For me, last night brought clarity to our situation. It showed that the players are capable of playing good football, with one-twos and incisive passing which then created lots of chances for us.
It also showed that our defence is very poor and will always let us down, without the protection of two holding midfielders in front of it.
I must admit that I was astonished that the commentator said that we currently have the second best defensive record in the PL. It certainly doesn’t feel like that….but there it is in a nutshell….Jose has adopted “negative" tactics because he does not trust our defenders and quite frankly he’s right not to trust them.
Whether we get rid of Jose or not, we are going to have to revert to shielding the defence if we are to achieve anything this season and that will in turn take away some of our attacking impetus.
The reason we’re in this situation is because we have Dier, Sanchez, Davies and Aurier who are all not good enough. Then we have an ageing Toby and the rookie Rodon.
Last Night Provided Clarity
posted on 11/2/21
comment by Tottenham Chronic (U3423)
posted 1 minute ago
he just needs to find the balance.
--------------------Lloris-----------
Aurier------CB----------CB-----------Reguilon
--------------PEH--------Ndombele---------------
---Lamela---------Kane------------Moura/Bergwijn/Alli--
-----------------------Son---------------------
(or a variation of that front 4)
PEH permanently shields back 4.. doesn't stray. only one fullback at a time goes.
Ndombele to link it with one wide outlet and the front 4 crisp pass and move...
just find that balance and in the summer upgrade the defence massively, and maybe even get another quality ball playing DM to play alongside PEH / give him a rest
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I agree. I would also add Aurier down for being replaced. Maybe Doherty will come good, but if he doesn't then we'll need to upgrade our right back position too.
posted on 11/2/21
To a degree you're right but the best defences throughout football history have been built on relationships and consistency. Liverpool, before current form and injuries, had a settled defence. City have a settled CB pairing. The best teams don't rotate their CBs much. Last night we had Doherty, Sanchez, Toby and Davies. They've not played together enough recently to form an understanding. Jose keeps chopping and changing all the time which isn't helping. Sure, an unhappy manager will always rotate if he doesn't trust his players but at some point he has to pick a four and keep a little faith in them and give them time to flourish. He's as much to blame for last night in terms of putting out a an unfamiliar back four. That said, the goals themselves were individual mistakes - two from midfielders, one from the goalkeeper and maybe, if you were being ultra-critical, Doherty for not tracking Bernard's run. They were defensive errors but not really the fault of the defence directly.
posted on 11/2/21
Lets not exonerate Hugo from this.
Although I think he's been less error prone in the last year or so I thought he should of saved 3 of Evertons 5 goals last night.
Of course many will blame the defence for not giving him adequate protection but I don't think its too much to ask a World Cup winning keeper to make a few saves.
posted on 11/2/21
lloris had a good season but was poor yesterday, although he did make one very good save, when he tipped one onto the post
posted on 11/2/21
comment by Tottenham Chronic (U3423)
posted 59 seconds ago
lloris had a good season but was poor yesterday, although he did make one very good save, when he tipped one onto the post
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Yes he did make 1 very good save but thats his job, letting in shots from acute angles isn't.
posted on 11/2/21
I believe we can't defend when we attack because we no longer use to playing attacking football. Its simply the way we set up and train. Yes we do need better defenders but surely they should look better then League 2 defenders.
posted on 11/2/21
comment by PawlBawron (U1055)
posted 16 minutes ago
comment by Tottenham Chronic (U3423)
posted 59 seconds ago
lloris had a good season but was poor yesterday, although he did make one very good save, when he tipped one onto the post
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Yes he did make 1 very good save but thats his job, letting in shots from acute angles isn't.
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Lloris lets us down time and again. He should not be captain. As u say, well done he made one good save but let 3 through him
posted on 11/2/21
comment by Anne is ruled out on medical grounds (U8366)
posted 2 minutes ago
comment by PawlBawron (U1055)
posted 16 minutes ago
comment by Tottenham Chronic (U3423)
posted 59 seconds ago
lloris had a good season but was poor yesterday, although he did make one very good save, when he tipped one onto the post
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes he did make 1 very good save but thats his job, letting in shots from acute angles isn't.
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Lloris lets us down time and again. He should not be captain. As u say, well done he made one good save but let 3 through him
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Time and time again? Not this season. He was poor yesterday but has been one of our more consistent players. You can count his poor games this season on one hand.
posted on 11/2/21
Hopefully Lloris will get Jose fired like he did Poch.
That Brighton game was the final nail in Pochs coffin.
posted on 11/2/21
Did I hear the commentator right when he said it was only Lloris's third game in the FA cup for us in 8 1/2 years? That's bonkers if true.