Match Threads Southampton Vs Spurs

[shoggy33]

Record breaker​

It may only have been a draw today against 10-man Southampton but Antonio Conte (7, W4-D3-L0) is the first Spurs manager to remain unbeaten in his first seven league matches as manager of the club.

Which ties in nicely with what Dier said...

"We've got to keep things in perspective. Everyone can see the progression."

Agreed, i think people have been getting a bit carried away and have forgotten just how shit we've been for like 3 years.

 

[eViL]

Where's Ndombele's player watch thread @Rob @Archibald&Crooks?

In the tranfer forum so forget discussing him for 3 months.

 

[wiggo24]

Right. A lot to unpack there.

Sort of think the red card didn't actually help us as it turned the second half from one which would have suited us (a tiring S'ton pressing high and leaving spaces), and into one which exposed the weaknesses we've had for a long time now (a low block with players behind the ball and the onus on our players to create something from extended periods of possession).

Conte's teams can be superb in transition but I do think their one weakness is often when faced with a low block, mainly because of the number of (to be generous) "attritional" players he selects. This second half was like playing Burnley away - to succeed in these games you can't rely on counter-attacking because they've always got tons of bodies behind the ball, even in possession. You also can't rely on getting it out to the WBs as their defenders are more than happy to face cross after cross. What you need is creativity in the middle of the field and runners in behind to stretch things.

As such, I would have liked to see Ndombele on for Hojbjerg (who was dreadful imo). I was also perplexed by the decision to play Gil at RWB rather than LWB.

Concerns going forward about our away form, ability to control games, and ability to break down teams without any creative midfielders/wingers +wasteful, fairly inconsistent WBs.

 

[cjsimba]

Only positive I’m taking from this as it must now be incredibly clear to all we lack and need a creative midfielder ASAP.

We should have had an Eriksen type sitting and looking at threading balls through to the strikers in the last 20 mins there when Southampton sat back. Instead it fell to hojbjerg, Winks and Sanchez (!!) to be our creative quarterback and when that didn’t work (obviously) we ended up just passing the ball out wide and sending in hopeful crosses which were inevitably cleared. The complete wrong tactic when you’re up against 10 men.

Incredibly frustrating game. But as I said, I’m trying to focus on the positive.

 

[SirNiNyHotspur]

Grow up chaps. It’s no ones opinion. It is a fact that he was offside. At first look it was always going to be off. They have widened the defensive line by about 10cm so that gives a bit extra for the attackers.
A lot of uninformed crap on here. We should have been able to win it against 10 men but we weren’t sharp enough in attack. Would have been better off if they had 11 men as it would have been more open.
We haven’t played that well in previous games(apart from Liverpool). We’ve just managed to score goals at the right time.
Beat Watford on Sat. Arse lose to City and we are 2 pts off 4th with 2 games in hand.
So7nds easy we just have to go and do it. Harry is certainly looking more like his old self. Scored in last 3 PL games.

So seeing someone onside called offside means I need to grow up, ok. Now we got that out of the way stop talking shit mate, total bullshit call at the very least as I understood it attackers have been given the benefit this season, that was a great goal from a great pass should have stood.

 

[doctor stefan Freud]

I really hope this is either the final or penultimate window we have Dele as a squad member. He just isn’t good enough anymore and has had more second comings than a yo-yo Jesus

 

[ajspurs]

We are 7 unbeaten, I think we are getting ahead of ourselves here. I do agree with the points you make but we need to be realistic. I trust Antonio will sort it out.

Like I said it's nothing to do with our overall status or position as a team. We've done much better than I thought we would have under Conte in this short space of time considering the players he has at his disposal and how bad we've been the last few years. Really we can't expect great things to happen until he actually has the team he wants. He's almost working miracles at the moment.

I'm just saying, it doesn't mean you can't analyse a match in isolation without not respecting the big picture. I completely get that we're not entitled to anything, all I'm saying is that I think there are things we could have done better today, which doesn't automatically equate to one getting ahead of themselves.

I have no worries about our future or Conte whatsoever, we couldn't be in better hands

 

[rossdapep]

Thinking back, I'm not sure creating chances was even necessarily the issue, our touch and finishing in the box was what was terrible.

Son hasn't been sharp enough in the final third for a little while now. I mean he is scoring, which is great, but some real chances are going to waste because he's not getting his first touch or body angles right.

Kane didn't get into those areas enough today and Dele was a waste whilst he was on the field.

 

[Mr Pink]

I absolutely love Son, but he was way off it to today

 

[spursfan77]

 

[spursfan77]

I absolutely love Son, but he was way off it to today

Still struggling with having covid I suspect.

 

[RickyVilla]

Shit. West Ham are still massive. Who's round is it?

 

[sim simma]

Trying to find the haystack amongst the needles.

 

[Parklane Spur]

I've said for a while now, Son is very streaky. He can go on brilliant runs where he scores frequently and has genuine world class quality but equally has too many games with a loose touch and can't get going. Not bagging him as I love the man and he always puts in the effort, but not quite consistent enough to be in that top top bracket.

 

[TheTanguy]

Absolutely criminal decision. And at best a decision made by someone who has no understanding of the game whatsoever.

 

[soflapaul]

Glad that Conte said the word perspective. The criticism of individual decisions and poor skill in this thread are often on target but the level of emotion considering how s*** we were 8 weeks ago and even 4 weeks ago is nonsensical. This ocean liner of turd quality play was never going to turn on a dime and there were always going to be games like this. With that said, i'm glad this game happened now as the beauty of this game now is that it lays bare many of the weaknesses that probably cannot be filled by Conte's tactics alone. I also think Conte has gotten some things wrong along the way but without understanding the backstory, those would be opinions rather than fact. While seeing a backwards step like this sucks, it is a reality check.

We clearly need another striker (like DV) who can score from his head or his feed when we deal with park the bus type games. We need someone to unlock defenses ala Modric. We all had hopes that Tanguay or GLC would fill that role but suspect that at most, one of those two will stay and we still need an upgrade on either. With Romero coming back, the defense will improve and we'll have cover for the fewer moments like we saw today with Eric. (Who i do think is good enough to play alongside Romero for the time being. that upgrade comes two to three windows out.)

 

[Mattspurs1982]

Winks was our most creative outlet. He was the one constantly putting the ball in the box and it was his passes that led to the penalty and Kane's offside goal.

We weren't at our best, but we (in my mind) did enough to win.

I will say I thought Conte got it wrong putting Doherty at LWB and not bringing on Skipp or Ndombele. And even when Bryan came on I thought go 4-2-4 against 10 men. Stick Doherty at RB, Put Bryan at LW alongside Lucas, Son and Kane.

What's done is done. Second game in 48 hours after the squad had covid. I won't be upset for long over it and understand that is football sometimes. Newcastle battered United and only drew 1-1. It happens.

he had Ben davies on the pitch who could have covered the left side a I agree no need to put Doherty there

 

[lennon180]

2 halves against ten men and no goals. Oh for a Christian Eriksen.

Guessing you missed the palace game then.

 

[djee]

Loved Conte's post-match interview. Rather than whine about decisions (certainly the Doherty goal should have counted), he was clearly livid at the players for not finding a way regardless. It is this mentality that the club has sorely lacked for a long time. It is obvious that he won't tolerate poor performances or passing up opportunities to exploit situations. Over the next 12 months, this squad will also look very different under this manager. In a way, games like today should shatter any illusions about the sheer amount of work that is needed in the next few transfer windows.

As for this result in the context of the top4 race, a draw is not awful. There are so many points to play for and bearing in mind the horrible run we went prior to Conte - being in the race for CL qualification we enter the new year is quite something. It will be a rollercoaster of a season for us and our rivals too.

 

[Timberwolf]

No denying it was a disappointing result and performance but I don't think it's worth getting too upset about.

Every team in the league, including Man City and Liverpool, occasionally fails to break down a team that sits this deep with every man behind the ball. It happened to us plenty of times under Poch when we were at our best, so it's not the end of the world.

I think Conte got a couple of things wrong and we definitely lacked creativity, but we were also VERY unlucky with a couple of huge decisions so it wasn't completely our fault.

Still haven't lost in the league under Conte and overall look so much better. I'm feeling massively positive regardless of the result.