Spurs vs Toronto FC

[DJS]

I like Mason - he looks like a very mature player.

Not sure what his best position is but he has nice technique. Not flashy, just very clever, very accurate play. I suppose he'd be an Iniesta or Modric type, a CM who keeps things ticking over.

I think (but hope I'm wrong) that given he's 23 years old, he may ultimately struggle to make it for us given (a) competition in midfield and (b) the need for a bit of muscle in the middle.

But I really like the way he moves about and I really hope he shows his quality for us this year

For our youth teams he played up top, I'm really hoping he turns out to be a sheringham-type forward who players in the no.10 role.

He'd bring goals too.

 

[Bulletspur]

If I was to chose the team to start against West Ham on the opening day in August using the 21 players based on their individual performance display last night, it would be

Friedel​

Walker Kaboul Veljkovic Rose​

Capoue Holtby​

Lamela Ceballos Eriksen​

Soldado​

 

[pallettWHL]

If I was to chose the team to start against West Ham on the opening day in August using the 21 players based on their individual performance display last night, it would be

Friedel​

Walker Kaboul Veljkovic Rose​

Capoue Holtby​

Lamela Ceballos Eriksen​

Soldado​

I'd switch Holtby for Mason (he and Capoue were great yesterday) and switch Walker for Naughton because Walker looked quite rusty as others have stated.

 

[kitchen]

Re rose just a word if caution, I'm not sure we can pay too much attention to performances in pre season friendlies. Darren bent used to score a bucket load in pre season then revert to type once the season started.

Or you could take the optimistic perspective that his main weakness is his positioning, which can be coached quite easily. His other weakness is concentration so he needs a strong CB to regularly keep him in check. He's certainly useful going forwards, which showed with some great crosses yesterday.

 

[kitchen]

If I was to chose the team to start against West Ham on the opening day in August using the 21 players based on their individual performance display last night, it would be

Friedel​

Walker Kaboul Veljkovic Rose​

Capoue Holtby​

Lamela Ceballos Eriksen​

Soldado​

I like this, but Ceballos was great in the first match but really guilty of being far too greedy last night. There were several times when he could have passed to a team mate for a really good shooting chance and instead opted to continue dribbling and shoot himself. Lennon had a better game last night.

Also Naughton arguably had a better game than Walker, (but how much of that was due to the whole team being better first half last night?)

 

[mpickard2087]

I like this, but Ceballos was great in the first match but really guilty of being far too greedy last night. There were several times when he could have passed to a team mate for a really good shooting chance and instead opted to continue dribbling and shoot himself. Lennon had a better game last night.

Also Naughton arguably had a better game than Walker, (but how much of that was due to the whole team being better first half last night?)

Agree with this. I think a lot of the second half team, mainly made up of our less experienced players, saw the good performance of the first half team and kinda felt they had to try and do something spectacular to impress as well rather than keeping things simple and playing as a team.

 

[Kushal]

Apologies if it's been posted before in this thread.

 

[bigfrooj]

Shit, it's happening to me again. I'm 48 and I'm letting the excitement of a new dawn get to me.

I'm seeing a pass and move (=push and run) style evolving in these very, very early days under Pochettino and I can feel the euphoria bubbling away in my gut. I just know we have a very good coach now who will get every ounce of sweat out of a very talented squad in a simple but pure football system. It just feels very Spursy and based on very little evidence at the moment, but it all feels very different to the recent past.

I like that everyone is playing like they have a clean sheet, Pochettino has said to them go out there and impress me; some are very rusty and some are overdoing it but the effort they are putting in to early pre-season games is astonishing to me as someone who has gone to alot of pre-season in the past (mostly dross, truth be told).

My kids have seen great individual players at Spurs and some great entertainment but I would like them to experience the glory I experienced as a young Spurs fan and this could just be the beginning - and all based on seeing two low-key pre-season games. I must be potty.

 

[eddiebailey]

First half everyone was good apart from Eriksen, second half everyone was poor apart from Rose.

Part of the explanation is the changes Toronto made: first half they played something approaching their first team, who in the middle of a fixture pile-up were mainly concerned with avoiding injury and conserving energy; second half they fielded kids, who played with brio, and on fitness levels were ahead of our players.

The other part of the explanation was that in the first half Capoue and Mason had run the game, while in the second Carroll had no support from Holtby or Falque, who were presumably supposed to drop back.

Positives, other than our shape and movement in the first half, were confidence boosting goals for Lamela and Townsend. In fact Lamela's all round performance was great - he is always going to thrive against opposition who do not close him down, but you can only beat what is in front of you. Veljkovic and Mason will also have slept well.

Negatives were the poor positioning of Dawson and Fryers, and our inability to bring our strikers into the game, particularly Kane in the second half.

 

[eddiebailey]

If I was to chose the team to start against West Ham on the opening day in August using the 21 players based on their individual performance display last night, it would be

Friedel​

Walker Kaboul Veljkovic Rose​

Capoue Holtby​

Lamela Ceballos Eriksen​

Soldado​

On last night's performance I would put Naughton before Walker, Mason before Holtby and Lennon before Ceballos.

 

[walworthyid]

This is key.

I've been saying the same thing since the first time I saw him play. His vision, passing and movement are far superior to Bale's but he doesn't have Bale's almost superhuman physical abilities. Watch Lamela and you will see he does the same things all of the time, he shows for the ball no matter what, he gives it almost invariably with his first touch, he moves quickly to get the ball again. The trouble last season was that when he gave the all he never got it back and consequently he tried to do too much, that is not his game. Yes he can dribble but it is far from his greatest strength and although very quick he isn't a powerful runner.

In a team with quick witted players Lamela has the potential to be an amazing player because he combines pace, technical ability and vision which very few players have. That is the reason he was rated so highly and why we paid so much.

I really hope that our new pressing and more fluid style will give him the platform to show what he can do and to develop even further. He is a fantastic talent, but he must be in the right team to shine.

 

[Spurs Lodge Kittens]

My little bit of analysis to a mate over email today who didn't watch the game:

Lamela – quality. Always wanting the ball, looking for one-twos.
Lennon – worked much better with Eriksen and Lamela. If he’s allowed to come off the wing and rotate with the other two he is less predictable and so quick in small areas he’s hard to pick up.
Falque and Ceballos were a lot quieter than the other night but I’d argue they were playing with the ‘weaker 11’ so we didn’t keep the ball as well. Plus Ceballos messed up by giving the ball away for their first goal.
Townsend scored a nice goal but he still doesn’t look back to his sharpness to me. Doesn’t look as dynamic.
Dawson and Fryers is an awful CB partnership.
I liked the look of Capoue again. Broke up a lot of play and kept it well.
Davies got forward a couple of times and picked out some good cut backs.

 

[spursfan77]

For our youth teams he played up top, I'm really hoping he turns out to be a sheringham-type forward who players in the no.10 role.

He'd bring goals too.

yeah for the youth team he played behind Obika actually. More as a support striker and dropping deep.

Ive always kept a close eye on him since those days so it would be amazing if he was brought in and around the squad this season.

 

[Lufti]

First half everyone was good apart from Eriksen, second half everyone was poor apart from Rose.

Holtby played well second half too. I was pleasantly surprised by Mason, thought he was really composed, didn't really lose the ball and looked comfortable. That said, I'd like to see him swapped with Holtby next game, just to get a look at what could be very close to our first team (with the exception of perhaps Walker and Vertonghen coming in). Veljkovic looked good too, composed on the ball, only a friendly of course but he seemed more natural than Fryers

 

[thinktank]

I've been saying the same thing since the first time I saw him play. His vision, passing and movement are far superior to Bale's but he doesn't have Bale's almost superhuman physical abilities. Watch Lamela and you will see he does the same things all of the time, he shows for the ball no matter what, he gives it almost invariably with his first touch, he moves quickly to get the ball again. The trouble last season was that when he gave the all he never got it back and consequently he tried to do too much, that is not his game. Yes he can dribble but it is far from his greatest strength and although very quick he isn't a powerful runner.

In a team with quick witted players Lamela has the potential to be an amazing player because he combines pace, technical ability and vision which very few players have. That is the reason he was rated so highly and why we paid so much.

I really hope that our new pressing and more fluid style will give him the platform to show what he can do and to develop even further. He is a fantastic talent, but he must be in the right team to shine.

Was saying the damn same thing. He was too advanced for the team last season in many respects; that, in itself, made it difficult for him.

Poch will build the team around him now and play to his strengths, thank the lord.

As much as I liked AVB, he was totally clueless in how to handle this player.

 

[amathews3416]

Did anybody see Defoe and Rose interaction following the match? Aost seemed like they were having a go at each other or could have been friendly banter, was hard to tell.

 

[Vulcan10]

Or you could take the optimistic perspective that his main weakness is his positioning, which can be coached quite easily. His other weakness is concentration so he needs a strong CB to regularly keep him in check. He's certainly useful going forwards, which showed with some great crosses yesterday.

I could but my point is that pre season friendlies are for fitness and for the coach to implement ideas and assess players attitudes etc not for us to judge players ability as the standard of opposition and competitiveness etc is poor.

 

[The Spurs Lad]

Holtby played well second half too. I was pleasantly surprised by Mason, thought he was really composed, didn't really lose the ball and looked comfortable. That said, I'd like to see him swapped with Holtby next game, just to get a look at what could be very close to our first team (with the exception of perhaps Walker and Vertonghen coming in). Veljkovic looked good too, composed on the ball, only a friendly of course but he seemed more natural than Fryers

Yeah I would like to see Holtby play instead of Mason in that side, maybe then he would be more controlled and stop trying to do it all himself. Last night was the first time I have watched him and thought "just stay in position".

 

[sloth]

can we have some ratings please?

First half - Good old SC
Second half - bad old SC

Anyway, if people are going to make snap judgements based on a single half of a meaningless friendly right at the start of pre-season, at least make sure they're positive ones!

 

[Lufti]

Yeah I would like to see Holtby play instead of Mason in that side, maybe then he would be more controlled and stop trying to do it all himself. Last night was the first time I have watched him and thought "just stay in position".

Agree with you, he wasn't great when we didn't have the ball, but I thought he still looked good on the ball and wasn't wasteful