With a comfortable and professional Tottenham Hotspur showing dispatching Marine in our FA Cup tie at the weekend, our Premier League match with Aston Villa has been officially postponed following their Covid outbreak, so on Wednesday evening, we will now welcome Fulham To White Hart Lane.
As fans will know, the Fulham clash (originally scheduled for December 30) had itself been postponed following their own outbreak of Covid, but I think most would accept this is a sensible reshuffle at this stage as I don’t believe Villa are even back in training yet as their positive players continue to self isolate.
Fulham should be reasonably well rested after their own break but they will have sharpness issues and some players may well be leggy after their Cup clash with QPR required Extra Time, so what we can expect from them in what will only be their second game of 2021 is anyone’s guess.
As for us, Gareth Bale has minutes under his belt once again after Marine but I wouldn’t expect to see Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg back just yet after his nasty shin collision. Giovani Lo Celso remains out.
We should be confident of all three points here as we look to keep the pressure on at the top of the table.
Fulham
Win
Draw
Lose
Previous Article:
Professional Spurs Swim To Victory Over Marine – Match Stats
I am as usual amazed at Mourinho’s team selection and hey ho what did we get the same old as we have seen for the past few games . Dreadful .
However if we look at the creative players we have ….
Le Celso / Lamela injury prone .
Dele who does not appear to cut it and has been like it for some time .
Bale , well who knows ? Have I missed anyone ?
Only leaves the players he played last night ?
I dislike the bloke and am not defending him but he inherited almost all of these players and have to partly agree that perhaps some of them aren’t up to the job or not playing for him but who would you have played last night ?
Bergwijn instead of Sissoko or Winks ?
Apparently the RSPCA is banning our players from owning dogs as they can’t hold on to leads.
of course they cannot hold onto leads. José tied their hands.
For me, there were several mistakes in team selection last night.
Winks, Siss, and Hoj is a much too defensive line up especially at home against a lower place side.
This leads to the sidey – sidey backwards passing that WW alluded to, partly because there ain’t any one really in front of you unmarked.
The other and bigger mistake in team selection was not selecting Tobs in defence, Spurs are a much better team with him in the side, I also think he covers a bit better for our RB weakness in both Aurier and Doh.
However as BS says, what injuries and fitness worries do we have.
But we are falling into a pattern of winning the 1st half surviving 20 mins of the 2nd conceding a goal then wakening up again and going hell for leather.
I think Stans post just about nailed it.
PY also made many points that a lot of us would like answers.
DH had a decent call about JM’s cowardly tactics and team selection, though I would say N’Dombers is fit for a good hour(lol), but he desperately needs that other creative player rather than Winks or Sissoko.
It still needs to be remembered that these guys weren’t great at the tail end of Poch’s reign.
It isn’t all JM, but he’s not exactly arousing my confidence that he is the guy to take us forward.
I think a clear out in our “creative midfield” is sorely needed.
For me.
Winks, Lamella, Gedson, send Bale back.
Get a couple of younger Fitter creative players in.
Plus a decent RB.
Mistake have been made, 5th time this has happened and none of the players or the manager has made any sign to sort this issue out. Jose is not them man he once was.
Get rid of lucas and stevie B and lamely and bring back Eriksen.
Lamela is lamely? Why not? he gets leg injuries often enough.
123 …. Don’t you think we have enough problems without adding to them.
Sorry 123
Ericson is not the answer, I’m afraid it looks like his candle has gone out.
He was part of the problem, if you remember, at the end he couldn’t get a free kick over the wall or a corner past the front post.
We need some one like who he used to be when he first came to Spurs or a younger Modric type could be the answer.
Looks like we all have our wants m8..
Sabitzer for me athletic, skillful, scores an odd goal and can defend.
how long will the misery of 1 x 1 draws after giving up a goal in closing moments last? go away JM. it’s bad enough not to lose, but to do so is such a miserably predictable manner? match after match this miserable way of giving up a late goal after playing like we’ve closed the pub for the night after the first half. enough!
I know it’s a swear word to some of you but whether it’s Mourinho’s fault or not we’ve been very “sp+rsy lately and this was a word long before Mourinho came to us.
We need NEED to get rid of this moniker.
Eriksen has been linked to Arsenal. Hope that happens. Sorry, lads!
Geof – Being on the bench means you’re normally at least fit enough to play some part in the game. It doesn’t mean you’re fit enough to start.
Could those players have come on? Possibly/probably. I am not saying Jose got everything right here, I am saying that there must have been a reason behind the madness.
HT – the questions I am asking are about team selection, and are/would have been valid even before a ball had been kicked. Besides, having now watched the extended highlights of the game, I would argue that this game is no different to the Wolves game or several others before it.
In any case, the issues I was alluding to are bigger than just one game and are a recurring theme.
After the Wolves game, Jose commented that he had not given any specific instructions to sit back and defend a one goal lead. In fact he rued our inability to score a second for 89 minutes. He said that the players had taken that initiative themselves.
After this game, he said that the players “could not kill the game”. That is at least implying that he asked his players to kill the game by scoring a second.
It’s hard to know what to think. As much as I can see how Jose would try to protect his job and lay the blame with the players, the truth is that even going back to the MP days, I don’t fully trust this group of players. It’s like there is a mental frailty and/or a propensity to cave under pressure. Which is why I am reluctant to blame Jose solely, and I think that sacking him would not fix the core problem. Jose at the very least (I hope, anyways) is trying to teach these players to become more ruthless, and it’s obviously a work in progress which will take time.
Fianlly, I am all for using the same evaluation criteria for managers, but one thing seems obvious to me: MP was not fired because of poor team play, MP was fired because we were hovering above the relegation zone in his last weeks in charge. Even with this bad result, we’re 6 points away from the top of the table.
Comparing both situations is not only hugely premature, it’s almost dishonest.
BS …. Did I say they should start?
Well, we were discussing the relevance of starting Sissoko as an attacking midfielder. I am all for knocking the decision if there is a good alternative. There may not have been.
Niall……what is your view on todays revelation that it was Jose who taught Manu players how to win penalties? lol
For the record, I haven’t asked for Jose to be fired. Others may have, but I haven’t.
And when I say MP was fired for his poor football, he was. It was poor football that saw us dropping far too many points… Good football (better football) will tend to win a team more points, if that team is a team such as Spurs.
People don’t like the football we are seeing at the moment. And the football we are seeing is mostly poor. If poor football means dropping as many points against lesser teams as Spurs have been doing, time and again this season., then that ‘poor’ football ain’t working. We can see it plain and simple. There is nothing complex about it. It’s down to the gaffers tactics…
Without a win, what is left? I’d be happier to draw playing much better football, than to draw because we stopped playing football and invited the opposition to play what looks like a practise game against us….
I don’t think it will be helpful to sack JM halfway through the season. But if he doesn’t get top 4 and win a trophy, I want him gone asap. Gone before the likes of Harry, Son, Dele, Ndombele and others have gone elsewhere, looking to play some proper open and expressive football. It’s what their talents deserve… (if Dele doesn’t see sense and leaves us sometime this month). Poor lad!
Sissoko on the right wing with Dele, Moura, Lamela, Vinicius and Bale on the bench?! It’s a joke… But it ain’t funny…. And then to suggest that maybe not one of these 5 subs were probably fit enough to come on apart from the lame duck Lamela (just back from injury- Surprise!) and then Vinicius for just 10 minutes, and yet still leave Sissoko on? This is bloody hilarious! Oh and Dele looked okay to me when he was subbed with about 25 mins to go vs Marine. A match in which he shined!
So Jose didn’t play them but he picked them. He also didn’t happen to mention that any of these guys were unfit… And I will presume they were okay to play for more than 10-15 minutes which is all we saw of Vinicius and Lamela. And I’m pretty sure that Ndombele could have lasted just 10 minutes more…
if anyone were to ask me who would I rather see leave tomorrow (if it were a choice), Dele or Jose?
I’d keep the 24 year old footballer.
As for Jose’s post match comments after the carbon copy draws we’ve seen or when we lose? It’s mostly bull!
He is lucky the Spurs stadium is still empty right now. The supporters really wouldn’t be happy and many would be sure to express this in no uncertain terms.
I agree. 🙁
So do I…
HT… good post there.
Good Post HT
TQ, pity he didn’t teach us to get the odd pen then we might win a game or two. 🙂
Just to add, for fairness and good measure. I enjoyed the 1st half v Fulham. And not just because of the 1 goal we scored. Both teams had contributed to a pretty good and open game for the first 45 mins.
Unfortunately Spurs played worse in the 2nd 45 and Fulham improved.
And I got to the point whereby I was praising the likes of Harry and Tanguy for their defending… And that ain’t a joke!
And guess what. The first half saw us take and keep the lead, when playing a more positive brand of football. Not amazing football but good enough football. The second half speaks for itself, if one was watching it live and direct!
Excellent post HT. Agree with all the comments especially Jose or Dele. Harry Kane is not only our great goalscorer, but also our best midfielder ( great passer, dribbler, can shoot from distance with both feet and tackle back. He is often our best defender of free kicks and corners. Without him, we would be half the team. However, it is a shame that he has to play so many parts and almost run himself into the ground. Fortunately, he has been injury free for a while.
Jose blames the players for not going for goals and securing the game. But I never see him willing the players forward or giving instructions to attack unlike some coaches who are very animated and supportive. He looks grumpy yes and fed up mostly….that is just how I feel watching some of the defensive,sideways passing that we produce allowing opposition to regroup.
Having watched Spurs since the 1950’s, our present performances have equalled some of the most dismal I can remember. In the past,we have had far poorer teams/squads but players who wanted to win with style; not defend in a boring, defensive fashion.
The coach trains the players. The coach selects the teams. The coach sets up the style of play. The coach can stifle creativity. The coach will tell the players to defend and play safe. The coach can motivate, change tactics, substitute to try to win games rather than trying to protect a lead. Yes,Jose you can blame the players. I do not. I blame the coach.
I thought jose would have more tactical awareness in trying to defend a 1 goal lead.
HT
Have to agree, over a couple of games, we looked pretty decent in the first half.
As you said the first half of the Fulham was fairly enjoyable with us the better of the two sides.
But 2nd half we couldn’t get back into it and just dropped further and further back.
I think as DH said in an earlier post “inviting” the chances for Fulham to come on to us and eventually score.
I would love to have seen our first/second half possession and shot ratio in our last 4 premiership games..
I know these mean little, but for me it may show what we all think that we sort of lose it in the 2nd half.