PLAYER RATINGS: Tottenham 1:1 Leicester

Another Tottenham game, yet another draw. The woodwork was rattled twice by Alli and Vertonghen respectively and there was no way through for a Spurs winner.
Spurs had taken the lead through Janssen who coolly slotted home his 3rd Spurs goal from the spot. The referee was abysmal this afternoon and it was as soft a penalty award as your likely to see this season. But we will take those gifts when they come along.
Sadly in the 2nd half Wanyama gave a ridiculous ball away and Leicester scored.
Spurs were the better team but the lack of goals from open play is concerning. We remain unbeaten and only 3 points off the top but had we turned the last 3 points into 6 we would tonight be 3 points clear at the summit.
We need to turn draws into victories and those 6 points dropped could be costly come May.

Player ratings

Lloris- 7 Didn't have as much work to do as in recent games. Was solid although his distribution still leaves a lot to be desired. As a captain he doesn't say much and I'm not sure captainnis the right role for Hugo.

Walker- 6 Embarrassingly out of position for the goal and far too slow to react. His final ball was off and not a great performance today from Kyle.

Dier- 7 Did his job. Wasn't spectacular.

Vertonghen 8 Solid performance from Jan and hit the bar in the second half. Commanded well and in one of his best runs of for Spurs.

Rose- 7 Had a couple of shots from long range and tried to get forward but as with Walker his final ball was nowhere near good enough.

Dembele- 7 Strong on the ball and got foreword well but all too often ran out of options.

Alli- 7 Hit the bar in the first half after Spurs best move of the match and looked to control the game. Had to drop deep to influence the match in the first half and was subbed with next weeks Champions league tie in mind.

Wanyama - 5 Ineffective and totally to blame for the Leicester goal. A schoolboy mistake and a bad day at the office. Radio 5 had Wanyama as one of Spurs better players today - they must have been watching a totally different game to me because 5 is being kind to him today.

Eriksen - 4 Abysmal. No other word. His dead balls were appalling. He is a professional footballer who seems unable to clear the first man at corners. It's time he was dropped. Truly awful performance from the Dane today.

Son - 7 Huffed and puffed but was never in danger of blowing the house down. Tried to work his way into the game in the second half but unable to influence the proceedings.

Janssen- 8 He worked hard and really should have scored in the first half from open play but totally fluffed his lines. Nest penalty and showed strength and skill to turn and shoot in the second half but another frustrating day for him. I would keep him playing though. It will come.

Subs

I don't feel they had enough time for a fair rating

Pochettino - 6 No plan B and that is something he needs to change.

The doom mongers will be out again tonight but Spurs were the only team trying to win this game. In terms of stats, Spurs had 21 shots to Leicester's 6. In fact the only stat where Leicester were ahead of Spurs was in fouls which really says it all about Leicester City.
Spurs need more guile to start scoring more goals and turning 1 point into 3. Poch must develop a plan B because currently he looks unable to make decisions to change matches.

On we go and as ever, come on you Spurs!!!!

 

No plan B; week in, and week out we say the same. Not good enough today I'm afraid. Vital points are being dropped and these games will cost us come May.

On a positive, Toby and Harry will be back next week and 3 points needed at the Emirates!

We move on and I look forward to my trip to Wembley Wednesday. Another important game in the CL, one we must absolutely win...

 

Harry Kane will be fit and playing again before jaansen scores. Looking like another Soldado to me. Works hard but no end product !! Lacking A proven premier league goalscorer is the difference (as in EFL cup) and is costing us already !!

 

Not could be will be!

Pochettino is really starting to grate on me. How predictable was a draw today? And if it wasnt for a weak penalty we wouldnt have scored at all.

There are barely any positive runners in attack and even when there is the service is abysmal.

Do the team not realise to score goals you need to get the ball and bodies in the danger areas and preferably at pace? What are they working on on the training ground because its definately not how to create chances and score goals Lloris and Vorm must be spectators.

This incessant stopping in crossing areas or anywhere near the final 3rd and attempting 100 sideways passes is never going to penetrate an opposing defence, and it is getting more and more predictable match by match.

I clocked Poch make his first move to influence proceedings 83 minutes into the game by again taking 1 of our 2 Goal scoring threats off and then 87mins throws winks on, really 'went for it'

Poch is a Draw Merchant has learned nothing from last season had a piss poor window with Wanyama being the only influential player he obtained and hes a defensive midfielder.

Predictable, uninventive, boring, 1 dimensional.

 

For those that dismiss Lamela as unimportant, just look to this game. To me, he would've made the difference.

 

On point Felon mate, brutal but true.

We should take note of Liverpool, clinical! We so missed the boat with Mane and buying Sissoko :-(

 

If lamela is the answer then that shows the level we are at.

 

Mane over Sissoko to me was a no brainer

 

So many of us talk of a plan B,I am still waiting for plan A!!!!!Why wait to the 80th minute to make the first sub ??At least he dropped Lamela,but why play Eriksen who has been so bad that he can not even hit a ball from a corner!!Madness!!We visit the toilet bowl next and I hope Poch understands that this is not just another match it means much to the loyal fans who follow this great club,another repeat of the dross served up today will not be welcome.!!!!!

 

How any PL player fails to be beat the first man when taking a corner is beyond me. Just pathetic and so frustrating!

At the moment, Eriksen is a passenger and needs to be dropped.

 

I have absolutely no Faith in this current side of getting a win here we just dont have the goals or inventiveness, the scum will push on to our full backs and we will struggle to get the ball forward and keep it there.

 

Gotta say ive defended Eriksen alot based on the lack of movement around him but he is just another passenger currently/far too often.

I cant believe its enjoyable as a player to just go through the motions, surely your main aim as an 'attacking' player is to make things happen not just drift about playing safe passes.

 

My views on what I saw today and over the four weeks since we stuffed City:

- In the middle 3 we lack top quality. Coutinho, Hazard, Ferminho, Sanchez, Ozil, Mane.....all quality players. If we don't have players of this quality, we can never expect to compete at the top level. Sure Alli is good enough, but he wasn't at his best today. Son neither, Eriksen had another shocker.

- Tactically inferior. Are we playing 4-2-3-1 or 4-1-4-1...for me Wanyama could have been on his own, to allow Moussa to push on, beat man and set the others free. Subs at 80 mins.....ffs, what is that.

- Why do we never play balls over the top into the corners for our front 3+1 to run onto and to draw their centre backs out. We NEVER play a short ball over the top.

- Even with HK in the side we lack finishing power, and in no small way because we cannot/do not create enough clear cut chances

- Player ratings. Personally I thought the back 6 played well, the middle 3 didn't, Janssen did okay. Lloris remains a danger with his distribution.

- Basics. Corners. Total, total shite, Eriksen and Son. Free kicks. You have to force a save, otherwise do not shoot from 30 yards, put in in for the centre backs. There was more chance of a pen than Eriksen getting a save out of Schmeichel......poor.

Match stats.....these count for nothing if you can't beat teams at WHL........This was Leicester's first away point of the season. Gordon Bennett.

So frustrating.

COYS

 

One word, SPURSY.

 

And this is just it Bazza, its not rocket science.
It seems theres so much ethos put on press which is essentially a form of defence that we have absolutely no plan on actually attacking.

Has there ever been a side that won anything based on the attacking concept of the sidewards pass, followed by the sidewards pass?

 

And yes Bazza, we absolutely lack 'top' quality... This is why we fail to kill the bread and butter fixtures off.

 

I just don't think the players in the positions behind the Striker are good enough .. You need real quality players in these positions to be successful playing this infamous 4 2 3 1 system .. I.m.o Erikson and Ali are more midfield type players and not really what you need up there ... They'll have their days , don't get me wrong but they need at least one outstanding talent to make things unpredictable ... We have nobody good enough to do that consistently in terms of competing for a Lg title ... They might just have enough to get us into the top 4 but that will depend on the quality of the other teams as much as anything else ....

Nobody has mentioned the complete inexperience or lack of quality on the bench today ... I know it was down to injuries and suspensions but even still when I seen it I taught , well if the first 11 can't get the job done here we,re not going to get much help from the subs ... I said it on the other thread , but I'd seriously doubt if there was a weaker bench in any other prem Lg match this week .. There was nobody on that bench that you feel could make an impact if called upon ... Plenty above were wondering why Poch didn't make any changes until late on but for me it was pretty clear why , there really were no options whatsoever ... We saw in the cup match during the week they're young and talented but a long way away from first team football .... Plenty of work to be done yet on the squad and with the players we have if we,re to be considered a title winning squad ..


Just my opinion of course and will be absolutely delighted to be proved wrong as the season unfolds ......

Ok , Ok , I accept it , I'm a doom monger , but I only tell it as I see it ...... C.O.Y.S .....

 

Don't worry about commenting on what you see in front of you.....in some respects we've done well to go 5-5-0 and so few goals conceded.

 

I've just watched the 1-4,0-4 and 2-4 that our main rivals achieved today on the Sky Goals highlights.

We are simply not at that level, and in truth are not even close. We don't play with that pace or quality.

Will DL spend big in January.....the Cranes tell it all....
NFW...Hey ho.

 

We all see the poor performancs from Erikson and Lamela so far this season and would love to see them benched but who does he play today if he leaves out Erikson ... Wouldn't it be great if we had them kind of options , it looked like we might have had a couple of weeks ago but things have changed quite a bit since then .. Also where was Lamela today , why was he not on the bench , I'm no Lamela fan , think that's clear by now but unless he was injured or sick he should have been on the bench ... I wish our squad was so good we could just leave him or anyone who's performing like him or Erikson out of the squad entirely but that's not the case ... Strange decision ... So with Lamela out today , who should have played instead of Erikson ...