Match Threads Antwerp vs Spurs - Match Thread - Europa League - Game 2

[Aay_Jay_Dee]

Sometimes youve got to put your hands up and say the other team deserved it. Defensively solid and had a few chances (great chances) to score on the counter. Well done Antwerp

 

[slartibartfast]

Sometimes youve got to put your hands up and say the other team deserved it. Defensively solid and had a few chances (great chances) to score on the counter. Well done Antwerp

I don't think this is one of them though.
Our poor performance wasn't down to Antwerps fantastic play.

 

[bsinghd]

Think Mourinho summed it up perfectly when he said quality isn’t enough. Our players are several levels above the Antwerp players, play in more competitive and technically challenging games in the premiership but yesterday they didn’t put the effort in until it was too late.

There are some players in the squad who struggled yesterday against a team who would probably be just a decent team in the Championship - Winks, Sanchez, Davies being the standouts. Having Winks in midfield is akin to pissing into the wind, and though he might have decent passing stats they’re all sideways or backwards passes over short distances. I really can’t see what he actually offers to the team apart from taking up a space.

 

[Nebby]

So this was on jose ?
The players he put out where not of the required standard ?

Absolutely. He could have played it a lot safer and smarter. Lo Celso, Bale, Bergwijn and Dele all looked - understandably - a long way off the pace, and there was really no need to start them all. Add Winks, who barely plays, the new lad Vinicious up top, and Davies out of position alongside Sanchez who has been dodgy all season, and you have a team that looks completely out of whack.

 

[Shadydan]

Think Mourinho summed it up perfectly when he said quality isn’t enough. Our players are several levels above the Antwerp players, play in more competitive and technically challenging games in the premiership but yesterday they didn’t put the effort in until it was too late.

There are some players in the squad who struggled yesterday against a team who would probably be just a decent team in the Championship - Winks, Sanchez, Davies being the standouts. Having Winks in midfield is akin to pissing into the wind, and though he might have decent passing stats they’re all sideways or backwards passes over short distances. I really can’t see what he actually offers to the team apart from taking up a space.

I've seen constant comments like these and the irony is that they're just as bad as our players not taking them seriously when in fact the fans are underestimating them as well.

 

[Monkey boy]

Didn’t see the game but sounds like the Europa league group games of years gone by where too many changes were made and players not really giving a shit.

 

[max cady]

I don't care if they are unbeaten in 10 years at home. They play in a mediocre league. They have mediocre players. A top club should win these games, even with the reserves.

You've never had an off day, they do happen from time to time even the best in the world suffer at the hands of mediocre sides.

 

[carpediem991]

As I have stated before I felt we should have left Vini and GLC on. Would be even an interesting chance to see a Kane/Vini combination.

Not saying I know better than Jose but based on performance and how i think about the players that would have been my approach:

HT:
Hojbjerg on to bring stability for Dele
Son on to bring more goal threat than an out of form Bergwijn

----------Vini---------
Son------GLC------Bale
-------PEH---Winks----

60th and still down
Kane on for Winks. GLC to drop deepnext to PEH and risk a bit more. Kane a hybrid of 9/10 next/behind Vini.
Lucas/Lamela on for Bale. Fresh legs and working attitude

75th and still down
Lucas/Lamela on for Vini/GLC. Another fresh legs


But I am not a coach so what do I know.

 

[Kiedis]

I'm less worried about how the players handled the situation than how the coach handled it.

 

[RikkiRocket]

So this was on jose ?
The players he put out where not of the required standard ?

Jose admitted he picked the wrong team. So yeah.

 

[Mattspurs1982]

Have to say i'm not really sure why Toby didn't play considering Dier was back against Burnley.

because he’s getting on and took a huge bleeding whack in the face.

 

[Bulletspur]

honestly, it's not about tonight. we're now 12 games deep in the season, let's have a little recap. Spurs host Everton, get thoroughly outplayed. move on to Bulgaria, struggle to beat Plovdiv. we go to Southampton, we get absolutely demolished the first half but somehow manage to score in the end of the half and we come back looking good during the second taking advantage of huge amounts of space in behind the defense. we did well there to change the outcome of the match but had Southampton capitalized on the chances they had or that late goal not appeared, I fail to see Southampton exposing themselves that much. they are a dominant side, they felt they could dominate possession and field position and ultimately paid an expensive price. Macedonia, another poor display, managed to snag the win with second half goals against very poor opposition. host Newcastle, the best performance of the season hands down. dominant from minute 1 all the way through 89 and we all know what happened. not even mad at that one (now). Chelsea for the League Cup. we did well after trailing but again, poor start, forced to play from behind. but still, I have this one on the positive side since Spurs did a good job getting back into the game and even after getting the equalizer, we were okay (even though they had a pair of great chances). then Maccabi. they had no idea how to defend, it was chances galore but we still looked extremely shaky defensively against poor opposition. result is excellent but the red flags persisted. United. okay, we were great almost all game long but for the few minutes it was a 11v11 game, we were outplayed. I cannot read too much into this honestly. it was good but it was good not due to systemic dominance but circunstancial situations. West Ham. I mean, we did well to create early chances, the clinical nature of our frontmen showed up but we got to the second half, failed to keep possession, failed to be organized, kept letting them play in our half. yes, it is a 1 in 50 situation but we welcomed it with the way the game went on. LASK was good, thought this one was a very clear, dominant victory. now Burnley. awful display, managed to create some late second half half chances and eventually it lead to a goal right at the end.

I'm sure some of you will disagree with some of the assessments I made but some of them are not debatable and I see a lot of people ignoring some situations due to the outcome of those matches. systematic success happens when conditions are created to do it consistently. we see today's game and it's not the fact that we lost that worries me, it is the fact that we struggle to have a consistent pattern of play, it's the fact that we get countless situations where players do not have solutions to link play, it is the fact that our midfield gets overrun most of the time, it is the fact that a lot of players get caught out of position in the last third, etc etc. are we making progress collectively? does it seem like players are getting corrected? look, I do not intend to claim I'm a football expert but I honestly cannot see anything that resembles a title winning side even if the direct opposition is also struggling.

we've established that the squad is as deep as it ever was but a lot of those guys aren't those ever reliable, plug and play players. they need organization and constant correction. I can accept that the first half today was a mixture of out of form and lack of cohesion product but were we that much better in the second? had they been clinical, it would have been a no doubter.

our core has been together for a long time now so that is not an excuse. I just can't see it. not like this. we have the resources to do much better than this but nothing from what I've seen so far screams success to me. hopefuly I'm dead wrong.

I honestly do not know how to rate this. I cannot rate it "disagree" as some points you made are spot on, although there are parts I equally disagree with. Its neither funny, offensive, creative or optimistic and does not warrant a spam or a duh! I think the mods should make a new rating icon labelling it "Interesting''

 

[rez9000]

I honestly do not know how to rate this. I cannot rate it "disagree" as some points you made are spot on, although there are parts I equally disagree with. Its neither funny, offensive, creative or optimistic and does not warrant a spam or a duh! I think the mods should make a new rating icon labelling it "Interesting''

I want this...



...turned into a rating. That would be epic!

 

[JoaoPereira]

I honestly do not know how to rate this. I cannot rate it "disagree" as some points you made are spot on, although there are parts I equally disagree with. Its neither funny, offensive, creative or optimistic and does not warrant a spam or a duh! I think the mods should make a new rating icon labelling it "Interesting''

well, this is a forum, don't give a damn about the ratings. it is a place to talk Tottenham. honestly am surprised noone took the time to counter argue some of the points I made because I am fully aware that a vast share of the fan base has a different view on a lot of them.

 

[FibreOpticJesus]

Just seen something on sky sports news feed about Spurs being fined £23k and Jose getting a one match suspended ban for late ko at this game. Anybody got the full details on this?

 

[Tucker]

Just seen something on sky sports news feed about Spurs being fined £23k and Jose getting a one match suspended ban for late ko at this game. Anybody got the full details on this?

It was discussed in the Mourinho thread. Basically got fined more for being late to the kick off, than some teams/countries have been for racist behaviour.

 

[FibreOpticJesus]

It was discussed in the Mourinho thread. Basically got fined more for being late to the kick off, than some teams/countries have been for racist behaviour.

Thanks I missed that. UEFA continue to show how embarrassing they are as an organisation.

 

[slartibartfast]

Can someone explain to me why we were fined for a delayed ko at an away match please.
As I understand it the ko was delayed due to the goals being the wrong height. How os that our fault.
I'm obviously missing something.

 

[rez9000]

Can someone explain to me why we were fined for a delayed ko at an away match please.
As I understand it the ko was delayed due to the goals being the wrong height. How os that our fault.
I'm obviously missing something.

It's called UEFA

EDIT: That sounds like I'm taking the piss out of you, slarti, but I'm not. I'm taking the piss out of UEFA

 

[slartibartfast]

It's called UEFA

EDIT: That sounds like I'm taking the piss out of you, slarti, but I'm not. I'm taking the piss out of UEFA

No your fine. What I'm getting at is its the home teams responsibility to ensure the pitch is in a fit condition to be played on. If it was delayed because of the goal size what has that got to do with us?