Tottenham Vs Stoke: Match Thread

[shelfboy68]

Ali z on COYS is saying that the manager has wanted an experienced defensive midfielder all summer but levy hasn't delivered one.

If thats the case he needs to man up a bit and be more vocal could you imagine if we had got lvg in which we were rumoured to be interested in, and not still have his players in place.
He would have gone to the Dutch press,British press, NASA and international rescue to get his point accross to Levy, which is why we have poch.

 

[robin09]

They were well in the game before the penalty.

Even if they hadn't gotten it they probably would have scored another way, as we weren't dealing with the threats.

We certainly were't dealing with their crosses. But the first goal gave them a lot of extra momentum.

 

[SPURSLIFE]

We weren't outplayed for the whole half, yes most of it but they needed an unforced error to make a breakthrough.

'Mid table' sides like Stoke, Everton and Swansea will be very tough opponents this season.

Fully agree Poch had a bad day however those punishing subs were due to our poor preparation as much as anything. Kane 'tired' with no direct replacement and no quality option to replace the excellent Mason. Bentaleb in poor form sadly.

His work on dier in preseason looked to be working to be fair.

Hughes subs were conversely very good and he deserved the point.

It's clear from these two games that we have plenty of quality and most of the time seemed more solid, but at the same time we still make poor errors and lack leadership and winning mentality, which is an unfortunate side effect of having such a young side.

You say" mid table teams like Everton and Swansea " the way they are playing they will probably finish above us so where will we finish?
Also where do we have "plenty of quality" I don't see it. All I see is an overated squad that sadly we are stuck wuth for a couple of seasons at least.

 

[Hoowl]

There was an article last month of where and how we concede most of our goals. Guess what, it was the same today. We obviously aren't working on the right things in training. Either that it the players aren't fulfilling their duties properly.

It was pretty clear to see that all Stokes play was coming through Arnautovic and Ireland down the left and Lamela was I'll suited to help out walker, who was already on a yellow card. Losing Kane also meant we had no focal point and so we played long balls over the top a lot but it kept coming back at us.

With Trippier on the bench, poch had other options.

 

[VoteMe4Prez]

We need that Sandro (pre-injury version) type player in to cut up attacks before they begin

 

[Bulletspur]

I said it would come back and bite us in the ass. No amount of money thrown at player acquisitions is going to help if Poch doesn't learn and improve his managerial and tactical nous.

 

[SugarRay]

We need to hope

still waiting on Vert to command our defence after 3 years

You'll be waiting a long time mate! He isn't that type of player. He needs a leader beside him. I quite like what I've seen of Toby so far though. Wouldn't surprise me to see Toby and Dier as the first choice pairing before too long

 

[Damian99]

We're going nowhere until he can get to grips of the team when we aren't in possession and sad to say, i'm not sure he can.

 

[elDiablo]

Arnautovic smashed us last year so we should have been prepared.

The good news is its the second game and we have arguably the youngest team in the prem so lets wait a bit before we start slitting anything

 

[Waiwonder]

Don't know what people are moaning about? We were in control after first half albeit still not our best. A lot of misplaced passes in midfield. However you could see the chemistry working within the team. We defended well albeit as a team in first half. Yes lloris amost gifted them a goal and diouf

 

[singis]

We are so fragile mentally!! That s our weakest point.and lamela will not make it in england.

 

[2bearis2do]

We need that Sandro (pre-injury version) type player in to shut up shop and cut up attacks before they begin.

It's a good point - I'm not sure we have that player - Dier is not that player! Out of what we have - I'd try and discipline Dembele to become that player - I can't see it in anyone else. And, if you have that type of player it would be good to have a creative genius beside him.
Does anyone else think sticking Erikson beside Dembele and then having Chadli and Clinton (New guy) on the wings with Harry and maybe Berahino beside him would make us into a much better side? It'd certainly make us more exciting.
I don't think Mason is what he is lauded to be (Creative string puller) I actually think Carroll would be a better option.
It's complicated innit?!

 

[mill]

Don't know what people are moaning about? We were in control after first half albeit still not our best. A lot of misplaced passes in midfield. However you could see the chemistry working within the team. We defended well albeit as a team in first half. Yes lloris amost gifted them a goal and diouf

We just threw away a 2 goal lead at home to a team we should finish above in the league and expect to beat at home, can you really not see what people are moaning about? Take your time if you like

 

[VoteMe4Prez]

Considering how all over them we were in the first half, I think we are all entitled to be pissy about the second half as we should have been out of sight

 

[Bulletspur]

Perhaps. But he costs 30 million, the others don't. Is it too much to expect impact on a game at least occasionally from a player who cost us that much, when he's replaced someone who cost us practically nothing?

We have to cut our losses on this guy before his suitors realise just how slow, weak, predictable and clueless he actually is.

I would love for this not to be the case and he was this amazing player we thought we were getting..... Fact is, it's becoming clearer each time he steps on the pitch, that he's just not good enough to add anything to our team.

Bollocks. I see another knee jerker has joined this forum. You probably would have a point if he had put the 30 million or whatever it evaluation was on himself. Based on your logic we might as well get rid of most of the players.

 

[Veuve Clicquot]

Ali z on COYS is saying that the manager has wanted an experienced defensive midfielder all summer but levy hasn't delivered one.

It's all very well blaming Levy, everyone apart from Poch knows Levy doesn't deliver first choices to his managers when they are beyond his transfer budget and leaves everything to the last minute. Maybe he should concentrate on improving his supposed tactics and in game management. His formation is as flexible as a frozen chicken and his sub's are a joke. We were 2-0 up due to Stoke failing to turn up in the first half, when Hughes changed it up we capitulated as Poch had no answer to it.
Poch was again outwitted by a supposedly inferior manager, something which happened numerous times last season. I'm afraid he doesn't have a clue and is now doing the normal thing and blaming lack of signings even though reason we didn't win this match is down to him.

 

[SpartanSpur]

You say" mid table teams like Everton and Swansea " the way they are playing they will probably finish above us so where will we finish?
Also where do we have "plenty of quality" I don't see it. All I see is an overated squad that sadly we are stuck wuth for a couple of seasons at least.

Two games in, calm down. We had the game won and in out typical fashion blew it.

That's because we had more quality. Butland made 5 top drawer saves and Lloris made 2. Eriksen almost had a world class assist. Kane put in a couple of great passes. Mason had a great game.

Don't let a gutting result make you discount the ability in the side. The issues are mentality, lack of pace and lack of depth in cm or st. Which is largely due to our transfer policies.

Last I'm saying on it though.

 

[nugsie]

It really annoys me that every season we start the first 4-5 games with a disjointed looking first eleven....People out of position, square pegs round holes etc, etc

I guarantee our first eleven for our last few games looks very different....

I just wish we could become a settled team a little earlier....

 

[We need another Hoddle]

Whether Lameal cost 3M or 30M is of no consequence,other than we will do our nuts if we sell him. The fact of the matter is he is a waste of a shirt ,it is not knee jerk,he has been crap since we bought him and shows zero signs of improvement. He is incapable of beating a player,he commits foul after foul and loses possession more than any other player.

Like Ive said before,get rid and get rid now,he is a total lost cause

 

[Spur4life]

Its going to be a long painfull season for us this year again,unless we pull of a shock or two in the market.We really need a leader in the middle of the park that can control the pace of the game.Mason and dier done well for us in the first half but this team is really missing a Piro,lampard someone with a bit of class that can take the pace out of the game when were winning .We need a leader on the pitch who can kick players like lamela,and co up the backside when things are going wrong when they lose the ball.