Match Ratings Ratings vs Arsenal

[buckley]

Kane should have had a penalty v. Fulham and today the Sanches penalty was insane worse of all is it fuels my belief that there is an anti spurs agenda . More than likely it equals itself out but I still feel hard done by .
The only solace I can take is that Derbys are not games to be taken as proper guides as anything can and usually does happen .
You only have to look at City. v Unt and know that more often than not City would win but it was a derby match and anything can happen or turn up and usually does . So I am swiftly looking ahead to Thursday in the hope that this was a derby day blip or one off awful performance in a recent and decent form guide .

 

[southlondonyiddo]

Playing devils advocate today we looked like a team that has played the most games in Europe this season!

Unfortunately I don’t think this is the reason we were so shite!!

 

[topper]

Voted Doherty because I feel bad for him.

Matt says' thanks Dad'!

 

[Houdini]

Just look at Lamela's eyes.. he's as mad as fuck, he has a hateful plan and murderous intentions as soon as he steps on to the pitch..crazy ****!

My motm xx.

 

[bubble07]

Very excited with the performances of lucas of late. Gave him motm

 

[bubble07]

People can slag off Doherty all they like but Bale hung him out to dry. A fair few times the camera caught bale just standing there watching while Doherty get overrun in a 2-on-1 or even 3-on-1 at times. I genuinely don't know what people expect Doherty to have done in most of those situations but there's a huge lot more Bale could've done

Don't get me wrong, Doherty is shit, but a lot of the issues he faced were down to Bale not being arsed to help him out.

Bale was an absolute disgrace today IMO. You'd think after we've effectively made his career and then saved him from his exile in Madrid that he'd at least have the decency to pretend to put a shift in. It looked for the last couple of games like he finally got his head together but today was arguably the least effort he's put into a game yet. And then for him to have the nerve to shake his head and huff and puff when he got dragged off? He can fuck right off after that. His attitude is just stinks and there was no disguising it there. There were a lot of shit performances and tactics today, but Bale's is the hardest to swallow for me. It wasn't just a poor performance he looked like he just couldn't give a fuck whatsoever and in a crucial game, never mind NLD, that's just not acceptable.

Agree but maybe a little harsh with how you put it. On what planet did mouronho think Doherty with Bale ahead of him wouldn't end up being a car crash?

Now if Aurier is injured or not fully fit to start then it's either Doherty who has gone from shit to less shit the last few games or tamganga who hasn't played for weeks.

Now Bale had to play based on his form. I know lucas has been on form in the number 10 but surely playing him central with lucas on the right atlesst for parts of the first half could have worked.

Why wasn't that done?

Any manager would target Doherty and Bale and boy did they. They had 3 on that side, creating underlaps and overlaps. It was just horrible

 

[double0]

Agree but maybe a little harsh with how you put it. On what planet did mouronho think Doherty with Bale ahead of him wouldn't end up being a car crash?

Now if Aurier is injured or not fully fit to start then it's either Doherty who has gone from shit to less shit the last few games or tamganga who hasn't played for weeks.

Now Bale had to play based on his form. I know lucas has been on form in the number 10 but surely playing him central with lucas on the right atlesst for parts of the first half could have worked.

Why wasn't that done?

Any manager would target Doherty and Bale and boy did they. They had 3 on that side, creating underlaps and overlaps. It was just horrible

And Mourinho just allowed it to continue. I am sure many managers had a look at how Fulham completely dominated that weaknes in the team

 

[Shadydan]

People can slag off Doherty all they like but Bale hung him out to dry. A fair few times the camera caught bale just standing there watching while Doherty get overrun in a 2-on-1 or even 3-on-1 at times. I genuinely don't know what people expect Doherty to have done in most of those situations but there's a huge lot more Bale could've done

Don't get me wrong, Doherty is shit, but a lot of the issues he faced were down to Bale not being arsed to help him out.

Bale was an absolute disgrace today IMO. You'd think after we've effectively made his career and then saved him from his exile in Madrid that he'd at least have the decency to pretend to put a shift in. It looked for the last couple of games like he finally got his head together but today was arguably the least effort he's put into a game yet. And then for him to have the nerve to shake his head and huff and puff when he got dragged off? He can fuck right off after that. His attitude is just stinks and there was no disguising it there. There were a lot of shit performances and tactics today, but Bale's is the hardest to swallow for me. It wasn't just a poor performance he looked like he just couldn't give a fuck whatsoever and in a crucial game, never mind NLD, that's just not acceptable.

If I speak I am in big trouble...

 

[Spurs 1961]

Lucas by far

Lamela a zero for getting himself sent off. Most Of the players looked like they didn’t want to be there, maybe Lamela didn’t either and so made sure of an early bath. At least after that Lucas drove us forward trying to play some football instead of wrestle opponents

 

[whitesocks]

Agree but maybe a little harsh with how you put it. On what planet did mouronho think Doherty with Bale ahead of him wouldn't end up being a car crash?

Now if Aurier is injured or not fully fit to start then it's either Doherty who has gone from shit to less shit the last few games or tamganga who hasn't played for weeks.

Now Bale had to play based on his form. I know lucas has been on form in the number 10 but surely playing him central with lucas on the right atlesst for parts of the first half could have worked.

Why wasn't that done?

Any manager would target Doherty and Bale and boy did they. They had 3 on that side, creating underlaps and overlaps. It was just horrible

Agree that is harsh on Bale. He was poor but no worse than most. He still has some credit.

I'm sure I read that Arsenal love attacking down their left anyway. Doherty was either going to turn around his season today or have a major setback.
Mourinho played a bold side, and you have to wonder why he hadn't picked up on Ndom looking tired midweek. To strengthen our right he should have played Sissoko from the start.

It is worth working out where it went wrong as it is not impossible we play them another 2X in the CL qualification cup.

 

[fortworthspur]

the back four, Lloris and Hojbjerg defended for their lives. The other 5 didnt turn up. Yes Lamela had a beautiful goal against the run of play - other than that all he did was get sent off.

 

[piedpiper]

The more I watch the penalty, it’s incredibly harsh on Sanchez. He has flown in to make a block, as you’d expect in that situation. Lacazette has spooned his effort and kicked Sanchez on the follow through. Aside from amputating his own leg, I’m not sure what else he could have done.

Just watched that highlight again. 100% correct. Michael Dawson said the same. Lacazette kicked him in the follow through.

 

[yusrisafri]

My MOTM

 

[Gilzeanking]

I think having no captain on the field to just have a quiet word with over-zealous Lamela(7) was a problem . After Erik's first yellow he continued to do slide tackles . There was no-one to calm him .

Disappointing to see Bale(5) return to his disinterested mode . Back to being a risk to play him . Even more props to Lucas (8) being the only attacker to refuse to give up . This is 3rd match in a row where TN (6) was not as good as he can be .

Agree with poster who said we pressed individually while Arse did it in 3s . Took us til 2-1 down and 10 men to wake up .

 

[HodisGawd]

Yes, Doherty was hung out to dry. But there's a reason teams target him.

Lucas our MoM by miles. I'm not his biggest fan but he was good.

The only other player to play with energy and passion was Lamela. I won't blame him for going over the top when everyone else bar Lucas was anonymous. Lamela had to overcompensate for them - and that was the result.

Overall, it was a day when just about everything went against us - and we still nearly got a draw at the end. While we were poor on the day, Arsenal weren't exactly great either. We'll definitely finish above them.

 

[Everlasting Seconds]

Voted Doherty because I feel bad for him.

Awww I’m sure he appreciates that

 

[Japhet]

Between Sanchez and Moura., but Sanchez gets MOM from me. Watch Moura for Odegaard's goal. He tracks him until he's getting into a dangerous position and then totally switches off. He stands rooted to the spot while Odegaard moves 10 yards forward and gets a totally unchallenged shot at goal, which he buries. Dreadful.

 

[Croftwoodspurs]

I voted for Lucus, as he showed the most desire throughout the game to try and take the game to them.

Have to say that I don't normally post on these after the games, as most of what I wanted to say has already been covered, so need to go over old ground.

Any way here are my thoughts on the game, we deserved to lose because we were so woeful and didn't show any passion and any thought of taking the game to them until we went to 10 men.

Could see from the outset how this was going to be reffed straight from the first few minutes, this was when David Luis barged through the back of Moura to win a header and nothing was given. Any slight touch on their opponents was deemed as a foul, Requilion booking was an example of this. He was clearly fouled from Saka, but was not given and then made a similar tackle on him, for it to be given and him booked.

This set the mood for the rest of the game, and could see any challenge from our players they were immediately questioning if this was a yellow.

Lamela goal was a thing purely instinct and showed why we had high hopes for him, he thought the ball was being played further to the left so was off balance, and then came up with that brilliance.

Doherty was on a hiding to nothing from the start, he was left with 2 on 1 many occasions without no cover. Should have dropped Lucus on the left flank from around 15 - 20 mins when we could see they were targeting Doherty. Doherty should have done better on the one to one as a defender must know that Tierney has only one foot and would always go down that side. The central midfielders should have been in position to stop the cross back. They got lucky it took a big deflection to take away from Loris.

Now lets get onto the talking points.

Penalty - It looked at first the ref was not going to give, but believe he fell for Lazecette over reaction of the incident by clutching his knee in pain. When look back from the front you can clearly see that Laz missed the ball completely and his foot hit Sanchez Leg. The challenge was not reckless because he was at least a foot away from the player trying to make a block. If Laz had made contact with the ball his foot would more than likely not hit Sanchez on the follow through. The problem with VAR is it's not going to overturn the decision because it's not clear and obvious. What VAR should be use for is, with all the information and correct angles does this change the ref's decision. So he should have been shown to the monitor. We should be shown the action on the big screens with the conversation broad-cast over the PA System so everyone can here the reasons why / not something given.

Lamela First Yellow - Wins the ball cleanly and then his trailing leg captures the player. Again he goes down screaming in pain and the players surround the ref and he swayed by this to give the yellow. Arteta is on the pitch complaining.

Lamela Second Yellow - Would say the Lamela is foolish by putting his arm in such a way to defend the player, he could have kept the arm lower so not directly in head region. He captures the player around the high chest area with not much force. Tierney goes down holding his face again in pain which is why the ref gave this.

Xhaka foul on Doherty - Exactly if not worse than Lamela because he's caught the player with a straight leg. The reason this was not given as a yellow is because our player did not scream and roll around on the floor. If Doherty had gone onto the floor and screamed, the ref would have given this as a yellow.

Overall we derserved to lose because of how we played and the team structure, would have been better if we started with 3 in the middle with PEH, Sissoko and Ndombele. Then had Son, Bale and Kane up top when we needed to break.

Think the ref was poor, think Oliver good too influenced by the players , staff and the occassion. Don't think he's good enough for these big games, always seems to get some decisions incorrect.

Anyway these are my early morning thoughts on the game.

 

['O Zio]

Agree but maybe a little harsh with how you put it. On what planet did mouronho think Doherty with Bale ahead of him wouldn't end up being a car crash?

Now if Aurier is injured or not fully fit to start then it's either Doherty who has gone from shit to less shit the last few games or tamganga who hasn't played for weeks.

Now Bale had to play based on his form. I know lucas has been on form in the number 10 but surely playing him central with lucas on the right atlesst for parts of the first half could have worked.

Why wasn't that done?

Any manager would target Doherty and Bale and boy did they. They had 3 on that side, creating underlaps and overlaps. It was just horrible

Of course Mourinho has to take a lot of the blame as well but that doesn't take away from how unacceptable it is for a player to stand there watching us get overrun rather than bother to track back whatsoever

 

[onthetwo]

Lloris 6
Doherty 4
Sanchez 5
Toby 6
Reggy 6
Højbjerg 5
Ndombele 5
Moura 7
Son 6
Bale 4
Kane 5

Lamela 7.5
Sissoko 6
Dele 6

Mourinho 3 - Whilst Mourinho said the players were not good enough first half they were clearly playing in a low block tactical set up with no plan to deal with Tierney and Rowe-Smith on their left. Time and time again they doubled up on the hapless Doherty who got zero help from Bale. Højbjerg and Ndombele were marking spaces too deep which meant Arsenal had a very comfortable time in possession and could pick off Doherty time and time again. In comparison, whenever Bale, Son or Moura got the ball Arsenal players were all over them like a rash, doubling up. We were out thought and out fought. As we have been against all top 8 opposition this season. Mourinho is past his sell by date and his low-block anti-football is horrible to watch, and impossible to justify. The Mourinho of 10 years ago would have made a double substitution after 25 mins given how bad we were. Nowadays it looks like there is no real fight or spark to him. If that is the best he can get from our players in a NLD when we had the chance to go 5th with a game in hand, then he is clearly not the man for the job.

great point re the fight for CL places coinciding with the NLD as in DOUBLE the reason to be up for that match.
i wonder whether that performance might make Levys mind up to look elsewhere in the summer.