Team of misfits, two debuts, frustrating Townsend and a match to forget

After making ten changes from Saturday’s draw with Sunderland, you always expected Spurs’ performance to be a little cagey to start with. Unfortunately, it lasted 90 minutes!

With two players making their debuts and others being drafted in for the Europa League clash having been left out of the majority of the managers starting 11’s in the Premiership thus far, Tottenham looked like a team of misfits.

Switching the side up

With such a large squad, Pochettino is always going to mix it up when it comes to Thursday night football, but personally I was disappointed not to see Soldado or Lamela start tonight’s game. Roberto showed glimpses of magic before picking up an injury a few weeks ago and after playing hardly any football last season, it would be nice to see Lamela get a long run of games in the side, both on the domestic and European stage.

Just before the hour mark I did get my wish however, with the Spaniard and Argentinean both introduced to try and ignite some much needed spark to our performance. Although Lamela did offer something a bit different when he came on, we still never looked as though we would break the deadlock.

Townsend frustrates again

Andros Townsend was one of those hauled off on 60 minutes after once again failing to deliver. During the first half, the winger was as always, extremely lively, but the final product was so poor. The commentator said that he was ‘bamboozling’ the Belgrade defence in the first half – well; all I can say is that he must’ve been watching a different game to me!

Away record remains intact

Tottenham only lost one match on the road in Europe last season (a 1-0 defeat at Dnipro), and despite the fact the home side made the majority of the running which led to a couple of nervy moments, we were rarely troubled as the Serbs failed to create any clear cut chances.

From the outset though, both sides, albeit in particular Tottenham, looked as though they would be happy to leave with a point, which in all honestly ensured the contest remained dull for large spells.

Mixed bag for the debutants

Federico Fazio made his Spurs debut this evening, partnering Jan Vertonghen at the back, and in all honestly looked quite shaky, especially in the first half. The former Sevilla defender seemed more interested in getting involved in a wrestling match with the Partizan Belgrade forward and as a result presented the Serbs with their best chance of the opening 45 minutes. The 6’7 centre half should win everything in the air so to see him lose out on a few occasions was slightly disconcerting.

Benjamin Stambouli also started for the first time in a Spurs shirt and looked very tidy throughout. On a surface that was of a similar standard to one you would expect to see at Hackney Marshes on a Sunday morning, it was never going to be a match where either side was going to be able get it down and showcase their skills.

Find the positives?!

There really aren’t many positives to take away from our first game in Group C of the Europa League, apart from the fact we didn’t lose and managed to keep a clean sheet.

If Spurs beat West Brom at the weekend though and the players who were rested this evening come in and do the business, tonight’s bore draw will be erased from the memory ever so quickly.

 

Some things never change .. Early days to be fair but can anybody tell me for certain thats not AVB in disguise in the dugout .. lol i for one cant see any difference in style or substance in any performance so far .. We live in hope ..

 

Of course there's a difference, AVB's beard was a lot bushier.

 

Thats so true. No different from last season. Kane, bless him, is so slow and leaden footed, Lennon is a spent force and needs a change of club for his own good. As for Townsend, Oh dear, the guy is so inconsistent its embarrasing.

 

We have become the Arsenal of the Europa league, seeded, fumble are way through the group stage, get dumped out by the first decent side.
Id like to state now that we have not a chance of wining this competition.

 

Yep AVB mark II. How poor was Davies tonight? Fazio did ok, other than a couple of mistakes which is a little unusual for him! Townsend and Lennon brought nothing to the party either. Thought Bentaleb and Verts were The best 2 players.

 

Spot on Terri .. Missed that one for some reason .. Prob because i was ingrossed in the mesmerizing football we were playing ..

 

How boring was that game?

The team is so average and lacks creativity.

Paulinho and Townsend are just embarassing to watch. Townsend for a lack of brain and Paulinho for a lack of everything needed to be a proper footballer.

Spurs so need a creative midfielder to make things happen.

 

nothing different tonight to avb or Sherwood teams, poor investment in the team especially when in the champions league the painful bottom line is we are just not good enough & have never pushed on from a few years ago

 

I am all for rotation when you have several games to play throughout a season but when you are changing TEN players, I just do not believe that you can expect any sort of continuity.
Ramos made a point the other day that you can change centre backs to suit the different oppositions you will play against, and I fully agree with that sentiment, but changing ten players is poor management in my view.
Yes, change three or four players and allow some of the fringe players chance to shine, but when you suddenly put ten players in who are only playing bit parts in the league, it just doesn't work. Look what happened last year when trying to add seven new players all at once. Surely lessons should have been learnt from that?

I am not too concerned about getting only a point , as we will win enough of our home games and pick enough points up away from home, recent stats show that nine or ten points will get you through the group stages, and enter the knock out stages.
Stambouli looked a good prospect and Fazio did okay at the back. Townsend is still like a headless chicken though. He runs a lot, goes round in circles but his end product and shooting is frankly woeful. I still believe that he has the talent to be a class act, but he must work harder in training to lift his game.
Kane was poor today and that was a shame because I am glad he is being given a chance under Pochettino, but tonight showed again our deficiencies in the attacking areas of the field, and I still say that this has to be addressed in the January transfer window.

 

That was truly dreadful. Before the game I commented in another post that the attack didn't look to have a cutting edge. Also that I would have played Soldado and Erikson from the start. I didn't foresee that Kane, Lennon and Townsend would be quite so bad. Townsend was lucky not to get sent off and it now looks that Lennon has completely forgotten how to beat players.
Didn't expect Davies to make Danny Rose by comparison but he had a torrid night.
On the positive side , Vertonghen and Lloris looked assured and Gazillions and Stambouli were OK. Lamela showed some good touches when he came on.
The comparisons with VAN - not hard to see why. Lots of possession but slow lateral movement and no quick incisive football in the last third. Harry is probably incapable of that though - he reminds me of Mark Falco big, a trier who scores the odd goal but ultimately ponderous.
Oh well - bring on WBA !

 

Thought Fazio and Stambouli had good games. Fazio already looks a tidier player than Kaboul. Stambouli looks a good aquisition who can play a bit, and get stuck in. Cant agree more that Lennon and Townsend are past there sell by dates. Also, I hate to say it but Rose is a better left back at present. Cant see this pochetino philosophy coming to fruition just yet of high tempo high line football. The whole team needs a rocket, they all want 20 touches when one will do. Always look good going backwards or sideways. Keep the faith coys.

 

Good to see the reactionary knives are straight out!

I personally think an away point on a **** pitch, against a team fired up with an unbelievable home crowd is a really good result!

If white Hart Lane rocked like that every week we would hardly ever lose at home!

Clean sheet, first and tough game done.

 

An away point is good, but we really should be beating a team that lost to Shamrock bloody Rovers not too long who.
If we had lost, I think there would be serious questions to answer, but the main issue for me was making ten changes. That is just far too many to expect any sort of cohesiveness.

 

Decent result. Disappointing performance. But in truth, after one look at the pitch, I always expected this to be a more difficult game than it would be usually!

I definitely think it safe to assume that the ground man has had the fortnight off leading up to this game, and if your asking me to find one positive from the contest, itself, off the top of my head...it's got to be that none of our players suffered serious injury!

I thought the lads started well, pressed high and looked dangerous/threatening in spells. Yet, as the match went on both facets of the teams play seemed to wane, with a couple of the lads appearing to become frustrated/unsettled by the conditions.

Andros and Ben both had games to forget. Sometimes, it just isn't your night, and that certainly seemed to be the case these two, with the latter given a TORRID time down the left flank throughout.

Townsend, to me, look like a player who was trying too hard to impress, and as a result he lost a bit of his game intelligence. Clearly eager to get back in the '1st team' fold, Andros' forgot about the 'team oriented' mentality, whilst in possession of the ball, that will endear him to the likes of Pochettino.

Jan Vertonghen was MOTM, for me. He was superb in marshalling the back 4, mopping up after a Fazio error from a long-throw, and regularly found breaking up attacks/ making crucial interceptions. Couldn't help but be impressed by the Belgian, and he is definitely one who staked his claim for a recall to the '1st team' on the weekend.

I didn't think Fazio was too far behind him either, with the pair striking up a solid looking partnership. Bar one glaring error from a long throw in the 1st half, I thought the Argentine put in an excellent performance on his debut, making blocks, winning headers and positionally aware, Federico brought a sense of presence and authority to the Spurs back-line.

Stambouli was decent, but will have better games on better surfaces. And Paulinho looked pretty good in a 1st half where Spurs began brightly. The Brazilian played with poise and urgency in the opening period, playing in a system that allowed him plenty of freedom when Spurs were on the ball.

Unfortunately for Paulinho his influence on the match seemed to waver with his decision to change his choice of boots for the 2nd half.

All in all, like I said, a decent result, when you consider the state of the pitch. I imagine the result and the performance will look VERY different in the reverse fixture at WHL.

Making 10 changes to a team, and deploying a number of players who are still attempting to find their rhythm/ match sharpness, is NEVER easy.

BRING ON THE BAGGIES!!!!

 

Making ten changes is madness. Three or four, yes. Ten, simply over the top. The pitch was pretty poor to be fair, but I doubt players in the sixties complained about pitches too much!!

 

That was utterly boring and I agree that a wholesale change of the team for Europa League games will be disjointed at best but my guess is Poch thinks we will make it thru group stages anyway and this way he rests first XI for PL games for now. If we make it out of group stages, he should stick with a core of the first XI and make some changes in key roles or where players need to be rested but not change the entire team.

I think Stambouli was a very solid pick up. Fazio was fine but needs to get more playing time with Verts if that is to be our main CB pairing going forward.

Lennon should be offloaded in January and if between now and then, Poch cannot improve Townsend's decision-making, then he should be sold in January as well.

We were very pedestrian and showed very little creativity and attacking intent but to be fair they did park the bus in their defensive third and tried to attack us on the counter.

We need to spank WBA on Sunday to get a belief and positive momentum going for the team again. Have Le Arse and Citeh coming up so we need to be mentally up for those games. COYS!

 

Agree with most of the comments and sure a point is a point and the home crowd were pretty impressive in their support. But making ten changes is a bit of a gamble to say the least. Everton are virtually playing with the same team that was picked at the weekend and are winning 3-0.
I said last season we needed a goalscorer and someone to maintain a high tempo. If you think of the most attractive teams of the last 30+ years you think of Crooks, Archibald, Klinsmann , Lineker, Allen, Sheringhams and Berbatov among the strikers. Then we have Ardiles, Hoddle, Waddle, Ginola , Modric,Gascoigne, Bale. Who do we have now ? Bentaleb, Paulinho, Capoue, Lennon and Townsend. Hardly worth comparing.

 

Inconsistent is a compliment. Townsend is an embarrassment.

 

Well apart from not being ginger it would be hard to tell.Come back Tim at least we scored goals.