Sunderland Kaned

The score line may suggest a close game. It was anything but. From first whistle to last, Spurs were playing to avoid another Poch bashing. And the manager rang the changes.
The midfield should just have been called "the beast". Sissoko, Wanyama, Dembele all started. 3 people who if they tell you it's Tuesday, it's Tuesday. Alli was in his preferred position behind Kane and Son started on the left.

I will start with the negatives first. For all of Spurs' possession and chances, Sunderland did create the odd chance and had Pienaar not fluffed his lines, Spurs could have been going in one down. Spurs were at times complacent at the back. And by complacent I mean lazy.
Vertonghen played at left back with Dier partnering Toby at the back. I would be tempted to keep that back two but drop Vertonghen once Rose is fit.
I thought Alli was disappointing again. Not first to the ball and slack in his passing. He wasn't poor but not up to scratch just yet.
But other than those minor issues, I can't complain too much- I'm sure others will do that!

Son today has to be man of the match. He offered width on the left and rather than coming back on his right all the time, a la Townsend, he got past his man and delivered some lovely left footed crosses. Sadly no one was in there to score but Poch will have seen that and I'm sure he will utilise that to Spurs advantage as the season progresses.

Pretty much every player bar Lloris had a shot on goal, with Son hitting the post and the Sunderland keeper saving well on numerous occasions. I was wondering at some points when we would score!!!
If the game had finished a draw I think I would have cried! It was that one sided.

Eventually a mistake in the defence allowed Kane to score from close range. He got into plenty of good positions today and he looked better than in recent games. Worryingly he was stretchered off and looking back at the injury it looks nasty. His ankle turned right over and it will be a wait now to see what scans show. I can see it being a few weeks but hopefully not.

Sissoko today was an animal. He covered every blade of grass and his energy levels were awesome. He looked comfortable with Wanayama and looking like a right footed Dembele. Now that's no bad thing!!!

Dembele went off with a tight hamstring and Dier also but hopefully they were taken off as precautions.

Overall it was a decent performance and a good 3 points against a dreadful Sunderland team. Moyes does not have good enough players and I feel sorry for Defoe. Sunderland's misery was compounded by Januazaj getting sent off for 2 stupid yellow cards. His first was for dissent and his second was for for a nasty challenge .

Spurs are unbeaten in the league in 5 games and 5 points better off than the same time last season.

Some will still say we are doomed.

We are third and will keep getting better. And better.

Come on you Spurs.

 

Despite all peoples negativity we are third in league and a good few points better off than this stage last year. Despite all the money spent utd and Chelsea look no much better than last season also. Despite us not being in top gear top four looks very promising! Son was outstanding! His best in a spurs shirt.

 

It was a great performance, I don't even need to say it...

My ONLY fear is that the attempts we had - 25ish in total? - weren't really that clear-cut, generally. Son could, should have scored at least one, etc etc - City don't have 25 attempts and only score one, they have 10 and score 6. Quality, not quantity.

That's the only fault I have really. Dier, Dembele fit for selection next week, just cramp, I have full confidence in Janssen too. Kane probably needed a rest anyway.

Agree on sissoko too, looks a very useful player. He won't ever please some people, but that's football I guess ahaha.

COYS!!

 

I hope you are right about Dier,Dembele,but Kane looked in a lot of pain and could be out for a while,also Walker looked like he had a problem,we have enough back up to cover us for a while but we need to have them fit for the visit of City 02/10,Now Janssen has the chance to show why we brought him in, the fans have to give him some slack,Son is getting better every game he play's,but Lamela has gone off the boil,Eriksen should be better off with the rest today and should come back stronger..Another 3 points so should be happy but at what cost.We should see some of the kids against the Gils mid-week,a chance to see what we have for the future..COYS..

 

Hmm, agree with some points but not all. But hey, that's the purpose of this forum!

For me, Sissoko has a bit about him; Alli will get there and Dembele/Toby were solid.

However, I have to disagree re. Son and I'm shocked he received MoTM. Yes there was a bit of impetus, the odd shot but mainly hot air and no result. He cuts a frustrating figure for me at times (common view of others around me today on the shelf); wasteful once he beat his man and was unable to deliver a corner of any quality in the second half - but I'm sure he will start to perform with a consistent run of games, I hope!

Overall a good performance and 3 points. Moving forward, we must be more clinical in front of goal. If not, it will cost us against our 'direct rivals'.

I now look forward to the arduous drive to Middlesbrough next Saturday.

COYS

 

Steady re. Son!!!

Couldn't agree more regarding our points total. Important to have got off to a better start this term

 

My thoughts exactly, we seem to more often than not stuggle to put the ball in the net.

 

You are not wrong Felon mate, it was another level today! Reckon they like to put us through it ;-)

 

I only caught the second half over here in Canada. British commentators - but they were very critical of the whole game. They said we deserved to win but more on the back of Sunderland being poor than us being great.
What I saw was Son being a constant threat as our best outlet. Lamely was good when he came on but when I played I loved defending against one footed players like him

Very strange what has happened with Wimmer- he should have been playing today and Dier rested. Poch's comments about resting Davies because he would have played 3 games in a row are very strange- when the person playing his position and replacing that persons position have both played many more than that in a row??

 

My sentiments Big Fran about it being his best game in a Spurs shirt and by a country mile. In our new East Upper seat, right on the Park Lane goal line, he was in front of us in the first half. He hit the best crosses and corners I have seen for many seasons. Really good performance.

Let's hope Poch will bury the hatchet with Wimmer. With Dier having a hamstring problem and Rose not yet back, then not including him adversely weakens the back four.

Going to the Gils game to see those youngsters....And see if I can spot the Lesser Spotted Wimmerman...... Or perhaps he is still in Coventry...

I guess the house rules give the MOTM to one of ours...And he was, but for me their young goalkeeper Pickford gets the gong. Would make a good back up to Hugo. Buy him and loan him back.....

 

Good to get the win, my only gripe is that as a team that created 27 (i think) shots on goal, we only score one.
This left us in the last few minutes just wondering if Sunderland would suddenly wake up and make us pay by scoring.....they had a couple of chances.
This I believe is something we need to address.
However a win is a win..
We may need to be more clinical when we face the likes of City though .
Little worrying all the slight hamstring niggles, is this the Wembley curse ?
Kane could be out for a while, he jumped into a pointless tackle and his ankle took a turn for the worse.

 

Thoughts.....

Many view here about our poor shots to goals ratio. We all fret over this aspect of our play. We dominate most teams over the course of a season, but struggle with that vital second goal, to allow us to back off and not keep pushing for another, exposing us to a break.

Has it ever been different. Probably not. Quite why we seem to suffer so badly is a worry though.

Personally I think it's about the general lack of a top class finisher in the Aguero bracket. We love Harry, but he's more a Bobby Smith than a Jimmy Greaves. This means that we need goals from as many of the squad as possible.
How about we set a target of 10 each from Son, Alli, Eriksen, Janssen and Sissoko...that will do Tommy.

COYS

 

Must admit that I never took much notice of Sissoko before this season - when I saw him play for France at the Euros, I thought 'that cannot be the same Sissoko that plays up in Geordieland'. When we paid 35 mil for the guy I was surprised, but realised that Poch must have wanted him badly enough to make Levy splash out. On yesterday's performance I can see exactly why - no flashy stuff but lots of substance which is exactly what we need because Lamela, Eriksen and Song are plenty of flashy stuff and little substance, but combine Sissoko with one of these three and we have a balanced combination.
The only poor performance yesterday was from Lloris - his clearances and passing are disastrous for a keeper rated so highly. I was constantly thinking that Vorm could do better.

 

with Kane looking likely to be out....Janssen will get his turn. lets hope he scores a goal soon. he works harder than most we've had up top in recent years...but he is a goal scorer and so needs to score goals. if he doesn't it will effect him.
Wanyama, Dembebe and Sissoko looked strong together. we'll need that against the better teams.

I never thought we'd lose the game...and I was pretty sure we'd score at some point.
....nothing wrong with winning 1-0 every game

I think I may have missed the 'Wimmer' issue. .....why wasn't he playing?? ...was someone suggesting an issue with Pochy??

 

I am not knocking Kane,but this season his goal's have been tap in's last year he scored from every angle,may be the rest he must have due to this injury will help him come back as the Kane we all want from last year..COYS..

Is there any one out there that can tell us what is going on with Wimmer?????COYS.

 

Impressive win, dominant performance. Good opposing goalkeeper. Huge price to pay for it, however. Kane will not be back till Christmas. He can say goodbye to Golden Boot. Dier is not coming back before mid-November. 6 weeks complete inactivity minimum for hamstring muscle injury before start of exercising , plus training time needed to bring him up to speed. Same with Dembele. Spurs have a hectic schedule ahead. We may not have enough bodies to dress up for all competitions. Summer signings look genius at the moment. Next match is this Wednesday, as you know. I can only say given all of that... COYS!!!

 

Lloris's form is so difficult to gauge....based on his distribution, he's off form.

 

http://cartilagefreecaptain.sbnatio...ron-carter-vickers-pochettino-central-defense

 

On point Bazza.

The reason we choke with so many of our chances is due to the lack of real quality/class of players. The killer instinct as it is so commonly referred to.

Harsh but true. Levy won't throw the necesessary money to land A single "world class" player, i.e. in the ilk of Aguero, Suarez, or Griezmann. Until this day comes (which it will) it will continue to be more of the same. Buying/developing and bringing on potential.

A good strategy but this could be seriously enhanced with the one or two more experienced top drawer players!

 

With world class players come world class wages. So you are talking an initial lay out of 70m plus then wages of upwards 200k per week. Which is more than double that of the top earners at the club smashing wage structures causing player unrest and financial catastrophe. Be real guys we are a million miles away from that sort of purchase. We need to be bringing in players the next bracket down and developing them and keeping them together.