Match Threads Spurs Vs Leeds

[Spurslove]

Especially as it was his first home game. Got to give him time to turn this shit around.

..although he did say after the game he understood why the fans booed them off, which is cool.

 

[spids]

I agree , it’s a crazy stat that means nothing. A team can put 10 lame shots through that the goalie picks up , and the other team can hit the post 3 times and it doesn’t count.
I would rather see a stat of shots that make the goalie make a save, either a block or a hand or foot to actually save a goal rather than just catch a ball.

It is why a lot of people like the xG stat. It measures the quality of chances created. Someone hitting a weak effort from 35 yards straight down the keepers throat will not register as much of a chance, but Kane's chance that the keeper saved would register as a very decent chance.

Yesterday Leeds had a lot more shots than us but we had much better chances:

Shots on Target - Spurs (4) Leeds (7)
xG - Spurs (2.16) Leeds (1.41)

 

[davidmatzdorf]

I went to the kitchen for a drink at that point in the match, so in my life it did happen. Don't worry though, you didn't miss much. Emerson mis-controlled it, Lucas mopped it up and Hojbjerg played it back to Dier on the half-way line, just to be safe.

I think the reference is to the moment when Emerson was clean through on Meslier, but Reguilon didn't see his run and didn't pass to him.

 

[PCozzie]

I think the reference is to the moment when Emerson was clean through on Meslier, but Reguilon didn't see his run and didn't pass to him.

It's ok, I understood what was being talked about. That was just my take on a Schrodinger joke.

 

[slartibartfast]

I just watched Contes post match interview on YouTube and I'm a bit baffled by the comment about his tactics and half time team talk.
He said he changed it and told them to press. Well were they not told that before ko then? Surely putting the opposition on the back foot from the first whistle, especially when at home and against inferior opposition, is a given isn't it? We clearly didn't do that first half.
I suspect he's just being diplomatic about it. I hope so anyway.

 

[popstar7]

I just watched Contes post match interview on YouTube and I'm a bit baffled by the comment about his tactics and half time team talk.
He said he changed it and told them to press. Well were they not told that before ko then? Surely putting the opposition on the back foot from the first whistle, especially when at home and against inferior opposition, is a given isn't it? We clearly didn't do that first half.
I suspect he's just being diplomatic about it. I hope so anyway.

Not the game I thought I was watching yesterday but this guy makes decent case for the first/second half performances -

 

[djhotspur]

He is the only player we have that is getting us breaking lines and getting forward.

Yes because in that team who could pass really? Everyone was looking to beat men constantly rather than pass through them because it is a team full of none ball players. Moura looks ok in that system because he can beat a player or 2 but still numerous times he picks the wrong decision, dribbles too far or loses the ball. Also the front 3 all operate in the same position with zero movement.

 

[CoopsieDeadpool]

I just watched Contes post match interview on YouTube and I'm a bit baffled by the comment about his tactics and half time team talk.
He said he changed it and told them to press. Well were they not told that before ko then? Surely putting the opposition on the back foot from the first whistle, especially when at home and against inferior opposition, is a given isn't it? We clearly didn't do that first half.
I suspect he's just being diplomatic about it. I hope so anyway.

I honestly think it's as simple as Conte being aware that, at current fitness levels, our players simply weren't/aren't able to go toe to toe with a super fit Leeds team for 90 minutes.

He then got to half time & simply told the boys that now is the time to go man to man & match them for effort. Fully knowing that he's worked a good amount of the players reasonably hard during the international break, so their endurance levels are up from when he came in. And Leeds would eventually run out of steam.

If that theory is correct. His idea worked.

 

[easley91]

Think people aren't giving Leeds enough credit for the first half. They were man to man and caused us a lot of issues. They didn't allow Lucas to turn into space, same with Son and Phillips was on Kane.

I know we weren't great with the ball ourselves, but Leeds deserve credit for their game plan which worked until the second half.

 

[spids]

Think people aren't giving Leeds enough credit for the first half. They were man to man and caused us a lot of issues. They didn't allow Lucas to turn into space, same with Son and Phillips was on Kane.

I know we weren't great with the ball ourselves, but Leeds deserve credit for their game plan which worked until the second half.

I think fitness played a bit part of how the first half played out. We clearly sat back conserving energy. Whenever Leeds got the ball, anywhere on the pitch, our CBs headed for the edge of our own area and we dropped into a low block. They had acres of space to play in. By contrast , whenever we got the ball they were all over us like a rash. This was a reason for the booing as it appeared to be a continuation of what we'd seen for the last 18 months - very negative, low block football, with the opposition out working us and out playing us.

Second half we took the game to them, and out of possession were less passive and worked hard to get it back. Our defence squeezed up the pitch and all of a sudden the Højbjerg and Winks were not stranded in a massive area 2 vs 3. Second half we collectively out ran Leeds by 3.75km, and by 80 mins the likes of Kane and Moura had empty tanks. Conte will want us to be fit enough to play like that fo 95 mins and not 35 minutes, so a lot of work to be done before we see massive improvements.

 

[Gb160]

I just watched Contes post match interview on YouTube and I'm a bit baffled by the comment about his tactics and half time team talk.
He said he changed it and told them to press. Well were they not told that before ko then? Surely putting the opposition on the back foot from the first whistle, especially when at home and against inferior opposition, is a given isn't it? We clearly didn't do that first half.
I suspect he's just being diplomatic about it. I hope so anyway.

The idea has been floated that Conte knows full well our players couldn't do that for 90 minutes, so the idea was to keep things tight for the first 45, then finish strongly in the second half...which is pretty much how the game played out.

Otherwise we'd have punched ourselves out by the hour mark, Leeds are overall the much fitter side.

 

[Spurslove]

The idea has been floated that Conte knows full well our players couldn't do that for 90 minutes, so the idea was to keep things tight for the first 45, then finish strongly in the second half...which is pretty much how the game played out.

Otherwise we'd have punched ourselves out by the hour mark, Leeds are overall the much fitter side.

I think Leeds are in a false position and if they continue to play with that level of intensity, they're going to cause quite a few teams some serious problems for the rest of the season, but they do need their key players back from injury ASAP.

 

[dude573]

I think Leeds are in a false position and if they continue to play with that level of intensity, they're going to cause quite a few teams some serious problems for the rest of the season, but they do need their key players back from injury ASAP.

I think Leeds have been a bit found out to be honest. Agreed they have key injuries, but a lot of teams seem to surrender possession and wait for them to tire out. They've dropped 10 points from winning positions and it is not even December yet.

 

[spids]

I just watched Contes post match interview on YouTube and I'm a bit baffled by the comment about his tactics and half time team talk.
He said he changed it and told them to press. Well were they not told that before ko then? Surely putting the opposition on the back foot from the first whistle, especially when at home and against inferior opposition, is a given isn't it? We clearly didn't do that first half.
I suspect he's just being diplomatic about it. I hope so anyway.

Quite simply we are the unfittest team in the league. Our fitness levels dropped off massively under Mourinho (who left fitness up to the players). The same thing happened at United and other posters have cut and pasted the excellent The Athletic's article on this subject with a lot of evidence from his Man U days. Nuno was unable to improve things for the main first team players, partly hampered by the majority of the players not having a full pre-season after the summer international tournaments. Leeds on the other hand are super fit, having been properly beasted by Biesla for three years and largely having a squad who do not disappear off for international tournaments in the summer and at every international break, or participate in mid-week European games.

 

[Nick-TopSpursMan]

I just watched Contes post match interview on YouTube and I'm a bit baffled by the comment about his tactics and half time team talk.
He said he changed it and told them to press. Well were they not told that before ko then? Surely putting the opposition on the back foot from the first whistle, especially when at home and against inferior opposition, is a given isn't it? We clearly didn't do that first half.
I suspect he's just being diplomatic about it. I hope so anyway.

He elaborated on this and kept mentioning being worried about us not being able to play with intensity for 90 mins.

He clearly tried to play the first half sitting off, conserving energy and then wanted us to explode more second half when Leeds would tire a bit. Obviously the first half was a shocker but I think he realises he has to carefully juggle our approach as our fitness isn't currently good enough to play high intensity for 90 mins.

 

[DogsOfWar]

I think fitness played a bit part of how the first half played out. We clearly sat back conserving energy. Whenever Leeds got the ball, anywhere on the pitch, our CBs headed for the edge of our own area and we dropped into a low block. They had acres of space to play in. By contrast , whenever we got the ball they were all over us like a rash. This was a reason for the booing as it appeared to be a continuation of what we'd seen for the last 18 months - very negative, low block football, with the opposition out working us and out playing us.

Second half we took the game to them, and out of possession were less passive and worked hard to get it back. Our defence squeezed up the pitch and all of a sudden the Højbjerg and Winks were not stranded in a massive area 2 vs 3. Second half we collectively out ran Leeds by 3.75km, and by 80 mins the likes of Kane and Moura had empty tanks. Conte will want us to be fit enough to play like that fo 95 mins and not 35 minutes, so a lot of work to be done before we see massive improvements.

The other issue is the lack of depth to bring on.
If we had players of the required quality on the bench Conte could encourage the press knowing he could bring on fresh legs to turn the screw later on against an already tired opponent.
But the drop off in quality from our starting eleven makes this difficult so I suspect he's getting his first eleven to conserve energy.

 

[mattdefoe]

Is it me or was Ben Davies very attacking for someone in a centre back position ? Was he making forward runs and getting in attacking areas a fair bit ?