Match Ratings Ratings vs Watford

[kaz Hirai]

We’re becoming the next Arsenal, but without the trophy years.

I'd take that for now if it meant top 4 finishes every time considering but 10 years ago we were in a 2 points from 8 games mess .

But we really need to start to push when we're settled in the new stadium. What was a very young team isn't looking so young anymore

 

[nedley]

Lucas, Trippier and Verts were decent, the rest were pants.

Trips was poor to his own standards.

Couldn't cross a road today.

 

[southlondonyiddo]

Completely controlled the game for 70 odd minutes with Watford offering zero threat. Went 1-0 up luckily and all started congratulating each other for winning 4 on the bounce

Unfortunately the game lasts 90 mins and Watford had other ideas, got stuck in a bit, put us under the first bit of pressure in the entire game and 2 set pieces later that win at Old Trafford meant sweet fa

That performance summed up why this manager and squad have done nothing yet!

Oh dear Spurs. Muppets

Tripps my MOTM today. Solid, professional performance,unlike most of the others

 

[stov]

This is what happens when there is no competition for places. Complaincency

 

[spids]

Vorm 6
Trippier 7
Aldereiweld 6
Sanchez 7
Verts 6
Davies 5
Dembele 5
Eriksen 5
Dele 6
Moura 7
Kane 5

Poch 4

We looked over confident and had no urgency from the first minute. A soon as Watford realised we were not up for a physical battle they smashed and grabbed three points. Changes from Poch were way too little and way too late. Verts the player at fault for their first goal, well ..... Dembele gets shared credit for conceding a stupid, stupid foul on the edge of our box. But Verts took a massive step towards our goal when the cross came in and never was close to Deeney who he was supposed to be marking. Pathetic defending of set pieces for both goals. And if they hadn't scored an OG we would not have scored if we were still playing now.

 

[Japhet]

I think we need to stop with the Lucas/Kane experiment. Especially against teams that sit back. While Lucas's pace is a weapon and can cause damage, why mess with the entire system just to put him up top? He was great against Utd, but most of the damage was done when Utd were behind and he had acres of space to run into. Against a team like Watford we're betting the house on him receiving an absolutely perfect pass. It might work but it's such a low percentage tactic and forces other players like Kane, Eriksen and Alli to drop deeper and diminishes their attacking threat. We should be building a system that maximises the threat of our most lethal weapon: Kane, not copying the exact tactic that gave him little to no service at the World Cup in partnering him up top with a little speed merchant.

It's frustrating that the one manager in world football who watched England at the World Cup and thought "they're really onto something there..." seems to be Pochettino.

I don't think we need to stop it. It's horses for courses. Poch just needs to know when it's a flat race and when it's over the jumps.

 

[ohtottenham!]

Kane did ok considering his service was basically nil. Davies, Trips, Eriksen and Alli the biggest offenders today imo.

I don't think Kane did ok at all. Sluggish and way off his game. Also slow to react to knock ons and balls won in the air by Lucas. It wasn't a predatory Kane out there today, anticipating and reading plays and moving accordingly. Agree he wasn't helped by lack of service, but I don't think Trips was among the offenders you mention.

We were awful, from how we set up with our back three and how we had a complete absence of craft and energy in our midfield.

 

[THX2208]

Kane did ok considering his service was basically nil. Davies, Trips, Eriksen and Alli the biggest offenders today imo.

I think Kane was pretty awful today! Yes he wasn't helped by the lack of service but he looked slow and way way off the pace of the game!!!

 

[SdB]

Eriksen has got a vote. WTF

 

[Colston]

Eriksen has got a vote. WTF

Yep, I gave it to him for being the only player on the pitch who dared to shoot around their box. The thing I remember most about todays game is screaming FUCKING SHOOT ALREADY like fifty times when they were doing what I like to call the AVB shuffle which is passing it back and forth around the box with everyone going, no u, no u, no u, and then end up passing it back to either Jan or Toby for a hoof for when we inevitably end up under pressure.

Fucking clueless tactically and the most hollow "motm" award ever given so who really cares anyway? AVB esque performance today.
How our players expect to be given any sort of respect from opposition defenders when all they do is pussy out every time they get a clear shot at goal is fucking mind boggling.

 

[SdB]

Yep, I gave it to him for being the only player on the pitch who dared to shoot around their box. The thing I remember most about todays game is screaming FUCKING SHOOT ALREADY like fifty times when they were doing what I like to call the AVB shuffle which is passing it back and forth around the box with everyone going, no u, no u, no u, and then end up passing it back to either Jan or Toby for a hoof for when we inevitably end up under pressure.

Fucking clueless tactically and the most hollow "motm" award ever given so who really cares anyway? AVB esque performance today.

His shooting today was as pathetic as his tackling

He was a wage thief today

 

[Colston]

His shooting today was as pathetic as his tackling

He was a wage thief today

So was everyone else.

At least he had the balls to try something. To put himself out there for criticism, instead of doing the shuffle to Alli or Dembele and let them take the responsibility for him.

 

[SdB]

Trips was poor to his own standards.

Couldn't cross a road today.

Apart from the one which he put on a plate for Kane

 

[THX2208]

Please, please stop playing 352, especially against teams who don't want to dominate the ball against us. If you want to go 3 at the back, go with a 3421 (and before someone says it again, no, they aren't the same.) If you want to go two up front, play a diamond or 4222. Fuck, play a narrow 442. Anything but 352.

Vorm 6 - No hope with the goals. Didn't have much else to do.

Alderweireld 6 - More creative than the front 5.
Sanchez 6 - Had a terrible 10-15 minutes. He really needs to stop trying to outmuscle people. It rarely works and he often end up on his arse, or at least the wrong side.
Vertonghen 5 - Not good.

Tripper 6 - Some decent crosses that didn't pan out. Defended fine unless I'm forgetting something...?
Davies 5 - Not a wing back. Offered nothing going forward. Didn't have much to do defensively but I was still worried about it.

Dembele 5 - Wasn't at the races. The majority of it was his fault, but the formation doesn't help his cause (did I mention I hate 352?).
Eriksen 6 - Always probing but very little quality.
Alli 5 - Held onto the ball longer than Elizabeth II has held onto the crown. Done some good things (pass to Kane, pass to Moura, unlucky with the header), but was awful with the rest. Needs to be played higher to utilise his best traits.

Moura 6 - A lot of endeavour, not a lot of end product.
Kane 5 - Nope.

I'm a big believer in the 3 at the back but only against teams that will match us for quality. Should have been playing a 4231. Just opinion, what do I know. Most ofamous my knowledge comes from Fifa 18 ❤

 

[SEANSPURS1975]

Who can hold their head up after that shocking performance? Not many, if any.
Trippier, Vertonghen and Lucas possibly.
Some including Poch need to take a long look at themselves.
Where are the leaders when things are going wrong?
Where are the tactics/substitutions when it’s clearly going wrong?
You’d hope performances like this were a thing of the past. Clearly not.
Hopefully just a blip and if we beat Liverpool convincingly like last year this defeat can be forgotten.
As Poch said ‘A wake up call’.

 

[THX2208]

This was the team I was 100% sure he would with.....

 

[MattPhilpott]

Vorm - Didn’t have masses to do beside to pick the ball out twice. Nothing to be done about the first, could be better on the second.

Trippier - Good threat, crossing wasn’t up to usual standard though, but looked bright throughout

Jan, Toby, Dav - Decided to group these guys together as, during open play, I thought these guys played really well and contained the big lads up top very comfortably. However on set pieces these guys were poor, both their goals were so so easy.

Davies - Like the boy, but we will never win the league with Davies as our left back

Dembele - Had some good battles with Doucoure, and some nice touches but just wasn’t himself today

Eriksen - Pretty weak performance imo. Played a tasty ball for Sanchez at the end of the 1st, but generally was pretty sloppy. If we are going to play him deeper, we need him playing with Wanyama or Dier as him and Dembele aren’t an effective pair, if you play 2 in front of a back 3, you need 1 who is just going to sit and let the other move.

Alli - Tried it all but none came off, needs to simplify it at times! Thank you god he was ruled out for offside in the 1st for that awful miss.

Moura - My MOTM (from a poor selection) today. Lively and always trying to make things happen, Kabasele did well to shut him down. Potential penalty shout in the 1st, unlucky not to make more happen.

Kane - Looks exhausted, bit of a wake up call I think, needs to learn how to play with others alongside him, feel like him and Lucas struggle to work as one

—
Llorente - Offers nothing. Poor guy.

Winks - Looked zippy, will be a valuable squad player this year! Looking fly in the number 8 too!

If we play that way against Lpool we will be embarrassed, but with hopefully Sonny back, Lamela, Sissoko, Winks, Lloris back in Goal, our squad will looked much denser than today.

Side note: Is Gkn registered to play? Or not?

 

[Nerine]

Ooof. Didn't see the game today. Was gigging, (thankfully by the sounds of things). This reads like an absolute fucking shit show.

COYS, I guess.

Won't bother with MOTD later.

Fucking Watford for fucks sake...

 

[double0]

I think we need to stop with the Lucas/Kane experiment. Especially against teams that sit back. While Lucas's pace is a weapon and can cause damage, why mess with the entire system just to put him up top? He was great against Utd, but most of the damage was done when Utd were behind and he had acres of space to run into. Against a team like Watford we're betting the house on him receiving an absolutely perfect pass. It might work but it's such a low percentage tactic and forces other players like Kane, Eriksen and Alli to drop deeper and diminishes their attacking threat. We should be building a system that maximises the threat of our most lethal weapon: Kane, not copying the exact tactic that gave him little to no service at the World Cup in partnering him up top with a little speed merchant.

It's frustrating that the one manager in world football who watched England at the World Cup and thought "they're really onto something there..." seems to be Pochettino.

Lucas Isn't just a pacy player he is a dribbler so against parked the bus teams he can mix it.

My issue was the change of system, slightly understood because Dier was out...however I think it's important Pochettinho is allowed to be flexible for the good in the long run.

I personally much prefer 4231 with Dier being the most important player in this system believe it or not, for that system flexibility to work.

 

[@Bobby__Lucky]

I really think today was a mentality issue. First half was like a training game, good touches, spray the ball about but no real desire to win, and i detect a hint of vanity. Maybe head was in the clouds after Monday. Bet Maurice was pissed.

Vorm…did ok
Trippier….Nice touches, nice skills, has got a bit of swagger about him since the world cup which i like and although not his best game was just about the best of bad bunch.
Davies…was ok, some nice balls, kept high up especially in first half. was ok.
Toby & Jan…Toby played some nice balls, Jan looked imperious at times…but the goals against us were poorly defended.
Sanchez…same, but without the good bits as above.
Dembele…Taxi. Never A DM, poor decision to play him there IMHO. LOve Dembele but his desire is with the ball not without it. A vanity player, which i dearly love but it was painful day for him and my eyes watching him.
Eriksen…was he playing? Poor game.
Alli…did ok, played decent, and tried.
Moura.. Another very decent game from him. If Kane wasn't lazy with his pass from the left he would of scored. Ran, ran and ran, was a nuisance, tried hard and was easily our most dangerous player. Nice one Lucas, ran Trippier very very close.
Kane. That lazy pass summed him up today. Didn't do anything of note. He doesn't impress me the way he used to, and hasn't for a long time. I really want to see THAT player again, i don't know where he is but please stand up.

Llorente….hummmmmm.
Winks. Played with the desire that Kane used to. Looked lively and that run was sensational till he reached the edge of the box and lost his head/way. NET, but well done Winksy, you shone in the dying embers of the rest of the team.
Rose…Why ? Why? Why? Poch should of just left that sub… Showed our lack of depth and was frankly an embarrassing moment for him the team and the club.

Poch… Poor set up today. Dembele at DM? Poor decision. Watford are physical team, it makes no sense. The team were poor, but felt Pochs set up was an accident waiting to happen. Where was the mentality? The team were lame.