Borussia Dortmund Vs Tottenham: Match Thread

[Spursidol]

A few basic facts for those criticising the team selection and players.

Borussia Dotmund are 2nd in the German League wih a 16 point lead over 3rd place and 5 points behind leaders Bayern http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/tables

Let that sink in - 16 point lead over 3rd.

That means
1. They have no worries they can be overtaken = they can play their strongest team
2. The German league is far weaker than the PL = they can afford to rest players for league games. PL teams cannot.

So Spurs need to get used to rotating more.

 

[Hazardousman]

Next season in the CL are we going to field weakened teams in the group stage because we have little chance of winning it? Of course not. So why the fuck did we get this far to essentially give Dortmund a bye into the last 8 of the EL? Ridiculous

Because Poch knows our spot in the top four is under threat and if we lose any of our best players we might not be seeing CL football next season because our backups aren't good enough. Imagine if we lost Dembele or Kane on the run in or if Mason had to start for half of the games? We would be fighting for 4th before we even got out of April IMO.

 

[tdk101]

Lol, Wimmer the sacrificial lamb for post match.

the sacrificial lamb should be the ref.

 

[Oshi]

I think this game has really split the fans.

For me it's no surprise that after an energetic win over Fiorentina, followed by an energy-sapping comeback against Swansea, we looked tired for most of the Spam game, and for the last 20 minutes against the Gooners. Seeing as high-energy pressing is a massive part of our game (along with key players clearly looking shattered), he had a tough decision to make; take Europe seriously, take the league seriously, or compromise on both.

I believe he made the right decision - it's just painful for a lot of Spurs fans to see the reality of that decision being played out.

We'd have to have played at full strength, and flat out, to get past Dortmund...leading to another couple of tough games (with even more pressure to go all out for the win). Do some fans really not see how that would impact on our league performances? Or have some just given up on the title and the league in general?

That's my fear, the 1st choice guys are tapped out and/or carrying knocks, maybe we would of knicked a goal or only conceded 2.. but still think they would of rolled us as our 1st choice are not 100% anyway.

 

[THFCSPURS19]

In the 1988 UEFA Cup Final, Bayer Leverkusen lost 3-0 in Catalonia against Espanyol.

They then won 3-0 at Home in Germany, and 3-2 on penalties.

#Believe #TogetherTHFC #COYS

 

[paulcumpstone]

Lol, Wimmer the sacrificial lamb for post match.

haha thought the same,poor sod,should have sent carroll out to do it but he'd have probably gone missing on route

 

[SugarRay]

A european tie to get the heart racing and we throw it away before even kicking a ball. I'm disgusted.

I think that's what's annoyed me more than anything. Been buzzing since the draw and tonight was a massive kick in the balls from the second I see the team sheet

 

[WiganSpur]

The tie isn't over yet and I hope Poch drums that through the players and puts out a full strength team next week.

3-0 is not an impossible score line - if we can beat Man City 4-1 then who says we can't win 3-0? And even if we don't win 3-0 a win would still give us a lot of confidence.

We are out

 

[Tucker]

I think this game has really split the fans.

For me it's no surprise that after an energetic win over Fiorentina, followed by an energy-sapping comeback against Swansea, we looked tired for most of the Spam game, and for the last 20 minutes against the Gooners. Seeing as high-energy pressing is a massive part of our game (along with key players clearly looking shattered), he had a tough decision to make; take Europe seriously, take the league seriously, or compromise on both.

I believe he made the right decision - it's just painful for a lot of Spurs fans to see the reality of that decision being played out.

We'd have to have played at full strength, and flat out, to get past Dortmund...leading to another couple of tough games (with even more pressure to go all out for the win). Do some fans really not see how that would impact on our league performances? Or have some just given up on the title and the league in general?

We won't catch Leicester. They won't drop more points than us. So yes, it's realistic to expect us not to win the league. As others have said, we should have had a massive memorable European night to remember tonight. This is easily as big as when we played inter in the CL or ac Milan. And we conceded the game before kick off. It's very demoralising and disappointing. Especially after two poor results in the league last week.

 

[ginola007]

Next season in the CL are we going to field weakened teams in the group stage because we have little chance of winning it? Of course not. So why the fuck did we get this far to essentially give Dortmund a bye into the last 8 of the EL? Ridiculous

Because our squad is not big enough to compete in two competitions in this late stage of the season. During the group stage of the Europa League, we were well below the likes of Arsenal, Man City and even Man U. Now we are above them and have a real chance of winning the League. We need to prioritize.

 

[wrd]

It is what it is, we were unlucky with the penalty call, it's dissapointing and it's a risk but if that risk leads to the prem then none of us will give a fuck whatsoever

 

[rossdapep]

A few basic facts for those criticising the team selection and players.

Borussia Dotmund are 2nd in the German League wih a 16 point lead over 3rd place and 5 points behind leaders Bayern http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/tables

Let that sink in - 16 point lead over 3rd.

That means
1. They have no worries they can be overtaken = they can play their strongest team
2. The German league is far weaker than the PL = they can afford to rest players for league games. PL teams cannot.

So Spurs need to get used to rotating more.

They've also had a mid season break whilst we have a rigorous winter schedule. They were fresh, we weren't

 

[EnfieldYiddo]

We are out

Bingo.

And if Poch acts as if we aren't, it'll infuriate me even more.

He lost the game for us before a ball was kicked and whilst I don't have a massive problem with that, if he has then tries to rectify the near impossible by playing our best XI... It would be incredibly frustrating.

 

[glacierSpurs]

If I'm tuchel I will bet my players some wager to score an away goal in the first 10 mins... Then even the trio of MSN from barca can possibly do nothing to reverse the deficit.. That is how stupid this scoreline is at the moment.. We need to score 5 if they just scored 1 at WHL.. 5 against Dortmund??!! Are we bayern?? Sorry, but I'm not as optimistic as some of you to believe we can overturn it..

 

[Tom Pops]

We are out

It may look bleak now, but football is very confidence-driven. If we can get the score line back to 3-1 early on next week then the players and fans will start believing.

 

[DEFchenkOE]

A european tie to get the heart racing and we throw it away before even kicking a ball. I'm disgusted.

You have legends like Lothar Mathhaus saying what a great tie it should be and it could have been the final etc We were getting some real respect amongst europe and we go and play that team and put in that performance.

Just don't understand how Poch expected to contain Dortmund with that complete lack of aggression in midfield. At least play Bentaleb who although out of form is much more defensive than Carroll and Mason. They were literally walking through the midfield. Or even play Onomah central as a 3 with Carroll and Mason to add a bit of physicality to the middle of the park. That was just proper soft. If HR had picked a team like that a few years ago this place would be full of rage.

 

[Shadydan]

A few basic facts for those criticising the team selection and players.

Borussia Dotmund are 2nd in the German League wih a 16 point lead over 3rd place and 5 points behind leaders Bayern http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/tables

Let that sink in - 16 point lead over 3rd.

That means
1. They have no worries they can be overtaken = they can play their strongest team
2. The German league is far weaker than the PL = they can afford to rest players for league games. PL teams cannot.

So Spurs need to get used to rotating more.

For me resting players wasn't a problem, we all know the players are starting to get tired.

It was the midfield of Mason and Carroll that was the problem, if Dier wasn't playing then we needed some steel in there and neither can provide that. We had Dembele and Bentaleb on the bench and I think they would have been better to cope with their quick incisive midfield.

Don't normally dig out Poch and he's done brilliantly this season but he did fuck this one up.

 

[flannel]

Team selection tonight obviously made with knowledge of the current state of the squad and what Poch believes is necessary to go out and win our Premier League matches coming up. I trust he rested players because they needed it. Those asking why he didn't throw the competition earlier... This is the state of the squad and our needs right now, not two weeks ago or three months ago or whenever.

 

[Borks]

Not allowed to criticise without being labelled knee jerk apparently. Tonight was a pathetic line up and I might sell my ticket for next week's match as the team played will be even weaker than tonight's. I just hope my trip to Villa is worth it after throwing in the towel at 5pm.

 

[paulcumpstone]

A few basic facts for those criticising the team selection and players.

Borussia Dotmund are 2nd in the German League wih a 16 point lead over 3rd place and 5 points behind leaders Bayern http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/tables

Let that sink in - 16 point lead over 3rd.

That means
1. They have no worries they can be overtaken = they can play their strongest team
2. The German league is far weaker than the PL = they can afford to rest players for league games. PL teams cannot.

So Spurs need to get used to rotating more.

the only gripe i have with it is why bother playing the likes of dembele, kane and dier to get this far, would have been better to go out in the group stage than key players having played so many games to this point, we don't have the squad to challenge on more than 1 front, the fringe players are very average at best