Ratings Vs QPR

[Bus-Conductor]

Although it was against a very poor QPR side, Danny Rose was outstanding today and has been one of our best players through pre-season.

He's still got that surly - ready to pick a fight with his own team - demeanour. But, whisper it quietly, he's beginning to look like a quality LB.

The purchase of Ben Davies provided real competition, and he must know the fans don't rate him. I respect the character he's shown to come back as one of our best players this season.

And it's highly likely he's another one benefitting from Poch's coaching.

The real test will be against better opposition, especially the top six. But credit to Danny Rose for the way he's started thsi season.

To be honest, I still think suffers a little from the same disease Walker does, a niggling brain injury (it's getting bad when you're nicking Lawro's gags) but he's giving it a good go and you can only applaud a decent performance when it is one. And it was today.

 

[davidmatzdorf]

It's hard to know where to start. I'll start with the pressing, because that's what enabled everything else. In the two previous matches, we just haven't done it - not sure why, but it wasn't on show. Today, what they've been drilling in training was in evidence right from the start and QPR couldn't cope with it. I lost count after we had caught them in possession 20 times and that was just in the first half, so it must have been 30 in total, at least.

What was really exciting was the degree to which players whom you do not expect to do that were right on board. Lamela was the best: we think of him for his skills and vision, but he was a fucking terrier out there today, snapping and hacking away whenever a QPR midfielder got the ball - and winning it nearly every time, often with the assistance of (!) Eriksen. Plus he was directing traffic, demanding the ball, pointing, hectoring and generally being the leader of the pack. Wow.

The rest of them followed suit. The other prime candidate for redemption was Capoue: ping, ping, ping... it was just relentless, always in possession, always finding a teammate, the anchor of everything.

And the third would be Rose, who had a superb game, both in attack and defence. Firm, fair tackles; good positioning; a peach of a cross in the first half; runs into the pocket between defence and midfield; then a perfectly weighted ball for the 4th goal.

The rest of the defence was collectively organised and individually confident. Kaboul made no errors of concentration; Vertonghen was the Jan of the season before last; Dier looked perfectly relaxed and comfortable on the ball, as well as scoring a header.

QPR were lifeless, but last season we were playing teams of that calibre and squeaking out 1-0 wins. We'd hold the ball forever, but never make chances. Today, when we approached the penalty box, we sped up - there was a change of pace, never more evident than in the wonderful 3rd goal [I went mental]: we kept the ball for nearly 3 minutes, didn't lose concentration, waiting for the gap, and then Lamela fairly charged through it and pinged up a perfect cross without looking up (much like his gentle pass for Kane's goal on Thursday, when he also knew where his teammate was, without having to take his eye off what he was doing).

All in all, it was the best performance since our 5-0 against Newcastle, just after Capello resigned and before everything went a bit weird.

But what I found most encouraging was the degree to which this looked like a Pochettino team giving a Pochettino performance. Like Southampton last season, but with better players. The style was visible - and it worked.

And so to some individual ratings:

Lloris 6 not a vast amount to do - did it - I think his first aerial distribution was after 70 minutes

Dier 7.5 calm, capable, faultless and with a good headed goal as well

Kaboul 6.5 the old Kaboul

Vertonghen 7 good judgment and the signs of a partnership with Kaboul

Rose 8 wonderful performance throughout, capped by a skilful assist

Bentaleb 7 he just kept looking for forward passes - started to fade before he was substituted

Capoue 8.5 metronomic passing (121 passes, 90% completion), canny positioning and total control of midfield

Chadli 8 a good player finding his confidence, with two excellent finishes and a lot of creative movement

Eriksen 7 good, but perhaps the least scintillating of our fluidly-moving attacking-midfield trio - very forceful in winning the ball, often in conjunction with Lamela

Lamela 9 demanding the ball, directing traffic, closing down, winning the ball countless times, showing genuine pace twice, two assists, making things happen - everything we paid for - MotM, just ahead of Capoue

Adebayor 7 a good day's work, tracking back, holding the ball up, linking play and finally getting a goal; not perfect, but good


Dembele 6 competent, didn't really affect play

Kane 6 capable but anonymous, NET really

Soldado 6.5 some good work in his limited time

 

[SpurSince57]

Actually, I'm not sure we lost too many games that we should have been winning over the last couple of years, under AVB or Sherwood.

You have to go back to Redknapp 2011-12 when failing to win half our home games against loads of shit teams cost us CL football.

This is, of course, demonstrable nonsense.

 

[THFCSPURS19]

It's hard to know where to start. I'll start with the pressing, because that's what enabled everything else. In the two previous matches, we just haven't done it - not sure why, but it wasn't on show. Today, what they've been drilling in training was in evidence right from the start and QPR couldn't cope with it. I lost count after we had caught them in possession 20 times and that was just in the first half, so it must have been 30 in total, at least.

What was really exciting was the degree to which players whom you do not expect to do that were right on board. Lamela was the best: we think of him for his skills and vision, but he was a fucking terrier out there today, snapping and hacking away whenever a QPR midfielder got the ball - and winning it nearly every time, often with the assistance of (!) Eriksen. Plus he was directing traffic, demanding the ball, pointing, hectoring and generally being the leader of the pack. Wow.

The rest of them followed suit. The other prime candidate for redemption was Capoue: ping, ping, ping... it was just relentless, always in possession, always finding a teammate, the anchor of everything.

And the third would be Rose, who had a superb game, both in attack and defence. Firm, fair tackles; good positioning; a peach of a cross in the first half; runs into the pocket between defence and midfield; then a perfectly weighted ball for the 4th goal.

The rest of the defence was collectively organised and individually confident. Kaboul made no errors of concentration; Vertonghen was the Jan of the season before last; Dier looked perfectly relaxed and comfortable on the ball, as well as scoring a header.

QPR were lifeless, but last season we were playing teams of that calibre and squeaking out 1-0 wins. We'd hold the ball forever, but never make chances. Today, when we approached the penalty box, we sped up - there was a change of pace, never more evident than in the wonderful 3rd goal [I went mental]: we kept the ball for nearly 3 minutes, didn't lose concentration, waiting for the gap, and then Lamela fairly charged through it and pinged up a perfect cross without looking up (much like his gentle pass for Kane's goal on Thursday, when he also knew where his teammate was, without having to take his eye off what he was doing).

All in all, it was the best performance since our 5-0 against Newcastle, just after Capello resigned and before everything went a bit weird.

But what I found most encouraging was the degree to which this looked like a Pochettino team giving a Pochettino performance. Like Southampton last season, but with better players. The style was visible - and it worked.

And so to some individual ratings:

Lloris 6 not a vast amount to do - did it - I think his first aerial distribution was after 70 minutes

Dier 7.5 calm, capable, faultless and with a good headed goal as well

Kaboul 6.5 the old Kaboul

Vertonghen 7 good judgment and the signs of a partnership with Kaboul

Rose 8 wonderful performance throughout, capped by a skilful assist

Bentaleb 7 he just kept looking for forward passes - started to fade before he was substituted

Capoue 8 metronomic passing (121 passes, 90% completion), canny positioning and total control of midfield

Chadli 8.5 a good player finding his confidence, wioth two excellent finishes and a lot of creative movement

Eriksen 7 good, but perhaps the least scintillating of our fluidly-moving attacking-midfield trio - very forceful in winning the ball, often inconjunction with Lamela

Lamela 9 demanding the ball, directing traffic, closing down, winning the ball countless times, showing genuine pace twice, two assists, making things happen - everythving we paid for - MotM, just ahead of Capoue

Adebayor 7 a good day's work, tracking back, holding the ball up, linking play and finall getting a goal; not perfect, but good

Dembele 6 competent, didn't really affect play

Kane 6 capable but anonymous, NET really

Soldado 6.5 some good workin his limited time

I love how you've said there was loads of pressing and BC said it was non-existent. Strange how people interpret things differently (you are right of course)

I was also about to post in the match thread during the match that this was our best performance since the 5-0 against Newcastle. IIRC, I didn't end up posting because we scored instead

 

[davidmatzdorf]

You have to go back to Redknapp 2011-12 when failing to win half our home games against loads of shit teams cost us CL football.

Our actual home league record in 2011/12 was 13 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses.

So no.

[edited - typo]

 

[scat1620]

Our actual home league record in 2011/12 was 10 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses.

So no.

What about the other 3 home games?

 

[THFCSPURS19]

My ratings:

Lloris- 7- Didn't need to do much so would usually get a 6 but everyone is getting a boosted rating.

Dier-8.5- Epic! Brilliant performances so far and it looks like he was an absolute bargain. Didn't put a foot wrong and of course scored a goal

Kaboul- 7.25- Better performance than last week (couldn't get much worse) but still had a few shaky moments. Wasn't really tested to be fair.

Vertonghen- 8- The Jan of Old. Verts was back to his best today and was good defensively and made some great runs with the ball forward, which is what he is known for.

Rose- 9- Fantastic performance. Davies bloody has his work cut out. Interesting to see how the purchase of Davies has made such a difference. I wonder if we bought a LB last summer if we would have seen an increase in Rose's performance then. He was very very good defensively, worked very hard and got a very nice assist.

Capoue- 8.5- Brilliant as well. Passing was excellent, his work rate was excellent, his defensive work (when needed) was done very well. I really hope we bring in Schneiderlin because these 2 could make a fantastic partnership.

Bentaleb- 7.5- Didn't put a foot wrong really- a few stray passes but was generally quite accurate. I saw an improvement in his defensive duties (breaking up play) which was good. Will be an amazing player for us in the future.

Lamela- 9.5 - Just amazing. Enough said.

Eriksen- 8.5- Brilliant as well. Just like he was last season and was unlucky to hit the bar. Imagining him and Lamela at top form is orgasm-worthy.

Chadli- 9- Got two goals and his movement was great. What many people haven't mentioned was his fantastic bit of play to give the ball to Rose for his assist in the 4th goal. Very impressive. If we don't get a LWF, he's a no-brainer for that role.

Adebayor- 7.5- It was a very good performance but some of his link-up play wasn't the best. He still has a long way to go to get to his best (like last season and in 11-12) but promising nonetheless. I was about to criticise him in the match thread but then he scored as if he could read my thoughts.

Subs:

Dembele- 6.5- Didn't do too much- he had a great opportunity to create a chance of to shoot but he ended up losing the ball. He really needs to improve his decision-making. I still think he might be sold.

Kane- NET- Not enough time to judge.

Soldado- NET- Should've been brought on earlier (instead of Kane) and could've got a goal or 2. Looking forward to seeing him play (hopefully) when I go to the Lane on Thursday.

 

[Samson]

This is, of course, demonstrable nonsense.

We dropped points at home to Wigan, Sunderland, West Ham, West Brom and Blackpool. We had home draws against Arsenal, Man Yoo, Chelsea, Man City and Everton. We lost at Bolton, West Ham and Blackpool, dropping points at Birmingham, Wolves and Wigan. We lost at City, Chelsea, Everton and Man Utd. We needed 7 points to get to 69 points (what we managed last season). You can isolate any of those lines and blame it.

 

[Mr Pink]

The Evaluation Dichotomy

So here's the thing. That was very lovely and fluffy. All our favourite boys done good and much plundering of the booty was had. There was some very nice stuff played. And it's always nice to watch a second half with a relaxed sphincter.

But…it is incredibly hard to evaluate and enthuse profusely when (yes, @scat1620 here it comes) the opposition are so poorly prepared, tactically inept and offer every player his own acreage to play in.

I haven't seen too many more inept shows than the one QPR put up today from EPL opposition.


So we have to trot out the well honed cliche "you can only stuff what's put in front of you" and we did.

There were plenty of individual positives, Lamela had an exceptionally good first half, Chadli proved resoundingly that we don't need to waste money on Remy, Eriksen had a very decent knock, Capoue once again showed what he's about (stand by for an outstanding stat), Rose was very good, the defenders individually were all good, collectively though still a a couple of worries.

Revoloution Watch

Pochettino got his team selection bang on (OK, I'd have played Soldado but no qualms with Adebayor). The subs we can nit pick, but would be pretty moot, so lets not bother.

I am a tad concerned still by the utter lack of pressing in any meaningfully cohesive or coherent way. I think many will be effusing about that performance because we scored 4 goals. But I genuinely believe we were allowed miles more ball than most will allow, and much worse, we were allowed to have it in dangerous areas with very little pressure. We'd have had to be blindfold not to make chances in that game. And here's the thing, rightly or wrongly I'm still a little miffed at the amount of situations we didn't even turn into chances because of pure sloppy carelessness, which for me was all the more unforgivable because of the complete lack of pressure on the player in some cases. Churlish ? yes. Greedy even ? Maybe.

What I also didn't like was the way we at times gave them way to much space, they were so abjectly shit they wasted it, but if they'd scored that 1v1 at 1-0 that game could have been very different.

It didn't matter in that game because QPR didn't have the wherewithal to punish a paper bag, but that's two games running now where glimpses of our two CM's being exposed by the lack of pressing from the forward 4 reared it's ugly head.

"Shut up you churlish humbug" I hear @Legend10 cry (where is he lately ?) we hammered someone, but proper games against proper teams that aren't managed by impostors will be coming soon.

If I'm honest, what I saw was vastly superior footballers hammer a vastly inferior side who barely even remembered to tie their shoelaces.

The second half was a bit flat, but I guess at 3-0 gas was being saved.

I honestly can't say I saw the seeds of the pressomatic, high energy revolution.


Individual shit:

Lloris - nothing to do.

Dier - Really liking this kid. Not so much as a RB, just his general skill set, demeanour, attitude, composure and energy. I not even sure I care if we sign Fazio, I'm not sure he will be much better than this kid as a CB.

Kaboul - Easy game, not point talking about defensively really, but 78 passes 96% completion. Not too shabby.

Vertonghen - Easy run out, nice to see him springing forward in that way he can do.

Rose - Excellent game. Defensively good, frequently involved in our build up play, great run and pass for Adebayor's goal.

Capoue - Probably went a bit unnoticed amongst all the forward's hay making, but this was an quietly superb game. 121 passes at 89%. Yes against a shit team but that is still a phenomenal amount of traffic to get through, and I can't remember seeing a number like that too often, even against shit****s.

Bentaleb - Very good game, complimented Capoue well with his little give and goes. Good glue, and teams need glue.

Lamela - The first half performance had everything, the energy, the confidence, the sure-footedness, two assists (second one was particularly good) the pizzaz. The second half didn't quite live up to that, there was less sure footedness, a couple of fumbled chances and generally less pizzazz. Overall a very good performance though, and I really like the fact that he genuinely gets stuck in instead of shadow tackling like Lennon, or half hearted efforts like Eriksen.

Eriksen - A very good game. Seeing him work with Lamela for possibly the first time was a joy.

Chadli - Great finishing, some good general stuff. A very good knock all in all.

Adebayor - Took his goal well and wasn't exactly bad, saw plenty of the ball, but we are still not seeing the best Adebayor I feel. There were times when he looked a bit lethargic and made poor choices. The upside is as ever that his bad day is still better than most other's good days.

Subs - All were competent.

I agree QPR pressed the space and ball very poorly when we ventured into their half and we did get more time and space than a top side would afford us, generally speaking, but I still think that was a massive improvement from what we were witnessing last season.

The coherent pressing will surely improve in time - although I thought it was good in the first half, its still very early days but what I was most impressed with was our urgency, movement and all round intelligent use of the ball in the first half. It was exceptional at times. Yes QPR made this easier but it still required plenty of effort and ability on our part and as a result we punished and exposed them badly.

We simply looked a more intelligent outfit, playing with more tempo and urgency. Something that was sorely missing last season. So little tempo and urgency, slow constipated build up play for the most part with little expression in our play.

We're already taking big steps IMO.

 

[davidmatzdorf]

What about the other 3 home games?

Typo. Edited. 13 wins, 3 draws, 3 losses.

 

[Ribble]

I just noticed that Capoue completed 89% of 121 passes...even in our most dominant games in 2011 with Modders and Parker I don't remember having that kind of control of the ball.

Question for everyone - with Capoue putting in those kind of numbers do we need to spend 20 odd million on Schneiderlin?

 

[davidmatzdorf]

We dropped points at home to Wigan, Sunderland, West Ham, West Brom and Blackpool. We had home draws against Arsenal, Man Yoo, Chelsea, Man City and Everton. We lost at Bolton, West Ham and Blackpool, dropping points at Birmingham, Wolves and Wigan. We lost at City, Chelsea, Everton and Man Utd. We needed 7 points to get to 69 points (what we managed last season). You can isolate any of those lines and blame it.

BC said we 'lost half our home matches', which is bollocks,or rather 'demonstrable nonsense'. As I have a spreadsheet of Spurs results, I 'demonstrated' it: in 2011/12, our home league record was 13 wins, 3 draws, 3 losses.

Where we lost away is irrelevant to the issue. The initial comment was about home results and was false.

For your information: in 2011/12, we beat Wigan at home 3-1; we beat Sunderland at home 1-0; we beat West Brom at home 1-0; West Ham weren't in the Premiership; Blackpool weren't in the Premiership.

I think you're looking at records of the wrong season.

 

[kcmei]

Is it just me who thought eriksen was the best player in that match

 

[Samson]

BC said we 'lost half our home matches', which is bollocks,or rather 'demonstrable nonsense'. As I have a spreadsheet of Spurs results, I 'demonstrated' it: in 2011/12, our home league record was 13 wins, 3 draws, 3 losses.

Where we lost away is irrelevant to the issue. The initial comment was about home results and was false.

For your information: in 2011/12, we beat Wigan at home 3-1; we beat Sunderland at home 1-0; we beat West Brom at home 1-0; West Ham weren't in the Premiership; Blackpool weren't in the Premiership.

I think you're looking at records of the wrong season.

Ah, you're right and he and I are wrong. But he plainly meant 2010-11, when we failed to win half our home games, which were the games I quoted.

 

[Mr Pink]

Personally I thought we pressed well in the first half.

 

[skiba]

Went to the game and then straight to Carnival so pretty wasted! All I can say is thank you MoPo because that was the most enjoyable experience I have had at White hart Lane since we demolished newcastle 5-1. I have no expectations this season and my main aim was just to enjoy watching us play again and today didn't disappoint! I look at 1 to 11 and I can honestly say there was not a bad performance from anyone! Ratings:

lloris: 6 Had nothing to do but reliable when called upon.
Dier: 7 Very good, Walker and Naughton have a job on their hands to replace him as 1st choice right back.
Kaboul: 7 Never really tested but dealt well with the majority of things thrown at him.
Vertonghen: 8: Pure class, dealt with everything defensively and showed some good attacking intent with some good runs and aggressive interceptions.
Rose: 7 Never going to be techinaclly pleasing on the eye but worked tirelessly up the left flank all day. A good shift and a well deserved assist.
Bentsleb: 7 Neat and tidy as always, a few sloppy passes but he is young and learning, showed great determination to win the ball back when he made a mistake and as a fan I will always appreciate that.
Capoue: 7 A bit careless with some passes but generally ran the show. Good performance and more to come.
Chadli: 8 Didn't really notice him much but popped up with a couple of goals and a superb ball for rose to set up the third. Good performance!
Eiksen: 8 What impressed me the most today was his off the ball work. I felt he really put himself about today. He is never going to dominate physically and will lose a lot of battles but today he put in the effort and I think he played a huge role in us dominating that game. Really unlucky with the free kick as well. A beauty!
Lamela: 9 Wow, the scary thing is there is way more to come from him. Put in a huge shift today and deserved a goal MOM.
Adebayor: Great hold up play as always and a nice goal, think he could improve his game if he released the ball a bit earlier.
Subs:
Dembele: 6 Looks like he needs to shed some weight but showed some nice touches.
Kane: 6 Decent cameo
Soldado: Nice flick but came on when we were tiring, never really got involved.

All in all a great day at the lane. More of the same please Poch. And to all you Lamela haters

 

[mpickard2087]

A very good way to kick things off at the Lane this season. That first half in particular was one of the best we have seen in a very long time. Yes QPR were poor and offered us far too much time and space, but you can only beat what is in front of you and it was nice for a change that the team was able to somewhat express itself and make easy work of it. Too often in recent seasons we have found things a struggle in these sorts of games.

I was encouraged by a lot of what I saw. Whilst we kept the ball patiently when required, there were also plenty of occasions where we broke forward quickly and flooded men forward. It wasn't all one paced and this is the sort of thing that you need to do in order to do damage against the lesser teams... Have the ability to go through the gears when you spot an opportunity and catch them off guard.

Allied to a more varied passing game, the movement and interchanging of position was also encouraging. Players always seemed to have an option when on the ball and the swapping of positions allowed us to run them ragged. We weren't rigid and predictable. Its been one of our major problems over the last few years and to see early signs of progress in this regard is very good to see.

The pressing game was still not as extreme as what Poch employed at Southampton, maybe this is still to come, but there was still decent pressure on the ball and all individuals put in a good shift to try and win the ball back. We even got the first goal through hassling them and forcing a mistake. There is work to do, but we often won the ball back quickly and I feel us pressing higher up the pitch will come with time.

There will be tougher tests to come, but this was a good performance early in the season and lays down a marker. Now to build on it...

Lloris - Very little to do.

Dier - Looks a very good prospect. Comfortable on the ball and is solid defensively. Well done for those involved in identifying him and snapping him up.

Kaboul - Couple of shaky moments where he made bad decisions but did pretty well.

Vertonghen - Very encouraging performance. Countless interceptions and looked easy for him out there. He needs to keep up this level of performance...

Rose - Best game he has had for us. Very good performance. Looks calmer and more confident in his play now he doesn't have to patrol the whole of the left side by himself.

Capoue - Always available for the ball and knitted everything together. Like Vertonghen it looked all too easy for him.

Bentaleb - A few loose passes, but at his age a player will lose concentration on occasion. For the most part he was always available and used the ball well and provided a good platform in midfield alongside Capoue. It was also noticeable to me that he showed a bit more bite in the tackle and broke up play better today. Improving all the time.

Eriksen - A decent outing. Unlucky not to score with his freekick. Was better with his work off the ball today, quite a few interceptions.

Lamela - Very lively and was dangerous throughout. The cross for the 3rd goal was exquisite. What's most encouraging is his workrate, he closes down with intent. With the ball I still think he was a bit wasteful at times (especially second half) and can still improve quite a lot further than this, but a very good performance today.

Chadli - Two well taken goals, plus a nice pass to put Rose away for the 4th goal. He seemed to be everywhere on the pitch and provides a good balance for us as he offers another option that gets in the box to finish off chances which is what we need. Good start to the season for him and hopefully he builds on it.

Adebayor - Seems as if the West Ham game blew away the cobwebs. That was more like it from him today. Lively, wanted the ball, had a spring in his step and worked hard. Play like that (or better, which he can) and he is a nailed on starter.

Subs:
None of them really had a great impact. Dembele was ok, the two striker didn't have a great deal of time on the pitch.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

This is, of course, demonstrable nonsense.

BC said we 'lost half our home matches', which is bollocks,or rather 'demonstrable nonsense'. As I have a spreadsheet of Spurs results, I 'demonstrated' it: in 2011/12, our home league record was 13 wins, 3 draws, 3 losses.

Where we lost away is irrelevant to the issue. The initial comment was about home results and was false.

For your information: in 2011/12, we beat Wigan at home 3-1; we beat Sunderland at home 1-0; we beat West Brom at home 1-0; West Ham weren't in the Premiership; Blackpool weren't in the Premiership.

I think you're looking at records of the wrong season.

I do beg your pardons. I was of course meaning 2010-11 under Redknapp when we failed to win half our home games and failed to beat a plethora of shite teams.

 

[nferno]

Lamela motm.

Shout out to DRose, really thought he was gonna be a spoilt brat about the Davies signing... What a turnaround! Awesome last few games, hope he keeps it up.

 

[beats1]

Question for everyone - with Capoue putting in those kind of numbers do we need to spend 20 odd million on Schneiderlin?

I agree, people keep saying Schneiderlin is a great passer based on the same stats. I don't see schneiderlin as this great passer as some people say and think him Capoue isn't going to improve the team.

Though Schneiderlin may improve the team being better defensively