Ratings Vs Sunderland & MOTM

[Mr Pink]

Mason MOTM for me. Showed aggression and a determination that many others around him seem to lack for large spells and of course his desire and skill for the goal. Dier was good again though, he really is impressing me.

We really did struggle for 75 minutes of that game and the subs obviously made a huge difference. Firstly Lamela, and his ability to play the ball first time makes a huge difference. Instead of pondering on the ball, passing side to side and backwards - he pings incisive passes forward first time. What a difference that made, and the goal epitomized that skill.

We started moving the ball faster and guess what, our movement improved as a result. Its this slow passing which is the problem....it just doesn't get the team in a sprightly mood and the movement becomes ponderous and predictable. Lamela and Townsend's willingness to commit a man really did affect our whole dynamic.

Townsend has frustrated me massively in a Spurs shirt if truth to be told. He's got talent but his lack of intelligence has been his achilles heel. Today I saw a real improvement in that sense, specifically when he fainted and slipped Kane in - the right choice. Last season he's looking to get the shot off even if he doesn't have the space and clear sight of goal to do so. So fair play to him, he made a difference and his overall game looked smarter and above all reflected a need to put the team first above his own acclaim. Lets hope this is a sign of things to come.

We do have to remember that this is a very young squad and we'll grow and get stronger as the season wears on but Pochettino has to start geting them playing with more urgency. This is his style and we're not seeing enough of it. He's made changes and developed the team more to his liking now but we need to see more evidence of the team responding to his coaching. We've got some very capable, strong technical types and we'll always be able to knock the ball around proficiently but we need more urgency, cohesion and genuine threat. That's up to the manager to get right and this is a big season for Poch. He did make the right subs today and that paid off though.

Lloris 6 didn't have that much to do, doesn't always look comfortable in dealing with passes back to him

Walker 7 thought he was good today, defending strongly on a number of occasions

Toby 5.5 struggled against Defoe and could of given away a penalty on another day

Jan 7 made several good tackles and generally defended very well. Strong and composed.

Davies 6 started off very brightly I thought. Ok overall

Dier 7.5 another really good game. Not quite the same standard of performance he put in against Everton, but some great tackles and fine positioning/reading of the game.

Mason 8 MOTM the goal was obviously fantastic, the movement, interchange and finish - sublime. He passed the ball well, and was always trying to get us on the front foot. I like that he plays with real bite and loves a tackle, it can lift the team at any given moment. He has all of the all round ingredients to become a really dynamic midfielder at this level and the goal came about because of his desire to break the lines, we're not seeing enough of this in general and its a large part of our problem. Great game.

Son 6 started off well, some nice touches and delivered one wicked ball in from a free kick. Seemed to lose his way a little, understandably, as he lost the ball as his touch looked off under pressure. Will obviously take some time to settle and we might even see him on the left for Chadli in some games.

Alli 6.5 showed some great touches and lovely bits off skill. I also love the energy he brings. Wasn't massively productive but given how slow we were playing as a team for long periods of the game it wasn't that much of a surprise. He'll make it with us though, that I have no doubt.

Chadli 5 our worst performer today. Spends far too much time on the periphery of the game and his lack of work rate is becoming such a concern. Sometimes he looks a genuine top player, like wow. Other times he barely looks Premier League standard. When he's having an off day he needs to work much harder for the team to warrant his inclusion as a first team selection every week. Something I hope Pochettino addresses because its starting to look like he's playing like a player who knows he's a cert to start regardless.

Kane 6 becoming too greedy for my liking but I think a lot of it is to do with the pressure of getting off the mark. Was involved in the lovely interchange for the goal though - with Lamela and Mason obviously, but also spurned a great chance. Looks rusty and jaded at times also, but he'll always put in a bit of a shift unlike Chadli.

Lamela/Townsend 7 both had a big positive impact and helped changed the game for us.

 

[JimmyG2]

Clean sheet,away win,what more do you people want,
Well quicker thought, passing and movement for a start.
But let it go
Might just kick start our season although Mauricio needs to kick start one or two of the players.

Lloris............5.........Lucky boy today, but let the record show a clean sheet.
Walker..........6.........Gave us width and has the pace to remedy his own errors
Elderweired...6..........Not so assured today but some good positive forward vision
Vertonghen...7+.......Slowly emerging as a most capable defender.
Davies...........6+.......Did ok today but not a Rose by any other name
Dier...............7+.......Still can't use the dier performance joke.Likes a scrap
Mason...........8.........Good performance capped by the winner. Wants the ball and tries to use it.
Son...............5+.......Tidy start but doesn't look the answer to our creative and goals coring problems.
.................................Early days. Looks better on you tube,
Alli.................6,.........Great to see him start but disappointed in the main.
Chadli...........4..........And a poor four at that. First in the arse kicking queue.
Harry.............5..........Played too deep,head down. Me and the missis will have a chat with our adopted son later
..................................Knew he'd need some TLC this season
Townsend and Lamela both staked claims for starting. T caused havoc and L. was crucial part of the Mason goal

Looking boringly mid-table at the moment. Get well soon Christian. If Mason and Bentaleb are out next week
we will struggle. Who'd have thought it!

 

[yiddo23]

Think we looked quite poor today, midfield seemed to sit off and too close to the defence allowing sunderland to charge through the middle area of the pitch. Really not liking our play this year so far...

Mason for me easily MOM...was productive, aggressive accurate in passing and all of our best moments involved him.

Dier was very good also was Sky's MOM and was very efficient.

Townsend was very good when he came on. Nice one Andros,

Alli was pretty lame.

Son looked very very good in patches...which were quite rare, but good potential and worth noting an excellent weight of pass at times.

Kane...much effort, did ok.

everyone one else was somewhere between lame and ok.

Lol you said the midfield was the worst part of us today, and our two midfielders were our best performers

 

[Bobbins]

Mason
Dier
Townsend
Lamela
Davies
Lloris
Vertonghen
Walker
Alli
Toby
Son
Kane
Chadli

 

[mckenz]

Mason, then Dier for me


Scrappy game and the team looked a bit terrified in the first half.... I guess its the sign of a young team.

Good subs and a good finish to the game, with a bit more team confidence I could see us scoring 2-3 more in that final 20 minutes.


Oh and Alli looks proper good AND a bit of a nasty bastard. Nice

 

[THOWIG]

It's all about finding the right formula isn't it. I don't like talking in formations, but I wasn't sure what our shape was in the first half. Son isn't Eriksen. He's a forward and should be played high up the pitch. I thought Sunderland were a bit dirty in the first half and got away with some bad challenges. They caught us out on the break a number of times and I was pleased that it was rectified in the second half.

6 of our team picks itself i.e. Lloris, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Dier, Mason and Kane. We can argue about who are the best fullbacks but there isn't a great deal between them. It's the other three positions which we need to nail down ASAP.

Anyway:

Lloris-6 I thought he put us under pressure too many times today with poor distribution.

Walker-7 nothing wrong defensively, but didn't offer enough going forward.
Alderweireld- 6 Bit shaky but I feel a lot more secure with him and Vertonghen at the back.
Vertonghen-8 Best I've seen him in a long time. My only wish is that he'd attack more from deep as he's capable of offering a lot more.
Davies- 7 See Walker

Dier-8 Thank god we didn't waste 20 mil on Wanyama.
Mason-8 He looks even better this season. Not convinced he's a deep lying playmaker.
Son-6 Tough Debut, but he will improve when he's playing as a forward.
Alli-7 Looks a real prospect. Again not entirely sure what his best position is.
Chadli-6 So frustrating. Offered nothing in the first half and then could have scored at least twice in the second.

Kane-7 I'm so surprised to see such low scores for Kane. He had no service and worked so hard. He's such an intelligent player.

 

[matthew.absurdum]

Actually Kane was involved in the build-up of the goal. I think he deserves at least a 6

 

[Cooko]

Dier, Verts, Mason 7
Everyone else not called Chadli 6
Chadli 1

Pochettino 0
If this guy has a plan I'd like to know it. And more importantly so would the players....

 

[Jamturk]

I thought Kane was great today, was everywhere I wonder how many touches he had.

The real modern Striker/forward

The goals will come.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Attack of the Clones

How ironic that we get our first three points of the season from our most disjointed and incoherent performance. An even bigger irony is that such chaotic and incoherent mess was won courtesy of one of the one of, if not, the most beautiful goals we have scored under Pochettono's reign. A sequence that began with Mason on the left side of the pitch, he then interchanges a few more passes whilst moving right and then centrally, and the move ends with a sequence again, initiated by Mason in which he exchanges passes with Lamela, Kane (who probably for the first time in the game takes just one touch), Lamela again (with a sweet incisive through ball) and runs through and dinks the keeper.

If there was a better goal scored this weekend I haven't seen it.

It was a beautiful moment of clarity in what had been a Jackson Pollock of game. It was like Pochettino had gone to the ACME robot factory and ordered 4 clones to play in the attacking roles. As a result we had four incredibly similar types of player, all doing incredibly similar things continually. Four tall poles of players often taking poor first touches, then trying to run blindly through walls of players. There was no subtlety, no craft, no vision, just four battering rams blundering away.

There was also no control in midfield. I was castigated for laughing at Dier's choice of MOTM by the Sky idiot pundit. But he was part of the problem not a solution worthy an award. He is incapable of pressing the ball higher up the pitch because he so easy to turn when there is plenty of pitch. Yes, he made 8 tackles, but 6 of them were made in our 25 yard defensive zone. And the guy received the ball 20 times. 20 times. (For comparison, Mason received the ball 68 times) He completed 23 of his measly 26 passes in the defensive and middle third.

People with limited imagination are accusing me of some kind of agenda against Dier. Let me make this clear. I like Dier very much as a young, developing CB. I think he has good qualities to make an excellent CB. He's robust, tenacious, mature for his age, and for a CB he's got decent technique and level of comfort on the ball required.

But as a CM in a CM2 in Pochetino's "philosophy" he is not right. We need two who can press, continually look to receive the ball, continually move it, be dynamic and multi-functional. Most of all they need to be pro-active, not just reactive, and Dier is just too reactive for this system

Of course you will never get two Matic's, never get the perfect "2", there will always be some kind of compromise and variation of skills in the 2, but with Dier it is too lopsided in functionality, and today, his lack of dynamism and inability to show for the ball was a major factor in why we struggled throughout to exert any control, or cohesion onto this game. For much of the first 60 minutes it was like a 514 formation, with everyone chasing the ball up one end, then when those fuckwits lost it almost immediately it was chased up the other where Sunderland's fuckwits lost it, repeated adfinitum.

One of the few shining lights for us in this game was Mason. In amongst all the headless chaos, whilst not exactly a tower, he was at least a diminutive beacon of footballing sanity. How the hell he didn't get MOTM I have no idea. Vertonghen was also pretty good in amongst all the chaos.

Pochettino's substitutions continue to baffle. That game was crying out for some brains, a player who would put his foot on the ball, play with his head up, show for the ball and do something constructive with it. I appreciate that Townsend did OK when he came on, and Lamela, not for the first time, provided the vital moment of incision. But I would have had Carroll on for the ever decreasing Alli (who IMO was even less influential than the infuriating Chadli) before considering either of them. He would have provided the industry and composure needed and is also at least as capable as Lamela and far more likely than Townsend to provide a moment of incision too.

In game that desperately needed an intelligence infusion, Pochettino's diagnosis seemed to be to make an intelligence extraction, or at best just exchange fuckwit fluids.

The more the second half wore on, largely thanks to Mason's industry and, eventually, ingenuity we were exerting more sustained control and Sunderland's threat had pretty much blown itself out. But lets not kid ourselves, they are one of the few genuinely shit teams left in this league, and if we'd played with proper midfielders - even gone with a 3 with Dier sitting in the middle of Mason and Winks say, we could and should have had more control over that game. That game could have been lost before we'd even had a shot on target.

There was no cohesive work with or without the ball for the first hour. They were allowed acres of space at times as people like Chadli & Alli stood off and Dier retreated to the edge of our 18 yard line.

With Bentaleb out, I pray Mason recovers quickly or we may be seeing Dier and Wimmer in CM next week.

Individual mutterings:

Lloris - OK

Walker - Was decent generally today and got in a good position and picked out Son.

Alderweireld - OK

Vertonghen - Pretty composed game amongst the hubbub.

Davies - Meh

Dier - Some last ditch tackling but not a whole lot else.

Mason - The more I replay his goal in my head the higher in my all time favourite goals it gets. This was a wonderful footballing goal, the likes of which we don't score too often. He was constantly in motion and his industry got what it deserved. Easily the MOTM

Chadli - Infuriating as he is, and fuck knows he is, I thought he was our liveliest attacker today. It's just a shame that his brain/foot coordination lets him down frequently when it matters the most. He did play a couple of good balls, like the one that put Walker in.

Alli - I think he was pretty poor today, didn't contribute enough with or without the ball and should have been first off. And his pressing is very reminiscent of Chadli's. I don't know why he was preferred to Carroll in that 1o role. Whilst not perfect, Carroll is vastly more experienced, a clever little player who plays with his head up and is constantly showing and looking to play clever, progressive, vertical passes.

Son - He put in effort, but like all our attackers, was pretty ineffectual and lacking in poise today.

Kane - Lots of huff and puff with lots of poor decisions too. He's got to do the simple thing sometimes instead of trying to be the fucking hero. The one time he laid off a simple one touch ball we scored.

Subs - All did OK, with Lamela once again proving to be one of our few truly incisive footballers, despite his flaws.

 

[Jamturk]

Attack of the Clones

How ironic that we get our first three points of the season from our most disjointed and incoherent performance. An even bigger irony is that such chaotic and incoherent mess was won courtesy of one of the one of, if not, the most beautiful goals we have scored under Pochettono's reign. A sequence that began with Mason on the left side of the pitch, he then interchanges a few more passes whilst moving right and then centrally, and the move ends with a sequence again, initiated by Mason in which he exchanges passes with Lamela, Kane (who probably for the first time in the game takes just one touch), Lamela again (with a sweet incisive through ball) and runs through and dinks the keeper.

If there was a better goal scored this weekend I haven't seen it.

It was a beautiful moment of clarity in what had been a Jackson Pollock of game. It was like Pochettino had gone to the ACME robot factory and ordered 4 clones to play in the attacking roles. As a result we had four incredibly similar types of player, all doing incredibly similar things continually. Four tall poles of players often taking poor first touches, then trying to run blindly through walls of players. There was no subtlety, no craft, no vision, just four battering rams blundering away.

There was also no control in midfield. I was castigated for laughing at Dier's choice of MOTM by the Sky idiot pundit. But he was part of the problem not a solution worthy an award. He is incapable of pressing the ball higher up the pitch because he so easy to turn when there is plenty of pitch. Yes, he made 8 tackles, but 6 of them were made in our 25 yard defensive zone. And the guy received the ball 20 times. 20 times. (For comparison, Mason received the ball 68 times) He completed 23 of his measly 26 passes in the defensive and middle third.

People with limited imagination are accusing me of some kind of agenda against Dier. Let me make this clear. I like Dier very much as a young, developing CB. I think he has good qualities to make an excellent CB. He's robust, tenacious, mature for his age, and for a CB he's got decent technique and level of comfort on the ball required.

But as a CM in a CM2 in Pochetino's "philosophy" he is not right. We need two who can press, continually look to receive the ball, continually move it, be dynamic and multi-functional. Most of all they need to be pro-active, not just reactive, and Dier is just too reactive for this system

Of course you will never get two Matic's, never get the perfect "2", there will always be some kind of compromise and variation of skills in the 2, but with Dier it is too lopsided in functionality, and today, his lack of dynamism and inability to show for the ball was a major factor in why we struggled throughout to exert any control, or cohesion onto this game. For much of the first 60 minutes it was like a 514 formation, with everyone chasing the ball up one end, then when those fuckwits lost it almost immediately it was chased up the other where Sunderland's fuckwits lost it, repeated adfinitum.

One of the few shining lights for us in this game was Mason. In amongst all the headless chaos, whilst not exactly a tower, he was at least a diminutive beacon of footballing sanity. How the hell he didn't get MOTM I have no idea. Vertonghen was also pretty good in amongst all the chaos.

Pochettino's substitutions continue to baffle. That game was crying out for some brains, a player who would put his foot on the ball, play with his head up, show for the ball and do something constructive with it. I appreciate that Townsend did OK when he came on, and Lamela, not for the first time, provided the vital moment of incision. But I would have had Carroll on for the ever decreasing Alli (who IMO was even less influential than the infuriating Chadli) before considering either of them. He would have provided the industry and composure needed and is also at least as capable as Lamela and far more likely than Townsend to provide a moment of incision too.

In game that desperately needed an intelligence infusion, Pochettino's diagnosis seemed to be to make an intelligence extraction, or at best just exchange fuckwit fluids.

The more the second half wore on, largely thanks to Mason's industry and, eventually, ingenuity we were exerting more sustained control and Sunderland's threat had pretty much blown itself out. But lets not kid ourselves, they are one of the few genuinely shit teams left in this league, and if we'd played with proper midfielders - even gone with a 3 with Dier sitting in the middle of Mason and Winks say, we could and should have had more control over that game. That game could have been lost before we'd even had a shot on target.

There was no cohesive work with or without the ball. They were allowed acres of space at times as people like Chadli & Alli stood off and Dier retreated to the edge of our 18 yard line.

With Bentaleb out, I pray Mason recovers quickly or we may be seeing Dier and Wimmer in CM next week.

Individual mutterings:

Lloris - OK

Walker - OK

Alderweireld - OK

Vertonghen - Pretty composed game amongst the hubbub.

Davies - Meh

Dier - Some last ditch tackling but not a whole lot else.

Mason - The more I replay his goal in my head the higher in my all time favourite goals it gets. This was a wonderful footballing goal, the likes of which we don't score too often. He was constantly in motion and his industry got what it deserved. Easily the MOTM

Chadli - Infuriating as he is, and fuck knows he is, I thought he was our liveliest attacker today. It's just a shame that his brain/foot coordination lets him down frequently when it matters the most. He did play a couple of good balls, like the one that put Walker in.

Alli - I think he was pretty poor today, didn't contribute enough with or without the ball and should have been first off. And his pressing is very reminiscent of Chadli's. I don't know why he was preferred to Carroll in that 1o role. Whilst not perfect, Carroll is vastly more experienced, a clever little player who plays with his head up and is constantly showing and looking to play clever, progressive, vertical passes.

Son - He put in effort, but like all our attackers, was pretty ineffectual and lacking in poise today.

Kane - Lots of huff and puff with lots of poor decisions too. He's got to do the simple thing sometimes instead of trying to be the fucking hero. The one time he laid off a simple one touch ball we scored.

Subs - All did OK, with Lamela once again proving to be one of our few truly incisive footballers.

Pretty much agree with much you have said, I feel we were a bit more direct today maybe this explains the type of front 4 you have complained about.

Think you are being harsh on Kane (still a nipper) a lot on young shoulders. I thought he did very well today without the goals.

Chadli better 2nd half bet he got a rocket up his ass.

Mason was superb.

 

[Ionman34]

Mason MOTM for me. Showed aggression and a determination that many others around him seem to lack for large spells and of course his desire and skill for the goal. Dier was good again though, he really is impressing me.

We really did struggle for 75 minutes of that game and the subs obviously made a huge difference. Firstly Lamela, and his ability to play the ball first time makes a huge difference. Instead of pondering on the ball, passing side to side and backwards - he pings incisive passes forward first time. What a difference that made, and the goal epitomized that skill.

We started moving the ball faster and guess what, our movement improved as a result. Its this slow passing which is the problem....it just doesn't get the team in a sprightly mood and the movement becomes ponderous and predictable. Lamela and Townsend's willingness to commit a man really did affect our whole dynamic.

Townsend has frustrated me massively in a Spurs shirt if truth to be told. He's got talent but his lack of intelligence has been his achilles heel. Today I saw a real improvement in that sense, specifically when he fainted and slipped Kane in - the right choice. Last season he's looking to get the shot off even if he doesn't have the space and clear sight of goal to do so. So fair play to him, he made a difference and his overall game looked smarter and above all reflected a need to put the team first above his own acclaim. Lets hope this is a sign of things to come.

We do have to remember that this is a very young squad and we'll grow and get stronger as the season wears on but Pochettino has to start geting them playing with more urgency. This is his style and we're not seeing enough of it. He's made changes and developed the team more to his liking now but we need to see more evidence of the team responding to his coaching. We've got some very capable, strong technical types and we'll always be able to knock the ball around proficiently but we need more urgency, cohesion and genuine threat. That's up to the manager to get right and this is a big season for Poch. He did make the right subs today and that paid off though.

Lloris 6 didn't have that much to do, doesn't always look comfortable in dealing with passes back to him

Walker 7 thought he was good today, defending strongly on a number of occasions

Toby 5.5 struggled against Defoe and could of given away a penalty on another day

Jan 7 made several good tackles and generally defended very well. Strong and composed.

Davies 6 started off very brightly I thought. Ok overall

Dier 7.5 another really good game. Not quite the same standard of performance he put in against Everton, but some great tackles and fine positioning/reading of the game.

Mason 8 MOTM the goal was obviously fantastic, the movement, interchange and finish - sublime. He passed the ball well, and was always trying to get us on the front foot. I like that he plays with real bite and loves a tackle, it can lift the team at any given moment. He has all of the all round ingredients to become a really dynamic midfielder at this level. Great game.

Son 6 started off well, some nice touches and delivered one wicked ball in from a free kick. Seemed to lose his way a little, understandably, as he lost the ball as his touch looked off under pressure. Will obviously take some time to settle and we might even see him on the left for Chadli in some games.

Alli 6.5 showed some great touches and lovely bits off skill. I also love the energy he brings. Wasn't massively productive but given how slow we were playing as a team for long periods of the game it wasn't that much of a surprise. He'll make it with us though, that I have no doubt.

Chadli 5 our worst performer today. Spends far too much time on the periphery of the game and his lack of work rate is becoming such a concern. Sometimes he looks a genuine top player, like wow. Other times he barely looks Premier League standard. When he's having an off day he needs to work much harder for the team to warrant his inclusion as a first team selection every week. Something I hope Pochettino addresses because its starting to look like he's playing like a player who knows he's a cert to start regardless.

Kane 6 becoming too greedy for my liking but I think a lot of it is to do with the pressure of getting off the mark. Was involved in the lovely interchange for the goal though - with Lamela and Mason obviously, but also spurned a great chance. Looks rusty and jaded at times also, but he'll always put in a bit of a shift unlike Chadli.

Lamela/Townsend 7 both had a big positive impact and helped changed the game for us.

A disjointed performance for me, but I saw some positive signs of things to come, the goal being the pinnacle in this game, 15 passes that had a purpose ending in a quality, composed finish.
It was also clear that the coaching staff have had a word with Townsend and Lamela. Townsend in particular as I think he went outside his man more in this game than all last season! He stretched their defence and created some decent opportunities. Lamela was where I've always said he'd do the most damage, playing in the hole and ghosting into the box. It was a beautifully weighted through ball from him and he was unfortunate not to score.

Yes, probably our worst performance of the season, but I saw signs of further improvement in our forward play.

Considering the pressure those youngsters will have been feeling, Poch stressing the importance of the win, I think they did well.

But they can do a lot better.

 

[The Apprentice]

We were pretty shoddy for most of that game and our front 4's inability to play one touch passing was becoming a joke. Why take one touch when you can take 10 eh?

Dier's continual inclusion in CM just doesn't work. Whilst he charges around (mostly backwards) making challenges, he offers very, very little in terms of ball retention or being involved. In a CM2, we need someone who is more involved.

Mason was a warrior. Lacks composure at times, but if our front 4 showed half his work rate, we'd have a chance.

Kane ran around like a clumsy giraffe, trying to run through people and finding it impossible to play a simple ball. Let's hope this is growing pains.

Chadli, Alli and Son were all pretty ho hum. Simply not enough brains or craft for these three to be our triumvirate. Pritchard, Lamela or Carroll have to play in Eriksens absence. Let's get some IQ in there.

The goal masked an incredibly sloppy and disjointed experience. The 7s being doled out by most people are incredibly generous.

I really don't know what to make of pochettino. He makes counter-intuitive decisions and his remedies are very hit and miss.

Wins a win eh?

 

[THOWIG]

I don't think Dier is playing in a midfield 2. It's more like he's the third centreback, but he's further forward.

 

[walton]

I like the look of Alli, he's got something about him, and his willingness and ability to beat a man through skill rather than pace makes a refreshing change; how Chadli stayed on when Alli was subbed is beyond me.

 

[guiltyparty]

Mason
Dier
Townsend
Lamela
Davies
Lloris
Vertonghen
Walker
Alli
Toby
Son
Kane
Chadli

Bit harsh on Vertonghen for me, thought he had a good game & certainly better than Lloris. Otherwise yeah, and dig the rainbow

 

[danielneeds]

That goal from Mason only furthers my belief that Pritchard should get a chance too. He's cut from the same cloth as Ryan - one and two touch, give it and go.

 

[THOWIG]

That goal from Mason only furthers my belief that Pritchard should get a chance too. He's cut from the same cloth as Ryan - one and two touch, give it and go.

I agree. I don't think we've found the right formula with our attack at all, but we will.

 

[matthew.absurdum]

I don't think Dier is playing in a midfield 2. It's more like he's the third centreback, but he's further forward.

Basically a wanyama with better passing range

 

[danielneeds]

I agree. I don't think we've found the right formula with our attack at all, but we will.

It's funny that although Poch obviously does trust young players, he's also quite conservative too when it comes to the pecking order in the team. I desperately want to see some more players taking responsibility in the final third - whether that be breaking the lines like Mason today or beating their marker.