Jose Mourinho

[Colonel Dax]

Was referring to their style of play which changed dramatically.

Yes but as I said in the earlier post, it's easier to install a progressive style of play when you have a reasonably settled squad that isn't ravaged by injury and fitness issues. Jose is a pragmatist, admittedly, and we're never going to play like Barcelona under him but with the resources at his disposal currently he is having to be ultra-pragmatic - putting expansive, free-flowing football aside to get results, game by game- and that for me is understandable.

 

[Metalhead]

It's humans in a nutshell really. The grumpy fuckers are always the loudest. When you are happy you are generally quiet.

Also, some people understand the need for patience and others expect everything to happen overnight. Tbf the game has developed in such a way over the last 20 years that it has encouraged that way of thinking.

 

[mpickard2087]

Shit that is unforgivable though is that I saw countless times last night where we eventually found ourselves with the ball at our feet and said player had to stop as nothing happened in front of him, forwards just stood gormlessly, and usually then lost the ball. That person looks bad, but they need options.

I know it's difficult when you're under the cosh and sat so deep, I know options are limited and we've lost our two first choice attackers, but with that being the case the No.1 basic thing I'd expect this week would be for Mourinho and co. absolutely drilling it into Moura (and others, but he was the guy up front primarily) stuff like that as soon as we got the ball he just had to spin and run forwards for a ball over the top or down the channel. At least give some semblance of an out ball and see if they can deal with the ball played in behind and someone with a bit of pace chasing it hard.

Some of it has to go on the player, I'm not sure how some of these top professionals have got to that level without any instinct or nous or game awareness or anticipation or ability to think and be proactive, but for the many millions we are paying the manager it is also piss poor coaching.

 

[alfie103]

I feel like the obsession with playing progressive football is becoming like the tail wagging the dog. A tactic is used to achieve a certain goal with the resources you have. There is no point playing a certain style if you haven't got the players for it.

 

[Japhet]

Shit that is unforgivable though is that I saw countless times last night where we eventually found ourselves with the ball at our feet and said player had to stop as nothing happened in front of him, forwards just stood gormlessly, and usually then lost the ball. That person looks bad, but they need options.

I know it's difficult when you're under the cosh and sat so deep, I know options are limited and we've lost our two first choice attackers, but with that being the case the No.1 basic thing I'd expect this week would be for Mourinho and co. absolutely drilling it into Moura (and others, but he was the guy up front primarily) stuff like that as soon as we got the ball he just had to spin and run forwards for a ball over the top or down the channel. At least give some semblance of an out ball and see if they can deal with the ball played in behind and someone with a bit of pace chasing it hard.

Some of it has to go on the player, I'm not sure how some of these top professionals have got to that level without any instinct or nous or game awareness or anticipation or ability to think and be proactive, but for the many millions we are paying the manager it is also piss poor coaching.

To add a bit of balance, I think Negelsmann has got Leipzig extremely well organised and when we got possession they managed to get very close to our strikers. Many times, the player receiving the ball was immediately surrounded by Leipzig players and they also pressed the midfielders very effectively and forced plenty of errors from them. Our main tactic for most of the game seemed to be to lump it up to players ill equipped to deal with that type of service and it was only really when Dele went off, and that option was off the menu, that we started to play a bit of football and actually had Leipzig pretty rattled at times. Mobility up front has been quite an issue for a long time though and it often makes the midfielders look very bad when they end up playing sideways and backwards as a result.

 

[Dillspur]

I feel like the obsession with playing progressive football is becoming like the tail wagging the dog. A tactic is used to achieve a certain goal with the resources you have. There is no point playing a certain style if you haven't got the players for it.

You mean like playing long balls?

 

[alfie103]

You mean like playing long balls?

When there are no options for a short pass then yes.

 

[jacko73]

I feel like the obsession with playing progressive football is becoming like the tail wagging the dog. A tactic is used to achieve a certain goal with the resources you have. There is no point playing a certain style if you haven't got the players for it.

Hi, not just picking on you here, but I think yours was the last one that i disagreed with. Talking about resources we have a young strong energetic and quick defender sitting on the bench (Tanganga). We have employed a master tactician, that is what Mourinho is. Mourinho went and watched RBL last week, so knew they were a young strong quick winger that scores goals, I knew this and have never watched RBL and am no master tactician, but when i saw the teams i knew we would get hammered down our right side, this would stress out the centre halves and would be a in for a torrid time.

We also have the makings of the best midfield in Europe GLC and N'dombele and I think winks is good enough to play with them, so is Gedson. Why do we persist with matching up 2 in the middle v 3 the numbers mean we are under pressure and they can play through us. This did not just happen last night it happened v Soton and Villa. Why is he doing this? Insanity is doing the same thing again and again.

He is doing it to get Alli on the pitch, but Alli has no foil (Big striker or Kane) so is redundant. Alli is looking worse and worse as he has no front man, how long will he keep doing this. We have the resources to be better in midfield to give us more structure but we dont use it. We had a counter to Werner last night but sat him on the bench.

I realise i cant prove what I say as i cant implement it, but do you think Mourinho could consider some of these things?

Let's not keep doing the Poch v Mourinho we all love Tottenham that is why we are here. But we can ask questions about Mourinho as he is the current Tottenham coach. We do have some very good players, but we are not playing to our strengths.

 

[Dillspur]

When there are no options for a short pass then yes.

So, you don't think we have the players to play a more progressive game, but we have them to play the long ball game? ??

 

[spursfan77]

I feel like the obsession with playing progressive football is becoming like the tail wagging the dog. A tactic is used to achieve a certain goal with the resources you have. There is no point playing a certain style if you haven't got the players for it.

There seems to be a stick to beat Mourinho with when he loses in the media. He’s yesterday’s man. It’s their narrative and agenda and they don’t let facts like injuries and circumstances change it. It’s very weird. They’re desperate for him to fail, it must be exhausting for him yet he rarely shows it.

 

[alfie103]

So, you don't think we have the players to play a more progressive game, but we have them to play the long ball game? ??

Why should we play out from the back when teams are pressing us high and our players haven't got the ability to comfortably do it? Why risk losing the ball in our own third just because some people think it is 'pretty' and 'progressive'?

We have quick wingers in Son and Lucas so why not play the ball behind their defenders and use the space.

 

[glacierSpurs]

Bergwijn strike, GLC and Lamela freekicks. 3 best opportunities on some days we could have scored on all 3. We will then be hailed clinical.

RB with all the dangerous play only scored with a penalty. Of course, we also have Lloris to thank for.

But the stats don't lie. We had 12 shots total, 6 on target. RB had 16 shots total, only 5 on target. Last 20 minutes we wrestled back some initiatives and final possession tallied at 45% against theirs of 55%.

We may not be pretty to watch at the moment, but putting the above in context, we really are not that bad, all things and situations considered. We really cannot be expecting to play freeflow total football when 3 months ago we were in serious deep shit, can we?

 

[knowlespurs]

Why should we play out from the back when teams are pressing us high and our players haven't got the ability to comfortably do it? Why risk losing the ball in our own third just because some people think it is 'pretty' and 'progressive'?

We have quick wingers in Son and Lucas so why not play the ball behind their defenders and use the space.

agree
if we had tried to play out from the back we would have got slaughtered imo

 

[carmeldevil]

Bergwijn strike, GLC and Lamela freekicks. 3 best opportunities on some days we could have scored on all 3. We will then be hailed clinical.

RB with all the dangerous play only scored with a penalty. Of course, we also have Lloris to thank for.

But the stats don't lie. We had 12 shots total, 6 on target. RB had 16 shots total, only 5 on target. Last 20 minutes we wrestled back some initiatives and final possession tallied at 45% against theirs of 55%.

We may not be pretty to watch at the moment, but putting the above in context, we really are not that bad, all things and situations considered. We really cannot be expecting to play freeflow total football when 3 months ago we were in serious deep shit, can we?

Disappointed we didn't seal the deal when we had opportunities. Need to step up for sure during the away leg.

 

[LDNYid]

I know the tactics are negative, and I’m not enjoying watching us, but I will reserve judgement on José until the end of next season: once he has had a preseason and a proper opportunity to buy players. This squad has been woefully neglected, and I think that sits firmly at the door of our recruitment team, and ultimately our chairman.

 

[knowlespurs]

Bergwijn strike, GLC and Lamela freekicks. 3 best opportunities on some days we could have scored on all 3. We will then be hailed clinical.

RB with all the dangerous play only scored with a penalty. Of course, we also have Lloris to thank for.

But the stats don't lie. We had 12 shots total, 6 on target. RB had 16 shots total, only 5 on target. Last 20 minutes we wrestled back some initiatives and final possession tallied at 45% against theirs of 55%.

We may not be pretty to watch at the moment, but putting the above in context, we really are not that bad, all things and situations considered. We really cannot be expecting to play freeflow total football when 3 months ago we were in serious deep shit, can we?

mate stretching a bit to say the lamela free kick, was going way wide and was a pretty easy save

 

[$hoguN]

Was disappointed we had two DMs and 2 CBS on the bench yesterday, leaving out Sessgnon and Parrott as it left us without players who could chip in with angoal

 

[knowlespurs]

Was disappointed we had two DMs and 2 CBS on the bench yesterday, leaving out Sessgnon and Parrott as it left us without players who could chip in with angoal

that was my main gripe with yesterday, we hardly needed Dier, Verts, Skipp and Tat on the bench

 

[Dillspur]

Why should we play out from the back when teams are pressing us high and our players haven't got the ability to comfortably do it? Why risk losing the ball in our own third just because some people think it is 'pretty' and 'progressive'?

We have quick wingers in Son and Lucas so why not play the ball behind their defenders and use the space.

That's fine, when we have a Kane, we weren't playing balls behind their defensive is was all up to Moura, IMO we had players to pass around the press, we need to mix it up we only started playing (again) at the 70 minute mark.

I know the way he is setting us up is a means to an end and we just want to get through this season, but Jose is reverting to type, when things get tough he battens down the hatches, goes defensive and hits long balls. I don't want to watch that type of football for 3/4's of a game, hopefully he's backed in the summer and we see this new way of playing that Hercules is telling us is happening.

 

[Spursh]

This is a team that lost to Bayern 2-7 and Brighton 3-0 this season, and that was with attacking options.

I’d love for us to play with a high tempo and look like a cohesive attacking unit, but considering that we’ve had a change of manager, have a squad who have had to recover from the loss of a Champions League final, had players who wanted out as well as dealing with those in decline, and have lost key players to injuries at pivotal times (Lloris, Sissoko, Kane, Son), I think Mourinho has done pretty well to even have us back in contention for the top four.