It appears to me that we are completely unable to handle pressing opposition if we're not playing both of Aldeweireld and Vertonghen at the back.
Time and time again, we've seen similar games when one has been missing, where our defenders are pushed further and further back, and passes between Lloris, Dier et al. become more and more nervous until they start going vertical or directly to the opposition.
My heart sank every time I saw Dier or Aldeweireld retreat almost to the corner flag to receive the ball from Lloris, knowing that we'd be lucky to be in control of the ball by the time it reached the 18 yard line.
It's hard to explain why this is the case, because I would have expected Dier to be extremely comfortable on the ball given his performances in midfield last season.
Hopefully Poch will find a solution to this, because the most depressing games of the past few years have been almost carbon copies of each other. I don't know if Lloris's unreliable kicking is part of the reason why we're so unwilling to just hoof it out, even when we're consistently losing the ball in our own half.
Time and time again, we've seen similar games when one has been missing, where our defenders are pushed further and further back, and passes between Lloris, Dier et al. become more and more nervous until they start going vertical or directly to the opposition.
My heart sank every time I saw Dier or Aldeweireld retreat almost to the corner flag to receive the ball from Lloris, knowing that we'd be lucky to be in control of the ball by the time it reached the 18 yard line.
It's hard to explain why this is the case, because I would have expected Dier to be extremely comfortable on the ball given his performances in midfield last season.
Hopefully Poch will find a solution to this, because the most depressing games of the past few years have been almost carbon copies of each other. I don't know if Lloris's unreliable kicking is part of the reason why we're so unwilling to just hoof it out, even when we're consistently losing the ball in our own half.