Spurs (H) | PL | Post Match Thread

Not a total disaster imo. An improvement on our defeat against them last season. Last season we conceded four goals from 3.3 xG.



Thought today was just a case of us coming across a well-drilled side (like always against Frank, just with better players than Brentford) and Pep not having a clear answer. We've had dozens of games like that under Pep over the years and a lot of them have come against Thomas Frank. It happens. I'd rather it happened while the window was still open instead of us having a strong start and then being in a shit situation when no answers can be found in January.

But, having said that, today frustrated me more than the 4-0 defeat last season because it was obvious after 10 mins what Spurs were going to do and Pep just didn't respond to it. They're a big physical side and they were pressing us high. On the one or two occasions we sent it over the top, we caused all sorts of problems and created a couple of chances. But Pep just... decided not to do that again. This is exactly the kind of game where opposition CBs feared Ederson, because they knew a razor accurate ball could be sent over their heads at any point, but they weren't scared of Trafford and we stopped letting him play the long ball anyway. I'm not blaming Trafford for the mistake because he's clearly been instructed - as all our defenders have - to keep it short and play out from the back. It should be on Pep to spot the potential for disaster before it happens.

We also needed stronger lads out there. As soon as I saw the line-up my first thought was how much weaker it looked compared to previous seasons, with big lads like Ederson, Walker, Akanji, and Rodri who could impose themselves and bully the opposition. In their places today we had Trafford, Lewis, Bobb, and Gonzalez with his arm virtually in a sling. I thought Pep hung them out to dry. Cherki and Reijnders offer no defensive protection and it felt like Pep didn't plan for that eventuality. Ait-Nouri held his own fairly well and I don't think it's a coincidence that Spurs squeezed in front shortly after he went off. Ake clearly wasn't fit either. It's fair enough to get it wrong if the opposition come with a surprise plan, but to change absolutely nothing until 55 mins was criminal. Spurs threw their weight around and got themselves 2-0 in front because they knew they could bully us, and that meant we lost out in a lot of 50/50 marginal moments and it swung the game their way.

With that said, I really believe that if Marmoush and Haaland had buried their chances then we'd probably have come away with a point - and we'd have been decent value for it. It wasn't a total disaster. We absolutely had our moments, we just didn't seize upon them. There's lots to be excited about based on the Wolves game, and I think today was just a case of putting too many new and inexperienced players in the same team. Hopefully this isn't a repeat of last season when Pep sees that a certain combination of lads doesn't work but continues to play it and play it and play it in the hopes that somethings ends up going differently. Our strongest team is probably: Ederson Nunes Dias Gvardiol Ait-Nouri Rodri Reijnders Foden Cherki Marmoush Haaland, and five of that XI were missing today in very key positions against a team set up perfectly to play us.

We won't win the league. But I felt that before the season even started. We'll be good for 3rd and a run at the cups, which is what this season is about. Last season was a repeat of the 15-16 season, this season will be a repeat of 16-17, Pep will win one last title with us next year and bow out. Keep the patience and keep the faith.
 
A good performance against a poor team
And a poor performance against an average team. We got a tad giddy last week and this brings us crashing back down to earth.

We have to hope today was just one of those games that happen where everyone was pretty much bobbins. If not its going to be a very average season..
 
A combination of spurning chances and kamikaze defending generally doesn’t end well.
 
As soon as Trafford gave them the 2nd goal I knew it was game over. I didn't believe they would turn it round and so it proved to be true. Trafford not good enough to be our No. 1. Either get Ederson sorted or get him out and Donnaruma in. No time for penny pinching.

Lewis is never a defender in a million years and he offers little going forward . No height, no pace and loses alot of tackles. Why are we giving him a new contract!

Cherki and Reijnders need time to settle in but given the games coming up they need to get sorted quickly.

And Pep - any chance we can play the game out of 1st gear? We're too bloody slow....and when we do attack we want to walk it in.

So frustrating after last week. Roll on next week..... I'll still be behind them. CTID.
 
The main concern today was that we’ve been praying for a side to come to our place and press us like Spurs did today yet when it’s finally happened, we couldn’t play our way out of it.

If that then didn’t work, Eddie would usually then use his ability to nail one up to Haaland or to the wings. Again, didn’t work today.

Rodri would make a big difference to being comfortable getting out from the back but it’s disconcerting just how lost we seemed today.
 
IcriedwhenTueartleft said:
The amount of people who put faith in history, mate...it's a completely different team, coming into their peak moments....this team is not
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I know, but if you were around in the first few months of 20/21, you know many fans were writing Pep and the players off, starting with Rodri who many regarded as simply not good enough, and his combo with Gundo as terrible.
 
Bournemouth Blue said:
I didn’t think the pitch was quite ready, there were several slips, one led to the first goal and I think another led to Alt Nouri’s injury.
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RAN’s injury was a block tackle where the ball caught his toe and twisted his foot/ankle complex. Thought he might be able to run it off, but might be a sprain. Let’s hope it’s not ligaments, but I think the flexion was in the opposite direction to a ligament issue.

Current pitches are firm with a damp surface. It’s easy to lose your footing if you’re going one way and try to turn the other way without having your studs firmly planted.

Bournemouth Blue said:
But we dropped a point due to mistakes. We never looked like scoring, Spuds had longer pre-season to prepare. Also the ref did us no favours…
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…other than keeping Trafford on the pitch for his handball outside the area, but then missing Bobb’s penalty shout when Van Der Ven stepped on him in the box!
 
Football has evolved to answer Pep. It seems fast, powerful wide players who one second can double up defensively on our wingers and the next break at speed are our kryptonite. For Kudus today we've seen it all last season, memorably Munoz in cup final and Malcolm in cwc.

The only unknown in this is the importance of Rodri. 6 is by far the most important position in a Pep team and that includes the Messi team. They’d never have had so much possession without Busquets dictating play. It seems a lot to hope it will all be okay but he is that important, and that good.
 
Trafford looked a bag of nerves today from the first minute , Rico new contract and championship player , Dias has got slower didn’t think it was possible also new contract , i was at Wolves with the lads and you were all getting giddy playing relegation fodder, finally fucking Haaland ffs be honest watch him doesn’t even run when go a goal down big changes needed ASAP
 
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