Spurs vs Chicago Fire

[LexingtonSpurs]

I'm really struggling with the logic of bringing Fredericks on to play RB, moving our RB to LB and our LB to LCB.

Can't speak for MP, but trying to figure out who can cover at multiple positions is probably a good thing when thinking about bench spots.

 

[arunspurs]

From the players on this tour this would be my starting 11 if we had a premier league match tomorrow-
Friedel

Naughton Kaboul Fryers Rose

Capoue Holtby

Lennon Eriksen Lamela

Soldado

In all 3 games Veljkovic was our best defender. He read the game well & looked assured. In today's game, he had couple of moments when he tried to play from back but in all those moments he recovered faster enough & kept us going. On other hand, Fryers had no clue at CB; He looked ok at LB but largely a liability , especially with Dawson v Toronto in 2nd half.

Rose v Davies - Davies no questions asked. Even today, in first half, Rose was beaten by Chicago full back easily. When Davies is in, we did not have one attack materialize in our left side.

And you missed the most consistent player of preseason in your XI - Ryan Mason-He was tidy, accurate short passes, always looking to play forward when he has the space.

Eriksen is still not looking match fit & probably needs one more week. He was better than how he was at Toronto game.

My preseason XI so far, below (considering how they played & fitness levels)

Friedel
Naughton, Kaboul, Veljkovic, Davies
Capoue, Mason,
Holtby,Lamela, Kane
Soldado

 

[Flobadob]

Really? Townsend makes the starting 11 with everyone here fully fit?

On the left wing, yeah. He's more of a threat than Chadli when he's fully fit. Don't act like you don't remember almost every team double marking him when he was at his best. His end product wasn't the best but he was highly rated by a lot of people when he was 'fully fit and on form'. I think you should have read my post better by the sounds of it

 

[Sweech]

On the left wing, yeah. He's more of a threat than Chadli when he's fully fit. Don't act like you don't remember almost every team double marking him when he was at his best. His end product wasn't the best but he was highly rated by a lot of people when he was 'fully fit and on form'. I think you should have read my post better by the sounds of it

I'm sorry, but Townsend had something like 50+ shots and 1 freaking goal (and 1 assist). Also no team ever double marked him. All he did was receive the ball and dribble it until he ran into two defenders. That or cut inside and shoot it at anything that wasn't the net.

Chadli is better, and had better production coincidentally. Heck even Lennon has been better and is better defensively than Townsend.

 

[Flobadob]

In all 3 games Veljkovic was our best defender. He read the game well & looked assured. In today's game, he had couple of moments when he tried to play from back but in all those moments he recovered faster enough & kept us going. On other hand, Fryers had no clue at CB; He looked ok at LB but largely a liability , especially with Dawson v Toronto in 2nd half.

Rose v Davies - Davies no questions asked. Even today, in first half, Rose was beaten by Chicago full back easily. When Davies is in, we did not have one attack materialize in our left side.

And you missed the most consistent player of preseason in your XI - Ryan Mason-He was tidy, accurate short passes, always looking to play forward when he has the space.

Eriksen is still not looking match fit & probably needs one more week. He was better than how he was at Toronto game.

My preseason XI so far, below (considering how they played & fitness levels)

Friedel
Naughton, Kaboul, Veljkovic, Davies
Capoue, Mason,
Holtby,Lamela, Kane
Soldado

I completely disagree with Veljkovic being our best defender. It's been between Kaboul and Rose for me. Veljkovic has looked good but if you read my post again you'll see I said that's my team for a premier league match if we had one tomorrow. Would you start Veljkovic at CB in the premier league tomorrow? He's very good technically and positions himself well considering his inexperience but he isn't ready physically yet IMO. As for Rose vs Davies I don't really know how you've come to that conclusion at all tbh. Going by the 2 games they've both been in the squad I'd put money on Rose starting the first game of the season tbh because Davies has done ok but hasn't been impressive IMO, he didn't seem to make many tackles/interceptions or get forward much at all. He positioned himself well enough and was decent in possession but nothing special. In fact I remember he made one absolutely shocking pass inside that would almost certainly have lead to a good chance in the premier league with the numbers they had on the break and it totally exposed our defence. Davies could potentially take Rose's place in the future but personally I think he needs to do a lot more, although it is early days

 

[SandroClegane]

On the left wing, yeah. He's more of a threat than Chadli when he's fully fit. Don't act like you don't remember almost every team double marking him when he was at his best. His end product wasn't the best but he was highly rated by a lot of people when he was 'fully fit and on form'. I think you should have read my post better by the sounds of it

Chadli had more goals and assists last season...

 

[Sweech]

I completely disagree with Veljkovic being our best defender. It's been between Kaboul and Rose for me. Veljkovic has looked good but if you read my post again you'll see I said that's my team for a premier league match if we had one tomorrow. Would you start Veljkovic at CB in the premier league tomorrow? He's very good technically and positions himself well considering his inexperience but he isn't ready physically yet IMO. As for Rose vs Davies I don't really know how you've come to that conclusion at all tbh. Going by the 2 games they've both been in the squad I'd put money on Rose starting the first game of the season tbh because Davies has done ok but hasn't been impressive IMO, he didn't seem to make many tackles/interceptions or get forward much at all. He positioned himself well enough and was decent in possession but nothing special. In fact I remember he made one absolutely shocking pass inside that would almost certainly have lead to a good chance in the premier league with the numbers they had on the break and it totally exposed our defence. Davies could potentially take Rose's place in the future but personally I think he needs to do a lot more, although it is early days

Fryers was almost shockingly bad and he would have been crucified had Dawson not been playing worse. I can't see a way in which you're somehow more comfortable with Fryers in a Prem game than Velk simply because he's been in one before. I'd sooner play the better player to be honest.

Rose wasn't as bad as he has been for the most part (faint praise), but this Chicago game was a perfect example of him, he made an awful mistake against Grant Ward and then earned himself a yellow for being an absolute tool. Rose might get further up the pitch, but Davies actually does more with the ball whenever he's in those positions. Overall Davies has done more with the ball than Rose has without ever taking on the man in front of him, not to mention being more reliable defensively as Rose had trouble with Grant Ward and some no name RB with weird hair.

You seem to have an infatuation for players like Townsend or Rose who run quickly up the wing with the ball. The problem is neither of them result in end product for your team. They play almost purely offensive games, but they don't add goals or assists, and if you're going to play that style you better provide production, they don't. We have players who provide defense (Lennon), better work rates, better production etc.

 

[arunspurs]

I completely disagree with Veljkovic being our best defender. It's been between Kaboul and Rose for me. Veljkovic has looked good but if you read my post again you'll see I said that's my team for a premier league match if we had one tomorrow. Would you start Veljkovic at CB in the premier league tomorrow? He's very good technically and positions himself well considering his inexperience but he isn't ready physically yet IMO. As for Rose vs Davies I don't really know how you've come to that conclusion at all tbh. Going by the 2 games they've both been in the squad I'd put money on Rose starting the first game of the season tbh because Davies has done ok but hasn't been impressive IMO, he didn't seem to make many tackles/interceptions or get forward much at all. He positioned himself well enough and was decent in possession but nothing special. In fact I remember he made one absolutely shocking pass inside that would almost certainly have lead to a good chance in the premier league with the numbers they had on the break and it totally exposed our defence. Davies could potentially take Rose's place in the future but personally I think he needs to do a lot more, although it is early days

Rose has been dog shit this 3 games(today was bit better) - I don't know which game you were watching. Did you see how many times Chicago's Jamiacan right back went past him in first half ?

I may not start Veljkovic tomorrow in PL. But out of the 4, he looked the most assured. Today's game he had couple of moments on passing We are still talking about a 18 year old player - so he will make mistakes; Its about how he recovers & doesnt linger with those mistakes. Thing is he recovered very fast.
If you say Veljkovic was bad, I find it even more puzzling to see Fryers in your XI - who IMO was worst after Dawson overall.

 

[Flobadob]

Rose has been dog shit this 3 games(today was bit better) - I don't know which game you were watching. Did you see how many times Chicago's Jamiacan right back went past him in first half ?

I may not start Veljkovic tomorrow in PL. But out of the 4, he looked the most assured. Today's game he had couple of moments on passing We are still talking about a 18 year old player - so he will make mistakes; Its about how he recovers & doesnt linger with those mistakes. Thing is he recovered very fast.
If you say Veljkovic was bad, I find it even more puzzled to see Fryers in your XI - who IMO was worst after Dawson overall.

No, I never said Veljkovic was bad? He's was excellent considering his age. All I'm saying is I wouldn't start him in the premier league if we had a game tomorrow for the reasons I've already stated. Fryers hasn't done very well this pre-season, I agree but again you need to read my comment, I was putting out a team for if we had a PL match. If it's just any match and I have to pick the best players from this tour I'd pick Veljkovic, no doubt about it.

Rose was outpaced by their RB on a few occasions yeah, but I'd argue if Davies was in a similar position the exact same thing likely would have happened. You know I was talking about a bad pass from Davies and not Veljkovic right? Sorry, it just seems you might have mixed it up from your reply? Anyway, if you are talking about Davies then I would definitely argue that if that was a premier league opponent playing a pass like that and putting your defence in that kind of trouble would 9 times out of 10 make it extremely hard to recover in time. He got lucky that our opponents attackers weren't very incisive with that opportunity

 

[Sweech]

No, I never said Veljkovic was bad? He's was excellent considering his age. All I'm saying is I wouldn't start him in the premier league if we had a game tomorrow for the reasons I've already stated. Fryers hasn't done very well this pre-season, I agree but again you need to read my comment, I was putting out a team for if we had a PL match. If it's just any match and I have to pick the best players from this tour I'd pick Veljkovic, no doubt about it.

Rose was outpaced by their RB on a few occasions yeah, but I'd argue if Davies was in a similar position the exact same thing likely would have happened. You know I was talking about a bad pass from Davies and not Veljkovic right? Sorry, it just seems you might have mixed it up from your reply? Anyway, if you are talking about Davies then I would definitely argue that if that was a premier league opponent playing a pass like that and putting your defence in that kind of trouble would 9 times out of 10 make it extremely hard to recover in time. He got lucky that our opponents attackers weren't very incisive with that opportunity

What about the pass Rose made off of Grant Ward that nearly sent them in to score?

 

[fortworthspur]

its difficult to make sense of these games in the US, which are all about product placement.

But I did find Fredericks a little intriguing.

 

[Flobadob]

Chadli had more goals and assists last season...

He did, but I would also factor in that I believe Townsend has big potential and there's no way to say if he didn't injure himself in that EL match and lose his form completely that his end product wouldn't have improved, as Chadli's did towards the end of the season. Taking into account Townsend's potential, the fact that we don't have much chance of reaching our long term target of champions league football next season and Pochetinno leaning towards building for the future in the past, I think it's not so crazy to give Townsend a real go next season because I think he could become a very good player for us in the future

 

[Flobadob]

What about the pass Rose made off of Grant Ward that nearly sent them in to score?

To be fair I didn't see that, i may have been in the kitchen at the time using my new George Foreman grill Was it a similarly dangerous situation to the sloppy pass that Davies made?

 

[Strikeb4ck]

In all 3 games Veljkovic was our best defender. He read the game well & looked assured. In today's game, he had couple of moments when he tried to play from back but in all those moments he recovered faster enough & kept us going. On other hand, Fryers had no clue at CB; He looked ok at LB but largely a liability , especially with Dawson v Toronto in 2nd half.

Rose v Davies - Davies no questions asked. Even today, in first half, Rose was beaten by Chicago full back easily. When Davies is in, we did not have one attack materialize in our left side.

And you missed the most consistent player of preseason in your XI - Ryan Mason-He was tidy, accurate short passes, always looking to play forward when he has the space.

Eriksen is still not looking match fit & probably needs one more week. He was better than how he was at Toronto game.

My preseason XI so far, below (considering how they played & fitness levels)

Friedel
Naughton, Kaboul, Veljkovic, Davies
Capoue, Mason,
Holtby,Lamela, Kane
Soldado

I thought Rose was clearly better than Davies today, they were pretty equal v TFC, and Rose did well vs Seattle. Kane did not play LW either so not sure where you're getting that from. I think Lennon deserves a spot on the preseason XI, he's been very good the past two games.

 

[Flobadob]

Fryers was almost shockingly bad and he would have been crucified had Dawson not been playing worse. I can't see a way in which you're somehow more comfortable with Fryers in a Prem game than Velk simply because he's been in one before. I'd sooner play the better player to be honest.

Rose wasn't as bad as he has been for the most part (faint praise), but this Chicago game was a perfect example of him, he made an awful mistake against Grant Ward and then earned himself a yellow for being an absolute tool. Rose might get further up the pitch, but Davies actually does more with the ball whenever he's in those positions. Overall Davies has done more with the ball than Rose has without ever taking on the man in front of him, not to mention being more reliable defensively as Rose had trouble with Grant Ward and some no name RB with weird hair.

You seem to have an infatuation for players like Townsend or Rose who run quickly up the wing with the ball. The problem is neither of them result in end product for your team. They play almost purely offensive games, but they don't add goals or assists, and if you're going to play that style you better provide production, they don't. We have players who provide defense (Lennon), better work rates, better production etc.

The thing is I have already explained a way in which I'm more comfortable with Fryers playing in the premier league than Veljkovic? His superior physical presence. If you're saying that Veljkovic is a better player than Fryers then why has Fryers made far more first team appearances, including time at CB? I'd also add that he did absolutely fine in those appearances (WBA and Benfica)

I don't have an infatuation for those types of players at all. I'd much prefer if all our attacking players were like Lamela and Eriksen but we don't have a huge pile of those types of players unfortunately and I'd rather Townsend got the nod over Chadli because he clearly has a lot of potential and we don't have any chance of making the champions league this year so I'd rather we give Townsend a go and try to improve his end product over this season so in the future we can challenge. How do you suppose his end product is going to improve while he's sat on the bench losing confidence? which is terminal for a player like him.

We clearly disagree at this point regarding Davies and Rose so I think it's best to just wait and see how it pans out when the season starts tbh

 

[Gbspurs]

Anyone got any clips of the goals?

 

[Sweech]

The thing is I have already explained a way in which I'm more comfortable with Fryers playing in the premier league than Veljkovic? His superior physical presence. If you're saying that Veljkovic is a better player than Fryers then why has Fryers made far more first team appearances, including time at CB? I'd also add that he did absolutely fine in those appearances (WBA and Benfica)

I don't have an infatuation for those types of players at all. I'd much prefer if all our attacking players were like Lamela and Eriksen but we don't have a huge pile of those types of players unfortunately and I'd rather Townsend got the nod over Chadli because he clearly has a lot of potential and we don't have any chance of making the champions league this year so I'd rather we give Townsend a go and try to improve his end product over this season so in the future we can challenge. How do you suppose his end product is going to improve while he's sat on the bench losing confidence? which is terminal for a player like him.

We clearly disagree at this point regarding Davies and Rose so I think it's best to just wait and see how it pans out when the season starts tbh

What exactly gives Townsend a bunch more potential than Chadli? The 1 year difference in their age? I'd argue Chadli has just as much (if not more) potential as Townsend has and is currently the better player. So far Townsend is a better dribbler than Chadli, that's pretty much it. Chadli is a better finisher, better crosser, better passer, better physically, better defensively, although possibly slower.

 

[Sweech]

Anyone got any clips of the goals?

 

[Flobadob]

What exactly gives Townsend a bunch more potential than Chadli? The 1 year difference in their age? I'd argue Chadli has just as much (if not more) potential as Townsend has and is currently the better player.

You're slightly twisting what I've said, 'a bunch more potential' at what point did I say that?..

I believe he has more (not 'a bunch more') potential than Chadli because I personally think he shows as much natural footballing talent as any player in our squad. I just think he needs to be coached better to make better decisions in match situations, which a coach like Pochetinno has excelled at in the past. That's why I think he has more potential than Chadli, if you disagree that's fine, it's only a matter of opinion

 

[balalasaurus]

*takes a deep breath*
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLL