We've improved half the pitch notably.
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Match AS Monaco vs Tottenham Hotspur. Wednesday the 22nd of October 2025 UCL
- Thread starter The Fighting Cock
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Whilst I agree , neither have been that consistent to be honest
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Being good defensively would mean limiting the Monaco chances though, not giving them 23 attempts on goal and hoping they keep missing?
I didn't see last night's game so I'm not talking specifically about that.
But.....
You can allow opposition chances of you limit those chances to ones they don't usually score from.
A good example of this was under Mourinho where we beat City at home. They had loads of the ball, but all their chances were from long, high crosses where they had nobody to benefit from them.
A big part of our problem at the moment is a lack of forward threat. Hopefully that improves as and when players return and maybe we add some in January.
The defence generally looks harder to break down, but the less we have at the other end, the more often the ball is going to come straight back at them.
I thought I was pretty clear I wasn't talking about last night.
What we saw defensively last night was how we were under Ange for two seasons.
Whereas under Frank, last night based on the evidence so far, was an anamoly rather than the usual.
Important to remember though, no matter if we relied on luck and Vicario, we still kept a clean sheet. Under Ange we literally never kept clean sheets. We couldn't even rely on luck, we were that bad even Vicario's heroics and lady luck couldn't keep the opposition from scoring against us.
Bergvall and Sarr double pivot won't work.
They cough up the ball too easily when pressed and also they have poor positional awareness.
I think you play one of them at any time.
According to Understat Spurs xGA for the first 8 games this year is 8.94.
First 8 games of last year it was 8.7.
So, unfortunately the bit in bold is untrue for the time being.
Tottenham xG stats for the 2024/2025 season | Understat.com
Tottenham detailed xG stat for the 2024/2025 season. Data for players, different formations, situations, game states and etc.
understat.com
Tottenham xG stats for the 2025/2026 season | Understat.com
Tottenham detailed xG stat for the 2025/2026 season. Data for players, different formations, situations, game states and etc.
understat.com
Goals scored against first 8 games this year is 7
Goals scored against first 8 games last year was 9
So the evidence suggests that Vicario is overperforming this year by some considerable distance.
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I think (or rather am praying) that it's Solanke we're missing most. I'm hoping that his ability to hold up play will help us both offensively AND defensively.
Contrary to what some people keep saying we are massively struggling defensively - giving up way too many shots; even with a very defensive double pivot set up. I think this has a lot to do with our offense not being able to keep the ball.
Our best defensive display was, ironically, against Villa.
Had a chance to reflect on my comments last night . I was correct “we sucked the big one “
I’m playing all the right players (well 10/11) but not necessarily in the right order. I’ve heard something similar to that before.
how, new grass?
What you do with toes is your own business…who are we to judge?
Andre Preview?
Eeeeeuuuuuwww made me think of Sarah Ferguson , and that’s never a good thingWhat you do with toes is your own business…who are we to judge?
According to Understat Spurs xGA for the first 8 games this year is 8.94.
First 8 games of last year it was 8.7.
So, unfortunately the bit in bold is untrue for the time being.
Tottenham xG stats for the 2024/2025 season | Understat.com
Tottenham detailed xG stat for the 2024/2025 season. Data for players, different formations, situations, game states and etc.
Tottenham xG stats for the 2025/2026 season | Understat.com
Tottenham detailed xG stat for the 2025/2026 season. Data for players, different formations, situations, game states and etc.
Goals scored against first 8 games this year is 7
Goals scored against first 8 games last year was 9
So the evidence suggests that Vicario is overperforming this year by some considerable distance.
Mate I am sorry but you do not need xGA to see we are much better defensively this season than last season.
Or are you saying that you genuinely think we aren't better defensively? Because if so that is a truly shocking take.
How many clean sheets did we keep under Ange last season? We kept 6 clean sheets out of 38 games.
We already kept 4 clean sheets in 8 league games this season, and 7 in all competitions. It is night and day difference.
We were dreadful defensively under Ange, as bad as we've been in 40 years.
Under Frank we look a very well organised and discplined side so far. The outliers have been last night and Bournemouth, but they are just outliers.
I just pointed out that you saying the evidence so far shows we are "much better defensively" than under Postecoglou is incorrect. The evidence does not show that. Not yet.
We are definitely "set up" to be more defensive - and that has worked well against Villa (which ironically we lost to two worldies) but hasn't been effective against Bournemouth, Brighton, Bodo, Monaco and funnily enough, Leeds.
The evidence shows that Vicario is way overperforming.
Hopefully this changes when Solanke comes back
I think Frank is doing well with the players he has at his disposal.
A team with Maddison, Kulu and Solanke missing is bound to suffer, just like our defence did without Micky and Cuti.
Frank has had just ten odd weeks to put his stamp on the players, and this is far too little time given the injury list and number of games coming hard and fast.
Just two defeats and unbeaten in the CL a competition where on paper we have some winnable fixtures coming up.
I think this season is one of rebuilding that will likely run into next summers transfer window.
Frank needs time and patience and I don't doubt for one minute that the club will give him that.
We are definitely one elite MF short for this season. A tough ball carrying number 8
The chances they had last night weren't pot shots from 30 yards out. Vic has the game of his life.
The played through us like we weren't there.
And in most games this season, or XGA has been higher than our XG. Despite playing two 6's in most games, we still bleed chances.
Last night was a bad performance, should had lost by a few.
Only 2 on target from us uterrly pathetic.
Dont think it is improving against Everton either.
Only 2 on target from us uterrly pathetic.
Dont think it is improving against Everton either.