Match Ratings RATINGS: Borussia Dortmund vs Spurs (2nd leg)
- Thread starter Bulletspur
- Start date
neilp
Well-Known Member
- Jul 9, 2007
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If Dier plays this weekend he will get a deserved month off and hopefully will be fighting fit for the run in.
hughy
I'm SUPER cereal.
- Nov 18, 2007
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Shame Rose didn't play that ball through to himself at LB, probably would have had that extra yard of pace to deliver a decent ball to Kane.
theShiznit
Well-Known Member
- Jul 26, 2004
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Hugo, Jan, Davies, Sissoko all with hugely important moments in the game.
Everyone else played their part, Kane was looking well off the pace but did what he does best and calmly finish a great through ball from Moussa and as everyone else's legs tired he became more of a threat.
Cameo through balls also from Dier and Rose (we are so much better when teams come onto us)
Eriksen was disappointing again, lacking energy/desire, and Son is also not in a great run (can't help but feel he is suffering from having to do Kane's running for him)
MoTM the fans (lovely singing of auf wiedersehen to the Dortmund fans at the end
) Or Hugo 
for keeping them out when they were looking at their most dangerous.
Everyone else played their part, Kane was looking well off the pace but did what he does best and calmly finish a great through ball from Moussa and as everyone else's legs tired he became more of a threat.
Cameo through balls also from Dier and Rose (we are so much better when teams come onto us)
Eriksen was disappointing again, lacking energy/desire, and Son is also not in a great run (can't help but feel he is suffering from having to do Kane's running for him)
MoTM the fans (lovely singing of auf wiedersehen to the Dortmund fans at the end
) Or Hugo for keeping them out when they were looking at their most dangerous.
- Oct 17, 2006
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- Thread starter
- #45
Two different points of view, but I am siding with the former, although I would go further and say that he has been playing poorly for some time now, not only today
werty
Well-Known Member
- Aug 8, 2005
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Another game we started with the wrong formation and were far better when we changed it. It didn't help that a lot of the players froze, but the formation put them in a position to fail too. First half an hour or so we were 532 and extremely lucky not to have conceded, and our football was awful. We then changed to a 541 and it was no coincidence that we created our only chance in the first half almost immediately afterwards and had our only period where we kept possession.
Second half we were much better. The goal obviously helped a lot, but we had a much better shape than we started with, defended much better as a unit rather than relying on individual bits of defending to bail us out, and we able to pass it through the lines instead of losing it the second it got to the halfway line We conceded only one chance until the very end, and we probably should have scored more with a bit of care with the final ball.
Lloris 8 - Some great saves to stop it going all Spursy.
Aurier 6 - Terrible opening 30 minutes. All over the place and lazy too. Biggest benefactor in the change of formation because having Eriksen in front of him stopped him wondering around and forced him to stay in line with and beside Alderweireld. Good second half with two good passes that could/should have resulted in more.
Alderweireld 6 - Didn't look comfortable in the first half. Better in the second.
Sanchez 7 - A shaky start but made a shitload of blocks.
Vertonghen 7 - Tackle on Reus was better than a goal. Had a couple of other good moments.
Davies 6 - Nothing great. Nothing terrible.
Sissoko 8 - Marvellous second half. Couple of times I thought he was spent but he never stopped.
Winks 5 - Not in the game in the first 40 minutes and didn't offer much protection either. Never got close to their players.
Eriksen 6 - Better after the change. Still not kicking the ball cleanly, but created a couple of good chances nonetheless.
Son 6 - Bit of a tough one. Anonymous in a front two, but that wasn't all his fault. Should have had a penalty and possibly red card for them. Couldn't control the ball half the time it came to him, but made some good runs.
Kane 6 - Held onto the ball too long nearly every time and lost it too much, but took his only chance which helped settle us.
Second half we were much better. The goal obviously helped a lot, but we had a much better shape than we started with, defended much better as a unit rather than relying on individual bits of defending to bail us out, and we able to pass it through the lines instead of losing it the second it got to the halfway line We conceded only one chance until the very end, and we probably should have scored more with a bit of care with the final ball.
Lloris 8 - Some great saves to stop it going all Spursy.
Aurier 6 - Terrible opening 30 minutes. All over the place and lazy too. Biggest benefactor in the change of formation because having Eriksen in front of him stopped him wondering around and forced him to stay in line with and beside Alderweireld. Good second half with two good passes that could/should have resulted in more.
Alderweireld 6 - Didn't look comfortable in the first half. Better in the second.
Sanchez 7 - A shaky start but made a shitload of blocks.
Vertonghen 7 - Tackle on Reus was better than a goal. Had a couple of other good moments.
Davies 6 - Nothing great. Nothing terrible.
Sissoko 8 - Marvellous second half. Couple of times I thought he was spent but he never stopped.
Winks 5 - Not in the game in the first 40 minutes and didn't offer much protection either. Never got close to their players.
Eriksen 6 - Better after the change. Still not kicking the ball cleanly, but created a couple of good chances nonetheless.
Son 6 - Bit of a tough one. Anonymous in a front two, but that wasn't all his fault. Should have had a penalty and possibly red card for them. Couldn't control the ball half the time it came to him, but made some good runs.
Kane 6 - Held onto the ball too long nearly every time and lost it too much, but took his only chance which helped settle us.
We switched the formation in the first half. It looked to me 5-4-1 with Son dropping back in the midfield and mostly playing defensively and occasionally doing runs as a decoy. After switching it up, Kane stopped dropping back and stayed up top as the lone striker, which I think helped him finally get that nice chance to put the goal away as he didn't have to do all the running anymore, and put him in a nice spot near the box when the chance presented.
I honestly think if we had stuck with the 5-3-2 we would have struggled a bit more, as I was getting worried Kane wasn't staying around the box long enough.
I also think Son did a great job, considering he was probably itching to charge out more but he stayed disciplined and did some nice running to drag their fullbacks further out so Kane didn't get caught offside when he got his first goal and his occasional running did really seem to scare them.
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He wasn't one of a front two. We switched things up in the first half to put Harry up top as the lone striker. It was obvious Poch asked him to provide more defensive cover, and to do runs for Harry so that he can stay up top.
werty
Well-Known Member
- Aug 8, 2005
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He started up front with Kane and moved back after 30 minutes or so, which I pointed out at the start of my post.
Sorry, missed that bit. I also thought the change was made much earlier than that. Poch must have been quite worried with all the shots fired from them.
werty
Well-Known Member
- Aug 8, 2005
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It came just after Aurier went down. Don't know the exact moment that was, but it was around the 30 minute mark.
Pedro
Blue & Yellow
- Jan 4, 2005
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Has to be Hugo, unbelievable performance, amazing save after save. Jan a close second, solid as a rock.
Whole defence deserves a lot of credit, a well deserved clean sheet and under so much pressure in that first half.
Sissoko and Kane grew into the game and played well. Poch top notch too, picked the right team and tactics. COYS
Whole defence deserves a lot of credit, a well deserved clean sheet and under so much pressure in that first half.
Sissoko and Kane grew into the game and played well. Poch top notch too, picked the right team and tactics. COYS
thinktank
Hmmm...
- Sep 28, 2004
- 45,893
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I don't really like you, werty,and we've had our barneys, but the vast majority of that is correct.
Especially the first two paragraphs.
The first half was absolutely shocking.
And even though we settled a little after setting up a block, the stench made by 532 still sat on us.
Improved second half, but ball-retention was still an issue.
If we'd have set up like that, though, initially, we wouldn't have frightened the lives out of ourselves to begin with and would have had a much smoother ride.
We won and I''m super grateful, but I am acutely irritated at poch setting us up to fail followed by the inevitable need for change.
Too often.
Glad he was decisive early on, but come on...this is getting ridiculous now.
Lastly, BT commentary....
Lord have mercy.
BringBack_leGin
Well-Known Member
- Jul 28, 2004
- 27,719
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I agree he’s been poor for a while, and he still wasn’t his best v Dortmun, bit I thought he was much improved and a lot of what we did well involved him.
SpursSince1980
Well-Known Member
- Jan 23, 2011
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Totally agree with that. Something is certainly off with him. He touch isn’t as sure. His passing is more wayward than what we’re accustomed to. And while he’s never been one to get stuck in, he’d at least make a passable effort, but there’s been a slight downtick with that part of his game too. When you add it all up, you have a few conclusions; 1) He’s simply a touch out of nick and it’s effecting his confidence. 2) Might be carrying a couple of long term nigling injuries. 3) He’s distracted, as his head is elsewhere. Wants his dream move, but also wants to avoid getting hurt as that would diminish his chances of leaving.
Don’t get me wrong I don’t think he’s been utterly poop. Not at all. He still has many good moments. But in my mind he is certainly capable of more. Much more. He has the ability to take control of games. Yet, it sorta feels like something is holding him back a smidge. I do hope though that he can shake it off and get back to being excellent, as we will need the likes of him, Dele, Kane and Sonny to be at their very best if we are to have a hope of finishing in the top 4, never mind winning the CL.
