I'd like to see Winks start some games. Against stoke (a fucken shite team) might be a good idea.
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Anyone who thinks Dele will be dropped as punishment obviously didn't follow Poch's playing career at all - even as Captain at Espanyol he was sent off on multiple occasions for similar tackles to Dele's on Thursday.
Think he'll go with a more physical centre midfield - our recent wins against them have come from dominating Imbula by out muscling him, I don't think that's Winks' game.
Fair point. I'd still like to see more of Winks. I'm hoping the run in of this season will be his break through.
He served the ban whilst still at WBA so we can expect him to score tomorrow!
I'm sure he will play plenty more times - seems to be cemented in Poch's first 13 or 14
Hoping to get Thursday's game out of the system. A win is a must, but we seem to be a bit hit and miss at the moment. Injuries obviously haven't helped but we need to get back on track PDQ. Stoke are no mugs and they have a good record against us at home, so we can't be complacent.
Siissoko?
On the flip side we are used to playing and thy have had 2 weeks off.... kill it in the first half then rest tired people in the second
That moment when we're up against Stoke and people are suggesting teams with 7 defenders and getting high likes.
We draw too many games.
The reason we draw so many games is because we don't score enough.
The reason we don't score enough is because we have too many defenders.
1 of Dembele or Wanyama needs to be dropped for either Winks or Alli to be played deeper.
Son has to start.
This is a must win game. You don't go into a must win game with only 3 goal threats. Get some balls, chaps, we're Tottenham, some of you seem to have forgotten the history and style that means.
We draw too many games.
The reason we draw so many games is because we don't score enough.
The reason we don't score enough is because we have too many defenders.
1 of Dembele or Wanyama needs to be dropped for either Winks or Alli to be played deeper.
Son has to start.
This is a must win game. You don't go into a must win game with only 3 goal threats. Get some balls, chaps, we're Tottenham, some of you seem to have forgotten the history and style that means.
"Play with 7 defenders, because it means the fullbacks can get forward more"
1. Davies doesn't attack, so that point is moot.
2. Walker attacks, but the assists/goals Walker can get will easily be surpassed by another attacking player like Son.
3. If Walker is having the best game of his life his attacking output is still dependant on Kane putting the chances away. If Kane is having a shitter Walker's crosses are pointless.
1. Davies doesn't attack, so that point is moot.
2. Walker attacks, but the assists/goals Walker can get will easily be surpassed by another attacking player like Son.
3. If Walker is having the best game of his life his attacking output is still dependant on Kane putting the chances away. If Kane is having a shitter Walker's crosses are pointless.
There isn't a single team prediction thus far which includes 7 defenders.
You're making stuff up to moan now?
I'm Eddie nervous about this one. We can't fuck this up and drop points.
Lloris
Dier-Jan-Toby
Walker-Dembele-Wanyama-Davies
This is a back 8 many have suggested on here
That's 5 defenders, 1 keeper and 2 defensive minded midfielders who don't regularly score.
If you want to be pedantic, sure, they're not defenders. But they're all defensively minded.
When you're using ''7 defenders'' as a stick to beat people with then pedantry is needed.
Dembele isn't defensively minded. You're suggesting starting Winks ahead of Dembele, which I don't disagree with, but he's not noticeably more attacking. He's just a passer instead of a dribbler. It's not as if Winksy is an assist machine. He has none.
Those are our strongest available players, in our strongest formation. We played that formation against City (with Dembele and Wanyama) and scored 2 against them. Granted, Rose was in instead of Davies but he's injured so what can you do?. We beat Chelsea (with Dembele and Wanyama) with it. We scored 4 against WBA (with Dembele and Wanyama) with it.
Playing Dembele with Wanyama is not the reason we don't score goals or beat sides. Our best performances have come with them playing. Our profligacy in front of goal is more to blame.
To suggest replacing Winks with Dembele is a ballsy option is ridiculous. It's not some left field, mental selection no one has considered. Winks is an excellent player. It's just an alternative option.
No need for the hyperbolic call to arms about style, history and the real Tottenham Hotspur just because some prefer to stick with the combination that has seen our best results this year and seen that Son seems a better option off the bench.
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When he refuses to shoot, barely assists and makes a large amount of interceptions/tackles, then he's a defended minded midfielder imo.
Winks moves the ball a lot quicker than Dembele. The ball moves quicker than any player - by simply passing it quicker you open up gaps to exploit. I think Winks offers a lot more going forward.
City 2-0 = Own Goal and Deli
City 2-2 = Son and Deli
Chelsea 2-0 = Deli and Deli
West Brom 4-0 = Own Goal and Kane x 3
Are you not seeing a pattern here? Unless Deli or Kane scores we lose or draw 90% of the time. For the vast majority of games they are our only two attacking threats.
I'd like to point out that:
1. Kane and Alli will score in the majority of formations. That's not enough of a basis to say a formation is/isn't working, if it harms the entire team. You're judging our attacking threat based off of how many goals Kane and Alli score, rather than the entire output of the 11.
2. In the 2-2 game against City we looked awful until Son came on for Wimmer and we looked far more threatening.
3. City and Chelsea will attack us, so we pick a team to counter attack. Stoke will simply sit deep. Different games need different tactics.
Winks and Son have to start imo.
I wouldn't worry about Stoke trying to stifle us if I were you. We've put 8 past them in our last 2 fixtures, with even more ''defensive minded'' CM's (Dier/Wanyama & Dier/Dembele).
Kane and Alli scoring most of our goals has no bearing on what we're talking about. In fact, we are one of only 2 sides, with Chelsea, that has 2 scorers in double figures in the League. So you're over estimating the need for more than 2 consistent scorers.
So yea, if they don't score we probably don't win an awful lot. But you're making that out to be something unique to Spurs.
But you know what? you can say the same thing for Hazard/Costa, for Sanchez/Giroud, for Mane/Firmino, for Ibrahimovic/Mata, for Aguero/Sterling or any other elite club around the world. You're not saying something groundbreaking, just a fact of football.
You don't need to assess our goal scoring by the ''entire output of our 11'' because that's not what some players are in the side to do. Our LB has scored the same amount of League goals as Rooney, Cazorla and Oxlade-Chamberlain. Even then, we're the 5th highest scoring side in the League, averaging just under 2 goals a game.
The fact is, not many sides have 3 consistent scorers, that's not how the game is set up. It's why you have strikers. Because they are the focal of most of your attacks.
I'd like Winks to start, but he doesn't ''have'' to for us to be successful. We've smashed 8 past this mob in two games with Dier/Dembele/Wanyama.
You're over-analysing again, going too deep into stuff that simply isn't that important. The function of the formation, the structure and balance of the side is far more important than trying to cram all the best finishers on the pitch at once. Especially when no side in the country has 3 consistent scorers which you're making into a major issue for us for some reason.
I imagine you admire the chaos theory football of Marcelo Bielsa. Which is no bad thing, but it's not going to win you anything but admirers.