Wish I could like this twice. People have been talking on social media as if the low block (also since when was it called that, it’s just a fancy way of saying playing defensively) is some sort of unbreakable system.Pretty much everyone has problems breaking down an effective low block. It's not that big of an issue if you're solid at the other end because eventually you get the breakthrough and the oppositions gameplan changes and you go on to win comfortably. We are still absolute shite at the back, so the opposition know that if they keep our scoring down they stand a chance because we pretty much always concede 2 goals. We simply have to get better defensively, Wolves could have scored 4 and it would have been reasonable.
If anyone is driving at “Ange Out”, they’re an idiot. He finishes top 6 this season, he’s done well in my book, top 8 is even acceptable, anything more is mind boggling.Absolutely gobsmacked to read on social media that some natives are restless. Honestly beggars belief, I am so happy with how things are going. Squad evolving, playing style unrecognisable from last season, a manger to identify with and getting results. Sure their is the odd bump and things to learn and tweak but Christ il take this any day of the week. Genuinely excited for the future And I hope to god these idiots don’t derail anything, Ange doesn’t strike me as the sort of guy that would take any shit and he certainly won’t be short of offers either.
Not quite the same players.True but Ange can’t create chances lol He can get them to train patterns of play etc but it’s down to the players!
the same players were creating chances before and taking them. The form has dropped off slightly I agree but Ange doesn’t play he manages.
The tournament football has probably left a few players jaded and Maddison doesn’t look as sharp. I’m sure it’ll come back
Only slight criticism I could have is the high line, it could be dropped slightly but I get the high line helps where pressing!
Yes, having both first-choice FBs out really hurt us, along with our midfield still struggling to get up to speed after all the injuries and absences. I feel pretty confident that things will improve after the break.Not quite the same players.
The bastard low block, its feels like it's been our nemesis for about a decade.The difference is the best teams continue to move the opposition around just in tighter areas.
We don't have enough dynamic technicians that can play quickly with thier heads up in tight areas.
Truth is, Tottenham have not played well for some time - how can they fix form?
Wolves defeat lays bare the truth for Tottenham: they have not played well for a while. But why? And how can they turn it around?theathletic.com
The only good thing about Tottenham’s loss to Wolves is that it will force everyone to confront something that had been left unsaid for too long: this team is not playing well and has not been for some time.
Spurs have managed fairly successfully to cover up this inconvenient truth over the past few weeks. When Brentford and Brighton came to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium recently, the home side plodded through the first half and went into the break 1-0 down. Both times they relied on a second-half comeback to win the game and in the thrill of victory the poor start was largely forgotten. The fans went home happy and Tottenham continued to climb the table.
The first hour against Wolves felt like a carbon copy of those two games. The same miserable first half, Tottenham failing to find their way around a clever well-organised opposition, trying to play in spaces that simply did not exist. The same concession of an opening goal which was only a fair reflection of the first period. The same quick improvement straight after the break and a speedy equaliser. When Dejan Kulusevski made it 1-1 in the first minute of the second half it did feel as if yet another comeback was on.
But after an hour this game sharply diverged from Spurs’ last two here. Instead of scoring the goal to put them 2-1 up, Tottenham conceded after losing the ball from their own corner-kick. Spurs never recovered their composure, Wolves were worthy of the win.
This was a fair result, not only in the sense that Wolves were the better team over the 90 minutes but also because Spurs could not rely forever on second-half turnarounds. Those last three home first halves were not entirely the same: this game was more about Wolves’ compact organisation, Brighton was about their man-to-man marking, Brentford about their ability to drag Spurs into the disjointed stop-start game they did not want to play. But in all three cases, it was the visitors who dictated the terms.
Manager Ange Postecoglou did not have an explanation for this trend afterwards but admitted it makes it difficult for Spurs to impose their own expansive game. “For us to kind of dominate games like we want to, it does mean we need to start aggressively, and try and put the opposition on the back foot,” he said. “And we haven’t really done that (in the) last two or three games. Sometimes it’s the mindset going into games, sometimes it’s the opposition, sometimes it’s just the context of the football game.”
If you look at the bigger picture, rather than just this game or even the last three home games, it becomes more worrying for Spurs. There is a trend that has lasted for longer than the past few weeks.
For months, Spurs have looked like a team not performing as well as they could. A team unable to dominate opponents over the whole game, conceding too many chances, often relying on individual quality at both ends of the pitch to get them over the line.
When the last truly convincing 90-minute performance from Spurs? When was the last time they played as well as they routinely did in those thrilling first weeks of the season? Not the Burnley win in the FA Cup, a dismal game rescued by one brilliant goal from Porro. Not the Bournemouth victory, when they were outplayed for long spells but snatched it at the end. Not edging past Everton, when they were desperately hanging on for much of the second half. Probably not even beating Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, a professional display in a poor-quality game.
You would have to go back more than three months to the 4-1 win over an injury-hit Newcastle United, on 10 December, to find an occasion when Spurs played to their full capabilities, dominated and controlled the whole game.
Now there is plenty of mitigation for why Spurs are not playing as well as they did at the start of the season. Half of the first team have missed long spells with injuries or international duty over the past four months. The squad is not deep enough to survive those absences. But that explanation cannot last forever. Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven have been back for a month now. This was James Maddison’s fourth start in a row. Son Heung-min, Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr are all back from their tournaments and all started against Wolves. Yes, they were missing Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie, but Postecoglou did not want to take it as an excuse.
Maybe Tottenham are victims of the high standards and expectations they set in those first weeks of the season when they won eight and drew two of their first 10 league games. That was an unsustainably good start, an unrealistic level for a team trying to learn a new style of play with half of a new team.
Maybe it was inevitable there would be a correction. Tottenham were not going to maintain those results all season. It is to their credit that results stayed consistent over recent months, even when it was clear the team were not playing anywhere near their best football; two points behind fourth is a good position and probably ahead of schedule for this team. For a while, some could even argue that winning while not playing well was a sign of a good team.
But the true mark of a good team is playing well more often than not, dictating the terms of the contest, taking control from the first minute and never allowing your opponent a foothold in the game. That is the football that Spurs aspire to, the football that they have slowly slipped away from over the past few months. Maybe this overdue defeat will remind the players where they need to get back to.
We were missing VDV and Maddison in that game too. We had Davies partnering Romero, and Biss, Sarr and Kulu playing behind BJ, Son and Richie.Agree with all of this. Last game we controlled fully was over 2 months ago v Newcastle
Yea true we havnt controlled games in last few months but managed to pick up wins during that period.Agree with all of this. Last game we controlled fully was over 2 months ago v Newcastle
Good post.Yea true we havnt controlled games in last few months but managed to pick up wins during that period.
I genuinely think some people have lost perspective because of how we started.
Not one of us would have predicted we would be 2 points off 4th with a cushion to 6th and only 10 points behind the leaders after 2/3 of season.
As a club and fans we were on our knees after Jose, Nuno, Conte, stellini, Levy's continued bad decisions, no football structure, sold arguably our best ever player and a stale squad.
Reckon most of us at start of season would have said if we finish between 6-10th showing progress throughout the season while trying to implement an evident progressive style of play we would have taken that.
This is what a true transitional season looks like not those shit seasons during 90's and early 2000's were we convinced ourselves they were transitional but really we were just shit.
Some people really do need to take a step back and try and see the bigger picture
Reckon most of us at start of season would have said if we finish between 6-10th showing progress throughout the season while trying to implement an evident progressive style of play we would have taken that.
Race for top 5? (Possible extra CL place this season).
Top 6 and a real go at the cups will be signs of progress.
Top 6 for me. I think we will score a ton of goals but will have a soft underbelly in defense which will lead to some ugly losses/dropped points. All part of growing pains but I have not been this excited to just watch us play in what feels like 4ish years.
Good football & Europe will do for Ange's first year for me.
Our squad still has a lot of holes in it, plus the other bigguns, Brighton & Villa are strengthening so it will be tough but no Europe gives us an advantage.
Top 5 should be the aim, especially from a financial point, but I guess progression in the football we play, and some harmony in the squad is what really matters. Just improve.
I agree with the comments that we are the biggest unknowns.
Most of our starters and first choice subs have been bought in within the last couple of seasons and are relatively young.
Throw in a new manager and system and I think we can come anywhere between 2nd and 6th.
But as we're coming to the end of the re-build I'd take 6th but playing entertaining football and moving in the right direction.
Race for Europe will do.
Covers it all.
As it stands, no chance of top 4.
get in a couple of CB’s sharpish and keep Kane, possibly.
our defence is miles off the pace no matter what style of attacking play is adopted.
I hate the phrase spursy.
I hate lack of ambition.
Top 4 for me.
Top 4.
Today I feel belief.
Race for 4th....simples.
Yea true we havnt controlled games in last few months but managed to pick up wins during that period.
I genuinely think some people have lost perspective because of how we started.
Not one of us would have predicted we would be 2 points off 4th with a cushion to 6th and only 10 points behind the leaders after 2/3 of season.
As a club and fans we were on our knees after Jose, Nuno, Conte, stellini, Levy's continued bad decisions, no football structure, sold arguably our best ever player and a stale squad.
Reckon most of us at start of season would have said if we finish between 6-10th showing progress throughout the season while trying to implement an evident progressive style of play we would have taken that.
This is what a true transitional season looks like not those shit seasons during 90's and early 2000's were we convinced ourselves they were transitional but really we were just shit.
Some people really do need to take a step back and try and see the bigger picture