Ratings vs Watford

[dannythomas]

Collective Individuality

Lets start, where we always start, with the selection and starting tactics. It won't surprise anyone to know that 4231 with Dier and Dembele in CM wouldn't have been my choice. We talked a lot in Poch's first two seasons about him needing to show some tactical diversity, and some will laud today (and Swansea's starting debacle) as Poch being "tactically diverse" in changing from the 3421 that we have used much of this season. But I think that argument would be more valid if he didn't just keep reverting to the predictable and much hackneyed fall back 4231. It would also be more valid if it could be argued that he'd tinkered to suit the opposition, but I think against a team playing 2 up front in a narrow-ish 442/433, the 3cb/wing back system is much, much better tactically. Some will point to the end result as validation, that it was all about squeezing Son and All (and a CF) into the same 11, but before the game started that result is irrelevant, I question the logic before the result not after.

For the first 30 minutes this game was anything but simple. Watford were tactically bettering us, their midfield was getting the better of Dier and Dembele, who were moving the ball very laboriously, and they were looking at least as likely as us to score, the massive difference though was what they had in their armoury was a couple blunderbusses, what we had in ours was AK47's, rocket launchers, surface to and air missiles. And so, when we finally started to get our foot on the ball and exert some control we were able to reek merry hell on them in a 15 minute salvo that utterly destroyed their early uprising completely. The first 30 minutes possibly was narrowly theirs, the next 25 had proven to be emphatically ours. It wasn't all about our individual attacking talent, we are just not that type of team anymore, whatever we get we get because we do things pretty well collectively, and some of our defending today was very good when it had to be, but this game definitely span, if not 360, then probably 180 degrees but a couple of individual moments, the first wonderful goal by All and the third goal by Son, which effectively killed the game. As Son took possession of the ball before that third goal everyone around me was screaming for him to lay Davies in, as he was about to hit it we were all "no, no, no......yeeeeeeeees". Its one of those moments that if he doesn't score he deserves criticism, but that criticism gets quashed by another wonderful individual piece of finishing. Son then improved on that finish with the technically excellent finish from a wonderful cross by Trippier.

Ok, so lets say, with hindsight, I can accept an argument for Poch being vindicated for shoehorning Son, All, Eriksen and a CF onto the pitch, what I found really fucking puzzling and utterly bazaar was Poch's subs. Why the fuck is he risking Kane in a game we are winning 4-0 ? He could get another week of raining into him and start him next week, and why fucking yank off Janssen, the kid desperately needs a goal, he's the last player that should have come off, Alli, Son or even Eriksen could have been rested for the 35 minutes, or much better he got a free pass to give Onomah (or even Nkoudou) 35 minutes of proper football, risk free. Kane isn't the type to need 30 minutes in a game like this. Get another week into him and start him. And the demoralisation of Janssen is palpable. He'd played well, and really didn't deserve the kick in the nuts. Poor psychology IMO. Then we get fucking Sissoko for Dembele, not Onomah. Just pointless, where those extra minutes could have been massive in the development of Onomah, a chance to play in his proper position, and cost Poch nothing. Instead we get Sissoko out of position. What does Ononah get, 3 fucking minutes as an Am. Pointless.

I thought Son was excellent today, not just his goals, but his all round play, he was buzzing around, drifting out and cutting in, being direct, had a hand in a couple of goals and scored the other two. I also think All had a very good game, he played a glorious pass down the right flank for Trippier, and was far more involved than he often is in general play (42/51 passes, one of his season highs I think). Trippier of course deserves much credit, he showed once again that he's definitely better technically in the final third than Walker, he could have equalled Walker's season assists today alone.

As we have seen away from home this year, you can sometimes play very well and not get the breaks, today in a 15 minute phase either side of half time, everything we touched turned to gold. Even the blaster from Dier found the net, those kind of shots usually go anywhere but. And the rest of the game felt like a pre season friendly, played in balmy pre season weather. We didn't try to hard to embarrass them and they didn't try to hard to make a fight of it, why would they, they have nothing to fight for.

Individual

Lloris - Not loads to do.

Trippier - Outstanding game offensively. How Kane doesn't get on that cross I have no idea.

Alderwerield - Good when needed.

Vertonghen - Very good. nearly went on a Super-Jan run.

Davies - OK. Offensively pretty nul.

Dier - Struggled for 30 minutes, thereafter put his slippers on, lit his pipe and snuggled into his comfy armchair. Took his goal well, payed a couple of nice rangy balls, but was also a bit careless a couple of times, from 30 minutes onwards though was generally comfortable.

Dembele - Credit to him, he actually did that rare thing and burst forward in the build up to the first goal. Like Dier, struggled early on, and actually nearly played their guy clean through, but the rest of the game he was very comfortable.

Eriksen - Good game, fed Trippier well throughout.

Alli - Very good game, delicious goal.

Son - MOTM today, goals with both feet, both very different but technically excellent. What I love about Son is his two footedness - he can trip over it with both, and score wonderful goals with both. But he was excellent today, his movement was good, he was sure footed, had a hand in every goal I think. Great game.

Janssen - Another decent game, showed good movement, a nice spin, nearly played a couple of clever through balls (like the Swansea one) very unlucky not to score, but he's doing the right things. Really stupid of Poch to take him off.

Kane - Did well to set up Son, but should have nodded in Trippier's cross.

I think Pochettino is probably best positioned to decide whether Kane needed to start, have 30 minutes from the bench , or not come on at all. We have no knowledge of how much he needed the minutes on the pitch and to be honest I think that's more important than whether he hurt Janssen's feelings. For all we know he might have told both players of his intentions before the match , at half time or even on Friday. Once he decided Kane needed the minutes there was no point keeping Janssen on the pitch. As for Kane's diving header attempt I hardly think that was a simple nod in . In a similar situation in the first half Janssen didn't even get close to the ball . If Kane had missed the chance that Janssen missed from a yard out or even not put away the shot following a nice spin and turn I don't think you would have said he was just unlucky.

Glad to see you finally praised the contributions of Alli and Son without referring to " bumbling " !

I do agree that we could have seen someone else other than Sissoko but I would have preferred Nkoudou not Onomah after his promising cameo on Wednesday. You want more width , criticize Davies ( who clearly is no Rose ) but Nkoudou is our only real wide player and he gets virtually no minutes even though Lamela is out too. He is being treated worse than Janssen for sure, who has had way more minutes and many opportunities. It seems Nkoudou only gets chances when we are chasing the game.

Oh and 1 more point ( just added by edit ) is that it would be difficult to leave out any of Kane, Son, Dele, Eriksen on present form . I think given that, the presence of 2 from Dier, Dembele and Wanyama enables those players to do their thing in the attacking third without worrying too much about their defensive duties.

 

[dannythomas]

No idea what game you were watching mate. I thought he was absolutely brilliant. A cross between Berbs and Klinsmann at there best

Oh come on , he is nowhere near as lazy as Berbatov and he doesn't dive like Klinsmann...

 

[bat-chain]

No idea what game you were watching mate. I thought he was absolutely brilliant. A cross between Berbs and Klinsmann at there best

The fact that after a 4-0 win you are absolutely delighting in digging out one of our players is very sad.

 

[ebzrascal]

Lloris - 7 not much to do
Trippier - 9 - MOTM. Fantastic today.
Toby - 7
Vertonghen - 7
Davies - 7
Dier - 8
Dembele - 7
Son - 8
Eriksen - 7
Alli - 8
Janssen - 5 - Harsh? Eh. Looked decent in spurts but gave the ball away quite a bit too and had multiple chances on goal but fucked them up. We're all desperate for him but sadly, i just dont see it. This isnt like Bobby where he had minimal chances to actually score in his first year. Vince gets quite a bit of chances but just cannot put the ball in the net. His fitness has looked much, much better recently though.

Kane - 6
Sissoko - 3 - what is it you say you do here, Moussa?
Onomah - NET but looked alot better than he has in his prior appearances

I know it's a thing to hate on Sissoko and he has often not been good enough but in NO WAY was he a "3" today. I think we have to be fair in our opinions and he has had some good games for us this season and it should be recognised. The trouble is those good days have not been frequent enough and he has the potential to give much more.

 

[Col_M]

Singing Aye Aye Trippy Trippy Aye

 

[ebzrascal]

For the first 15 minutes this threatened to be a real contest. We started a tad sleepily, and they were causing us a few issues particularly tactically with their 3-4-3. Nothing worthy of panic stations, but a little bit to get jittery about how the match was unfolding.

However after the opening salvo, that was that. The game settled and the script went back to what we are becoming accustomed to. The game largely played in the oppositions half, us controlling the ball and the game, and ending up with yet another resounding and pretty routine victory. Were we at our rip-roaring best, particularly first half, probably not... But the job is pretty efficiently done. When those inevitable moments of time and space are presented they are ruthlessly exploited, as was the case with four very good goals today.

I said in the match thread at the end of the game that we're earning that status as a big club now. Turning up game after game and getting the job (often emphatically) done with a minimum of fuss and earning that fear/respect proving their is a gulf in class between us and the majority of teams in the league. Lets hope they keep working hard, producing, and this continues for a long time to come.

Individually I felt that virtually everyone had at least a really solid game. Trippier was very good but I thought Son was the best of the bunch. It's the collective though that counts, and we're really in the groove at the moment.

On to the next one...


Lloris - Was sharp in the few moments that he needed to be. Better distribution today.

Trippier - bit ropey defensively early doors, after that his attacking game came to the fore. Had a good involvement in the initial build up to the opening goal, had some nice passes and crosses, good runs and positioning, and this culminated in the 4th goal. Probably his best game in a Spurs shirt.

Alderweireld - Mostly untroubled.

Vertonghen - Ditto. Shame his legs went when leading that counter attack.

Davies - Solid game.

Dier - Just went mostly quietly about his work. Thunderous strike for the second goal.

Dembele - Solid and just went about his work in the centre of the park. Some good defensive play when needed.

Eriksen - Did what he does. Kept things ticking, and then the odd really classy moment.

Alli - Very involved first half and worked hard. Wonderful hit for the opening goal.

Son - Also had what was probably his best game in a Spurs shirt. Much, much less erratic today, was involved in build up play, found space, a constant threat, and worked hard. The two cracking finishes were the icing on the cake.

Janssen - Mixed bag. Hold up play was hit and miss, sometimes good but then other times slow or on his heels. As for the chances, first one, after a great turn, I think he should bury, but as I said earlier in the thread I think the second was unfortunate and typical that a player cant get a break when he desperately needs it. I think that second miss affected him though and he drifted out of the game after it.

Subs:

Kane - Good to see him back. Had a couple of chances and nice moments. Unlucky with the freekick right at the end, what a hit that was.

Sissoko - Ok.

Onomah - n/a.

A fair assessment agree with majority of what you have said...

 

[southlondonyiddo]

The fact that after a 4-0 win you are absolutely delighting in digging out one of our players is very sad.

The fact that if we had a much better back up for Kane we would be closer to Chelski in our dream of winning the prem makes me much sadder

Vinny must be the luckiest man alive to be playing in this fantastic team

 

[Shadydan]

What does a player need to do to get 10/10?

 

[RichieS]

Son gets my vote, but Trippier was absolutely brilliant as well. Better then Walker at the moment? He looks like a right little herbert as well.

Also, Dembélé and Alli are SO GOOD.

 

[southlondonyiddo]

Son gets my vote, but Trippier was absolutely brilliant as well. Better then Walker at the moment? He looks like a right little herbert as well.

Also, Dembélé and Alli are SO GOOD.

Trippier cannot lace Walkers boots

We were playing Watfords 2nd XI and for at least 30mins he was 2nd best in his personal battle

He's a tough little bugger and is decent v ordinary teams. Against good sides who have pace he is a big weakness

Has been destroyed in a few EL games

Nobody messes with Kyle Walker right up to the very best sides

Walker can mix it with the best because he has world class attributes. Unfortunately Trippier doesn't

 

[yankspurs]

I know it's a thing to hate on Sissoko and he has often not been good enough but in NO WAY was he a "3" today. I think we have to be fair in our opinions and he has had some good games for us this season and it should be recognised. The trouble is those good days have not been frequent enough and he has the potential to give much more.

We do have to recognize good games but we also have to be fair and not just say someone had a good game because they werent as complete dog shit like in their prior games. Sissoko was still wasteful, still gave the ball away and still looked like he didnt belong out there.

 

[Shea]

The fact that if we had a much better back up for Kane we would be closer to Chelski in our dream of winning the prem makes me much sadder

Vinny must be the luckiest man alive to be playing in this fantastic team

What's to say we'd be any closer to Chelsea if we had a better back up striker?

Kane has missed games against Boro and Man City which we won, and we drew three games against WBA, Bournemouth and Leicester

We have taken maximum points during Kane's second spell out and Janssen (off the bench) made a key assist for the go ahead goal

Ok you could argue we may have won those drawn games, although we drew with WBA away and lost to Leicester at home last season with Kane in the team so there is really no guarantee and I don't really recall any glaring misses from Janssen during those games, we were just playing poorly at the time as a team

It's not like we can expect ourselves never to have a bad run of form in the league

What would you want from a back up striker? I'm not disagreeing with you per say because I too feel we should upgrade on him as an option but realistically in a team that play one up top and have a star striker who is going to play week in week out unless injured what do you think we can do?

What other teams have top level back up strikers right now? How well has Batshuayi done for Chelsea this season as Costa's understudy?

How do you know that another back up striker wouldn't have sulked about his lack of opportunities and created disharmony in the squad? How can you be sure another back up could have come in here and there and made a more significant impact without any real playing time to find his feet etc? (we've seen experienced professionals like Soldado fail to adapt)

I'm agreeing with you in as far as what I have seen from him so far is not good enough but I really don't get why you're so keen to talk him down even when yesterday he actually played ok and put in a shift (certainly didn't negatively affect our game at least) or why you want to lay the blame for us not being closer to Chelsea at his feet (very harsh)

 

[Singayid]

I've not voted yet but had to go back this afternoon & rewatch as to who was motm. So here goes:
Janssen,,,,..
No Trippier......
No Son..,,......
No Ericksen......
No Dele......
No Verts.......
No Toby.......
No Davies.....
No Dier.......
No Kane......
No Sisso...bollox ain't going that far

Tripps my man closely followed by SonEricksenDeleVertsTobyDaviesDierKaneHugo

 

[ebzrascal]

We do have to recognize good games but we also have to be fair and not just say someone had a good game because they werent as complete dog shit like in their prior games. Sissoko was still wasteful, still gave the ball away and still looked like he didnt belong out there.

I watched him closely and i think he tried hard to make a contribution and used the ball well if a little safe. He used his running off the ball to make space for others and kept the shape of the team by dropping back. I would like him to press more aggressively but I would give him a solid 6.

 

[double0]

What's to say we'd be any closer to Chelsea if we had a better back up striker?

Kane has missed games against Boro and Man City which we won, and we drew three games against WBA, Bournemouth and Leicester

We have taken maximum points during Kane's second spell out and Janssen (off the bench) made a key assist for the go ahead goal

Ok you could argue we may have won those drawn games, although we drew with WBA away and lost to Leicester at home last season with Kane in the team so there is really no guarantee and I don't really recall any glaring misses from Janssen during those games, we were just playing poorly at the time as a team

It's not like we can expect ourselves never to have a bad run of form in the league

What would you want from a back up striker? I'm not disagreeing with you per say because I too feel we should upgrade on him as an option but realistically in a team that play one up top and have a star striker who is going to play week in week out unless injured what do you think we can do?

What other teams have top level back up strikers right now? How well has Batshuayi done for Chelsea this season as Costa's understudy?

How do you know that another back up striker wouldn't have sulked about his lack of opportunities and created disharmony in the squad? How can you be sure another back up could have come in here and there and made a more significant impact without any real playing time to find his feet etc? (we've seen experienced professionals like Soldado fail to adapt)

I'm agreeing with you in as far as what I have seen from him so far is not good enough but I really don't get why you're so keen to talk him down even when yesterday he actually played ok and put in a shift (certainly didn't negatively affect our game at least) or why you want to lay the blame for us not being closer to Chelsea at his feet (very harsh)

Chelsea have been very very luck with injuries, we've had to deal with key players having spells out ie Kane Vertonghen Rose Alderweireld Lamela plus the white elephant cl at Wembley ... If Chelsea lose Hazard Kante or Costa they'll crumble. They're predominantly a one man team if any one of those three are out.

I think our squad has coped well and still pushing.

 

[Shea]

Chelsea have been very very luck with injuries, we've had to deal with key players having spells out ie Kane Vertonghen Rose Alderweireld Lamela plus the white elephant cl at Wembley ... If Chelsea lose Hazard Kante or Costa they'll crumble. They're predominantly a one man team if any one of those three are out.

I think our squad has coped well and still pushing.

Hopefully your theory will be tested and one of those 3 will get injured

 

[Always Offside]

Chelsea have been very very luck with injuries, we've had to deal with key players having spells out ie Kane Vertonghen Rose Alderweireld Lamela plus the white elephant cl at Wembley ... If Chelsea lose Hazard Kante or Costa they'll crumble. They're predominantly a one man team if any one of those three are out.

I think our squad has coped well and still pushing.

Doesn't that make them a 3 man team then ?

 

[JonnySpurs]

Collective Individuality

Lets start, where we always start, with the selection and starting tactics. It won't surprise anyone to know that 4231 with Dier and Dembele in CM wouldn't have been my choice. We talked a lot in Poch's first two seasons about him needing to show some tactical diversity, and some will laud today (and Swansea's starting debacle) as Poch being "tactically diverse" in changing from the 3421 that we have used much of this season. But I think that argument would be more valid if he didn't just keep reverting to the predictable and much hackneyed fall back 4231. It would also be more valid if it could be argued that he'd tinkered to suit the opposition, but I think against a team playing 2 up front in a narrow-ish 442/433, the 3cb/wing back system is much, much better tactically. Some will point to the end result as validation, that it was all about squeezing Son and Alli (and a CF) into the same 11, but before the game started that result is irrelevant, I question the logic before the result not after.

For the first 30 minutes this game was anything but simple. Watford were tactically matching and even bettering us, their midfield was getting the better of Dier and Dembele, who were moving the ball very laboriously, and they were looking at least as likely as us to score, the massive difference though was what they had in their armoury was a couple blunderbusses, what we had in ours was AK47's, rocket launchers and surface to air missiles. And so, when we finally started to get our foot on the ball and exert some control we were able to reek merry hell on them in a 15 minute salvo that utterly destroyed their early uprising completely. The first 30 minutes possibly was narrowly theirs, the next 25 had proven to be emphatically ours. It wasn't all about our individual attacking talent, we are just not that type of team anymore, whatever we get we get because we do things pretty well collectively, and some of our defending today was very good when it had to be, but this game definitely span, if not 360, then probably 180 degrees around a couple of individual moments, the first wonderful goal by All and the third goal by Son, which effectively killed the game. As Son took possession of the ball before that third goal everyone around me was screaming for him to lay Davies in, as he was about to hit it we were all "no, no, no......yeeeeeeeees". Its one of those moments that if he doesn't score he deserves criticism, but that criticism gets quashed by another wonderful individual piece of finishing. Son then improved on that finish with the technically excellent finish from a wonderful cross by Trippier for the fourth.

Ok, so lets say, with hindsight, I can accept an argument for Poch being vindicated for shoehorning Son, All, Eriksen and a CF onto the pitch, what I found really fucking puzzling and utterly bazaar was his subs. Why the fuck is he risking Kane in a game we are winning 4-0 ? He could get another week of training into him and start him next week, and why fucking yank off Janssen, the kid desperately needs a goal, or at least to not be humiliated, he's the last player that should have come off, Alli, Son or even Eriksen could have been rested for the 35 minutes, or much better he got a free pass to give Onomah (or even Nkoudou) 35 minutes of proper football, risk free. Kane isn't the type to need 30 minutes in a game like this, he's always good to go, it's who he is. And the demoralisation of Janssen is palpable. He'd played well, and really didn't deserve the kick in the nuts. Poor psychology IMO. Then we get fucking Sissoko for Dembele, not Onomah. Just pointless, where those extra minutes could have been massive in the development of Onomah, a chance to play in his proper position, and cost Poch nothing. Instead we get Sissoko out of position. What does Ononah get, 3 fucking minutes as an Am. Pointless.

I thought Son was excellent today, not just his goals, but his all round play, he was buzzing around, drifting out and cutting in, being direct, had a hand in a couple of goals and scored the other two. I also think All had a very good game, he played a glorious pass down the right flank for Trippier, not something we've seen him do often (that long raking pass) and was far more involved than he often is in general play (42/51 passes, one of his season highs I think). Trippier of course deserves much credit, he showed once again that he's definitely better technically in the final third than Walker, he could have equalled Walker's season assists today alone. It's not just the crosses and the technically challenging ability to hit things first time (which Walker invariably doesn't have the confidence in his technique to do) it's also the little passes he plays - like the one that set Son through when he hit the bar.

As we have seen away from home this year, you can sometimes play very well and not get the breaks, today in a 15 minute phase either side of half time, everything we touched turned to gold. Even the blaster from Dier found the net, those kind of shots usually go anywhere but. And the rest of the game felt like a pre season friendly, played in balmy pre season weather. We didn't try to hard too embarrass them and they didn't try too hard to make a fight of it, why would they, they have nothing to fight for.

Individual

Lloris - Not loads to do.

Trippier - Outstanding game offensively. How Kane doesn't get on that cross I have no idea.

Alderwerield - Good when needed.

Vertonghen - Very good. nearly went on a Super-Jan run.

Davies - OK. Offensively pretty nul.

Dier - Struggled for 30 minutes, thereafter put his slippers on, lit his pipe and snuggled into his comfy armchair. Took his goal well, payed a couple of nice rangy balls, but was also a bit careless a couple of times, from 30 minutes onwards though was generally comfortable.

Dembele - Credit to him, he actually did that rare thing and burst forward in the build up to the first goal. Like Dier, struggled early on, and actually nearly played their guy clean through, but the rest of the game he was very comfortable.

Eriksen - Good game, fed Trippier well throughout.

Alli - Very good game, delicious goal.

Son - MOTM today, goals with both feet, both very different but technically excellent. What I love about Son is his two footedness - he can trip over it with both, and score wonderful goals with both. But he was excellent today, his movement was good, he was sure footed, had a hand in every goal I think. Great game.

Janssen - Another decent game, showed good movement, a nice spin, nearly played a couple of clever through balls (like the Swansea one) very unlucky not to score, but he's doing the right things. Really stupid of Poch to take him off.

Kane - Did well to set up Son, but should have nodded in Trippier's cross.

Do you not think that it's more likely that Poch went with 4231 against Swansea and Watford due to the lack of Wanyama in the team? An argument could be made that he doesn't trust anyone else besides Dier to play in a back 3 along with Toby and Jan and equally, doesn't trust anyone else besides Dier to partner Dembele in CDM role when Wanyama isn't fit. Just a thought.

I do agree with your comments about the subs Poch made, never is a time more appropriate to give the likes of GKN and Onomah game time than when you're 4-0 up at home and Janssen not getting a full game yesterday really bummed me out. That said, your man-crush on Onomah is really gathering pace

Janssen played great IMO and was SO unlucky not to score with his first effort of the game.

I also have to agree that whilst Trippier was magnificent, Son would be MOTM for me. He could/should have had 4 goals on Saturday and was everywhere. Showing the kind of form now that I hoped we'd see when we signed him from Leverkusen where I'd often watched him and been a big fan.

Great result and with all this chasing of Chelsea we're again quietly guaranteeing another top 4 finish and hopefully, at the very least, 2nd place in the league. If we can add the FA cup and finish 2nd it will have been our best season that I've ever known as a Spurs fan.

 

[double0]

Doesn't that make them a 3 man team then ?

I know exactly what you mean but thought it sounds better the way I tried to spin it.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

I think Pochettino is probably best positioned to decide whether Kane needed to start, have 30 minutes from the bench , or not come on at all. We have no knowledge of how much he needed the minutes on the pitch and to be honest I think that's more important than whether he hurt Janssen's feelings. For all we know he might have told both players of his intentions before the match , at half time or even on Friday. Once he decided Kane needed the minutes there was no point keeping Janssen on the pitch. As for Kane's diving header attempt I hardly think that was a simple nod in . In a similar situation in the first half Janssen didn't even get close to the ball . If Kane had missed the chance that Janssen missed from a yard out or even not put away the shot following a nice spin and turn I don't think you would have said he was just unlucky.

This whole Pochettino (or any manager) is always right - which is what you are inferring by suggesting they always know best - is a misnomer of the highest order. If managers always knew best they'd never make mistakes and they's all be in jobs longer then 14 months. It implies that anyone employed to do a job where multi-faceted decisions have to made will always make the right decisions. Which as we've seen every day in football, from politicians and even presidents isn't the case.

Your first point might be true, like all things, but anecdotal evidence suggests not, in fact there is a fucking great big body of anecdotal evidence of Pochettino making poor choices with regards to tactical subs, resting players and rotation, and it biting us on the arse, and you could argue maybe last last season's end of season collapse was possibly a symptom of that and we now find ourselves in an identical situation, and here is Pochettino again, passing up the chance to get some rest and rotation into the legs of some key players. It wasn't just the Kane scenario, he could (and should) have maybe got some rest and reduced risk of fatigue/injury into All & Eriksen - absolutely key players facing a mentally and physically challenging 3 weeks.

And the point about Janssen is, we have twice now this season lost Kane, Janssen has played really well this week in three game, helped us win one with a crucial piece of skill, done all the things we need in this system, if Kane's injury (and it's the same ankle twice now) doesn't hold up, surely there is common sense in having a back up striker with a bit of confidence and feeling he's valued than one totally demoralised. And the point is he didn't have to sacrifice anything to achieve that, the team didn't need Kane - it was 4-0 up at home - Kane could have got another week of training and conditioning in and then started Bournemouth if necessary.

And making the Kane sub just completely wasted a tactical substitution that could have been used to give both/either of Onomah and/or Nkoudou 35 minutes of first team football.

Glad to see you finally praised the contributions of Alli and Son without referring to " bumbling " !

They stop doing it, I'll stop mentioning it.

I do agree that we could have seen someone else other than Sissoko but I would have preferred Nkoudou not Onomah after his promising cameo on Wednesday.

This substitution just disproves your point about "Poch being better placed". It was utterly banal. Sissoko isn't a CM. He's shit there, he control's the ball further than some players can kick it, we have a player with enormous potential who is a CM, who giving that 35 minutes to would have been enormous, and benefitted not just him but us as a squad, we might have found out we actually have a viable alternative going forward, or at least seen the seed of that.

Again, the Kane sub just wasted a tactical sub. We could have both Nkoudou and Onomah on, rested Dembele and one of All or Eriksen and got 35 minutes of meaningful football into two squad players, who we just might need to call on in the run up if we get a glut of injuries or suspensions like we did last year. But no. We get Kane, Sissoko and then Omomah for 3 minutes for Son ? Even that decision was odd. Why take off the player with least miles on the clock this season who is on a hatrick and leave on Alli and Eriksen (not a big deal just another slightly odd decision).

As for Kane's diving header attempt I hardly think that was a simple nod in . In a similar situation in the first half Janssen didn't even get close to the ball . If Kane had missed the chance that Janssen missed from a yard out or even not put away the shot following a nice spin and turn I don't think you would have said he was just unlucky.

I don't know what the idiot media were on about regarding Janssen's misses. The first one was a lovely spin and shot that was excellently saved, the second one I was right above and at the time I thought "how did he miss that" but when you see it on TV you realise what happened, the ball takes about three ricochets and slices through three people and bounces up at him. And he couldn't reach the next cross from Trippier it was too fast and ahead of him.

Kane's not getting on Trippier's cross was the other way round, at first it looked like he couldn't get there, but when you actually watched it on telly later you can't understand why he didn't get to it, it was gettable and all he had to do was put his head on it and it was a certain goal, it looks like he just doesn't fancy getting clattered by Gomes maybe. That's fine, we all know Kane will score goals, I'm not questioning his ability or commitment most weeks, just there's a kind of distorted reality thing going on where Janssen and Kane are concerned, Kane can be clumsy (and was a couple of times Saturday) and can miss sitters, and make poor choices and his performances back end and early this season weren't up to scratch always. But Janssen has played well at times, performed a very similar team function to Kane and done it very comparably and competently, but just because he hasn't had much luck in front of goal - and for the most part that's what it is, either he's played early in the season when we haven't created chances for him, or things like Saturday where the keeper makes good saves or it just won't roll - people are calling him shit and saying we need a better back up.