Unstoppable force (Watford) vs Immovable object (Spurs) Sunday 2 September

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I'm frustrated because I would have liked to see us go top of the league. I am annoyed that Poch has waited again too long to make a change and it cost us. Sometimes it seems like he doesn't know what to do. I am not going to pretend that I know more than a manager of his caliber, but I thought Dembele's job was overwhelming in this formation. There was an article on our 4-2-3-1 that was used a couple of seasons ago and was focusing on the double pivot, particularly on Dembele, he was the one responsible for transitioning the ball from defence to midfield. That's what he does best. But today Dembele had to do that and also sit back and protect the defensive line and I'm not sure he's good at doing that. In my opinion, Poch's at fault here.

And of course the players (except Moura) were awful.
 
Eli said:
As early as this in the season the next 3 games can shape our season

Dippers (h)
Inter (a)
Brighton (a)
But if we want to compete at the top end of the scale this is what we have to do!
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Less drama, mate... No disrespect to them, but since when was Brighton away a defining anything?

Obv, I'm pulling for much more, but three draws would hardly be a catastrophy.
 
So disappointing, especially as we now have two weeks before we can bounce back. I can't say I was surprised as we didn't really create many clear cut chances and when they went into aggressive mode, we didn't seem to have an answer for it. I'll leave it to everyone else to dissect the tactics and where it all went wrong. Spursey lives on :)
 
TomHotspur said:
I take that point but to be fair I think Aurier has been an exception with how calamitous he has been. No one could have predicted how badly he has struggled to adapt.
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Why not? Players bomb all the time. It's why winning the transfer window means fuck all.

My point in mentioning Serge was "once bitten...", but evidently you're not "twice shy"...

(Edit: In hindsight you don't sign Serge and just feed game time to KWP.)

I'm not trying to knock Davies too much, he clearly has qualities and Poch obviously adores him, but he just stifles us so much down the left with his lack of athleticism and ability.
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Poch "loves him" for no reason?

Nah.... Not buying it... Last 2 years we were not a "stifled" team (see earlier comments: Intelligence and defensive awareness proving an effective counterbalance)....

What I wouldn't be against though would be us signing a new left back and keeping Ben as Jans left sided centre back understudy, which I think is a role he could excel in.
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You're still taking for granted how easily replaced he'd be. One doesn't just click their fingers and the perfect player becomes available to them at the right price.
 
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Wellsey said:
Almost as annoying as our performance was that shadow over the pitch!
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It was a right pain wasnt it nearly as bad as Newcastle and the rippled shadow. but as a side note after today’s result and the aftermath has anybody got small aeroplane some old sheets and leftover paint?
 
Early on in the season the performances can be a bit disjointed. We’ve had no proper pre season and have had to throw players straight in after virtually no rest or rejuvenation post WC. As frustrating as today is, 9 points is a decent start, but we also have had a clear example of what will happen if we’re not totally at the races. We had a formation and players on the park today that should have won. It was just a poor performance. No dramas. Just a bit shit after the euphoria of Monday night.
 
GG1882 said:
I do agree with everything you’ve said here.

I just feel Rose style would of suited us more today. And Davies had a poorer than usual performance.
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Bit of a moot point tho if Rose isn't currently capable of Rose-style. I don't think Ben was notably "poor" at all. No individual errors. Patrolled his flank well enough... Was he an attacking threat? Not especially, but then again neither was our attack (maybe a wiser starting point for any scrutiny on that front). When you know the oppo are happy to bypass the midfield and put balls out wide a FB/WB can't afford to be entirely attack-focused.

The regrettable thing is play that game in 2 weeks time our bench looks very different. Maybe on another day we switch to 4231 and put Son or Lamela on in front of Ben; double up and force the issue (Same on the other side with Trips & Lucas)...?
 
Totti said:
or else what?

relegation?
we won't beat man city's billion pound team to the title?

bit vague. I'd say getting a fit Winks is much more important to our team than a fit Wanyama.
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Don't be sarcastic, not in the mood.

We need someone strong in the middle of the field, can't rely on Dembele, don't know if Winks is the answer, he has hardly played, never been a regular and no time to experiment. Therefore we need Wanyama at his best of 2 seasons ago.
 
Park Lane Mark Twain said:
People also forget that Watford have beaten everyone in the top 6 apart from Man City at home at least once over the last 3 seasons. It ain't an easy place to go. We didn't look sharp and lacked conviction but away at Watford and 9 points out of 12 really isn't cause for alarm bells.
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If anything this is my biggest disappointment about today. We seemed to know the 'recipe' of what it took to get a result there in recent years. The need to tough it out should have come as no suprise to any of the players which is why I struggle with the idea that we took them lightly.

When it comes to transfers in & out, I do think some people lose sight of the wheeling and dealing we need to do because of the stadium & how not shifting certain players would make it difficult to make moves in. Top 4 & a trophy is still on course & we've got away trips to Newcastle, Man U &a Watford out the way now, I think people have to realise & accept we ain't going to go a whole season getting perfect results
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Bizzare state of affairs, but yes, such sentiment apparently does need to be reinforced at times.
 
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Not being able only ever changes when we prove we are able.

Something about our club mentality made today if not inevitable but certainly more than possible.

It should hurt any true Spurs fan because it is such a hurdle and we just can't seem to get over it.

I'm not even sure that is about buying players.
 
On the subs front, I lost all faith that we were going to get anything out of the game when I saw Danny Rose was coming on. It was a real "Well, I guess we have to make a substitution at this point. Will this do?" moment. I'm not anti-Rose like some are, but he was not who we needed at that point when we were really in the shit and facing defeat. It was a problem in that we needed someone to come off the bench and inspire confidence, but there were just no options. It probably would have been better to have just not made the substitution at all, because bringing Rose on looked like throwing in the towel to me. May as well have just brought on Gazzaniga.
 
Well that was disappointing.

First of all, well done to Watford. They simply wanted it more, and really we got what we deserved.

I didn’t think we were that bad in the first half. Pretty predictable for most of it, but we had them pegged back and I was confident that it was only a matter of time before we went in front. However, once we got the OG it all went downhill. Piss poor defending, and no fight to get back in the game. From Pochettino down, we just didn’t look very interested.

As for the reactions on here, I’m certainly not going to judge anyone for getting angry. I find the white knights of eternal happiness more annoying than those responding emotionally to what is an emotional sport. It was pretty much inevitable that the frustrations from the transfer window would come to the surface at the first poor result.
 
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