The Player Improvement Thread

[thinktank]

Ok, this is a thread to suggest, monitor and discuss areas of improvement and development needed for each player, in our own very 'umble opinions.

This isn't a thread to whinge and moan, it's much more a positive thread to discuss how players can improve further and fulfil their potential and help the team even more and praise them when they do.

Gonna start with the main players that have populated the first eleven so far this season and then add more as and when.

Hugo Lloris:

• Kicking - very poor and it's gone on for a long time.

• Decisiveness - sometimes he prevaricates too much when distributing the ball to defenders/midfielders which causes uncertainty.

Kyle Walker:

• Player tracking (in/around the box) - amazing that I'm not saying reduce the batshit as he's done a fantastic job doing that since Swansea, but for a long time his tracking and shadowing of a player into the box is below par and he loses them too often, especially when the ball is in the air.

• Early crosses - he really needs to take a leaf out of Trippier's book and not over-think when he has the ball in advanced positions. Early cross or push and run past FB and get a cross in quick-smart. Defences have too much time to settle when he picks up the ball deep up-field and it can kill attacks.

Danny Rose:

• Crossing - Squanders way too many good opportunities to lash effective balls into the danger zone...way too many.

• Overlap - needs to overlap more when Eriksen or Alli have the ball and are looking for options on the left.

Toby Alderweireld:

• Erm...got nothing at the moment.

Jan Vertonghen:

• Strength - still needs to add a bit of violence to his game. His progress has flown under the radar since Toby's been here as it seems like they are both just a solid unit that...just is. Like the wind blowing. But I would still like to see him bully attackers more.

Eric Dier:

• Can't think of anything atm...

Dele Alli:

• Showboating - still too many attempts at flicks, tricks and megs, needs to focus on playing simple and sure in certain situations.

• Tackling - Love his attitude but he needs to pick and choose his moments more as we can't afford needless yellows that end up in bans or reds.

• Passing - needs to take more care with his passing as can give the ball away at times in dangerous areas.

Erik Lamela:

• Tackling - not sure what's going on with this but he's still tackling from the wrong side and hacking away at oppo's heels and incurring freekicks and yellow. Must get to grips with this. Once he cracks this it will really round off his game.

Christian Eriksen:

• Corners - must beat the first man

• Attitude - he's improved a lot recently but still want more fire and aggression from him. If coco can do it, he can.

Ryan Mason:

• Passing - overall I love how he plays and how positive he is and his range of passing is great but he can be a bit sloppy at times and needs to just tighten this factor up a bit.

Heung-Min Son:

• Hard to say right now as he was fantastic when he first came but then got injured and hasn't been sparkling like before, but he'll get there again...will think of something.

Moussa Dembele:

• Speed of distribution - he's been such a beast there's not much to say, and he's really improved this aspect of his game but I'd still like to see him release a little earlier at times and not enjoy taking the piss out of the oppo so much with his immense strength.

Harry Kane:

• Greed - it really bothers me tbh, I love the kid and his work-rate is off the scale but the first thing he thinks when he gets the ball is 'how do I score' and not 'what can I do here that is the best thing to help us score'.

Far too often this mindset sends him down blind alleys and robs him of the ball when high value options are all around him. Ironically, I think he'd end up scoring more being less selfish as we'd end up making more opportunities for him to get on the end of.

Ok, those are the key players. Will add more of what I think as we go. I'm sure everyone's got their own opinions....


​

Bentaleb:

• Simplicity - Don't want him and Dele battling it out for the most tricks in a season. He's got some tekkers in his locker but still would like to see him bring clean simplicity into his game first and pick and choose his moments to dazzle and express himself i.e. not in the middle of the park.

• Forward balls - has the tendency to pass back too often and interrupt our fluidity. Want to see him being sharper on the half turn and always thinking a move or two ahead and have a better picture of the game in front of him and how he can play an incisive ball forward to initialise an attacks.

There's lot's of scope for improvement with Nabil. He can be a very valuable, versatile squad member who can play in a variety of positions imo. I think the key to his progress is being humble.
​

Onomah:

• Precision - I know he's not had a huge amount of minutes but think it's something he needs to focus on straight away. His final ball can be short in pace and direction at times from what I've seen of him so far in the first team and he just needs to concentrate even more and make sure at crucial moments. I have no doubt he'll develop this quickly, especially the more he gets time on the field.

• Shooting - It seems that whenever he's made an appearance for us he's had a chance to score (which is a very good sign) though his shots are often lacking the required power or direction. This will come with confidence and more game time, but would like to see him grab the bull by the horns as early as possible and command his shooting and begin to introduce fierceness in that area.

He hasn't played that much, but I wanted to get started on him as I think he's going to be an incredible player for us and think he'll also improve at a ridiculously fast rate, so will be interesting to track.

The above points will no doubt improve with confidence as he gets more time and grows into his game in the first team.

Him and Dele are the two players I'm most excited about at the moment, potential wise.​

 

[hughy]

Eriksen's delivery from corners is one of my biggest annoyances at the moment. Great player, but how can you be that great at free-kicks and that poor at corners?! I'm sure I heard in the commentary the other day that we've scored the most goals from set pieces this season - you could add a few more to that if our delivery from corners was better. We seem to play short corners more and more often these days, surely we have someone capable of whipping in a decent ball.

 

[Gassin's finest]

This isn't a thread to whinge and moan, it's much more a positive thread to discuss how players can improve further and fulfil their potential and help the team even more and praise them when they do.

Optimistic rating right here...

 

[wiggo24]

Like this thread.

Players often don't get enough credit for these improvements imo.

Eriksen tracks back so much more now, yet rarely gets praised, for example.

 

[JimmyG2]

Team:
Need to up the pace especially playing out from the back.
Teams that park the bus have time to give it a wash down and fuel up.

 

[Bulletspur]

Harry Kane:

• Greed - it really bothers me tbh, I love the kid and his work-rate is off the scale but the first thing he thinks when he gets the ball is 'how do I score' and not 'what can I do here that is the best thing to help us score'.

Far too often this mindset sends him down blind alleys and robs him of the ball when high value options are all around him. Ironically, I think he'd end up scoring more being less selfish as we'd end up making more opportunities for him to get on the end of.

Ok, those are the key players. Will add more of what I think as we go. I'm sure everyone's got their own opinions.​

I agree with all your assessments but this is the one that pisses me off the most.

 

[thinktank]

Eriksen's delivery from corners is one of my biggest annoyances at the moment. Great player, but how can you be that great at free-kicks and that poor at corners?! I'm sure I heard in the commentary the other day that we've scored the most goals from set pieces this season - you could add a few more to that if our delivery from corners was better. We seem to play short corners more and more often these days, surely we have someone capable of whipping in a decent ball.

Lamela takes a mean corner and is much more consistent with them. He should be on them more than Christian imo.

 

[thinktank]

Team:
Need to up the pace especially playing out from the back.
Teams that park the bus have time to give it a wash down and fuel up.

A lot of the time that tempo is dictated by Hugo who can be in a few minds as to who to give the ball to when he has more than one option.

 

[Col_M]

I've noticed the is lash dashing out by Hugo then previous seasons. This might be because we now have a more reliable back 4 and Dier.

 

[thinktank]

I've noticed the is lash dashing out by Hugo then previous seasons. This might be because we now have a more reliable back 4 and Dier.

I think that's definitely been a factor. No last ditch scrambling needed. Positionally, Toby and Verts have been on it.

 

[mpickard2087]

I've noticed the is lash dashing out by Hugo then previous seasons. This might be because we now have a more reliable back 4 and Dier.

I think that's definitely been a factor. No last ditch scrambling needed. Positionally, Toby and Verts have been on it.

Even last season I thought Hugo had toned things down a bit when it came to sweeping up. Personally I'd love to see a bit more of his extremely proactive 'keeping that we saw when he first came in. We maybe don't need to see him dashing 40 yards from goal multiple times a game but I thought it was great to watch him catching a pinged diagonal ball on the full right on the edge of the box etc.

 

[mpickard2087]

As for the OP, largely agree with it and its common sense. For those that have been left out, I'd say Dier has to work on being the midfield pivot when we are on the back foot in games when we are under the cosh. Son needs to work on his first touch and be a bit more careful in possession. Alderweireld is tricky one as he's playing well, maybe marking from crosses as we've seen a few goals where a player has been inbetween the two markers. Also if he's the leader of the back line then to stop the defence getting so narrow at times.

 

[thapope]

I would like to see Lamela attempt more shots

 

[Gassin's finest]

Someone buy Kyle Walker a Nintendo DS and Brain training for Christmas... see if it improves his decision making and cognitive awareness.

 

[chinaman]

Team:
Need to up the pace especially playing out from the back.
Teams that park the bus have time to give it a wash down and fuel up.

That's where Thinktank refers to Walker.

 

[mightyspur]

I like Rose's marauding runs forward. We certainly seem to offer more down the left with him there but he has a tendency to be lazy getting back. That is one thing Walker doesn't do as he will bust an absolute gut to get back. So yeah, Rose to take a leaf out of Walker's book and get back sharpish when an attack breaks down.

 

[DiscoD1882]

Lamela needs to improve his quickness of thought. And stop falling over when he goes to kick the ball or have a shot.

 

[npearl4spurs]

I would like to hear what people have to say about the off the ball movement.

I think it could really improve more.

 

[fletch82]

Lamela tackles from the wrong side because most of the time he's on the right if tracking back it means tackling with his right which is even harder than passing and shooting with your wrong foot
It's quite a hard skill to learn properly.

 

[Chris12]

I'd like to see Rose and Walker improve their crossing.