Matchday discussion

Joke of a result ... another good (in this case dominant) performance with no reward/no luck.

Finishing/creativity in the final third is a major Achilles heel without Maddison.

Richarlison not scoring a free header from 6 feet out after West Ham equalised with the luckiest goal tells you all you need to know.

 

Only saw half of first half. We played excellent in that period. Seems like we need to have this yearsfirst half performance with last years second!

 

There is a lot to say about this match. The same (or almost) as against Villa... The Spurs totally dominate the 1st half but by not scoring the 2nd goal, the opponent gains confidence (Villa and the hammers have the same type of coach with the same tactical philosophy...) and took advantage of a drop in pace to score and win 2 matches that we should have easily won! Kulu was well below what he has been offering since the start of the season. Same for Bissouma. Hojberg no longer has the confidence that he had 2 seasons ago. Skipp's entry was useless. The substitution of Lo Celso was too premature in my opinion. And I think it's time to favor Veliz over Richardlison because these eternal technical errors cost us a lot of points. I always have great confidence in Postecoglou who managed to establish a very good game pushed towards the offensive which is in the DNA of our club. Let's still have confidence in his philosophy and support this team which has been suffering from absences for 5 matches. The wheel will turn, I'm sure!

 

I am struggling to really assess our performances this season.We started off with good results mainly against bottom half teams including scraping through against the worst team sheffield United.We then start to look better until Chelsea and the sending offs and injuries.since then all I hear is it’s the injuries costing us but we have dominated in 4 games for the first half and then surrendered in the second half.At the moment Ange is fireproof because he has changed the boring dross served up by Conte but losing consistently irrespective of the circumstances will soon start to wear thin.I hear the optimists saying it’s a rebuild and will take time but if we finish bottom half that won’t wash as in a rebuild you hope to see gradual improvement not regression

 

The problems are fairly easy to summarise I think.

We are missing our two most influential players (and Romero has missed the last 3) and whoever replaces them on the pitch is a major drop off.

Let’s not forget we also lost the best striker in the world before season’s start and didn’t replace him … before we start comparing Ange to anyone else.

That said, the manager has been very good. We assert ourselves no matter and have deserved to win most games (Wolves and City the exceptions).

But there is no cutting edge … particularly without Maddison. Even losing Perisic was a major blow because there is little to no attacking nous elsewhere.

At the back, van de Ven has been essential to playing our high line successfully, and even more so because there is literally no one of note to replace him.

So while it is no mystery that we seriously lacked depth in some areas coming into the season, we’ve also been injury hit in the worst possible way.

That said, we still play the right way and have had very little luck in quite a few games. It will right itself in time because we play too well most of the time under this manager. But it’s equally important results do not continue to slide and we get some reward no matter who is on the pitch because confidence/belief will drop across the squad. And we know there are still quite a few fragile egos about the club after last season.

 

Pretty football that leads to 1 point from a possible 15 with an aggregate of 7-13 is **** football.

We were atrocious 2nd half and as I said before the new manager bounce is well and truly over.

The deficiencies in the squad are showing themselves every week, and for all the patterns and passing we've got piss poor quality when it comes to actually putting the ball in the net.

Add to this the wankers at the back gifting goals away it's a recipe for disaster.

Not even attempting to replace Kane adequately is killing us and the pure neglect of the CB situation.

 

I don’t think it is a matter of the new manager becoming stale in any way but rather the squad’s deficiencies have been laid completely bare by the current injury crisis.

Think of our very best most gifted players … beyond Romero they are all out … the squad got exposed in one fateful game versus Chelsea that on any other day we would have won.

Just an observation …

10 games with Maddison … undefeated.

5 games without him … not a single win.

You are right though. Ange brought in some good players, and he needed to. But it wasn’t enough because the squad was completely broken at the end of last year. Blame the egghead(s) in charge for quibbling over a few quid as usual … failing to move on and replace the likes of Dier, Lloris and Hjobjerg on the payroll was criminal, even more so since none of them suit the system/will be around long.

We are 100% paying the price at the moment.

 

Must say Felons feelings are understandable as he is right about the pretty patterns producing nothing.Kane not replaced big mistake which is down to Postelogou and Levy.I fear for us against Newcastle although they have injury problems themselves but they did get thumped by Everton.

 

Negative attitude as usual.... Same as Felon and some of old Spurs fans (As I am).
Negativity has never brought anything good, therefore anything positive! There is no point in repeating Levy's mistakes. More than 20 years for a single trophy.... Ok and does complaining all the time bring anything useful and good? Nothing ! Knowingly, let's take the positive (the offensive and attacking attitude advocated by Ange) and support this team because it is fighting with its qualities and the return of the injured plus 1-2 new acquisitions (a central defender and a real scorer) will bring us back to the top !
COYS

 

Feel sorry for gio being dropped. Can’t see why starting wit Richie is better than starting with gio?

 

Why is telling the truth negative?I have praised our football this season at times but being the first team in premiership history to not win for 5 games in a row after leading is not a thing to be positive about.I see Fulham are thrashing West Ham today who we could not beat at home.We are only missing two of our starting eleven now although they are important ones and other clubs have just as many including Newcastle

 

Just to tell you I do praise when it’s due.Today we were good and deserved our winlBest performance by Richarlison for us since he has been here.only drawback sloppy goal given away at end and missed chances which could have got revenge for6-0 last year.One negative Romero still risking sending off again with awful tackle which should have been red.

 

I think this challenge was more red than the last one, since he got the ball with the other one.
Thought Johnston looked good, beat his defender with clever turns
All in all a good performance, think it was Hojbjerg who gave the ball away?

All thought I think the big difference this game was converting a second chance. A lot of our recent losses needed that second goal to show for first half dominance

 

Well said ... although I can appreciate the frustration with those who run the club as well. They never quite seem to do enough.

As for the squad ... we do lack key depth but we've also been unlucky with that. A great shame really ... we'd be topping the league otherwise.

 

I read two days ago that Ange Postecoglou attaches little importance to the way we play but that he mainly wants victories because in the end, that's the only thing that counts. If we didn't lose 4 players to finish at 9 against Chelsea, and we converted our chances against Villa and against the Hammers, the result would have been the same as last night and we would be at the top of the Premier League. The game that Ange wants to develop brings spectacle and goals. It's all about achieving what we missed against Villa and the Hammers. The team is having fun playing in that attacking mood and the group seems to really come together. If we keep this state of mind of wanting to suffocate the opponent then the results will follow. It’s up to us to do our job as the 12th man! Up to Levy to add some depth in January....

 

January is going to be hard. If we dont have Bentacur Madders and Van de Venn back. We will also lose Biss and Sarr to Africa’s cup and Sonny to Asian cup!!
We could then have in theory 6 automatic starters out. A midfield without Sarr Bentacur or Biss what team would you play?
I’d have to say. Vicario,Destiny,Davies,Romero Porro then Kulu, Gio, Hojbjerg,Skip, Johnson, Richarlison

I hope VDV and Madders are advancing on their recovery

 

Hard earned win and at times very sloppy.Bissouma and Udogie suspended for Everton game Hope Johnson and De celso are back to fill in and Emmersonwill go left back .Kulu was awesome tonight and I don’t always give him credit but he is so much better in midfield.Davies best game for us by far

 

Just read kulu has 5th most assists in Orem league since his debut!! Under rated

 

I thought we did enough to win the game......

but also thought we didn't pass the ball well enough.... or move between the lines well enough....
Kulu had a good game. And good to see Richy on the score sheet.
Romero was solid at the back. And he needed to be as the midfield two were (I agree with the word) sloppy.... especially Sarr today

Bissouma's tackle wasn't good. just as shame it was against Yates who moaned all game about everything.

3 points is 3 points.....which is a good habit to get into over this festive period

 

Big Ange continues to work wonders with 3 of his biggest stars out and the cupboard bare

Take away Sonny and this is a very very young side as well

Top top manager in the dugout