Ratings vs Spammers

[Bedfordspurs]

out of 10.

After Chel53a we have 5 winnable games in December, if we keep playing like we are I can't help but dream we could be sat at the top of the league come new year.

There hard games though as these will be team set up to defend and that's always been our biggest weakness.
The benefit we have is our system puts them under more pressure with the ball so we can push for mistakes and as we saw yesterday, this team hunts for the opposition

 

[Gutter Boy]

Why is he in your view?

He is scoring and creating (2 assist yesterday). He is winning tackles and not conceding fouls and is maintaining the pressing system we play. He also covers a love of ground.

There all playing at a very high level and showing some consistency and fluidity. It's bloody marvellous to see and it means that the man with the shirt keeps it whilst they play at the right level... If it drops there is someone who will grab their chance.

I personally cannot single out a player for being a weak link at the moment.

There's not much Eriksen is doing wrong at all (in general his inconsistency and failure to impose himself of the biggest games still niggles). My point is just that Lamela, Son and Dembele are playing even better at the moment. Remember this comes from a Dembele hater too.

 

[harr1984]

The day we have the chance to rest erisken for me is the day we make that next step up because it means w shave players of a genuine top calibre to oust him or cover for him (not Townsend for example)

I have seen him have more influence in games but I also think the reason he isn't standing out is because he is part of the attacking unit and brining others into the game earlier. His link up with Kane too is vital to how we play

Like every player he could do more, there's always room for improvement but I don't see him as a weakness or inferior to anyone at the moment personally

Im certainly not saying hes a weakness....Like I say Id still play him because he can create or score out of nothing. But I don't think he is doing as much as he even has in previous seasons on the ball during a game, he has been better in this aspect in previous seasons. Its acknowledged that he gets around the pitch more than most, could this element of his game be detrimental to the effect he has when on the ball?

 

[SUIYHA]

CBA to rate all the players from yesterday as there were so many heroes. Dembele MOTM for me. Walker, Son + Kane not far behind.

Two things I'd say from the narrative of this thread:

No, Lamela doesn't deserve to be "dropped", he has been much improved this season. However, it's hard to say that that wasn't our strongest XI yesterday. Every player looked bloody brilliant. And the player who came into the side instead of Lamela was Son, who was excellent. We've won every game that he's started for us and he's been outstanding in our two most impressive wins of the season (City and West Ham). The most impressive thing about yesterday's performance was the ability to break down a team that were defending deep - something we've struggled with badly for a long time and I truly believe that Son is a big part of the reason we were able to do that (that lay-off for Walker's goal was excellent). Lamela was so poor for such a long time before he started to show any level of consistency, so if this is Son in his "settling in" period then it's scary how good he could be for us if he improves at the same rate. Against Chelsea next week then Alli isn't available so the obvious thing to do is to bring Lamela back in and play Eriksen through the middle - we will need Lamela's work rate to track back as they counter. After that...we'll see.

Eriksen is also absolutely not a weak link. I think people expect too much of him sometimes. He really helps keep us ticking over and moving the ball around quickly, and his goals/assists contribution has been very good once again this season. Just look at how much better we've been from an attacking perspective since he returned from his injury. It's really good that we're even having these sorts of conversations as not very long ago it seemed as though we had far too many players in the starting XI who clearly weren't anywhere near good enough. Now the likes of Chadli, Bentaleb and Mason who were among our better players last season are going to really struggle to find a way back into the side, given the amount of competition there is for places right now.

 

[jpp]

Dembele was my man of the match but it could have been any of the team. That's the difference with this Tottenham side, they are shaping up to be the best team I have seen in my 40 years of going to the Lane. We have always had superstars, wonderful players who could lead the team through difficult games, sometimes more than one but this team has no superstar. Yes we have pivotal players, all good teams do but the thing that is getting me excited is the clear team ethic, the one for all mentality. Watching recent dominant performances against Bournemouth, Arsenal and West Ham has been exhilarating. What happened yesterday also happened on the south coast and could have/should have happened at Arsenal. The team appears to be growing week by week. They are currently the best team in England and what's more, they appear to believe that they are too. It's a wonderful time to support Tottenham.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

CBA to rate all the players from yesterday as there were so many heroes. Dembele MOTM for me. Walker, Son + Kane not far behind.

Two things I'd say from the narrative of this thread:

No, Lamela doesn't deserve to be "dropped", he has been much improved this season. However, it's hard to say that that wasn't our strongest XI yesterday. Every player looked bloody brilliant. And the player who came into the side instead of Lamela was Son, who was excellent. We've won every game that he's started for us and he's been outstanding in our two most impressive wins of the season (City and West Ham). The most impressive thing about yesterday's performance was the ability to break down a team that were defending deep - something we've struggled with badly for a long time and I truly believe that Son is a big part of the reason we were able to do that (that lay-off for Walker's goal was excellent).

This is 100% right and is my concern for what we see as the easier game coming up - how do we deal with this bricky teams that play not to lose. It was why I haven't been screaming from the hills about howell lamella has done as he hasn't done it yet against these teams. Cant wait to see him have a go now though as he is playing better and sharper.

Eriksen is also absolutely not a weak link. I think people expect too much of him sometimes. He really helps keep us ticking over and moving the ball around quickly, and his goals/assists contribution has been very good once again this season. Just look at how much better we've been from an attacking perspective since he returned from his injury. It's really good that we're even having these sorts of conversations as not very long ago it seemed as though we had far too many players in the starting XI who clearly weren't anywhere near good enough. Now the likes of Chadli, Bentaleb and Mason who were among our better players last season are going to really struggle to find a way back into the side, given the amount of competition there is for places right now.

For me its no coincidence that we look even better with the players behind Kane all capable of putting a real shift in. We can't have lazy players or players who simply dont put in an equal amount of effort as the system requires everyone to press and run from front to back. It needs all players to be switched on at all times too. Personally i think certainly Bentelab and Chadli are both players that I feel switch off at times and that allow sis to be countered and overloaded. This season that hasn't happened at all

it also means that those players have to work harder to get a sniff of a start which means we have depth

 

[Jurgen the German]

The day we have the chance to rest erisken for me is the day we make that next step up because it means w shave players of a genuine top calibre to oust him or cover for him (not Townsend for example)

I have seen him have more influence in games but I also think the reason he isn't standing out is because he is part of the attacking unit and brining others into the game earlier. His link up with Kane too is vital to how we play

Like every player he could do more, there's always room for improvement but I don't see him as a weakness or inferior to anyone at the moment personally

Even with the improvement of the squad as a whole, he is still our most likely source of goals besides Kane and for that reason, should play every game until someone else proves they can do what Eriksen does.

Eriksen links up with Kane better than any other player too.

 

[parklane1]

Very hard to pick a MOM yesterday for me as there were several who deserved it, Dembele ( we are now seeing him with a finished product) Walker ( best game he has had for a while and I would not swap him for any other RB in the Prem), Toby ( he was the one player I really wanted us to sign in the summer and he is showing why). As I have said before I have seen many false dawns over the last 50 years but I do believe this team is going to be special.

 

[Gazzasrightboot]

Very hard to pick a MOM yesterday for me as there were several who deserved it, Dembele ( we are now seeing him with a finished product) Walker ( best game he has had for a while and I would not swap him for any other RB in the Prem), Toby ( he was the one player I really wanted us to sign in the summer and he is showing why). As I have said before I have seen many false dawns over the last 50 years but I do believe this team is going to be special.

I think Toby is immense, and what I like about him is that he is making the others play better. I was watching him at the match yesterday and he is the one that leads the back 4 up and squeezes the space. He is the perfect partner for Jan in that he does the things that Jan doesn't and therefore allows him to play.

Like you, Parklane, I'm struggling to pick a MoM. It would be between Kane, Dembele and Toby but Walker, Rose, Son and Eriksen also put in a real shift and delivered quality. For Dembele, what people forget is that he outpowered a real powerhouse in Kouyate. Not many players will do that.

West Ham were up for this game, and we outfought, outran, outthought and most importantly outplayed them. We don't have any bigtime charlies in our team, just a bunch of strong, athletic and gifted footballers who have all bought into Poch's "philosophy". Last season, we came into our own at Xmas because of our superior fitness. I hope we do the same!

 

[Spur of the moment]

I think Toby is immense, and what I like about him is that he is making the others play better. I was watching him at the match yesterday and he is the one that leads the back 4 up and squeezes the space. He is the perfect partner for Jan in that he does the things that Jan doesn't and therefore allows him to play.

Like you, Parklane, I'm struggling to pick a MoM. It would be between Kane, Dembele and Toby but Walker, Rose, Son and Eriksen also put in a real shift and delivered quality. For Dembele, what people forget is that he outpowered a real powerhouse in Kouyate. Not many players will do that.

West Ham were up for this game, and we outfought, outran, outthought and most importantly outplayed them. We don't have any bigtime charlies in our team, just a bunch of strong, athletic and gifted footballers who have all bought into Poch's "philosophy". Last season, we came into our own at Xmas because of our superior fitness. I hope we do the same!

Top post.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

I think Toby is immense, and what I like about him is that he is making the others play better. I was watching him at the match yesterday and he is the one that leads the back 4 up and squeezes the space. He is the perfect partner for Jan in that he does the things that Jan doesn't and therefore allows him to play.

Like you, Parklane, I'm struggling to pick a MoM. It would be between Kane, Dembele and Toby but Walker, Rose, Son and Eriksen also put in a real shift and delivered quality. For Dembele, what people forget is that he outpowered a real powerhouse in Kouyate. Not many players will do that.

West Ham were up for this game, and we outfought, outran, outthought and most importantly outplayed them. We don't have any bigtime charlies in our team, just a bunch of strong, athletic and gifted footballers who have all bought into Poch's "philosophy". Last season, we came into our own at Xmas because of our superior fitness. I hope we do the same!

Agree with most of this except the bolded bit. I thought they showed no fight and character personal and looked spineless

We play them off the park make no mistake but they were dire IMO

 

[Gazzasrightboot]

Agree with most of this except the bolded bit. I thought they showed no fight and character personal and looked spineless

We play them off the park make no mistake but they were dire IMO

I thought that in the first 15 minutes they were actually matching us in terms of effort etc... I felt their heads really went down when the third goal went in. But up until the first goal really, Kouyate Sakho Noble and Moses were flying into challenges and making life a bit awkward. Effectively adopting the gameplan that historically always used to work against us.

Doesn't matter though, we smashed them and their fans couldn't even witness their goal as they were halfway home by that point.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

I thought that in the first 15 minutes they were actually matching us in terms of effort etc... I felt their heads really went down when the third goal went in. But up until the first goal really, Kouyate Sakho Noble and Moses were flying into challenges and making life a bit awkward. Effectively adopting the gameplan that historically always used to work against us.

Doesn't matter though, we smashed them and their fans couldn't even witness their goal as they were halfway home by that point.

Moses made 10 passes in the whole game!!!! Scary

I thought they were just trying to restrict us from playing personally

 

[mudshark]

It was an excellent team performance with no real weak link, and I can understand people's vacillation, but Dembele gets the Soccer MOM for me. Every time he picked up the ball, you felt yourself relax a notch, because you knew they weren't getting it off him, and that had its effect on the other players, as well, I felt. He's reinventing himself before our eyes.