Tottenham Hotspur’s start to the 2021/22 campaign has hardly been blistering, but you can certainly describe it as steady with two Premier League wins from two against Manchester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Nuno Espirito Santo appears to be settling in well at White Hart Lane and we are undoubtedly more defensive in approach, but whether or not that changes when Harry Kane is back up to speed, is open for a bit of debate.
There’s still plenty to sort out off the pitch though and that’s not just limited to the ongoing Kane saga as few would think we are finished in the transfer market, particularly if we look at squad depth with an expectation that Nuno will continue to rotate wildly, ala the almost embarrassing no show against Pacos de Ferreira in the Europa Conference League.
And that is a pressing concern as we welcome them to home soil this Thursday and we already have a 1-0 deficit to overturn. Play as we did in the first leg, well, let’s just hope we don’t.
Easy game with Spurs well on top throughout. Kane provided a master-class performance in the first half. Lo Celso really needs to play for some other club. Lucas takes on one man too many, too often. I really do like him but Nuno needs to whisper in his ear, loudly! Could well have been 6-0.
Geof….it shows how games are seen differently by everyone. I couldn’t find a working stream so had to content myself with radio commentary which suggested Lo Celso had a decent game.
TQ …. We do often see different things in games. I think that we all have our own views on certain players and therefore focus on them during games. I thought Lo Celso spent too much time on the ground (although not as much as usual) …. but it was his inability to clear the first man when taking corners that really frustrated me.
On the radio an attack might sound good but, when watching the game you can see the alternative pass that should have been made. But it was an impressive performance.
I thought Lo Celso had a very good game. Both he and Winks ruled the midfield. With Winks being particularly strong.
Bryan was exciting and refreshing. Romero looked pretty classy. Dier had another good game. And Kane is back!
Overall, I thought it was a very good team performance. Positive and energetic…
Not bad at all, given last weeks poor showing. And yet only 3 changes to the starting 11…
Maybe the key here was we gave some players who haven’t been playing game time. Reading reports (I didn’t see the game) it sounds as if most players performed pretty well. If Gil turns out to be a good signing we will have a ridiculous amount of strength in depth in the wide attacking positions. If Nuno can get Winks playing to his ability then that will be a real bonus. As for Kane I don’t expect him to play many of these games, he is needed for the premier league and we don’t want to invite injuries. What Nuno may end up doing is playing slightly stronger teams for the home games in Europe. There’s less disruption if you don’t have to travel and a better chance of recovery before the next match.
I watched spurs new players getting up to speed in an exciting manner… Gill looks like a young Ginola, and will soon be a fans favourite. Romero a class act… Gollina a nervous nellie and settled down. HK10 back in the goals scoring, so overall a good performance and squad players like winks improving slowly. No need for another winger we have 4 ! On to Watford game on sunday, COYS
Watching the game last last night, had me thinking, we are slowly but surely getting there, Nuno’s training/coaching is getting into the squad, and I believe they are all enjoying their football, all of them across the board are taking to Nuno’s teaching, giving everything whether playing poorly or good.
I really did enjoy the game, the description by block of Gil looking like a young Ginola, spot on there, Romero looks up for a forward pass every time, his defending is getting better n better as he settles in, Gollina distributes the ball quicker than most, excellent decision making and handling when he was required, very good.
Thought LoCelso had a good game, like young Gil drew fouls galore, still a bit rusty but yes he is getting there, mind his partnership with a well played Winks, running the midfield was also very good.
Generally, well played everyone, remember you can only play the team that is in front of you, and Spurs did exactly that and put them to the sword, the score basically flattered Paco, it should have been at least 5, but there you go we won.
Watford at home on Sunday, carry on with the good start, another 3pts and clean sheet. COYS
Great result,it shows the squad as a whole look fitter and have more fight and bite than the Mourinho squad last season, it seems, so far, that everyone is invested in the team, with the exceptions of those who haven’t played.
Indeed Gil and Romero looked very good and fitted into the team well, Sess was very workman like and unlucky with a couple of chances.
Re Dier and Winks, if they played like that every week, there would be no complaints, and whilst Paco were indeed in the higher reaches of the Portuguese league, they are not of Premier league standard.
Can this be a springboard for Winks and Dier to get back to the promise they showed under Poch..
But good result, roll on Sunday, against a strong “Bullish” team we should out class them.
A few takes on our performance against Paco.
Great to see our best midfielder, attacker and striker make a real difference. Hary Kane is back
Gollini a bit shaky but distributes better than Lloris.
Doherty not very good. Looks a lost cause.
Romero looks real class. Comfortable on the ball, good going forward and excellent passer.
Dier and Winks seem to have improved but Winks still too tippy tappy sideways.
Sessignon was a top prospect before he joined us. Long way to go to live up to the hype.
Lo Celso would be a reasonable player if he stayed on his feet and rode tackles. Falls over far too easily which breaks down promising moves.
Gil looks a great prospect. Unlucky to not score last night. Nowhere near a Ginola yet. But hey watch this space.
Lucas has one good game in three.
We still need that creative, attacking, goalscoring midfielder. Very little time left.
Maybe Dele will grow into that role. He has the talent and has scored some cracking goals in the past.
So much more optimism now Kane seems to have settled.
Did lucas really have a good game, any goals, any assists, a couple of amazing runs but no end product against a weak team.j
Reading some of the comments here you wouldn’t think the object was to win the game, which we did comfortably. At this stage of the season while the new manager is trying to get his players up to speed and playing the way he wants them to do all you want is to win. But still people use every game as an excuse to play favourites, either explaining why a particular player is brilliant or so bad he shouldn’t be in the squad. It gets very boring very quickly.
I always smile when I read jod complaining that the comments of other regular commenters on VS getting very boring very quickly.
I only know of one regular commenter here about whom i think this comment is merited: That would be the commenter known as TK.
But TK in incorrigible and unlikely to learn from his mistakes, so let’s be tolerant of him. He’s not such a bad git if you get to know him.
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Re Lucas as Geoff said in this post and I said on a previous thread, he (Lucas) needs to look up more and not try to beat that one extra man every time.
If he did this he would be a very good player with a lot more assists and (maybe) goals to his credit.
We discussed being able to coach it out of him, but at his age now…. Perhaps a lost cause.
But does put a shift in.
Probably somewhere between PY and WW’s post lies our real performance.
Exactly my point Niall.
Looks like Ronaldo back to Man United, what wIth this and other deals, we will be further away from the top 4 by the end of this window than we were before it started. With Kane staying we are only standing still at best, nothing exciting happening at Spurs.
Looking at the draw for the next round we’ve done OK. Not so much in who we play but in that we don’t have any excessive travelling to do.
jod …. Using the squad wisely we should be able to reach the semi-finals, and then it gets serious!
Spurs and roma are by far the biggest teams, the rest are minnows.
What has happened re the lad from Metz. He was due a medical days ago, since then nothing. Have we missed out yet again.
Frank, deal done and as agreed loaned back to Metz for the rest of the season, good and about time investment by Spurs.
To be officially announced some time today. COYS
Pape Sarr, Frank. No solid news yet. But he will be loaned back anyway.
Apparently, we are looking closely at Mariba (Barcelona) who has a great future and even Traore (Wolves) Would like them both. Weston McKennie (Juventus) is another top player of interest
Sissoko may be off to Watford. Aurier still up for sale but no takers. N’Dombele wants to go. We need to sell him and get some money back. Sadly,he has been a waste of time.
Carter Vickers is now injured so is likely to stay for yet another season.
4 days to go.
Looks like Ronaldo back to Man United, what wIth this and other deals, we will be further away from the top 4 by the end of this window than we were before it started. With Kane staying we are only standing still at best, nothing exciting happening at Spurs.
If dombele not to lazy for a move, I’d make a bid for van de beek.
Geofspurs “use the squad wisely”, nice and vague. It assumes we have the resources to to cover all competitions, the league, domestic cups and Europe. If you start with that assumption all things are possible, the trouble is its an assumption. In practice we may have to set priorities and for me the league comes first, the domestic cups second and Europe last. So if we drop out I’m not going to assume we screwed up somehow, it may be we just had bigger fish to fry.
jod …. We have a squad. We have a manager. I would hope the manager uses the squad wisely to gain the optimum results. It’s not rocket science. So, you don’t agree? That’s cute.