Ok, but lets recap yesterdays game for a moment, taking step back from those reactions and emotions.
We came into the game from back of 3:1 win which clearly lifted spirits. After this league game there is international break coming. So it will set the mood, but will also provide rest for many of the players.
Odobert just had his breakout game during week, scoring not once but twice! Also I would say that Sonny and Madders had a good game and had their impact. Odobert and Maddison, mind you, are not called up to national teams either. So maybe just strike while the iron is hot and let them carry their good form into this one?
BUT NO! Ange shockingly decides to drop ALL 3 of them (!) at once (!) in EPL game (!)
So we start off with midfield of Gray-Bissouma-Bentancur. And frontline of Tel-Solanke-Johnson.
First of all midfield - I was happy to see Gray got a chance there finally. That was a nice touch. And I admit, I have been calling for using more than 1 holding player at once. So now Ange shifted from 1 to 3 (!). Okay, bit surprising but can understand at least part of it.
But question raises - it is SO freaking obvious to everyone - Johnson is not one for creation. He hardly takes players on, creates room and sets others up. And on the other wing, we have a new player who has never played on the wing for us before (!) . While Solanke up top is a known quality, question remains- who is supposed to be the driving force in that lineup ?!?! I raised the same question in local Spurs fan FB group too, before the ball was even touched.
Roll on the first half - we look quite solid defensively to be honest. Not much room for Fulham players. We keep them on xG of 0,28 (based on Understat data). On the flipside we create nothing at all ourselves (xG 0,09). But for first half, for me it was fine. Exactly what I forecasted, did happen - not enough creativity. So that needed addressing. In HT at the same FB group, I said that we should do one change - Bissouma off, Madders on. Would have shifted the balance AND given us more direct goal-threat too. Ange paniced a bit, made two changes with Sonny and Bergvall.
Our performance did improve upon that. But in terms of direct goal threat... there was still not enough. And our most productive (!) player in terms of scoring and assisting (Madders) was still left to rot on the bench ?!? ffs? WHY?
And then it went all-out-angeball from here. Our genious-manager decided to also sub off Romero for Maddisson on 69th minute (!). So from start of having 3 holding midfielders, we go to 1. And push 19 yo central midfielder into central defense DURING EPL GAME SECOND HALF ?!? WHAT. WHY? WTF. Which is exactly what was reaction on the field. With that move we lost defensive structure and we also lost midfield structure. It was panic all around, with, again 19 yo midfielder played as CB partnered with our 4th choice CB. All this during EPL game (!) when we had VDV on the bench (!) and Micky is not even called up to national side. So clearly he could have played these damn 21 minutes.
And then inevitable happen. We are a chaos. We condede a goal. We push even higher and concede 2nd goal as well.
I mean WHAT THE FUCK. It is just absurdly pathetic all around. Total and vomit-inducing mismanagement.
Dropping the in form players.
Starting with clearly unbalanced side.
Then panicking and switching it 180 degrees, instead of calculated and normal adjustments.
And then playing in EPL away game with CB pairing of 19 yo midfielder and 4th choice CB while you have 1st choice CB on bench.
It is 100 fucking % on Ange. Just total fucking shitshow and short recap/proof why and how out of depth he is.
Have some fucking dignity to yourself and step down. You clearly cannot do the job ffs.