Spurs (H) | PL | Post-Match Thread

[manimanc]

Neville after our first goal whilst watching the replay.
"You're hoping it falls to a defensive player for spurs".

Who is? You, Tyler and sky sports?

Bitter wankers.

 

[shevtheblue]

I thought Ake and Lewis were brilliant last night, Lewis especially in that hybrid position he's been asked to play is so confident. What really surprises me is how much everyone trusts him, guys like Rodri aren't afraid to give him the ball in tight areas, that in itself proves how class he is. I thought defensively Ake again was excellent, he got forward a few times as well and credit to him for trying it, but it's clearly not his game. I suspect he was there to provide assurances going the other way, but personally i thought Cancelo was one of the better players in the derby and deserved to start.

I still have doubts on Akanji if i'm honest, too relaxed on the ball and just not aggressive enough in the air when needed, this is where Ake is superior to him.

I'm not sure what's going on with Ederson, putting the mistake(s?) aside i have been really disappointed with his kicking since he came back from Brazil. We have become so used to not having any worries when the ball is put back to Eddy, but he seems to be messing up relatively simple (for his talent) passes nowadays that would never happen before. His command of the box is really poor, there were moments where he should have just dominated the area and taken the ball but didn't, other times where his communication with those around him was non-existent. He needs a bollocking imo.

I thought Alvarez in the first half kind of struggled to get into the game, much better pressing in the second half which was helped by other players actually helping him. Spurs to their credit got out of some sticky situations, but i thought we allowed them the easier route out at times.

We really need to find a way to use Haaland's runs, he makes them constantly and obviously we can use them as distractions but they're no longer distractions if never used. At times we try and rush it to him with really obvious over the top passes, that's not what he's looking for and it's where we need to be better. Liverpool (i dread to say) are better at this than us, hitting space but with purpose, not just actually hitting and hoping.

Pep's right, we got away with one last night, Spurs were wank all game and didn't deserve their goals but we really are missing that drive right now where we would create chance after chance.

 

[supercity88]

Open you eyes and look at our bench last night, why were 4 high class players sat there?

They have let their standards drop, that's why.

There can be NO sentiment in top class sport, NONE.

Class is permanent. You don't throw the towel in on this group after one bad season. We've won 4 of the last 5 league titles. We had a major drop off when Liverpool won it in between those successes and came back.

Pep is relentless in his pursuit of perfection and improvement. This squad have battled in every game in every competition across hundreds of games. They've also had the covid disruption, Euro's and World Cup in the past couple of years. It's almost inevitable, after two titles in a row, we'd struggle to keep those levels. That's why Pep brought in new players and let those who wanted to leave go. The players on the bench last night will be back. Sitting and watching it all unfold is the best way to remind them that they need to get their heads right if they want to play.

In many ways last night couldn't have gone better in that regard. The team showed incredible fight and won the game. We had Lewis, Akanji, Alvarez and Haaland all on the pitch who are new to the table. Grealish and Ake also haven't been here long. Dias, Cancelo, Walker, Foden, De Bruyne all sat there missing out.

 

[Keeper!]

Class is permanent. You don't throw the towel in on this group after one bad season. We've won 4 of the last 5 league titles. We had a major drop off when Liverpool won it in between those successes and came back.

Pep is relentless in his pursuit of perfection and improvement. This squad have battled in every game in every competition across hundreds of games. They've also had the covid disruption, Euro's and World Cup in the past couple of years. It's almost inevitable, after two titles in a row, we'd struggle to keep those levels. That's why Pep brought in new players and let those who wanted to leave go. The players on the bench last night will be back. Sitting and watching it all unfold is the best way to remind them that they need to get their heads right if they want to play.

In many ways last night couldn't have gone better in that regard. The team showed incredible fight and won the game. We had Lewis, Akanji, Alvarez and Haaland all on the pitch who are new to the table. Grealish and Ake also haven't been here long. Dias, Cancelo, Walker, Foden, De Bruyne all sat there missing out.

Class is NOT permanent, just look at Ronaldo this season.

Players have a shelf life, players have a ceiling.

Great title winning clubs NEVER compromise, just look over the road and see how quickly the wheels came off that club.

 

[Bigga]

Mate as it stands, Lewis deserves to play. I think today will make Guardiola & our squad seriously reflect on our patchy season so far.

If Lewis is playing exactly as Pep wants & excelling at it, that's good enough for a starting slot for me. We need to pick players based on form & as far as I'm concerned, I've seen little from Lewis to suggest he'd crumble in a big match.

Tonight was a BIG match against a team who seem to have the hex over us, & Lewis acquitted himself better than most.

You're not seeing my point. I'm not saying Lewis doesn't "deserve" to play, I'm saying he's not going to be picked for high pressure games at this stage of his career.

Put it this way, he will stay in the team from now on, on merit, if you're right and I'm wrong. But that's not how it works under Guardiola.

I'm convinced Walker will play ahead of Lewis in the Arsenal game, barring injury and terrible run of form, which he's not in.

But, we'll see.

 

[stan bowles]

Wow!!!! That is some interview. Certainly very interesting and he makes some very valid points. It was good that he points out the efforts and passion of Ake and Lewis. Think he is certainly have a go at some of the players who were not involved.

In another interview he said Mahrez was "on holiday" in the first part of the season but now has his levels back again.

 

[waspish]

You're not seeing my point. I'm not saying Lewis doesn't "deserve" to play, I'm saying he's not going to be picked for high pressure games at this stage of his career.

Put it this way, he will stay in the team from now on, on merit, if you're right and I'm wrong. But that's not how it works under Guardiola.

I'm convinced Walker will play ahead of Lewis in the Arsenal game, barring injury and terrible run of form, which he's not in.

But, we'll see.

Agree with thi, think he won’t play in the next game just because of the kicking he got and was limping for a bit after it! Also think pep will want to see Walker passion hunger in the next game

 

[Bigga]

He did it tonight, we've just lost 2 on the spin, so he put him back where he's looked very good, and it's not a great surprise he looked good again.

He's 18, he's bound to have dips in form, but at the moment he's on top of his game, and his role helps give us control, so I would extend his time in the time and see how it goes.

I understand that, but his form didn't dip before now, so it's not based on that thesis under Guardiola. I think Guardiola sees Spurs as a 'second tier' type of pressure team, so he could put Lewis in the mix. Dippers, Arse, Scum, Barcodes are 'first tier', so that's a different bar.

We'll see if Guardiola opts for a young man with confident or an older man with experience in those games in the second part of the season.

To me, Lewis needs a bit more experience with the 'second tier' and below games to land the battles of the 'first tier'. Let him get his footing and he'll get those games, next year.

It's not the right period to do it under the cosh and points behind.

 

[jimharri]

 

[Roachy]

Here's a word - balderdash!
To win when you are not playing well is the sign of champions someone once said.
To me the difference between the 2 halves was night and day and we didn't play that badly in the 1st half.
The 2nd half, nobody could have lived with us. We were magnificent!

You're correct about the the 2nd half, we were superb. However, it wasn't that long ago that we saw that type of performance virtually week in week out in recent seasons. We haven't really done that this season and the reasons will open up a whole new debate. I think for us fans the most frustrating thing is we know what this squad is capable of, we just haven't seen enough of it. Anything near last nights 2nd half for the rest of the season will do me.