*** Tottenham Hotspur v Monaco OMT ***

[LutonSpurs]

Bentaleb can learn to be a DM, and we have a coach who can do it, Dier was a ball playing pacy CB, much easier to become a DM whereas Nabil is a box to box CM so asking him to sit back and settle in to te middle of a split CB partnership and to move in to the righjt safe areas for an easy pass needs teaching and learnin from him. Asking him to be 100% focused on the safe pass in our final third needs to be drilled in to him. I am sure it can be done and I am sure it will happen under Poch.

 

[Rorschach]

He's too much of a gambler to play that position, you need to keep it simple and move the ball on safely. I like his confidence in his own ability but think he takes too many chances near his own penalty area. It's not only about whether is errors lead to us conceding goals it's about undermining the confidence of the defence.

You may be right. His talents could be more effective further up the pitch where the riskier moves would have less repercussions. Alternatively he could just cut them out.

I thought he played very well after he got the yellow card. Before that he was doing a little too much show boating.

 

[braineclipse]

Bentaleb can learn to be a DM, and we have a coach who can do it, Dier was a ball playing pacy CB, much easier to become a DM whereas Nabil is a box to box CM so asking him to sit back and settle in to te middle of a split CB partnership and to move in to the righjt safe areas for an easy pass needs teaching and learnin from him. Asking him to be 100% focused on the safe pass in our final third needs to be drilled in to him. I am sure it can be done and I am sure it will happen under Poch.

That seems a somewhat different opinion to "Really think Bentaleb cannot play the DM role."?

Not like Dier never gives the ball away in dangerous positions.
Do we want our deep playmaker/deepest midfielder to be 100% focused on the safe pass in our final third? Or do we want him looking for purposeful passes with some level of risk to play though opponents when pressing and to initiate attacks? It's about finding a balance between the safe pass and the more expansive moves. I thought he struck a very good balanced yesterday when he settled into the game.

 

[LutonSpurs]

That seems a somewhat different opinion to "Really think Bentaleb cannot play the DM role."?

Not like Dier never gives the ball away in dangerous positions.
Do we want our deep playmaker/deepest midfielder to be 100% focused on the safe pass in our final third? Or do we want him looking for purposeful passes with some level of risk to play though opponents when pressing and to initiate attacks? It's about finding a balance between the safe pass and the more expansive moves. I thought he struck a very good balanced yesterday when he settled into the game.

Yeah I watched the game again and get when he concentrated after the yellow card he was better.

 

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

That seems a somewhat different opinion to "Really think Bentaleb cannot play the DM role."?

Not like Dier never gives the ball away in dangerous positions.
Do we want our deep playmaker/deepest midfielder to be 100% focused on the safe pass in our final third? Or do we want him looking for purposeful passes with some level of risk to play though opponents when pressing and to initiate attacks? It's about finding a balance between the safe pass and the more expansive moves. I thought he struck a very good balanced yesterday when he settled into the game.

Yes I do want a DM who can who can make a purposeful pass but not one who passes without looking or show boats with drag backs

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Yes I do want a DM who can who can make a purposeful pass but not one who passes without looking or show boats with drag backs

That was exactly it

I'm all for purposeful passes

Yesterday there were 3 drag backs where he got caught, so he didn't Learn from his mistake

The cross field pass that almost got caught out wasn't purposeful either... It was very poor vision and was across our area. Criminally poor in reality as its a schoolboy error. We were lucky that were brick with that kind of pass

 

[Raziel]

That was exactly it

I'm all for purposeful passes

Yesterday there were 3 drag backs where he got caught, so he didn't Learn from his mistake

The cross field pass that almost got caught out wasn't purposeful either... It was very poor vision and was across our area. Criminally poor in reality as its a schoolboy error. We were lucky that were brick with that kind of pass

I think Bentaleb is very talented .. and he came on when we were up and dominating, with too nonchalant an attitude ...

I have no problem with tricks and showboating, but it had better come off

 

[Bedfordspurs]

I think Bentaleb is very talented .. and he came on when we were up and dominating, with too nonchalant an attitude ...

I have no problem with tricks and showboating, but it had better come off

He is talented and is clearly a very good player but there is a reason why we have looked better this season... And having Dier there doing the defensive side whilst being able to pass very well is a big one. Bentelab is a Much better player when he keeps it simple and effective

 

[parklane1]

He's too much of a gambler to play that position, you need to keep it simple and move the ball on safely. I like his confidence in his own ability but think he takes too many chances near his own penalty area. It's not only about whether is errors lead to us conceding goals it's about undermining the confidence of the defence.

That is a good point, he may well turn out to be a very good player for us but he is not a player who will be a Dier and his strength is elsewhere.

 

[parklane1]

Bentaleb can learn to be a DM, and we have a coach who can do it, Dier was a ball playing pacy CB, much easier to become a DM whereas Nabil is a box to box CM so asking him to sit back and settle in to te middle of a split CB partnership and to move in to the righjt safe areas for an easy pass needs teaching and learnin from him. Asking him to be 100% focused on the safe pass in our final third needs to be drilled in to him. I am sure it can be done and I am sure it will happen under Poch.

Can not agree with that, Dier has made a sucess of it because he has the defensive mindset unlike Bentaleb who does not. Players have certain skill inbred '( especially the better ones) and Bentaleb's lay elsewhere from what I have seen and I doubt that will change.

 

[parklane1]

As for the game it was a game of two halfs for me, the first we were very good and did not allow Monaco any time or space to play but we sat back and allowed them more time in the second and they got into the game more. Not having a go at them because young players will learn that a game is never over till the final whistle and once Monaco scored we picked upour play again.

I was impressed ( again) by Carroll, I have always liked watching him play as ( imo) he has a little of Modric in him. He gives the ball and right away moves into space to receive it back. My only concern about him is that he can be easily knocked off the ball but if Poch can rectify that then I still believe he is worth keeping.

Thought Wimmer did better as the game went on and thought Tripper had his best game ( so far) for us. Good to see Chadli back as I think his goals will be important for us as the season goes on, dead chuffed for Lamela and he looked so happy, his work rate is immense and he is becoming a very important player for us.

Roll on the draw and I really hope we keep our focus on what is a important trophy to win. I love European nights at the Lane.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

As for the game it was a game of two halfs for me, the first we were very good and did not allow Monaco any time or space to play but we sat back and allowed them more time in the second and they got into the game more. Not having a go at them because young players will learn that a game is never over till the final whistle and once Monaco scored we picked upour play again.

I was impressed ( again) by Carroll, I have always liked watching him play as ( imo) he has a little of Modric in him. He gives the ball and right away moves into space to receive it back. My only concern about him is that he can be easily knocked off the ball but if Poch can rectify that then I still believe he is worth keeping.

Thought Wimmer did better as the game went on and thought Tripper had his best game ( so far) for us. Good to see Chadli back as I think his goals will be important for us as the season goes on, dead chuffed for Lamela and he looked so happy, his work rate is immense and he is becoming a very important player for us.

Roll on the draw and I really hope we keep our focus on what is a important trophy to win. I love European nights at the Lane.

Pretty much agree with all of that

Thought Ben Davies had a great game too

Chadli looked rusty and hardly was involved but it's good to give him game time, same with Bentelab

Would love to have seen CCV get a game

 

[alekaras]

After this match I am questioning again why we needed to take so many first team players to Qarabaq, which obviously affected us in the one against Chelsea. In a game where you would have expected Monaco to go all out, given they desperately needed the win, we totally dominated with hungry youngsters and second team players. I know that many have said that "if we think we can get a result in Baku with our B team, we're dreaming," but I bet the same exact team as yesterday would have won with ease. And the reason is simple: the would have gone at it 100%, instead of keeping something in reserve for the Chelsea game. I love Poch and what he's done, but for a coach that puts his trust in youngsters, he didn't do that last time and I believe he could have.

In any case, all the positives have already been listed and the Bentaleb question marks have been raised, so I'm not going to rehash those. I did want to call out Wimmer though, who, in spite of the fact he was playing just his second or third match, was a beast. Should Toby or Jan need a rest, he seems ready to step in.

 

[the dza]

After this match I am questioning again why we needed to take so many first team players to Qarabaq, which obviously affected us in the one against Chel53a. In a game where you would have expected Monaco to go all out, given they desperately needed the win, we totally dominated with hungry youngsters and second team players. I know that many have said that "if we think we can get a result in Baku with our B team, we're dreaming," but I bet the same exact team as yesterday would have won with ease. And the reason is simple: the would have gone at it 100%, instead of keeping something in reserve for the Chel53a game. I love Poch and what he's done, but for a coach that puts his trust in youngsters, he didn't do that last time and I believe he could have.

In any case, all the positives have already been listed and the Bentaleb question marks have been raised, so I'm not going to rehash those. I did want to call out Wimmer though, who, in spite of the fact he was playing just his second or third match, was a beast. Should Toby or Jan need a rest, he seems ready to step in.

I think part of the reason for the level of performance by the second string team was because there was no real pressure on the game; we had already qualified and only needed a draw to top the group. That's a different thing to a tricky away trip far from home when we hadn't yet qualified from the group. Putting those players in a 'no pressure' type of game is probably a better way for them to build up experience/match fitness.

We don't know for sure that the 2nd team could have gone to Qarabag and won, maybe they could have. But the first team (bar fullbacks) did go out there and win, and that enabled the others to play without fear against Monaco.

That's my 2p worth anyway!

 

[Bedfordspurs]

I think part of the reason for the level of performance by the second string team was because there was no real pressure on the game; we had already qualified and only needed a draw to top the group. That's a different thing to a tricky away trip far from home when we hadn't yet qualified from the group. Putting those players in a 'no pressure' type of game is probably a better way for them to build up experience/match fitness.

We don't know for sure that the 2nd team could have gone to Qarabag and won, maybe they could have. But the first team (bar fullbacks) did go out there and win, and that enabled the others to play without fear against Monaco.

That's my 2p worth anyway!

People also forget that they need a certain number if players to train too... Which means even if we plan to start a second String we would have still needed 20 plus players to travel . Could have been kids granted but that would be unlikely

 

[Spurs7891]

Delighted with this win. Now, this is how you win matches : score early to settle down the nerves, get the 2nd goal to increase the lead and get the 3rd goal to kill the game off. To make it more satisfying we did it all in the first half ! It was a comfortable win that it didn't even affect us when Monaco scored early in the 2nd half. The 4th goal was just a bonus as the game was already won in the first half. Wish we more win more matches like this ! Ofcourse, Monaco were poor but we did play well despite resting many regulars like Kane.

Credit to Lamela for getting his first hattrick for us. We badly needed those goals without Kane. His first and third goals were well-taken goals but maybe there was element of luck for his second goal. Lamela was always capable of scoring goals like these especially in the league. Lamela has now scored 7 goals in 14 starts in all competition for us which is not bad. But for all his attacking instincts, he has been lacking in confidence in front of goals until now. Hope this hattrick will boost his confidence to score goals consistently for us. Credit to Carroll for scoring his first ever goal for us. It was a well-taken goal scored from a difficult angle. But Carroll needs to do more if he wants to break into our first 11. Credit to Son for assisting 2 goals for Lamela but thought his finishing was again poor in this match.

Thought our midfield played well even without the likes of Dembele, Alli and Eriksen. Monaco were poor but still we did our part in dominating the midfield. Our midfield looked compact and stable until Dier was replaced by Bentaleb. As usual Bentaleb made a few errors that could have been costly for us. In fact, thought Bentaleb was at fault for their goal as he was too slow to close down the Monaco player from having that shot on goal. Other than that, Bentaleb was too show-boating in front of our defence and lost the ball in the process. If Bentaleb wants to become a regular he should stop show-boating and avoid
these kind of unforced errors. It was nice to see Chadli returning from injury but disappointingly he was not involved much in the match. Onomah did decently but should have done better with the one-on-one chance he had in the second half. In fact, thought he was too greedy and should have passed to an unmarked Lamela in that occasion.

Despite winning big, was disappointed our defence failed to keep the clean sheet yet again. Monaco were very poor and didn't look like scoring but we disappointingly we gave away the goal. Our defence should have been more alert for the long range shot for the goal. Maybe Lloris could have done better with that shot. It came so early in the second half that it could have helped Monado to come back into the match. Fortunately for us, our defence did well after that. Credit to Davies for the inch-perfect pass to Lamela for our first goal.

It is great to get a big win in Europe especially against a well-known club like Monaco. Hope we will now go into the next stage with full of confidence to go further in EL.

 

[Lemonade Money]

Delighted with this win. Now, this is how you win matches : score early to settle down the nerves, get the 2nd goal to increase the lead and get the 3rd goal to kill the game off. To make it more satisfying we did it all in the first half ! It was a comfortable win that it didn't even affect us when Monaco scored early in the 2nd half. The 4th goal was just a bonus as the game was already won in the first half. Wish we more win more matches like this ! Ofcourse, Monaco were poor but we did play well despite resting many regulars like Kane.

Credit to Lamela for getting his first hattrick for us. We badly needed those goals without Kane. His first and third goals were well-taken goals but maybe there was element of luck for his second goal. Lamela was always capable of scoring goals like these especially in the league. Lamela has now scored 7 goals in 14 starts in all competition for us which is not bad. But for all his attacking instincts, he has been lacking in confidence in front of goals until now. Hope this hattrick will boost his confidence to score goals consistently for us. Credit to Carroll for scoring his first ever goal for us. It was a well-taken goal scored from a difficult angle. But Carroll needs to do more if he wants to break into our first 11. Credit to Son for assisting 2 goals for Lamela but thought his finishing was again poor in this match.

Thought our midfield played well even without the likes of Dembele, Alli and Eriksen. Monaco were poor but still we did our part in dominating the midfield. Our midfield looked compact and stable until Dier was replaced by Bentaleb. As usual Bentaleb made a few errors that could have been costly for us. In fact, thought Bentaleb was at fault for their goal as he was too slow to close down the Monaco player from having that shot on goal. Other than that, Bentaleb was too show-boating in front of our defence and lost the ball in the process. If Bentaleb wants to become a regular he should stop show-boating and avoid
these kind of unforced errors. It was nice to see Chadli returning from injury but disappointingly he was not involved much in the match. Onomah did decently but should have done better with the one-on-one chance he had in the second half. In fact, thought he was too greedy and should have passed to an unmarked Lamela in that occasion.

Despite winning big, was disappointed our defence failed to keep the clean sheet yet again. Monaco were very poor and didn't look like scoring but we disappointingly we gave away the goal. Our defence should have been more alert for the long range shot for the goal. Maybe Lloris could have done better with that shot. It came so early in the second half that it could have helped Monado to come back into the match. Fortunately for us, our defence did well after that. Credit to Davies for the inch-perfect pass to Lamela for our first goal.

It is great to get a big win in Europe especially against a well-known club like Monaco. Hope we will now go into the next stage with full of confidence to go further in EL.

Cheer up

 

[parklane1]

Pretty much agree with all of that

Thought Ben Davies had a great game too

Chadli looked rusty and hardly was involved but it's good to give him game time, same with Bentelab

Would love to have seen CCV get a game

I forgot about Davies I do like him and have said before he would be in my team in front of Rose. I know I am in the minority but I think he is more solid for me.

 

[ricky2tricky4city]

In any case, all the positives have already been listed and the Bentaleb question marks have been raised, so I'm not going to rehash those. I did want to call out Wimmer though, who, in spite of the fact he was playing just his second or third match, was a beast. Should Toby or Jan need a rest, he seems ready to step in.

Good call.....i think he was solid.

He gives me the impression that he will be a 7/10 player. ie every week a 7/10 performance. No fazio rust or ups and downs, and although not as good as toby or verts, he'll be bang on reliable.