Moving forward from the Liverpool game

[DHMadboy]

Lamela was really good today unfortunately the movement around him was shocking, but he still stuck to the game plan when everyone else seemed pedestrian, chasing people, closing them down and trying to make something happen.

Adebeyor was constantly out on the flanks getting in Chadlis way and just seemed way off the pace, not making enough runs, made me think Soldado or Kane would have been better(I know Soldados is injured) making more intelligent link up.

Eriksson had a poor game and couldnt get anything right, but still a great player.

Chadli same as Lamela chased people and worked hard let down by players around him, should have taken chance, but it shouldnt come down to blaming him for missing that one chance, we should have had more.

Bentaleb is a good player but should really be used for closing out games or playing physical teams, very Livermore-esque.

Capoue like a more physical mobile Huddlestone if the defence and Eriksson had been playing better I dont think he would have looked so cumbersome, constantly having to help Vertongen and Kaboul, but did play some great through balls.

Rose had a good game I hope hes not injured, got forward and tracked back, plays well in this system and Davies is a good back up.

Dier had a bit of a mare, but still looked bothered and worked hard, quite clearly doesnt have enough pace for the better teams to play at RB but this shouldnt mean hes written off and would like to see him play at CB.

Lloris not a bad game just let down by his defence.

Kaboul was shocking and as much as i like the guy really isnt good enough to be starting let alone captain, looks a complete liability, whether passing the ball out of defence or just holding a player up.

Vertongen was also shocking, but what makes it worse is that this guy has the ability, its just he looks like he doesnt give a shit, he was truly woeful.

The problem was with our 2 CBs playing like that we constantly looked on the back foot, this dragged both Bentaleb and Capoue back which meant they werent able to press high, allowing Liverpool to turn and run at us, in turn our attackers looked isolated and with Adebeyor standing still a lot we were easy to defend against.

I think the substitutions were the right ones, we needed more attacking players so Dembele and Capoue would mean a better ball distribution, and with Townsend we had a selfish player who would at least drive straight at goal, unfortunately Townsend made a complete hash of a simple pass and the game was over. Now we were trying to break down Liverpool who were defending with 10 players but could still hit us on the counter.

So where now, well, Liverpool have invested heavily over the summer and had a decent team last season, there manager has had a decent amount of time to get to know his players, while our manager has only had a few months, so its not a complete right off and things will get better but some things need to change.

Dier needs to play at CB, Vertongen and Kaboul need to be benched, then either Chiriches or Fazio can partner Dier. Townsend should be sold instead of Lennon because Lennon is at least reliable defensively.
try Dembele with Sandro in the middle with Paulinho ahead of them, and we need another striker.


So something like this

Lloris/Vorm
Walker/Naughton Dier/Chiriches Fazio/Vertongen Rose/Davies
Sandro/Bentaleb Dembele/Capoue
Lamela/Lennon Paulinho/Eriksson Chadli/Holtby
Soldado/Kane



COYS

 

[Hotspur33]

It wasn't as bad as some are making out.

Liverpool were good today, and we got a wake-up call. A result like this MAY just re-focus us. Maybe we got carried away with the QPR game.

Liverpool were just that little bit better then us today and came to the Lane feeling confident after last season.

Davies should get a chance to make the LB slot his own if Rose is injured. Fazio will have some time to get to know his new team mates (the ones who aren't on Int. Duty)

 

[JW_Spur]

I hate 4-2-3-1. It's time has come and gone. Dull as can be. Doesn't matter who is in charge. In our version it doesn't even seem to keep clean sheets in the games that matter.

Best football I have ever seen is the 4-4-1-1 from Harry. But suppose that is dead too. But all I know is we used to hammer Liverpool 4-0 using that formation. Now we are reduced to hoping to keep the score respectable. It's amazing how their diamond formation rips us apart - although their pace had a lot to do with that. Still there is something to be said for always having 2 strikers on the pitch.

 

[Drexl]

We lost the game mentally before a ball had been kicked

Shows that we are still mentally weak, we need to sign a few winners/guys with character

 

[double0]

Generally our play wasn't completely bad but under pressure we crumble far to easy.

I really hope Fazio is better than what we have in the overrated Vertonghen and Kaboul

Centre Forward needs addressing Adebayor isn't consistent enough... I have to concede to that statement.

 

[neptunes]

Lamela was motm. Alas the lads around him did not read his movement. Pity.
Lloris was good but poor distribution.
The rest were from very average to very bad.

 

[EQP]

I think Andros would be suited at going home and

some Raheem sterling game tapes and applying some of the things he has did/ has done .

 

[Hotspur33]

Liverpool are exceptional going forward. They attack with numbers.
I remember at one point today our back four had Balottelli, Sturridge, Henderson, Sterling and and probably monquillo running at them all goal side of our midfield.
They are difficult to beat.

As for the 4-2-3-1. It is basically a 4-4-2 in disguise. You could look at the 4-4-1-1 as :

Freidel
Walker Daws King BAE
Parker Modric
Lennon VDV Bale
Adebayor

 

[OneBaxter]

I think the most important thing to take away is that there are another 35 games to go. This was not a make or break game by any stretch of the imagination. To qualify for the top 4 you do not have to win every single game against the top 4, you really just need to beat all the teams you should be beating. Yes picking up a point of 3 is helpful but I'd rather lose to Liverpool than do what Arsenal have done and drop points to Leicester...

 

[Lilywhiteinoz]

1. Still not enough self belief.
2. Errors again (their 1st goal at least 4 THFC not switched on).
3. Not capitalising on those red hot chances. (Adebayor, Chadli).
4. Young Dier got sucked into putting a hand out, minor obstruction but did not look good - LPool ref.

So where to -
1. Poch keep working on getting belief in players.
2. We lack "real" money to compete with LPool - gotta keep looking for players on the rise.
3. Is Schneiderlin and Welbeck on deadline day enough ?
3. Poch keep coaching.

 

[Darth Vega]

We'll be ok. Game came a bit too early for us. Our pressing game was non-existent today which was strange and there are obvious weaknesses in the side but we need to be patient. Pochettino will need at least one season before we can begin to have grand expectations. Rodgers' first season at Liverpool wasn't exactly brilliant and look at them now. Henderson is a different player and they look quick and sharp. We'll hopefully reach that level but we won't do it overnight.

To the game, it highlighted two things we already know. Kaboul's injuries have sadly taken their toll and we need someone in the middle of the park who can move the ball quicker (Stambouli?). A forward and a left winger would also be nice but I think the midfield area is a priority. Would not surprise me to see Fazio replace Kaboul at some point this season or perhaps even Dier when Walker returns.

We might have to endure a few more painful losses across this season but it'll pay off in the end I'm sure.

 

[punkisback]

I've seen this in recent seasons, but I believe that we are terrible at tracking back and tracking runners from midfield. Liverpool always seemed to have men behind the ball in most of our attacks, whereas we made it easy for them to bypass our midfield and play on the flanks or edge of our box.

 

[Danners9]

Liverpool are several years and a lot of spending further down the road to where we want to be. As much as we mock Rodgers for his cringeworthy soundbytes, he has got Sterling and Sturridge playing incredibly well together - but he has had a lot more time to forge the partnerships all over the pitch that work so well. Henderson/Gerrard is another. Spurs are very much a work in progress.

After today we'll have a squad to work with, and the signs have been there that Spurs are capable of doing something pretty good.. We have a boring international break before taking on Sunderland who, without meaning to jinx it, have been shocking so far this season.

Yesterday will have shown Poch who can be trusted to play the way he wants and who can't, and those left out for reasons other than injury are also probably not going to be part of it going forward.

 

[mattdefoe]

Demebele has gone from looking like a boss midfielder to a sluggish , scared child

 

[EastLondonYid]

Doesn't matter what shape or style you play, if your defence cannot defend you will concede a hatfull of goals everytime you play a team with abit of class.

 

[luptic]

The QPR result masked a lot of the problems we have. We were poor against west ham, and showed similar frailties against Liverpool. There isn't as much movement as we had seen in the past and players get pushed of the ball to easily. There is no point playing Eriksen on the wing, he ain't going to hurt any one from there. And Liverpool knew that we would play through the middle and simply flooded the area every time. Pochettino needs a plan B.

What he also needs is players Townsend ain't the answer, adebayor is ok, but he always has an off day. And the right back situation needs sorting if walker is out for more than 5 months bring in yedlin Dier might turn out to be quality but ease him in, don't throw him in at the deep end.

Can't see an awful lot being done today. A few going out, and hopefully we get a striker in.

 

[DEFchenkOE]

I've seen this in recent seasons, but I believe that we are terrible at tracking back and tracking runners from midfield. Liverpool always seemed to have men behind the ball in most of our attacks, whereas we made it easy for them to bypass our midfield and play on the flanks or edge of our box.

Said this in the match thread, seemed like it was 10v11 for most part of the game. When they attacked it was like
4v4 yet when we attacked it was like 3v6.

 

[fatpiranha]

Our performance was poor; there's no getting around that. However, it was only our 3rd League match of the season and Liverpool are probably the worst match up in the premiership for us. We are vulnerable against pace and Liverpool have it in spades. This was a match where we'd have loved to have had Walker & Chiriches in our defence & Stambouli in our midfield. Somebody with a bit of pace upfront wouldn't have hurt either as they looked vulnerable to the ball over the top.

I'm not going to get too depressed about the defeat even though it hurts. The depressing thing would be if we do not learn from it.

 

[weststandvoice]

This is a post that ought to be in the ratings thread.
As well being another classic example of the utterly pointless phrase, 'moving forward.'

 

[onthetwo]

Liverpool are several years and a lot of spending further down the road to where we want to be. As much as we mock Rodgers for his cringeworthy soundbytes, he has got Sterling and Sturridge playing incredibly well together - but he has had a lot more time to forge the partnerships all over the pitch that work so well. Henderson/Gerrard is another. Spurs are very much a work in progress.

After today we'll have a squad to work with, and the signs have been there that Spurs are capable of doing something pretty good.. We have a boring international break before taking on Sunderland who, without meaning to jinx it, have been shocking so far this season.

Yesterday will have shown Poch who can be trusted to play the way he wants and who can't, and those left out for reasons other than injury are also probably not going to be part of it going forward.

completely agree - last match i saw live at the Lane was last years 5-0 mauling to the Bin Dippers and to be honest, i didnt think we coped much better with their movement this time around than the last time.

I dont think the hard work has even started yet but provided our great leader doesnt get twitchy if the results dont go as planned, im staying optimistic (that might be the coffee kicking in mind you).