Yesterday’s victory over Wolves represented a further step in the right direction, but more needs doing to continue our upward trajectory.
Indeed, my main negative takeaway is Spurs being slow starters. We’ve improved massively under Conte, yet we have this habit of starting matches slowly, as was the case in the Saints and Chelsea matches…and beyond. Indeed, we went in level at half-time in 19 of our 38 matches last season, having failed to score in 14 first halves in those matches. This season’s matches take it to 21 of our last 41 matches, and failing to score in 16 first halves from the start of last season. A first half lead does not automatically equate to a victory – as Spurs fans know all too well – but many points were dropped last season due to slow starts and soon enough, we will be punished for it. The top teams not only respond to setbacks by scoring late goals, but, more often than not, start matches with intensity. We must start matches like we started the second half yesterday.
Nevertheless, one can caveat this by pointing out that it’s another game unbeaten, and another win that has culminated in seven points from three games that we lost consecutively six months ago. Lessons have been learned, and that is testament to our growing maturity and mentality. Despite being slow starters thus far this month, we’ve ended each game strongly. That can only be promising as we approach peak fitness levels and ease new signings into the team. COYS!
The season is off to a bad start. Why am i writing this? Look at the table and see who has the most points. Unforgivable at any point in any season to be anywhere behind that lot.
That being said, Chelsea and Manure both are in the bottom half of the standings, although Chelsea seem to have left their losing first match behind and they looked a tough team when we played them. Manure? This could turn into a truly embarrassing season for them. There’s always hope.
As to our slow starts? The relevant question concerning this problem: Why are we starting slow? This is down to Conte to sort out. If we can win matches, we should be able to win the opening half, no? or the opening minutes, for that matter. But I agree with omar hussein that if this is a habit, it will catch up to us and bite us on the gluteus maximus.
The other problem in terms of the final table, we are not wracking up goal differences, and this early season suggests that goal difference could decide final league positions this year in a big way. Winning 1 x 0 is splendid, since there was no assurance it wouldn’t end with the score reversed, but winning by three goals now and then might be the difference between 4th and 5th, or between first and second. Peddle to the floor, lads, push for bigger wins, and that ought to result in playing with more style, too, which is within our tradition.
Manure is where in the table? hard to find them. That’s the way the gods want it, so this is a good season in the spiritual realm.
but the Woolwich arses, they’re not where we want them. those matches vs them will be must win matches in multiple ways. Let’s beat them with style, and wrack up the goals. And, oh, yes, let’s wipe the arses with the least smooth hygienic paper available. Wipe them and flush them down.
I’d love to take away over have of their attempts on goal, very worrying
*half
Continuing from the matchday thread …. An Ode To Jod!
You say that it doesn’t matter how Spurs get the points. You say that fans don’t get it. Don’t get it? That is such an arrogant statement. Supporters have different views on how the game should be played and what the price of a trophy should be. You are disregarding the fact that supporters are different. You seem to be saying that they don’t understand football because They-Do-Not-Think-Like-You! That’s bollocks!
You say that you’re not sure what other supporters believe as if that’s a problem for you. Why is that? What does it matter to you? Quite simply, we are all different.
Personally, I do not want Spurs to win anything unless there is glory attached to it. I’ve thought this for decades and, there, I’ve said it. I know many fans will not agree with this. That is because we have a different take on the meaning of success. I’m fine with that. I simply would not want a Spurs team to play boring football, playing across the field and backwards, keeping it safe, and scraping points off the park.
I followed Spurs through the Double year and was in Rotterdam when we won the Cup Winner’s Cup. It was glorious! It was the way I think the game should be played. I agree with the philosophy espoused by Blanchflower. For me, there is nothing better in football than to win a trophy by playing consistently sublime football.
If a supporter does not care how the points are collected, that’s their prerogative. But I do care. I want it all!
Back in the Pochettino days, BS (whose opinion I value), and I, argued about the need to win trophies (which we all want) and the awesome football we were playing at the time. Neither of us said that the other did not understand football. We just had a different take on it. We both recognised that and respected it.
I will tell you that, despite your assertion to the contrary, I will never forget the beautiful football Spurs played during that time. It will always be one of my most treasured Spurs memories, despite winning nothing …. apart from numerous games of brilliant football.
So …. If a Spurs supporter does not want what you want, it does not mean that they ‘don’t get it’.
Thanks for the thread, Omar. Have to say that I thought the result was much better than the performance. But it’s early days and I expect, like most of us, that the performance will improve as the squad settles.
Annoying Arsenal has had it on the easy side so far. Don’t expect them to keep this up.
Drd …. Certainly hope not. But, from what I’ve seen so far, there are a lot of mid-table teams with some fast, skillful players who can upset the recognised top clubs …. including us. It looks like a very interesting and competitive season about to unfold.
TK, I fear our slow starts are the feature and not the bug. It is by design. It is Conte’s brand of football.
Takeaways:
1.In order to capitalize our current system with the wingbacks, the wingback without the ball has to get up the field simultaneously. Right now it is lagging. Sometimes non existent.
2.Since we operate without “CAM”, our late arriving midfield have to take better shots on goal. More shooting practice for PEH and RB.
Geofspurs – Reading your rant a few to times to try and understand what you are saying you appear to have completely misunderstood what I am said. As I said in a previous post it’s fair enough to say your priority is pretty football, a trophy is a bonus. My viewpoint is the opposite, we’ve been a laughing stock for long enough and I’ll take trophies any way we can get them. What some fans do though is try and have it both ways. Somehow winning and playing pretty football are both priorities, they’ll wriggle like crazy to avoid admitting which is really the more important to them. That makes no sense and is what I don’t get. In the real world you don’t always have the option of winning with great football, as far as the league goes we haven’t managed it since Nicholson.
jod …. My point was simply that supporters do ‘get’ football, whether they agree with you or not.
Spurs players slow starting in games? Could this be the players are pacing themselves and then upping the intensity, and not burn out by playing 100 mph for 90 mins? This could be ok but… can also put us in goals deficit, and against top 8 teams in PL or in CL games a big hurdle to overcome, and 110 % effort required.
So as in hot european countries a system of high tempo for 25 mins…then slower to half time then 2nd half high again 35min then slower to manage game out could be the answer?. Or is this in conte’s system already as in UK the heat this yr is high. COYS
Geoff you sald the squad needs to settle? It’s the same 11 as last season and when the new signings came on they made a difference.
123 … I wasn’t talking about the starting eleven. When Conte determines how to utilise his squad – starting eleven and bench – the old and new players will settle, know what is expected of them and, hopefully, everything will come together.
What happened to my post a few mins ago ? It appeared and now gone ?
block…..I got fed up with telling them there was/is and issue with posts appearing then disappearing and only appearing after a refresh but was told i should clear my cache to fix the issue. Of course that was and isn’t the issue, there is a problem with the site. I’m on the forum now and have never had problems of any kind.
The old “style vs results “discussion has reared its ugly head again I see :-).
In an ideal world we’d all like both. Given the context of our current trophy drought, I’m happy to prioritise results in any way they come right now, stylle being a secondary consideration. That didn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy a good performance when I saw one.
7 points so far is fantastic given who we’ve played .Arsenal haven’t been challenged yet. We are where we need to be, and we’re only likely to improve.
What’s not to like?
Haha BS wholeheartedly agree there. COYS
I think we have a workmanlike team at the moment. Nothing flashy or exciting. They do a steady job.
However we have a top strikeforce who do not always get the service they deserve.
Our big problem is the lack of excitement in midfield that has been provided by the likes of Dembele Eriksen, Dele (in his prime) and then going back further to Modric, VDV, Hoddle, Waddle, Ardiles and even further back to Blanchflower and White.
Until we get skilful control and passing sorted we will remain workmanlike and competent but not exciting.
Harry Kane is the nearest we get to a top midfielder with his range of passing and dribbling skills but he can’t do both jobs all of the time.
How did we get overrun by Chelsea who were then thumped by Leeds?
Why did Wolves run the show?
We didn’t lose but we were very, very close to losing both games.
Would a midfield general have made a difference? Being workmanlike is ok up to a point.
The thrills and excitement will soon come with the talented and skilful squad that we have. Just you wait and see… 🙂
But we most definitely do have to pace ourselves with this most unusual season of football we have coming up. With a World Cup to be played, a 3rd of the way through it. So many games to play! We need to be pragmatic.
Workman-like is key. But our overall performances will need a little time for the team and Conte’s tactics to fully gel. A balance between hard work and a more attractive way of play will find it’s way. And then we will see more of what many of us will like as Spurs supporters. Of that I am certain.
100% agreement there HT, have been trying to say the same. COYS
Must agree HT
I’ll take workman like, at present.
The results are coming in.
A challenging enough start to the season, tho’ for me, we’ve come thu” it.
I still think in a way we are finding our feet and working out a way to win.
I said on another thread, in reality Lloris has had very little to do in 270 mins of play
Yes, a lucky goal against S’oton, and a bit of a worldie against Chelsea.
We could be easier on the eye and indeed more impetus is perhaps required.
Are we playing within ourselves as it’s the start of a long season. 🤔
Re Arse I’ll let them look after themselves and worry about their position, once they’ve played the better teams at least once, for now, it’s still too early to judge any teams performance, as there could still be additions, injuries, exits before the month is over.
Very good results so far, I’ll take that for now…
I think the performances we are seeing in midfield are exactly what Conte’s system calls for. In his interpretation of the 343, the 2 midfield players have important defensive duties, their positional play is important in order to keep our play ticking over, but they’re not the ones who are relied upon to provide creativity in the team.
Conte doesn’t really want those players taking on opponents or trying to find the killer pass – those are high-risk situations and the last thing he wants is for his team to lose possession in the midfield area.
The key to the system is the wing backs. They’re the ones tasked with taking risks, taking on players, and playing low-percentage, high-reward passes.
We’re just not going to see midfielders like Modric, Eriksen, or Van Der Vaart in this system. In fact, when Eriksen played for Conte at Inter, he was only played either in the front 3, or in games when Conte needed to change to a 352 for tactical reasons. But that “number 10” role is a squad role and players who specialise in it would be unlikely to get regular minutes with Conte unless they had the versatility to play elsewhere in the formation too.
If anything, we shouldn’t rue the lack of impact of our midfield players, as they are doing exactly what Conte has asked them to (and some more – Hojbjerg’s goal against Chelsea is the cherry on top). We can however regret the relative lack of impact from the wing backs so far (having said that, Sessegnon has scored a goal already, and Perisic and Royal already have assists to their names too). We are getting decent performances on the left but very “hit and miss” ones from Royal on the right, who is still learning the position.
I also think HT and Niall make good points. We’re still a work in progess and we won’t see the full potential of this squad until January, probably. If we can be workmanlike and get results in the meantime, we’ll be really threatening once we hit full stride.
wentworth – I think the reason why Chelsea looked so good against us and so poor against Leeds is because to a certain degree, we played into their hands. Chelsea don’t have a proper focal point and it was always going to be likely that they would struggle against teams who park the bus. Against us, they were given loads of space to run into and be positive.
Against the “big” teams that are likely to play on the front foot and give them space, Chelsea will use that space well and look good. Against teams that sit deep and tell Chelsea to “break us down if you can”, they will struggle a lot more.
to a certain degree, I feel Conte was going to get slated either way. If he approached the Chelsea game more negatively, he would have been criticised for not taking the game to them and being too conservative. I suppose he can’t win either way, but that’s why he makes the big bucks.
Our workmanlike midfield are not providing the killer pass or movement that would enhance scoring opportunities for our front three.
They work hard and efficiently with little to get excited about. Emerson is not the top wing back we need…he is a poor crosser. Perisic is a step above Sesssegnon and has two good feet.
Neither Hojberg (despite his goal) or Bentancur are noted goalscorers. So its up to the front 3 to make their own chances.
Rightly or wrongly, that is Conte’s system. Every system has advantages and disadvantages.
We could play more attack minded players in midfield but we’d lose some of the defensive stability Conte wants. Or we could go out and spend 75+ million on one of the 5-10 midifielders in world football who are just as good defending, but better going forward, than our current midfielders. Somehow, I don’t think this is likely.
Ithink we are likely to see upgrades on the wing, but PErisic and spence have been bought for that reason. Give it a bit of time…
Mighty little Leeds did not park the bus yesterday. I watched the entirety of that game. Mighty little Leeds did not let Chelsea have time on the ball for 90+ mins. They ran their hearts out. Literally every ball was contested. Every Chelsea player was doubled upon possession. After winning the ball, Leeds broke forward immediately and rather effectively. No back passes, no sideway ball retention. One touch passes mind you.
We were the alleged fitter team when we went to Stamford Bridge. My rant after the game was that we did not make Chelsea work for it. Leeds did and Chelsea broke down.
Cautious Conte dropped 2 points at the Bridge. So we live and learn.
Arky – I’m not trying to belittle Leeds’ performance. They got a good result against a top team – well done to them.
Having said that, Chelsea had 61% possession, more shots, and more corners. And if you are even more statistically inclined, Leeds scored more than what their xG suggested, and Chelsea scored less – implying some degree of good fortune in the final scoreline.
In other words, with those types of chances, teams don’t usually walk away with 3 goals. Good for Leeds, they had their shooting boots on against Chelsea, but they won’t always be that clinical. And Chelsea won’t always be as wasteful as they were agaisnt Leeds. Stats seem to suggest the final score flatters Leeds, and their performance may not objectively have been as dominant as you suggest.
For comparison’s sake, in our game against Chelsea, the xG for both Chelsea and Tottenham was just under 2 for both teams, implying that the result and corresponding scoreline are just about par for the course – and reflective of the chances created on the day.
“Cautious Conte” is currently unbeaten, in the top 4, with the 3rd bst GD in the league – coincientally the same as Leeds. But unlike Leeds, Conte and Spurs will probably still be there in a month’s time.
“Cautious Conte” has also won the PL. 3 months ago, Jesse Marsch was fighting to stay in it. I think we should be reading more into those facts than anything which may have happened over the course of a single game.