on two bench warmers. That wasn't a good use of funds, when we needed an experience option we could turn to up front.

Questions will have to be asked indeed about the spending if those two players end up flopping. Much bigger questions will be on our methodology as i say i think we've peaked