Sunderland 0-1 Tottenham post-match thoughts

Decent performance. Fantastic Result.

I'm NOT for one minute suggesting Spurs played well or even (really) deserved to win, but I think if we are to talk about who had the better opportunities and more of them, I DO think Spurs just edged it!

Listen, anyone who thought Sunderland were just going to roll over and let Spurs tickle them to death, probably needs to follow another sport. As they clearly struggle grasp the nature of the modern game...especially as far as the English game is concerned.

THIS IS THE EPL...EVERY GAME IS AN EXAMINATION, BATTLE AND CHALLENGE!!!

The facts are with the amount of money coming into the game in this country, teams who historically are less fashionable/ successful are now able to go out and buy players who once upon a time would NEVER have signed for them. i.e. Shaqiri/ Bojan & Stoke. Cabeye & Palace. Ilner and Leicester.

Sunderland have a GOOD team, if we are talking individual players, and after seeing calibre of player they possess at close quarters, I believe they have every chance of a comfortable league finish providing they can get the balance of the team right.

I thought after a 1st half, where Spurs were FREQUENTLY getting out numbered in the middle of the park (especially evident in counter attack situations) and getting into good positions only to let themselves down with a sloppy final ball , things improved markedly in the 2nd.

The team tightened up, became more compact and retained possession better, higher up the pitch.

The introduction of Andros Townsend made a BIG difference, as did Erik Lamela's cameo.
Both brought a sharpness and exuberance that was previously lacking in much of our attacking play.

Townsend in particular was excellent, as was the performance of Ryan Mason, who is currently playing as well as ANY CM in the league.

Dare I say, Luka Modric would of been proud of the performance Mason gave today with his all-action style becoming a REAL feature in this Tottenham teams make-up.

I've heard Jamie 'The Vendetta' Redknapp, amongst others, unfairly (imo) describe Ryan as 'ordinary/average' who is not befitting of a team/club with THFC ambition.

Well, I think that is ABSOLUTE garbage, if I'm to lay my cards down flat on the table!!!

Yes, I know he doesn't have the exotic sounding name, CL experience or even a FULL season playing in the EPL under his belt - but the kid does have PLENTY of talent and potential.

4 games in to HIS season, and it is quite feasible to believe that Ryan Mason could ALREADY be sitting on 3 goals & 3 assists had things worked out a little differently, given his IMPRESSIVE form thus far this campaign.

The kid has been EXCEPTIONAL.

Other people to play significant roles in the victory vs Sunderland, were Dier, Vertonghen and Davies.

Unfortunately for the latter, though, Spurs look a MUCH more threatening team when Danny Rose is patrolling the left flank with all of his aggression, athleticism and power.

3 points was MASSIVELY important today and the lads did well to get them. Plenty of positives to take from the match, including ANOTHER clean sheet and Son getting his PL debut.

With the likes of Dembele, Eriksen, Njie, Pritchard, Rose and Bentelab all to return to fold, Mauricio Pochettino will have a plethora of options at his disposal in order to mount a challenge on both European and Domestic fronts.

 

It's suddenly all lilywhite in the Spurs garden after one win, eh? We have seen glimpses of where our head coach wants us to be this season and we saw it again yesterday, especially in the 2nd half. It's about controlling the tempo of the match, slowing it down when it suits us and quickening at the right opportunity. It's relatively easy to play at one pace, AVB slow or Harry Redknapp bats-out-of- hell. All the great football sides do the difficult thing, slowing and quickening the game when it suits, a bit like Floyd Mayweather controlling a boxing match. We saw it with Ryan Mason's goal. It will take time, but we will get there given time and support. Poch will prove all the doubters wrong in time. Spurs fans are simply going to have to show a quality which is in short supply at most times, namely PATIENCE.

 

Yep definitely needed the 3 points yesterday, a draw would not have been good enough and a defeat would have got the knives out. Defoe looked pretty sharp (would he not have been a decent Kane back up? Im sure he would have crawled back to Spurs if we went after him) We controlled the game in the 2nd half and could have won by more. We do have some hard working players, however getting Eriksen back playing like he did at the start of last season is key. We have willing runners in Dier, Alli Mason etc, but Eriksen adds a touch of class, Kane misses him. We need to kick on now, Chelsea and Liverpool cant play this badly all season (be great if they did though) so need to make hay now though and stop dropping silly points, Should have beaten Leicester, Stoke and Everton, thats 6 points lost right there, a top classs DM would have helped close games out, but Dier is doing a decent job, so not all doom and gloom.

 

We look so disjointed for most of the game and it was only when Andros came on we looked a threat with his directness! we are not playing as a team at the moment but hopefully that will come in time, the one time we played as a team with pass and move and link up play was when Mason scored, why can't we be like that all the time? there is always a lack of options for the player with the ball because nobody is making runs or making themselves available to receive the ball, simple stuff, quick pass and move(Dembele take note), fair play to the excellent Mason for creating that goal out of nothing because he started off the quick passing one twos and finished it off superbly, more of that will open teams up, Dier was also excellent but i am concerned about Chadli as he creates very little and has no composure in front of goal, should of had 2 goals and Harry needs to relax a bit and let it happen naturally instead of getting anxious and trying to score all the time but i have faith it will come. Coys.

 

Kane will get there, his two England goals shows what he can do. Son looked decent and Towsnend looked really menacing when he came on, if he has the right attitude and fights for his place and keeps it simple, he can be a good supply line for us. So the current XI if the sqaud is fit is as follows:

Lloris
Walker, Alderwield, Vertonghen, Rose
Dier
Mason, Eriksen
Son, Townsend
Kane

For Europa League

Vorm
Trippier, Wimmer, Fazio, Davies
Benetelab
Alli, Demele
Pritchard, Lamela,
NJie


Thats pretty decent strength in depth

 

The positives yesterday were Dier (again), Mason - improving all the time, Townsend - is the penny beginning to drop?, and Lamela to an extent, another assist and a goal attempt which he should have executed better. It was also good to see Vertonghen beginning to take some responsibility as the senior player in defence and not simply concentrate on his own game.

 

Rednapp is partly right about the Mason of last season because every time I watched him he seemed to give the ball away - something he's still doing unfortunately, HOWEVER he's certainly improving and I think that there is a useful player in there somewhere. I think his poor first touch on the goal actually benefitted him as otherwise he probably would have poked the ball straight at the keeper like he usually does!
Not sure we really deserved all three points - think you might have viewed the match through Spurs tinted goggles, or are you ignoring the 2 shots against the woodwork by Sunderland and their large periods of dominance? But, and it's a big but, our fitness shone through and as they flagged we just got stronger. Kudos to Poch's training regime. Two big plusses for me were the performances of our subs; both Lamela and Townsend play well off the bench and I reckon both could become great super subs. Nice to have that extra pace sitting on the bench. The biggest plus for me so far is that we are defending much better, now we just need to kick-start Kane! Oh and Levy HAS to buy a second striker in January or risk being lynched from a crane at the site of the new stadium.

 

Except for N'Jie playing out of position as striker - might work if we played a 4-3-3 but can't see him playing as lone striker at all. In 4-3-3 Lamela and N'jie could switch in the central role.

 

I keep hearing about Eriksen coming back & being the missing creative spark we need ?
really?
I'm not so sure he's had a full game without going missing for about a season now...
I'd like to see Carroll given a chance as I thought he too helped influence the momentum at the stadium of light yesterday.

 

Lamela as a CF? Are you sure? At least N`Jie looks like he can handle himself. Any self repecting CH would relish the opportunity to put Lamela into row Z, if they could catch him I guess

 

If I had realised my comment was going to get used to construct a blog, Admin, I would of made it better! But, hey, it's been a while, and I supposed I owed you one! But lets NOT make a habit of it though, eh... As I would like any (officially) published work of mine to be of the required standard, if we're going to put the name Ramos 43 next to it!

The reason I think criticism of Mason is harsh, is because:

• He made a MASSIVE impact when he came into the team last season, and really helped galvanize our campaign.
• He played almost every game last year - such was Pochettino's lack of faith/trust in the alternatives - IN HIS 1st FULL (ish) SEASON (at any level) - meaning he was always likely to tire mentally, if not physically too. It was THIS, as I said at the time, that was significantly affecting his form towards the tail end of the campaign.
• He is still young both in terms of age and experience, at this level, and therefore has PLENTY of scope to develop.
• He has a skill-set, mentality and athleticism which could/should provide the basis of an excellent modern day midfielder in time.

Listen, I could go on, but I won't...

What I will say though is that, had Mason been able to finish more of his opportunities with the composure he showed in yesterday's match (although that was more of an instinctive finish than a composed one) Ryan could EASILY be sitting on 10-12 career goals for Tottenham Hotspur, right now!

I really mean that. Because the kid DOESN'T just get into good positions to score, but he gets into GREAT ones! That's a gift that Frank Lampard made a career out of. The thing with Ryan at the moment, though, is his finishing has usually let him down, when he's got there.

If he can improve that particular area of his game, this season, he could save the club up to anything from £20m!

As I've stated before, I believe we have seen about 60/70% of what this guy is capable of doing in a Spurs shirt. That said, if he is able to produce that additional 30/40% to his game on a REGULAR basis, I have NO DOUBT that Ryan WILL go on to play an important role both for Spurs and England for years to come.

In the past, I've written whole posts on why both he and Bentelabs form fluctuated towards the back end of last season:

1. The demands that were placed upon them -in the worlds most competitive, rigorous and relentless league, in probably the most physically challenging position on the pitch - caught up with them.
2. The potential distraction being called up for the national team.
3. The highs and lows of being caught up emotionally draining games (i.e. all of our comebacks/late wins. The cup final. Europa League and FA Cup exit in quick succession, Arsenal and Chelsea wins. etc, etc)
4. A lack of rotation in that position.
5. And the demands of playing for a club the size, and with the ambitions, of a THFC.

That's all WITHOUT factoring in playing for a manager whose philosophy both in training and matches requires a high degree of mental and physical reserves.

Look, I don't know about you but , I'm getting tired just thinking about it! So God knows how it felt to have all of that on your plate as a relative novice.

The more disappointment/upset you suffer/feel, the MORE draining it becomes both mentally and emotionally. The knock on affect of this is, that it CAN drain you physically, too. No matter how fit you really are.

That is why babies like a kip after a good cry (...don't we all ) Or why people who suffer from depression usually feel quite tired, and can appear lazy, or less than energetic.

A tired or emotionally fatigued mind, 9/10 times will lead to a tired body. It's as simple as that!

And, BOTH Ryan and Nabil were mentally shattered towards the end of last season... (Being mentally fatigued will commonly effect things like concentration, decision-making, awareness, energy levels, etc.)

That is what happened. That is what we saw. That is what some choose to remember.

But what you have to ask yourselves is, how many times did those two squander possession whilst unchallenged BEFORE the cup disappointments?

How many blind back- passes did Mason attempt (alla West Ham) when he was fresh, alert and had just broken into the team?

Spurs have got one of the youngest, if not THE youngest squad/s in the league, with a lot of those kids coming from our own academy's or different leagues. Now as exciting as that is, it's also going to mean that most of them are learning on the job as far as dealing with the rigors of playing for a big club in the most competitive league in the world is concerned.

Pochettino's job is to try to mould an effective, cohesive and exciting team from those individuals. There WILL be good days, and more challenging ones...

 

I NEVER said we deserved to win the game. I said we probably edged the game as far as quality and volume of chances went.

Four GOOD chances that went begging from Spurs.

1. Son air kick from Kyle Walkers cut back.
2. Kanes miss-kick from a floated Mason pass to the back post.
3. Kanes blast from close range at Pantillion. He will probably feel he should of done although it was a good save.
4. Lamela missed header from close range via Townsend's lovely centre.

Chadli also got into a couple of GREAT positions to score before dilly-dallying or blasting the balls miles over.

Sunderland missed.

1. A Defoe one-on-one. GREAT chance.
2. Rodwell shot onto bar.
3. Defoe shot (whilst off balance) after turning Toby in the box

As far as good chances went that's about all they had>

 

Bottom line was we got a good 3 points, Sunderland are not a bad team (although any defence with John O`Shea and Younes Kaboul as the CH pairing are going to struggle) we were away, hostile atmosphere against a determined and motivated team., so to win was good, lets move on, We have 4 homes games in 3 competitions coming up, lets drive on now and show we are a decent team.

 

If it hasn't been already said Lamela was good in his cameo - had some nice touches, played sensibly and was an outlet too - also played a great pass to Mason for his assist, which a player with lesser vision may not have seen

 

Cant head a ball into the net from 4 yards out though...
I am guessing that Lamela and Townend will be used primarily for cup games and as impact players against tiring defences. Son and Chadli will be first choice I guess out wide.

 

Tom Carroll needs to given the chance in the number 10 role behind Kane. Simple as that, nothing else to say!

 

3 points very much needed. I actually thought, as a number of bloggers across other sites did also, that this was our worst performance of the season and we won!!
The goal was of the very highest quality. Lovely pass and move football, exactly what we should be seeing and what our head coach promised we would see when he took the reigns.
I still don't think Poch is sure what his best eleven is. The team seem incoherent at times but hopefully the goal was a sign that things are starting to gel.
We fell asleep after the goal again though, with only the bar saving us from a repeat of the Leicester game.
Palace at home is tough and if we are to get our second win if the season we will have to play much better than we did against the black cats. Much better.

 

This is more like it a bit of positivity.

Whatever Mason lacks in technical skill he makes up for and more with his honesty on the pitch. He is always willing to make a run whether defending or attacking something a majority of our recent players have lacked massively all coasting along hoping someone else will put in the graft. But not Mason at least hes willing to take responsibility and try to make things happen and influence the game. Which deserves the highest praise imo.

Townsend showed us also what direct running at pace at a defence with purpose and intent does it was very pleasing to see and if only we could harness the skill set he has he could and should be a very dangerous player he has the tools.

Kane is definately trying too hard a placement over power would of had him on the score sheet easily.

It was by no means a stellar performance a gritty 0-1 away to a struggling side who were well in it and dominated at points is not great and the way a veteran JD left Toby n Jan for dust at times is worrying, but it was the points that was the most important thing.

 

Reflecting on yesterday ......
Didn't see anything from Son that revealed his capabilities.
Pleased to see Townsend bring much needed pace and width. Changed the game.
Chadli needs a rocket up his harris.
Pleased for Mason and Dier, good performances.

The next two games will show if we're able to handle the tough ones.
COYS

 

Missed 2nd half.. Where did Townsend play?