Ratings vs Watford

[mpickard2087]

I don't think either of Janssen's 'misses' were bad. The first one took a nick off a defender and to get to the second one he would have had to have been offside.

To be honest I think he'll be disappointed not to score the first, as should the fans be in my opinion, the second one though the commentators were spouting a load of bollocks... The ball went past one Watford defender, then somehow evaded Gomes, then right through a second defender stood touch-tight to Janssen and eventually hit him. I'm not sure how/what position they were expecting him to be in (as they kept saying) waiting to react, and he must have been at least partially sighted as to where the ball actually was. The old one that when your in form that just hits the player and stumbles over the line and everyone has a smile about the goal, but when you are desperately searching for a goal and an upturn in fortunes....

 

[Shea]

Walk in the park

Lloris 7- rarely tested by came out well a few times and was brave in the air once
Trippier 9- fabulous performance, great delivery and chance creation. Did his shift going backwards too
Toby 8 - as always he was flawless
Verts 8 - Magestic footballing defender, would have loved him to burst through and score from Eriksen's through ball
Davies 7 - Played well and is proving a suitable cover option for Rose, can't expect him to be at Rose's level (as few are) but he's grown in to his role and has minimised the negative impact of Danny's injury much like Wimmer did for Vert's last year
Dembele 8 Controlled possession, beasted the midfield, outstrengthed some huge players time and time again. If only he could add goals/assists to his game (he still offers more than enough to our team though)
Dier 8 - buried his goal, great technique and generated real power. Solid defensively and made good use of the ball
Alli 8 - Magically opening goal, all game he was a live wire and showed he is top class once again
Eriksen 7 - not the star today but still an important cog. Some of his play was sublime (his flick over the defenders head before unleashing Vertonghen)
Son 9 - MOM, 2 goals and an assist, what more is needed to say? unlucky not to have a hattrick, love the fact he was palpably disappointed to have missed to opportunities despite the game being long won (mentality)
Janssen 6 - starting the game with a great turn and was unlucky not to score. Missed two decent chances and failed to read and react to the play many times, constantly running off side, touch wasn't always great, showed some decent strength and hold up/link play at times though.

Kane 7 - set Son up well but the chance was wasted, rattled the bar from distance too, great to have him back so soon
Sissoko 6 - without having to do anything much he did his job well enough. Didn't add any creative spark but allowed the other placyers to rest/recover with his energy I suppose
Onomah - Great face mask

 

[ssamme]

Sky post match analysis just revealed that Alli has been involved in 40 Prem goals; that's more than Beckham, Gerard and Lampard combined at a comparable age!
Sourness looked like he'd just been served fried shit sticks when he heard that fact

Got a video of that?

 

[Pellshek]

Everybody else's glass is full but you've managed to find a turd in yours.

With respect, bollocks. And it's not just you - I say the same to the several people giving me negs for that post. The purpose of this thread is to rate the performance, not to cheerlead.

A representative selection of comments from the match thread in the first 33 minutes:

Giving them too many shitty little free kicks

Watford do look dangerous going forward. Longer it goes on the more confidence they will get

They are not being adventurous and playing for set pieces it seems. We must be smarter.

They're causing us some trouble. Seem to scramble defensively at times so far

They are more dangerous than us up front

Watford have set up well, we're playing well but they can get around our press on the break easy. Also someone needs to tell Janssen the trick with beating Gomes is to hit it straight at him

I really think we lose some defensive and offensive balance when 4-2-3-1

Watford are going to score if it continues like this, players don't look comfortable playing in this formation, I have no idea why we have reverted back to it.

We've lost the midfield

We're not wide enough- Watford are so compact in front of the box. Davies and Trip need to offer more out wide to stretch Watford or we're going to struggle

This formation continually leads to us having too many players either static or moving into the same space. It's very very evident

Watford by far better in midfield.

No movement up front.

Need to go back to 5 at the back, this formation is shit for us, particularly at home.

Move it quicker.

Really sloppy defensively this half.

So this is a Watford second eleven?

Need to get a grip in the middle of the park.

Watford look decent. Big strong well organised.not going to be an easy game.need to get a bit tighter to them for me.

Those are not selective comments I've picked out to win an argument - they were the prevailing opinion in real time in that opening third of the game, and they were essentially correct. The fact we ended up winning easily doesn't suddenly make them wrong.

Our attacking play around the D never came together today in the way it usually does. It took outstanding individual work from Trippier wide, and Dembele in the middle to create chances and retain the ball. Toby and Jan also had work to do in that period.

Our goals were not the result of our usual attacking flair, but rather from 3 shots from outside the box. (We only had 6 shots on target all game.) For those goals, Dele brought a moment of individual magic out of nowhere, and the Son & Dier goals came through excellent individual technique, and poor closing down by Watford. And the thing that killed Watford in the end was the triple-whammy of those 3 goals in quick succession. They were broken after that. The fourth goal was again due to great work by Trippier and a stunning finish from Son.

I stand by what I said 100%: not a great team performance, but 100% effort, and individuals - Son, Dele, Dembele, Trippier - with enough quality to see us through. All in all, that makes it an outstanding squad effort, but doesn't mean it was a fluid display.

 

[doctor stefan Freud]

Got a video of that?

Sadly, no

 

[Shea]

With respect, bollocks. And it's not just you - I say the same to the several people giving me negs for that post. The purpose of this thread is to rate the performance, not to cheerlead.

A representative selection of comments from the match thread in the first 33 minutes:







































Those are not selective comments I've picked out to win an argument - they were the prevailing opinion in real time in that opening third of the game, and they were essentially correct. The fact we ended up winning easily doesn't suddenly make them wrong.

Our attacking play around the D never came together today in the way it usually does. It took outstanding individual work from Trippier wide, and Dembele in the middle to create chances and retain the ball. Toby and Jan also had work to do in that period.

Our goals were not the result of our usual attacking flair, but rather from 3 shots from outside the box. (We only had 6 shots on target all game.) For those goals, Dele brought a moment of individual magic out of nowhere, and the Son & Dier goals came through excellent individual technique, and poor closing down by Watford. And the thing that killed Watford in the end was the triple-whammy of those 3 goals in quick succession. They were broken after that. The fourth goal was again due to great work by Trippier and a stunning finish from Son.

I stand by what I said 100%: not a great team performance, but 100% effort, and individuals - Son, Dele, Dembele, Trippier - with enough quality to see us through. All in all, that makes it an outstanding squad effort, but doesn't mean it was a fluid display.

With respect, bollocks

You've taken comments from a match thread where posters post with emotion and not logic more often than not (due to the game being live while typing)

We played well from start to finish in my eyes, the opinions expressed in that thread are merely born out of emotion and stress that we had not scored yet and fear we will concede

Watford were strong and they played with high energy - I think we coped with them very well (Think back to how Arsenal dealt with them at home not so long ago)

We were far better than relying on individual brilliance today

Some of the build up play was exceptional I thought, we played our well out of danger with calmness under athletic physical pressure time and time again and we never really looked in any danger and 4-0 flattered Watford

I don't see how anyone can have anything negative to say about the performance today (with the possible exception of us only scoring 4 when we were easily worth a bigger win)

 

[doctor stefan Freud]

With respect, bollocks

You've taken comments from a match thread where posters post with emotion and not logic more often than not (due to the game being live while typing)

We played well from start to finish in my eyes, the opinions expressed in that thread are merely born out of emotion and stress that we had not scored yet and fear we will concede

Watford were strong and they played with high energy - I think we coped with them very well (Think back to how Arsenal dealt with them at home not so long ago)

We were far better than relying on individual brilliance today

Some of the build up play was exceptional I thought, we played our well out of danger with calmness under athletic physical pressure time and time again and we never really looked in any danger and 4-0 flattered Watford

I don't see how anyone can have anything negative to say about the performance today (with the possible exception of us only scoring 4 when we were easily worth a bigger win)

Love this post- if this was a pub, there'd be a pint of San Miguel heading your way, sir

 

[Japhet]

With respect, bollocks

You've taken comments from a match thread where posters post with emotion and not logic more often than not (due to the game being live while typing)

We played well from start to finish in my eyes, the opinions expressed in that thread are merely born out of emotion and stress that we had not scored yet and fear we will concede

Watford were strong and they played with high energy - I think we coped with them very well (Think back to how Arsenal dealt with them at home not so long ago)

We were far better than relying on individual brilliance today

Some of the build up play was exceptional I thought, we played our well out of danger with calmness under athletic physical pressure time and time again and we never really looked in any danger and 4-0 flattered Watford

I don't see how anyone can have anything negative to say about the performance today (with the possible exception of us only scoring 4 when we were easily worth a bigger win)

It also took us a while to deal with losing Wanyama before the match and Watford starting with 4 across the middle, but Dier and Dembele dug in and sorted it out. Once we found our feet we were cruising and could have had another 4.

 

[Shea]

Love this post- if this was a pub, there'd be a pint of San Miguel heading your way, sir

and one thrown in my face by @Pellshek for good measure

 

[kmk]

Sky post match analysis just revealed that Alli has been involved in 40 Prem goals; that's more than Beckham, Gerard and Lampard combined at a comparable age!
Sourness looked like he'd just been served fried shit sticks when he heard that fact

To be fair to Souey, he was full of praise for Dele. He also said that he met Dele on holiday last summer.

http://www.skysports.com/football/n...le-allis-sensational-rise-says-graeme-souness

Only injury or attitude can stop Dele Alli's sensational rise, says Graeme Souness

Graeme Souness believes only injury or a lapse in attitude can halt Dele Alli's unrelenting progression to the top of world football.

The England international underlined his claim as one of the brightest young talents in the game with a starring role in Tottenham's 4-0 victory over Watford on Saturday.

After the Hornets had held Spurs in a frustrating opening half hour at White Hart Lane, the 20-year-old, three days before his 21st birthday, opened the scoring in emphatic style with a curling effort from range.

His 16th goal of the season laid the foundations for a resounding win as Spurs moved to within four points of league leaders Chelsea.

On a personal note, Alli's strike was the 40th Premier League goal he has played a hand in, more than Frank Lampard (15), Steven Gerrard (13) and David Beckham (12) had managed by the same point of their illustrious careers combined.

And, after another eye-catching performance, Souness was left in no doubt Alli was destined for the top.

"At 20-years-old, Dele Alli has the world at his feet," Souness told Sky Sports.

"He doesn't look out of place as a star of the Premier League - a league regarded as the hardest to play in with some of world's great players.

"How far can he go? Two things will determine how far he can go.

"If he's unlucky, injuries could play a part, or if he stops turning up every game wanting to learn.

"But he strikes me as someone whose feet are on the ground with the determination to get to the very top.

"This performance against Watford only makes me think even more that he has a real chance of achieving that."

Fellow Sky Sports pundit Niall Quinn was similarly complimentary, labelling Alli's sensational strike as "different class".

"It was a wonderful take from Alli," he added. "He controlled, moved the ball to one side, set the ball outside the post before bringing it down under the bar. It was different class."

 

[Teemu]

Dembele was superb and once we'd got control of midfield we were cruising. I don't think either of Janssen's 'misses' were bad. The first one took a nick off a defender and to get to the second one he would have had to have been offside. Son and Dele were very good and Son has such a good shot in both feet. MOM for me was Trippier. When he delivers the ball early it causes absolute havoc and his ball through to Son when he hit the bar was super sexy. I think big teams will come after him unfortunately.

We are a big club. We're second in the league, he's not going anywhere.

 

[Shea]

I know all the synchronised goal celebration stuff is a bit silly but I love what it represents

To me it indicates a level of togetherness, team spirit whatever you want to call it that I've never seen in a Spurs team

I think when you think about that team spirit and consider the amount of recent contract renewals we've had you can final see a Spurs side building for the future, for something sustainable, in short.... building for real success

There's also a never say die, fight, keep fighting, attitude about the squad, we don't ease off when we're winning well, we don't give up when things aren't going our way and we hunt in packs and play as a team

It's unlike anything I've ever seen in my almost 30 years of actively watching and supporting the club

We're probably a player or two short in the squad to really compete successfully at the top top level and we really need to secure Toby's contract (I doubt Lamela will sign now, personally)

But nothing but good signs around the club right now, and I think we all need to remember that even if we do have a sticky patch at some point in the run in again, the players are young and still learning but there's so much potential and things are moving in the right direction.

We won't win the league, I doubt we'll win the cup, but if we make CL and continue to progress as we have been we all have every reason to be positive

 

[Japhet]

We are a big club. We're second in the league, he's not going anywhere.

He'd fit right in at Man Utd, Man City or Chelsea. Be nice to tell them where to go though.

 

[doctor stefan Freud]

To be fair to Souey, he was full of praise for Dele. He also said that he met Dele on holiday last summer.

http://www.skysports.com/football/n...le-allis-sensational-rise-says-graeme-souness

True- but there was a palpable intake of breath when he realised he was being served a full order of grilled turd. The humble platitudes were just ketchup and coleslaw to make everything else more palatable. Work with me people- this extended dining metaphor isn't as easy as it looks

 

[doctor stefan Freud]

To be fair to Souey, he was full of praise for Dele. He also said that he met Dele on holiday last summer.

http://www.skysports.com/football/n...le-allis-sensational-rise-says-graeme-souness

Nae fucker uses ma beach when I on ma holidae
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=g...sch&q=souness+on+holiday&imgrc=L-2D0RvvoCEW8M:

 

[Jamturk]

I have to say that I think Sissoko can do a job through the centre. I thought he did well there when he came on.

 

[dannythomas]

I have to say that I think Sissoko can do a job through the centre. I thought he did well there when he came on.

Yes, he definitely looks slightly less bad there than he does out wide.

 

[southlondonyiddo]

Can't believe Vinny only got 1 vote for MOTM

Absolutely brilliant again today

 

[davidmatzdorf]

The whole team has a dangerous look in its eye at present. It's the opposite of what happened late last season. We're just grinding opposing teams up at the moment, wearing them down with pressure and possession and then winning the matches with moments of individual class. The effect is relentless.

Watford played well. At half time, their performance merited being 2-1 or 1-0 down, not 3--0 with the game gone. But after the first 10-15 minutes, our defence throttled nearly all of their approach play before it could generate a chance, as it did with Swansea's and Burnley's and Southampton's.

Counting the Millwall match when he got injured, we played nearly all of 5 matches without Harry Kane. We won them all, including 2 away, and the tally was 17 goals scored and 2 conceded. Without our star striker. As the manager keeps saying, it's a team.

Perhaps we can also put to rest the "Son is not a striker" discussion. He's a striker and he can plainly score goals playing anywhere across the front line. He just needed the customary year to get accustomed to English football.

As has Janssen, who took 10 minutes today to do exactly what I was saying he has not been doing, which is to spin off a defender and shoot. As for the substitution, it took place precisely on 60 minutes and that suggests it was pre-planned, to give Kane a half-hour to stretch his legs.

Lloris: 7 Good distribution and fleet movement to snuff out chances before they became chances.

Davies: 6.5 Reliable in defence, slightly conservative in attack.

Alderweireld: 8 One moment when he tracked into the box to intercept a threatening Watford attack was especially effortless: King-esque.

Vertonghen: 8 Probably should have scored instead of falling over, but we'll cut him a break if he keeps defending like that.

Tripper: 8.5 Nearly MotM. Great passing, a rain of killer crosses, an assist and solid defensive work. A greatly improved player this season and a real asset. It's good to be able to choose from the two different styles that Walker and Trippier provide.

Dembélé: 7.5 Magisterial and controlling. He made it look easy. That's probably why he doesn't get the credit from fans that he deserves. At one point, on the edge of the box there was a ball that cried out to have his left foot put through it. But he controlled it and kept the pressure up instead. That's Dembélé.

Dier: 7.5 Very controlled passing and a goal. Looks comfortable in midfield.

Eriksen: 7 Not as dominating as against Swansea, but still busy and creative.

Alli: 8 Ridiculous goal. A menace all afternoon.

Son: 8.5 MotM, by a small margin over Trippier. Not just for the goals. His team play and first touch were also of a high standard today. And he can score from just about anywhere. I think we tend to underestimate the value of Son being two-footed. It's not just that he can use his left nearly as freely as his right, it's that he can strike hard with it and bend the ball with it. It makes him extremely hard to defend, especially when he's shifting the ball around on the edge of the box.

Janssen: 7.5 Good work and everything but the goal. Before we scored, he was dropping back in search of the ball. After we were ahead, he haunted the box, looking for gaps. Better vision than usual.


Kane: 7 Got involved immediately and could easily have scored.

Sissoko: 7 Also got involved and made some forceful, direct contributions.

Onomah: NET

 

[cliff jones]

The whole team has a dangerous look in its eye at present. It's the opposite of what happened late last season. We're just grinding opposing teams up at the moment, wearing them down with pressure and possession and then winning the matches with moments of individual class. The effect is relentless.

Watford played well. At half time, their performance merited being 2-1 or 1-0 down, not 3--0 with the game gone. But after the first 10-15 minutes, our defence throttled nearly all of their approach play before it could generate a chance, as it did with Swansea's and Burnley's and Southampton's.

Counting the Millwall match when he got injured, we played nearly all of 5 matches without Harry Kane. We won them all, including 2 away, and the tally was 17 goals scored and 2 conceded. Without our star striker. As the manager keeps saying, it's a team.

Perhaps we can also put to rest the "Son is not a striker" discussion. He's a striker and he can plainly score goals playing anywhere across the front line. He just needed the customary year to get accustomed to English football.

As has Janssen, who took 10 minutes today to do exactly what I was saying he has not been doing, which is to spin off a defender and shoot. As for the substitution, it took place precisely on 60 minutes and that suggests it was pre-planned, to give Kane a half-hour to stretch his legs.

Lloris: 7 Good distribution and fleet movement to snuff out chances before they became chances.

Davies: 6.5 Reliable in defence, slightly conservative in attack.

Alderweireld: 8 One moment when he tracked into the box to intercept a threatening Watford attack was especially effortless: King-esque.

Vertonghen: 8 Probably should have scored instead of falling over, but we'll cut him a break if he keeps defending like that.

Tripper: 8.5 Nearly MotM. Great passing, a rain of killer crosses, an assist and solid defensive work. A greatly improved player this season and a real asset. It's good to be able to choose from the two different styles that Walker and Trippier provide.

Dembélé: 7.5 Magisterial and controlling. He made it look easy. That's probably why he doesn't get the credit from fans that he deserves. At one point, on the edge of the box there was a ball that cried out to have his left foot put through it. But he controlled it and kept the pressure up instead. That's Dembélé.

Dier: 7.5 Very controlled passing and a goal. Looks comfortable in midfield.

Eriksen: 7 Not as dominating as against Swansea, but still busy and creative.

Alli: 8 Ridiculous goal. A menace all afternoon.

Son: 8.5 MotM, by a small margin over Trippier. Not just for the goals. His team play and first touch were also of a high standard today. And he can score from just about anywhere. I think we tend to underestimate the value of Son being two-footed. It's not just that he can use his left nearly as freely as his right, it's that he can strike hard with it and bend the ball with it. It makes him extremely hard to defend, especially when he's shifting the ball around on the edge of the box.

Janssen: 7.5 Good work and everything but the goal. Before we scored, he was dropping back in search of the ball. After we were ahead, he haunted the box, looking for gaps. Better vision than usual.


Kane: 7 Got involved immediately and could easily have scored.

Sissoko: 7 Also got involved and made some forceful, direct contributions.

Onomah: NET

Son is a forward not a point man. His good work today was done with a point man up top. He can play up there but it's not his best position and against quality domestically or in Europe he's gonna come up short.

Janssen is so far short in just about every aspect apart from heart.

We need to bring another point man in this summer, if we are to compete twice a week. With pace.