Palace 0-1 Spurs: Thoughts on individual performances

Well, PLAYING might be an overstatement.

 

Is this a FARCE or what. Dear God Almighty.

 

Why does it take so long ..... How many replays do the need ...

Jeez lads I can't believe some of Yee think Sissoko , Lamela , Lorrente and co wouldn't be strong enough against Rochdale ... I'm not a fan of them either but surely they should be up to it against Rochdale ... I'm not being a hindsight merchant here , even if we happened to mess it up this eve , before a ball was kicked I would still have presumed that team to be good enough to get the job done against these .....

 

Where to start.......

- I wanted Poch to field the same side, to make amends. I nearly ate my own words in getting my
Wishes

- WTF was that VAR c**p.....Llorente's goal disallowed. Son booked and sacrifices the pen. Really.The Ref totally lost his marbles.

- Lamela, Sisocko as he will now be know, Llorente, Winks just not good enough. Period. Dele gone and going backwards. Only our strongest 11 from here on out.

- Thank heavens for Sonny and Moura

 

In all my years of watching/playing football I've never been more confused by Half Time.
The Ref was Clown who seemed to need VaR for every decision and then VaR made a complete hash of the decisions.
1st goal shouldve stood, the Pen decision was a Free Kick, the Pen disallowed and booked when we've seen this run up numerous of times by the likes of Ronaldo etc with nothing said, 1-1 at HT.

Only took us 135minutes plus to start getting a grip on the Tie with Pooch and his band of second string men.
What a shambles from start to finish it really was.

So we went through at a canter in the end but really Poch and a number of them players should be embarrassed what they've served up.

 

You just assume lamela,sissoko , etc are going to play bad from the start that's why you felt they played bad. Imo lamela, sissoko, son, moura and trippier were instrumental in getting us the win

 

The whole VaR shebang was a farce. I was in favour of it to help the referee. Granted it is in its infancy and it needs settling in, but as this was my first experience at a game with it I have now completely changed my attitude towards it...it killed the game stone dead. After celebrating a goal, any exuberance is quashed as you have to wait - the players, fans, officials, viewers alike - for the incident to be scrutinised. This took what seemed like ages with zero atmosphere whilst this was going on. Confusing. Terrible.

Up to the penalty incident we were in control. Then I think the stoppage quashed the players tempo and let Rochdale have some glory - that and the ridiculous back-passing to Vorm under pressure costing us mistakes and turning the ball over. I get the tactics - drawing the opponents out of their own half to create space preventing the 11-men behind the ball scenario - and I'm glad Poch saw fit to experiment with that. But you don't offload the ball to your keeper when the opposing striker is 10 yards away! Schoolboy stuff.

Fortunately the half-time cuppa did its magic and it was nice to see Llorentte grabbing some goals. Will it boost his confidence enough to improve going forward? I doubt it. He was so piss-poor in the first-half - not even making an effort to jump or hold on to the ball - I was willing him to be substituted. I stand corrected. The weather dampened any hope of good solid football.

No-one has mentioned Rose. For all the improved performances in the second-half, he was **** throughout. Didn't look to me like he wanted to be part of the 'B'-team, or even work for a place back in the 'A'-team. Time to cash in?

Whilst I enjoyed my first experience of Club Wembley seating (at £15, why not!) with the snow relentlessly drifting in it felt like being inside a snow globe that had just been shaken. Absolutely bloody frozen by the end and a 100-mile journey home to boot. Who was the nutter in (about) block 133 jumping around with his shirt off!

 

16 games undefeated.. hasn't been done since 99 I believe.. so what's with all the angst? What you expect Spurs to blow everyone off the park? No one does that.. we dominated, missed good chances, won at the end.. job done.. well done lads

 

Ted, Lamela and Sisocko instrumental....they have never been so. I watch and hope, with an open mind always, and they have rarely if ever added anything of material value to a result - a goal, an assist, a telling pass.....we are wasting our time with them.

 

The angst Jam is that playing Rochdale is not what matters, drawing there, struggling for 45+ here, it's about there being players who you watch whenever they are on show and you realise, through careful and considered viewing, that they cannot make the level required to maintain top 4, CL, Cup Wins....never. Sisocko can't pass a ball into the right space for toffee, cross a ball for an assist - wherever, whenever did you see him do that. Lamela - a liability, cannot avoid fouling and wonders why he gets booked. I wished for them both to become like new signings...I'm still waiting. That's why the angst.

 

With you all the way Baz - Pamela rarely sees a telling pass, seldom scores and tackles like he needs a booking to be able to breathe. The newly named Sissocko - words aren't enough.

 

We are not Man City, can't afford to have two strong squads like some of these teams willing to pay players to sit. We've got a great starting 11 and a decent squad; these bench players deserve playing time...the likes of Sissoko, Lamela, Llorente are all vital to our team. Can't play Kane, Eriksen every game. Son not too long ago used to be a fringe player and now look how good he's come.

The issue on the night was var...what a total mess. Everyone accepts that with football comes the element of human error, let the ref manage the game and stop referring every little minor decision; wasting 8 minutes in the first half and heavens know how much more in the second.

 

Money is a good topic Remy , I was talking to a mate the other day in depth about this.
I'm actually fed up of Money being used as an excuse from us.
Of course it helps but just because Man Utd paid more for Pogba than our entire 1st team cost to assemble does that mean they're better or should finish above us?
Player for player is City's Defence that much better than ours?
There are only a Handful of players that any of us even without Rose tinted glasses would take from other Richer Prem side's that would get into our 1st team but when reversed there are plenty of ours that would walk into others.

Poch has Spent in the Region of £282 million since his arrival (ins/outs/recouped) that's without already having talents such as Kane Eriksen Dembele Jan Lloris etc at the club already.

Having had a look £120 mil + has been spent on the Likes of Sissoko Njie Nkodou Jannssen Llorente Stambouli Yedlin etc

People can refer to all purchases being a gamble and that we can't spend the same as others but wastage like this and the lack of strategic pro activity in the markets are why were lacking in the 2nd team department.

Why must we dilly dally about with serial underperformers/sicknotes/flops/unused players some costing a lot and a huge drain on the small resources?

This is why I can't accept it when we hear the company line "Happy with the Squad" then when it comes to Business end we "can't compete, squads not good enough"

The reason it's not good enough because money has been spunked on sub standard players and the Academy isn't producing enough.

 

What most forget is that not all players are the complete article, an argument can be make for some of the players that have faltered; Njie, Stambouli, Yedlin and the likes who weren't all that expensive to begin with. For the likes of Lamela, Sissoko who were a bit more expensive; if Poch believes he can improve them and until he feels he can't...there's no need to just get rid of squad players for the sake of it.

You must have some kind of ability to foretell players who'll come good, and if you do...maybe you should be scouting for us.

We have a capable second team and Poch keeps strengthening it little by little. There are a few opportunities we've missed of course, the likes of Dembele...whom we could have acquired from Fulham in the winter window coming in the fall like Dele.

Another factor that you seem to misconstrue is the 290mil spent, not mentioning the 255mil in player departures....leveling it to a net spend of only 35mil since Poch has arrived. You're just full of criticisms that have no foundations; last season it was the style of play...and now onto something else.

 

Read what I said again Remy (ins/outs/recouped) it's well documented that the Owners put sweet FA into the side, but when you break down what Poch already had to what he's brought in and (recouped or not those sums are still what have been spent) what he hasn't shifted when it's clear they're not good enough is a problem is it not?

Even the most uneducated/inexperienced person can see Sissoko on his huge wage isn't up to scratch, Lamela is Marmite but even those that champion him can't name exactly what his talent is supposed to be or even his position after 4/5 years.

It's not a personal attack Remy it's just some clear things that need addressing if we are to kick on from the perennial we don't have enough players/money.

On the subject of money though just because a Utd Chavs City Liverpool first team cost more to assemble than ours it's still about the level/quality of players on the pitch regardless and we have a very good 1st team (top 3 imo) ie there are cheaper cars that have better performance than say a Ferrari.

So if it is possible to build a Quality 1st team on a shoestring then surely you can find players of similar ilk to contribute from the squad?

Surely while Poch is saying how calm he is and happy with his squad he must think it is sound else he should be working tirelessly on it? So that we are not cursing we don't have the depth?
If he's not then he's accepting a ceiling of second best.

 

Remy - I defy anyone to say those two haven't had a chance to show sustained form and to present any kind of promise. For me the jury came back a fair while ago - but I do accept it is all opinions. After all, that's what makes a forum ain't it.

 

Fair enough, non of it is personal...on the other hand. If you can't buy a whole squad, you have to develop it. That takes time. City for example were in high need of defenders, they spent 200mil on defenders alone, probably more.

Those squad players we have are decent, I wouldn't want Sissoko ore Lamela in the starting 11, but on the bench...why not. I have seen tremendous develop in Sissoko's game this season compared to last and Lamela's injury has definitely hampered him. It is fair to expect more and demand improvement year after year; but also one has to acknowledge where there's been progress.

My biggest concern isn't the fringe players, it's our stars and how we need to address the wage structure in order to keep them.

 

Something we both agree on Remy.

With regards to the squad players it all depends where people are setting the bar, there are some improvements but we haven't kicked on much from nearly men really because we still are the nearly men. Unless Pro active action is taken it carries on and in turn (along with wages) weakens our hand at keeping our best players?

 

I can agree with that, we definitely can bring in players that add to the strength of t he squad...players like Waynama, Toby. Ryan Sessegnon is one we need to keep an eye on, do whatever we can to acquire him.

Lastly, until we've won a few honors (prem, fa cup, or champions league)...it's fair to keep asking these questions. Here's to hoping we can finish off this season on a high! COYS.

 

C'mon Baz don't be so downbeat.. did you see the best team in England lose to a League One side the other day? listen to Remy.. he's 100% on point

These guys are quality squad players.. proven internationals for world powerhouses.. you can lament that to this point for Spurs they haven't justified their price.. and you would perhaps be right

But in all fairness while you're at it you should also mention the long long list of players who have overwhelmingly outperformed their cost

The fact we have built such an impressive squad with a negative net spend says two things about our owner/chairman.. 1. they're bloody tightwads.. and 2. they're bloody good at it