Match Threads Spurs vs RB Leipzig 1st leg - Match Thread

[sweyid]

I think we all have to remember that RBL are second in the Bundesliga, just one point behind Bayern. While losing on a penalty (caused by a massive brain fart) is fucking bitter and infuriating, we could have been utterly trashed by them. I'm not happy with the result as I feel we could have come away with at least a draw, but considering we've been shit this entire season the result isn't that bad.

 

[shelfboy68]

Who was supposed to be marking Werner last night? Felt like we gave him so much space - esp in the first half.
That said he is obviously a quality player.

I think some of the fan's in the east and west stand were closer to Werner than many of our players

 

[Kingellesar]

This is what I expected from the Dortmund game last year, remember everyone hyping them up and we absolutely demolished them.

Same again this year, a lot of hype around Leipzig....and deservedly so, Werner is a huge player, I would love him at Spurs. If it wasn't for Lloris it would have been 3/4 and game over. At least we still got a chance in the away leg but they have lived up to the hype surrounding them.

Thought Lo Celso grew as a player last night, taking charge of the midfield in the second half, I think with a run of games now he will soon become one of the first names on the team sheet. Also Lamela is so frustrating because there is a good player in there and we needed someone to come on and rough them up as they kept making cynical fouls but you know he will have reported in injured this morning.

 

[Nicki78]

Was very surprised at the amount of fans leaving on the 80 minute mark last night. It was a 1-0 game and we were playing well at that point. By 88 mins our block was about half full. One couple in front of me left on 60 mins!

 

[doctor stefan Freud]

We all know this but you constantly repeating it wont change things or make it happen. Your rhetoric is getting very tedious now

I’ve mentioned it twice over Wednesday evening- the second time in response to another person’s post about my original post, so I’m baffled by your criticism.

Don’t go down the ‘constantly repeating it won’t change things’ route- this is a forum where, amongst other things, people vent spleen. I’d happily venture you, me and everyone has had a moan about something we can’t change so be careful about singling out criticism for some and not everyone. It just makes you look like a self appointed arbitrator of what is or isn’t tasteful on here and I’m not convinced you or I qualify for that

 

[topper]

@topper so do you think this is a new style from Jose then or was disagree fat fingers?

Probably lager induced fat fingers

 

[Haddock]

Far too many of us football fans are forgetting the context of a match when assessing it. As I see it we were totally out done for the entire 90 minutes. The last 25-20 minutes of the match we played "better" but that was largely due to Leipzig backing off and protecting the lead, and in turn gave up their relentless pressing. We created what 2 half chances in open play? when we were supposedly playing well and going for it.

You simply can't judge a football match based on the last minutes. Especially in a knock out match. It's all about the risk taking the two teams are prepared to take and usually not very much about the actual quality of the team / footballers.

Even if we had started with Ndombele and Lamela from the start I feel like the match would have more or less played out the same way. It's so obvious to me that the whole penalty situation is the consequence of us being so passive in the defence during large spells of the match. I have nothing against playing a bit cynical and pragmatic football but setting up in a defence manner doesn't equal letting the opponents have all the time in the world on the ball. If you take away intensity it all falls apart anyway. Just look at Atletico - a defence shape goes hand in hand with high intensity, that's why they are masters at it.

Anyway, my point is this. I don't believe we're equipped to play the kind of football Mourinho apparently wants us to play. As of now, with this group of players, I don't think they are tactically good enough and / or they don't have the qualities needed to play 180 minutes of football without making crucial errors. That said, I'm intriqued to see what Mourinho can do when we have less injuries, another transfer window + a pre season, but right now it's actually painful watching us.

Yes, we're in transition and yes Mourinho needs time and yes the new signings still need to bed in but there's no excuses for how passive we look playing at home in the largest club tournament in the history of football. Sorry, just had to vent a bit. Roll on saturday.

 

[shelfmonkey]

he’s got a yesterdays team which is the main issue

So with an up to date squad yesterday's man might recreate yesterday's successes employing yesterday's outdated tactics?!!! Hmmmm!! OK.........

 

[Gringospur]

Jose Mourinho Post Match Press Conference

 

[shelfmonkey]

Yes, we had tomorrows man in Poch and didn't win anything either. We've had them all and won nothing in ten years. Might as well sack it all off.

Poch WAS NOT wholly backed by the little bald man! It will be travesty if Levy throws money galore JM's way, a real boot in the teeth for Poch!!!

 

[spursfan77]

Was very surprised at the amount of fans leaving on the 80 minute mark last night. It was a 1-0 game and we were playing well at that point. By 88 mins our block was about half full. One couple in front of me left on 60 mins!

Im not, there was a guy behind me (a season ticket holder) who moaned the whole game from the first minute (it was worse than a match thread), so I suspect there were more like him happy to leave early. He didn’t give up though. I wish he’d of fucked off at half time!

 

[Deleted member 27995]

Poch WAS NOT wholly backed by the little bald man! It will be travesty if Levy throws money galore JM's way, a real boot in the teeth for Poch!!!

What has that got to do with style of football? Fucking hell either make a point and stick to the same train of thought or don't.

 

[shelfmonkey]

What has that got to do with style of football? Fucking hell either make a point and stick to the same train of thought or don't.

Fuck me!! Keep your knickers on mate!! Read the post I was replying to, we weren't talking about the style of play!!

 

[KILLA_SIN]

how else do you approach this game with your two best scorers out and a midfield duo of Winks and Gedson?

I would like an answer to this considering the injury situation we find ourselves in I would love to know how else we should be playing.

 

[KILLA_SIN]

Perfectly capable of beating RBL away

 

[Deleted member 27995]

Fuck me!! Keep your knickers on mate!! Read the post I was replying to, we weren't talking about the style of play!!

We've not won anything in ten years with all the styles of play, it doesn't matter what baldy does or not. Go back and look at the pots we have won in the last thirty and tell me they're any different - the only thing was the cup run in 91, the final was the same as the pot we won under Graham and the pot we won under Ramos.

It's always the same with this fan base, it's like Bill Murray in ground hog day every time we lose a game of football.

 

[barry]

Was very surprised at the amount of fans leaving on the 80 minute mark last night. It was a 1-0 game and we were playing well at that point. By 88 mins our block was about half full. One couple in front of me left on 60 mins!

To tell you the truth whenever I've left early on weekday night matches, it's for reasons totally unrelated to football. Work or my son getting to bed at a reasonable time for school etc.

 

[brendanb50]

I would like an answer to this considering the injury situation we find ourselves in I would love to know how else we should be playing.

I agree with this to an extent and it forms a big part of how i viewed the game.

Whilst not having key goalscorers available explains the general lack of forward intent we seemed to have last night, it doesn't fully excuse our midfield performance. The best i can say there is that we grew into the game.

We started slow and nearly paid for that. Winks took way to long to find his feet in the game and i will acknowledge that it's hard for the midfield to play decent possession football if some of the outlets aren't there. We also resort to the long ball too quickly - fine if under pressure, which we were for a bit last night but at times we just wasted opportunities to get a foothold in the game.

So yes, injuries were a part of our problems but we also didn't do enough (from midfield IMO) for large parts of the game.

Credit where credit is due as well RBL looked decent and well organised.

I'll take the narrow loss on balance but would have been nice to have pinched that equaliser.

 

[barry]

We got this. I'm supremly confident we'll win in Leipzig. If we don't such is life. I'm in a good place with Spurs.

 

[brendanb50]

Far too many of us football fans are forgetting the context of a match when assessing it. As I see it we were totally out done for the entire 90 minutes. The last 25-20 minutes of the match we played "better" but that was largely due to Leipzig backing off and protecting the lead, and in turn gave up their relentless pressing. We created what 2 half chances in open play? when we were supposedly playing well and going for it.

You simply can't judge a football match based on the last minutes. Especially in a knock out match. It's all about the risk taking the two teams are prepared to take and usually not very much about the actual quality of the team / footballers.

Even if we had started with Ndombele and Lamela from the start I feel like the match would have more or less played out the same way. It's so obvious to me that the whole penalty situation is the consequence of us being so passive in the defence during large spells of the match. I have nothing against playing a bit cynical and pragmatic football but setting up in a defence manner doesn't equal letting the opponents have all the time in the world on the ball. If you take away intensity it all falls apart anyway. Just look at Atletico - a defence shape goes hand in hand with high intensity, that's why they are masters at it.

Anyway, my point is this. I don't believe we're equipped to play the kind of football Mourinho apparently wants us to play. As of now, with this group of players, I don't think they are tactically good enough and / or they don't have the qualities needed to play 180 minutes of football without making crucial errors. That said, I'm intriqued to see what Mourinho can do when we have less injuries, another transfer window + a pre season, but right now it's actually painful watching us.

Yes, we're in transition and yes Mourinho needs time and yes the new signings still need to bed in but there's no excuses for how passive we look playing at home in the largest club tournament in the history of football. Sorry, just had to vent a bit. Roll on saturday.

I share your sentiments. Passive is a good word to describe it. We weren't firing from the off, lacked a bit of aggression and really allowed RBL to take control of the game. Whilst some of this comes down to having more of a forward threat (outlets/forces oppo to stay back more) a lot of it comes from our approach to the game and lack of effectiveness with the long ball and the midfield battle being lost.

Our changes helped as some fresh drive and press back into the team, for all his shithousery, Lamela does a great job in sparking something in our play - a bit of aggression in a press, a bit of fight in a 50/50, a cynical kick/arm to the face - all help get the fans up on their feet and get the game going again.