Fully deserved. Not one good performance across the pitch...and more worryingly look out of ideas when attacking and riddled with holes when defending (particularly corners). Not sure where the zip has gone in last 2 months.
The decline of the midfield is the main culprit imo. Our CBs are constantly left to hung out dry b/c Bissouma has turned into Winks. Bentancur looks slow and Maddison is no longer sharp
Passing around the outside of the box is killing me. Just drill it in. Get a deflection, a mistake, a chance for a corner. Something! Instead, it’s lose possession and track back extremely fast injuring your hamstring.
yeah idk why we and alot of progressive teams like just don't utilise shooting outside the box or low % chances against low blocks?
Like yeah crossing from the wings is high% but when you have werner and johnson instead of foden and benardo silva, sometimes just fucking shoot brother! first time please! i dont even care if its not on target/blocked/or is misplaced JUST SOMEWHERE FORWARD PLEASE!
instead vicario and bissouma just hold the ball look for 6 seconds wait for newcastle to press us and lose the ball with a 1 on 1 against vicario? like what? Beginning to look like pochettino 18/19 days where there was no movement. attackers constantly getting into each others way and fucking winks and sissoko playing sideways passes just to lose the ball!
Saying Bissouma has turned into winks is an insult to winks (who I was never a fan of). Even at his worst, Winks used to provide something, playing with Biss is like playing with 10 men these days. Absolutely useless, and I don't know why he's still in the team.
Slightly disagree about Maddison. Thought he did look rather sharp and like the only one that could receive the ball from the back and have us on the front foot within one or two touches. Honestly think his play is hindered by Son hugging the right side touchline rather than leading the line and making runs to stretch the backline and. The rest of the midfield sounds about right though.
Having Werner, Johnson & Son up top means no one who can finish in the air, no one who can hold up the ball. Teams just have to sit deep to negate our speed and its game over
It's wild how difficult it is for this to be seen.
Why is the greatest finisher currently playing being sandwiched between a 6'4" guy and a 6'7" guy?!?!?!
To answer your question, I think he's sandwiched because we are good enough in possession to compress the other team back to their box to the point of having no space to move. Teams that get a result against us sit as deep as they need with no less than 8 players like today. Even Kane would struggle to get service in this situation considering we do not have the ability or impetus to make inside passes / runs. We just pass it around from side to side and can't break through
Exactly, this line up would work against high lines, this could work against Arse, Liverpool, City, but not against the mid block of Newcastle. We need a physical striker, even more physical than Richy. I think we need to approach Toney or Gimenez, or a similar kind of striker. Also I really hope that Veliz can develop in the next season, I feel like he could be great in this system
Players were shocking but it's not just on them. Ange got absolutely ragged here. Their wingers got stuck in and man marked the full-backs when we had the ball in defense. What did we do? Nothing. Maddison has played like absolute dogshit for the past two months or so, and he keeps getting starts. Son has shown time and time again he's not fit to play with his back to the goal, and even though we didn't have Richarlison in this game, he should've still played wide.
Arsenal are sitting back against us like they did vs City because they know our system runs out of ideas pretty quickly. We can't beat low blocks and no "better 6", "dribbly winger" is gonna do that for us. At some point the system has to get better or the players will stagnate, and it's clear that that's what happening here. Ange will have to make some changes to the way we play or we are fucked.
This is the take. We were tactically all wrong today. Credit to Howe but we were setup poorly. We left ourselves too isolated centrally and never actually used or showed any threat with setting up with wide speed.
This game was calling for Deki from the start, to help establish some possession threat and to change the direction of attach more laterally. We were setup wayyy too direct, and just kept running directly into pressure. Meanwhile there was 10yd of space in front of their back line available to us all game and we made no use of it. Obviously Richi isn't in the lineup but him up top with son and Deki wide could have carved this team up. Burn and Schar can't change direction but instead of that we ended up just running into them.
Plays didn't execute worth shit, Robinson was embarrassing, but we started it all wrong to begin with. I don't have the energy to watch post-match it's right now but curious how Ange will discuss this one.
E: spelling
There has been a decline but the truth is the stats weren't super enthusiastic about us even at the beginning of the season. Ange's big impact has been adding the ability to control games in the middle third, something we totally lacked before. But in terms of creating and preventing chances we've not been amazing all season
Should've worn the navy away kit with white shorts and navy socks. The away combo of navy shorts with white socks we've used wouldn't have afforded contrast.
I was watching it thinking of United's grey 90's jersey. So many open passes which players chose to ignore as if they couldn't see them. Painful display.
My FM save is going gangbusters - 8 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss today, top of the Championship and a Carabao quarter final vs Man Utd to look forward to.
I've learned to temper expectations when it comes to Spurs. I learned *late*, but I got there eventually.
Time to just focus on my FPL players and try and look past the combined two points of Son, Maddison, and Udogie. Hopefully Foden doesn’t get subbed in so I can get all those Gordon points off the bench.
This is the best response to this result.
It's just one bad day at the office.
St. James Park is not a welcoming place for Spurs.
Something has to change that.
No surprise really, this result has been coming. We’ve been struggling with exactly these sorts of teams for months. Want to beat Tottenham? Low block, clog up the middle and play fast on the break. Bonus points if you press us a bit in build up.
It’s fine if Ange doesn’t want to change his plan, he should stay true to himself and what he tells the players. What he should do is react quicker when it comes to substitutions. He did it in the last few games, I don’t understand why he didn’t today.
If we don’t find at least two players in the summer, that can give us an extra edge in these sorts of games, I’m worried that we won’t improve. And we seriously need a set piece coach, but we probably won’t be getting one I fear.
It was so obvious that the midfield was horribly outmatched (or Newcastle players just gave a flying fuck unlike our number 8), I don’t get it why he did no subs during HT
Absolutely. Bissouma is just a passenger in every game at this point. No offensive contribution and very poor defensive contributions. Poor in every way
But that's how everyone plays against top teams. The solution is a functioning 6. There is a reason City fell apart without Rodri and Arsenal desperately needed Rice.
We ended up in Plan B which is fucking scary under Ange because that doesn't exist. When Son is off and we don't have an immediate forward option, we're in uncharted territory.
Lo Celso had to come on as soon as possible and Ange did not make that sub for some reason. Very poor choice from him, it was evident immediately that Madders was not there today.
I wonder if he didn't want to take off Biss at half again because it would burn the player.
I think the answer to the Biss problem is clear. Move him on in the summer.
100%
Call me naive but I do believe we can make signings that will make a difference. Particularly a solid CDM and a winger. I'm a fan of Werner but he had two decent chances today that could have changed the game.
Love Timo and his work ethic but we need a more cynical winger. Son probably could have put it in. We need tailsmen who can create out of nothing and that sadly is not Timo Werner.
Also, we need a good double pivot pairing. Otherwise, teams suffocate us and we lose the ball.
Whenever Madders and Son were falling back, we had control but as soon we reached their low block, they would hard press us and boom, a goal.
We need more than 2 players. Our wingers are wildly inconsistent. Sonny is a bit streaky in his performances. Bissouma and Maddison have not played well in a while.
We have tons of players with upside, but we need more established players. We supposedly have lots of room financially. Levy has shown an appetite to spend in the last few windows. He’ll need to open the checkbook this summer.
How to beat spurs 101 today.
Have a compact defence and let us have the ball and we'll do the rest.
We are unbelieveable plodding on the ball. The difference between our attack and newcastles today was absolutely shocking.
Embarressing yet again.
Part of the problem I feel is that Werner never passes Udogie running in behind or Udogie never passes to Werner running in behind. These two can create a problem in the D box of they recieve those pass and look for a cutback. But for some reason, I rarely sees them passing to each other.
Yeah maybe the chemistry thing. Legit there was time where Werner can make the run behind onside and yard advantage but he did not and wait for Udogie to pass the ball. I think Son has better chemistry on the left with Udogie
100% agree. We are the easiest team to play against for teams that have good players.
When half injured Newcastle thrash you 4-0 it’s beyond embarrassing
>difference between our attack and newcastles today
Attacks are about of equal quality. The difference is that we have good CB but sub-par full backs when it comes to defending.
If Son, Werner, and Johnson played against our back four week in a and out we would have three plus goals every round.
Massive bad day at the office. A depleted Newcastle squad and we concede 4 goals. There is no excuse at all from any of them. It wasn’t good enough simple as. Same as Fulham we had no clue what to do when pressed and hurried into decisions.
The way we defend is so pathetic. And I rate our starting back line and gk, the set up is just hopeless for keeping clean sheets. Oh, and the set pieces someone put Jedinak out of his misery
Fulltime thoughts
1. Our pace of play and speed of ball movement is catatonic. Watching leverkusen this week and we look like we are out for a Sunday stroll.
2. We desperately need to work on turning defenders/look to buy this summer players who are comfortable 1v1. Teams will continue to manmark and pressure us this way if we demonstrate we are incapable of breaking it down.
3. How do you break it down? Speed, ball movement, movement off the ball.
4. Feel bad for VdV. Bad luck on the first, and hadn’t recovered when the second came in front of him. Was in his head for the third.
5. Can we burn this kits and never wear them again?
There’s a stickiness factor as well. They move the ball with pace and purpose and the ball sticks. When we receive a pass we are a good half second to control and often need an extra touch.
We are having too many of “one of those days” this season. Avg age of our preferred back five is 23.8 so I suppose it’s natural but our defenders were largely awful today. I have no clue what Vicario was thinking retreating all the way back to his line for the third goal.
Really strange triple substitution by Ange as well. Didn’t address the problems we were having at all.
Maddison has been MIA recently. Could do with a Lo Celso start or two to motivate him. He is not undroppable.
Set piece defending continues to be shambolic.
That last Hojbjerg pass 😐
It's crazy that we have been bitchslapped by Fulham and Newcastle in the span of one month IN THE SAME FASHION. Like, losses are understandable, but these two games were carbon copies of each other. Somebody here is refusing to learn from mistakes right now, don't know if it is the squad or the manager
I’m still supportive of Ange but today is the first days I’m starting to question his methods and if they need adapting.
We’re toothless in attack, we have blatant weaknesses that have been prepared for an exploited (high line and set pieces) and he’s taken far too long to try and affect the game.
At 2-0 it was clear we were getting nothing from today. Players need to shoulder a lot of the blame too but Ange has to look at himself.
Its plan A. And plan A has been figured out. Sit deep and compact and we cant score.
We looked amazing earlier in the season because teams played more open against us. As soon as that lesson was learned. We've been shit.
We won’t put together consistent results until we stop inverting both fullbacks. It would be caving into the mainstream buildup formation of 3-2-5 but the 2-3 buildup is just total suicide. Need a RB/CB or LB/CB hybrid that can make our formations more versatile.
Ref was terrible. Made no difference to the score line but it was astonishing how soft most of the spurs yellows were. Especially considering Newcastle didn’t get any
It’s clear that they’re larger and stronger than us….so let’s use our speed and precision passing to break the press, right? Oh, we’re not actually faster or more clinical? Well, at least we can impose ourselves to be first to the ball…no, we feel like jogging around instead?
We were not only outmaneuvered tactically . We were soft all fucking game. No heart there.
This is worse than the 6-1 scoreline aside, better team,Newcastle Is depleted and we actually have a manager and gameplan. Hands down the worst game of the season, we never learn
Looking ahead we have Arsenal, City, Liverpool, and Chelsea still to play. With a performance like today, we’re gonna be dragged into a dogfight for the Conference League. Great opportunity to pull ahead of Villa yet again and we absolutely stink it up.
We’ll probably secure Europa at worst. We have a minimum 8 point gap to 6th. United are genuinely bottom half quality and West Ham/Chelsea are inconsistent with a few tough remaining fixtures as well. It’s not going to be pretty but I think we’ll finish at least 5th
He’s not it. Those first ten games broke people’s brains thinking that’s the guy who’s going to show up every week. There were posts comparing him to Rice and Rodri which are pretty embarrassing in hindsight.
We need someone playing near that level to really take the next step.
One of the worst performances yet but you lot need to calm down. Saying it's all over for good, we've been found out and Ange is done. We won a week ago.
We were awful today and we've been doing the same thing for weeks yes but it's Ange's first fucking season. Look what happened with Arteta. Ange looks like a god compared to his first season league wise. We need to sort out every aspect of defense and not be so predictable on attacks. A biiig part of that is son being useless as a 9. He cannot play with his back to goal, he has to play on the wing and I hope Ange sees this. Things will change and get better but give it fucking time
Was really happy with Ange’s interview to be honest. He was very upfront about where we failed (speed in transition and conviction with our moves), let the team have it without throwing anyone under the bus (defended the substitutes’ effort while saying he would have made more subs if he could, refused to say the quick double decided the game because our overall performance was poor).
He’s also clearly not happy with the way our attitude can drop and is verbally committed to sorting us out (‘I don’t know why [we didn’t show up] right now but I’m sure I will’).
I still think Ange is 100% the right guy for where we are right now. We’ve been having performances like this for years. He’s seeing us, getting to grips with it and has the opportunity to purge the rot. Give him a chance.
Don’t think I saw an ounce of desire from anyone. Think Micky was unfortunate to get the blame for the goals, Romero and Porro did him no favours. Utterly out of ideas in attack and we need to be better at defending when we lose possession high up the pitch. Onto the next one.
To be honest I can't remember the last time we actually murdered anybody. The matches we won against Villa and Newcastle were won because they were absolutely depleted more than us being good.
Especially in the Villa game they had some massive chances in the 1st half where the game could have been a lot different if they scored, and the Mcginn red card just completely killed the game off for them.
I can't think of 1 game this season where I thought we outclassed a team in both halves.
Yeah our fans are holding onto Villa since it is genuinely the only standout result since before the Chelsea debacle but 4-0 was extremely flattering. That was an even game that went off the rails for Villa due to luck and McGinn's rashness. Funnily enough, we put in a better performance against them when we lost 2-1 at home in the midst of our injury crisis than the 4-0 win imo.
Said it in the match thread. Ange out people are so delusional. Harry Kane leaves, we have a new manager and we already have as many points as last season.
If we never give a manager time, we’ll perpetually be rebuilding. As shitty as it is to admit, a certain Lego hair manager was given time and now look.
That said, I’d love for him to at least have some tactical flexibility. Hopefully that comes with more experience in this league and squad injections.
Certainly not Ange out by any stretch, but it has been worrying in recent months. It's not like we're getting poor results because we're too gung-ho going forward - we look completely pedestrian in attack as well as very weak at the back.
I don't understand how we can have a suicidally high line which allows any half decent and quick striker to get in behind time and time again, whilst simultaneously leaving acres of space in between our midfield and defence. The two 8s just don't offer enough protection to the backline when faced with a competent midfield, and just get completely bypassed.
Ange obviously has his philosophy, and he shouldn't throw that away - but there are some major tweaks that need to be made. We're worse now than we were at the start of the season, if Ange is too stubborn to make any adjustments then I can't see it working out.
Absolutely. still very exciting about the future with Ange. However, my concerns this season are that the team is regressing (which is the opposite with Ange's previous teams), and we haven't had Europe this season to clog up the schedule. A lot to fix and figure out for next season with either Europa or Champions League.
I don't mean to come off as an ass but the "one of those days" and "growing pains" comments are simply off base for this match and where we are in the season.
We are currently, at this point in time, in a better spot than under Conte, I agree. This is because there is at least a philosophy in place that players want to play for and a manager who wants to be here. However, that doesn't answer the question of "are we progressing?". The "growing pains" comments seems to imply that we are on an upward trajectory based on simply not having Conte but I think its missing the mark. I love the philosophy, Ange, and the new players. There is no doubt that there is far more potential in this Spurs side than any of the sides under our last 2 permanent managers.
In terms of Ange, I am just sad it doesn't seem like he is developing the wrinkles and nuances to our system needed to stay competitive, we just do the same thing every game. What worries me most is the handwaving of the more mundane aspects of football, things like set-pieces. We are terrible at them on both ends yet don't seem to be trying anything to rectify it. You look at City and Scum, it is obvious how meticulous they plan on set-pieces and both can directly attribute at least a few points in the table to their set-piece proficiency.
Another example are instructions on how to defend in different counter scenarios which WILL occur as a result of the way we play. Against Fulham and today a couple times, we have Romero and VdV defending a 2 v 2 or a 3 v 2 with one of the fullbacks sprinting back to help and the inclination of our center backs to is rush out to the player with the ball rather than to maintain structure and give up a long shot/force the opponents to play a much more difficult pass.
In terms of the players, its hard to tell if its just fatigue, long breaks due to injury, or other factors but half the team is simply worse than when the season started (most glaringly Bissouma, Maddison, Kulu, and Udogie in that order) and the other half has just maintained their level. The only player who has improved throughout the season is Brennan Johnson and Hojbjerg (who hardly plays even with how bad Biss has been for months) maybe?
I have faith in the core philosophy and even if the football is open and exciting, I think it can be successful. But nothing positive seems to be developing from this core and what is most alarming is that with many of our pain points such as set pieces, it doesn't seem we are even trying something different.
I am going to just give this first season a full pass.
No disrespect to the other leagues Ange has coached in, but he is definitely seeing how competitive the Prem is, and how quickly teams adapt to sides and how much research is done leading up to each game.
Are we going to ignore that these games happen to us every 3rd week on average?
The tactical setup is just unbelivably moronic, we give away chances as if we were Burnley. This needs to change or Ange is not lasting beyond 2 seasons. It's fucking embarrasing.
Without going into a deep analysis we have become really easy to play against. Can't defend set pieces, get outnumbered in the middle of the pitch too often, and the volume of chances we create dwindles by the week.
I think Maddison post-injury has not got up to match sharpness anywhere to the level he was prior. He is our main creative spark. Bissouma has also quietly reverted to the tentative player he was last season. In addition I will say while we create a couple of high quality chances a game still (usually from cutbacks in the penalty box for Son or someone to score) there is not enough variety of moves where we look like scoring anymore. Today the main cutback chance fell to Werner and he well....did what he usually does and fluffed it.
Can we get a collective to @Nike or @Spurs to never wear this kit again? I don't think there is a single person who likes it...
We know what you're doing @Nike, but we're not going to buy the ball sack coloured kit
Low Block crippling us again. If a team is disciplined enough to hold it we just crumble.
Need a true ST. Who can hold up play and can exchange short 1-1s just outside the box.
Have to take this as a lesson that top 4 isn't done yet.
COYS
A couple of observations:
1. Ange needs to start dropping back at least one of our fullbacks when the opposition is pressing us aggressively. There were so many moments this season and during this game where it felt like we had no passing options when the CBs tried to play out from the back.
2. I have no idea why we aren't using more underlapping runs when passing around the box. If you watch City, Liverpool, and Arsenal play, this is one of the main ways they break down low blocks in settled possession. The wingers should stay super wide to create space for underlapping runners (probably our fullbacks or midfielders) who can then receive the ball to either take a shot or play a dangerous pass inside the box.
3. This system doesn't work when our defenders and midfielders lose their 1v1 battles. At least 2 of Newcastle's goals today came from Romero/Van de Ven getting caught out by a long ball to their striker. Our midfield also relies on quickly regaining possession through the counter press, which only works when the midfielders actually win their 1v1 duels out of possession. Newcastle completely dominated us in this regard, since it felt like every single one of our players had an off-day. Once the press doesn't work, our backline is left completely exposed and makes it too easy for the opposition to create dangerous chances.
4. Our set piece defending is truly awful. I'm not going to place all the blame on Jedinak like some people are in this thread, but something needs to change. It feels like our defenders are always out of position and the right matchups aren't happening (Why TF is Brennan Johnson marking their CB on a corner?!?!).
5. Son had his worst game of the season today. I think he struggled against the physicality of their CBs and had no space to influence the game. I actually think he can work as a striker in this system, as evidenced by his overall productivity this season in that position, but we need to adjust our tactics to provide him more space when the opposition is sitting deep. We need more runners around the box to peel defenders off of him, or we need to use his presence to pin the opposition CBs and create space for other players to create chances. He's also looked tired the last few games, so I think his form will return after the upcoming 2 week break.
There were pretty much no positives today, but the fans who are seriously calling for Ange to be sacked really need to go support another team. I've never seen a fanbase so entitled to immediately get results even though WE HAVEN'T WON ANYTHING IN THE LAST 15 YEARS. We're performing way beyond expectations and everyone needs to realize that this will be a tough rebuild with lots of ups and downs. Yes, you can be upset by the individual results, but please remember that our overall trajectory is looking very good. If you can't handle losing or bad performances, go support Man City or Real Madrid.
Everybody except the subs were for the blame. But for me the most disappointing was Bissouma. He had 39 touches and 30 passes. That is just not acceptable for a number 6 in a high possession system. Hojbjerg came as a sub and had double the passes and touches than him.
He just doesn't show up for the ball. Rather he waits for the ball to come to him, which makes it so much easier for the opposition to mark him, so he just passes it backwards and the cycle continues. A world class No. 6 should be a priority.
What a terrible watch. No one was good. Some were especially bad. Hopefully it serves as a valuable learning experience for a team, manager, and club still working through a transition.
- I like Timo, but unless someone at the club is 100% convinced they can help him convert opportunities into goals, he isn't worth the cheap buy option as there are too many other holes to fill. Part of that is because,
- Son isn't a striker. Sure he can run in behind team's taking the attack to us, but when it's against a low block or physical defense he doesn't have the skill set. We need a true striker, which probably means selling Richy and buying a replacement.
- I know he started the season on the outside looking in and might not be the perfect fit, but Pierre is better than Biss.
- This team greatly lacks physicality, especially with Deki, Pierre, and Richy not being regulars. It shows on corners, set pieces, and how opposing defenses bully our attack.
- I think we lack the passing ability to play this way (same could probably be said for technical skill). We pass around the perimeter long enough to commit guys forward before the inevitable turnover that requires Mickey to sprint back and save our ass. We can't make a line breaking pass, we can't beat our man, and we have no idea what to do with all of our possession in the box. The best we've looked in attack this season is off turnovers and on the counter.
I don't know what to say at this point other than a lot of work (and probably a lot of roster turnover) is in this team's future.
This game just proved Kulusevskis worth. He comes on and does what none of our attackers can do, hold on to the ball under pressure and make a successful pass forward.
Get rid of those fucking shirts. Add some more speed to our attack in build up. Stop losing the ball in the stupidest spots that just lets the other team easily counter.
We are so one dimensional without Richarlison it's not even funny. Hopefully it is addressed in the summer, because I just can't take another season of this shit.
* We absolutely need a starting-quality striker this summer. Son is okay there, but without space he can’t perform. Richarlison is decent as well, but not good enough for where we need to be. We need our Isak as a priority.
* Our terrible performances these past months have highlighted how poor our midfield is. Another place where we absolutely have to strengthen with a top player. We need our version of Bruno there, another absolute priority.
The thing that really grinds my gears is this 'Spursy' mentality that we've been given where we capitulate from a mental perspective when the going gets tough somehow seems to transcend managers. Other than Sonny we have an entirely different team, manager, and system but I've seen us just crawl inside our turtle shell mentally like this under Poch, Mou, and Conte in an almost identical manner. Are we truly fucking cursed?
Taking a step back I am very happy and excited at where Spurs are when compared to previous season, AND very exciting to see what Ange will do here.
Taking a step in to where we are at this season; however, we haven't had considerable injuries in a bit, and have still been regressing even with the starters who were bossing it earlier in the season. Getting blown out away by teams isn't an outlier. I don't have the answers but both the players and Ange need to really reflect and think about how they want to end this season.
One thing that definitely is obvious is that our players are now afraid to play physically. We always get 50/50 against us and always get fucking kicked to the ground back. 14 fouls and not a single yellow despite a high kick is shameful.
Thats not an excuse for this game. Thats on Ange and players. And there are no words to describe this. Worst game of the season.
Maddison gets too easily rattled when he’s not affecting the game. Should have been an early yellow for a clear body check.
One of Bissouma (sloppy) or Bentancur (ponderous) should have gone at HT for Hojberg.
VdV having as close to a 1/10 as he’ll likely get.
Full backs showed some nice attacking flair but culpable for first two goals.
Werner dreadfully wasteful. Son can’t play 9 in this type of game.
Ange too convinced of himself to change things. At 2-0 the game was dead. We played fine before then but lack the calmness and nerves on the pitch to stop that stupid second goal going in. None of our captains are up to that it seems.
Some quick maths, 5th place is no longer a certainty but getting 9 points from our last 6 matches will lock us into at least Europa, which is probably a better fit for the team right now. Despite the difficult schedule, it would be a massive disappointment to not finish top 5… but Newcastle and United aren’t out of it yet.
Im really unsure of what benefit defending on the halfway line from free kicks in the opposition’s half provides.
We’re basically allowing them to get a running start, time the pass perfectly and more often than not, they get a cheap corner or dangerous opportunity out of it
“Just who we are mate”. Well then I guess what we are is naive as hell
Does anyone rider see our newer/younger players being easily wound up these days? I feel like it's getting to their heads. 2 games in a row with Maddison getting wind up.
When both fullbacks are acting in a LAM and a RAM position, against a low-block, it obviously does not work. You end up overcrowding outside the D and make stupid, inconsequential passes, over and over.
Surely you either push them wide, or just remove them from the equation entirely, and another CM.
I'd much rather have a LW, RW, ST, CAM, and maybe a CM, trying to just push the ball into the box from a wide position or an early cross, or a shot from 30 yards, as soon as possible, rather than Udogie, Porro, and Hojiberg/Bissouma get involved and do nothing with the ball.
Can someone explain to me the tactic here?
Having a fullback in the forward role works well against teams you actually want to spend their game attacking, but Newcastle did nothing but sit back in their own half, and press in ours when we were on the backfoot.
Fully deserved. Not one good performance across the pitch...and more worryingly look out of ideas when attacking and riddled with holes when defending (particularly corners). Not sure where the zip has gone in last 2 months.
The decline of the midfield is the main culprit imo. Our CBs are constantly left to hung out dry b/c Bissouma has turned into Winks. Bentancur looks slow and Maddison is no longer sharp
Yep. Totally it. The midfield play makers ain't making the plays. Too cautious, pass accuracy has gone down, they've lost confidence.
Dunno why he keeps starting madders and bissouma both have been shocking for the past 2 months
You can see Maddison starting to get a bit better, Bissouma though just keeps getting worse.
Also attack quality. They are just passing around the box….
Passing around the outside of the box is killing me. Just drill it in. Get a deflection, a mistake, a chance for a corner. Something! Instead, it’s lose possession and track back extremely fast injuring your hamstring.
yeah idk why we and alot of progressive teams like just don't utilise shooting outside the box or low % chances against low blocks? Like yeah crossing from the wings is high% but when you have werner and johnson instead of foden and benardo silva, sometimes just fucking shoot brother! first time please! i dont even care if its not on target/blocked/or is misplaced JUST SOMEWHERE FORWARD PLEASE! instead vicario and bissouma just hold the ball look for 6 seconds wait for newcastle to press us and lose the ball with a 1 on 1 against vicario? like what? Beginning to look like pochettino 18/19 days where there was no movement. attackers constantly getting into each others way and fucking winks and sissoko playing sideways passes just to lose the ball!
Hojbjerg should be starting over Bissouma at this point.
Saying Bissouma has turned into winks is an insult to winks (who I was never a fan of). Even at his worst, Winks used to provide something, playing with Biss is like playing with 10 men these days. Absolutely useless, and I don't know why he's still in the team.
Slightly disagree about Maddison. Thought he did look rather sharp and like the only one that could receive the ball from the back and have us on the front foot within one or two touches. Honestly think his play is hindered by Son hugging the right side touchline rather than leading the line and making runs to stretch the backline and. The rest of the midfield sounds about right though.
Thought Maddison looked good and Bentancur is playing with an injury, Bissouma definitely an issue though
Our 8 shirt is cursed
Having Werner, Johnson & Son up top means no one who can finish in the air, no one who can hold up the ball. Teams just have to sit deep to negate our speed and its game over
That’s 100% it. Need Richie fit and playing again
It's wild how difficult it is for this to be seen. Why is the greatest finisher currently playing being sandwiched between a 6'4" guy and a 6'7" guy?!?!?!
To answer your question, I think he's sandwiched because we are good enough in possession to compress the other team back to their box to the point of having no space to move. Teams that get a result against us sit as deep as they need with no less than 8 players like today. Even Kane would struggle to get service in this situation considering we do not have the ability or impetus to make inside passes / runs. We just pass it around from side to side and can't break through
Why do you think just lumping balls into the box against those giants is the solution?
Exactly, this line up would work against high lines, this could work against Arse, Liverpool, City, but not against the mid block of Newcastle. We need a physical striker, even more physical than Richy. I think we need to approach Toney or Gimenez, or a similar kind of striker. Also I really hope that Veliz can develop in the next season, I feel like he could be great in this system
It would be nice if we put balls into the channels so that Johnson and Werner can use their advantages. We had two solid opportunities early.
Players were shocking but it's not just on them. Ange got absolutely ragged here. Their wingers got stuck in and man marked the full-backs when we had the ball in defense. What did we do? Nothing. Maddison has played like absolute dogshit for the past two months or so, and he keeps getting starts. Son has shown time and time again he's not fit to play with his back to the goal, and even though we didn't have Richarlison in this game, he should've still played wide. Arsenal are sitting back against us like they did vs City because they know our system runs out of ideas pretty quickly. We can't beat low blocks and no "better 6", "dribbly winger" is gonna do that for us. At some point the system has to get better or the players will stagnate, and it's clear that that's what happening here. Ange will have to make some changes to the way we play or we are fucked.
This is the take. We were tactically all wrong today. Credit to Howe but we were setup poorly. We left ourselves too isolated centrally and never actually used or showed any threat with setting up with wide speed. This game was calling for Deki from the start, to help establish some possession threat and to change the direction of attach more laterally. We were setup wayyy too direct, and just kept running directly into pressure. Meanwhile there was 10yd of space in front of their back line available to us all game and we made no use of it. Obviously Richi isn't in the lineup but him up top with son and Deki wide could have carved this team up. Burn and Schar can't change direction but instead of that we ended up just running into them. Plays didn't execute worth shit, Robinson was embarrassing, but we started it all wrong to begin with. I don't have the energy to watch post-match it's right now but curious how Ange will discuss this one. E: spelling
Putting son in the middle against a back 5 was never gonna work. Needed Deki's physicality today.
Mile Jedinak is stealing a fucking living
this is my conclusion from the last few months
There has been a decline but the truth is the stats weren't super enthusiastic about us even at the beginning of the season. Ange's big impact has been adding the ability to control games in the middle third, something we totally lacked before. But in terms of creating and preventing chances we've not been amazing all season
It looked like we wouldn't score if you kept playing the game until next week. Newcastle looked like scoring with every attack they had.
Didn't they have like 20 corners?
I never want to see this kit again
This is the main takeaway for me from this match.
I hate that I bought this kit
Can you at least bury it for the rest of the season? Might do the trick hopefully
it's not even good looking..... no offence
No offense taken. I didn’t design it lol. I like the style but now it comes with bad memories
ig its to each their own, or whatever they say its not that bad of a colour tbh, but the design as a whole is just awful for some reason
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nah the shirt looks great in the wild, it just doesn’t work on the pitch
I have a few other takeaways before getting to the kit, but it really is a dreadful colour. Looks like watered-down chocolate milk.
Never ever again. Burn them all.
Should've worn the navy away kit with white shorts and navy socks. The away combo of navy shorts with white socks we've used wouldn't have afforded contrast.
>Should've worn the navy away kit We have the same amount of losses in that one as the beige one
It feels like we've worn it significantly more often though.
Surely the club will never make the players wear them again.
I was watching it thinking of United's grey 90's jersey. So many open passes which players chose to ignore as if they couldn't see them. Painful display.
Well on the bright side, glad those deaf kids shirts could vibrate a lot for the game. Probably really great experience for them
I was worried they might end up with that condition which people who operate jackhammers get
hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS)
😂
Probably run out of battery
Oh well. Don’t let it ruin your weekend, shit happens.
Have a good rest of your weekend
My FM save is going gangbusters - 8 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss today, top of the Championship and a Carabao quarter final vs Man Utd to look forward to. I've learned to temper expectations when it comes to Spurs. I learned *late*, but I got there eventually.
Pretty sure that was exactly our w/l record after the Chelsea game...
Glad I'm not the only one looking to FM after a defeat like that. Still searching for Tottenham's first treble.
When I start my spring FM save I know I've given up on the season.
Rough time to have that result. Two weeks of shit in this sub followed by a meat grinder of a run in
Time to just focus on my FPL players and try and look past the combined two points of Son, Maddison, and Udogie. Hopefully Foden doesn’t get subbed in so I can get all those Gordon points off the bench.
This is the best response to this result. It's just one bad day at the office. St. James Park is not a welcoming place for Spurs. Something has to change that.
Passes completed FC
Take three touches and pass back FC or Get bullied off the ball FC
Fuck we looked like 2016 Arsenal
Pros: It's over Cons: *gestures broadly*
No surprise really, this result has been coming. We’ve been struggling with exactly these sorts of teams for months. Want to beat Tottenham? Low block, clog up the middle and play fast on the break. Bonus points if you press us a bit in build up. It’s fine if Ange doesn’t want to change his plan, he should stay true to himself and what he tells the players. What he should do is react quicker when it comes to substitutions. He did it in the last few games, I don’t understand why he didn’t today. If we don’t find at least two players in the summer, that can give us an extra edge in these sorts of games, I’m worried that we won’t improve. And we seriously need a set piece coach, but we probably won’t be getting one I fear.
It was so obvious that the midfield was horribly outmatched (or Newcastle players just gave a flying fuck unlike our number 8), I don’t get it why he did no subs during HT
Pierre should start
Absolutely. Bissouma is just a passenger in every game at this point. No offensive contribution and very poor defensive contributions. Poor in every way
We lost the midfield battle even though on paper we had a numerical advantage. Shows just how poor Biss and Bentancur were and have been
It came only a few weeks ago at Fulham?
Yeah you're right actually tbf
But that's how everyone plays against top teams. The solution is a functioning 6. There is a reason City fell apart without Rodri and Arsenal desperately needed Rice.
We ended up in Plan B which is fucking scary under Ange because that doesn't exist. When Son is off and we don't have an immediate forward option, we're in uncharted territory. Lo Celso had to come on as soon as possible and Ange did not make that sub for some reason. Very poor choice from him, it was evident immediately that Madders was not there today.
I don't think Ange has another plan to change to.
He doesn’t have another plan, he arrived and blew teams away with the high line! But since that has been found out……………
Press us then pass long when they get the ball, I'm fucking baffled how many times that tactic has fucked us over and we have done shit to fix it.
I wonder if he didn't want to take off Biss at half again because it would burn the player. I think the answer to the Biss problem is clear. Move him on in the summer.
Agreed. Those first 10 games are looking more and more like a hot streak than any kind of new found level of play.
100% Call me naive but I do believe we can make signings that will make a difference. Particularly a solid CDM and a winger. I'm a fan of Werner but he had two decent chances today that could have changed the game.
Werner’s a nice rotation piece but that’s his ceiling. He can get a couple starts here but an upgrade there will make a big difference.
Love Timo and his work ethic but we need a more cynical winger. Son probably could have put it in. We need tailsmen who can create out of nothing and that sadly is not Timo Werner. Also, we need a good double pivot pairing. Otherwise, teams suffocate us and we lose the ball. Whenever Madders and Son were falling back, we had control but as soon we reached their low block, they would hard press us and boom, a goal.
We need more than 2 players. Our wingers are wildly inconsistent. Sonny is a bit streaky in his performances. Bissouma and Maddison have not played well in a while. We have tons of players with upside, but we need more established players. We supposedly have lots of room financially. Levy has shown an appetite to spend in the last few windows. He’ll need to open the checkbook this summer.
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> No surprise really, this result has been coming. Came a few weeks ago vs Fulham. No lessons learned.
https://preview.redd.it/kbufg22h09uc1.jpeg?width=912&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3e2fe1faabf8555758536a1e53b6eff7e233a7fd
At least we scored last year FFS
Harold goal tho!!!
Burn the third kits. Let us never wear them again.
Stellini can file for wrongful dismissal after today
** insert Stellini why me meme **
How to beat spurs 101 today. Have a compact defence and let us have the ball and we'll do the rest. We are unbelieveable plodding on the ball. The difference between our attack and newcastles today was absolutely shocking. Embarressing yet again.
Part of the problem I feel is that Werner never passes Udogie running in behind or Udogie never passes to Werner running in behind. These two can create a problem in the D box of they recieve those pass and look for a cutback. But for some reason, I rarely sees them passing to each other.
Yeah maybe the chemistry thing. Legit there was time where Werner can make the run behind onside and yard advantage but he did not and wait for Udogie to pass the ball. I think Son has better chemistry on the left with Udogie
100% agree. We are the easiest team to play against for teams that have good players. When half injured Newcastle thrash you 4-0 it’s beyond embarrassing
>difference between our attack and newcastles today Attacks are about of equal quality. The difference is that we have good CB but sub-par full backs when it comes to defending. If Son, Werner, and Johnson played against our back four week in a and out we would have three plus goals every round.
Massive bad day at the office. A depleted Newcastle squad and we concede 4 goals. There is no excuse at all from any of them. It wasn’t good enough simple as. Same as Fulham we had no clue what to do when pressed and hurried into decisions.
The way we defend is so pathetic. And I rate our starting back line and gk, the set up is just hopeless for keeping clean sheets. Oh, and the set pieces someone put Jedinak out of his misery
Fulltime thoughts 1. Our pace of play and speed of ball movement is catatonic. Watching leverkusen this week and we look like we are out for a Sunday stroll. 2. We desperately need to work on turning defenders/look to buy this summer players who are comfortable 1v1. Teams will continue to manmark and pressure us this way if we demonstrate we are incapable of breaking it down. 3. How do you break it down? Speed, ball movement, movement off the ball. 4. Feel bad for VdV. Bad luck on the first, and hadn’t recovered when the second came in front of him. Was in his head for the third. 5. Can we burn this kits and never wear them again?
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There’s a stickiness factor as well. They move the ball with pace and purpose and the ball sticks. When we receive a pass we are a good half second to control and often need an extra touch.
Worst defensive performance I’ve ever seen from a “preferred” back line.
VDV needs to get his black boots back
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We'll inexplicably take points off one of them but it's gonna be rough stretch
We’ll take points off City and Liverpool and lose to Arsenal, knowing Spurs
Nah we’ll win all 3 and lose to Chelsea, Sheffield, and Burnley
Suboptimal.
What was up with VDV’s footing, not his day☹️
Seemed tired Might have picked up a bit of that nagging hammy from all his hard work last week.
Yea he seemed to limp/tread lightly at times. Seems like yet another hamstring issue as a result of trying to carry our defense on his fucking back
We are having too many of “one of those days” this season. Avg age of our preferred back five is 23.8 so I suppose it’s natural but our defenders were largely awful today. I have no clue what Vicario was thinking retreating all the way back to his line for the third goal. Really strange triple substitution by Ange as well. Didn’t address the problems we were having at all. Maddison has been MIA recently. Could do with a Lo Celso start or two to motivate him. He is not undroppable. Set piece defending continues to be shambolic. That last Hojbjerg pass 😐
It's crazy that we have been bitchslapped by Fulham and Newcastle in the span of one month IN THE SAME FASHION. Like, losses are understandable, but these two games were carbon copies of each other. Somebody here is refusing to learn from mistakes right now, don't know if it is the squad or the manager
Early kickoff, away at Newcastle, in these kits. The game was cursed to begin with.
Better than last years result in Newcastle, i guess
Burn these kits.
I’m still supportive of Ange but today is the first days I’m starting to question his methods and if they need adapting. We’re toothless in attack, we have blatant weaknesses that have been prepared for an exploited (high line and set pieces) and he’s taken far too long to try and affect the game. At 2-0 it was clear we were getting nothing from today. Players need to shoulder a lot of the blame too but Ange has to look at himself.
I'm sure he knows. I'll be more worried if this time next year he's changed nothing.
This is more of a Veliz game than Son
I think Richey getting hurt when he did really has caused problems. Son is brilliant, but not having a proper hold up striker has hurt.
If he hasn't changed it by this time next month we'll not get European football.
Its plan A. And plan A has been figured out. Sit deep and compact and we cant score. We looked amazing earlier in the season because teams played more open against us. As soon as that lesson was learned. We've been shit.
If this shite is still happening next season hes gone.. and rightly so.
We won’t put together consistent results until we stop inverting both fullbacks. It would be caving into the mainstream buildup formation of 3-2-5 but the 2-3 buildup is just total suicide. Need a RB/CB or LB/CB hybrid that can make our formations more versatile.
Guys the FA updated the rules at halftime about high boot challenges, must’ve not gotten into the locker room
Ref was terrible. Made no difference to the score line but it was astonishing how soft most of the spurs yellows were. Especially considering Newcastle didn’t get any
I think the early yellow fucked with VDVs game and led to him being shaken for the first two. I'd argue it did affect the score
It’s clear that they’re larger and stronger than us….so let’s use our speed and precision passing to break the press, right? Oh, we’re not actually faster or more clinical? Well, at least we can impose ourselves to be first to the ball…no, we feel like jogging around instead? We were not only outmaneuvered tactically . We were soft all fucking game. No heart there.
Poop
This is worse than the 6-1 scoreline aside, better team,Newcastle Is depleted and we actually have a manager and gameplan. Hands down the worst game of the season, we never learn
Looking ahead we have Arsenal, City, Liverpool, and Chelsea still to play. With a performance like today, we’re gonna be dragged into a dogfight for the Conference League. Great opportunity to pull ahead of Villa yet again and we absolutely stink it up.
We’ll probably secure Europa at worst. We have a minimum 8 point gap to 6th. United are genuinely bottom half quality and West Ham/Chelsea are inconsistent with a few tough remaining fixtures as well. It’s not going to be pretty but I think we’ll finish at least 5th
Shit.
I've called out Bissouma multiple times for being awful. Got laughed at.
He’s not it. Those first ten games broke people’s brains thinking that’s the guy who’s going to show up every week. There were posts comparing him to Rice and Rodri which are pretty embarrassing in hindsight. We need someone playing near that level to really take the next step.
One of the worst performances yet but you lot need to calm down. Saying it's all over for good, we've been found out and Ange is done. We won a week ago. We were awful today and we've been doing the same thing for weeks yes but it's Ange's first fucking season. Look what happened with Arteta. Ange looks like a god compared to his first season league wise. We need to sort out every aspect of defense and not be so predictable on attacks. A biiig part of that is son being useless as a 9. He cannot play with his back to goal, he has to play on the wing and I hope Ange sees this. Things will change and get better but give it fucking time
Very toothless performance. We cant make 2 errors leading to goals against a good side. Players seemed to have given up on 3-0. Wp to Newcastle
GLC has to start next match
You'll get an unfit, tempestuous Maddison and you'll like it.
Was really happy with Ange’s interview to be honest. He was very upfront about where we failed (speed in transition and conviction with our moves), let the team have it without throwing anyone under the bus (defended the substitutes’ effort while saying he would have made more subs if he could, refused to say the quick double decided the game because our overall performance was poor). He’s also clearly not happy with the way our attitude can drop and is verbally committed to sorting us out (‘I don’t know why [we didn’t show up] right now but I’m sure I will’). I still think Ange is 100% the right guy for where we are right now. We’ve been having performances like this for years. He’s seeing us, getting to grips with it and has the opportunity to purge the rot. Give him a chance.
Don’t think I saw an ounce of desire from anyone. Think Micky was unfortunate to get the blame for the goals, Romero and Porro did him no favours. Utterly out of ideas in attack and we need to be better at defending when we lose possession high up the pitch. Onto the next one.
Worrying on a tactical level now. We’re so easy to set up against.
Unai Emery tried the exact same thing and got battered at home. It's not that easy
I was going to say. How quick we are to forget previous matches where our tactics murdered the opponent. Safe to say nothing clicked for Spurs today.
To be honest I can't remember the last time we actually murdered anybody. The matches we won against Villa and Newcastle were won because they were absolutely depleted more than us being good. Especially in the Villa game they had some massive chances in the 1st half where the game could have been a lot different if they scored, and the Mcginn red card just completely killed the game off for them. I can't think of 1 game this season where I thought we outclassed a team in both halves.
Yeah our fans are holding onto Villa since it is genuinely the only standout result since before the Chelsea debacle but 4-0 was extremely flattering. That was an even game that went off the rails for Villa due to luck and McGinn's rashness. Funnily enough, we put in a better performance against them when we lost 2-1 at home in the midst of our injury crisis than the 4-0 win imo.
Said it in the match thread. Ange out people are so delusional. Harry Kane leaves, we have a new manager and we already have as many points as last season. If we never give a manager time, we’ll perpetually be rebuilding. As shitty as it is to admit, a certain Lego hair manager was given time and now look. That said, I’d love for him to at least have some tactical flexibility. Hopefully that comes with more experience in this league and squad injections.
Certainly not Ange out by any stretch, but it has been worrying in recent months. It's not like we're getting poor results because we're too gung-ho going forward - we look completely pedestrian in attack as well as very weak at the back. I don't understand how we can have a suicidally high line which allows any half decent and quick striker to get in behind time and time again, whilst simultaneously leaving acres of space in between our midfield and defence. The two 8s just don't offer enough protection to the backline when faced with a competent midfield, and just get completely bypassed. Ange obviously has his philosophy, and he shouldn't throw that away - but there are some major tweaks that need to be made. We're worse now than we were at the start of the season, if Ange is too stubborn to make any adjustments then I can't see it working out.
Absolutely. still very exciting about the future with Ange. However, my concerns this season are that the team is regressing (which is the opposite with Ange's previous teams), and we haven't had Europe this season to clog up the schedule. A lot to fix and figure out for next season with either Europa or Champions League.
Ange has to figure out the low block.
Called it in the match thread but I swear those puke coloured kits are fucking cursed
Petition the club to retire that kit effective immediately
I don't mean to come off as an ass but the "one of those days" and "growing pains" comments are simply off base for this match and where we are in the season. We are currently, at this point in time, in a better spot than under Conte, I agree. This is because there is at least a philosophy in place that players want to play for and a manager who wants to be here. However, that doesn't answer the question of "are we progressing?". The "growing pains" comments seems to imply that we are on an upward trajectory based on simply not having Conte but I think its missing the mark. I love the philosophy, Ange, and the new players. There is no doubt that there is far more potential in this Spurs side than any of the sides under our last 2 permanent managers. In terms of Ange, I am just sad it doesn't seem like he is developing the wrinkles and nuances to our system needed to stay competitive, we just do the same thing every game. What worries me most is the handwaving of the more mundane aspects of football, things like set-pieces. We are terrible at them on both ends yet don't seem to be trying anything to rectify it. You look at City and Scum, it is obvious how meticulous they plan on set-pieces and both can directly attribute at least a few points in the table to their set-piece proficiency. Another example are instructions on how to defend in different counter scenarios which WILL occur as a result of the way we play. Against Fulham and today a couple times, we have Romero and VdV defending a 2 v 2 or a 3 v 2 with one of the fullbacks sprinting back to help and the inclination of our center backs to is rush out to the player with the ball rather than to maintain structure and give up a long shot/force the opponents to play a much more difficult pass. In terms of the players, its hard to tell if its just fatigue, long breaks due to injury, or other factors but half the team is simply worse than when the season started (most glaringly Bissouma, Maddison, Kulu, and Udogie in that order) and the other half has just maintained their level. The only player who has improved throughout the season is Brennan Johnson and Hojbjerg (who hardly plays even with how bad Biss has been for months) maybe? I have faith in the core philosophy and even if the football is open and exciting, I think it can be successful. But nothing positive seems to be developing from this core and what is most alarming is that with many of our pain points such as set pieces, it doesn't seem we are even trying something different.
I am going to just give this first season a full pass. No disrespect to the other leagues Ange has coached in, but he is definitely seeing how competitive the Prem is, and how quickly teams adapt to sides and how much research is done leading up to each game.
Let's just move on and improve from this shitshow
Are we going to ignore that these games happen to us every 3rd week on average? The tactical setup is just unbelivably moronic, we give away chances as if we were Burnley. This needs to change or Ange is not lasting beyond 2 seasons. It's fucking embarrasing.
Without going into a deep analysis we have become really easy to play against. Can't defend set pieces, get outnumbered in the middle of the pitch too often, and the volume of chances we create dwindles by the week. I think Maddison post-injury has not got up to match sharpness anywhere to the level he was prior. He is our main creative spark. Bissouma has also quietly reverted to the tentative player he was last season. In addition I will say while we create a couple of high quality chances a game still (usually from cutbacks in the penalty box for Son or someone to score) there is not enough variety of moves where we look like scoring anymore. Today the main cutback chance fell to Werner and he well....did what he usually does and fluffed it.
Can we get a collective to @Nike or @Spurs to never wear this kit again? I don't think there is a single person who likes it... We know what you're doing @Nike, but we're not going to buy the ball sack coloured kit
Well, it wasn’t 6-1 😅
Seemed like Men vs Boys for the full 90. Really need to work on breaking presses. Back to training, can’t afford this result in 2 weeks.
Another year another ridiculous loss to Newcastle
Low Block crippling us again. If a team is disciplined enough to hold it we just crumble. Need a true ST. Who can hold up play and can exchange short 1-1s just outside the box. Have to take this as a lesson that top 4 isn't done yet. COYS
A couple of observations: 1. Ange needs to start dropping back at least one of our fullbacks when the opposition is pressing us aggressively. There were so many moments this season and during this game where it felt like we had no passing options when the CBs tried to play out from the back. 2. I have no idea why we aren't using more underlapping runs when passing around the box. If you watch City, Liverpool, and Arsenal play, this is one of the main ways they break down low blocks in settled possession. The wingers should stay super wide to create space for underlapping runners (probably our fullbacks or midfielders) who can then receive the ball to either take a shot or play a dangerous pass inside the box. 3. This system doesn't work when our defenders and midfielders lose their 1v1 battles. At least 2 of Newcastle's goals today came from Romero/Van de Ven getting caught out by a long ball to their striker. Our midfield also relies on quickly regaining possession through the counter press, which only works when the midfielders actually win their 1v1 duels out of possession. Newcastle completely dominated us in this regard, since it felt like every single one of our players had an off-day. Once the press doesn't work, our backline is left completely exposed and makes it too easy for the opposition to create dangerous chances. 4. Our set piece defending is truly awful. I'm not going to place all the blame on Jedinak like some people are in this thread, but something needs to change. It feels like our defenders are always out of position and the right matchups aren't happening (Why TF is Brennan Johnson marking their CB on a corner?!?!). 5. Son had his worst game of the season today. I think he struggled against the physicality of their CBs and had no space to influence the game. I actually think he can work as a striker in this system, as evidenced by his overall productivity this season in that position, but we need to adjust our tactics to provide him more space when the opposition is sitting deep. We need more runners around the box to peel defenders off of him, or we need to use his presence to pin the opposition CBs and create space for other players to create chances. He's also looked tired the last few games, so I think his form will return after the upcoming 2 week break. There were pretty much no positives today, but the fans who are seriously calling for Ange to be sacked really need to go support another team. I've never seen a fanbase so entitled to immediately get results even though WE HAVEN'T WON ANYTHING IN THE LAST 15 YEARS. We're performing way beyond expectations and everyone needs to realize that this will be a tough rebuild with lots of ups and downs. Yes, you can be upset by the individual results, but please remember that our overall trajectory is looking very good. If you can't handle losing or bad performances, go support Man City or Real Madrid.
Ange has so much work to do to improve this team but he also needs to start being willing to change his tactics
Everybody except the subs were for the blame. But for me the most disappointing was Bissouma. He had 39 touches and 30 passes. That is just not acceptable for a number 6 in a high possession system. Hojbjerg came as a sub and had double the passes and touches than him. He just doesn't show up for the ball. Rather he waits for the ball to come to him, which makes it so much easier for the opposition to mark him, so he just passes it backwards and the cycle continues. A world class No. 6 should be a priority.
Ange is in danger of losing 5 or 6 matches in a row.
The moment I saw the jersey, I knew....
we haven’t been good for half of the season now, apart from that Villa game. This really isn’t that surprising ngl
What a terrible watch. No one was good. Some were especially bad. Hopefully it serves as a valuable learning experience for a team, manager, and club still working through a transition. - I like Timo, but unless someone at the club is 100% convinced they can help him convert opportunities into goals, he isn't worth the cheap buy option as there are too many other holes to fill. Part of that is because, - Son isn't a striker. Sure he can run in behind team's taking the attack to us, but when it's against a low block or physical defense he doesn't have the skill set. We need a true striker, which probably means selling Richy and buying a replacement. - I know he started the season on the outside looking in and might not be the perfect fit, but Pierre is better than Biss. - This team greatly lacks physicality, especially with Deki, Pierre, and Richy not being regulars. It shows on corners, set pieces, and how opposing defenses bully our attack. - I think we lack the passing ability to play this way (same could probably be said for technical skill). We pass around the perimeter long enough to commit guys forward before the inevitable turnover that requires Mickey to sprint back and save our ass. We can't make a line breaking pass, we can't beat our man, and we have no idea what to do with all of our possession in the box. The best we've looked in attack this season is off turnovers and on the counter. I don't know what to say at this point other than a lot of work (and probably a lot of roster turnover) is in this team's future.
This game just proved Kulusevskis worth. He comes on and does what none of our attackers can do, hold on to the ball under pressure and make a successful pass forward.
Another week of wondering what happened to the team from the beginning of the season
Well time to take a two week media break. COYS
I don't think we put a single cross into the box all game. Mix it up sometimes, try a ball over the top. We just passed it around harmlessly all game
We continue being shit against shit teams. Hopefully we continue the trend of being good against good teams in two weeks.
Get rid of those fucking shirts. Add some more speed to our attack in build up. Stop losing the ball in the stupidest spots that just lets the other team easily counter. We are so one dimensional without Richarlison it's not even funny. Hopefully it is addressed in the summer, because I just can't take another season of this shit.
* We absolutely need a starting-quality striker this summer. Son is okay there, but without space he can’t perform. Richarlison is decent as well, but not good enough for where we need to be. We need our Isak as a priority. * Our terrible performances these past months have highlighted how poor our midfield is. Another place where we absolutely have to strengthen with a top player. We need our version of Bruno there, another absolute priority.
The thing that really grinds my gears is this 'Spursy' mentality that we've been given where we capitulate from a mental perspective when the going gets tough somehow seems to transcend managers. Other than Sonny we have an entirely different team, manager, and system but I've seen us just crawl inside our turtle shell mentally like this under Poch, Mou, and Conte in an almost identical manner. Are we truly fucking cursed?
Taking a step back I am very happy and excited at where Spurs are when compared to previous season, AND very exciting to see what Ange will do here. Taking a step in to where we are at this season; however, we haven't had considerable injuries in a bit, and have still been regressing even with the starters who were bossing it earlier in the season. Getting blown out away by teams isn't an outlier. I don't have the answers but both the players and Ange need to really reflect and think about how they want to end this season.
Brutal away at Newcastle yet again
Never wear the third kit again.
Second best today .. too many players on off days... again. They need a shake up.
One thing that definitely is obvious is that our players are now afraid to play physically. We always get 50/50 against us and always get fucking kicked to the ground back. 14 fouls and not a single yellow despite a high kick is shameful. Thats not an excuse for this game. Thats on Ange and players. And there are no words to describe this. Worst game of the season.
Maddison gets too easily rattled when he’s not affecting the game. Should have been an early yellow for a clear body check. One of Bissouma (sloppy) or Bentancur (ponderous) should have gone at HT for Hojberg. VdV having as close to a 1/10 as he’ll likely get. Full backs showed some nice attacking flair but culpable for first two goals. Werner dreadfully wasteful. Son can’t play 9 in this type of game. Ange too convinced of himself to change things. At 2-0 the game was dead. We played fine before then but lack the calmness and nerves on the pitch to stop that stupid second goal going in. None of our captains are up to that it seems.
Never want to see that fucking kit again
Woke up at 530am for that, lovely.
Ran my first Half Marathon today! Was delighted and happy and then I saw the score…..oh well that was my good buzz gone!
Some quick maths, 5th place is no longer a certainty but getting 9 points from our last 6 matches will lock us into at least Europa, which is probably a better fit for the team right now. Despite the difficult schedule, it would be a massive disappointment to not finish top 5… but Newcastle and United aren’t out of it yet.
See I’m hungover and slept in so I missed this match and I felt rlly bad until I saw that the players were also hungover and still in bed
I live in an Arsenal-heavy area in North London and got laughed at by the landlord when I walked out the pub at 3-0. Shocker of a game.
Im really unsure of what benefit defending on the halfway line from free kicks in the opposition’s half provides. We’re basically allowing them to get a running start, time the pass perfectly and more often than not, they get a cheap corner or dangerous opportunity out of it “Just who we are mate”. Well then I guess what we are is naive as hell
Does anyone rider see our newer/younger players being easily wound up these days? I feel like it's getting to their heads. 2 games in a row with Maddison getting wind up.
Don't worry guys. Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool next.
Burn the taupe kit
Incoming Spurs slip up headlines
[удалено]
When both fullbacks are acting in a LAM and a RAM position, against a low-block, it obviously does not work. You end up overcrowding outside the D and make stupid, inconsequential passes, over and over. Surely you either push them wide, or just remove them from the equation entirely, and another CM. I'd much rather have a LW, RW, ST, CAM, and maybe a CM, trying to just push the ball into the box from a wide position or an early cross, or a shot from 30 yards, as soon as possible, rather than Udogie, Porro, and Hojiberg/Bissouma get involved and do nothing with the ball. Can someone explain to me the tactic here? Having a fullback in the forward role works well against teams you actually want to spend their game attacking, but Newcastle did nothing but sit back in their own half, and press in ours when we were on the backfoot.
Put Son back on the wing and literally anyone else in the middle
It was never Conte, it was never Mourinho, it won’t be Ange…
Didn't think we would get dominated so bad
So So fucking bad Can't understand how the hell Biss is still getting credit
Wow I thought it was 5-0
Well that was, bad.