Tottenham Hotspur vs Shakhtar Donetsk, Sunday 6th August, 14:00

[peter merison]

Very interesting seeing how Emerson played. He seemed to be playing as a central midfielder at times, and was rarely in wide positions. He's going to be an important player for us this season.

He probably had the ball more than any other player yesterday, the players all seemed to interchange at some point, Royal started as RB , swapped with Romero during the game with some cameo roles in midfield.
I was trying my best to pinpoint the formation which I did but the personnel changed quite often, maybe that's the plan?
The starting positions of our defence when their GK had the ball was on the halfway line which squeezes the opposition into their own half which limits them to going long ( which we did get caught out at twice)
The whole game was a breath of fresh air.

 

[Zomb]

He probably had the ball more than any other player yesterday, the players all seemed to interchange at some point, Royal started as RB , swapped with Romero during the game with some cameo roles in midfield.
I was trying my best to pinpoint the formation which I did but the personnel changed quite often, maybe that's the plan?
The starting positions of our defence when their GK had the ball was on the halfway line which squeezes the opposition into their own half which limits them to going long ( which we did get caught out at twice)
The whole game was a breath of fresh air.

So much better than 10 behind the ball (when defending) and only three in the final third (when attacking)

 

[SpurFromOz]

Not happy with playing for 1-0.

How many times Mrs Perryman , have we in recent times sat back with the sick feeling of " why are we just defending here "...

I can't count the amount of games where trying to defend a small lead has led to defeat.

Sure there's the risk of overplaying for the second goal and being hit on the counter, but I think Ange was talking more about controlling the game and taking our chances.

Refreshing.

 

[1882]

We were in the West Stand today, in the lower tier, and spotted vdV behind us, Ashley Phillips to the right of us and Ndombele a couple of rows in front of us.

 

[Gazzapen]

So a €50m Bundesliga player is a ‘punt’ but a player with no experience above the Chinese Super League would have represented a non-punt?

So you’re comparing us against a treble-winning backline that’s probably the most expensive in history, assembled by a team of petro-cheats whose inflated revenue is over a billion pounds more than ours over the assembly period?
That’s your example of a non-punt??

You just affirming my statements. Is VDV going to make it in the EPL? We don't know. He is 50 million. Therefor he is a 50 million Punt.

Would Kim have made it in the EPL? We didn't know. He was 15 million and Levy wouldn't buy him for Jose.

I stated Jose and Conte weren't back as much as Ange.

I am comparing us to a treble winning backline because we should be on the same level. We aren't because of the signings we make.

Why are people hung up on Petro owners. They win. That is all that counts.

 

[rusty]

How many times Mrs Perryman , have we in recent times sat back with the sick feeling of " why are we just defending here "...

I can't count the amount of games where trying to defend a small lead has led to defeat.

Sure there's the risk of overplaying for the second goal and being hit on the counter, but I think Ange was talking more about controlling the game and taking our chances.

Refreshing.

agree we don't want to sit back, but yesterday showed us one long ball and we are in trouble (look at what happened in the first half)

 

[Gazzapen]

Why compare us to City? We’re not in that positon so have to take reasoned “punts” as you call them. Not sure about all but Walker, Gvardiol, Ake and Stones were proper expensive and attracted to a title winning team

We have a better stadium than City, We have a better art gallery and food stalls. Our ticket prices are more expensive. We earned only slightly less . Why is our team inferior so inferior?

 

[Airfixx]

We have a better stadium than City, We have a better art gallery and food stalls. Our ticket prices are more expensive. We earned only slightly less . Why is our team inferior so inferior?

State of this.

You really are the absolute shits.

 

[cretinousgoat]

State of this.

You really are the absolute shits.

Mate, honestly he isn’t worth it.

 

[The Dealer]

The Champions League is considered the elite tournament. I offer no solution but teams like Shakhtar participating is making up the numbers.

 

[SpurFromOz]

agree we don't want to sit back, but yesterday showed us one long ball and we are in trouble (look at what happened in the first half)

Yeah, I acknowledge that mate.

2 things. We are strengthening our defence, and I would rather watch us play up tempo with the risk of a counter. Players fitting in may make a difference.

 

[SpursDNA]

So a €50m Bundesliga player is a ‘punt’ but a player with no experience above the Chinese Super League would have represented a non-punt?

So you’re comparing us against a treble-winning backline that’s probably the most expensive in history, assembled by a team of petro-cheats whose inflated revenue is over a billion pounds more than ours over the assembly period?
That’s your example of a non-punt??

How about compared to almost any other back line in the EPL top half? Don’t need to compare our back line to City to know our back line has been a disgrace for a while: Dier, Sanchez and Davies … Lenglet.

VdV is a good start - Hopefully our scouting team has evaluated VdV correctly. He has recovery pace so I’m hopeful but ultimately, fans aren’t paid to make transfer decisions so my opinion is irrelevant.

Bottom line is that punt or not, we got it wrong with KMJ - Son’s connection with KMJ put him on the radar for us (while a lot of team’s didn’t know about him) but our scouting the wasn’t good enough to evaluate him correctly (or maybe Levy overruled them). Picked Rodon over KMJ. It’s happened way too much last several years (and obviously not just with center backs) - whether it’s punts or bigger money signings - You argue about details but overall, our transfer business has been piss poor.

We supposedly have a data team now and we are revamping football operations once Mumm comes in so we’ll see - Meanwhile Levy still seems way too involved but hopefully this is the last transfer window where Levy is this involved.

 

[Notabadsquad]

A bit scary to think that we're going to play Barcelona with a backline of Reguilon-Dier-Sanchez-Porro in a couple of days.

The Champions League is considered the elite tournament. I offer no solution but teams like Shakhtar participating is making up the numbers.

In a proper match it would be very different.

Nothing inferred too muvh in yesterday's game

 

[Brian Fantana]

We were fortunate not to get punished in a couple of instances tbh......

We are going to have to work on defending it a lot this week. The chances we gave up on the counter are basically Brentford’s game plan. In that respect we couldn’t be playing a worse team away from home first up. I could easily see us going a couple of goals behind and have to rescue the game. Hopefully Kane is still with us to tuck away the chances.

 

[Get in!]

So was Ndombele, Gill, and a few others. Buying an expensive youngster that is learning his trade is understandable but buying him when you have no experienced players to "Carry" him while he learns, is a punt. Levy buys in hope he can sell for more some day and by looking at the probability of the player becoming a sensation.

We Let Edwards go. We didn't buy Min-Jae Kim. We didn't try half as hard for a CB when Jose and Conté asked, instead they were given 'take it or leave it' Rodon and Lenglett, Doherty, Spence, Emerson (who I now rate), Gill ..... there's a long list.

Its the Levy way. The is no replacement for experience. Do you honestly believe VDV, Romero, Porro, Emerson, Davies, Udogie, Perisic, will work together like Walker, Gvardiol, Ake, Cancelo, Akanji, Stones and Dias?

 

[SpursDNA]

We are going to have to work on defending it a lot this week. The chances we gave up on the counter are basically Brentford’s game plan. In that respect we couldn’t be playing a worse team away from home first up. I could easily see us going a couple of goals behind and have to rescue the game. Hopefully Kane is still with us to tuck away the chances.

Without Ivan Toney, Brentford attackers aren’t getting past VdV’s pace and Romero’s skill … I predict a positive start to Ange era.

 

[LLB Part Deux]

Very interesting seeing how Emerson played. He seemed to be playing as a central midfielder at times, and was rarely in wide positions. He's going to be an important player for us this season.

One of the best players yesterday, and at times was playing just behind the forwards. Was regularly demanding the ball and moving into space to act as an outlet. Despite that, also seemed to be in mostly the right place to defend as well. Quite an astonishing rate of improvement for this guy.

Plus, going down from a tackle and then forward flipping to get to his feet was a personal highlight.

 

[Brian Fantana]

Without Ivan Toney, Brentford attackers aren’t getting past VdV’s pace and Romero’s skill … I predict a positive start to Ange era.

Their wide attackers feasting on long balls into the spaces behind our fullbacks is my worry. Anyway, they’ve got to get the ball first!

 

[Audere!Audere!]

Anyone know of any sites that show the full match? I was on the beach yesterday so missed it..

 

[Mrs Perryman]

How many times Mrs Perryman , have we in recent times sat back with the sick feeling of " why are we just defending here "...

I can't count the amount of games where trying to defend a small lead has led to defeat.

Sure there's the risk of overplaying for the second goal and being hit on the counter, but I think Ange was talking more about controlling the game and taking our chances.

Refreshing.