Bus-Conductor
SC Supporter
- Oct 19, 2004
- 39,837
- 50,713
Tough Little Tussle
I said before the game I thought this might be a tougher test than some were expecting. Some days you make things hard for yourself, some days it's all about us, the things we do right and the things we do wrong, but this wasn't one of them, that's not to say we got everything right, but we have to give the opposition plenty of credit today, they were excellent for the first 45 minutes, really got about us and made life exceedingly difficult, and then second half when we were utterly dominant they remained steadfast, tactically well disciplined, and allowed us much less of worth than the arch bus park meister Pullis had 7 days ago.
For me, the one tactical selection mistake Poch made was omitting Janssen, playing Son up front instead of playing him in that wide attacking left position where he's been so effective drifting inside. If someone had to giveaway for the introduction of Dembele, and I'm not convinced someone did, it should have been Alli or Lamela, and if Dembele's going to be played in midfield, which he was, then it should have been Alli, if he was going to be played in a more attacking remit, then it should have been Lamela.
I think Alli, Lamela, Son all have their merits, on a good day those merits can be considerable, but what you get from all three is erratic, bumbling fuckery a plenty too. What you get with Janssen is a more focused fulcrum, he doesn't want to do too many flicks and tricks, he wants to battle for the pitch, hold the ball and bring others in as simply as possible and I think a team like ours, that plays the way we do, with the in built eratic-ness that comes as standard, his more no nonsense robustness provides a more predictable fulcrum for those more flighty birds to flutter round. I genuinely don't give a shit if he scores, as long as he provides the other stuff, which I think he works bloody hard at, then we've got goals from elsewhere. I think we looked better when he came on.
Today, that's a pretty minor grumble, as though there was some annoying frippery from Alli, Son and Lamela, generally speaking no-one had a shocker, we had to compete and (cliche klaxon) earn the right to play today against a very well coached and well organised team who I haven't seen put in a better tactical performance since their arrival in the PL.
It's easy to get frustrated on days like today but, bar the odd individual moment, I generally didn't, I think we competed when we had to, and second half we took control, dictated the game and just found an opponent on the top of their defensive game.
Dembele is a conundrum for me, he did a lot of good work today, and against a very feisty opponent there were times I was really glad he was out there, but the compromise for me is that though Eriksen and Alli can't hold a torch to Dembele without the ball, and Alli in particular really does fuck about with the ball, it's great when one of his nutmegs come off, but by the sixth or seventh one that hasn't arrives it's become very fucking tiresome watching him fritter away possession (and once today it led directly to a very dangerous counter attack) so cheaply, and Eriksen's lack of tenacity can also irk at times, Dembele's penchant for taking at least three or four more touches than necessary and his very risk averse approach with the ball does mean we lose something, for all the flaws in their game, both Alli and Eriksen are more likely to take risks that lead to real moments of productivity.
On balance, I think today was probably a day when we benefitted from Dembele's skill set, but I don't think that has or will be the case every week.
The same goes with pushing Dembele into Lamela's more attacking role, letting him dribble at defenders instead of midfielders, he'll carry the ball more sure footedly than Lamela, he'll work as hard (and less recklessly) without the ball, but is he more likely to find that one moment of tangible productivity that leads to a goal ? Based on their body of work so far, you'd probably say no.
Again, I won't be devastated if it's tried, but not every week.
Despite a lack of clear quality chances created, I think overall that was a good performance against a feisty, well coached and well organised opponent.
Finally, I don't moan about refs much, generally over the last few years I don't think there has been to much to moan about but I thought that was one of the worst performances for a while today. He seemed to to take the "I'm going to let the underdog get away with a few just to even it up" approach. Letting Arter go clean through Wanyama, then run his studs down him and do nothing about either was utter incompetence, there were several incidence where our players were punished for crimes their players weren't for identical ones, at one point Lamela clearly says this to him (I can't remember the incident) and I'm pretty sure we should have at least one penalty, but I'd concede Walker was lucky not to get one given against him at the end.
Individual
Lloris - One decent save but I'm getting really fucked off with some of his passing out to players under pressure.
Walker - I don't think they should let him take throw-ins, he rarely seems to throw it to one of ours, but apart from that, the near penalty, and a poor bit of defending when Ibe goes past him he was otherwise very good.
Dier - Very nearly cost us a goal with an awful mistake, but was generally ok and pinged a couple of nice balls out wide.
Vertonghen - Really playing well right now, I thought the yellow was a foul on him not the other way round and one brilliant tackle.
Rose - A turbulent game for broadway Danny today, some good, some bad, but rarely dull.
Wanyama - Loving this guy. Outstanding game. Not just without the ball but on it too. MOTM.
Dembele - Lots of really good stuff, on a day when we had to compete he was an asset and maybe his more risk averse approach with the ball was needed on a day we are being pressed hard. Very good game overall.
Eriksen - Good game.
Alli - Got to reign in the fucking tricks a bit, there are times when he just needs to put his foot on the fucking thing and help us retain the ball in final third, not cough it up so cheaply, but overall he worked hard and tried to contribute.
Lamela - Was again very involved today, and like Alli was involved in plenty of our approach play, but also not without moments of frustration, and Poch has got to stop him putting in reckless tackles early in games.
Son - Had the odd moment but not involved much, but I think his best position is wide left forward, today was just to frenetic and congested in that central area for a flappy bird like him.
I said before the game I thought this might be a tougher test than some were expecting. Some days you make things hard for yourself, some days it's all about us, the things we do right and the things we do wrong, but this wasn't one of them, that's not to say we got everything right, but we have to give the opposition plenty of credit today, they were excellent for the first 45 minutes, really got about us and made life exceedingly difficult, and then second half when we were utterly dominant they remained steadfast, tactically well disciplined, and allowed us much less of worth than the arch bus park meister Pullis had 7 days ago.
For me, the one tactical selection mistake Poch made was omitting Janssen, playing Son up front instead of playing him in that wide attacking left position where he's been so effective drifting inside. If someone had to giveaway for the introduction of Dembele, and I'm not convinced someone did, it should have been Alli or Lamela, and if Dembele's going to be played in midfield, which he was, then it should have been Alli, if he was going to be played in a more attacking remit, then it should have been Lamela.
I think Alli, Lamela, Son all have their merits, on a good day those merits can be considerable, but what you get from all three is erratic, bumbling fuckery a plenty too. What you get with Janssen is a more focused fulcrum, he doesn't want to do too many flicks and tricks, he wants to battle for the pitch, hold the ball and bring others in as simply as possible and I think a team like ours, that plays the way we do, with the in built eratic-ness that comes as standard, his more no nonsense robustness provides a more predictable fulcrum for those more flighty birds to flutter round. I genuinely don't give a shit if he scores, as long as he provides the other stuff, which I think he works bloody hard at, then we've got goals from elsewhere. I think we looked better when he came on.
Today, that's a pretty minor grumble, as though there was some annoying frippery from Alli, Son and Lamela, generally speaking no-one had a shocker, we had to compete and (cliche klaxon) earn the right to play today against a very well coached and well organised team who I haven't seen put in a better tactical performance since their arrival in the PL.
It's easy to get frustrated on days like today but, bar the odd individual moment, I generally didn't, I think we competed when we had to, and second half we took control, dictated the game and just found an opponent on the top of their defensive game.
Dembele is a conundrum for me, he did a lot of good work today, and against a very feisty opponent there were times I was really glad he was out there, but the compromise for me is that though Eriksen and Alli can't hold a torch to Dembele without the ball, and Alli in particular really does fuck about with the ball, it's great when one of his nutmegs come off, but by the sixth or seventh one that hasn't arrives it's become very fucking tiresome watching him fritter away possession (and once today it led directly to a very dangerous counter attack) so cheaply, and Eriksen's lack of tenacity can also irk at times, Dembele's penchant for taking at least three or four more touches than necessary and his very risk averse approach with the ball does mean we lose something, for all the flaws in their game, both Alli and Eriksen are more likely to take risks that lead to real moments of productivity.
On balance, I think today was probably a day when we benefitted from Dembele's skill set, but I don't think that has or will be the case every week.
The same goes with pushing Dembele into Lamela's more attacking role, letting him dribble at defenders instead of midfielders, he'll carry the ball more sure footedly than Lamela, he'll work as hard (and less recklessly) without the ball, but is he more likely to find that one moment of tangible productivity that leads to a goal ? Based on their body of work so far, you'd probably say no.
Again, I won't be devastated if it's tried, but not every week.
Despite a lack of clear quality chances created, I think overall that was a good performance against a feisty, well coached and well organised opponent.
Finally, I don't moan about refs much, generally over the last few years I don't think there has been to much to moan about but I thought that was one of the worst performances for a while today. He seemed to to take the "I'm going to let the underdog get away with a few just to even it up" approach. Letting Arter go clean through Wanyama, then run his studs down him and do nothing about either was utter incompetence, there were several incidence where our players were punished for crimes their players weren't for identical ones, at one point Lamela clearly says this to him (I can't remember the incident) and I'm pretty sure we should have at least one penalty, but I'd concede Walker was lucky not to get one given against him at the end.
Individual
Lloris - One decent save but I'm getting really fucked off with some of his passing out to players under pressure.
Walker - I don't think they should let him take throw-ins, he rarely seems to throw it to one of ours, but apart from that, the near penalty, and a poor bit of defending when Ibe goes past him he was otherwise very good.
Dier - Very nearly cost us a goal with an awful mistake, but was generally ok and pinged a couple of nice balls out wide.
Vertonghen - Really playing well right now, I thought the yellow was a foul on him not the other way round and one brilliant tackle.
Rose - A turbulent game for broadway Danny today, some good, some bad, but rarely dull.
Wanyama - Loving this guy. Outstanding game. Not just without the ball but on it too. MOTM.
Dembele - Lots of really good stuff, on a day when we had to compete he was an asset and maybe his more risk averse approach with the ball was needed on a day we are being pressed hard. Very good game overall.
Eriksen - Good game.
Alli - Got to reign in the fucking tricks a bit, there are times when he just needs to put his foot on the fucking thing and help us retain the ball in final third, not cough it up so cheaply, but overall he worked hard and tried to contribute.
Lamela - Was again very involved today, and like Alli was involved in plenty of our approach play, but also not without moments of frustration, and Poch has got to stop him putting in reckless tackles early in games.
Son - Had the odd moment but not involved much, but I think his best position is wide left forward, today was just to frenetic and congested in that central area for a flappy bird like him.
Last edited:
