Match Ratings Ratings vs Wolves

[C1w8]

A guy who reads the game and covers defensively as well as Bentacur, and who scores, assists and delivers incisive passes more. That's not a dig at Bents, it's just that coz he's silky smooth on the ball people overlook his shortcomings yet are ready to stick the knife into PEH at every opportunity. I dreed to think how many points we'd have dropped in the past two season without PEH - he's no Fernandinho or Kante but Jesus wept give the guy some credit.

I cant wait for bissouma to get into the team and see what he can do, but it would not surprise me if its at the expense of bentancour rather than PEH (either way, happy to go with contes decision!).

PEH is stiff, so it sometimes looks awkward and means it will hit a horrible pass here and there, but he puts it all out on the field and comes up with very useful attacking output more often than he gets credit for. Bentancour moves so smoothly but im not convinced his production overall is better.

Will be interesting to see how our midfield evolves over the season.

 

[HNIM]

I went with team effort. Obviously Deki and Ivan were really good but this was a clean sheet in a one goal match and all hands were on deck.

 

[THOWIG]

Perisic by a country mile. The only player in the first half who was playing with the required intensity. If everyone else had played like he did we would have won at a canter. He put in some top quality crosses from only half a yard of space. Top class player. Got another assist again for a Kane goal.

So odd. From where I was first half he didn’t look great. Was cagey. Second half was a different story.

Add a RWB who has pace and can cross plus a midfielder who can pass it quickly forward and we’re onto something.

 

[walworthyid]

Results have obviously been impressive under conte but I am concerned about the number of very poor, flat performances. There have been quite a few, the issue with this more pragmatic style of play, at spurs, is that the fans will only tolerate it while results are good. If we go through a rough patch, particularly at home, the natives will very quickly get restless.

The way we are being dominated by teams is seriously concerning and it is clearly part of our tactical plan. In the first half today we could barely string 2 passes together. There was no link up play, no movement. A better team would have scored and turned the screw.

That being said, we are unbeaten in 9 and have only lost 1 in 14. We should expect an improvement in performances as time goes by and that is certainly reason for optimism. But at present, there are at least 3 teams who look a lot better than us and I am worried about how we will get on once we are playing in the champions league as well.

 

[DenverSpur]

Son, as far back as I can remember, always seems to go thru a poor patch before waking up and really excelling… he’ll come good; if that I’m sure. For me, today, Kulu’s 2nd half performance was the catalyst to the win. Shout out to Emerson too…. Bentacur & peh were the silent heroes for me to… oh, and that new lwb of ours weren’t s’bad

He’s saving himself for the Man City game.
He’s their Bete Noire?.

 

[DenverSpur]

So odd. From where I was first half he didn’t look great. Was cagey. Second half was a different story.

Add a RWB who has pace and can cross plus a midfielder who can pass it quickly forward and we’re onto something.

Seems we saw it differently. I thought he was the only player with any intensity in the first half. He also put in a couple of good crosses in that nobody got on the end of. Of course I’m watching it on the TV whilst you’re at the ground which is a far superior viewpoint.

 

[curlacious]

Results have obviously been impressive under conte but I am concerned about the number of very poor, flat performances. There have been quite a few, the issue with this more pragmatic style of play, at spurs, is that the fans will only tolerate it while results are good. If we go through a rough patch, particularly at home, the natives will very quickly get restless.

The way we are being dominated by teams is seriously concerning and it is clearly part of our tactical plan. In the first half today we could barely string 2 passes together. There was no link up play, no movement. A better team would have scored and turned the screw.

That being said, we are unbeaten in 9 and have only lost 1 in 14. We should expect an improvement in performances as time goes by and that is certainly reason for optimism. But at present, there are at least 3 teams who look a lot better than us and I am worried about how we will get on once we are playing in the champions league as well.

I agree with this. What puzzles me is why Conte has never experimented more with 3-5-2. The time's we've played that way, like away at Leicester last season, was the smoothest, sexiest football I've seen under him. Maybe we just don't have the players for it.

 

[DenverSpur]

Results have obviously been impressive under conte but I am concerned about the number of very poor, flat performances. There have been quite a few, the issue with this more pragmatic style of play, at spurs, is that the fans will only tolerate it while results are good. If we go through a rough patch, particularly at home, the natives will very quickly get restless.

The way we are being dominated by teams is seriously concerning and it is clearly part of our tactical plan. In the first half today we could barely string 2 passes together. There was no link up play, no movement. A better team would have scored and turned the screw.

That being said, we are unbeaten in 9 and have only lost 1 in 14. We should expect an improvement in performances as time goes by and that is certainly reason for optimism. But at present, there are at least 3 teams who look a lot better than us and I am worried about how we will get on once we are playing in the champions league as well.

In reference to the bold section: Chelsea were that “better team” last week and in our poor first half their only goal was from a corner which would have been prevented if Emerson had not been ball watching - our new set piece coach will stamp that out.
I think you underestimate how difficult it is to get behind us and how difficult it is to score against us. Whilst many May bemoan Conte’s tactics he, like all good coaches, knows that successful teams are built from the back. If the opposition can’t score you have a good chance of winning games especially when you have as potent a strike force as we have.

 

[cliff jones]

Results have obviously been impressive under conte but I am concerned about the number of very poor, flat performances. There have been quite a few, the issue with this more pragmatic style of play, at spurs, is that the fans will only tolerate it while results are good. If we go through a rough patch, particularly at home, the natives will very quickly get restless.

The way we are being dominated by teams is seriously concerning and it is clearly part of our tactical plan. In the first half today we could barely string 2 passes together. There was no link up play, no movement. A better team would have scored and turned the screw.

That being said, we are unbeaten in 9 and have only lost 1 in 14. We should expect an improvement in performances as time goes by and that is certainly reason for optimism. But at present, there are at least 3 teams who look a lot better than us and I am worried about how we will get on once we are playing in the champions league as well.

Agreed last week was poor but today wasn't. The first half was disappointing offensively but in the second half we stepped it up and should have won by 2. Ivan and Kulu were very good, and Sanchez bar one misjudgement, the two CMs and Kane were also effective.

 

[walworthyid]

In reference to the bold section: Chelsea were that “better team” last week and in our poor first half their only goal was from a corner which would have been prevented if Emerson had not been ball watching - our new set piece coach will stamp that out.
I think you underestimate how difficult it is to get behind us and how difficult it is to score against us. Whilst many May bemoan Conte’s tactics he, like all good coaches, knows that successful teams are built from the back. If the opposition can’t score you have a good chance of winning games especially when you have as potent a strike force as we have.

Come on, they missed a couple of sitters and as it was we rescued a point with the last kick of the game with a goal that should have been disallowed. Look, we dug in and fought until the end which was great, but we were outclassed in a way reminiscent of a times when they were winning titles and we were a mess. In fact, I would argue that even those spurs sides had more moments with the ball.

As I said, you can't knock the results under conte, but the performances are a concern for me.

 

[Frozen_Waffles]

Think I was watching a different game to you guys.....

Kane - everything he did almost turned into a goal. He has set the bar so high that even after scoring, almost scoring 2 more with excellent headers and setting up son for a good chance he is ignored.

Hoijberg - thought he was excellent, again. A little tip, when you see a good pass or something good happen on the pitch, name the player who did it. Yesterday it was hoijberg or peresic.

Peresic - while going forward he was very good (I love his crosses!) At the back I worry for him, 3 times he was beaten and the winger got a cross in. They were shit crosses, but still.

The whole team improved second half, I thought wolves got tired and the subs messed them up a bit.

Davinson was good defensively, but too many times he just hoofs it clear. In possession he is not good enough.

No idea about the kulusevski love in, I think he is a great player but I thought he was average yesterday.

 

[Japhet]

Yeah I feel like almost all the teams in the league have enough talent to cause serious problems on their day (excusing a handful of proper turds like Everton, Bournemouth, etc). Wolves were abject at times last season, but when they were at it they looked a decent outfit and they defo turned up today.

Wolves borrowed from the Chelsea play-book and shut us down in the first half. Thankfully they couldn't keep it up and we really took the game to them in the 2nd half. I'm trying to pinpoint what actually changed...did we simply press higher and start running more? Suddenly felt like we had the initiative and took control of the game.

Anyway, felt like almost veryone was bad first half and almost everyone was good second half. Perisic MOTM.

(We need to seriously work out a counter to teams that pack the midfield and mark our forwards out of the game).

The game was very similar to Chelsea. Wolves obviously watched the video of that and copied it. It's really quite bizarre watching us repeat the same pattern as before with no press up front and very little movement when we had the ball. Then, after Conte has given them a roasting at half time, they come out and start closing down and putting pressure on the ball as if the penny has just dropped. Twice in a row now we've allowed teams to completely dominate us for the first 45 and then come out like a different team after the break.

 

[DannyNZ]

Think I was watching a different game to you guys.....

Kane - everything he did almost turned into a goal. He has set the bar so high that even after scoring, almost scoring 2 more with excellent headers and setting up son for a good chance he is ignored.

Hoijberg - thought he was excellent, again. A little tip, when you see a good pass or something good happen on the pitch, name the player who did it. Yesterday it was hoijberg or peresic.

Peresic - while going forward he was very good (I love his crosses!) At the back I worry for him, 3 times he was beaten and the winger got a cross in. They were shit crosses, but still.

The whole team improved second half, I thought wolves got tired and the subs messed them up a bit.

Davinson was good defensively, but too many times he just hoofs it clear. In possession he is not good enough.

No idea about the kulusevski love in, I think he is a great player but I thought he was average yesterday.

I thought the difference makers in the second half were Perisic and Kulu with Bentancur setting the tempo.
Agree Neto got past Perisic couple of times too easily. Wasn’t too concerned about Sanchez in possession as don’t expect much, but Dier and Davies were poor and expect better from them.

 

[Serpico]

Perisic, Sanchez, and Hojbjerg the three standouts.

Agree Sanchez won some important headers. Bentancur should get a mention also.

 

[kendoddsdadsdogsdead]

I cant wait for bissouma to get into the team and see what he can do, but it would not surprise me if its at the expense of bentancour rather than PEH (either way, happy to go with contes decision!).

PEH is stiff, so it sometimes looks awkward and means it will hit a horrible pass here and there, but he puts it all out on the field and comes up with very useful attacking output more often than he gets credit for. Bentancour moves so smoothly but im not convinced his production overall is better.

Will be interesting to see how our midfield evolves over the season.

Me too, It would be good to see Bissouma and Bentancur together for a stretch of games just to find out if the footballs more joined up and has a better tempo.

The odd Misplaced pass is not a big deal but it’s the passes that he doesn’t play where he doesn’t look over his shoulder or see the gaps to drive through in midfield that makes it feel like we are constantly recycling the ball. Great for his stats yeah but feels like it take us a long time to get going and to work that space to then play a penetrative vertical ball into the final third which to be fair to Hojbjerg he can play on occasions.

The 2-2 Liverpool game which Hojbjerg missed last season was played at a really good tempo and felt like we were getting into dangerous areas far more frequently, only one game granted.

 

[Whazam]

Think I was watching a different game to you guys.....

Kane - everything he did almost turned into a goal. He has set the bar so high that even after scoring, almost scoring 2 more with excellent headers and setting up son for a good chance he is ignored.

Hoijberg - thought he was excellent, again. A little tip, when you see a good pass or something good happen on the pitch, name the player who did it. Yesterday it was hoijberg or peresic.

Peresic - while going forward he was very good (I love his crosses!) At the back I worry for him, 3 times he was beaten and the winger got a cross in. They were shit crosses, but still.

The whole team improved second half, I thought wolves got tired and the subs messed them up a bit.

Davinson was good defensively, but too many times he just hoofs it clear. In possession he is not good enough.

No idea about the kulusevski love in, I think he is a great player but I thought he was average yesterday.

Agree with most things in your post, but I think you should watch Kulusevski's second half again.

 

[Japhet]

I thought the difference makers in the second half were Perisic and Kulu with Bentancur setting the tempo.
Agree Neto got past Perisic couple of times too easily. Wasn’t too concerned about Sanchez in possession as don’t expect much, but Dier and Davies were poor and expect better from them.

I think it's very difficult for us to play out from the back when the midfield pair are often outnumbered. As a result Dier tries a lot of long passes that don't work out. I think he gets impatient with the side to side stuff and I don't blame him, but there are times when we're crying out for a forward to drop deeper and provide a few options. Lenglet would probably be much more effective under these conditions so I'm hoping he gets a chance soon.

 

[Silky Skills]

Kulu was our spark second half starting with the cross that Kane hit the bar with, he just seemed to find more space. I think Emerson gets a hard time because he is awkward going forward but he did a lot of good things

 

[C1w8]

Me too, It would be good to see Bissouma and Bentancur together for a stretch of games just to find out if the footballs more joined up and has a better tempo.

The odd Misplaced pass is not a big deal but it’s the passes that he doesn’t play where he doesn’t look over his shoulder or see the gaps to drive through in midfield that makes it feel like we are constantly recycling the ball. Great for his stats yeah but feels like it take us a long time to get going and to work that space to then play a penetrative vertical ball into the final third which to be fair to Hojbjerg he can play on occasions.

The 2-2 Liverpool game which Hojbjerg missed last season was played at a really good tempo and felt like we were getting into dangerous areas far more frequently, only one game granted.

that's fair he defo needs to get his head up more, as some have said that moment on saturday when he was running through the middle and we had men over on the left and didnt release it that was definitely a moment.

But even with those moments his output is at worst on par with bentancour imo, it just doesnt look as smooth, so will be a close call when bissouma does eventually get the nod.