in Lisbon last night, what are we to make of the current football on offer at WHL. The performances in general have been pretty poor this season, even if the results have been fine. Last night`s result was not a major setback, beat Sporting at home, and win the other home game against Eintracht, and I think nine points may get Spurs out of the group, although 10 may be required.
So, who is to blame for the poor performances, the players or the manager, or a mix of both?
Firstly the players. Some are clearly not good enough to be playing regularly at this level, Dier, Davies etc, but they seem to be undroppable at the moment. In fact none of the CBs are really top quality, and that includes Romero, who I thought was poor last night, but he seems to get a free ride with our supporters. It was crying out for a real top quality CB to be purchased, one that was commanding in the air. Yet another set piece corner goal conceeded. I reckon 70-80 per cent of the goals Spurs concede come from corners. And players coming out afterwards, and keep saying we will learn from the defeat, when they clearly never do, really annoys me.
Midfield is also so devoid of any creativity, and a creative midfielder should also have been purchased as a priority. The obsession with wing backs does my head in, when without creativity in the middle, it doesn`t matter if you have the world`s best wing backs, that is not in main where games are won or lost.
Up front it is clear that this is more than a blip with Son, but Conte refuses to bench him. Eight games this season without a goal is a drought in anyone`s book. I think his last trip to South Korea, where he was treated like a King has made him think he is undroppable, when he clearly should not be. Needs benching for the Leicester match.
On to the manager now. Conte really does need to have a Plan B. He cannot keep being so inflexible with his insistence of three CBs, especially when none of them are that great. It is holding back the rest of the team big time, and he has to now switch to 442. Even without the creativity in midfield, another body will make a big difference, and Spurs do not need three CBs lumbering about at the back. Perisic can still get forward on one side, and Kulu can just play as an orthodox right winger on the other side. I cannot see whey Conte cannot see that sometimes you have to adapt and change. His formation is like so set in stone, and a throwback if you like, when modern managers are supposed to be so much more flexible with their formations and tactics.
On to the team for Leicester, changes need to be made. I would drop two of Romero, Dier and Davies, draft in Sanchez, and go for an extra man in midfield, that would be Bissouma (he must be wondering wy he joined the club?), Kulu to start over Son up front, absolutely needs to happen. My preferred starting XI
Lloris
Emerson
Romero
Sanchez
Perisic
Bissouma
Bentancur
PEH
Kulu
Richarlison
Kane
3-0 Spurs
COYS
After Spurs first defeat of the season
posted on 14/9/22
Leicester have been shiete this season but I can see them coming and dominating the ball, they have had a lot of rest whereas Spurs have been away to Portugal. I will not be surprised if we drop points, Leicester have some handy players and they will have a lot of the ball given how we will set up.
I also don`t get how Hojbjerg is so undroppable, playing with a midfield 2 they need to be rotated and kept fresh, we also lack creativity from central areas.
posted on 14/9/22
Last night was interesting because in the first half we were more aggressive in the press than we usually are and as a result we looked more open at the back at times when the played through the press. What was annoying was that often our press worked and they coughed up the ball a lot in dangerous positions and we made nothing of it.
For me i am totally comfortable with the way Conte sets us up but there are 2 or 3 positions where it breaks down due to quality and a couple currently due to form:
The biggest issue last night was our speed of moving the ball and that came from the back three who were utterly ponderous and failed to either step into midfield with it, or pass it through the lines effectively. It was always sideways and short passes into midfield.....too predictable, too easy to defend against, too slow. SO for me Lenglet should have started or come on.
In terms of quality, neither PEH or Emerson posses enough quality offensively. The formers passing is pretty poor and again predictable. The latter's final ball is so often lacking, and he cannot really run at players.
The form of Son is as low as ive seen it and Kane, while scoring goals this season, is looking off the pace when he drops deep and is being too 'Hollywood' in a lot of his decision-making. These 2 not firing is trouble for us. They will come good but right now its not happening for them and therefore not for the team.
posted on 14/9/22
Loris
Romero
Dier
Lenglet
Spence
Perisic
Bissouma
Bents
Deke
Kane
Richarlison
No point spending if you don’t use your squad when the team isn’t performing
posted on 14/9/22
comment by Devonshirespur (U6316)
posted 1 hour, 5 minutes ago
Last night was interesting because in the first half we were more aggressive in the press than we usually are and as a result we looked more open at the back at times when the played through the press. What was annoying was that often our press worked and they coughed up the ball a lot in dangerous positions and we made nothing of it.
For me i am totally comfortable with the way Conte sets us up but there are 2 or 3 positions where it breaks down due to quality and a couple currently due to form:
The biggest issue last night was our speed of moving the ball and that came from the back three who were utterly ponderous and failed to either step into midfield with it, or pass it through the lines effectively. It was always sideways and short passes into midfield.....too predictable, too easy to defend against, too slow. SO for me Lenglet should have started or come on.
In terms of quality, neither PEH or Emerson posses enough quality offensively. The formers passing is pretty poor and again predictable. The latter's final ball is so often lacking, and he cannot really run at players.
The form of Son is as low as ive seen it and Kane, while scoring goals this season, is looking off the pace when he drops deep and is being too 'Hollywood' in a lot of his decision-making. These 2 not firing is trouble for us. They will come good but right now its not happening for them and therefore not for the team.
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Noticed this as well
That's the highest I've seen us press this season which made us more susceptible on the break, which we usually aren't
Did mean we won the ball high up a couple of times but we didn't make anything of those opportunities
No doubt we have improvements to make but must admit the overreaction to this defeat from our fanbase has been ridiculous
posted on 14/9/22
comment by MK (U9129)
posted 4 hours, 3 minutes ago
Says we have to switch to a 442 then puts the players for a 433
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Beat me to it
posted on 14/9/22
This, I think, is a measure of just how bad we are when our best two players aren't hitting the mark. Take Kane and Son's form out and we're a mid table team. I've been saying it for ages. We're massively lop-sided and we rely far to much on them two. I'm not feeling Richy yet. His inability to stay onside last night was just schoolboy stuff. Bend your run, mate, it's not rocket science.
We have no creativity in midfield but are we supposed to in this system? Probably not. In which case creativity needs to come from the wingbacks. Do we have any creativity at wing back? Perisic maybe at a stretch but elsewhere, none. Or we might do if we had a manager that gave Spence a chance.
Despite the 'warchest' and a 'brilliant window' we're stuck in a system that doesn't really reflect the best assets of our squad. If we want to play that way we need much better in those wing back positions. We didn't strengthen in the right areas. Wing back and centre half. Yet Conte is so one-dimensional he persists with a formation that doesn't really suit the squad.
Conte has parallels with Jose. Everyone believes they have this magic 'winners' wand that will get us a trophy based purely on the fact that they've won them before but it doesn't work like that. At Juve and Inter he was able to assemble teams that budget wise were probably in line with the top spenders in Serie A. At Chelsea he inherited a side that in the previous year under Jose himself, had already won the league again. That fact that they were mid table when he joined was not a true reflection of their talents. They were a top team.
He's clearly a good manager but I don't buy into this idea that he's up there with Klopp and Pep. For me he's nowhere near it. They've crafted sides that win by dominating. Playing football better than the opposition. In my book, the right way.
If it wasn't for one outstanding individual in Hazard, Poch's Spurs would have won the league that year. Let that sink in. For all Conte's abilities, it was individual talent that dragged him over the line, not tactical prowess.
The start to this season points-wise has been good but the performances have been close to dreadful. Last night was the first time we've truly been found out but let's be honest, we should really have lost to Chelsea, Wolves and West Ham in the league. It was only fortune, and not some tactical masterclass, that saw us unbeaten.
We'll see but the jury is still out for me. I can cope with losses occasionally but when the football is just so awful to watch, it makes it ten times worse.
posted on 14/9/22
https://images.app.goo.gl/qB8akoR8qB7kfbTTA
posted on 14/9/22
comment by Phenom (U20037)
posted 1 hour, 13 minutes ago
https://images.app.goo.gl/qB8akoR8qB7kfbTTA
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Sorry bud, my work VPN isn't allowing me to click on that. Assuming it says "brilliant post, keep it up "
posted on 14/9/22
comment by Devonshirespur (U6316)
posted 8 hours, 39 minutes ago
Last night was interesting because in the first half we were more aggressive in the press than we usually are and as a result we looked more open at the back at times when the played through the press. What was annoying was that often our press worked and they coughed up the ball a lot in dangerous positions and we made nothing of it.
For me i am totally comfortable with the way Conte sets us up but there are 2 or 3 positions where it breaks down due to quality and a couple currently due to form:
The biggest issue last night was our speed of moving the ball and that came from the back three who were utterly ponderous and failed to either step into midfield with it, or pass it through the lines effectively. It was always sideways and short passes into midfield.....too predictable, too easy to defend against, too slow. SO for me Lenglet should have started or come on.
In terms of quality, neither PEH or Emerson posses enough quality offensively. The formers passing is pretty poor and again predictable. The latter's final ball is so often lacking, and he cannot really run at players.
The form of Son is as low as ive seen it and Kane, while scoring goals this season, is looking off the pace when he drops deep and is being too 'Hollywood' in a lot of his decision-making. These 2 not firing is trouble for us. They will come good but right now its not happening for them and therefore not for the team.
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Apart from Davies we had a pretty good squad out there.
But I agree with you about their play. The passing was ponderously slow. I saw countless balloon balls going from side to side, giving defenders plenty of time to get onto the intended receivers.
No doubt Kane was dropping back into midfield as usual to try make something happen.
This is a match we should have won.
posted on 15/9/22
comment by fridgeboy (U1053)
posted 14 hours, 47 minutes ago
comment by Phenom (U20037)
posted 1 hour, 13 minutes ago
https://images.app.goo.gl/qB8akoR8qB7kfbTTA
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Sorry bud, my work VPN isn't allowing me to click on that. Assuming it says "brilliant post, keep it up"
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Yes
I did actually read it all in the end and agree with most of jt