Ratings vs Southampton

[Mr Pink]

I thought Dembele had some really good moments but also some frustrating ones, overall though he was good first half.

He takes the ball from Toby on the turn to set up Eriksen nicely.

Dipped in the second half though.

 

[mpickard2087]

I think you very much class that as winning ugly. Not a game that is going to stick in the mind for long.

First half we found ourselves 2-0 without being at our best. A great strike from Eriksen and the penalty. We did have other chances too and some nice moments, but I never felt we were exerting the same control that we have seen in other home games recently and we had a bit of luck defending our own goal too on a couple of occasions. Still, we looked on our way to victory, and I was hoping we could come back out in the second half and kick on and finish the game emphatically.

Unfortunately that didn't happen. The second half was even bittier, we increasingly struggled for possession and seemed to run out of ideas and so our attacking players fed more and more off meagre scraps. A very soft goal conceded (let them in down the flank too easily, and then the cross has to be cut out) left the result looking more precarious, but we remained solid enough and were not hugely tested defensively and managed to get over, albeit not storm over, the finish line.

To be fair Southampton are a slick outfit, particularly in the middle of the park, and one of the better sides to come to WHL this season, but I thought we were a bit off both with and without the ball today. Didn't think we ever controlled/won the midfield battle and our attackers started drifting out of the game as it went on. Individually we also had a fair few average performances.

Still, a very handy three points to go on the tally, especially with other results this weekend, and sometimes it is just a case of getting the job done... With a flourish or not.


Lloris - Pretty ropey game. Bad kicking, and I thought his decision making coming off his line wasn't great today either.

Dier - Ok. A bit culpable in the build up to the goal.

Alderweireld - Some might find this a bit harsh, but again today we see a little example of him being a bit tentative, which has been the case ever since his return from injury. It's not a clearance, its not really doing anything, hanging a leg at it. Personally I don't think the imperious figure pre-injury is making a silly error like that.

Vertonghen - Ok. Not as adventurous today, in fact pretty subdued by his recent efforts.

Walker - One of those games where he decides to play like a prat.

Davies - At best a solid left back, in our system very average. At wing back even more average. Very little threat from his flank, either with the ball or asking questions with the positions taken up/runs made.

Wanyama - No more than ok.

Dembele - Whatever the stats say, I thought he was average at best.

Eriksen - Great take and hit for the goal. Lively first half creating a couple of other chances, less influence as the game went on and we saw less of the ball.

Alli - Involved early on. Stuck away the penalty. Also suffered due to our lack of ball in the second half.

Son - Had a decent chance early on. Tried, but just couldn't really get involved.

Subs:

Winks - A couple of nice moments.

Trippier - Not exactly the greatest cameo ever...

Janssen - Came on for a few minutes and had a bit of a scrap up top to win some fouls.

 

[SpursSince1980]

As a whole the entire team was solid today. No one was fantastic, no one sucked ass.

Fantabulous - no one
Lovely - Toby, Verts, Dembele
Alright - Wanyama, Alli, Eriksen (but was rather Lovely first half), Dier
Sorta Anonymous but Kinda Solid Too - Son, Davies, Lloris
Borderline Shit - Walker
Why the Eff did you bother showing up? - no one

 

[cliff jones]

close call between Dembele, Eriksen and perhaps Jan too. Big Vic was out Wanyamed by Romeu.

Full backs were wasteful and nothing stuck to Son or Alli in the second half but they didn't have the nous in the final third to beat our offside trap. Long ain't the sharpest tool in the box.

Tell you what, though, young Harry's rate of improvement is really exciting, ain't it? Good awareness, lovely turn of pace, but showing power and fire in the belly as well. We are all just waiting to see if he has a more adventurous pass or good strike on him. Could be anything.

 

[spursgirls]

Verts then Victor, Winks was excellent when he came on, always plays on the front foot, looks up and is so positive

Winks coming on also upped the tempo after it had dropped.

 

[Gaz_Gammon]

Except Winks, Dembele had our highest passing accuracy whilst making the most number of passes (joint with Jan.) He also won the ball more than Wanyama, who was joint highest for losing the ball, and set up Eriksen for the first goal.

Just where is @THFCSPURS19 when you want him..........

 

[nuttynoah]

Hugo 5 - no chance on the goal but terrible passing(?)
Walker 5 - not a good game, needs to cross the ball earlier
Dier 6 - better than last few games
Toby 6 - i think at fault for the goal, other than that good
Jan 7 - good game
Davies 7 - better by the game
Wanyama 8 - solid
Dembele 6 - too much sideways, more penetration needed and the odd shot on goal
Eriksen 7 - great first half, too quiet second
Dele 7 - worked hard, lots of flicks, got a goal
Son 6 - some good touches, not involved enough, rightly subbed

Trippier 6 - not a good cameo
Winks 7 - should be starting, reads the game well, ups the tempo
Vince 7 - great cameo

 

[BringBack_leGin]

Lloris put us under severe amounts of unnecessary pressure with some of his worst kicking ever.

Walker was dopey as hell and was nowhere near where he should have been for their goal.

Dier made some poor choices with his distribution and didn't deal brilliantly with. being run at.

Alderweireld was questionable on their goal but made some great blocks and interceptions when we were under pressure,

Vertonghen was subdued compared to recent games but coped well with their attackers.

Davies was u remarkable in both directions.

Wanyama was okay, his booking was resultant from cynically stopping an attacking that was the result of his own bad pass though.

Dembele had some lovely moments but was sloppy by his standards and seemed shot in the second half.

Eriksen had a good first half, some lovely passing and a great goal. He struggled in the second half,

Alli wasn't his most impactful but he took responsibility for the penalty and was calm and composed.

Son was eaten alive by their centre backs and was unable to give us any focal point in attack,

Winks improved us, dragged the ball upfield and gave us momentum,

Trippier had a poor, sloppy cameo.

Janssen improved us, actually lead the line and took the pressure off our defence. Good appearance.

 

[Tottenham_God]

Winks > Dembele

 

[Spurs 1961]

Good win against a team in form, playing well with some dangerous / quick players. Professional performance especially in the first half. Though we perhaps held on a bit second half it is good to see us doing that and not throwing away the game even if not at our best ... a game we would have drawn last season I suspect

 

[rambu]

Think we really need to look for another lwb, as Davies while solid enough, offer next to nothing for us offensively. Most of his crosses can't even pass the defender in front of him and he's not tricky nor fast enough to take them one on one.

He tries hard always, but I see more of a chance for him to play LCB for us possibly, LWB is simply too much to ask of him; night and day to Rose.

 

[Bulletspur]

Think we really need to look for another lwb, as Davies while solid enough, offer next to nothing for us offensively. Most of his crosses can't even pass the defender in front of him and he's not tricky nor fast enough to take them one on one.

He tries hard always, but I see more of a chance for him to play LCB for us possibly, LWB is simply too much to ask of him; night and day to Rose.

I have been his harshest critic in this respect, but he has improved to be honest. Saying that against Southampton when I was expecting him to run the line or into space to provide an outlet, he was not there when I knew Rose would have been.

 

[rambu]

I have been his harshest critic in this respect, but he has improved to be honest. Saying that against Southampton when I was expecting him to run the line or into space to provide an outlet, he was not there when I knew Rose would have been.

Yup, just don't think he got enough tools to create the separation needed; and the positions when he picked up the balls were almost always so out wide.

He had a couple long low driven crosses that lead to goals in the last couple seasons which left great impressions with me; I haven't seen those for a long time now.

 

[Frozen_Waffles]

Eriksen mom - was sublime in the first half, ineffective 2nd but Southampton got closer to him.

Janssen should have come on earlier.

Dier worries me, he goes to ground alot which is generally a sign of bad positioning.

Davies was frustrating with his crossing, not a wing back.

Walker was off it today as was Trippier.

Good from the two in the centre and Toby and Jan.

It was difficult for Son today, hard to criticise him.

Winks good again, but needs to calm down with the aggression.

I thought we did well against a side that knows how to play against us.

 

[glospur]

Classic game of two halves. It's hard to judge because we were really poor in that second half. Wanyama, and Winks, when he came on, were probably the two best after half time.

Dele and Eriksen were both fantastic in the first half. They really took responsibility in Kane's absence and Dele in particular showed a lot of maturity.

Dembele annoyed me. He didn't play the ball to Son early on when a simple ball would have put him through on goal and lost the ball a number of times with poor touches or through holding on to it for too long. He improved in the second half, but I genuinely think we've reached the point where Winks should be playing ahead of him. He moves the ball quicker and more effectively, but also can drive us forward and has enough of a defensive presence.

Surprised at the criticism of Dier. I though he was at the very least decent, but definitely no worse than Alderweireld, who has bizarrely been commended by the same people criticising Dier. It really was a horrendous error for their goal that you just would not expect from a player with the quality of Toby.

 

[Gilzeanking]

Not a bad display . 2-0 up we started coasting I felt , rather than the recent game-long intensity displays . Players and us fans thought they were already there .

People are on about Lloris's (5.5)kicking . I noticed when a not too difficult long shot came to him , he punched it back forwards . into a dangerous area . Basic keeper rule is you push shots sideways . Surprised at him .

Noone is talking about Dele's (6) penalty . It was midway between the 'keeper and the post . It was what I call a 50-50 penalty .The keeper guesses the right way its an easy save . Just like flipping a coin . We need better pens than that .

I agree with many posters here that long Lloris kicks to Son(6) are not going to work . Son is better running at the defence from wide than as a Kane replacement imo . I was calling for Janssen who eventually put in a good 10 minute shift that could have been longer

Anyway great to have a bit of daylight between us and third .

 

[walton]

Glad to see some focus on Lloris's awful kicking - it's an important part of the modern goalkeeper and an area of his game that he constantly underperforms in. It's the only thing that holds him back from being one of the top keepers in world football. Get him to watch De Gea on a loop.

 

[walton]

AND ANOTHER THING....fair play to Southampton, who've seemingly managed to assemble another decent footballing side despite their constant loss of managers/players; as has been mentioned, they looked super slick second half and bypassed our aggressive press with ease on many occasions. Certainly a credit to the top half of the PL.

 

[hughy]

Can Lloris be pulled from the France squad and be put under 2 weeks intense "How to kick with your weaker foot" training?

 

[diamond lights]

To win this game being a long way from our best and without Rose, Lamela and Kane is a good sign. Southampton are a good side and the type we used to slip up against.

Any team in the PL would love to have our back three. I saw a stat that the mistake from Toby is his first mistake in the Prem League leading to a goal. That is amazing when you spend every game directly in front of your keeper as the last line of defence. Jan has had a great season too.

I love Hugo but he does give us some scary moments with his passing.

Dembele and Wanyama are beasts and no opposition could enjoy playing against these two.

I don't think we appreciate Eriksen enough. When he is on form we go on a good run. Even though his level dropped second half he was class in the first, that ball to Sonny early on and his finish.

Dele had an ok game but he has an attitude that will take him to the top.

Great to see Vince get more minutes and make a contribution - should have tried to find Dele but still hit a hell of shot.

Ugly Win but a win!

COYS