Match Ratings Ratings vs Brighton & Hove Albion

[fortworthspur]

that was one of those games where you regret wasting 2 hours of your life watching it. Nobody was good, Son was especially bad. Not sure why he was left in instead of Moura. MOTM Toby's barber.

 

[Derp]

I’m not sure what was worse, the performance or the pitch. I have never seen players sliding around so much. Poch lineup had too many changes and we lacked fluidity and tempo. We looked very disjointed, like if the players had just met each other before kickoff. Our aproach was way too defensive and passive, always a meter behind the Brighton players.

I’m not gonna waste too much time on this game, other than i think the Wanyama/Sissoko midfield was a disaster. Wanyama was awful in possession. He could not complete a simple pass all game long. It was insane, i have never seen anything like it. So many of his passes ended up either in a loss of possession or slowed everything down because the receiver needed to stretch to get to the ball. It was like all his passes were a meter away from the intended target. He also played numerous passes to players that where marked so they would lose the ball and the Brighton players let him have all the time in the world on the ball because he would run with it and lose it. By far the worst player today, lets hope he can get back in top form next season because this was surprisingly bad.

 

[DenverSpur]

Well that was dreadful. Totally unacceptable performance. In the final third I'm not sure what was worse! The number of misplaced passes or the number of miscontrolled balls? The lack of a sense of urgency and the general lethargy both on the field and from the sidelines was worrying to say the least. On the evidence of the last 3 fixtures I can see us losing the semi final on Saturday and then falling away and giving up 4th place to Chelsea. Poch has got to get a grip of the players, the tactics and the general attitude of everyone. And why is Kane playing when he's obviously not fit. In the second half it appears Poch dropped him back to the No. 10 position to protect him. If he needs protecting then don't play him. Though Wanyama and maybe Toby and Jan were the only ones to come out with any credit.

 

[zoneD]

...we are a one-man team...and that man is Christian Eriksen...he was the only one out there willing or able to create any attacking threat - nobody else was moving or showing for the ball in the final 3rd...

...Sissoko, Aurier, and Moura were less than impressive...
COYS

 

[spurs mental]

How in the name of all that is holy are people giving Wanyama a 7 last night and Sissoko 4 and 5. Are you blinded by hate for Sissoko that badly that you can't see he was probably our second best player behind Toby last night?

Wanyama last night really showed what we missed from Dier. He can't make those quick short passes between the full backs or the other CM to open up space like Dier does. He's far too slow and lethargic on the ball.

Of course our front 4 didn't cover themselves in glory last night but it's difficult when your CM can't even make a decent forward pass to feet.

Aside from that, Lloris had little to do, unlucky with the penalty.
Aurier, decent enough for the most part but clumsy as fuck to give away the penalty and needs to learn how to cross the ball properly.
Jan and Toby were very good
Davies looks a little leggy since the international break. It's starting to effect our attack
Sissoko had a good game and drove forward well with the ball, probably unlucky to be taken off.
Wanyama- see above. Total rubbish
Eriksen, was his worst game for us. Couldn't even control the ball properly at times
Son, tried hard, brilliant feet for the goal. Should have probably had a goal and Kane could have played him once or twice too
Moura- positive but can see why he hasn't started and only been used as impact sub, still a bit off the pace, But will be good with a full pre season next
Kane- selfish, unfit, finished the goal well. Hope he gets some sort of decent rhythm in the semi final

Subs- too late again. Poch too slow to change it, again. Infuriating

 

[EastLondonYid]

I've never been a coach and don't claim to be a tactical genius but i can't understand why you would play Aurier against a team thats parked the bus, and have Tripps totally redundant, and 3days earlier play Tripps against the best counter attacking side oh and play a high line when Aurier with his pace may have been the answer


We are at the most crucial part of the season and have gone into our worst form Poch included lets hope we can sort it and quickly,

 

[fletch82]

Pretty sure we have won our fair share of similar pens. Can't blame the ref for giving it. If Aurier knew how to defend and was goal side of his man, there would be no argument. Currently a defensive liability.

Not disagreeing in the slightest mate I was disagreeing with people acting like he gave away a pen when he didn't no foul no contact no pen.
Ohh and I can and do blame the ref for giving it fiver says if that was dele he would not have.

 

[JonnySpurs]

This is gonna be a little tricky because I'm torn between our below par peformance and being actually quite impressed with Brighton.

I appreciate that Brighton very much parked the bus but equally they also worked their arses off all over the pitch. Knockaert in particular grafted like crazy. I also feel that despite how poor we were, had Brighton been just slightly below that level, or their workrate had dropped at any point then we would have managed to skank our way to victory. So whilst it's very easy to focus on our own performance, we must remember to credit the opposition sometimes and not be too arrogant in our view of the game. Brighton did exactly what was required to stifle our play, sadly we just contributed to it with our own ineptitude.

Poch having to rotate the side ahead of Saturday obviously doesn't help matters and that was reflected in the stagnant way in which we played. I have to agree with others in that some of Poch's tactical decisions were a bit confusing and whilst we were better 2nd half, it felt as though we were desperate for someone like Winks to play in alongside Wanyama so that the latter could focus on breaking up play and the former could dictate play more from a deeper position. That said, when a team sits in like Brighton did, it's difficult either way.

Lloris - Didn't drop any clangers so that's good but equally he looks nervous, nearly spilled that chance in the 1st half. Close to saving the pen.

Aurier - It's easy to come after Serge after giving away another pen but as some have pointed out, at least this time it didn't come from a rash sliding challenge. Besides that moment I thought he did well defensively and kept Izquierdo quiet and he's usually one of Brighton's most impactful players. Offensively he was pretty poor, I can think of one decent cut back cross but beyond that he largely hit the first man with every cross. Frustrating but I still feel he has potential to be excellent for us in future.

Toby - Very good IMO. Looked much more like his old self. Happy to see him back.

Jan - Fine.

Davies - Average. Did ok defensively, no major issues I can think of but like Aurier his crossing was poor.

Wanyama - Still he doesn't look anywhere near the player he was last season. Cumbersome in possession, passing was wayward at times.

Sissoko - Fine, some horrible heavy touches, nothing new there, but certainly not his worst performance. It's a shame Winks is injured as he would've been a much better option in that game.

Lucas - Looked lively and active in the 1st half and it felt as though if something was going to happen it was going to come through him. Poch switching him to LW in 2nd half was a poor decision. Eriksen slid him in early in 2nd period and he had a chance to cut across more toward the middle of the box and shot across goal but instead he snatched at the chance and pulled it badly past the near post. Shame but again, lots of potential.

Eriksen - Far from his best game. His touch was a little off and that seemed to throw him off his rhythm. Still got through plenty of work but there's no doubt that our overall play his affected badly when he's not at his best.

Son - Saw the ball plenty in 1st half but seemed to hang onto it too long and just made the wrong choices. Excellent work for our goal but beyond that nothing much to shout about.

Kane - Almost totally anonymous in 1st half. Looks way off his best, most likely due to fitness. Much more involved 2nd half, took his goal well. So boring seeing all the OG shouts on twitter after he scored. Yawn. Well marshalled by the Brighton CB's and when he did manage to wriggle free, he ended up blazing over. Lacking sharpness but the goal will have done him good.

Overall I feel like the best way to describe our attacking play is clumsy - can't help but wonder how much their weird pitch contributed. Never seen so many players falling over. We just looked like we were lacking sharpness which feels a little bit odd considering the stage of the season we're at. I'm not worried though and I don't think it has any bearing on Saturday. We'll be back at Wembley and we've already beaten Utd this season. Whilst I'm sure it will be a very different game, they're hardly bang on form either and I'd be more concerned if we'd just been beaten at home by the worst team in the league rather than losing to the champs and drawing away to a gritty Brighton team.

 

[southlondonyiddo]

Toby looked lean and mean, like he’s looking forward to a World Cup. Completely different player to the one we saw in his last few comeback games

Looked like they all had one eye on Saturday from very early on and you could see the difference at the end as to what a point meant to Brighton

One ray of light for me was Harry. There was just a few glimpses second half that he was coming back to life again

 

[nuttynoah]

Coco Hugo - 6 - some poor distribution straight into trouble, has had worse games
Coco Loco - 4 - can this wildness in challenges really be coached out of him? What would be left?
Coco GoGo - 7 - good to see him back, real shame he'll be gone
Coco Jano - 6 - okay overall
Coco Beno - 5 - bad day at the office
Coco the Clown - 5- probably his best game of pointing in a Spurs shirt (and hopefully the last)
Coco Vico- 6 - thought he grew into the game, was rusty early on, hope he starts on saturday
Coco the Viking - 5 - never seen such bad passing from him, even genuises have their off days
Coco Sono - 6 - did well for the goal
Coco Luco - 6 - some nice runs, early days
Coco Kano - 6 - moved like he was punch drunk, still scored though

Coco - 6 - Coco
Coco Fernando - 5 - came on
Coco Mousso - 6 - got caught in heavy traffic

 

[WiganSpur]

I've never been a coach and don't claim to be a tactical genius but i can't understand why you would play Aurier against a team thats parked the bus, and have Tripps totally redundant, and 3days earlier play Tripps against the best counter attacking side oh and play a high line when Aurier with his pace may have been the answer


We are at the most crucial part of the season and have gone into our worst form Poch included lets hope we can sort it and quickly,

The problem is Aurier is not looking good either end at the moment. If he's not making fouls at the back he's putting in 60/70% of the time poor crosses.

Trips does need to be rested for some games. We've either got to trust Serge 100% or cut our losses now. I'd support either decision by the club.

 

[St José Dominguez]

The problem is Aurier is not looking good either end at the moment. If he's not making fouls at the back he's putting in 60/70% of the time poor crosses.

Trips does need to be rested for some games. We've either got to trust Serge 100% or cut our losses now. I'd support either decision by the club.

I don't think this constant rotation has been good for either player. When Davies was only playing the odd game he looked poor but has benefitted from a run of games this season. I think Poch needs to decide if either one will be first choice next season and sell the other with KWP as back up. Out of the two I'd say there's only a slim chance Aurier would be good enough in future as first choice, Trippier not at all. Based on this season I wouldn't be against selling both and buying an overall first choice. It's been very unfair on KWP.

 

[whitesocks]

Toby seems to have got MOTM, so what next? Does it mean anything?
He's undoubtedly a 'B' team member now, because the chances are we'll want him to leave this summer. But we look a better side with Alderweireld...

Our 'B' team members helped get us to the semi, so would it be so bad if the very best of them played, and also played in the final should we get through?

I think so. Not the thread for it, but I think we should consider a back 5 for the semi, so including our Motm.

 

[Univarn]

Going with Toby almost purely for sentimental reasons. He was good but so was Jan. If Aurier's end product was even just 10% better we would be forgiving him those penalty brainfarts because he'd be creating so much. As is he just doesn't and I have gone from someone who watched a lot of him at PSG and saw potential to now only seeing him as a liability.

The weird everybody slipping on the pitch was either an epic fail from their groundskeeper or a master stroke of disrupting the game... If that was a deliberate tactic then shame on them but also shame on us for just not being prepared for that sort of game.

Lucas definitely looks a work in progress. Seemed caught a couple of times unsure where he is supposed to be and I saw him and Son bump into each other on at least 2 occassions. How neither he or Son managed to burst past Salter is baffling.

 

[shelfboy68]

Going with Toby almost purely for sentimental reasons. He was good but so was Jan. If Aurier's end product was even just 10% better we would be forgiving him those penalty brainfarts because he'd be creating so much. As is he just doesn't and I have gone from someone who watched a lot of him at PSG and saw potential to now only seeing him as a liability.

The weird everybody slipping on the pitch was either an epic fail from their groundskeeper or a master stroke of disrupting the game... If that was a deliberate tactic then shame on them but also shame on us for just not being prepared for that sort of game.

Lucas definitely looks a work in progress. Seemed caught a couple of times unsure where he is supposed to be and I saw him and Son bump into each other on at least 2 occassions. How neither he or Son managed to burst past Salter is baffling.

As I said earlier if aurier was foyths age then he would be work in progress but at his age he still lacks the basics which is pretty shit I think we have possibly fucked up getting him.
As for son and Moura your right neither really tried successfully to skin the full back like how sane and sterling would do, instead we are so predictable by coming inside passing backwards and trying to go through a bottle necked middle.
We only ever look really dangerous and quick when teams push up on us and then we can exploit the spaces other than that we struggle to get past teams who defend like that.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

I've never been a coach and don't claim to be a tactical genius but i can't understand why you would play Aurier against a team thats parked the bus, and have Tripps totally redundant, and 3days earlier play Tripps against the best counter attacking side oh and play a high line when Aurier with his pace may have been the answer


We are at the most crucial part of the season and have gone into our worst form Poch included lets hope we can sort it and quickly,

I think this is bang on. I also seem to remember saying something similar after the away game, where again, his rotation of Trippier and Aurier seemed counter intuitive.

 

[SpursSince1980]

Brighton do deserve some credit for how they showed up and played. They were aggressive and energetic all night long. I was also impressed with their ability to clear their lines and frequently find their own players, thereby reducing any pressure. Additionally, their one touch passing was also something that caught the eye for me.

By-n-large, we weren't at our best and looked a bit lacking in focus and fluency.

Lloris - unlucky with the penalty - 6

Aurier - was generally good, but yet again, we see him get a rush of blood to the head and do something rash - 6
Toby - looked calm and assured all game. nice to see him back there - 7
Verts - as ever, he was solid and determined - 7
Davies - ok defensively. a bit of a liability further up field. couldn't seem to pass or cross consistently - 5.5

Wanyama - you can see he's starting to find his feet again and shake off the rustiness. had good and bad moments - 6.5
Sissoko - we basically played to his level today. low on skill, as usual. but the commitment was there - 6

Eriksen - not a good game by his standards. misplaced passes galore - 5.5
Son - anonymous most of the game. also seemed to lack desire - 5
Moura - mixed bag. you can see he's still trying to adjust. but had some good moments - 6

Kane - clearly not fit and not mentally there at the moment. can't tell if it's the injury, or he's playing within himself, with one eye on the world up, or the FA cup. Either way, it's very painful to admit that the team looked far better without him then with him over the last few weeks - 5.5

SUBS:
Lamela - same old stuff - 5
Dembele - didn't notice him really - 5

POCH - Aurier for Tripps made very little sense against a bus parking team. Starting Harry didn't make much sense either based on his play against City - might have been better to give him a little rest before the semi. But i applaud him for starting Toby. And can't really complain too much about the game tactics, as he can only do so much, and then it's in the hands of his players -- who I feel sorta weren't at their best. Lackadaisical and unfocused through most of the game. Didn't come close to matching Brighton's passion and commitment. Hence, it was a rather poor performance and result.

 

[M.I.B.]

Just finished work and handed over to two colleagues, both Brighton fans who were there last night.
Obviously smirking at me, but one of their first comments was..."what the f*** does Sissoko do for you?"

I had no answer.

 

[canneboy]

Lloris 5 - looks nervous its spreading to those around him should be doing much better with that pen has spaghetti for wrists.

Aurier 6 - pen was harsh if he doesn't go with him he gets slaughtered its accidental contact it happens sadly.

Toby 8 - excellent have some of that poch....he may not sign a new contract or want out but he's still our best centre back.

Jan 6 - Was back to his old AVB jan whiney and sulky.

Davies 6 - Awful at times just looks like he's totally exhausted he should never have been left to fly to china to play for Wales he's not been right since then not one of players pulling out of games but I think every player that went out there has struggled since coming back.

Wanyama 7 - very good had to try and create which is not really his job but he didn't hide.

Sissoko 6 - Yeh...he's not very good at one touch passing being creative or dribbling or creating but he was better than a lot of the players out there. But still gets loads of abuse.

Lucas 6 - Meh....a bit weird flashes of class but also flashes of lazy sulkiness a bit of a luxury player.

Eriksen 4 - His worst ever game in a spurs shirt gave the ball away constantly jibbed tackles ducked and dived and just didn't seem to want to be out there.

Son 5 - Done well for the goal but did he do anything other than that? quiet and poor and also looks exhausted.

Kane 5 - Does not look anywhere near fit absolute awful at times heavy touches rustiness and general weak play everything you do not think about Harry Kane.

Lamela 4 - awful when he came on should have done much better with that chance.

Dembele 5 - seemed to come on and go into dembele shithouse mode where he should have been coming on and driving at them and driving us forward.

Llorente n/e but ultimate piss take from pochy throwing him on.

Pochettino 2 - Getting a bit pissed off with him he clearly has blinkers on when it comes to certain players, son was on fire and he's somehow managed to put the fire out. He's brought Harry back in who's nowhere near looking fit. He keeps repeating things that do not work. Worst of all the last few games he's just sat there in the dugout with little animation looking sorry for himself instead of getting at the players and getting them going.

Loris has spaghetti for wrists? WTF? Anyone who knows anything about goalkeeping would not make that ludicrous statement. Did well to get a hand on it

 

[agrdavidsfan]

Loris has spaghetti for wrists? WTF? Anyone who knows anything about goalkeeping would not make that ludicrous statement. Did well to get a hand on it

......your talking to an ex academy goalkeeper who retired due to injury.

Who's now a qualified goalkeeper coach.

Ask any goalkeeper if they had the touch Lloris had on it we would expect to save it.