Matt Doherty @ Atletico Madrid

[bubble07]

This is what is insane to me. Last season, we specifically deployed Sissoko in a wide midfield role to deal with Tierney's overlaps, same with Lucas and Bellerin. They got no joy down either of the flanks in that game Why would we suddenly decide to send the least athletic player in the squad into a baptism of fire like that? It doesn't make sense.

And the least fittest just infront of him. It's suicidal

 

[EQP]

Exactly, most of us could see it but he didn't change it. It's stiff like that which is so baffling. Why not try Lucas on the right for 10 minutes and see what happens? Why does it need to take a goal against or HT? It's questions like these I'd want journalists to ask rather then the obvious questions for clickbaits

"Jose, first half it looked clear arsenal were overloading on their left and your right hand side again and again and again which eventually led to their equaliser. Was there any thoughts to shore that side up?"

Its a perfectly valid question

Ever since he subbed Dier against Olympiakos in the 30th minutes, Jose has stopped owning up to tactical mismatches. More than likely he would've deflected the question by saying with Matt had a good game, it's a team effort to attack and defend etc general fluff. It was painful viewing watching Matt get beat so easily every time and the look of confusion on his face like he was being bullied or picked on and he didn't know what else to do.

 

[CoopsieDeadpool]

I dont like to keep having a pop at Doherty but surely an expierienced man like Jose can see that Doherty just does not seem to suit our style of play . His forte is in a back five playing wing back where his defending is not so exposed .

Doesn't & won't matter.

Jose personally wanted Doherty, and Jose is possibly the most stubborn bastard in modern day football.

Therefore, he'd rather persist in trying to prove himself right, than accept something isn't working.

It is/was the same with Dier (who I'm not as against as many in here are). We could all see he was struggling with whatever it was that Mourinho was asking of him. But, because Dier was the first player that Mourinho & his coaching staff identified as a no nonsense, battling type of player (Mourinhos wet dream) Mourinho persisted & persisted with him until it was too late & the damage was done.

Compare those players to the likes of NDombele, who Mourinho was kicking out of the door until Levy intervened and had a chat.

Alli, yes his performances weren't great for about 18 months. But he was one of Mourinhos best players as we made our way towards the top of the league. However, he found himself dropped, hung out to dry & was also on his way out of the door until, once again, Levy intervened and refused to let him leave. After much (public) protestation, Mourinho begrudgingly allowed Dele back into the fold & the lad started to show that he could've actually been of use to us as we went into free-fall down the league.

Bale. I think everyone feels (accepts?) that he was really a Levy romance kind of signing, and Mourinho really wasn't overly keen. This was perhaps backed up by almost 5 months of being ignored by the manager? Only for, once again, public clamour seeming to be the reason Bale was introduced to the fold & given a proper platform to show what he can do. And by "proper platform" I don't mean the 3 or 4 minute cameos that he was being given to begin with.

Then there's the game against Liverpool, where Aurier was hauled off at half-time, yet Joses man Doherty remained on the pitch despite being absolutely atrocious.

But back to yesterdays shit show. Apart from Moura, Sanchez & Lamela, pretty much everyone was shit. But nobody, and I mean nobody was as shit as Doherty. But does his manager call him out, or say anything about how hapless he was?

Nope! He calls out Bale & NDombele for lacking intensity. Yes he's right, but they certainly weren't the only ones. Yet they're the only ones he named when Dan Kilpatrick asked him if the team lacked intensity.

So much just doesn't sit right with me when it comes to Mourinho. Maybe that clouds my judgement.

 

[Dirtysanchez6]

Whilst I do agree it's not fair to blame him solely for having two players double up down his side, you also have to consider that if Doherty was a strong FB with great athleticism he would have caused those same two players concern defensively, which would have negated that threat somewhat.

Because as soon as our FB received the ball, they would have had to retreat and that would have taken the pressure off as well as involving Bale in an attacking sense more.

If people can recall back to when we beat Chelsea 2-0 at home with Walker and Rose as our FBs. Chelsea used wingbacks and caused teams issues by getting them forward and doubling up down the sides (like in the semi final we lost). We negated any threat Chelsea posed because we encouraged both our FBs to stay high and in Chelsea's half. We also had Eriksen, Son and Alli in that team who have never been consistent in tracking back or putting a strong foot in.

But we didnt need to worry about that cause our FBs were able to play with so much intensity and tenacity that Chelsea couldn't attack any weak areas.

Doherty doesn't possess the athleticism or intensity to offer this.

Let's imagine that Bale was tracking back. So we stop the overlap/underlap and win the ball deep on the right side. Now what? Doherty carries the ball forward with break neck speed? Or does Bale have to ping long balls forward? Does Bale even have the legs to do that anymore? I think we know the answer.

Bale shouldn't have been tracking back and helping Doherty out, we needed a RB who could cope and ensure he wasn't beaten in the 1v1s and if Arsenal did work around him, be able to get back into the defensive structure.

Aurier would have had a tough game but he'd have coped better and he'd have made sure Tierney and Saka had something to worry about too. Doherty with his lack of pace, strength and tenacity was an easy target for the..And the fact Jose did nothing about it until he subbed Bale for Sissoko, killing our chances of winning the game is a pretty damming story.

Jose has half our fan base convinced our wide players need to play like fullbacks

 

[The Apprentice]

He’s not even the best Doherty we’ve ever had.

 

[double0]

Have we? In the last twenty years I don't think we have. Pamarot was better than Doherty is, at least Pamarot had physique. Corluka, Trippier and Walker were miles better.

Amazing to think the club sold KWP and signed Doherty. He was clearly a Jose signing, 29 years old, Mendes client. Not a typical Levy deal at all with no sell on value. So this one is all on Jose.

From a club perspective what were we doing selling KWP and signing this joker. Shocking all round. The guy is way out of his depth, should be in league one.

KWP apparently was used to secure Hojbjerg.

 

[ukdy]

He’s not even the best Doherty we’ve ever had.

Pete?

 

[Timberwolf]

He was signed because Jose wanted to play him in the lopsided formation with Davies on the other side, then the club signed an attacking full back Reguilon which kind of put the end to that idea.

But the thing is, even when we've tried the lopsided formation - which we have a few times this season - he's still looked pretty bad. Even with Davies covering he's still never looked half as good as he did as a true wingback at Wolves.

When we were linked to him I was cautiously optimistic but had a look on the Wolves forum and tons of them were predicting exactly what has happened. They really liked him but they knew he was uniquely suited to a very specific system and was bound to fail at Spurs.

Whichever way you look at it, both Jose and the club fucked up on this one.

 

[Timberwolf]

In all seriousness what are his strong attributes because I’m struggling to see any

At Wolves he was great at doing little one-twos on the edge of the box and either getting on the end of attacking moves or putting in cutbacks right on the byline. Nuno essentially used him as an auxiliary striker and, he provided a very unique attacking threat by making intelligent runs and finding space in the box centrally from a wingback position. He got a combined 19 attacking returns in the league (8 goals, 11 assists) in his last 2 seasons at Wolves in what was largely a defensive system because Nuno knew how to get the best out of him.

Meanwhile we're using him as a bog-standard defensive fullback and even when he's been used as a wingback he's barely allowed near the box.

It's no wonder no-one knows what his strongest attributes are as we've basically drilled all of them out of him.

 

[punkisback]

At Wolves he was great at doing little one-twos on the edge of the box and either getting on the end of attacking moves or putting in cutbacks right on the byline. Nuno essentially used him as an auxiliary striker and, he provided a very unique attacking threat by making intelligent runs and finding space in the box centrally from a wingback position. He got a combined 19 attacking returns in the league (8 goals, 11 assists) in his last 2 seasons at Wolves in what was largely a defensive system because Nuno knew how to get the best out of him.

Meanwhile we're using him as a bog-standard defensive fullback and even when he's been used as a wingback he's barely allowed near the box.

It's no wonder no-one knows what his strongest attributes are as we've basically drilled all of them out of him.

No excuses he is terrible. He cannot defend and is a poor technician.

 

[HodisGawd]

It's a bit embarrassing how much of a fanfare we made about this signing. Wolves saw us coming and used our cash to buy a better RB.

 

[Dirtysanchez6]

At Wolves he was great at doing little one-twos on the edge of the box and either getting on the end of attacking moves or putting in cutbacks right on the byline. Nuno essentially used him as an auxiliary striker and, he provided a very unique attacking threat by making intelligent runs and finding space in the box centrally from a wingback position. He got a combined 19 attacking returns in the league (8 goals, 11 assists) in his last 2 seasons at Wolves in what was largely a defensive system because Nuno knew how to get the best out of him.

Meanwhile we're using him as a bog-standard defensive fullback and even when he's been used as a wingback he's barely allowed near the box.

It's no wonder no-one knows what his strongest attributes are as we've basically drilled all of them out of him.

Sounds like a system player to me and we don’t play that system lol! Poor poor recruitment

 

[fortworthspur]

Im not going to have a go at any of our defenders for yesterday. Ndombele and the front four pretty much took the day off.

 

[Shadydan]

It's a bit embarrassing how much of a fanfare we made about this signing. Wolves saw us coming and used our cash to buy a better RB.

Semedo is, pretty shit to be honest

 

[BringBack_leGin]

Jose has half our fan base convinced our wide players need to play like fullbacks

It’s mental. I refuse to accept that a side needs all 11 players to be box to box juggernauts with relentless endeavour in order to succeed. For all the hard work of Lamela, Bergwijn and Lucas, Bale has by himself eclipsed their combined contribution to our season in a fraction of the pitch time. I like those three players but they’re just not in the same class.

Semedo is, pretty shit to be honest

Agree with this. Last season when Barcelona were knocked out of the champions league I remember thinking he was the worst player I’d ever seen play for them.

 

[Riandor]

It’s mental. I refuse to accept that a side needs all 11 players to be box to box juggernauts with relentless endeavour in order to succeed. For all the hard work of Lamela, Bergwijn and Lucas, Bale has by himself eclipsed their combined contribution to our season in a fraction of the pitch time. I like those three players but they’re just not in the same class.

That's true, but Bale creates "issues" that you equally have to solve. I absolutely agree that his attacking output has been leagues above the others and he should play. But against the better sides it does create a right flank problem, because Bale is at his best when he has license to roam.

To that end I would build the system around this and perhaps play with a more 433 approach, with a (fit) Son and Kand as the other 2 forwards (obviously) and add an extra midfielder in the mix who can cover the right side more.

The problem there though is you take away the double pivot, or the fact that in Ndombele and PEH you have two players who like to play centrally.

The other issue is Bale's age and wage, is he likely to stay? So perhaps its better to stick with the current formation against the so called lesser teams and then simply change it up against the better ones.

A lot though could have been mitigated though if certain players in the Arsenal game had sim,ply played better and put Arsenal under pressure. Yes they got a lot of joy down our right, but frankly a lot of that is also to do with how often they had the ball and how poor we were with it. Ndombele is my chief culprit here, not that he was worse than say Doherty, but Doherty was exposed and couldn't handle it.

Ndombele hid too often when our defenders had the ball and lookd for a pass. He was always jogging next to an Arsenal player rather than moving into space and either putting himself into a postiion to get the ball and move it, or drag opponents out of position and creating space for Pierre. His talent is there for all to see and he can twist and turn past players with ease, but why did he not WANT the ball each and every time?!

So long balls were played, risky balls and we lost possession time and time again allowing Arsenal to have more than enough attempts at exposing our flank.

So yes, you can blame a plethora of things, but a lack of desire to want the ball and ply football was for me the worst crime.

 

[the shelf]

Genius decision to buy a player who is clearly only marginally effective as part of a back five when you only ever play a back four.

 

[razzmaster]

Semedo is, pretty shit to be honest

The only winner from the Doherty and Semedo deals was Jorge Mendes.

 

[Timberwolf]

It's a bit embarrassing how much of a fanfare we made about this signing. Wolves saw us coming and used our cash to buy a better RB.

Tbh Wolves may have fucked up even worse. Semedo is pretty awful and at least Doherty was cheap in comparison.

 

[eViL]

At Wolves he was great at doing little one-twos on the edge of the box and either getting on the end of attacking moves or putting in cutbacks right on the byline. Nuno essentially used him as an auxiliary striker and, he provided a very unique attacking threat by making intelligent runs and finding space in the box centrally from a wingback position. He got a combined 19 attacking returns in the league (8 goals, 11 assists) in his last 2 seasons at Wolves in what was largely a defensive system because Nuno knew how to get the best out of him.

Meanwhile we're using him as a bog-standard defensive fullback and even when he's been used as a wingback he's barely allowed near the box.

It's no wonder no-one knows what his strongest attributes are as we've basically drilled all of them out of him.

He was effective at wolves because he was running inside, while Adama Traore was going outside - unorthodox approach, but that why it worked.