Tottenham's tactics too cautious to win title, says Robbie Savage

[Legend10]

Its that sort of attitude that stops us ever being contenders. If we stopped concentrating on arsenal and 4th last couple of seasons and looked upwards we would have ultimately done better.. our ambitions are always set so low and consequently our inferior 'not worthy' mindset kicks in when push comes to show.

see how it goes by xmas then maybe have a push. pretty certain thats not the attitude of any of the other clubs in the top 4 currently.

inferiority complex.

Pretty sure it's not our attitude either.

 

[CowInAComa]

Seriously how do you know what goes on in training?

I watch the match on a sunday.

 

[Legend10]

I watch the match on a sunday.

Well done, and how do you know what goes on in training?

 

[Flashspur]

Its that sort of attitude that stops us ever being contenders. If we stopped concentrating on arsenal and 4th last couple of seasons and looked upwards we would have ultimately done better.. our ambitions are always set so low and consequently our inferior 'not worthy' mindset kicks in when push comes to show.

see how it goes by xmas then maybe have a push. pretty certain thats not the attitude of any of the other clubs in the top 4 currently.

inferiority complex.

I dont think so at all. It is a pragmatic approach being taken by a manager who is almost managing a completely new team. I dont think that AVB or DL have an inferiority complex. They want to win!

 

[Locotoro]

He is not wrong but everyone on the planet can see this. The thing is I don't think AVB will change much. I said often at the start of last season that AVB is a defence minded coach which we saw from his repeated substitutions of defenders for attacking players as soon as we got a goal ahead in games. I think this season I would settle for that as it would mean we at least score a goal a game, which we are not. So far we have played three games against top seven clubs and got two points out of nine. Don't expect much to change in the near future. If players can stay positive then hopefully we will get better as they find ways to overcome his tactically inexperience

Avb will learn soon enough just as Mancini and Mourinho before him learnt that defence first doesn't win titles in England.

 

[Khilari]

We do have a bunch of new players trying to integrate together in essentially a new way of playing. We've lost the 'give it Bale and hope he scores' option but we're not playing very differently to last year except being tighter at the back.

I think the frustration comes from seeing the changes that could make us better - I'm sure AVB and his staff are aware of our need for goals and service to bobby. Perhaps once we get a run of games toward Xmas we really will start clicking up front.

 

[CowInAComa]

Avb will learn soon enough just as Mancini and Mourinho before him learnt that defence first doesn't win titles in England.

surgically succinct.

But a defence first attititude wasnt the only thing they had in common... they also had a big vault of dirty oil money in their back pocket.

 

[C-oops]

I just don't think that our wingers cutting in is working. There were about 4 times in the first half yesterday that Townsend could have played a little reverse pass to Soldado , who had made a run into the right channel, but instead kept hold of it and passed back. I just think we need to be quicker in the final third. far too cautious and too many touches. I hate to say it but Townsend isn't doing enough for me to play in the next match. Too many blind alleys being run down. Same goes for Lennon on the other side. If we are going to continue with inverted wingers then we need to play Lamela, Siggy and or Eriksen along with Holtby and tell walker he needs to overlap more.
I'm really a bit disappointed too that Lennon and Townsend didn't try switching wings more. I feel they could work if they played on their natural sides and got some crosses in. Even if not for the whole match. Just switch it up a bit.

 

[Flashspur]

Avb will learn soon enough just as Mancini and Mourinho before him learnt that defence first doesn't win titles in England.

they both WON titles.....so what is your point exactly?

 

[Locotoro]

Do you mean like say..100 million?
;-)

 

[Locotoro]

they both WON titles.....so what is your point exactly?

That is my point exactly. Thwy were both defensively minded coaches. Mancini won the title in the second season after he stopped using two holding players and Mourinho won it after adapting the role of lampard to a more advanced on in the latter part of the season helped continue the momentum when thwy started dropping points

 

[dirtyh]

the title is never won before christmas. in an ideal world we keep in touch while everyone beds in and go for it from january. realistically we only need 2 or 3 big wins to completely change the goal difference over the whole season. miles to go yet........

 

[Spurs 1961]

That is my point exactly. Thwy were both defensively minded coaches. Mancini won the title in the second season after he stopped using two holding players and Mourinho won it after adapting the role of lampard to a more advanced on in the latter part of the season helped continue the momentum when thwy started dropping points

For sure. Of course you need to have a solid defence but must be able to have the killer instinct to spot opportunities and switch to attack mode. This AVB has to learn or maybe he just does not think the players can do it. For our first 5/6 games everything was OK but over the last few games some teams have begun to play more expansively and we are in danger of falling behind. We are not conceding goals, not losing many yet we are surrounded buy teams within a couple of points who will take more risks. One win and two losses gets the same points as three draws...maybe some risk is needed as the reward of three points is surely worth it

 

[Kiedis]

Two attacking full backs, one centre back that could probably play as a trequartista (hint: not Dawson), one box-to-box midfielder, two inside forwards, one playmaker and one forward. Not too cautious on paper.

But we're left to click. I may be beating a dead horse, but I'd like to see Holtby and Eriksen (the latter as a left inside forward-thingy) playing at the same time.

 

[Legend10]

For sure. Of course you need to have a solid defence but must be able to have the killer instinct to spot opportunities and switch to attack mode. This AVB has to learn or maybe he just does not think the players can do it. For our first 5/6 games everything was OK but over the last few games some teams have begun to play more expansively and we are in danger of falling behind. We are not conceding goals, not losing many yet we are surrounded buy teams within a couple of points who will take more risks. One win and two losses gets the same points as three draws...maybe some risk is needed as the reward of three points is surely worth it

1 win and 2 losses is relegation form, I'll leave that thanks.

 

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

He is not wrong but everyone on the planet can see this. The thing is I don't think AVB will change much. I said often at the start of last season that AVB is a defence minded coach which we saw from his repeated substitutions of defenders for attacking players as soon as we got a goal ahead in games. I think this season I would settle for that as it would mean we at least score a goal a game, which we are not. So far we have played three games against top seven clubs and got two points out of nine. Don't expect much to change in the near future. If players can stay positive then hopefully we will get better as they find ways to overcome his tactically inexperience

Playing a high line is not the tactics of a defense minded coach. It's actually very risky if not coached correctly.

Teams like West Ham or Hull who pack the midfield and rarely venture over the half way line are defensive.

 

[Spurs 1961]

1 win and 2 losses is relegation form, I'll leave that thanks.

But if you aim to win and say win two and lose one this is worth more than one win and to goalless draws; plus you will no doubt have a better goal difference which in a tight finish might matter

 

[Legend10]

But if you aim to win and say win two and lose one this is worth more than one win and to goalless draws; plus you will no doubt have a better goal difference which in a tight finish might matter

Firstly I have no doubt that we aim to win every game! Secondly if you win 2 and Lise 1 as you say that will give you an average of 2 points a game, and our average is...........

 

[Spurs 1961]

Playing a high line is not the tactics of a defense minded coach. It's actually very risky if not coached correctly.

Teams like West Ham or Hull who pack the midfield and rarely venture over the half way line are defensive.

I might disagree with that. What AVB does is defend high up the pitch. This is also a good tactic to play attacking football but that requires committing people forward into the box, making runs through without the ball. Right now we are not doing that and are the most static of what I would call the top six teams. This also makes us the most predictable so other coaches can work out tactics. Of course that is OK if you have a couple of players that can do something special...we need Eriksen and Lamela to be allowed to be those players, imo

 

[Shanks]

It's a fair assessment, however, consideration needs to be given that we are in the process of change.

We have been getting points, so when the attack does start producing, we could be very dangerous.

Things will improve, and once ticking all over, we'll be unreal.