Match Ratings vs Qarabag

[talkshowhost86]

Did you watch yesterday? Carroll's performance was literally the opposite of what you just described. He was rubbish on the ball but was probably our most effective midfielder in terms of winning the ball. If Alli is a "luxury player" then god knows what you think of Eriksen, Chadli, Townsend or Lamela. He wins the ball, he has an assist and didn't miss a pass the whole game.

Maybe tidy wasn't the right word, but he was the midfielder who was actually trying to pass the ball.

Defensively they got in behind our midfield alarmingly easy, and he was often nowhere to be seen.

As for Alli, he is positionally chaotic at the moment which means that though he works hard, he isn't really playing in a particular position which means everyone else has to accommodate him. He'll get there though.

 

[southlondonyiddo]

Lloris was fine, made the one good save he had to make and was otherwise comfortable.

Trippier started poorly, albeit he was unlucky to concede the penalty, but I felt he grew into the game and contributed well to our attack.

Alderweireld was steady and dependable. He's not outstanding at anything but he is very good at everything, so he might not catch the eye but I bet his presence will (and has) lead to far fewer silly goals conceded.

Rose had his worst game in a long time, riddled with errors and not looking focused at all defensively.

Dier had his worst game in this position and it led to a lot of our struggles in the game. He overcommitted and got outfoxed far too often.

Carroll was okay, generally tidy and play a few lovely passes but he also played several sloppy passes under no pressure.

Townsend was dreadful. He worked hard but his decision making, running down blind alleys and lack of any product caused no send of frustration.

Alli shot his bolt about an hour in and should've been withdrawn, but played very well. Lovely link up with Son and Lamela, some great dribbling, a superb assist and would've scored had Lamela inexplicably taken it off his feet as he was lining up.

Lamela had a mixed bag. Out wide he was dreadful, making wrong decisions constantly. Down the middle he was better, working very hard, showing plenty of imagination and asking for the ball constantly. Lovely chip for his goal redeemed too.

Son scored a simple goal when unmarked from a corner. Then his confidence grew and it was delightful. His imagination and dribbling left me thoroughly entertained while the subtlety of his passing was beautiful and thus was as key to his second goal as the trickery of Alli. We have a real talent here.

Kane came on and gave a good account, getting involved and playing unselfishly. Great work for Lamela's goal in firstly chasing theist cause and then playing a lovely pass.

Njie looked very raw. Some nice moments with good touch, pace and ability but a few daft passes too. Also wish he didn't resemble Ballotelli so much.

I was impressed with Winks, more so than Carroll. Lots of energy, pretty robust, but very comfortable on the ball and picked out a couple of lovely passes.

Absolutely spot on re Carroll/Winks

Winks has had far less game time than Carroll but has impressed me more and looks like he could become a good player for us

FOUR years younger as well!!! Great prospect

 

[HotspurFC1950]

Disagree about Carroll. Thought he gave it away far too often even when there was no real pressure on him. It's not like he was trying to play the 'killer' ball a lot of the time either - was just sloppy distribution in the middle of the park. The only player worse was Andros.

Alli looks phenomenal. With him, Son and Eriksen in the team we are going to create a whole lot more.

I doubt we can get better than Carroll to be a fill in player.

 

[dudu]

Another mess of game really. Defensively, as team, we were pretty woeful. I don't just think it was all about the fact that we had a completely new group of defenders either. This should have been the dream team for us, as they didn't just come and park a bus, they weren't robust or dirty, and didn't just huddle up their own end. And there were spaces and numerous opportunities to punish those gaps, but as ever, those opportunities rarely made it past the embryonic stage, as greed, poor technique and poor decisions invariably did for them.

Tom Carroll was probably the most consistent presence throughout the 90 minutes. Whilst Lamela, Alli and Son all deserve honourable mentions for their general contribution and the odd moments of individual inspiration and creativity, Carroll was just a consistent and constant presence, getting through 90 passes (Lamela next best non defender on 56) and generally trying to make progressive passes.

The whole group looked incohesive without the ball, for the second game running. Dier was terrible, unable to keep up when they were zipping the ball about and unable to offer anything with the ball of a progressive nature. Rose had an absolute stinker. Townsend had a good first half but was bad second half.

It was nice to see Kane actually press and harry (no pun) the defenders again, and one of these incidents resulted in him setting up Lamela, whose finish was sweet. I just wish we'd pressed them better throughout, because there was definitely chances to be had this way as they were that great combo of a flimsy but ball playing outfit. Like a defence of four Chiriches's.

Alli continues to be a bit of a puzzle to me. Clearly the boy has ability, and his set up for Son's second was a nice piece of play, but he also seems to lack a bit of urgency and dynamism at times and also runs into the odd dead end or miss-control. I can't really figure out what he is and where a long term future lies for him positionally. He's a bit of a Fellani.

I actually thought Lamela, overall, had a very decent game, saw shitloads of ball for an AM, set up a great chance, took his chance sweetly and generally was very involved. Of course there was a smattering of the usual erratic fumble shit and the odd technical glitch, the kid continues to be a fucking curates egg, but on balance a decent contribution over the 90.

Oh, and Son was very decent and scored a couple of foxy boxy goals. Both our back up strikers have now scored more goals than Kane. Perhaps the world won't end after all.

Trippier was a bit unlucky with the penalty, it was a pen, but one that was hard for him to avoid, after being nutmegged.

I can't be arsed to do individual stuff. Carroll just about my MOTM.

Deli made 95% of his 41 passes, created 3 very good chances for us and generally tried to be our playmaker for the evening. It was a hugely impressive performance for someone of his age and stature in the game and others like Lamela should take heed of such performances in my opinion.

 

[dudu]

Surprised me that Carroll was a lot better at nicking the ball back. I actually thought his passing wasn't that great - not when it mattered.

8 tackles last night!

 

[Jamturk]

We are far too easy to get at. Defence was awful. We will be punished.

I lost count of the amount of counter attacks Qarabag had.

Typical disjointed performance by a mix n match team.

Alli was very busy, needs to calm his skin down. I think he has been booked in every game also seems to run out of steam, needs to pace himself a bit better. Certainly a diamond in the rough.

 

[JonnySpurs]

I dont think we should be getting carried away here. I've only seen the 1st half so far so can't comment on 2nd half as yet.

It strikes me though that our players just really seem to play down (or up) to our opponents. We often play poorly against poorer teams and up their game equally for the better sides. I would bet that we play far better against Monaco than we did last night.

I can only assume that it's a mindset thing. We know we're playing some lowly team from Azerbaijan and if though they would probably all say that they were up for the game, it just doesn't translate that way for everyone. I'm looking at Danny Rose in particular as an example.

Rose has been brilliant of late, yet last night he looked like the Danny Rose of a few seasons back. Clumsy, lacking in concentration and generally just not all that interested.

As I say, I dont think we should looking at this and thinking that if we play like this against Palace then we'll get hammered, cos we won't.

 

[HotspurFC1950]

It seems to me that Spurs Community members at least underestimate the opposition in the Europa League and therefore opinions are based upon what they expected of the game through the eyes of expectation

 

[Greenspur]

It seems to me that Spurs Community members at least underestimate the opposition in the Europa League and therefore opinions are based upon what they expected of the game through the eyes of expectation

Completely agree. They always do.

 

[jezz]

I think this lot will take points from other teams.

 

[Tit&Ham]

It seems to me that Spurs Community members at least underestimate the opposition in the Europa League and therefore opinions are based upon what they expected of the game through the eyes of expectation

THIS!

We met a team which has qualified for Europa league. Arsenal lost to a team probably at the same level as Quarabag.

AND we fielded our second best players for most positions.

I think we should be quite happy.

As for Rose - Didn't think he was as awful as most say. Yes, he had a brainfart with the chest-thing, but did he struggle defensively other than that? Think he is our best fullback by miles...

 

[nuttynoah]

Lloris - 6
Trippier - 4
Alderweireld - 6
Wimmer - 6
Rose - 3
Dier - 4
Carroll - 6
Townsend - 6
Alli - 8
Lamela - 7
Son - 7

Kane - 6
N'Jie - 6
Winks - 6

 

[southlondonyiddo]

THIS!

We met a team which has qualified for Europa league. Arsenal lost to a team probably at the same level as Quarabag.

AND we fielded our second best players for most positions.

I think we should be quite happy.

As for Rose - Didn't think he was as awful as most say. Yes, he had a brainfart with the chest-thing, but did he struggle defensively other than that? Think he is our best fullback by miles...

YES was terrible last night defensively. Looked sluggish and uninterested and made countless mistakes. Hugo shouted at him a few times but gave up after the 4th or 5th lapse in concentration

Has been excellent lately. Hopefully just a minor blip last night

 

[JimmyG2]

This from worcestersauce;
Just back from the game which was interesting being as how we played only three regular starters, introduced two completely new players, gave four players their first start of the season another teenager his first ninety minutes and a new signing his first home start leading the line for the first time.
despite all of that we won 3-1 and I was happy with the newbies, very positive.

This from JG2

If anyone doubts the value of the Europa to our squad and club
in blooding new players, giving run outs to returning regulars and so on
then this should put things into perspective.

Now Mr.Kipling about them cakes
Surprisingly good. ...........Alli, Son
Your usual quality:............Carroll,Wimmer, Lloris. (Why on earth was he playing?)
Check the recipe..............Lamela, Trippier, Townsend,Alderweireld
Failed to rise.....................Rose (geddit?) Dier.

New promising introductions......Winks, Clinton.

MOM Son for the vital goals.

Never known Spurs so profligate, well maybe I have.
In one 15 minute spell I counted 6 examples of giving the ball away,Carroll, Townsend, Lamela
or gross errors of judgement, Trippier, Rose
Later, premature crosses Townsend, Trippier.
But they were decent on the break and we were a goal down
before I got the interweb thingy tuned in.
So credit to the boys especially Lamela
who wore his socks to threads and got a goal as his reward,,
Should have had two mind.
But there were only 3 regulars starting.

 

[TaoistMonkey]

Listening to the Fighting Cock Podcast, Spooky summed up Spurs fans perfectly....

Person: Wow, look at that rainbow!
Spurs fan: Yeah, but its raining.

 

[dudu]

It seems to me that Spurs Community members at least underestimate the opposition in the Europa League and therefore opinions are based upon what they expected of the game through the eyes of expectation

Qarabag have played a lot more competitive games than us this season- maybe over double what we have and im sure the team they put out was much more familiar with each other in competitive games than ours was.

Townsend - first start
Rose - first start
wimmer - first start
Trippier - first start
Carroll - first start
Ali - second start
Son -second start
Lamela - second start


Wasnt the best performance but we certainly got the job done - have something to build on and we can go into the weekend 5 games unbeaten on the back of two wins.

Shout out to Wimmer who i thought had a great first game - 95% pass completion off 60 passes and seemed very assured on the ball.

 

[carpediem991]

Defensive shape was bloody awful. Totally disjoint run around. Qarabag (!) easily run through our side and just was as bad in finishing as our lot most of the time. I really miss a leader presence in CM to scream it all together and shake Roses head after his brain farts.
Offensive play was at timmes really good but the quality of Qarabags defense made it pretty easy. We just won't get the time and space in the league.

Lloris - Poor Vorm, hopefully Michel gets some game time in the away games. Not really tested - 6

Rose - Two idiotic moves to give Qarabag chances and looked totally disinterested at times. Reminded me of the bad Rose two seasons ago. What I like about him is that he storms into the box sometimes. Could be caught out at times, but good to have another attacking option, Davies not doing enough of this. - 5
Wimmer - Lost his man two or three times, but want to see him against better opponents. Did some good things too - 6
Alderweireld - Not sure he can command a defense and remember he played a real poor pass in 2nd half, giving FK a good chance. Should have scored in first half. - 5.5
Trippier - Guess he needs a run of games. Unlucky for the pen and not as much offensive contribution as I hoped for. Still big hopes for him - 5.5

Dier - Not sure why need to risk him in a match like this. Was even most of the time not good in protecting the back four. Sometimes I had the feeling we didnt field a CM. Still needed on Sunday. - 5
Carroll - Some good build up. Did his job with the ball as he should do. Due to his seize sometimes too easy to get past when we defend. - 6.5

Alli - Great prospect we have here. Some good movement and good balls in. Just missing a bit of urgency and directness. At the moment will still struggle in the league to do what he did yesterday, but given his age absolutely delighted so far. - 7.5
Lamela - First half of the left as expected like a donkey, could not do a thing right against Qarabag. 2nd half in a more central role I was absouletly happy with his display. Created chances, was quick and fluid and even got a goal (should have been 2 or 3 and 1 or 2 assists). Maybe he will find his place with all the quicker players around him,, not the likes of Dembele. - 7.5
Townsend - Okay, I'd say nice to have him on the sub list when the opponent tires. Nothing special - 6.5

Son - happy for him that he scored two, hopefully that gets him going in the league. Don't think he is a no. 9 as he is dangerous with his runs in the box and a quick idea there. Hopefully he is more consistent than in Germany for us. - 7.5

Kane - Shame it didnt happen with the goal but an assist he word hard for. - 6.5
N'Jie - Didn't notice too much of him. Needs time to get him going. - 5.5
Winks - Nice he got 15-18 minutes. Did some good things in midfield and two or three things where he will learn from - 6

I give MOTM to Lamela. I am always there to criticize him so credit to him where he deserves it.

 

[mpickard2087]

I'll just copy over what I put in the match thread.

Defensively we were not good, with players making regular individual errors, and we were disjointed. Pressing wasnt good - yet again we see a couple of players chasing down, and the cm2 + defence hanging back so we have big gaps. I get we had some new faces but there should be evidence of a cohesive unit in the way the team goes about it's business. With the ball we were sloppy, again with players making regular individual errors under little pressure or making poor choices. I thought the whole back four were poor for large spells of the game, particularly first half. Dier was non-existent. Carroll had a good first half hour but then was average. Townsend had a couple of good moments but was, well, Townsend apart from that. Alli was decent. PL games though we have seen already he wont be able to bulldoze through so easily, but an encouraging start. Lamela wasn't good. Son did alright and looked livelier after his goals.

That wasn't ok. It was barely average. They were a tidy ball playing outfit, couldn't really defend though massive gaps everywhere. We need to have higher standards. That was a good game for the neutrals but I thought we showed little quality.

 

[Supersi32]

Thought the opposition was decent and considering that was largely a 2nd string we had out I thought we did well. I liked the look of Wimmer and Tripper recovered well to have a solid game after a shaky start. Lamela was the preverbial some good some bad but the one thing I liked was that he never hid despite the groans from the crowd. Thought N'jie had a decent debut, Ali and Son were very good. Carroll was OK and Winks got better after a shocking start, giving the ball away numerous times. All in all a decent performance against a team who weren`t great but weren`t poor either.

 

[WiganSpur]

Dier was poor I thought.

I think if we're going to accommodate him in midfield then we need to go with a three with him at the base where he doesn't have to be as progressive and dynamic with the ball.