Spurs Post Match Thread

[Lecter]

Suarez, Carroll, Kuyt and Gerrard are all more than capable of scoring 1 or 2 per game.

The thing is I'm not in any way convinced they are

[Maxiedge]

They're not scoring as many goals as they should be but if we signed a striker with good goalscroing stats then maybe he would have the same problem? Would he be able to handle the pressure of converting LFC's fortunes around? It's a big ask.

I think quality always shines through and at the moment we have a mix of brilliant to good but need a bit more of the brilliant and the goals will come, IMO.

[Suarez]

Totally disagree

4 of our last 7 goals were not scored from crosses

Our problem isnt getting the ball wide and crossing it, its not crossing it well enough

Yet we still create plenty of chances to win games

Even yesterday when I thought we didnt create that much we had 2 easy chances to finish them off

That has been the story of the season

Creating good chances and missing them

I dont think the problem is the quality of our crosses, its more the fact that we normally only have 1 target in the box for the cross. Be that down to a lack of pace throughout from midfield onwards or a lack of attacking conviction, most crosses are simply whipped in with hope, with 1 man against 4 its nigh on impossible to get on the end.

[Mostar]

Which was easier:

1/ Carroll, half volley on the turn, on your wrong foot, 12 yards from goal.
2/ Suarez, free header from seven yards.

?

Both were great chances we needed to put way, which is the reason why I am still disappointed that we didn't pick up a striker in January transfer window.

As much as Carroll is gradually showing signs of improvement and Luis will eventually increase his rate conversion we need another striker.

Both were chances that good strikers would have taken

[Lecter]

I dont think the problem is the quality of our crosses, its more the fact that we normally only have 1 target in the box for the cross. Be that down to a lack of pace throughout from midfield onwards or a lack of attacking conviction, most crosses are simply whipped in with hope, with 1 man against 4 its nigh on impossible to get on the end.

No for me its definitely the quality of the crosses

Crossing the ball from 30-40 yards out is generally pointless unless the delivery is PERFECT - we do this quite a lot and its rarely perfect

Rarely do we get near to the byline and cut balls back or cross - they are the most difficult balls to defend against

Carroll can get on the end of things when the delivery is good enough - we've seen that

[Muddled]

Rarely do we get near to the byline and cut balls back or cross - they are the most difficult balls to defend against

It's one of the first things taught when playing football and was fundamental to the 4-4-2 being so successful; get to the byline and pull it back - no player can be offside, the defender is on the back foot, the ball is in the box and the possibility of defelctions.

Those were the days [nostalgia!]

Anyhoo. I don't think we were set up yesterday to cross the ball; we mainly played through the middle with Carroll as the focal point, but we got so side-tracked pushing Bellamy and Kuyt on to Walker and Assou Ekotto so they were in their own half, that our front three, really became a front one. However, when they did end up with the ball, they naturally came inside.

[Lecter]

It's one of the first things taught when playing football and was fundamental to the 4-4-2 being so successful; get to the byline and pull it back - no player can be offside, the defender is on the back foot, the ball is in the box and the possibility of defelctions.

Those were the days [nostalgia!]

Anyhoo. I don't think we were set up yesterday to cross the ball; we mainly played through the middle with Carroll as the focal point, but we got so side-tracked pushing Bellamy and Kuyt on to Walker and Assou Ekotto so they were in their own half, that our front three, really became a front one. However, when they did end up with the ball, they naturally came inside.

We rarely do it irrespective of set up

If you are playing 4-3-3 then the overlapping runs to the byline should come from fullbacks

We dont do it enough end of for me

Another thing that occurred to me last night was when was the last time we scored from a shot from outside the box

[Mattshark]

The only thing we are failing to do is score goals

Sky highlighted our deficiences last night

We are in the top 2 or 3 in terms of creating clear cut chances

We are BOTTOM of the league in terms of converting those chances

We need a forward who converts chances, whether he plays with Suarez, Carroll, Bellamy or any combination of them I dont care

We created 2 good chances yesterday, Suarez header and heading is never as easy as made out and Carroll's right foot effort, which was sadly on his weaker foot.
Creatively we are awful and 1 dimensional, if we varied our attack more we'd imo score more, but we don't, we instead are just very wasteful in the final third. Away from home we have the advantage of being able to counter attack, which worked so well at Wolves, at home though we just repeat the same lack of inventiveness making it easy for opposition centre backs.

[danperkins]

I think he could do with being a little less caustic personally. Its funny when he rips an interviewer for something, and they take it in good grace because of who he is. But soon people are going to start getting a little annoyed IMO. I love how much he sticks up for us, but I don't think it's necessary absolutely all the time

literally every single question asked is met with a defensive or vehement reply.

It's brilliant the way he is LFC true and true and that he protects the players but IMO i'd like to see him being a bit less defensive from time to time.

[Lecter]

We created 2 good chances yesterday, Suarez header and heading is never as easy as made out and Carroll's right foot effort, which was sadly on his weaker foot.
Creatively we are awful and 1 dimensional, if we varied our attack more we'd imo score more, but we don't, we instead are just very wasteful in the final third. Away from home we have the advantage of being able to counter attack, which worked so well at Wolves, at home though we just repeat the same lack of inventiveness making it easy for opposition centre backs.

It depends who is heading if its Suarez or Carroll then it is more difficult

If its a better finisher than them two then they'd have snaffled that header

The lack of creativity hasnt been the case ALL season though

Even at home we've created tons of chances and havent stuck them away

We start with more variety to our play

The problem is that the longer the game goes without us scoring the more anxious we get and the more we revert to lumping it hopefully into the box, we sufferred this under Benitez as well

[danperkins]

We created 2 good chances yesterday, Suarez header and heading is never as easy as made out and Carroll's right foot effort, which was sadly on his weaker foot.
Creatively we are awful and 1 dimensional, if we varied our attack more we'd imo score more, but we don't, we instead are just very wasteful in the final third. Away from home we have the advantage of being able to counter attack, which worked so well at Wolves, at home though we just repeat the same lack of inventiveness making it easy for opposition centre backs.

all fair points

[Mattshark]

It depends who is heading if its Suarez or Carroll then it is more difficult

If its a better finisher than them two then they'd have snaffled that header

The lack of creativity hasnt been the case ALL season though

Even at home we've created tons of chances and havent stuck them away

We start with more variety to our play

The problem is that the longer the game goes without us scoring the more anxious we get and the more we revert to lumping it hopefully into the box, we sufferred this under Benitez as well

I agree we had the same issues under Rafa, but I feel we often were more paitent than we are now.

I think we lack enough intelligent movement in the middle when attacking and it is costing us dearly, I have always though intelligent movement and paitence was the way to break down a team who has parked the bus and right now we are lacking enough of that.

[Lecter]

I agree we had the same issues under Rafa, but I feel we often were more paitent than we are now.

I think we lack enough intelligent movement in the middle when attacking and it is costing us dearly, I have always though intelligent movement and paitence was the way to break down a team who has parked the bus and right now we are lacking enough of that.

There was only one season we showed that patience that you talk about

That was the season we finished 2nd and even then I felt that we just forced and forced issues until defenders lost concentration. One big difference between then and now is we actually scored goals from outside the box. I cant remember the last time we did this, have we even done it this season from open play?

When teams sit deep and defend the 18 yard box its difficult to pick your way through that centrally

You do what United do get wide, draw players out and put balls into areas that forwards like and defenders dont

Our play this season has been generally good, we've created numerous chances but missed them. However the longer the game goes the more anxious we get and my biggest criticism of players is that they lack experience or the confidence to take things on themselves

They'd rather pass the ball sideways or backwards than go forwards and take people on

Time and time we get into areas out wide only to either A) cut back when we reach the penalty box or B) throw a ball in from 30-40 yards out

The longer a game goes on the more frequently we do this

I'm not sure its about movement or even intelligence its about responsibility in possession. Its about having the balls to try something and hold your hands up when it fails. Too many in our side seem unwilling to do this and would rather pass the buck

[Robbie-9-Fowler]

I agree we had the same issues under Rafa, but I feel we often were more paitent than we are now.

I think we lack enough intelligent movement in the middle when attacking and it is costing us dearly, I have always though intelligent movement and paitence was the way to break down a team who has parked the bus and right now we are lacking enough of that.

Its about picking the right pass and not panicking when the clocks ticking down, something we've struggled with since I can remember not just now. Its almost as much about mentality as it is to do with quality of player, we've got Suarez, Bellamy, Gerrard and players capable of producing Maxi, Kuyt and Adam certainly has a killer ball in him. But we seem to just lose sight and rush things far too much.

Giggs' ball in the Hernandez against Chelsea was a perfect example. Steadied himself, looked in control before delivering a very good ball, albeit nothing beyond any of the players I've mentioned above are capable of.

[Lecter]

Its about picking the right pass and not panicking when the clocks ticking down, something we've struggled with since I can remember not just now. Its almost as much about mentality as it is to do with quality of player, we've got Suarez, Bellamy, Gerrard and players capable of producing Maxi, Kuyt and Adam certainly has a killer ball in him. But we seem to just lose sight and rush things far too much.

Giggs' ball in the Hernandez against Chelsea was a perfect example. Steadied himself, looked in control before delivering a very good ball, albeit nothing beyond any of the players I've mentioned above are capable of.

And the Giggs ball was delivered from out wide about level with the 6 yard box

Those are the most difficult balls to defend against and when your forward is on the end of them you have to take them - too often when we get in those positions our forwards dont