Ratings vs Palace

[Pellshek]

Anyone notice Eriksen chasing back like a hare through the middle on about 90 mins when Palace had a rare 2nd half break down our left? We cleared it, but Eriksen was there near our own D if needed.

Considering how off-colour we were as a team for long periods tonight, that was as fine a performance from Eriksen as from any Spurs player this season.

 

[mpickard2087]

A big win tonight. Was always going to be a tough game. A London derby away from home, against a team who are in confident mood after some really good results recently and coming so soon after the disappointment at the weekend.

We lacked zip and spark all game, and really had to dig deep to find a winning goal, but there couldn't really be any complaints... There was only one team that really deserved to snatch all three points, we had the majority of the game up against their sturdy defence and apart from a bit of huff and puff at times (majority of which was in the first half) they offered very little threat to us and had nothing up top with Benteke going AWOL.

It isn't easy against a well-drilled defence with space at a premium, but I think we can say that we weren't at our sharpest all night. The first half in particular was very sluggish and not much fluency to our play with several underperforming (the midfield, Alli & Kane, Walker), for the second half Poch made some proactive subs and we found it was much more on our terms (helped by Palace retreating, it has to be said) and we looked a bit more composed and at ease. Chances were still at a premium though, and it took a great strike from Eriksen to find that precious goal. We then managed the closing 10-15 mins very well until the whistle.

This was a good win in what looked like a tricky test. Five more performances, and results, needed.....

Lloris - Largely a spectator as the game wore on.

Dier - Ok.

Alderweireld - The radar was slightly off with his passes at times. Defensively very solid though.

Vertonghen - Was also very solid at the back.

Walker - 30% competent, 70% randomly chaotic.

Wanyama - Sluggish I thought, not his best 45 mins. Was quite lucky not to get a red card.

Dembele - Pretty poor, must have been dispossessed getting on half a dozen times.

Davies - Stands off his man far too much to allow them time and thought on the ball, but on the whole a pretty solid game.

Eriksen - Really composed and in the second half everything went through him as he ran the game. Snatched the winning goal and probably deserved to be the one to do it.

Alli - Plugged away, but couldn't really influence the game.

Kane - Worked hard, particularly second half, but not at his most fluent on the ball.

Subs:
Sissoko - Did ok. Was up for the scrap

Son - Bit erratic I thought.

Trippier - n/a.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Bollocks
(and The Quiet Viking)

No major grumbles with the team selection and format really, one minor grumble would be Walker over Trippier, but I guess it makes sense based on tripper starting Saturday. The other would be no CM on the bench at all ?

This was always going to be a real fucking grind, they are the second form team in the league right now, Alardyce has Boltonised Palace, got them grafting cohesively and doing all those things his teams do, sitting deep, hassling and harrying, leaving feet in all over the place, and their front three are a lively fucking handfiul. Then you chuck in Moss, who is completely unpredictable, ad in an injury to Dembele and an early yellow for Wanyama, Walker playing like he's being remotely controlled by John Terry, and you have the recipe for a shit cake.

And the first half that is pretty much what we got. Just as we were getting some kind of foothold, Poch tinkered us from 3421 to 4231, I think to accommodate a limping Dembele, and this ground us to another halt. Before that Palace had come out all bright eyed and fucky tailed, thinking they fancy a go at the team who might be feeling a bit sorry for themselves. Alli was having a bad half; he's got to learn that there are nights when fucking about just isn't the thing to do, nights when he needs to be much more composed and make much better choices. And tonight was one of those nights, he was terrible first half, going through his repertoire of flicks and falling over. Kane wasn't much better, and the ball was being fumbled around like a hot potato. But to our credit, the one thing we didn't do was capitulate. That's one of the things we love about this team, it's does ugly better than any Spurs team I can remember.

We dug in, rode out the half, got to half time and Poch made changes. Now, I don't agree with the Sissoko change, he is just a fucking poor footballer, and we were bumbling about enough already. I'd have had Nkoudou on before Sissoko, and I'd have been a bit worried about chucking Eriksen back into a CM2 against these busy ****s, but Eriksen was outstanding, and ran the game for the next 45 minutes. He was pinging the ball about left and right, little give and goes, played Kane in, and eventually hit a special. The games best player eventually deciding the outcome with a superb strike. I'm not sure I'd want him there, in a CM2 too often, he's too important as a 10, but he was bloody good that second half.

Everyone improved the second half. Alli stopped coughing up the ball and played with much more purpose, and though we didn't creative much of quality, we were now completely controlling things, and with better decisions from Kane a couple of times, or Alli sticking away and excellent cross from Walker, or Son remembering to take the ball with him, we may have had another goal to show for our 70% of the ball.

Most importantly though was that we won a battle tonight. Even if we aren't going to catch Chelsea, and I don't think we can with the games we have compared to them, it was vital we got a win tonight. It said something. Against a tough and dangerous bus parker, after the weekend knock, the inevitable doubts could creep in, but we showed tonight, no matter what happens in the next 5, that we have some bollocks.

And I fucking hate Allardyce.

Individual

Lloris - Not loads to do. Some of his distribution decisions still worry me.

Walker - Better second half, but that really wasn't hard as his first half was fucking atrocious.

Dier - Had a couple of careless moments when he stepped up into midfield, and he needs two touches and three looks before he plays a pass, but was generally Ok.

Alderweireld - Decent game.

Vertonghen - Very good game again I thought.

Davies - No dramas tonight. OK

Dembele - Clipped early, never recovered, got caught in possession a few times and really struggled.

Wanyama - Clipped early by the ref, I'm sure he gets his ankle tapped in the run up to the yellow, and I genuinely thought he got a bit of the ball for Townsend one, but if not, he was lucky to stay on. With Dembele going off it was a big call to take him off too, but it worked out OK.

Eriksen - The quiet viking. He rapes and pillages, but does it with a tickle and a whisper. Was our best player first half, along with Vertonghen, but absolutely ran the game second half. 91 passes @83%, 4 key passes, played the only through ball of the game, and scored a belter. MOTM

Alli - Really poor first half, as I said above, he's got to realise there are games and situations when tricks and flicks need to be shelved until we've earned the right as a team to fuck about. He was giving Palace encouragement, coughing up the ball way too cheaply and it was bouncing back at us too often. He needed to be more composed, play for the team, which desperately needed more control of the situation. Second half he was much better.

Kane - Bit like Alli. Too much trundling first half, but was better second. Should have shot when put through by Eriksen and should have passed later on from the left.

Son - His approach play was mostly decent but a couple of real erratic moments let him down tonight at crucial times.

Sissoko - I though he made an excellent corner flag in the last couple of minutes.

 

[MattyP]

Eriksen for me was man of the match even without his goal, everything good tonight went through him. Stepping up.

 

[fortworthspur]

Dier MOTM for me. Stepped up and did the work of both Wanyama and Dembele in the second half. Yes Eriksen was magic but it was Dier recycling the ball further upfield that allowed him to work his magic.

So proud of the team for that display of determination for about 20 minutes to go and get the goal in the face of a hostile crowd and a ref that was giving us no help.

 

[fortworthspur]

also, agree with those saying Sissoko put in a shift tonight.

 

[bomberH]

Some slight criticisms:

I thought Son was pretty awful, about 90% of what he tried didn't come off tonight. But I think we play better when he's in the team so I'm always happy when he's on.

Sissoko tried but just doesn't offer enough in my opinion. I genuinely believe any player on the bench could've done what he did, he just seems to lack a footballing brain and is a good but nothing special footballer. Maybe we need to buy the French team so he performs better.

Walker didn't cover himself in glory tonight either. That pass he did in the first half reminded me of the twatty backpass he did against Liverpool a couple of years back that handed them the game when we were fully in control. Still a decent attacking threat tonight though.

Eriksen MOTM. Kane's play for the assist was excellent. CB's were good. Palace didn't threaten much at all even in the first half. We deserved to win on that second half performance. I was expecting a dodgy start after Saturday but pleased with the outcome obviously.

 

[Spurrific]

Wanyama wasn't lucky not to be sent off, Townsend should have been booked for diving.

 

[TommyGee]

They looked a bit sluggish at times, I think the Chelsea game drained them a bit mentally. Hopefully the win and reducing the gap back down to 4 points gives them another lift for the Arsenal game.

Eriksen MOM for me.

Walker was really off though.

 

[fortworthspur]

Wanyama wasn't lucky not to be sent off, Townsend should have been booked for diving.

Wanyama was fouled before he picked up his yellow. Dont get me started on Moss.

 

[St José Dominguez]

At half time it looked so much like a slip up. I thought Son was really poor (big fan of his though) but him coming on meant it stretched the game and allowed Eriksen space to completely control that second half.
Wasn't a particularly good performance Eriksen and Jan aside a few weren't really at it - Wanyama was poor first half and Walker had one of those games, nothing really came off for Dele and Kane.

Was an absolutely huge win though and even more so a massive statement. Mid week game after losing semi final normally we'd slip up but we're different now. We showed serious mental strength and we took it to them second half, controlling game. Even without Eriksen goal I reckon we'd have found that winning goal late on. Sunday is the biggest day of our recent history.

 

[yusrisafri]

As magnificent as Verts was, and boy was he was impressive, Eriksen was so good tonight that he was miles ahead of Verts in the MOM race. Thats how imperious he was tonight.

 

[Gaz_Gammon]

Would very much like to see Son, Dele and Eriksen starting behind Kane against Woolwhich.

 

[walton]

Fuck me Walker was poor tonight.

 

[Jimmypearce7]

Many candidates and Eriksen was great of course but i thought Kane was phenomenal, so i voted for him.
Won a lot of balls in the air, drove forward with the ball at every opportunity and gave their defenders a huge amount of work.

 

[diamond lights]

Spurs win ugly. It's what we've been waiting for. Wins like this are a major indication of the change Poch has made/is making - even more than the 4-0 demolitions of teams at the Lane.
This is what top teams do when they're not clicking and we're becoming a top team.

Verts and Christian both superb - others not at their best but 100% effort from all.

 

[mendesstormer]

Missed the match last night (unusually). So was it Alli or Eriksen who went into centre mid in the second half? I've seen both mentioned.

 

[Japhet]

We are so lucky to have Eriksen. Such a classy player who works his nuts off but has all the talent of the most petulant prima donnas. Fantastic strike to win it - must have been 35yds out and Hennessey had no chance. Absolutely love the bloke. Subs from Poch changed the game but I'm not sure he'd have made them if Wanyama wasn't walking a tightrope and Dembele hadn't been kicked to bits.

 

[0-Tibsy-0]

Eriksen with or without the goal was man of the match. Fantastic player.

I don't seem to be in a majority, but I thought Kane was brilliant last night. Against a strong defence with a bank in front of them I thought he tirelessly lead the line for the good of the team, not just himself. Won headers, held up play, maintained possession, pressed, tracked back. A real mature performance, from a wonderful goal scorer who is so much more than just that.

 

[JollyHappy]

Eriksen MoM. Special mention to Sissoko who did a good job last night and proved to be a valuable member of the squad