PLAYER RATINGS - Spurs 0:1 Manchester City

Spurs were made to pay for a string of missed chances as Manchester City took all 3 points at the Lane on the day they surrendered their Premier League crown to Chelsea.

Harry Kane and Eric Dier both spurned golden chances in the opening 5 minutes as a sharp Tottenham took the game by the scruff of the neck; however Sergio Aguero’s tidy finish at the end of an impressive move meant that City went in at the break a goal to the good.

Roberto Soldado and Erik Lamela saw their efforts blocked by an admirably resolute City defence in the second half, and so Mauricio Pochettino’s side slipped to their second consecutive home loss.

Now 7 points adrift of 4th, the Champions League dream looks be over for another season – however today’s defeat was harsh on an energetic Spurs.

Player Ratings

Hugo Lloris 6 – Off his line excellently to expel danger, with one or two outstanding punches commanding his 6 yard box.

Danny Rose 7 – Consistently one of our most outstanding performers, and today was no different. Rose had a meaty battle with James Milner going on down his flank and I’d love to say he won it overall.

Federico Fazio 6 – It’s a heart-wrenching moment when you see Kün Aguero run at the *less agile* Fazio, but he wasn’t by any means embarrassed today. Nullified the threat of Wilfried Bony when he was introduced, too.

Jan Vertonghen 7 – I thought Jan was excellent today, only lapsing to let Aguero through on the one occasion that mattered most. Superb to have a ball-playing centre half.

Eric Dier 7 – What a wicked cross this lad has on him – for a centre-back. Nearly picked out Kane, Paulinho and Soldado on numerous occasions.

Ryan Mason 5 – Didn’t get into the game as much as we’re accustomed to, and a lot of his risks didn’t pay off. As usual good energy.

Nabil Bentaleb 6 – Couldn’t own the game as much as he has in recent weeks due to the midfield congestion down to Lampard, Fernando and Fernandinho, but the glimpses of unreal technique are always there.

Nacer Chadli 5 – Started brilliantly, as did the majority of our creative players, and nearly played Erik Lamela in with just a minute gone. Fizzled out towards the business end of the game and was brought off subsequently.

Christian Eriksen 4 – Much like Mason, Eriksen couldn’t get into the game as much as we would have liked but I believe his substitution was totally unjustified. To take off arguably our most creative player – with a habit of scoring vital goals – with little under an hour played seems harsh to me.

Erik Lamela 6 – I thought Lamela was due a lot of credit today. He got stuck in and took the game *to* City as he does. Final product needs brushing up on, but he came closest with his acrobatic late effort. Plus, his limp attempt at a corner in the 90+6th minute angered me greatly.

Harry Kane 6 – a hardworking and solid display from the Young Player of the Year but he really should have buried at least one. His early chance was probably the one we’d look at him to take but hey, he’s only human!

SUBS

Roberto Soldado 6 – Positive signs from the Spaniard who had one goalbound effort blocked at the last ditch.

Paulinho 5 – Brought his standard Labrador-like energy but the skill just isn’t there in my opinion.

Emmanuel Adebayor N/a – I don’t even know.

Some would say we kissed our top 4 dreams goodbye with our loss against Villa or maybe even earlier than that, but today’s result really puts it to bed.

It’s a really tough one to take on our young side, having deserved much much more than what they got – but at the end of the day Mr Aguero is the icing on the cake that maybe our team is lacking.

Coys.

 

We huff & we puff. Too many average players who are unable to affect the game. Lets be honest we are average !!

 

I dont mind losing like that as we gave it a good go and were unlucky to not come away with at least a draw.
Season was over long time ago n we need some drastic business in the summer!

 

Our best performance in quite a while. We created more chances today than we have in the last five or six games. As usual we didn't get the luck against Shity but at least the referee wasn't wearing light blue this time.
If we had won we would have helped the team from Woolwich so a good performance was more important than the win.

 

Another defeat and more questions about MP tactics, team selection and substitutions. The team today was crying out for a good holding midfield player such Dembele and yet MP went with the same team selection as so many times before and with no game plan. Keep playing Eriksen is not only bad for the player but it is bad for the team also. Having played most games both in the Premier League and in European games, he is obviously very tired and needs some time off. Instead MP he chooses to keep the other midfield players that could at least be tried out, to warm the bench and collect their weekly salary. The team was losing 1 0 and MP makes a substitution on the 83 minute! How many times today and in previous games there is nobody on either the left or the right to pick up loose balls as the team attacks. Yes we always seem to have lots of possession but such possession is really useless unless the team capitalises on this. Typical Spurs possession involves passing the ball sideways until it is lost with no creativity at all. The game pattern is so predictable. It is easy to be negative but sadly there is not much to be positive about. Unless MP recognises that each game needs a different game plan I cannot see the team progressing beyond 6 or 7 and this is probably the best that MP could achieve, Having three strikers on with no supply lines does not show anything apart of not a good understanding of the team's weakness.

 

I too question team selection and substitutions. They are typical of a manager who, lets be honest, inherited a Southampton team and took them to a credtable 8th, which was still below us and we had had a bad season ! The persistance of playing Benteleb and Mason baffles me, especially against opposition such as City so late in the season. They are never going to replicate the efforts of Arsenal and Chelsea so give them a bloody rest and bung in Stambouli and Dembele. We have a decent squad but NEVER use it and that is down to the manager. No excuses next season. He will , we hope, have got in who he wants and got rid of those he doesn't , so we'll see just how good this man is. I for one won't hold my breath.

 

Another defeat again we are to slow attacking wise and too many square passes and Eric dier is not a right back he's runs so far wiv the ball then stops and passes it back to where he's jst ran from so for me same old tactics,same old slow play, same old Spurs unbalanced team too many average players and well we're jst so average !!!!

 

MP 5
lloris 6
dier 6
fazio 6
vertonghen 6
rose 7
mason 4
benteleb 7
chadli 6
lamela 6
eriksen 5
kane 5
soldado 5
adebayor 5
paulinho 7

 

Sacking the manager would be pointless. He needs a full summer with Mitchell to create his own squad and I mean a full season. I am far from convinced by Pochettino and his credentials are not great but that is not to say he can't do a good job.
Sadly we head into the summer with selling being the only way we can buy. Levy has turned us into a joke of a club and we will struggle to sell our dead wood again this season. We don't need to spend hundreds of millions because that doesn't always work as we have shown. Look at the Saints!! Sold millions spent little.
Levy is not going anywhere and neither are Spurs.

 

"Bung in Stambouli" WTF!? Being serious... He is woeful and a poor mans Schneiderlin - him, Fazio and Chiriches to be shown the door PLEASE. Not what we need if we want to progress next season.

A better performance today, but far too many defeats on our own patch this season... Roll on August!

 

Not disappointed with the endeavour today, but spurs are so fustrating to watch. Too much high risk possession in the middle of the park, and only Kane willing to take any initiative in terms of attack, we will always fall short at the final hurdle. I believe strongly that we are not far off in this squad, but need to get rid of some deadwood, and be able to change our system to suit the players we have. If poch can get 3 or 4 new players to include a quality midfield playmaker, a striker with one out? Adebayor, a centre half that can play like verts and possibly an out and out winger, then we may get the elusive top 4. We have to eradicate this sideways no creation possession. Theres been too much onus on eriksen and kane, with a couple of other players chipping in, the rest have been woefully under par. Stick with poch and look forward to next season in the europa league!!!! Keep the faith......... COYS!!

 

I thought we were quite good actually. In the second half - I couldn't watch the first - he did really quite well against the pace and guile of Aguero. Dier probably prefers CB, and yet he's one of our best attacking options at RB! Another mention of Lamela - deserves a 7 alongside Rose. He's really taken to the Pochettino style and with any luck, he'll develop technically into the player he has the potential to be - he really puts a shift in down the right hand side.
It's the time of the season where the best squads pick up points, due to rotation - Eriksen, Bentaleb, Mason, Kane hopefully will all be rested up at this point next year due to the return of Pritchard and the signing of new players. Future looks bright.

 

One of those games where you cant help but wonder what could have been. We moved the ball forward well and had plenty of decent scoring opportunities but just lacked the end product and finishing that would have got us over the line.
Both FBs had very good games. What I like about Rose at the moment is that he seems to be getting better and better at the time of year where you want the whole team to be at their peak. Im happy to say that Danny has shown massive improvement in his game and his attitude this year. Dier too has played well in the last two weeks at RB and some nice crosses. However same old problems with these two being pushed up the field to put in all the crosses leaving acres of space yet again. Clive mentioned it over and over again during the commentary, but how many times do you see both Lamella and Chadli inside with both FBs playing up the pitch when we don't have the ball. Its got to stop. The goal was typical and too easy and if we are honest we could have ended up where although we played ok, we could have been slaughtered again. Credit to the back four I thought they all played well considering our set up.
Still not sure what Dembele has done wrong lately but it looks like we are sticking with Mason and Bentaleb for the remainder. Mason was very poor again, I feel for the guy because I do think he's a decent player and should get plenty of time on pitch but he's never first choice at this stage let alone undroppable. Overall a good team performance and if we could have capitalised early on we would have got something from this, we needed Kane and Eriksen to win the game but it wasn't to be. Also feel for Eriksen as he looks off his best at the mo but I still think he should have stayed on.

 

Average team with average players and the same with the manager . Why bring on ade with 8 mins left were is yedlin did we buy him or is it a myth can he not rest mason and Bentleb ,dembele capoue stambouli have all vanished erikson looks knackerd lamela I'm not convinced although that was one of his better games and that's not saying a lot , chadli I'm sorry I know his scored some goals but he is poor . I think as a whole this season flatters to deceive we have been poor and if pooch dose not start well next season he will face the fate of voldamorts other victims . I hope we miss out on Europe a season without it may do us good plus it won't make any odds in transfer market as who signs for a club thinking yes Europa league .

 

Eriksen was atrocious. Turned the ball over any time he touched it, was dispossessed otherwise, hit the wall on free kick... just terrible. No more than 3 or even 2. He should not start next game, if Poch has any guts. We'll see.
Lamela was what we paid big for. No less than 8 he deserves.
Kane was mediocre. He showed us what the next season is going to be for him. 5 for Kane.
Lloris made a few good saves, but the goal conceded is the one he could prevent should he play Aguero differently, with less gap. Hugo do not need to ask Joe Hart how to close the gap, he knows, just failed to do it. MUFC should take a close look on this goal to see how they would look should they lure Hugo to Old Trafford. 5 for Lloris.
Bentaleb should get 8 or 9. Impressive ball control. Not a single mistake all game.
Overall Spurs looked well, just out of lack, which is reflection of their status. Poch should learn from Mourinho just one thing: If You Do Not Have Finishers, You Cannot Afford to Play an Attractive Attacking Game. You will have chances, while opponent will have goals.

 

I keep switching between keeping or selling Lamela. Watching him against City made my mind up for me. KEEP HIM. He is a slow burner. Bags of effort and commitment which can never be criticised. We can all see erratic final product, but I'm convinced this very young man will aquire it.

 

Ericksen , Mason and Bentaleb look tired. We musn't forget that Mas and Bent are very young men and were thrown in at the deep end. They will only get better and their stamina improve.