Match Threads Spurs vs Burnley - Match Thread - Day 25

[Bulletspur]

SPURS 4-0 BURNLEY
Bale (2), Kane, Lucas​

Spurs: Lloris (c), Aurier (Doherty), Sanchez, Alderweireld, Reguilon, Hojbjerg, Ndombele, Lucas (Dele), Bale (Lamela), Son, Kane.
Subs: Hart, Dier, Davies, Winks, Sissoko, Vinicius.

Burnley

Official Site Match Centre
Ten changes from the midweek win over Wolfsberger AC with only Toby Alderweireld retaining his place in the starting line-up. It's three changes from the last Premier League game at West Ham with Aurier returning from injury in place of Tanganga, Alderweireld for Dier and Bale for Lamela.

REFEREE: -- ---- Kevin Friend ???????
TEAM FORM: - Spurs LLWLW ------- Burnley DLWDD -------- (All Competitions)
We will be aiming to return to winning ways in the Premier League when we welcome Burnley to our Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday afternoon. We have lost five of our last six in the league to drop down into ninth position in the table, while Burnley currently occupy 15th position, just six points clear of the relegation zone.
We ensured that we would be present in the last-16 stage of the Europa League courtesy of a 4-0 home victory over Wolfsberger on Thursday night, which secured an 8-1 aggregate success, setting up a tie with Dinamo Zagreb in the next round of the competition. We must address our disappointing league form, though, as we have lost five of our last six in England's top flight, including our last two away to Manchester City and West Ham United.
We beat WBA 2-0 in our last home league fixture, but we are now down in ninth position at the time of writing this, some nine points behind fourth-placed West Ham, albeit with a game in hand. A Champions League finish looks beyond us, but we are only four points behind sixth-placed Liverpool with a game in hand and will be determined to secure European football for the 2021-22 campaign, while the Europa League does give us another chance of securing a spot in next season's Champions League. We only have the eighth-best home record in the league this season, dropping points in seven of our last 12 matches, but we will be taking on a Burnley side with the fourth-worst away record in the league.
Burnley are certainly not safe from the threat of relegation as they sit just six points above 18th-placed Fulham, who have found some impressive form at a vital stage of the campaign. Newcastle United and Brighton & Hove Albion, who sit 17th and 16th respectively, will also both have Burnley in their sights, and it is likely that the Clarets will drop a position or two if they lose this weekend. The Clarets are actually on a four-game unbeaten run in the league but three of those matches have ended in draws, including a 0-0 with WBA last weekend. Sean Dyche’s side have a tough run of fixtures ahead as they face Leicester City, Arsenal and Everton in their three matches after this one, and it is not difficult to see how they could be pulled into trouble. Burnley have only lost two of their last four league matches with us, but they have not beaten us away from home in the league since January 1983, which is an indication of the size of their task as the Clarets prepare to head to our stadium.
We will only be missing one player for Sunday's clash, with Lo Celso still unavailable for selection despite the fact that the Argentine has made strong progress in his recovery from a thigh issue. Aurier is fit following a calf problem, and the Ivory Coast international is expected to return to our team at right-back, while there could be a starting role for Dele, who impressed against Wolfsberger. Bale's absence from the starting XI on Thursday suggests that the Wales international could be handed a spot in the side here, joining the likes of Kane and Son in attack, while Toby might get the nod alongside Dier in the heart of the defence.
As for Burnley, Chris Wood is in contention to start, having returned to training following a hamstring problem, while Jay Rodriguez should be available despite suffering a knock against West Brom last time out. Ashley Barnes and Johann Gudmundsson are definitely out, while Robbie Brady and Erik Pieters are also doubts for the trip to the English capital. Dyche is expected to keep faith with the majority of the side that started against West Brom, with Wood for Matej Vydra potentially the only change to the starting XI.
Banner courtesy of @chrissivad

 

[CoopsieDeadpool]

This is where we discover whether beating an obviously inferior club has one again simply papered over the cracks that have seen us in free-fall as we continue to plummet down the league.

Despite the very encouraging performances from the likes of Alli, Bale & Lamela in recent matches, those inferior clubs have still (rather easily) caused our defence problems, and that has to be where concern lays.

I had no belief whatsoever that we'd get anything from the West Ham game & genuinely believed we were always going to lose. Burnley are once again discovering that Dyche fighting spirit and, in the Premier League, I've seen nothing to convince me we are able to match or counter their spirit.

Until our defensive issues are sorted, I'll just not be able to have much (any) confidence in us getting out of the obvious slump that we're in when it comes to the league. Every recent win we've had has been against pretty shit opposition, that's an almost undeniable fact.

So I can only hope that the resurgence of the likes of Alli, Lamela and Bale, along with the return of Reguilon, and the impending return of LoCelso will mean our strength in attack can make up for our weakness in defence.

But going solely on league form, in which the last 6 fixtures see us only above Southampton & WBA, with Burnley in 14th & with a -1 goal difference, compared to our -6 & totally limp performances, I'm still disappointingly doubtful we'll get a result tomorrow.

 

[stormfly]

Every game until the end of the season will be a win now. COYS!

 

[mumfordspur]

The extra day off will have helped us a lot and a nice early night as well on Wed.
Harry rested, fringers pushing for a game.
All points to a refreshed Spurs 2-0.

 

[davidmatzdorf]

This is where we discover whether beating an obviously inferior club has one again simply papered over the cracks that have seen us in free-fall as we continue to plummet down the league.

Despite the very encouraging performances from the likes of Alli, Bale & Lamela in recent matches, those inferior clubs have still (rather easily) caused our defence problems, and that has to be where concern lays.

I don't think it's simply that Wolfsberg are an inferior club in quality. They play a totally different style of football to the smaller clubs in England, probably because they don't have to deal with playing clubs like Man City, Liverpool and us.

Our inspired, creative players who lack a certain urgency - Dele and Bale - can thrive in a match where there the opposition leaves plenty of space. A high percentage of their skilful feints, tricks and visionary passes will succeed, leading to attractive attacks and goals.

Against Burnley, Crystal Palace and superior practitioners of the same style such as West Ham, there is no such space. The midfield is clogged, passing angles are narrow and the penalty area is cluttered with bodies. Try a trick or a defence-splitting pass and, more times than not, you'll lose the ball or your pass will be cut out. If Dele tries an overhead kick, he'll have a defender not-quite-fouling him, so he won't even get the shot off. Try dribbling past five defenders like Lucas and you'll lose the ball to defender no. 4, without getting close enough to the goal to shoot. The weighted pass from Dele - through a wide passing lane in the box - and the angled shot into the corner from Bale - with no one marking him - would not have occurred.

It's not all about how Spurs players perform. They can try the same stuff against Burnley as they did against Wolfsberg and the results will not look the same. Burnley are highly unlikely to permit that kind of stylish play.

Our defence is undoubtedly prone to costly errors in otherwise good performances, but if we were able to handle the smothering, negative aspects of the English game and impose a creative style of football, the way Man City do, it wouldn't matter so much, because we'd be scoring 2-3 goals in every match and forcing the opposition to come out of their rigid formation. I think our hesitancy and lack of ruthlessness in attack leads to our defensive flimsiness, rather than the other way around. The defence comes under increasing pressure as the game goes on, because the midfield and attack do not dominate play on the front foot.

 

[Johnny J]

I don't think it's simply that Wolfsberg are an inferior club in quality. They play a totally different style of football to the smaller clubs in England, probably because they don't have to deal with playing clubs like Man City, Liverpool and us.

Our inspired, creative players who lack a certain urgency - Dele and Bale - can thrive in a match where there the opposition leaves plenty of space. A high percentage of their skilful feints, tricks and visionary passes will succeed, leading to attractive attacks and goals.

Against Burnley, Crystal Palace and superior practitioners of the same style such as West Ham, there is no such space. The midfield is clogged, passing angles are narrow and the penalty area is cluttered with bodies. Try a trick or a defence-splitting pass and, more times than not, you'll lose the ball or your pass will be cut out. If Dele tries an overhead kick, he'll have a defender not-quite-fouling him, so he won't even get the shot off. Try dribbling past five defenders like Lucas and you'll lose the ball to defender no. 4, without getting close enough to the goal to shoot. The weighted pass from Dele - through a wide passing lane in the box - and the angled shot into the corner from Bale - with no one marking him - would not have occurred.

It's not all about how Spurs players perform. They can try the same stuff against Burnley as they did against Wolfsberg and the results will not look the same. Burnley are highly unlikely to permit that kind of stylish play.

Our defence is undoubtedly prone to costly errors in otherwise good performances, but if we were able to handle the smothering, negative aspects of the English game and impose a creative style of football, the way Man City do, it wouldn't matter so much, because we'd be scoring 2-3 goals in every match and forcing the opposition to come out of their rigid formation. I think our hesitancy and lack of ruthlessness in attack leads to our defensive flimsiness, rather than the other way around. The defence comes under increasing pressure as the game goes on, because the midfield and attack do not dominate play on the front foot.

We badly need better movement, and have done for a few years.

 

[davidmatzdorf]

We badly need better movement, and have done for a few years.

We badly need the 2016-17 edition of Christian Eriksen, or a suitable surrogate. He not only saw the angles no one else sees, he also led the high press, was the additional man in the box (hence all the late goals) and ran more km than anyone on the pitch.

People tend to remember his lacklustre last season and a half and his reluctance to injure himself. They tend to forget how crucial he and his role were to our success. We have creative attacking players and we have energetic attacking players. He was both.

 

[Serpico]

I don't think it's simply that Wolfsberg are an inferior club in quality.

Sorry have to disagree, they were lower level than us. If they had better quality players they would have closed us down quicker and taken the very good chances they had created.

Our inspired, creative players who lack a certain urgency - Dele and Bale - can thrive in a match where there the opposition leaves plenty of space.

For me, the quality showed. I don't believe its a difference in styles just the large gap between PL football and Ausrtian FB. There are plenty of football styles around Europe that have teams that are better than us and will not allow space .

I don't feel we can take much form wed performance as they were so poor.

 

[davidmatzdorf]

Sorry have to disagree, they were lower level than us. If they had better quality players they would have closed us down quicker and taken the very good chances they had created.

I wrote this: "I don't think it's simply that Wolfsberg are an inferior club in quality. "

You wrote "I have to disagree". Then you didn't disagree.

I really think many people think words like "simply" are just there for rhythm. They aren't. They're qualifiers. When I write "I don't think it's simply that Wolfsberg are an inferior club in quality", that does not mean "I don't think that Wolfsberg are an inferior club in quality." It means "Wolfsberg are an inferior club in quality, but there are other factors, too."

So you didn't disagree. You restated what I said in different words and then added further examples of how they were inferior. Everything in your post is consistent with what I wrote and most of it consists of helpful examples to reinforce what I was saying.

People need to read the words. All of them. I put them there for a reason. All of them.

Anyway, my main point was not about the quality of Wolfsberg's players, it was that we cannot expect our skilful players to have a similarly open game against Burnley tomorrow, because their style of play makes it more difficult for players like Dele and Bale to operate.

 

[Everlasting Seconds]

There is no doubt I think that clubs in Europa League, which also have been inferior, in addition have played in a style that flatters Dele, Winks and Lo Celso especially. They can play in such a style because even if they are inferior to Tottenham, in their domestic league they probably have enough quality to be close to the best in their league whilst playing in a certain style. That point was made very clear and to my mind is quite persuasive.

 

[yankspurs]

Please not Dier or Sanchez. Or Lucas.

 

[Styopa]

They don’t score or concede many goals and neither do we. At least we don’t score many in the league since Christmas.

Looks like a very tricky game to me, the sort of game that even at our best we have struggled with.

High potential to be a frustrating draw I think.

 

[stormfly]

Please not Dier or Sanchez. Or Lucas.

I have a feeling Lucas will start ahead of Dele and can see Sanchez starting too.

 

[CoopsieDeadpool]

I have a feeling Lucas will start ahead of Dele and can see Sanchez starting too.

I'm pretty certain Bale will start and, for some reason, I'm sure I read/heard Mourinho say after the Wolfsberger game, that Dele played well but wouldn't be starting this game?

No bloody idea how any of that will affect Mourinhos team selection, because I've also got a feeling he will select Lamela (and rightly so, in my opinion).

 

[Everlasting Seconds]

I'm pretty certain Bale will start and, for some reason, I'm sure I read/heard Mourinho say after the Wolfsberger game, that Dele played well but wouldn't be starting this game?

No bloody idea how any of that will affect Mourinhos team selection, because I've also got a feeling he will select Lamela (and rightly so, in my opinion).

I would not mind Bale Lamela Son Kane, my desired line up from the day Bale re-sigend.

 

[Serpico]

Anyway, my main point was not about the quality of Wolfsberg's players, it was that we cannot expect our skilful players to have a similarly open game against Burnley tomorrow, because their style of play makes it more difficult for players like Dele and Bale to operate.

..of course we can't expect it against Burnley and if Wolfsberg had quality players they would have the same effect as Burnley and close the space .
I bow and respect your superior knowledge of the Queens English. I was making the point (probably not very well) as my English is not very good as yours- I agree , However. My disagreement was that, no matter what their style, they were inferior to us. Its irrelevant to explore reasons why Alli and Bale had space, they ‘simply’ did. They would have the same space against any English team at Wolfsberg inferior level.

 

[slartibartfast]

Please not Dier or Sanchez. Or Lucas.

You missed out Winks and Sissoko lol. None of those 5 and I'll be happy.

 

[parj]

We badly need the 2016-17 edition of Christian Eriksen, or a suitable surrogate. He not only saw the angles no one else sees, he also led the high press, was the additional man in the box (hence all the late goals) and ran more km than anyone on the pitch.

People tend to remember his lacklustre last season and a half and his reluctance to injure himself. They tend to forget how crucial he and his role were to our success. We have creative attacking players and we have energetic attacking players. He was both.

I don't think people forget what he used to do. But we won't forget how he acted and helped contribute to our downfall because he decided to leave. You wouldn't want another player like that that would switch off like he did

 

[TheChosenOne]

The matches just keep coming every few days, I had to double think if I posted in here already but here we go..
.
COYLW's - Another win please, want the 3 points badly.
.
@Bulletspur & @chrissivad - TY again for the thread, always appreciated.

 

[king_yid]

I really hope we can do it tomorrow and turn things around, I'm just so down about the whole Mou situ though.