Spurs coach: Holding midfielders are overrated - just look at Man City

[teok]

Ladz shud of fakin rahn araarnd a bit more.

 

[SpurSince57]

We are all so worried about Sherwood nobody is keeping an eye on Ferdinand.

What do you mean 'we', white man?

 

[TaoistMonkey]

What do you mean 'we', white man?

 

[whitesocks]

The Goals Against column is still a long way from being an embarrassment.

On the other hand, the Goals For column definitely is.

Agree - our problem this season has been the AM role.
Dembele and Paulinho are good all rounders, but as yet there is not enough goals or creativity in them to be pure AMs.

Sandro is one of the best DM's around and can act as the 3rd CB when we are under the cosh.
We needed him last night when we were always going to be on the back foot.
But until we find a partner for him who can make good use of his freedom,
then maybe 2 busy all rounders is the better option for most games.

 

[Spurs Lodge Kittens]

While it appeared on paper that we were sacrificing a striker for a midfielder to help us control posession - the way we play 4-5-1 (4-3-3) is muck. Eriksen was basically caught in no man's land all game because he wasn't helping Dembele or Bentaleb out with ball retention or close enough to Ade to influence play either, while Lennon and Sigurddson are nowhere near suited to the wide forward positions.

We might as well have played 4-4 facking 2 with Soldado up top if the extra midfielder we had was never actually part of the midfield or anywhere near Ade.

 

[totty]

Would you describe Toure and Fernandinho thus? I don't think either would be too pleased, particularly as the phrase was in the first place a derogatory term.

The argument isn't that we don't need a ball winner (nearly all of our CMs are highly effective tacklers), but that we don't need one who does bugger all else. Neither Capoue nor Sandro is averse to getting forward when the opportunity arises.

And doesn't this distract from our real problem this season? Prior to last night, we'd conceded just one goal more than City, and fewer than Liverpool, Newcastle and United; de Gea, Mignolet and Krul have all been called upon more than Lloris. The Goals Against column is still a long way from being an embarrassment.

On the other hand, the Goals For column definitely is.

Would you describe Toure and Fernandinho thus? I don't think either would be too pleased, particularly as the phrase was in the first place a derogatory term.

The argument isn't that we don't need a ball winner (nearly all of our CMs are highly effective tacklers), but that we don't need one who does bugger all else. Neither Capoue nor Sandro is averse to getting forward when the opportunity arises.

And doesn't this distract from our real problem this season? Prior to last night, we'd conceded just one goal more than City, and fewer than Liverpool, Newcastle and United; de Gea, Mignolet and Krul have all been called upon more than Lloris. The Goals Against column is still a long way from being an embarrassment.

On the other hand, the Goals For column definitely is.

Hi SS57,

Yaya and Fernandinho are definitely no water carries, buddy.
What i meant in my statement was that the likes of City, Barca, Real, Bayern can afford to go without a defensive midfielder/enforcer/water carrier/screener is simply because opponents does not tend to have a go at all these bigger reputed teams and would generally play for a draw by parking the bus.

Simple theory, if the opponent are not gonna attack you, why do you need a shield in front of your defence?


BUT if both sides play an open game, a defensive midfielder is needed to help out the defence.

What i'm saying is we are not using this defensive midfielder wisely enough, against teams that come to the Lane and park the bus, we'll have no need for this character unless we are protecting a lead at the end of the game.

If we go to the Etihad and want to play for a point, perhaps we need this guy to go kick the shit out of the wizards they have.

All depends on situations, this is something that AVB clearly lacks, unfortunately.

 

[kawa]

Les Ferdinand is overrated - just look at Man City (and this article)

 

[TheGreenLily]

Agree - our problem this season has been the AM role.
Dembele and Paulinho are good all rounders, but as yet there is not enough goals or creativity in them to be pure AMs.

Sandro is one of the best DM's around and can act as the 3rd CB when we are under the cosh.
We needed him last night when we were always going to be on the back foot.
But until we find a partner for him who can make good use of his freedom,
then maybe 2 busy all rounders is the better option for most games.

I don't know, but Paulinho certainly came out of box against Stoke, before Charlie Adam tried to break his leg.

 

[BorisTM]

Just because some managers, including Les, don't understand what the role of the holding midfielders is, and therefore have no idea how to get the best of it, it doesn't mean that a team shouldn't play with a holding midfielder or that when it has one he should sit in front of the last four throughout the entire game and shouldn't pass the center line.

 

[CowInAComa]

Just because some managers, including Les, don't understand what the role of the holding midfielders is, and therefore have no idea how to get the best of it, it doesn't mean that a team shouldn't play with a holding midfielder or that when it has one he should sit in front of the last four throughout the entire game and shouldn't pass the center line.

Its a shame Levy completely overlooked someone like yourself who understands football and player roles better than Les and co.

 

[BorisTM]

Its a shame Levy completely overlooked someone like yourself who understands football and player roles better than Les and co.

I know right, thanks for noticing.

 

[guiltyparty]

Chelsea currently beating City away by...

MOTD presenter Gary Lineker

1. "Jose Mourinho has got his tactics spot on. Four at the back, two holding allowing four to roam forward exploiting Manchester City's vulnerability to the counter-attack."
   

 

[TheSecretNonFootballer]

Chelsea currently beating City away by...

MOTD presenter Gary Lineker

1. "Jose Mourinho has got his tactics spot on. Four at the back, two holding allowing four to roam forward exploiting Manchester City's vulnerability to the counter-attack."

S'all tictacs init.

 

[Has1978]

Chelsea currently beating City away by...

MOTD presenter Gary Lineker

1. "Jose Mourinho has got his tactics spot on. Four at the back, two holding allowing four to roam forward exploiting Manchester City's vulnerability to the counter-attack."

I thought of this thread too. Nothing wrong with decent defensive midfielders who understand positioning.

 

[jolegend]

Ah les and tim....if only Jose mourinho listened to you then he would of won loads of trophies by now and would be beating city while dominating the game....oh wait....

 

[jezz]

Its a shame Levy completely overlooked someone like yourself who understands football and player roles better than Les and co.

Les is not the manager and i doubt he will ever be.

 

[mill]

Neville highlighted in the build up how Fernandinho sits deeper than Toure most of the time and Demichelis is doing it tonight

 

[Buggsy61]

You got to hand it to Mourinho. Its tactical genius, organising and motivating his team for a big game. Hes also rebuilding the team in his mould as the season goes on. A transitional season whilst challenging for the title. Makes that nonsense last week about holding midfield players look laughable.

 

[Macspur261]

Chelsea just gave a masterclass of what DM's are all about, Luiz and Matic sitting in front of the back 4 just stopped City in their tracks, they couldn't get going at all, and Chelsea actually bossed the game.

 

[jezz]

Personally i think we have 2 of the best Holding/DMs in the league.
The result tonight city 0 chelsea 1 makes Les and Tim look like novices.