In your marginally smarter than a monkey brain, what does that mean exactly?
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Match Tottenham Hotspur v Hull City
- Thread starter MyFootbalFacts
- Start date
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In your marginally smarter than a monkey brain, what does that mean exactly?
Being COMPLETELY truthful here - I'm sure various people have me pegged as an AVB partisan and, it's true and I'm guilty - I want Spurs to do well. However, today's performances, and some aspects of it in particular, really made me question what the overall tactic was.
First of all - kudos to him for switching things early when they weren't working in order to get something out of the game. And then changing it again when it still wasn't clicking.
Now, the negative:
- The wingers, whether inverted or otherwise, simply never ran beyond their full back. If you've got a block of 5-8 men in front of the box, you need to exploit the width we can have by getting your full backs and wingers to do their flank running thing and put the ball into the middle. Instead, we got a lot of cutting in without much end product.
- Soldado was good today and there should've been one other penalty (stonewall in my view) plus there was the incident where he went down holding his face. I thought at the time he may have been diving but saw the mark on his face just now when watching MOTD2 - had a good game and was dangerous. However - it's clear that he's being deployed as a pin between the two centre backs and his job is to anchor them there. For that to work, however, there needs to be space in front of them for our CAM to exploit. Holtby didn't do this particularly well, and neither did Eriksen today - Siggy has had mixed results in the past. I think it comes down to the fact that Hull were very compact in this area - in which case, my natural instinct would be to go around the roadblock as mentioned above.
- A LOT of our play was with backs to goal. Like, a lot. THAT was the main source of my own frustration, as well as those around me. That players as deep as Sandro and at times Dawson/Chiriches would be looking for the ball back as the first option. That is somewhat demoralising because it states that the other lot have set out their defending stall and our MAIN aim is ball retention. It made us slow and predictable when we did attack. This wasn't helped by ...
- A lack of movement and understanding amongst our midfield. I know they're adjusting which is why I"m going to let this slide. But Holtby was, positionally, wherever he wanted to be without contributing much. I've said elsewhere that I DESPERATELY want Holtby to succeed but displays like today, where he dropped deep and then popped up on the left or right, getting in players' way without offering them a way out...just frankly not good enough.
- My final criticism is what worried me the most - that players today saw the space and seemed afraid to attack it. If there's space on the pitch, that represents time on the ball, which represents better decisions (as long as the options are there further up the pitch). It seemed to me, at least three or four times, that there was space to step into but the players would pass laterally or behind them just to avoid the space. This may just be coincidence or bad decision making by the players. If it's more than that, then it may be that AVB is SO worried about being hit on the counter that he doesn't want those pockets of space exploited. It wouldn't surprise me if Hull's plan today had involved leaving areas of space that were big enough to look enticing but just small enough to trap one player when he brings the ball in there, take it off him and then launch a counter. BUT if AVB is so risk-averse that he won't risk going forwards when there's space to be had in a very tight midfield against a Hull side who are keeping us out...is that the way we want our football to be played?
I say all this as a fully-subscribed happy clapper - I am not in any way advocating booing. I am fully behind the team and the manager. This is just my view on what went wrong and what we have to learn from before we play Everton (or even this lot again) to move onwards and upwards.
First of all - kudos to him for switching things early when they weren't working in order to get something out of the game. And then changing it again when it still wasn't clicking.
Now, the negative:
- The wingers, whether inverted or otherwise, simply never ran beyond their full back. If you've got a block of 5-8 men in front of the box, you need to exploit the width we can have by getting your full backs and wingers to do their flank running thing and put the ball into the middle. Instead, we got a lot of cutting in without much end product.
- Soldado was good today and there should've been one other penalty (stonewall in my view) plus there was the incident where he went down holding his face. I thought at the time he may have been diving but saw the mark on his face just now when watching MOTD2 - had a good game and was dangerous. However - it's clear that he's being deployed as a pin between the two centre backs and his job is to anchor them there. For that to work, however, there needs to be space in front of them for our CAM to exploit. Holtby didn't do this particularly well, and neither did Eriksen today - Siggy has had mixed results in the past. I think it comes down to the fact that Hull were very compact in this area - in which case, my natural instinct would be to go around the roadblock as mentioned above.
- A LOT of our play was with backs to goal. Like, a lot. THAT was the main source of my own frustration, as well as those around me. That players as deep as Sandro and at times Dawson/Chiriches would be looking for the ball back as the first option. That is somewhat demoralising because it states that the other lot have set out their defending stall and our MAIN aim is ball retention. It made us slow and predictable when we did attack. This wasn't helped by ...
- A lack of movement and understanding amongst our midfield. I know they're adjusting which is why I"m going to let this slide. But Holtby was, positionally, wherever he wanted to be without contributing much. I've said elsewhere that I DESPERATELY want Holtby to succeed but displays like today, where he dropped deep and then popped up on the left or right, getting in players' way without offering them a way out...just frankly not good enough.
- My final criticism is what worried me the most - that players today saw the space and seemed afraid to attack it. If there's space on the pitch, that represents time on the ball, which represents better decisions (as long as the options are there further up the pitch). It seemed to me, at least three or four times, that there was space to step into but the players would pass laterally or behind them just to avoid the space. This may just be coincidence or bad decision making by the players. If it's more than that, then it may be that AVB is SO worried about being hit on the counter that he doesn't want those pockets of space exploited. It wouldn't surprise me if Hull's plan today had involved leaving areas of space that were big enough to look enticing but just small enough to trap one player when he brings the ball in there, take it off him and then launch a counter. BUT if AVB is so risk-averse that he won't risk going forwards when there's space to be had in a very tight midfield against a Hull side who are keeping us out...is that the way we want our football to be played?
I say all this as a fully-subscribed happy clapper - I am not in any way advocating booing. I am fully behind the team and the manager. This is just my view on what went wrong and what we have to learn from before we play Everton (or even this lot again) to move onwards and upwards.
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I support AVB and Spurs, but enough of the idiot fans saying "we should sing louder" and "support our big $ signings no matter how shit they are" - fuck off, will ya??? when Spurs start playing like Spurs I'll stop being a fucking "melter," whatever that means to jock-sniffing forum cunts who've never scored a goal or with a girl...
COYS[/quote]
You want to change the way your team plays (something you have no power over) but you feel no responsibility for being a good supporter of the team (something you have power over). Nuts just Nuts!
COYS[/quote]
You want to change the way your team plays (something you have no power over) but you feel no responsibility for being a good supporter of the team (something you have power over). Nuts just Nuts!
Lloris
Walker - Dawson - Chiriches - Vertonghen
Sandro - Paulinho
Townsend - Holtby - Lennon
Soldado
subs: Dembele, Eriksen, Defoe.
manager: AVB
Lloris was brought in late august, iirc, of last season.
Chiriches was brought in late august.
Vertonghen was brought in last summer.
Paulinho was brought in August, iirc.
Holtby was brought in January.
Townsend came back from loan and hasn't been with the team when seriously competing for a first team place.
Soldado was brought in August, iirc.
Dembele was brought in last August, iirc.
Eriksen was brought in August.
AVB was brought in last summer.
That is 9 players of the 14 that played have been here for a year and a half. 5 of them have been brought in (or got back from loan) less than 6 months ago. I see the vision AVB has. I'm with it. Ball retention is key. Squeeze the field. Constant ball pressure. Inverted wingers with full backs overlapping. Big bodies in the middle, small and fast on the outside. High line. Sweeper keeper. We have played exactly 10 fixtures without any new bodies coming in (transfer wise, not injury wise). Keep this core together and by January our problems will be fixed.
This is the first season watching Spurs that i am confident of keeping a clean sheet, no matter the competition. We are clearly lacking in the final third, yet the entire game is being played in the final third. AVB will work this out. No matter what Sammy says, AVB has learned from his mistakes and "having no plan B" is bullshit. AVB made many changes. Keep getting points and tread water, for now. Give it a season and it will be put together. AVB is our man and the right man.
That said, this is a problem I have with this.
We appear to have two box to box midfielders: Dembele and Paulinho. With such a squeezed field, I don't know of much value to us they will be. Having a Modric-like midfielder (Tommy Carroll) playing along side a Sandro or Capoue would link play throughout the team, much better than either Dembele or Paulinho could do. Not entirely sold on Dembele or Paulinho playing in that role. Not questioning either one's abilities, just do we want that skill set in that position.
Walker - Dawson - Chiriches - Vertonghen
Sandro - Paulinho
Townsend - Holtby - Lennon
Soldado
subs: Dembele, Eriksen, Defoe.
manager: AVB
Lloris was brought in late august, iirc, of last season.
Chiriches was brought in late august.
Vertonghen was brought in last summer.
Paulinho was brought in August, iirc.
Holtby was brought in January.
Townsend came back from loan and hasn't been with the team when seriously competing for a first team place.
Soldado was brought in August, iirc.
Dembele was brought in last August, iirc.
Eriksen was brought in August.
AVB was brought in last summer.
That is 9 players of the 14 that played have been here for a year and a half. 5 of them have been brought in (or got back from loan) less than 6 months ago. I see the vision AVB has. I'm with it. Ball retention is key. Squeeze the field. Constant ball pressure. Inverted wingers with full backs overlapping. Big bodies in the middle, small and fast on the outside. High line. Sweeper keeper. We have played exactly 10 fixtures without any new bodies coming in (transfer wise, not injury wise). Keep this core together and by January our problems will be fixed.
This is the first season watching Spurs that i am confident of keeping a clean sheet, no matter the competition. We are clearly lacking in the final third, yet the entire game is being played in the final third. AVB will work this out. No matter what Sammy says, AVB has learned from his mistakes and "having no plan B" is bullshit. AVB made many changes. Keep getting points and tread water, for now. Give it a season and it will be put together. AVB is our man and the right man.
That said, this is a problem I have with this.
We appear to have two box to box midfielders: Dembele and Paulinho. With such a squeezed field, I don't know of much value to us they will be. Having a Modric-like midfielder (Tommy Carroll) playing along side a Sandro or Capoue would link play throughout the team, much better than either Dembele or Paulinho could do. Not entirely sold on Dembele or Paulinho playing in that role. Not questioning either one's abilities, just do we want that skill set in that position.
In my opinion paulinho was playing the more attacking midfield role yesterday and he had a fair few touches in the box and a couple of efforts on goal. Watch again and a lot of the time he was practically playing second striker with soldado. How much further forward would you play him? Or are you under the impression that Holtby was the AM in this game?
Paulinho is always that forward, at least when Eriksen doesnt play. He even gets further forward than Soldado most of the time.
If Holtby isnt being used as an AM, I have no idea why he's on the pitch....holding? no. Defensive? no. Breaking up play? no.
Either way, imo, it was a bad selction as well as use of the player.
If Holtby isnt being used as an AM, I have no idea why he's on the pitch....holding? no. Defensive? no. Breaking up play? no.
Either way, imo, it was a bad selction as well as use of the player.
He's supposed to be the one that gets the ball from defence and gives it to any one of the forward players. Can also arrive in the box of we're overloading.
It's not beautiful to watch at the moment but we're 3 points off the top of the league so I'm happy overall. AVB has always said that his labelling as this technical, scientific coach is a bit of a fallacy and that he tries to concentrate more on the mental side of player preparation so that the team can go out and express itself. At the same time he's made us incredibly stingy defensively. It's a tough balancing act. But given the stuff he's said about the emotional side of playing, it's no surprise that he feels the home support is crucial if we want to achieve success.
I really don't see why some people are so reluctant to just support the side they've paid handsomely to watch. It's like they WANT to moan. Why would you bother going if you don't have a good time? Surely by now these people have gotten used to the fact that we're not united, Liverpool or even Chelsea or city with their endless money. If winning and winning well is the be all and end all of your reason to follow a side then spurs ain't the club for you!
It's not beautiful to watch at the moment but we're 3 points off the top of the league so I'm happy overall. AVB has always said that his labelling as this technical, scientific coach is a bit of a fallacy and that he tries to concentrate more on the mental side of player preparation so that the team can go out and express itself. At the same time he's made us incredibly stingy defensively. It's a tough balancing act. But given the stuff he's said about the emotional side of playing, it's no surprise that he feels the home support is crucial if we want to achieve success.
I really don't see why some people are so reluctant to just support the side they've paid handsomely to watch. It's like they WANT to moan. Why would you bother going if you don't have a good time? Surely by now these people have gotten used to the fact that we're not united, Liverpool or even Chelsea or city with their endless money. If winning and winning well is the be all and end all of your reason to follow a side then spurs ain't the club for you!
We might not be playing the best football, but the media rhetoric is that Liverpool are flying....they are 1 point ahead of us. were 3 ahead of City and 5 ahead of United, haven't conceded a goal in Europe and have 7 clean sheets in the league. We have a whole new playing staff and as much as i hate the word transition, that's what we are kinda in. A new way of playing with new players.
All our title rivals will have their blips, theres no way Woolwich will get maximum points from their next 3 games. Yesterday AVB was just saying what we do on here, I will be there on Wednesday in J and lets make our voices loud enough to get the rest of WHL off their seats.
All our title rivals will have their blips, theres no way Woolwich will get maximum points from their next 3 games. Yesterday AVB was just saying what we do on here, I will be there on Wednesday in J and lets make our voices loud enough to get the rest of WHL off their seats.
Townsend's re-emergence from the crowd was like something out of WWE
:lennonlol:
:lennonlol:
Oh dear.
Based upon this post I am pretty sure you won't ever stop being a melt. Oh and an FYI, scored at Sunday League yesterday and the missus last night so there goes your theory.
Did people hate VDV as much when he only scored a penalty:vdvdive:
I'd like to think that AVB was reacting to the WHU game, in that he didn't want us to concede in the same manner, so he made a few changes, and yesterday's game was the result, our channels being slightly more guarded made for "harder penetration", which isn't always a good thing.
However, I'm not a manager, and have no insights into how things work behind the scenes, so it's just fanciful thinking on my part.
However, I'm not a manager, and have no insights into how things work behind the scenes, so it's just fanciful thinking on my part.
Regarding AVB's comments, the part that sticks out for me is when he says playing on Sunday's doesn't help. I fucking hope that this is wrote on the dressing room wall and spurs the players on to finish in the Top 4 so we don't have to play in the fucking Europa League anymore.
I hate playing on Sundays knowing all our rivals have won on the Saturday.
I hate playing on Sundays knowing all our rivals have won on the Saturday.
...why, did he say something?
nah, i think it was just some bullshit floating around
Aw, I hate floaters!
It's really simple.
We're playing exactly the same team on Wednesday as we did on Sunday.
Sunday there was "negative atmosphere". So all we have to do is make sure that there's a "positive atmosphere" on Wednesday and see what, if any, difference it makes to the result.
If we win handsomely, either AVB was right, or he learned from the mistakes the moaners pointed out on Sunday. If we don't, then AVB was wrong, and only his greatest fans will save him.
We're playing exactly the same team on Wednesday as we did on Sunday.
Sunday there was "negative atmosphere". So all we have to do is make sure that there's a "positive atmosphere" on Wednesday and see what, if any, difference it makes to the result.
If we win handsomely, either AVB was right, or he learned from the mistakes the moaners pointed out on Sunday. If we don't, then AVB was wrong, and only his greatest fans will save him.
