We've been sussed

[Caco]

I think sussed is a far stretch, yeah we were shite today and poor last week also, but I can't see Poch spending huge money on players as the first thing he did when he came to Spurs was get rid of the players who didn't suit his style of play, regardless of ability. Only exception will be a top class center forward.

Not having Alli and Dembele has been the difference for the last 2 games, the age of the squad and the disappointment of missing out on the league didn't help either. The beauty of Pochs system is that there are no real stars, just a hard working unit, which also helps as the likes of Real Madrid aren't circling the lane looking to snap up our prized assets.

 

[DiscoD1882]

we haven't been sussed. we didn't have a decent midfield without Alli and Demebele. It is as simple as that.

 

[nedley]

But what O'Shea, Park and Fletcher lacked in ability they made up with some mental toughness. They could be trusted.

 

[CheeseGromit]

It's not a question of being sussed it's about players ability to execute plans
Clearly Alli's movement has been crucial to the way the system works. Take that away and we are ordinary

Just re enforces the need to strengthen the squad with the right players

Some players mentality will have been questioned

 

[Sevens]

It's not a question of being sussed it's about players ability to execute plans
Clearly Alli's movement has been crucial to the way the system works. Take that away and we are ordinary

Just re enforces the need to strengthen the squad with the right players

Some players mentality will have been questioned

I can't blame absentees. We were poor against West Ham, Arsenal, Liverpool, WBA etc with them in the side. Even Utd was a bit of a freak as they had been marginally the better side until we got the first.

 

[Stamford]

The only thing thats been sussed is that the squad is poor. Said it when I saw the bench that it was a complete joke and we need to go and get players to test the likes of Eriksen/Kane.

 

[rossdapep]

It all ended at Chelsea. We no longer had the fight. Simple.

I think some players still have that game on their mind and lost their cohesive way and natural game. They've definitely lost their heads,but a lot of them are young and a summer of mulling it over maybe good for them.

 

[DJS]

I said as much at the time but Bilic has shown the world how to stop Spurs. That defeat against West Ham was when we started to crumble.

Ironically the way to stop us, is to press us higher up the pitch and stop us playing it out from the back. Primarily press Dier and Lloris when they're in possession. Our whole strategy then crumbles.

In isolation it's been a great year. We just finished in our highest league position since 1990. You can't argue with that. In context it's been a strange year generally and not just because Leicester won the title. I still maintain that up until Xmas we hadn't played very well. We had spells in games where we were excellent and awful. In the New Year it seemed to click. Until West Ham.

Poch's vision is obvious and effective. The problem I can see is that when it's not effective we struggle. Poch sets his teams up with one formation, one style of play. And if that doesn't work? Then we lose or draw. IMO he doesn't have the tactical flexibility required to be a top manager (yet, he is still young). What concerns me more is that his formation and style are mimicry. They aren't something he personally came up with. It's something he has seen done, believes to be successful and adopted as his own approach. With this in mind does this make him nothing more than a glorified motivator? Time will tell.

Nah it's simply the fact that without Dembele we're half the team.

Throw into that Ali was also out and we're fucked.

 

[Huddlestone22]

I tend to post less and less on this forum because in recent years it's become a cauldron of kneejerk reactions and hyperbole. Teams haven't "figured" us out. We were missing Dembele and Alli, we simply don't have the depth to replace them. Also our form has dropped as you can tell from our last four games.

 

[Lighty64]

I can't blame absentees. We were poor against West Ham, Arsenal, Liverpool, WBA etc with them in the side. Even Utd was a bit of a freak as they had been marginally the better side until we got the first.

you either never saw our starting XI v Wet Spam, or just a bad memory.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35647651

and it has been mentioned in a few threads, our points totals without Alli and Dembelle are not too good

 

[Lighty64]

the way I saw it today was we came out looking at just passing it around expecting Newcastle to not "give a shit", and players got caught out, slack and slow passing. we found ourselves 2-0 down, and still didn't get out of 1st gear, and never did any closing down.

when we got the consolation goal, and then they went down to 10 men, I really thought we would at least nick a draw, and can only think Walker was injured from the red card challenge. none of our defenders are slouches, but the only 1 with pace went off. the min they got and scored the penalty for the dive, our passing become even worse and it lead to a good few counter attacks, in which 2 resulted even if not directly in conceding the last 2 goals.

I don't know how the players see it from their stand point but from watching the way those shadows were, and I can't work out why we wore navy shorts, but the way we were passing I'm not sure the players were looking at where they were passing it at times. we should of worn the purple kit

 

[CowInAComa]

Our mentality got called out and we were found lacking. We haven't been sussed tactically.

 

[Jack]

IMO he doesn't have the tactical flexibility required to be a top manager (yet, he is still young). What concerns me more is that his formation and style are mimicry. They aren't something he personally came up with. It's something he has seen done, believes to be successful and adopted as his own approach. With this in mind does this make him nothing more than a glorified motivator? Time will tell.

There are only so many ways you can position names on a teamsheet and only so many ways you can kick a football long or short. Spoiler alert - they've all been done.

Innovation in any field is just looking at how someone better than you does it and trying your best to match it.

 

[Jamturk]

Nah it's simply the fact that without Dembele we're half the team.

Throw into that Ali was also out and we're fucked.

Is the system that good that a couple of absentees and everything crumbles?

 

[Japhet]

the way I saw it today was we came out looking at just passing it around expecting Newcastle to not "give a shit", and players got caught out, slack and slow passing. we found ourselves 2-0 down, and still didn't get out of 1st gear, and never did any closing down.

when we got the consolation goal, and then they went down to 10 men, I really thought we would at least nick a draw, and can only think Walker was injured from the red card challenge. none of our defenders are slouches, but the only 1 with pace went off. the min they got and scored the penalty for the dive, our passing become even worse and it lead to a good few counter attacks, in which 2 resulted even if not directly in conceding the last 2 goals.

I don't know how the players see it from their stand point but from watching the way those shadows were, and I can't work out why we wore navy shorts, but the way we were passing I'm not sure the players were looking at where they were passing it at times. we should of worn the purple kit

Love it!! Those energy and talent sapping navy shorts have got to go.

 

[MarkyP]

I don't think its tactical inflexibility. I just think we lack a different sort of player to change it up, if its not working. We don't posses that player who can run at teams with pace and beat a man..
Hopefully we can address that during the transfer window.

 

[dagraham]

A bit dramatic, but I think there is am element of truth to the OP.

We have struggled against teams who, in effect, do to us what we do to other teams. It's not just the West Ham game and subsequent games later in the season. It happened earlier in the season in Klopp's first game. Over the 90 mins we did enough to win, but in the first 30mins they out pressed us and if they had any strikers of note on the pitch they would have caused us big problems. It has happened plenty of times since and we are going to have to get used to it as more and more teams adopt this style and will rightly highlight it as a way to stop us.

I think part of the issue is we still have players who want too much time on the ball. Eriksen, Dier etc. We also have some players will questionable ball control like Son and even Alli at times. That means when we get closed down and pushed back we are vulnerable and coupled with the fact that generally our counter attacking is far too slow and ponderous means we can struggle.

I'm not suggesting the players I've mentioned aren't good enough, but I feel we need more players that are comfortable receiving the ball and able to play quickly.

 

[BromleySpur]

Whether we've been sussed or not, if we don't reinforce the squad significantly then I can't see us finishing higher than 5th next season. Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea are all likely to be better than this season and we're destined to always finish below the Scum. That's without Leicester and Man Utd. Factor in Champions League and the poor quality of our bank up players, there really is only one solution.

 

[aussiespursguy]

Just a thought. Would Poch benefit from having an old head in beside him.Just to make suggestions and guide.
The theory works well in other sports. Another set of eyes to see things maybe Poch hasn't. Important that this "old head" will have no say other than providing support and suggestions. The last few games suggested this could well have helped.

Just a thought.

 

[widmerpool]

Just a thought. Would Poch benefit from having an old head in beside him.Just to make suggestions and guide.
The theory works well in other sports. Another set of eyes to see things maybe Poch hasn't. Important that this "old head" will have no say other than providing support and suggestions. The last few games suggested this could well have helped.

Just a thought.

Not a bad thought. Someone like the apparently otherwise unemployable Bielsa?