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Ratings v Forest

MOTM?


  • Total voters
    234

Neon_Knight_

Well-Known Member
Jul 20, 2011
3,975
6,608
Lamela was the only player to create a clear-cut chance (for Kane's goal), even though he was on the pitch for the least time.
 

mpickard2087

Patient Zero
Jun 13, 2008
21,886
32,513
Spurs reserves did enough to beat Forest reserves in the end...

I think the players tried, its just we saw yet more evidence of deficiencies that run across the squad. Poor movement with and without the ball, pressing game not good enough and a lack of quality with the ball at our feet. Its going to be difficult to open up teams, especially with the personnel out there tonight.

Credit to Poch for the changes. He's was getting a lot of 'dafuq are you doing' comments on here for the double sub after going 1-0 down, the safe option would have been to bring on Lamela and Eriksen but he took a ballsy decision to bring on Kane and Mason and he was rewarded. Kane offered a bit of presence up top and got a goal, and Mason just changed the game completely. Came in confident, used the ball quickly and with purpose and scored a wonderful goal. Even the Lamela sub to round things off made an impact.

Overall it was a poor performance, but a good reaction to going a goal down and a number of younger players stepped up, battled and got us through the tie. That's something to take out of the game.

Vorm - Very little to do. No chance with the goal nor shot against the bar.

Naughton - Had a very decent game. Composed on the ball and mopped up well a few times in defence. He's capable of games like this when he has a wide player in front of him, however when we revert to Eriksen/Lamela in front of him, and the onus will be on the fullback providing width, it wont be a good fit and I would prefer someone else. Not his fault, but he wont fit into that gameplan.

Fazio - Not convinced at all. Didn't look up for the battle, and was tentative. You can already see that he lacks pace, particularly on the turn... Arsenal may not be the game for him.

Vertonghen - Ok.

Davies - Reasonably untroubled and neat and tidy with the ball. I thought he was very lazy getting back in for the goal though.

Stambouli - A good first half. Tired though in the second. His tenacity will be needed at the weekend.

Bentaleb - He did some good things (which get overlooked) and he won the ball well and drove forward on numerous occasions, yet he also was guilty of sloppy bits of play and like Davies could have got back in quicker for the goal. Needs to stay focused.

Townsend - Usual infuriating tendencies but there were some good moments and to his credit he always wants the ball and after we went behind he was one of the ones who lifted his performance and worked very hard. Unlucky with his freekick against the bar.

Paulinho - Looks lost in the No.10 role. Completely ineffectual.

Lennon - Worked quite hard first half, disappeared somewhat in the second. At least Townsend gets into the game.

Soldado - A good reaction finish, but for the most part he struggled. Not really involved, yet often not in the box when a cross did come in. Kane's introduction alongside him did offer him a bit more joy, but, whilst accepting our build up play is largely woeful, does need to do better.

Subs:

Mason - Superb effect on the game. Didn't do anything spectacular (apart from pinging one in the top corner!), he just used the ball quickly and efficiently and got us going forward with more tempo. Fanatastic goal to drag us back into it. Well played.

Kane - I thought he offered a bit more presence up top and as usual he made something happen with one headed chance and then a cool finish. Another encouraging cameo.

Lamela - Nice through ball for the 3rd goal. Unlucky to graze the post with a shot. Not bad for 10 mins work.
 

beats1

Well-Known Member
Feb 22, 2010
30,006
29,551
If 20 shots and with 1 on target, 5 into row z and one that shot the ISS out of space gets you MOM, then call me Albert Einstein.

MOM is clearly Mason. And that is not even up for debate. Naughton played well too.

When Paulinho is your only goal threat for 65 minutes, there is a problem. Maybe try and fucking create for others, you beyond useless wingers. Just a suggestion(y)

Soldado got next to no service today and thank fucking christ, he was there to deflect Townsends ground shot that was going 20 yards off target, in to the net.

Verts and Fazio should be CB pairing with Soldado up top against woolwich. No excuses Poch.
Hey albert maybe you should learn how to count first, it was one shot in to the sky/row z not 6. There was 2 that were poor, 1 that was very close and one that hit the bar.

As someone with such a great knowledge of the 4th dimension, its amazing you cant see the 3 dimensions
 

Mr-T

Well-Known Member
Jan 24, 2006
2,603
563
Vorm, 6 - decent performance
Naughton, 7 - solid defensively, passed well
Fazio, 5 - good shot but also gave the ball away. Settling in nicely
Verts, 6 - did OK
Davies, 6 - also did OK
Stambouli, 6 - played well but hasn't got the rapport with his team mates yet
Bentaleb, 5 - not his best game
Townsend, 7 - shooting was shit but at least had some attacking intent
Pauline, 4 - a Brazilian Jenas
Lennon, 6 - some promising glimpses in first half, worked hard as usual
Soldado, 6 - a 6 purely coz he scored, otherwise a Spanish Rebrov

Mason, 8 - scored a cracker, changed the game, looked hungry
Kane, 7 - on the scoresheet, pain in the arse to forests defence
Lamela, 7 - did well in his 10 mins

Poch, 7 - good rotation of squad and bold decision to bring on Mason who obviously wanted to impress. Took the right players off too.
 

beats1

Well-Known Member
Feb 22, 2010
30,006
29,551
MOTM of the match has to be mason, it just felt like we got our tottenham back when he came. Not saying he is garlic bread(aka the future)

However the team dynamic instantly changed and it was like our gordan is alive moment, as soldado came in to the game
 

phil

Well-Known Member
Oct 25, 2004
2,038
1,239
By some strange parallel with Sunday's match it was again the 71st minute before our first attempt on target (Kane's header at the keeper). Against a sub-strength Forest team this was another poor performance that the events of the last 15 minutes cannot paper over. Until then it was like watching a rerun of an AVB team. Pleased for Mason.

Vorm 6
Naughton 7
Fazio 5 - Poor performance. Who the hell scouted him? There were far better players around (e.g. Lescott, Shawcross, Caulker)
Vertonghen 7
Davies 6
Stambouli 6
Bentaleb 5
Lennon 5
Paulinho 4
Townsend 7
Soldado 6

Mason 7
Kane 7
Lamela NET
 

lillywhites61

SC Supporter
Aug 11, 2009
3,538
2,270
Kyle was brilliant tonight, he is a very solid player and deserves to start against the scum in my eyes. Townsend was better tonight and didn't stop running, so sad to admit but we really have wasted money on Pauly and although Soldado scored he struggled in this formation with one up top.
 

yankspurs

Enic Out
Aug 22, 2013
41,883
71,188
Hey albert maybe you should learn how to count first, it was one shot in to the sky/row z not 6. There was 2 that were poor, 1 that was very close and one that hit the bar.

As someone with such a great knowledge of the 4th dimension, its amazing you cant see the 3 dimensions
Maybe you should learn exaggerated sarcasm. A durrr
 

stemark44

Well-Known Member
Mar 17, 2005
6,598
1,829
Paulinio- dogshit
Bentaleb - dogshit

Most of our players were poor tonight but those two encapsulate where we are under Levys stewardship.

Baldini can fuck off.

The twat.

I know he didn't sign Benteleb but he's still shit.

You most certainly are a clown.

Nabil Bentaleb made a couple of bad passes but still made near double stambouli's passes(a whooping 106 passes with a 91% accuracy) Considering his age he should earning rave reviews.
 

BringBack_leGin

Well-Known Member
Jul 28, 2004
27,719
54,929
Vorm looks good, pretty commanding and showed great agility on one save.

Naughton had a very good game. Solid defensively and played some lovely passes.

Fazio dallied on the ball once or twice and played the odd lazy pass, but he also won ever header, read the game beautifully and timed his tackles superbly.

Vertonghen brought the ball out well and took some responsibility for pushing us forward after we conceded, and I don't remember too much wrong defensively.

Davies was much improved in both directions. His height is an asset too, I like a full back who won't FW bullied aerially.

Stambouli tackles very well but, and I noticed this with a few runs he tracked, he also knows when to tackle and when to merely close off an avenue so someone else can tackle. Also, while not the most gifted passer, he does play balls designed to drive us forward. They might go astray on occasion, but they're purposeful and speed up our attacks. His dirty work also allowed Bentaleb to push forward more than I've seen him do before. I think he'll prove great business and become a first choice player, he adds a fight all over the pitch that we've needed for a while.

Bebtaleb is getting a lot if criticism and I'm not sure why, this was the best I've seen him. Yes, he wasted a few passes, but, and I think this was in part due to being liberated by Stambouli, he brought the ball forward and played thoughtful passes into good spaces. One ball over the top for I think Paulinho in the first half was simply lovely.

Lennon was full of endeavour and work rate, he was fairly involved, but I don't remember him creating a free kick.

Paulinho didn't do much wrong as such, with some nice interplay and a far improved involvement from last week, but Kane seemed far more able in the hole when he replaced him. Good intentions from Paulinho but not much product.

Townsend was very involved, he constantly tried to attack and affect the game, but there was just too much bad decision making as ever.

Soldado did more in the first ten minutes than Adebayor did in 90 v WBA. He was involved all game, finding space and linking play, and he scored his only chance, one which was the product of his instinct and endeavour in anticipating Townsend's mishit shot. He may not be the answer, but he suits us far more than Adebayor and should start v Arsenal. I daresay that a more productive 3 behind him would have meant he'd have chances far earlier than he did.

Mason changed the game, and for that is my man of the match. He did what no midfielder has done for us in too long: whenever he received the ball, wherever he was on the pitch, he would have control of the ball with his first touch and instigate an attack with his next. We actually have a central midfielder who wants to advance our play quickly! He also scored a beauty, played the ball to Townsend for the second and played the ball to Lamela for the third goal. Needs to be on the bench at a minimum this Sunday.

Kane came on and gave us ann attacking threat. He immediately started making dangerous runs, peeling off defenders and dropped in behind Soldado very well, enabling Soldado to actually get into the area a bit instead of constantly peeling off to the wings. Then, with Soldado off, he went to number 9 and scored a cracking goal.

Lamela came on and linked we with everyone around him before playing and absolutely mouthwatering pass to set up Kane. Even in his short cameo he fought, pressed, and imvbrd himself in everything. Love it.

We played in fits and starts, but we had the right ideas. Our lack of creativity wasn't down to slow build to like v WBA, but down to an uninventive 3 behind Soldado. Any 3 of Lamela, Eriksen, Chadli or Kane behind Soldado and things go far better far sooner in my opinion. Lennon and Townsend just aren't producing.
 

Bus-Conductor

SC Supporter
Oct 19, 2004
39,837
50,713
Big up to the sartorial icon Stuart Pearce who mistook tonights game for a 1970's wedding.

Hard to make any tangible sense of a game like that. Lets start at the selections by Pochettino, which I'm still struggling with a bit. Why the fuck is Vertonghen out with the stiffs ? And I would have preferred Naughton and Soldado saved for the weekend too. And would much prefer to see Veljkovic, Mason and Kane all starting.

Tactically it was like Sunday but with even stupider and more invisible options. The pressing was hard to discern and what there was was completely ad hoc and incoherent. The movement was diabolical and passing was careless and fucking slapdash all over the place.

We dominated the ball, but so we should against a championship team's reserve side. We created so little of quality. Lennon, as ever, did his disappearing act, but even when he was seen his touch and input was woeful, at one point he whacks the ball at Kane's neck from about 5 yards away.

Townsend was, inevitably, Townsend. The full gamut of everything - running, dribbling, crossing, shooting from everywhere - except anything productive. The boy just refuses to get his head up and do anything composed.

Lennon/Townsend is your real Hobson's choice. An invisible gangsta ant or a very visible chicken with it's head cut off ?

No-one really shone, Mason and Lamela both had nice cameo's and probably raised the collective IQ by a factor of double.

I wish we'd just use this competition to give more youngsters a game, we learnt nothing tonight and risked injuries to players like Vertonghen, Naughton, Soldado etc.

Work in Progress, but the same players so far are producing the same inert football produced under previous regimes. Go figure.

Individual blame game:

Vorm - OK

Naughton - Pretty decent game. Worrying when two games running the best defenders are Rose and Naughton.

Fazio - OK

Vertonghen - OK+

Davies - OK. Very non-plussed by this signing. What does he offer that is exceptional ?

Stambouli - Busy.

Bentaleb - Saw plenty of ball but had a bit of a mixed night, unusually careless with it a couple of times.

Townsend - Townsend

Paulinho - pffftt

Lennon - I cannot watch him do his insipid shitty minuscule thing much longer.

Soldado - Brilliantly anticipated the inevitable Townsend miscue, showed for the ball reasonably well, but was feeding on incredibly low IQ pickings.

Mason - Great shot for the goal, apart from that was neat, tidy and involved.

Lamela - Even he isn't the brightest or most composed always, but in 5 minutes managed to eclipse the productivity of Townsend, Lennon and Paulinho put together.

Kane -Took his goal well enough.
 

stemark44

Well-Known Member
Mar 17, 2005
6,598
1,829
Big up to the sartorial icon Stuart Pearce who mistook tonights game for a 1970's wedding.

Hard to make any tangible sense of a game like that. Lets start at the selections by Pochettino, which I'm still struggling with a bit. Why the fuck is Vertonghen out with the stiffs ? And I would have preferred Naughton and Soldado saved for the weekend too. And would much prefer to see Veljkovic, Mason and Kane all starting.

Tactically it was like Sunday but with even stupider and more invisible options. The pressing was hard to discern and what there was was completely ad hoc and incoherent. The movement was diabolical and passing was careless and fucking slapdash all over the place.

We dominated the ball, but so we should against a championship team's reserve side. We created so little of quality. Lennon, as ever, did his disappearing act, but even when he was seen his touch and input was woeful, at one point he whacks the ball at Kane's neck from about 5 yards away.

Townsend was, inevitably, Townsend. The full gamut of everything - running, dribbling, crossing, shooting from everywhere - except anything productive. The boy just refuses to get his head up and do anything composed.

Lennon/Townsend is your real Hobson's choice. An invisible gangsta ant or a very visible chicken with it's head cut off ?

No-one really shone, Mason and Lamela both had nice cameo's and probably raised the collective IQ by a factor of double.

I wish we'd just use this competition to give more youngsters a game, we learnt nothing tonight and risked injuries to players like Vertonghen, Naughton, Soldado etc.

Work in Progress, but the same players so far are producing the same inert football produced under previous regimes. Go figure.

Individual blame game:

Vorm - OK

Naughton - Pretty decent game. Worrying when two games running the best defenders are Rose and Naughton.

Fazio - OK

Vertonghen - OK+

Davies - OK. Very non-plussed by this signing. What does he offer that is exceptional ?

Stambouli - Busy.

Bentaleb - Saw plenty of ball but had a bit of a mixed night, unusually careless with it a couple of times.

Townsend - Townsend

Paulinho - pffftt

Lennon - I cannot watch him do his insipid shitty minuscule thing much longer.

Soldado - Brilliantly anticipated the inevitable Townsend miscue, showed for the ball reasonably well, but was feeding on incredibly low IQ pickings.

Mason - Great shot for the goal, apart from that was neat, tidy and involved.

Lamela - Even he isn't the brightest or most composed always, but in 5 minutes managed to eclipse the productivity of Townsend, Lennon and Paulinho put together.

Kane -Took his goal well enough.

Andros Townsend.............. 88% Pass Accuracy,85 Touches,6 Shots..1 hit crossbar,1 converted into goal,3 dribbles and 5 tackles.

Nabil Bentaleb.................91% Pass Accuracy,129 Touches,1 Shot and 4 Tackles.
 

davidmatzdorf

Front Page Gadfly
Jun 7, 2004
18,106
45,030
What I want to know is: if we can play the way we played in the last 20 minutes, why the fuck did I have to sit through 70 minutes of 11 totally different players to those who played against West Brom carefully creating a pass-by-pass reconstruction of the previous match?

There has to be something wrong in the mentality of the squad. It's as if the ghost of AVB is whispering in the ear of every one of them to 'slow it down and retain posession'. With the exception of the QPR match, the only notable changes since last autumn's succession of insomnia-cures are that we win the ball in midfield about 5 times as often ... but then don't really show any idea of what to do with it ... and that we often strike an early vertical pass to an attacking midfielder or striker with his back to goal ... who doesn't really show any idea of what to do with it.

We're still chronically slowing down the play as we approach the penalty box. We're still hitting through balls into the legs or backs of a massed defence. We're still delaying crosses until everyone is well-marked. We're still reluctant to move off the ball and, when someone like Soldado or Paulinho does make a run, no one spots it.

Suddenly this evening, as soon as Mason hit the net from 30m, the whole style changed and we started running at them and pulling their defence apart. Admittedly, Forest were tiring and perhaps had a drop in testosterone after Mason's goal, but there were still 10-11 well-positioned defenders behind the ball. It's just that we stopped slowing everything down. So why didn't we do that an hour earlier? It's plain that Pochettino isn't instructing them to play like that, so the answer has to be in the collective mindset left over from last season.

Individuals:

Vorm - 6.5 - No culpability for the goal and a very good save. Good positioning and distribution.

Naughton - 7 - A very good good game in every respect - tidy, mobile, constructive and comfortable on the ball.

Vertonghen - 6.5 - Solid. One or two nice forays forward, ending in the usual slow-down and loss of possession.

Fazio - 6 - He's obviously a very formidable defender. But he seems to make at least one mental error per half.

Davies - 6 - Reliable and conservative.

Stambouli - 6 - Great defensively and passed well in the first half, but his passing went to hell after half time and he dropped us into some problems as a result.

Bentaleb - 5.5 - From moment to moment, he was involved in everything, passed smoothly and usually accurately and made a few very good runs, but if you look at the whole game, he was the main culprit in slowing down our attacking play. Talented, but needs to play with more urgency and fluidity.

Townsend - 7 - Energetic, constructive, busy and even defended a bit. With the one exception of the time he shot when we had 4 men in the box ahead of him, his pot-shots were well-timed and one of them led to the winner. Very good and my MotM, just.

Paulinho - 5 - As last time, started positively with good runs into space, but faded early and then contributed little.

Lennon - 5 - Not involved enough.

Soldado - 6.5 - Scarcely involved until his goal, but participated well in the attacks for the rest of the match.


Mason - 7 - Wonderful goal and a forward-looking approach to play. Promising.

Kane - 6.5 - Good goal, good team play.

Lamela - 7 - In a few minutes, managed to get an assist with a top-class through ball, hit the post and set up another chance.


NB: Against West Brom, Pochettino's substitutions were illogical and ineffective. Tonight, one scored the equaliser, another got an assist and the third scored the last goal. Dice, anyone?
 
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rabbikeane

Well-Known Member
Mar 29, 2005
6,884
12,675
Naughton was almost flawless, keep him in the side against the gooners

Bentaleb .... early on i thought he was our most impressive player, then he started to lose possesion in dangerous positions, after a while it turned to frustration of his safe backward passes when the pitch was open in front of him.

Ryan Mason changed the game when he came on, look how much better we are when there's a player in the middle that do it simple and keep the ball rolling. Pass and move, pass and move

Great to see that the trio that pulled us through this game are all Spurs academy products - Mason, Kane and Townsend.
 

Bus-Conductor

SC Supporter
Oct 19, 2004
39,837
50,713
I think what slows our play down most drastically is the piss poor movement of those ahead of our midfield. There was one occasion when Bentaleb turned backwards when he should have turned forwards but I lost count of the times he/others got on the ball and were desperate for a progressive option only to find the likes of Lennon nowhere to be seen.
 

DaSpurs

Well-Known Member
Jan 20, 2013
11,816
13,655
Missed the game because of work, but I'm delighted to see the reviews of Mason, especially "changed the game." I believe his style is the piece we seem to be missing, so I'm hoping his performance today will earn him a bit more deserved trust from Poch.

Honestly, at this point, I'd take him any day over any of our other current CM options.
 

Wellspurs

Well-Known Member
Mar 9, 2006
6,379
7,734
By some strange parallel with Sunday's match it was again the 71st minute before our first attempt on target (Kane's header at the keeper). Against a sub-strength Forest team this was another poor performance that the events of the last 15 minutes cannot paper over. Until then it was like watching a rerun of an AVB team. Pleased for Mason.

Vorm 6
Naughton 7
Fazio 5 - Poor performance. Who the hell scouted him? There were far better players around (e.g. Lescott, Shawcross, Caulker)
Vertonghen 7
Davies 6
Stambouli 6
Bentaleb 5
Lennon 5
Paulinho 4
Townsend 7
Soldado 6

Mason 7
Kane 7
Lamela NET

Who the hell scouted him? Fazio

It wasn't that hard he's won the Europa League twice?
 
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