Match Threads Spurs vs Villa - Match Thread

[spursfan77]

Absolute rubbish. Talk about passing the buck. There was not zero movement from the attackers, the back 4 and Winks were too busy playing triangles between themselves and Sissoko was out way too wide (covering for KWP) and Tanguy looked uncomfortable in role first half.
Funny how all of a sudden the attackers movements were absolutely fine when we took Winks off, maybe, just maybe it is because that was really when we started to think forward rather than sideways when we had the ball.
First half we had one shot on target to their 4.

Have a listen to poch’s after game comments and also the motd after match chat and they said the same thing as me near enough.

From my seat in the ground I could see there was no movement from Kane, lucas and Lamela. No runs in behind, no dropping deep (Kane only did this once getting frustrated to having no ball), no pass and move, no making themselves available.

The reason the second half was different was because Poch changed it round. It was pretty obvious I’m afraid.

 

[davidmatzdorf]

There was too little movement from the attackers because Villa's set-up gave them nowhere to move into. Not because they were too lazy to try, nor because of our midfield formation, which wasn't strictly a diamond. At kick off, we lined up in a clear 4-3-3. Then it switched back and forth, depending mainly on where Lamela was - he and Lucas were switching sides.

The change of formation to 4-2-3-1 helped a bit, but what really enabled the attacking players to move into gaps was that Villa were tiring and there were gaps to move into.

 

[1882andallthat]

I've avoided reading the in-play comments on the match thread, because I'm sure they're full of so-and-so is shit and we were useless today - they're even at it on this page - all of which is absolute bullshit. We totally dominated the game, from start to finish, such that there was no 5-minute period in either half when we were not out-pressing and out-passing Villa.

I'm going to take my Spurs hat off for a minute, because for a neutral it must have been a fascinating game. The dominant theme of the match for a neutral would have been Villa's superb and well-drilled defending, from 8 minutes when they scored until about 70 minutes. At one point, there was a stat that we had taken 17 shots, of which 2 were "on target" But the other 15 were not "off target" in the sense of missing the goal. At least half of them, probably two thirds, were blocked by the energetic, focused and organised Villa defence.

It's not even quite so that they "parked the bus", in the sense of being relentlessly negative. They had two banks of four, but the movement and the closing of gaps were very dynamic. Then, after 70 minutes, they started tiring noticeably. As well as having had to work hard constantly because of our pressure and possession, Villa were also consistently out-muscled in midfield throughout the match, which is knackering.

Some small gaps appeared, then Heaton saved and Ndombele collected the rebound and belted in his first goal. What I didn't expect was what happened next: right from the kickoff, Villa's disciplined shape disappeared completely. The two banks of four wandered around the pitch in two minds, not sure whether to attack for the win or settle in for the draw (not a difficult question, I would suggest, for a newly promoted side playing away against the CL finalists). Gaps appeared everywhere and the rest of the game was attack v. defence. The shots weren't being blocked anymore and two of them went in.

Another way to look at the change in momentum is: Eriksen came on and we promptly scored three goals. That didn't look like an unmotivated player to me. Arguably, there was a risk in removing Winks and leaving Sissoko on his own in front of the defence, but by that time Villa couldn't get the ball anyway. Having Eriksen playing 10m further up the pitch than Winks enabled us to thread balls for Kane through the defence, for the first time in the match.

It was a very frustrating hour of being 0-1 down, but I can't say the final score was a great surprise. Not a lot of teams will be able to keep us out for 90 minutes, nor will a lot of midfield be able to cope with the pressure.

P.S. The fullbacks were fine. Some of the crosses were good, even in the first half. They were defended very well.

On the whole I would agree with most of what you were saying but I wouldn't go as far as saying that we dominated the game literally from start to finish and we were not outpressing and outpassing them for every single 5 minute period. There were times in that first half when they outplayed us and looked more dangerous, not in sustained patches but there were flashes of this. With a bit more composure they could have scored more than once and there were times in that first half that our defence looked vulnerable. They had a decent shout for a second half penalty, but yes on the whole I agree with you that we were much the better side overall and the difference in that 2nd half was much wider as we put them under much pressure.

In the end despite battling bravely against a one way tide they could fend us off no more, especially after the introduction of Eriksen. Having to chase and hunt without the ball and be pulled this way and that, their fitness levels were always going to be their undoing and so it proved in those last 10 minutes. The fact that they managed to push us that far was a credit to them, given that they have slung together a lot of players who will take time to gel. They will have to up their fitness levels in the PL otherwise they will fall prey to many late goals from PL teams, that said I think they will stay up.
We will get better too so all in all a result that on the whole was better than the entire performance. Many positives and players to come back and be introduced. Like many I really hope we keep Eriksen for this season at least, on that front we shall see soon enough, but having him and GLC as options would be infinitely better for us with so many competitions to have a real go at.

 

[Trotter]

I've avoided reading the in-play comments on the match thread, because I'm sure they're full of so-and-so is shit and we were useless today - they're even at it on this page - all of which is absolute bullshit. We totally dominated the game, from start to finish, such that there was no 5-minute period in either half when we were not out-pressing and out-passing Villa.

I'm going to take my Spurs hat off for a minute, because for a neutral it must have been a fascinating game. The dominant theme of the match for a neutral would have been Villa's superb and well-drilled defending, from 8 minutes when they scored until about 70 minutes. At one point, there was a stat that we had taken 17 shots, of which 2 were "on target" But the other 15 were not "off target" in the sense of missing the goal. At least half of them, probably two thirds, were blocked by the energetic, focused and organised Villa defence.

It's not even quite so that they "parked the bus", in the sense of being relentlessly negative. They had two banks of four, but the movement and the closing of gaps were very dynamic. Then, after 70 minutes, they started tiring noticeably. As well as having had to work hard constantly because of our pressure and possession, Villa were also consistently out-muscled in midfield throughout the match, which is knackering.

Some small gaps appeared, then Heaton saved and Ndombele collected the rebound and belted in his first goal. What I didn't expect was what happened next: right from the kickoff, Villa's disciplined shape disappeared completely. The two banks of four wandered around the pitch in two minds, not sure whether to attack for the win or settle in for the draw (not a difficult question, I would suggest, for a newly promoted side playing away against the CL finalists). Gaps appeared everywhere and the rest of the game was attack v. defence. The shots weren't being blocked anymore and two of them went in.

Another way to look at the change in momentum is: Eriksen came on and we promptly scored three goals. That didn't look like an unmotivated player to me. Arguably, there was a risk in removing Winks and leaving Sissoko on his own in front of the defence, but by that time Villa couldn't get the ball anyway. Having Eriksen playing 10m further up the pitch than Winks enabled us to thread balls for Kane through the defence, for the first time in the match.

It was a very frustrating hour of being 0-1 down, but I can't say the final score was a great surprise. Not a lot of teams will be able to keep us out for 90 minutes, nor will a lot of midfield be able to cope with the pressure.

P.S. The fullbacks were fine. Some of the crosses were good, even in the first half. They were defended very well.

Dominated the whole game.
I suppose you could say that in the same way that we used to dominate with AVB and have 75% possession and lose 3-0 at home.

First half they were the more dangerous side, could quite easily have gone 2 up, whilst we were playing about with it, creating one timid shot on target and a half-hearted header over the bar in the last minute of the half.

Mixing up possession with domination and doing anything with it, David

 

[SonicSarr]

Sissoko was rubbish. Time to get over the love-in.

We did another pre-season game and got away with it.

Lol at the negs. Sissoko is a bad footballer. Get over it. ?

 

[Gb160]

Lol at the negs. Sissoko is a bad footballer. Get over it. ?

Most people think that's nonsense.
Get over it.

 

[Jenko]

Out of interest, what did Eriksen do? I just thought we changed our shape, pushed harder and Aston Villa's energy levels fell. Or are people on the wind up?

I think he moved into the correct pockets of space that Winks had been missing all game. If I'm honest with you I didn't think Winks was anywhere near brave enough. He had some nice touches on the ball but passed sideways too much and didn't move into and attack the large areas of space like I thought he should have.

In fairness, given the change of tactics and the lateness of the match when CE came on, it was the natural thing for Winks to play if he had stayed on the pitch. CE did it and it lifted the team. Just a pity winks didn't.

 

[SPURSLIFE]

Personally I see so much I like about him, I agree he's rough around the edges but the only way you smooth those out is with consistent playing time. Same with Foyth and KWP.

Sanchez and Foyth make to many serious mistakes for me and over a season could prove very costly. However I hope I'm wrong as it seems that they are going to be regulars in the side especially if Vert goes. Maybe you're right and regular playing time might make the difference.

 

[Shadydan]

https://betweentheposts.net/tottenh...meo-helps-break-down-aston-villa-defense-3-1/

 

[Flashspur]

On the whole I would agree with most of what you were saying but I wouldn't go as far as saying that we dominated the game literally from start to finish and we were not outpressing and outpassing them for every single 5 minute period. There were times in that first half when they outplayed us and looked more dangerous, not in sustained patches but there were flashes of this. With a bit more composure they could have scored more than once and there were times in that first half that our defence looked vulnerable. They had a decent shout for a second half penalty, but yes on the whole I agree with you that we were much the better side overall and the difference in that 2nd half was much wider as we put them under much pressure.

In the end despite battling bravely against a one way tide they could fend us off no more, especially after the introduction of Eriksen. Having to chase and hunt without the ball and be pulled this way and that, their fitness levels were always going to be their undoing and so it proved in those last 10 minutes. The fact that they managed to push us that far was a credit to them, given that they have slung together a lot of players who will take time to gel. They will have to up their fitness levels in the PL otherwise they will fall prey to many late goals from PL teams, that said I think they will stay up.
We will get better too so all in all a result that on the whole was better than the entire performance. Many positives and players to come back and be introduced. Like many I really hope we keep Eriksen for this season at least, on that front we shall see soon enough, but having him and GLC as options would be infinitely better for us with so many competitions to have a real go at.

Penalty? Was that where McGinn barged into our player and knocked him over? It wasn’t anywhere near a penalty if we are talking about the same incident. Agree with a lot of your other points.

 

[Ray Ray]

Sanchez and Foyth make to many serious mistakes for me and over a season could prove very costly. However I hope I'm wrong as it seems that they are going to be regulars in the side especially if Vert goes. Maybe you're right and regular playing time might make the difference.

Both are young. Think of the best CBs in the premier league era and everyone had question marks over them.

Terry - too slow, loaned out, technically not good enough

Ferdinand - big money ahead of his time bringing the ball out from the back

Stam, King, Blanc, Vidic, even VVD when he moved from Celtic

They will develop into great players, they will make mistakes though but that is the learning curve of a CB.

 

[hutchiniho]

Just getting my fantasy fix. FFS have a new article up, Re Kane, interesting points.

I’m just wondering how they can see it, we could see it at the time, but it took to the last 20 minutes of the match, after a full preseason for Poch to see?

Said it at the time, leaving Moura as the main CF makes absolutely no sense if it pulls Kane everywhere else apart from his best goal scoring position. Kane up top only!

“Heading for a frustrating blank with 85 minutes on the clock, Kane struck twice in the dying stages and emerged with his biggest single-Gameweek FPL return of 2019 (13 points).

Kane had begun the match in a front two with Lucas Moura (£7.5m) and the familiar drawbacks of Kane starting up top with the Brazilian were again apparent, with Moura staying in fairly central positions as Kane dropped deep and wide.

Kane was presented with few sights of goal in the opening 45 minutes but fluffed his lines on two occasions, heading over from the edge of the six-yard box and screwing badly wide when clean through – although that second chance was later called back for an offside flag.

The introduction of Christian Eriksen (£9.0m) and the switch to a 4-2-3-1 in the second half seemed to aid the England striker’s cause, with Lucas moving to a wider role and Kane becoming the focal point of the Spurs attack.

The premium forward’s two goals indeed arrived after these tactical changes, with Kane first firing in after Erik Lamela‘s (£6.0m) shot had been blocked and then finishing expertly from a Moussa Sissoko(£5.0m) pass.”

With Kane and Spurs in general, the consensus seems to be that the Lilywhites have looked a lot more comfortable when playing in a 4-2-3-1 than in the 4-4-2 diamond that Pochettino started the game with.

 

[KILLA_SIN]

Sanchez and Foyth make to many serious mistakes for me and over a season could prove very costly. However I hope I'm wrong as it seems that they are going to be regulars in the side especially if Vert goes. Maybe you're right and regular playing time might make the difference.

Sanchez and Foyth are both in the top 10 youngest Centre Backs used in the league last year.

 

[Mr Pink]

There was too little movement from the attackers because Villa's set-up gave them nowhere to move into. Not because they were too lazy to try, nor because of our midfield formation, which wasn't strictly a diamond. At kick off, we lined up in a clear 4-3-3. Then it switched back and forth, depending mainly on where Lamela was - he and Lucas were switching sides.

The change of formation to 4-2-3-1 helped a bit, but what really enabled the attacking players to move into gaps was that Villa were tiring and there were gaps to move into.

David I thought our front three were far too close together in the first half and we had zero width.

Second half, after Poch changed it, we used the wide areas much more, Eriksen came on and they definitely tired in the last ten minutes.

 

[hutchiniho]

Clear clear visuals that that diamond is utterly dreadful.
Moura and Lamela moving out to the touchlines freed everything up

 

[Roynie]

Not having read through most of the pages in this thread, and having watched the game in the middle of nowhere on a shite connection, one thought struck me. Poch wanted to win this game without revealing his new tactical options for what will be one of the most important games of the season - last year's Champions away. I think the formation we played the last 20 minutes or so revealed how we are likely to play against City next week, with one or two changes in the starting eleven. What was clear was the we were far better with Eriksen than without. Let's just hope he signs a new contract.

#COYS

 

[Spurger King]

Not having read through most of the pages in this thread, and having watched the game in the middle of nowhere on a shite connection, one thought struck me. Poch wanted to win this game without revealing his new tactical options for what will be one of the most important games of the season - last year's Champions away. I think the formation we played the last 20 minutes or so revealed how we are likely to play against City next week, with one or two changes in the starting eleven. What was clear was the we were far better with Eriksen than without. Let's just hope he signs a new contract.

#COYS

I don’t think that’s how football works.

 

[soflapaul]

Lol at the negs. Sissoko is a bad footballer. Get over it. ?

If you said he was a limited footballer, no one could argue. But bad, well maybe not. . He does a few things well and quite a few things poorly. When he is on and in the right system, he can contribute. When he is off or in the wrong system, he doesn't. You don't do what he did in Europa 2016 if you are "bad".

 

[Gb160]

The more we improve the worse it gets, so much self entitlement, high expectations. I actually think that people use football as a way to vent their frustrations inside the stadium and on social media.

The only place you'll see unbridled support these days is in non league football, it's so bloody refreshing.

 

[Gareth88]

Bit of a naive question but just interested, on Mondays when the lads come in for training do they sit down and watch the game for analysis or is it just the coaches who then relay the info? Also would they use Sky or Bt video or do the club have their own recordings?