Ratings vs Everton

UpTownSpur said:

Lloris - 7.5 - not a lot he could have done about the goal
Walker - 7.5 - Solid display, one excellent cross that could have led to a goal
Vert - 7.5 - Very good but could have done better for the goal
Toby - 8.5 - Imperious
Davies - 6.5 - Lacks pace
Carroll - 7 - Solid game, kept the ball moving
Dier - 7 - Solid as ever
Eriksen - 7 - very good first half, wrong decision to sub him - perhaps could have tried to close down the ball to Lukaku but I don't imagine long balls in the box was something picked up as being a threat.
Alli - 8 - always a threat to score and create chances.
Lamela - 6 - Has great energy and is great when we don't have the ball but offered absolutely nothing going forward and all my reservations about him are shown in this game, hasn't had an assist in several months, hasn't had an open play assist before the 80th minute all season. Didn't manage any crosses or worthwhile shots. When we win these aspects of his game are overlooked and his work rate is praised, but when we don't, his lack of quality in the final third is a real issue. We just never see him testing a keeper like Eriksen or Alli did in this game with a stinging shot, or whipping in balls. I'd like to see Son or Chadli given a run.
Kane - 6.5 - Looked tired, as in the game Vs Watford he let the ball bounce instead of volleying and a good chance was lost.

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THOWIG said:

My over riding feeling from yesterday was if only we had Baines and Coleman. Don't get me wrong I think our full backs have improved, but they will never offer more from an attacking POV.

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0-Tibsy-0 said:

Quelle surprise you thought Lamela was the weakest player, what surprises me is that you thought Son and Chadli offered anything even near him when entered into the fray...

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UpTownSpur said:

It was a difficult game for any subs to come on and make a difference. Everton were clearly on top in the latter stages.

Son or Chadli deserve a chance in the next league game. Let's not forget Son played instead of Lamela in our best performance this season against West Ham.

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UpTownSpur said:

Eriksen - 7 - very good first half, wrong decision to sub him - perhaps could have tried to close down the ball to Lukaku but I don't imagine long balls in the box was something picked up as being a threat.

Lamela - 6 - Has great energy and is great when we don't have the ball but offered absolutely nothing going forward and all my reservations about him are shown in this game, hasn't had an assist in several months, hasn't had an open play assist before the 80th minute all season. Didn't manage any crosses or worthwhile shots. When we win these aspects of his game are overlooked and his work rate is praised, but when we don't, his lack of quality in the final third is a real issue. We just never see him testing a keeper like Eriksen or Alli did in this game with a stinging shot, or whipping in balls. I'd like to see Son or Chadli given a run.

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Bus-Conductor said:

60 minute Man

Football can be a bizarre and fickle mistress with an over active irony gland at times. And so it was we found ourselves 0-1 down in a game we had utterly dominated, to our opponents only visit to our half in that first 45 minutes, a top corner screamer scored by a player who in a long career with us rarely managed to score anything that didn’t dribble it’s way over the line apologetically, with virtually his only kick of the game.

For our own contribution to the festival of irony, after a half of total ball domination and much intricate approach play, often adroitly orchestrated by the impish but articulate Carroll and Eriksen our equalizer came via the rather agricultural route one from Alderweireld, to the player who’d largely bumbled his way through probably the worst half of any of our players, only for him to chest and bury the chance in the most fluent and beautiful fashion.


Prior to that moment Alli had looked, not for the first time, like a round peg in a square hole in that “10” role. Making hard work of controlling the ball under pressure, making poor decisions and failing to play in Lamela with the simplest of two yard taps. The boy had had a bad half, and yet there he was, a perfectly timed run and sweet finish.


Although I’ve always had good words for Carroll, I’ve always had doubts too, his talents are clear, he is constantly in motion seeking the ball and rotating, looking to pass forwards, some of us have seen him dominate U18 & U21 games against the best young midfields in the country, and most of us have seen him run games against some of Europe’s lesser lights in the Europa, but we have yet to really see him do this at EPL level and like most of us I guess, I was beginning to think I never would, and I was really surprised to see him selected again after his recent outings, especially with Bentaleb sitting on the bench. But he was superb for much of today, and how he wasn’t given the official MOTM award by Sky’s pundits is an absolute travesty. The kid made 60/68 passes, joint most tackles (4) second most interceptions (3) than anyone else but more importantly was all over the pitch, constantly keeping things tick tick tick ticking. Ably assisted by Eriksen, who I thought was also outstanding in that first half, continually dropping and drifting, playing both full backs in behind with piercing through balls.


The only thing the half lacked was for our completely dominant approach play to produce actual clear quality chances at close quarters. Whenever we got near Alli bumbled, Lamela fumbled, the ball wouldn’t bounce quite right or Everton defended with last ditch stoicism to deny. Sure we’d crashed their woodwork twice, but these were from long range missiles.


And herein lies a conundrum for me. The Alli conundrum. The boy is clearly a presence and brings qualities, but he’s clearly not a “10” in the same way that Kane is clearly not a “10”. In these tight confines these two can be clumsy, heavy of touch, lack the unison of zippy brain and nimble foot. There is no dilemma with Kane, his role is clear and perfect. He was made to be an uber striker of the lone variety. But what to do with Alli if not the “10”. He brings some good characteristics and productivity, but how do we best utilise them without compromising other aspects of the team dynamic. The simple answer would be play a 433 and have him play right of the CM3, bombing into the box from deeper, hard to pick up positions. But that’s not likely to happen.

You can see today, in Carroll, and we have others like Bentaleb and Mason too, when it works, having a player like that is a much better symbiosis as the CM2 partner for the robust no nonsense Dier when he plays, how that balance works much better than the less dynamic and metronomic Alli or the slow to release the ball Dembele, as his partner.

If you look back at many of our games we have drawn too many, we have lost more points from winning positions than anyone. Not everything is right. I think a fantastic work ethic and spirit, set piece goals improvement, defensive solidity, not qualities to be underestimated, are slightly masking the fact that we are not quite getting the balance right in midfield and attacking midfield a lot of the time. Eriksen on the right for example? I love our spirit and work ethic under Poch more than I have under any manager in my time watching us I think. I think there are games when it really does all click but there is still something not quite right about the balance of this team in many games, and until we solve it, we will not be the best we can be IMO.

It has to be said that we were helped greatly in the first half by Martinez’s poor tactical deployment of Kone and Lennon. But, not for the first time (understatement klaxon) I thought Pochettino’s tactical substitutions in reaction to Martinez’s second half changes were atrocious and we thoroughly lost our way. The knackered Kane, bumbling Alli or erratic Lamela should have all been ahead of Eriksen in the queue to go, as Martinez added Besic to their midfield and Deulofeu to their attack, once Eriksen went it was three bumblers and a weary Kane (who cost us two dangerous counter attacks with his tired bumbling) left up there, no more Eriksen to show for the ball, be composed, do the simple but effective thing. For the second week running Pochettino completely surrendered initiative and was outwitted tactically in game. Carroll had no-one to play with, and the game became an end to end lottery.

This was still a game we deserved to win, and were clearly the better side for 60 minutes, regardless of what that fucking idiot Martinez said, and that first half was one of the best we’ve played this season away from home, but the second got messy. And as is becoming the norm, Pochettino’s subs contributed heavily to that, just as they did last game against Watford. There's loads I love about Poch's Spurs, but my biggest worry before we hired Poch was how his Southampton team rarely managed to play past 60 minutes of any game, giving up more points from winning positions than any other team. He still hasn't solved this flaw. Week in week out Poch's tactical subs contribute to this horrible stat that now belongs to us.


Individual

Lloris - Not much to do.

Walker - Very good game. I thought he had one of his best games in a Spurs shirt. But he needs to deliver a cross first time sometimes instead of wasting the chance by taking a steadying touch.

Alderweireld - Excellent game.

Vertonghen - OK. Not happy with him turning his back on Lennon’s shot. It’s Lennon for fuck sake.

Davies - Decent game.

Dier - Good first half, as is often the case, when the other team starts to get busy he can go a bit awol.

Carroll - MOTM - best game in the EPL for us. Was everywhere, and great to see him tackle and press like a fucker too.

Eriksen - I thought he was outstanding first half. Take a look at his passing matrix if you have access to it (I’ll post it later) his interplay with Carroll was a feature of our domination and he played a couple of lovely passes putting Walker in one side and Davies in the other. Should never have been subbed.

Alli - Goal apart was pretty poor first half, fumbling a couple of great chances when we had them on the hop, caught in possession a couple of times, then he pops up with a sublime run, chest and finish. He worked hard though and was Ok second half, but as has become the norm he was flagging from about 60 mins.

Lamela - His usual work ethic and (joint most) tackle quota aside I thought he was also wasteful and gave away a couple of really stupid and unnecessary free kicks and got himself stupidly booked.

Kane - Worked hard, looked fucked from about 60 mins. Why not take him off and put Chadli, Alli or Son up there?

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Nebby said:

Who was supposed to be picking up Lennon for their goal?

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UpTownSpur said:

Lamela - 6 - Has great energy and is great when we don't have the ball but offered absolutely nothing going forward and all my reservations about him are shown in this game, hasn't had an assist in several months, hasn't had an open play assist before the 80th minute all season. Didn't manage any crosses or worthwhile shots. When we win these aspects of his game are overlooked and his work rate is praised, but when we don't, his lack of quality in the final third is a real issue. We just never see him testing a keeper like Eriksen or Alli did in this game with a stinging shot, or whipping in balls. I'd like to see Son or Chadli given a run.

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boris said:

More or less agree with most of your player assessments (even your misgivings over Alli, though I'd cut him more slack for the 'intangibles'), but I'm astonished by what you saw in Carroll and Eriksen. The latter did his usual quick and tidy stuff and would have made chances for a sharper forward line, but I'm almost surprised when I see him because he doesn't seem enough involved, and he offers very little defensively (really should have prevented their goal, unlikely as it was). But Carroll as MOTM? He was on the ball a lot and was busy without it, but it seemed to me he gave it away through poor first touches and telegraphed passes, and when he didn't he wasn't dangerous. I thought those two, while not awful, were our weakest links. Funny old game. Might watch it again.

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jezz said:

Davis

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jezz said:

Davis

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Japhet said:

Alli MOM for me. Alderweireld is so much better than I thought he'd be.

Anyone still think Son or Chadli can fill in for Kane?

Thought Besic made a big difference when he came on. Wouldn't mind him in a Spurs shirt.

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OiOiDrUnkYiD2 said:

I though t Onomah looked ok when he came on, i think he looks an exciting player. Shame he didnt get longer. Looks like he can make something happen

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THOWIG said:

My over riding feeling from yesterday was if only we had Baines and Coleman. Don't get me wrong I think our full backs have improved, but they will never offer more from an attacking POV.

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Bus-Conductor said:

Of our front 6 players, no-one gave it away less than Carroll (88.8%), despite making 80 passes, nearly 30 more than the next nearest, Eriksen (50) who had the second highest completion rate (84.6), Baring in mind Carroll was on the pitch 36 minutes more than Eriksen though, so Eriksen would certainly have a comparable per minute ration I think.

When we were dominating the game it was these two at the hub of everything, despite Pochettino's rather poor tactical set up of Lamela left and Eriksen right. Here's a graphic of Eriksen's passing which helps shows his movement and influence I think:

View attachment 21367

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