Ratings vs Anderlecht (P2)

[phil]

Mason for me. Hardly a misplaced pass all game and a great last-ditch challenge in the first half denying a goal.

By contrast Alli was very poor.

 

[sim0n]

trip, lamela, and alli 5.5
eriksen, dier, davies, and lloris 7
toby and dembele 7.5
everyone else 6...

team did what it took to win and got the 3 points in a game they would have choked last season.

winning is contagious, keep it going lads!! COYS!!

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Pretty much the proverbial game of two halves. Anderlecht are a lively, quick, hard working and well organised outfit who press very vigorously and cohesively and when the counter they do so with zip, and you feel if they had a bit more quality in that final third they could easily have come away with more the they did.

For all that they were zippy though, I thought we actually played pretty well first half, with Mason back adding some much needed dynamism and tempo to some of our play, and it was no surprise to see him and Eriksen involved in a beautiful footballing first goal. Mason, Eriksen and Lamela had decent first halves with some good snappy interplay at times, often let down by Kane and Alli's poor decision making or execution. Both put themselves about, but with the ball these two were pretty clumsy all night.

The second half degenerated into a very incoherent affair. Alli went into his second half trundle mode, Lamela & Kane were wasteful and there was very little cohesion or discipline to anything we were doing, and what was already a tough second half got much tougher with Pochettino's substitution of Eriksen. I know Eriksen often struggles to do the two game week thing, but solely judged on this game alone it was a poor tactical change that saw us lose what little grip we were clinging to that second half. If he'd swapped him for Dembele (or even Carroll or Onomah) it might have made more tactical sense because we needed to retain the ball better at that stage, but swapping Eriksen for Son just made that harder. For all his energy, Son didn't improve our ball retention. My first sub would probably have been Alli, who was pretty poor all night.

I think we looked better for having Mason out there but he was tiring and subbing him was the right decision in the end. Again, think Carroll's ability to show and recycle the ball would have been a more logical choice but Dembele did OK and obviously scored a vital cracker to win the game so hey ho.

I think Anderlecht got more than they deserved last week and I think we probably did this week. I think this is a pretty tough group, as tough a group as I can remember us being in. So to be topping it right now isn't too shabby a situation for this young group, trying to juggle it with some tough EPL fixtures interspersed.

As ever, there was a lot of wastage, but no shortage of character.

Individual stuff:

Lloris - decent enough.

Trippier - I guess when you are getting ad hoc games once or twice a month against tricky oppo it's hard to gain momentum and assess performances properly. So far, as with much of Davies' early oeuvre, it's all a bit meh though.

Aldereireld - Very good game.

Vertonghen - Very good game generally but not sure if he's at fault a bit for their goal, need to see it again but looked like he kind of left it when he could have gone for it ??

Davies - OK.

Dier - OK first half, did his shrink deeper thing second half.

Mason - very good first half, decent 60 minutes but was clearly tiring as the game wore on.

Lamela - Good first half with some nice exchanges and got into a couple of good positions. Not so good second half and wasted a couple of good situations. Grafted hard and pressed though, even when not playing well with the ball.

Alli - Pretty poor game tonight. I've noticed that he's also not always the liveliest presser, can saunter a bit. Hope Pochettino gets this ironed out tout de suite.

Eriksen - Big miss when he went off, I thought he was having a decent game. Even though he sometimes doesn't quite make that killer pass, he's still by far the most composed and pivotal of our forward players and provides a constant and intelligent link between our midfield and attack.

Kane - As ever no shortage of endeavour but boy he really needs to just do the simple fucking thing sometimes. Classic moment first half when he does brilliantly to win the ball back, then with a choice of two team mates to pass to instead decides to run straight at two defenders and give possession back to them. he really needs to stop thinking he's got the finesse and fleet footedness to dribble past more than one guy. He hasn't and it wastes so many good situations.

 

[matthew.absurdum]

Pretty much the proverbial game of two halves. Anderlecht are a lively, quick, hard working and well organised outfit who press very vigorously and cohesively and when the counter they do so with zip, and you feel if they had a bit more quality in that final third they could easily have come away with more the they did.

For all that they were zippy though, I thought we actually played pretty well first half, with Mason back adding some much needed dynamism and tempo to some of our play, and it was no surprise to see him and Eriksen involved in a beautiful footballing first goal. Mason, Eriksen and Lamela had decent first halves with some good snappy interplay at times, often let down by Kane and Alli's poor decision making or execution. Both put themselves about, but with the ball these two were pretty clumsy all night.

The second half degenerated into a very incoherent affair. Alli went into his second half trundle mode, Lamela & Kane were wasteful and there was very little cohesion or discipline to anything we were doing, and what was already a tough second half got much tougher with Pochettino's substitution of Eriksen. I know Eriksen often struggles to do the two game week thing, but solely judged on this game alone it was a poor tactical change that saw us lose what little grip we were clinging to that second half. If he'd swapped him for Dembele (or even Carroll or Onomah) it might have made more tactical sense because we needed to retain the ball better at that stage, but swapping Eriksen for Son just made that harder. For all his energy, Son didn't improve our ball retention. My first sub would probably have been Alli, who was pretty poor all night.

I think we looked better for having Mason out there but he was tiring and subbing him was the right decision in the end. Again, think Carroll's ability to show and recycle the ball would have been a more logical choice but Dembele did OK and obviously scored a vital cracker to win the game so hey ho.

I think Anderlecht got more than they deserved last week and I think we probably did this week. I think this is a pretty tough group, as tough a group as I can remember us being in. So to be topping it right now isn't too shabby a situation for this young group, trying to juggle it with some tough EPL fixtures interspersed.

As ever, there was a lot of wastage, but no shortage of character.

Individual stuff:

Lloris - decent enough.

Trippier - I guess when you are getting ad hoc games once or twice a month against tricky oppo it's hard to gain momentum and assess performances properly. So far, as with much of Davies' early oeuvre, it's all a bit meh though.

Aldereireld - Very good game.

Vertonghen - Very good game generally but not sure if he's at fault a bit for their goal, need to see it again but looked like he kind of left it when he could have gone for it ??

Davies - OK.

Dier - OK first half, did his shrink deeper thing second half.

Mason - very good first half, decent 60 minutes but was clearly tiring as the game wore on.

Lamela - Good first half with some nice exchanges and got into a couple of good positions. Not so good second half and wasted a couple of good situations. Grafted hard and pressed though, even when not playing well with the ball.

Alli - Pretty poor game tonight. I've noticed that he's also not always the liveliest presser, can saunter a bit. Hope Pochettino gets this ironed out tout de suite.

Eriksen - Big miss when he went off, I thought he was having a decent game. Even though he sometimes doesn't quite make that killer pass, he's still by far the most composed and pivotal of our forward players and provides a constant and intelligent link between our midfield and attack.

Kane - As ever no shortage of endeavour but boy he really needs to just do the simple fucking thing sometimes. Classic moment first half when he does brilliantly to win the ball back, then with a choice of two team mates to pass to instead decides to run straight at two defenders and give possession back to them. he really needs to stop thinking he's got the finesse and fleet footedness to dribble past more than one guy. He hasn't and it wastes so many good situations.

Spot on. I perfer dier and mason starts as cm2 pair instead of alli on sunday

 

[dudu]

Pretty much the proverbial game of two halves. Anderlecht are a lively, quick, hard working and well organised outfit who press very vigorously and cohesively and when the counter they do so with zip, and you feel if they had a bit more quality in that final third they could easily have come away with more the they did.

For all that they were zippy though, I thought we actually played pretty well first half, with Mason back adding some much needed dynamism and tempo to some of our play, and it was no surprise to see him and Eriksen involved in a beautiful footballing first goal. Mason, Eriksen and Lamela had decent first halves with some good snappy interplay at times, often let down by Kane and Alli's poor decision making or execution. Both put themselves about, but with the ball these two were pretty clumsy all night.

The second half degenerated into a very incoherent affair. Alli went into his second half trundle mode, Lamela & Kane were wasteful and there was very little cohesion or discipline to anything we were doing, and what was already a tough second half got much tougher with Pochettino's substitution of Eriksen. I know Eriksen often struggles to do the two game week thing, but solely judged on this game alone it was a poor tactical change that saw us lose what little grip we were clinging to that second half. If he'd swapped him for Dembele (or even Carroll or Onomah) it might have made more tactical sense because we needed to retain the ball better at that stage, but swapping Eriksen for Son just made that harder. For all his energy, Son didn't improve our ball retention. My first sub would probably have been Alli, who was pretty poor all night.

I think we looked better for having Mason out there but he was tiring and subbing him was the right decision in the end. Again, think Carroll's ability to show and recycle the ball would have been a more logical choice but Dembele did OK and obviously scored a vital cracker to win the game so hey ho.

I think Anderlecht got more than they deserved last week and I think we probably did this week. I think this is a pretty tough group, as tough a group as I can remember us being in. So to be topping it right now isn't too shabby a situation for this young group, trying to juggle it with some tough EPL fixtures interspersed.

As ever, there was a lot of wastage, but no shortage of character.

Individual stuff:

Lloris - decent enough.

Trippier - I guess when you are getting ad hoc games once or twice a month against tricky oppo it's hard to gain momentum and assess performances properly. So far, as with much of Davies' early oeuvre, it's all a bit meh though.

Aldereireld - Very good game.

Vertonghen - Very good game generally but not sure if he's at fault a bit for their goal, need to see it again but looked like he kind of left it when he could have gone for it ??

Davies - OK.

Dier - OK first half, did his shrink deeper thing second half.

Mason - very good first half, decent 60 minutes but was clearly tiring as the game wore on.

Lamela - Good first half with some nice exchanges and got into a couple of good positions. Not so good second half and wasted a couple of good situations. Grafted hard and pressed though, even when not playing well with the ball.

Alli - Pretty poor game tonight. I've noticed that he's also not always the liveliest presser, can saunter a bit. Hope Pochettino gets this ironed out tout de suite.

Eriksen - Big miss when he went off, I thought he was having a decent game. Even though he sometimes doesn't quite make that killer pass, he's still by far the most composed and pivotal of our forward players and provides a constant and intelligent link between our midfield and attack.

Kane - As ever no shortage of endeavour but boy he really needs to just do the simple fucking thing sometimes. Classic moment first half when he does brilliantly to win the ball back, then with a choice of two team mates to pass to instead decides to run straight at two defenders and give possession back to them. he really needs to stop thinking he's got the finesse and fleet footedness to dribble past more than one guy. He hasn't and it wastes so many good situations.

another great round up mate -

second half was a bit of a mess really - we were pressing too high in my opinion and just allowed so much space in behind us for an unnerving amount of time.....really for the first time this season

Pleased to get through it though - perhaps there was another eye on Sunday and a little bit of complacency from everyone in the second half.

I think Verts was unaware of the guy coming in behind him - not sure if it was his man but he seemed to leave it with misplaced confidence.

 

[Trix]

I've slaughtered Trippier in recent games but he looked a lot better tonight, both defending and going forward.

Still needs to get tighter to his man, IMHO.

I am starting to wonder if poch isn't instructing the FB's to play narrow when defending. To me he has Toby and Vert taking up a possition level with each post and the FB's covering to the edge off the box. I may be wrong but both Toby and Verts are very comfortable at dealing with crosses, and it appears in my mind at least that we would rather deal with a cross than allow any space for players to exploit through the channels.

 

[0-Tibsy-0]

Not MotM but a mention for Dembele; Whether Poch has been working incredibly hard or working his magic on the training field with him, OR Dembele has had a reality check about his career OR Moussa came on here and searched for his name and saw peoples views...he is finally doing a few of those things that people have been clamouring for seasons about.

Releasing the ball a bit more quickly towards the final third, whether ticking along play or taking a shot, and he is so much better for it.

Individually Dembele has always had great talent, but he hasnt integrated his talent in to a team unit- If he is changing that and the evidence that he has is there, then long may it continue.

100% happy for a Spurs player to improve and prove some aspersions that I have cast wrong. A real bonus if he starts playing at a level he has always been capable of but never really gotten to.

 

[dudu]

Spot on. I perfer dier and mason starts as cm2 pair instead of alli on sunday

Both around 90% pass completion from around 65 passes each.

Dier

Mason

 

[Ironskullll]

Agree with the comments on Dembele. It seemed as though he might be on the way out last summer but then there were reports of him seeking talks with Poch. Then he stayed. Then there was an interview which I found very revealing and encouraging, where Dembele referred to looking to adapt his game to the type of team he was playing against, contrasting the needs for defensive solidity and attacking ambition according to the opposition, and recognising that there was an extra onus on him to introduce greater variety to his game. It seems like that's what's happening. Perhaps it's reading too much but this might be a result of Poch working closely with the player - a far cry from him being frozen out.

 

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

Pretty much the proverbial game of two halves. Anderlecht are a lively, quick, hard working and well organised outfit who press very vigorously and cohesively and when the counter they do so with zip, and you feel if they had a bit more quality in that final third they could easily have come away with more the they did.

For all that they were zippy though, I thought we actually played pretty well first half, with Mason back adding some much needed dynamism and tempo to some of our play, and it was no surprise to see him and Eriksen involved in a beautiful footballing first goal. Mason, Eriksen and Lamela had decent first halves with some good snappy interplay at times, often let down by Kane and Alli's poor decision making or execution. Both put themselves about, but with the ball these two were pretty clumsy all night.

The second half degenerated into a very incoherent affair. Alli went into his second half trundle mode, Lamela & Kane were wasteful and there was very little cohesion or discipline to anything we were doing, and what was already a tough second half got much tougher with Pochettino's substitution of Eriksen. I know Eriksen often struggles to do the two game week thing, but solely judged on this game alone it was a poor tactical change that saw us lose what little grip we were clinging to that second half. If he'd swapped him for Dembele (or even Carroll or Onomah) it might have made more tactical sense because we needed to retain the ball better at that stage, but swapping Eriksen for Son just made that harder. For all his energy, Son didn't improve our ball retention. My first sub would probably have been Alli, who was pretty poor all night.

I think we looked better for having Mason out there but he was tiring and subbing him was the right decision in the end. Again, think Carroll's ability to show and recycle the ball would have been a more logical choice but Dembele did OK and obviously scored a vital cracker to win the game so hey ho.

I think Anderlecht got more than they deserved last week and I think we probably did this week. I think this is a pretty tough group, as tough a group as I can remember us being in. So to be topping it right now isn't too shabby a situation for this young group, trying to juggle it with some tough EPL fixtures interspersed.

As ever, there was a lot of wastage, but no shortage of character.

Individual stuff:

Lloris - decent enough.

Trippier - I guess when you are getting ad hoc games once or twice a month against tricky oppo it's hard to gain momentum and assess performances properly. So far, as with much of Davies' early oeuvre, it's all a bit meh though.

Aldereireld - Very good game.

Vertonghen - Very good game generally but not sure if he's at fault a bit for their goal, need to see it again but looked like he kind of left it when he could have gone for it ??

Davies - OK.

Dier - OK first half, did his shrink deeper thing second half.

Mason - very good first half, decent 60 minutes but was clearly tiring as the game wore on.

Lamela - Good first half with some nice exchanges and got into a couple of good positions. Not so good second half and wasted a couple of good situations. Grafted hard and pressed though, even when not playing well with the ball.

Alli - Pretty poor game tonight. I've noticed that he's also not always the liveliest presser, can saunter a bit. Hope Pochettino gets this ironed out tout de suite.

Eriksen - Big miss when he went off, I thought he was having a decent game. Even though he sometimes doesn't quite make that killer pass, he's still by far the most composed and pivotal of our forward players and provides a constant and intelligent link between our midfield and attack.

Kane - As ever no shortage of endeavour but boy he really needs to just do the simple fucking thing sometimes. Classic moment first half when he does brilliantly to win the ball back, then with a choice of two team mates to pass to instead decides to run straight at two defenders and give possession back to them. he really needs to stop thinking he's got the finesse and fleet footedness to dribble past more than one guy. He hasn't and it wastes so many good situations.

Definitely agree with your comments about Alli and Kane.

I've noticed Alli does seem to dawdle around the pitch quite alot, not only on the ball but off it as well. Also, people criticise Lamela constantly for being dispossessed in attacking positions but both Alli and Kane are just as culpable if not more so.

 

[Chris12]

Good goal by Kane and playing decently. Still think he is too selfish for my liking.

 

[Japhet]

Alderwiereld was very good. Dembele changed the game for us but didn't get enough pitch time to be MOM, but I'm going with Dier for the simple reason that I'm sure we would have lost this one without him even though he didn't have his best game.

P.S. Thought Defour was brilliant for them. Sneaky January bid perhaps?

 

[kaz Hirai]

Concerning how we still allow alot of crosses to come into our box.

Gioud will murder us if we allow so many ball in the Box

 

[TaoistMonkey]

Certainly didn't look match fit. Some uncharacteristic poor touches. Still got an assist though

Oh yes he did!

#cultofson

 

[danielneeds]

another great round up mate -

second half was a bit of a mess really - we were pressing too high in my opinion and just allowed so much space in behind us for an unnerving amount of time.....really for the first time this season

Pleased to get through it though - perhaps there was another eye on Sunday and a little bit of complacency from everyone in the second half.

I think Verts was unaware of the guy coming in behind him - not sure if it was his man but he seemed to leave it with misplaced confidence.

It was Davies' man, and he seemed to either give Vertonghen a late shout or none at all. He had a pained reaction when the goal went in.

 

[dudu]

It was Davies' man, and he seemed to either give Vertonghen a late shout or none at all. He had a pained reaction when the goal went in.

Thanks for clarifying mate - havent been able to watch a replay this morning yet.

 

[longtimespur]

I gave Dier my vote. He was everywhere closing down and tackling. I think he was the reason we didn't lose last night. Although Toby and Verts(bar their goal) didn't do much wrong.

 

[tooey]

Concerning how we still allow alot of crosses to come into our box.

Gioud will murder us if we allow so many ball in the Box

I'd argue that is the probably the least concerning area, Verts and Toby are all too comfortable defending what they can see, both are strong in the air and aren't afraid to put their bodies on line. I think their real weaknesses lie in players running at them and in behind them.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

I am starting to wonder if poch isn't instructing the FB's to play narrow when defending. To me he has Toby and Vert taking up a possition level with each post and the FB's covering to the edge off the box. I may be wrong but both Toby and Verts are very comfortable at dealing with crosses, and it appears in my mind at least that we would rather deal with a cross than allow any space for players to exploit through the channels.

I find it hard to believe any coach would rather have his players deal with crosses coming into the box continually than cut them off at source.

It's not just the initial cross, it's the the second and third phases (ricochets etc) that you lose control of.

To his credit, although Walker's poor reading can cause him the odd problem, especially when up against clever opponents, he has always been pretty good at stopping crosses coming in.

 

[Spurs 1961]

My second live game of the week. Anderlecht were a much tougher proposition than Villa were. Maybe I can give this thread some perspective having read some way off the mark comments.

Clearly they came to win and from the start played well. We really need to take that into account when we look at our performance, against an opposition who had lost two games all season. I think some of the comments and ratings come from a perspective that says the opposition were rubbish so we should have dominated them. Anyone at the ground would have seen that they have some accomplished players and worked very hard in all areas of the pitch.

With that said I think the only player who was poor was Trippier. He really does not look good. Davies improved from a poor start and in the end was decent. Everyone else was around 7-8 for me. Mason looked good in the middle, played some neat positive football and when fit will be pushing hard to get back in the starting eleven. Eriksen going off changed the game with Anderlecht taking complete control for some time. Eriksen, Lamela and Kane seem to have a good understanding and these are our main players who can hold the ball and build moves - with Mason. Son obviously needs to get to match fitness but he has the knack of doing things that lead to goals, if he is not scoring, and this he again did.

So not an outstanding performance but no way was it a bad one. We competed in all areas against a good team and came out on top