Spurs (H) | PL | Post Match Thread

Sorry to be heretical but we are too predictable in playing out from the back most of the time. The best sides now have players who have both the speed and technical ability to negate this approach. The lack of speed in moving the ball forward with too many short passes invites pressure. When we have players who lack physicality on the ball it does not work . I commented pre-season having watched Chelsea pre-season against BL that they had a dangerous mix of pace, technical competence and physicality. If we perform like that when we meet them they will run up a cricket score. In our post season analysis many of us said we needed to adapt our style of play but we haven't and the players we have bought are unlikely to help in this process
I said to my neighbour in the ground that at one point in the second half Trafford had the ball at his feet in the six yard box and Spurs had five players within six feet of the eighteen yard line.

Stop City playing out from the back and you stop them playing. Every team in the Premier League and Europe has worked this out.
 
Recruitment or tactics/set up?

Maybe both.
A true anology...

After 4 days of going up a blind alley, (which was TWO DAYS after I told my colleague maybe he should stop the project he was working on & start again with a clean sheet), I ended up having to put it on him to start afresh, just as he was about to start DAY FIVE going up the same dead end!

Three days after restarting afresh, the project was almost complete, bar snagging & client proofing.


I said last season that Pep evolved his inverted defender tactics to counter the constant low blocks we were facing. Teams have sussed this system out & are attacking the spaces we vacate to damage us.

If I were around Pep, I'd tell him to stop going up his inverted defender blind alley, & to tactically start again with a blank sheet.

We need to get back to the very basics of a flat back 4, a No 6, No 8 & No 10 in midfield. We need a left winger, a right winger & a striker. Essentially Pep's classic Barcelona 4-3-3.

Spuds dominated us at home without inverting anyone. Their system was simple, easy to understand & easy to execute, unlike ours where a confused & shocked Cherki kept looking to the bench for guidance instead of playing his natural flair game.

Against lesser players Pep's current system can work. BUT, how long will it be until Pep concedes that in November 2025, it'll be 12 months since his inverted defender tactics has worked against a top PL or CL team?

On paper, our team & bench should've splattered Spuds, plus we had home advantage! We've replaced many of the creaking legs, but the same issues keep arising, so we have to ask ourselves why?

For me, it's more a failure of Pep's inverted system than the players being asked to execute it. We're evolving our squad, but it's useless unless our failed, sussed out tactics evolve too.

The question is, is Pep Guardiola the man to see tactical change is necessary, & to make that change?
 
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The fact is Spurs were just better. Rico has great work ethic but he's not good enough. Stones and Dias want everyone to play in slow motion. Cherki struggled with the adjustment. Haaland struggles to act as a target man. Trafford lost his head.

Trying to play like a dominant team but not at it, essentially Bournemouth today.
 
Yeah, the only thing is Trafford's been in the academy so maybe we think he will learn and improve with his feet?
48 hours ago, many on this board were saying "dump Ederson, dump Ortega, we got Trafford!" If Ederson and Ortega don't want to play for us, fine. But Trafford looked like a deer in the headlights at times. He is not the sole reason why we lost, however.
 
Arsenal just brought on a 15 year old. We be sending him out on loan for a few seasons then selling him to Borussia Dortmund
 
Bloody hell. Reading this thread this evening, the players may as well pack it in and open a stall on Dickenson Rd market, selling second hand football clobber.
Always with the Dickie Road market - leave it be lad.....

We've been pish for quite some time now with the odd decent performance.
 
They dont change that game....

Neither cover up for the defensive weaknesses or lack of midfield physicality

I find it incredible that last season we suffered due to the lack of Rodri and yet again decided to ignore the fact we don’t have a CDM.
 

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