Tottenham (H) post match Relief thread

[Lecter]

It's easy to play speedy, attacking football if you have the space but if teams sit deep and are compact it negates our quick counters, that's exactly why they do it against us IMO. Let us have the ball, condense the middle and push us wide where we don't have much width. It means that likes of Milner & Clyne have to push up to give us that width & when it breaks down that's exactly when we get done on the counter and fullbacks get caught up the park. The lack of an out and out DM to sit and cover when the fullbacks push on has been pretty glaring in certain games IMO.

Spurs really and truly played into our hands. I thought before the game Potch might change it up but they really don't have pace to get us on the counter & play expansive footie anyways which seems to suit us when we play them. Leicester let teams have the ball, sit and break... well that's the way they played when they won the league. Hopefully their star players don't suddenly decide to turn up this season. The only difference is that they have so much pace in attack and that could be tricky for us to defend. It genuienly wouldn't surprise me if we get caught on teh counter a few times against them.

Great to have our full quota back though. Lallana is so much better deeper & Mane has been a revelation.

You can still move the ball quickly even when teams sit deep. We just haven't done it recently

[Lecter]

We noticeably stopped moving and working as we had in previous games a lot of this I think is down to mentality when our usual go to players aren't doing it too many of them go into their shells and look for the easy pass and wait for others to take the game on, another reason why I think a decent number will be shipped out again this Summer.

If you dictate the pace of the game and shift their players around as we were doing early in the season you create space, we stopped doing it hence when we previously were tearing teams apart with much the same % of the ball and them adopting similar tactics it wasn't a problem.

A side like Spurs was never going to do what you suggest like most of the top sides they come to play and dictate the game we didn't allow them and controlled the match.

Agreed

I can't decide whether the slow play is over confidence in their own ability or whether as you say they take the easy option

[Lecter]

the dm wont help break teams down but as we press forward and our full backs are so far up the pitch then having a dm will help prevent us being caught on the break as we have been so often...

some lads are breaking out and making unchallenged 40 yard runs.
the last one was a long ball that beat lucas for pace and wrongfooted matip. we were suckers as we played the two centre backs side by side so with the right length and bounce on the ball they were both cut out but if they had been staggered then one was more likely than the other to be in a better position.

had we had a DM sitting 10 yards in front of them then it would mean a player breaking with the ball has to then go around the dm, and then the lose ball is more easily picked up by the centre back.

many teams have shown that if you are not conceding sloppy goals you can easily win a match by only scoring one goal. if we continue to give away two late goals then we will be very unlikely to win games against teams who play well drilled defensive counter attacking [****house] tactics.

[Kenneth]

You can pull any team from side to side with quick passing, but the space tends to appear in wide areas. We are not particularly strong with crosses, taking on full backs out wide without Mane.

[baitman]

How many times was henderson able to play the long diagonal ball the clyne to quickly start our attack. This was only possibke cos the spurs full back was getting caught up the pitch allowing space for clyne and the pass.
if teams were sitting deep they wouldnt over commit the full back so no space for the Hollywood passes.
we would be back to trying to play through, then sideways etc.

[red g]

i wonder if we should use a classic rope a dope and let teams come onto us but then i suppose only problem with that is our **** keeper would concede

[brightred]

School counselor

I'm a teacher and a counsellor!

Top that!!

[Lecter]

How many times was henderson able to play the long diagonal ball the clyne to quickly start our attack. This was only possibke cos the spurs full back was getting caught up the pitch allowing space for clyne and the pass.
if teams were sitting deep they wouldnt over commit the full back so no space for the Hollywood passes.
we would be back to trying to play through, then sideways etc.

That pass has been on week in week out

I don't know if tv shows the wide angle of the full pitch all the time but that ball to wide positions has been on in virtually every game I have watched us live over recent weeks

It's just we take 20 passes to get the ball there instead of 1 or 2

[Lecter]

i wonder if we should use a classic rope a dope and let teams come onto us but then i suppose only problem with that is our **** keeper would concede

Houllier tried that tactic

Didn't end up well for him

[Fredo]

We would never play deep under Klopp. Never ever. That's not in his personality.

[Lecter]

We would never play deep under Klopp. Never ever. That's not in his personality.

[baitman]

We would never play deep under Klopp. Never ever. That's not in his personality.

2nd half against city, we sat back and then countered. a genuine plan B but only against teams that will come forward.

[danperkins]

How good is Gini in these big games? He's better and better suited to us than Can.

such a difference between the two, moves the ball so much quicker.

[kev776]

It proves our first 11 is as good as anybody else in the division, it is behind this that we suffer. Our options aren't as good, our squad depth is insufficient to carry suspensions/injuries/ tiredness in the first 11.

[baitman]

It proves our first 11 is as good as anybody else in the division, it is behind this that we suffer. Our options aren't as good, our squad depth is insufficient to carry suspensions/injuries/ tiredness in the first 11.

it may be that the team stepped up their intensity after the melwood team meeting and communal bitchslap but its also very true that spurs came to play but were a bit **** at it. they allowed us space that we did well to exploit.

i will be more concerned if we can show the same level of intensity, movement and effective penetration against sides who sit deep and are well drilled to hit us on the counter.

our next game against leicester might be more of a test then the following game against arsenal.
then burnley who did so well against chelsea will also sit deep...
then man city who will play an open game.
then everton at home, dirty tackles and taking out one of our key players for the season will be like winning a cup final for them...

so not easy to continue our full on blitzkrieg of opposition sides as the ones who sit back will ask questions that so far we have been unable to answer.