Match Threads Spurs Vs Brighton

One different day... we would have lost this 2-3... Brighton were super unlucky with the 2 VAR calls. I think the first one was not a clear cut error, so whatever the ref decision would have stood.

They had a decent pen shout as well.

Our defense has been a real joke. We need to stop taking risk, playing it around at the back.

But I'll take the 3points...

Been out all day for daughter’s birthday celebration. Came home and expected the worst!
Overall I didn’t think we played that bad or at least not as bad as I expected. What drives me nuts though is the moments of stupidity. In the 1st half alone we did our best to gift them a couple of goals; Dier’s hospital ball to Kane with 2 Brighton players closing in on him which leads to their first disallowed goal, Hojbjerg just outside our area on the ball with 3 Brighton players homing in on him decides he can dribble away from them instead of passing the ball, loses it and they hit the post. At the other end the front 3, especially Son, holding onto the ball too long instead of passing when we were in promising positions.
Then their goal which goes further to confirm to me that not only does our team have shit for brains but that the art of defending has been consigned to the annals of history(not just by our team but by modern “defenders” in general)!
Brighton corner and their most danegerous man in these situations, Dunk, is unmarked 14 yards from goal and is able to run to the back post unhindered to score without any defender being ever within 5 yards of him!!!! Mindblowing ineptitude. Lloris is our captain as well as our goalkeeper and Dier is our CCB. Isn’t it their job to marshall the defense at set pieces? Don’t they notice nobody has picked up Dunk. Hilariously at subsequent corners after that goal we had Skipp marking Dunk? Seriously? No one thinks it might be better to have someone a bit taller challenging him?
We were slightly better in the second half but we basically stole 3 points. They had a stone cold penalty claim (Hojbjerg’s stamp) bizarrely turned down by VAR and could have got another after we scored for a shirt pull on Dunk. The officials were on our side today!
Then just to show that it’s not just the players that have shit for brains the coaching staff decide to join them. Kane scores to put us ahead with 11 minutes to go. The obvious action on their part is take off a forward(I would have picked Son because defending isn’t his forte) and bring on Sarr to bulk up the midfield to break up Brighton’s attacks. No too simple! Instead wait till the 87th minute to Finally bring on Sarr but for a midfielder, Skipp!! Followed that with a defender for a defender. So we played the last 17 minutes, with added on time, with 3 forwards on the pitch when we’re defending a one goal lead, something we have proved to be dreadful at. You couldn’t make this shit up.
We got the 3 points so I suppose alls well that ends well but I’m afraid it isn’t just at the boardroom level where there is a distinct feeling there is no plan.

jolsnogross said:

I don't think I'm misunderstanding at all. You're saying Poch is washed up and would not try to set the team up to play the type of exhilarating footy we played when he was making shit happen at Spurs. I disagree. Our squad wasn't up to much the last time he joined and he transformed it. He could do it again. He's been a success at every club he's managed so far.

I'm not taking an easy option or living in hope. He's bloody good, he proved it here, and you've got no evidence that he's washed up. The 'never go back' mantra is just superstition. Of course, we could appoint him and he could crash and burn, but that's true of anyone we appoint.

Eddie Howe used his time away to study up at Atletico and add a bit of additional nous to an already good coaching and team building approach. I doubt Poch is sitting around looking to re-live the auld days like some one-hit wonder going on tour again. That's how you and many seem to characterise him. I disagree. I think he's preparing for the right opportunity to excel again.

We were never boring, spiritless, and grim under him. His nightmare season was a 4th place finish and Champions league final! The season after he was given 12 games with record signings who had injuries and adaptation issues and we sacked him. History has since revealed that was a nonsense decision. We just reached the end of a cycle and had a hard time breaking teams down.

I am very much looking forward. Poch or better. And Poch is available now.

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Agree! One of my pet hates is people saying how Poch inherited a good squad, when really he made them good. Players like Dembele Eriksen Vertonghen off the top of my head were all still very jurys out players. Probably because they had been tactically misused and poorly motivated (sound familiar)

I have no doubts if Poch came back players like Porro Udogie Bissouma Kulusevski (on recent form) Skipp Richi....basically the players where you think there's talent in there but its not quite clicking, would all do very well. Bissouma for example I think would be a beast.

That's no necessarily to say he therefore should be top choice, but it is a bit strange seeing him being undersold so much.

Armstrong_11 said:

One different day... we would have lost this 2-3... Brighton were super unlucky with the 2 VAR calls. I think the first one was not a clear cut error, so whatever the ref decision would have stood.

They had a decent pen shout as well.

Our defense has been a real joke. We need to stop taking risk, playing it around at the back.

But I'll take the 3points...

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No, the 2 handballs were correct.

From the pl:

"However, a player will still be penalised if he commits an accidental handball immediately before scoring himself."

The 2nd one was very unlucky, but correctly cancelled, as per the rules.

I think the penalty was a penalty, however after the Southampton penalty shambles, I don't care.

mil1lion said:

I didn't think Brighton were all that special, they play good football but the sort of football you just expect at this level. Nothing particularly great from them but made to look more dangerous with our lack of aggressive pressing and shaky defending/play from the back. We rode our luck for sure, maybe they could have had a penalty but I thought he was going down already and not every contact is a foul, didn't seem enough for him to go down as he had a bad touch and wasn't getting to the ball.

It's another game where we're just crying for an attacking change to try and win the game. I just wish Mason had the character to take the opportunity to change things when he got his chance. I just would have loved if he took that moment to go 4231 and pull a defender off. At least we won this one but only just, our home form is good though we just need to improve away if we're to turn this season of horror into something decent with top 4.

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Mitoma was a clear penalty. He started going down cos he got caught.

I thought Mason pushed Dier into midfield more to make a more 433 so he did try something but he is still the assistant. He can't just change everything because the manager got sent off.

Quiet congrats to Romero for the slight push on the 'scorer' of Brighton's first 'goal' disallowed for handball which it ultimately was. Without that push the attacker might have had an easier time of it.

Another issue brought up here is that our main forwards are getting on age wise. In the high pressure physical environment of the Prem, this is a problem and its getting worse imo.

The disinterest of Kane in being our first line of defence, oppo defenders can run past him with the ball within a yard or two of him without him stirring. Yes, in the old days Greaves didn't feel that was his job, but now its a different world. I see other teams effectively press and there's no shirkers of this order.
Richie comes on and its chalk and cheese.

Same with Sonny. His unwillingness to challenge for any 50/50s plus his haphazard approach to the marking part of pressing are not the modern game.

As they pass 30 the drawbacks will get worse and need to be faced. The forward line has to be the first line of defence.

It may seem obtuse to be calling out our 2 scorers and their magnificent goals, but the whole rickety nature of the team is partly because it's simply impossible to have an effective press with these two not taking it seriously.
Yes, great players, but many more opportunities to score would arise with a killer press(as happened under Poch)....and maybe we wouldn't need worldies to squeak through matches like this.

It’s slightly off topic but I slooks up the reports of the same fixture last season almost a year ago, lost 0-1, a 90th minute Trossard goal.
We didn’t have a shot on goal that day and yet we had previously won four in a row and were scoring loads then.
I just don’t get this approach to teams we should be beating well.

TheChosenOne said:

It’s slightly off topic but I slooks up the reports of the same fixture last season almost a year ago, lost 0-1, a 90th minute Trossard goal.
We didn’t have a shot on goal that day and yet we had previously won four in a row and were scoring loads then.
I just don’t get this approach to teams we should be beating well.

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This is the Conte way, set up to be on the back foot and let the opposition get on top so we can counter, regardless of the opposition.
Could be Kings Arms u18s Womans team missing their usual 2 cb's and goalkeeper. It doesn't matter.
Could be a Championship team with 7 changes.
Could be a bottom of the table team who lose both cb's in first 10 mins. It doesn't matter.
Now I'm no 'Elite coach' but to me that's just stupid.
Illogical Captain.
So glad he is gone. Well, half gone.

chas vs dave said:

The only thing I'm really annoyed about was the pathetic defending for their equaliser. Imagine not marking dunk on a corner.

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Later in the game Skipp was the one to mark him... Great plan.

iddebu52 said:

Excellent emoji, not.

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Pea brain

Misfit said:

It's been a real luxury having a solid presence in goal for a decade. Even though the sun is clearly setting, I think people are underestimating the potential difficulty in replacing the position. Certainly not unless you're prepared to pay a price that used to make people's eyes water even when applied to top tier strikers.

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100%. He's the best keeper we've had in my lifetime by miles; given the issues we had before (Friedel couldn't move, Gomes was Gomes, big Paul wasn't reliable) we've been very lucky with him.

Gilzeanking said:

Quiet congrats to Romero for the slight push on the 'scorer' of Brighton's first 'goal' disallowed for handball which it ultimately was. Without that push the attacker might have had an easier time of it.

Another issue brought up here is that our main forwards are getting on age wise. In the high pressure physical environment of the Prem, this is a problem and its getting worse imo.

The disinterest of Kane in being our first line of defence, oppo defenders can run past him with the ball within a yard or two of him without him stirring. Yes, in the old days Greaves didn't feel that was his job, but now its a different world. I see other teams effectively press and there's no shirkers of this order.
Richie comes on and its chalk and cheese.

Same with Sonny. His unwillingness to challenge for any 50/50s plus his haphazard approach to the marking part of pressing are not the modern game.

As they pass 30 the drawbacks will get worse and need to be faced. The forward line has to be the first line of defence.

It may seem obtuse to be calling out our 2 scorers and their magnificent goals, but the whole rickety nature of the team is partly because it's simply impossible to have an effective press with these two not taking it seriously.
Yes, great players, but many more opportunities to score would arise with a killer press(as happened under Poch)....and maybe we wouldn't need worldies to squeak through matches like this.

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Interesting. I feel you’re right, but a press needs to be group based, and sustained, and we are generally not set up, apart from the odd surprise raid, to do this. The midfield plays too deep, and we play five at the back outside of possession.

I wouldn’t bother doing multiple shuttles when the odds of nicking the ball are slim to none.

Just watched the highlights again on motd (if that’s what you can call
Them)

we’re so so bad! How the hell Brighton didn’t have a pen, probably 2? I’ll be never know, and probably 2 harsh disallowed goals (but right by the letter ) we can all agree if that was against us we’d be fuming! VAR is shite!

played better when mason was in charge (Tajts how low we’ve become)

Gilzeanking said:

Quiet congrats to Romero for the slight push on the 'scorer' of Brighton's first 'goal' disallowed for handball which it ultimately was. Without that push the attacker might have had an easier time of it.

Another issue brought up here is that our main forwards are getting on age wise. In the high pressure physical environment of the Prem, this is a problem and its getting worse imo.

The disinterest of Kane in being our first line of defence, oppo defenders can run past him with the ball within a yard or two of him without him stirring. Yes, in the old days Greaves didn't feel that was his job, but now its a different world. I see other teams effectively press and there's no shirkers of this order.
Richie comes on and its chalk and cheese.

Same with Sonny. His unwillingness to challenge for any 50/50s plus his haphazard approach to the marking part of pressing are not the modern game.

As they pass 30 the drawbacks will get worse and need to be faced. The forward line has to be the first line of defence.

It may seem obtuse to be calling out our 2 scorers and their magnificent goals, but the whole rickety nature of the team is partly because it's simply impossible to have an effective press with these two not taking it seriously.
Yes, great players, but many more opportunities to score would arise with a killer press(as happened under Poch)....and maybe we wouldn't need worldies to squeak through matches like this.

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My thoughts exactly on Kane and Son. People keep calling for this rebuild - we've been rebuilding for ages, but everything is being built around these two. Because they are such magnificent goalscorers nobody seems willing to accept that they are a big part of the problem. They are both very lethargic with pretty weak hold up play, therefore we don't press and give the ball away a lot. It will be very sad to see them go, but I don't think it will the complete disaster everyone else thinks it will be, and once the dust settles with the right manager we might start to see the type of football we are craving.

shoggy33 said:

My thoughts exactly on Kane and Son. People keep calling for this rebuild - we've been rebuilding for ages, but everything is being built around these two. Because they are such magnificent goalscorers nobody seems willing to accept that they are a big part of the problem. They are both very lethargic with pretty weak hold up play, therefore we don't press and give the ball away a lot. It will be very sad to see them go, but I don't think it will the complete disaster everyone else thinks it will be, and once the dust settles with the right manager we might start to see the type of football we are craving.

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Yup, gonna get slaughtered for this, but I think it's time for them to move on BEFORE their value disappears.
A further (very calculating) advantage of selling Kane to Utd is that their press will be weakened...unless Ten Hag
successfully motivates him, be interesting to see if he can .

We hung on to Dele waaay to long, though that's a different situation because he was still young and his loss of hunger was totally baffling...so perhaps I shouldn't mention it but hanging on too long to players has been a Spurs weakness imo. Sonny is still worth a bit. We'll need every penny and a smart transfer market operator to get replacements. I'm looking at 140 mill ish plus whatever the new manager can squeeze out of Levy as our kitty.

Wonderful players who have given us so much pride and joy who will depart laden with scoring records and our eternal gratitude, but imo we have to stabilise our rickety team and this first line of defence is where we start.

Misfit said:

It's been a real luxury having a solid presence in goal for a decade. Even though the sun is clearly setting, I think people are underestimating the potential difficulty in replacing the position. Certainly not unless you're prepared to pay a price that used to make people's eyes water even when applied to top tier strikers.

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Although another bad mistake yesterday when he let a shot go under him. Lucky it was chalked off for handball but could’ve (and probably would’ve) swung the game in their favour.

easley91 said:

Surely any prospective manager will be weary hearing the Poch chants every game now. Would make them think anyone other than Poch is already screwed with the fanbase.

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Im just hoping if its not Poch, his fans will give the next guy a chance. I really really don't want to be hearing Poch chants the first time we lose a couple of games.

jolsnogross said:

You're describing a pathway to more of the same - boring, spiritless, and grim. Old slow attackers. Full backs that can't defend. Midfielders that can't play ball. Clueless centre halves. And you want to find another donkey manager that can try to get a tune out of those kinds of attributes? Come on.

Good on the fans for the Poch songs. Keep it going. In general our fan base is too compliant and part of the niceness of the club in general. Don't really demand too much. Nice day out putting up with this dross. At least the Poch chants signify some sense of demanding change.

And whether you like it or not, every new manager will be measured against him because he was the best modern one we've had. That's great in my opinion - reach or exceed the Poch level or you'll be under achieving. And since the man himself is available, it should be one hell of a manager that is chosen instead of him. And I suspect the only way the Poch chants will ever end for good is if he comes back and doesn't achieve the 'Poch level' himself. That's a bet I'm more than willing to take. And if it isn't him, that's fine as long as it's a Poch-esque sty;e manager that wants to play on the front foot and knows how to build togetherness and purpose in the squad.

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Im disappointed you feel this way. It genuinely sounds like you're a Poch fan more than the club and that saddens me because I suspect the shit show of the last few years has made you feel this way.

jolsnogross said:

I don't think I'm misunderstanding at all. You're saying Poch is washed up and would not try to set the team up to play the type of exhilarating footy we played when he was making shit happen at Spurs. I disagree. Our squad wasn't up to much the last time he joined and he transformed it. He could do it again. He's been a success at every club he's managed so far.

I'm not taking an easy option or living in hope. He's bloody good, he proved it here, and you've got no evidence that he's washed up. The 'never go back' mantra is just superstition. Of course, we could appoint him and he could crash and burn, but that's true of anyone we appoint.

Eddie Howe used his time away to study up at Atletico and add a bit of additional nous to an already good coaching and team building approach. I doubt Poch is sitting around looking to re-live the auld days like some one-hit wonder going on tour again. That's how you and many seem to characterise him. I disagree. I think he's preparing for the right opportunity to excel again.

We were never boring, spiritless, and grim under him. His nightmare season was a 4th place finish and Champions league final! The season after he was given 12 games with record signings who had injuries and adaptation issues and we sacked him. History has since revealed that was a nonsense decision. We just reached the end of a cycle and had a hard time breaking teams down.

I am very much looking forward. Poch or better. And Poch is available now.

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If you genuinely think Poch was successful at PSG then we clearly have different views on the definition of the word.