The 2014/2015 Football (Soccer) Thread

[Bwang]

i was gonna say Chelsea and Man City should always be top 2 - despite what happened last year - because of their limitless wealth, but perhaps FFP will have an affect on that, if they don't manage to creatively hide their expenditure and write it off somehow. If not, they and Man U, Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs will make up the top 6 for the foreseeable future, in some order or other, depending on who builds the best team and squads, which'll come down to the manager and his backing. Spurs have always backed their manager with hefty signings and now you lot have a very good manager, so you'll be aiming higher soon. Hopefully the winds of change will blow Man U and Arsenal out of their top 4 spots for a while and Liverpool and Spurs can make up the top 4 for some time! Plus both Spurs and Liverpool will have expanded their stadiums in a few years or so so will be raking in more cash.

[Ramirez]

 

Finishing 5th to 8th though is what we are getting for the past 10y.

no manager will work miracles, he needs some time (at least 3 seasons) to really show all the work he is putting in behind the scenes.

what matters in the meantime are the kind of performances we put in, the way we play our football. for me i can clearly see a vast improvement since Pocchetino has taken the reigns. under other managers (Sherwood, Villas-Boas) we didn't play great and didn't look like getting better, if they had stayed on they would have been found out eventually. i love the way the team now presses from the 1st minute to the last and the fact that we now have enough heart to keep coming back in games! under Pocchetino we will keep getting better and better, plus it bodes well that the average age in the team is under 24!

[Mentor]

no manager will work miracles, he needs some time (at least 3 seasons) to really show all the work he is putting in behind the scenes.

what matters in the meantime are the kind of performances we put in, the way we play our football. for me i can clearly see a vast improvement since Pocchetino has taken the reigns. under other managers (Sherwood, Villas-Boas) we didn't play great and didn't look like getting better, if they had stayed on they would have been found out eventually. i love the way the team now presses from the 1st minute to the last and the fact that we now have enough heart to keep coming back in games! under Pocchetino we will keep getting better and better, plus it bodes well that the average age in the team is under 24!

 

At this point i most certainly would not sack Pouche. He has proved at least to me that he can play a decent style of football and i think he is the type of coach we need because he develops younger talent. The team goes out to play football and that means he does a decent job in keeping motivation high. He also dropped players such as Adebayor, Soldado, Pauliho, Kaboul, Capoue, Chiriches and you could say our team is a totally new one since the start of the year. I simply think that Spurs in general do not have the talent needed to compete for a top 4 consistently at this moment. If you compare the players we had out there to Chelsea or Man City, you would struggle to find 2-3 of our players which would make their starting 11. I think that if we manage to offload some of the deadwood (starting with the ones mentioned), we actually should have enough to get us 2-3 top level players which could make the difference.

 

That said i do agree with Bwang, i think that those 2 teams should be competing for the title basically every year now. Man U seem to have screwed up their finances somewhat from what i see and Liverpool are a bit like us, just slightly better off, with Arsenal they are still paying off the stadium, so it could take a bit of time for them to be a real contender. I think it will be difficult for anyone to break into the top 6 consistently considering the financials of those top 6 clubs.

[Guest]

 

At this point i most certainly would not sack Pouche. He has proved at least to me that he can play a decent style of football and i think he is the type of coach we need because he develops younger talent. The team goes out to play football and that means he does a decent job in keeping motivation high. He also dropped players such as Adebayor, Soldado, Pauliho, Kaboul, Capoue, Chiriches and you could say our team is a totally new one since the start of the year. I simply think that Spurs in general do not have the talent needed to compete for a top 4 consistently at this moment.

 

I honestly think you guys need to find another striker and add some other depth around the place. Kane is having a great season, but I think he's at risk of burning out especially at his age. The so called 'red zone'. Poch has even been saying lately he hopes Kane skips out on England duty (U21 Euros this summer) to avoid burning out, but it's tough making a player decide between choices like that.

 

At the moment though, your main replacements are a guy who couldn't buy a goal to save his life, and another who is terribly inconsistent and a bad influence on and off the pitch. A new striker or to somehow get Soldado back to his pre-Tottenham form.

 

I also think maybe a few more creative technical players wouldn't go amiss. Eriksen was swamped against Chelsea in the cup final (up against both Ramires and Zouma playing DM), but no one else could pick up the creative slack. Kane was starved of service and didn't contribute much to link up play (maybe he's tired). Chadli had a poor game which didn't help (though I like him generally) and I honestly think Townsend is a bit limited.. Lamela who knows. The likes of Mason and Bentaleb cycle the ball around competently, but I think you only really need one of those types in an 11. Outcasts in Paulinho and Capoue are also physical players who don't really offer anything different. The lack of any true creative guys other than Eriksen really showed against Chelsea in that last game when they were well organised and pressed all over (but then again, Chelsea have done that to most sides this season).

 

If you could find another Luka Modric to play in a midfield with Eriksen, Tottenham would already be a far better team. Alternatively (and more realistically), if you're sticking to the 4-2-3-1 with two deep midfielders, get someone like Moussa Sissoko, a real box to box kinda guy who is defensively good and can also significantly contribute to attack even from that position. Then you might not have to rely on the full backs as much for something different offensively (as that has its own problems against the counter).

 

 

Slightly unrelated, but I think most teams would do well to keep an eye on a player named Anwar El Ghazi. 19 years old, but physically a beast and has the technique to go with it. Could be the next big winger. Here's his goal against PSV

[Mentor]

100% agree with the comments you posted. We defenitely need a new striker, Adebayor is done and Soldado does not seem to be getting anywhere. After almost 2 years i would say his time with us is over. I would say that the answer for the attacker is Chadli. He is not a left winger for sure (we play him there) and he does not have the technical ability to be an AM or MC, but he is a prolific scorer. He has the size, pace and dribbling to play in the central role and whenever he got into central positions this year he was a threat and scored goals. He was our top scorer till about November when he got injured and Pouche stopped playing him.

 

We defenitely need wingers, we only have really 1 (Lennon is not with us now) which is Townsend and relying on him is a big mistake. I would say we need at least 2 good wingers, that will give us more space in the middle to work.

 

You are also right about the creativity in the middle. Erikson is good at that, but he is not very strong and against the big teams he vanishes virtually in every game. Dembele can be that when pushed in the AM role, but that means keeping Erikson out. Moving Dembele in the Mason role is fine, he did that. The only other player we have is Lamela and i think he is much better suited in the middle than on the sides.

 

I would say we are 4 players away from a title contenders and i think that with a few sales and the money we have in reserve we can actually pull it off. It will need a bit of luck because Paulinho, Soldado and Lamela cost us a combined 80 million pounds and cannot even make it into our main 11 and it is not because we do not need players in their positions! Our better buys were actually Erickson, Dier, Chadli which cost us less than 20m combined!

[Guest]

You can even get away with no 'traditional' wingers, just as long as they're guys with technique who can spot and execute good passes or cut inside and do work there(something Chadli would benefit from as you said). At the moment though, Townsend... even Lennon when he was there... I think their pace frequently glossed over their lack of an all round game. I don't really remember much of Lennon (other than being fast) because he was always out of the team or injured, but Townsend lacks the vision/ability to create opportunities for others and also lacks the true goal scoring ability (unlike Chadli) for someone who so frequently wants to cut inside into congested space (which he does do a lot). Subsequently, you've got neither a provider stretching the play wide nor a scorer.

 

But it's not just the front 3 or 4. Like I said about the deeper central midfielders that played (Bentaleb/Mason), they cycle the ball around well enough (Arteta style) but neither at the moment seem like the deep lying playmaker I think Tottenham needs (to create different angles of attack, runs from deep, and so on). When you add up the facts that your left wing has Chadli who wants to cut in and score (though in this case, he's usually effective), your right wing is occupied by someone who isn't really very effectively creative from that area either (and/or also wants to play like an inside forward), and your deep midfielders aren't the most creative... there's a real dearth of creativity. That puts added burden on the few actual creators in the team, and also means they're easily snuffed out in the knowledge the rest of the team will struggle to pick up the slack. Soldado's probably run out of chances, but I honestly think that's part of the reason why he's seriously struggled. He, unlike Kane and Ade (when he tries) needs it always played to feet and can't score out of bombs into the box as much due to the relative lack of an aerial presence. He can't do anything with the likes of Danny Rose bombing forward and looping it in, but there isn't enough overall creativity in the team to comfortably get the ball down and play through opponents (particularly if they mark out the few that are present). He's ok at penalties though!

 

Maybe Dembele is the answer in a deeper role, I dunno. It's weird, but I can't really remember how he's like (I don't watch THAT much Tottenham hahaha). I don't even really remember what he was like at Fulham (who I followed a bit because I'm a Mark Schwarzer fan!).

[Mentor]

Townsend and Lennon are limited for sure, they have pace (although i think Lennon lost that as well), Lennon crosses better but Townsend is the stronger one of the 2. I see Townsend has become more of a facilitator this year which is good, but he is not the long term option as for Chadli i simply think he is an attacker, he is not great on the wing and even he said he prefers playing as a second striker or behind the attacker. Dembele has played the deeper role you mention, but like Mason and Bentaleb, he is not much of a creative type, so he cannot open defences. Then again maybe the problem is not on them, maybe we simply need more movement up front or on the wings.

 

Adebayor is actually poor in the air, considering his size he has scored very few contested balls. He got the occasional header, but never under pressure, so you could say he is like Soldado when it comes to getting the ball to his feet. I think both have had ample opportunity to show what they can do and at this point we are much better off dropping them/selling them.

[Bwang]

I was quite impressed with Mason yesterday. Though QPR had their chances - no least two debatable penalty shouts.

 

You certainly want Eriksen in the hole rather than Chadli. Lamela seems to have been dropped again. Him coming off the right wing and Townsend off the left could be ok.

[Ramirez]

no room for Townsend in my opinion, i like the look of Kane, Eriksen and Lamela/Chadli as the front 3 with Dembele, Mason and Bentaleb making up the rest of the midfield. Townsend should be good as an impact player coming off the bench when the opposition has tired legs.

[Bwang]

Makes sense but you still want Eriksen in the hole if possible. Maybe they should copy Brendan and go 3-4-2-1. It's the new super formation!

 

(Walker looked like a right liability in the last game)

[Ramirez]

Eriksen can drift into the hole as Dembele is left footed and naturally moves to the left side of the pitch, the front 3 rotate. Walker did have a bad game against QPR but everybody has the odd bad game... Vertongen has to up his game a bit in my opinion but Dier has looked calm and composed at the center of the defence.

[Mentor]

Eriksen and Kane are the future for sure, the thing is when you say that the top 3 rotate, i do not think Chadli can even play on the right and Erikson on either wings is way too slow to be an impact. I think Kane on the other hand can play anywhere in attack. I hate Lamela on the right, he is like Lennon, but does the opposite move, Lennon always goes outside and Lamela always cuts inside! In the EPL defenders understand player tendencies, so after one season of doing the same predictable move, they simply block you and that is it. I think he would be better either on the left or in the middle, but i am not taking out Eriksen to put Lamela in.

 

In general i think Walker has been very good since coming back, he is slowly getting into form, but his game against QPR was poor, i do agree. If you look at our improvement though, it had a lot to do with him coming back to the team. Before Walker was the dark ages with people like Chiriches, Naughton (not with us any more) and Dier playing out of position. Walker is usually very solid defensively, but i think he can do much more offensively.

 

Vertongen is easily the most over rated player in our team. Teams such as Barcelona have supposedly been interested, but for me, he is a time bomb ready to explode. He often plays dirty, he is not that fast, he makes mistakes very regularly and in general he is not improving at all. Same player he was 2 years ago. On the ball he is as solid as midfielder though and that is his major asset as a defender. I heard teams came in with 20m offers in the summer and if someone sent a 20m offer out way this summer i would fly him to where ever is needed myself.

 

I think Dier on the other hand has a bright future ahead of him. At just 21y of age he has pace, strength, is a good boy and has a good demenor about him. With a bit of experience he could be a DC for England one day.

 

 

 

Makes sense but you still want Eriksen in the hole if possible. Maybe they should copy Brendan and go 3-4-2-1. It's the new super formation!

 

(Walker looked like a right liability in the last game)

 

Thing is, who would play in a 3-4-2-1? Starting with the defensive backs? I guess you could play Dier, Vertongen and Fazio. Rose and Walker as the wing backs. Dembele with either Mason or Bentaleb, then Chadli, Erickson and Kane up front.

[bjornmma1]

Sad times to be an Ac Milan fan ... :s

 

They can't seem to do anything good anymore. I'm not sure how much longer they'll let Inzaghi stay coach.

[Ramirez]

Eriksen and Kane are the future for sure, the thing is when you say that the top 3 rotate, i do not think Chadli can even play on the right and Erikson on either wings is way too slow to be an impact. I think Kane on the other hand can play anywhere in attack. I hate Lamela on the right, he is like Lennon, but does the opposite move, Lennon always goes outside and Lamela always cuts inside! In the EPL defenders understand player tendencies, so after one season of doing the same predictable move, they simply block you and that is it. I think he would be better either on the left or in the middle, but i am not taking out Eriksen to put Lamela in.

 

In general i think Walker has been very good since coming back, he is slowly getting into form, but his game against QPR was poor, i do agree. If you look at our improvement though, it had a lot to do with him coming back to the team. Before Walker was the dark ages with people like Chiriches, Naughton (not with us any more) and Dier playing out of position. Walker is usually very solid defensively, but i think he can do much more offensively.

 

Vertongen is easily the most over rated player in our team. Teams such as Barcelona have supposedly been interested, but for me, he is a time bomb ready to explode. He often plays dirty, he is not that fast, he makes mistakes very regularly and in general he is not improving at all. Same player he was 2 years ago. On the ball he is as solid as midfielder though and that is his major asset as a defender. I heard teams came in with 20m offers in the summer and if someone sent a 20m offer out way this summer i would fly him to where ever is needed myself.

 

I think Dier on the other hand has a bright future ahead of him. At just 21y of age he has pace, strength, is a good boy and has a good demenor about him. With a bit of experience he could be a DC for England one day.

 

 

 

 

Thing is, who would play in a 3-4-2-1? Starting with the defensive backs? I guess you could play Dier, Vertongen and Fazio. Rose and Walker as the wing backs. Dembele with either Mason or Bentaleb, then Chadli, Erickson and Kane up front.

i'm not suggesting to play Lamela ahead of Eriksen, i was saying it would be Kane and Eriksen up front accompanied by Chadli or Lamela.

the front 3 or 4 players have to be free rolling and intelligent enough to fill the right gap when a teamate moves to another spot. Kane and Eriksen swap positions multiple times per game.

[Mentor]

That could work, as long as Lamela is not on the right

[Mentor]

Interesting fact: if we (Spurs) beat or draw Man United, we'll be the first club in the EPL era to go six matches unbeaten against them.

[Ramirez]

Makes sense but you still want Eriksen in the hole if possible. Maybe they should copy Brendan and go 3-4-2-1. It's the new super formation!

 

(Walker looked like a right liability in the last game)

3-4-2-1 is not a new formation, it is also called the "christmas tree" formation, Venables experimented with it briefly during his england tenure but he was not the 1st to use it.

[Mentor]

I do not think there is any new formations at this point in time, there are more commonly used ones and less commonly used, but new does not exist any more.

[Guest]

Interesting fact: if we (Spurs) beat or draw Man United, we'll be the first club in the EPL era to go six matches unbeaten against them.

 

 

Whoops. :/

[Mentor]

End of the season for us, i did not even see the second half. I think the first 30 minutes were probably the worse i have see Spurs play since last season. It was what Charles Barkley says "bully ball", with Man United totally destroying us, especially in the middle. We could not even get it to the center of the pitch during that time and at 30 minutes Dembele was forced to enter the game. I think that players like Erikson, Bentaleb, Mason and Townsend just dont have the strength and poise against the big clubs. They do well when allowed the ball, but when up against top notch competition they simply are boys in a mans world. Maybe in Spain or Italy they would do well, but for the EPL with the pace and strength of the game, they simply lack what is necessary. Erikson in particular always vanishes in the big games.

 

Funniest thing of all was that "alla Spurs" still managed to have 52% of the possesion during that period with the defenders mostly passing back to Lloris or each other long enough for Man United to steal the ball and go into attack. What was most impressive was that in this game there was no Falcao, Di Maria, RVP which are probably considered the team super stars during the early part of the year.

 

Congrats to United for the win.

[markyosullivan]

Arsenal out of the Champions League, Man City will be heading out tomorrow night.

 

Arsenal should have went through tonight and just couldn't get that 3rd goal which was frustrating to watch.

[Bwang]

Damn that was close. I think they should have played Ramsay from the start - he's the man. Ozil is a bit pointless. Walcott is totally pointless! Shame.

[Guest]

Reminds me of the AC Milan tie a few years ago. Get demolished first game and mount a great 2nd leg only to just fall short by a goal.

 

 

Ozil is a bit pointless.

 

He's really not though. It was his ball to Monreal that started the chance that ended with Ramsay's goal. People give Ozil a lot of shit for apparently not trying very hard, but there are some good stats out there about how since he's been back from injury, he's covered the most distance run out of ANYBODY in Arsenal (just beating Cazorla who is considered super busy in his more recent deep role, and way in front of Sanchez who is heralded for his attitude to working hard). I've also noticed recently he's also not been so weak on the ball against challenges (which is his main flaw in the Premier League I think). According to Squawka stats, he's created a similar rate of chances as both Cazorla and Sanchez (when considering amounts of games played by each), and averages THE SAME number of defensive actions per game as Sanchez (who again, is known to track back). These stats tell me that if anything, he works just as hard if not harder than Sanchez - and that's honestly incredible given how amazing Sanchez is.

 

 

Glad to see Ramsay back in good form. I think earlier in the season (even when he was fit), he was trying a bit too hard to score goals rather than sometimes looking for the more simple and effective option. It also exposed the back four a bit as he was constantly bombing forward even though he was supposed to be playing mostly deep (and at least pretending to offer a little bit of protection). Now with Coquelin in the team and in the form he's in, it means whoever the 2nd deep midfielder is (Ramsay or Cazorla) can operate a bit more freely forwards knowing Coq will block (phrasing!) any chances the team creates.

 

Walcott is in a bit of a funk, I think trying to adjust to how the team now plays. His main weapon besides his smart runs and pace was his finishing, but that's really been a bit poor the last couple of games. Hopfully it's just lack of match practice, as he had been out for ages and been introduced back into the team very slowly (partially due to competition for places).

[markyosullivan]

Ozil and Welbeck was the two worst players for Arsenal

[Guest]

Ozil and Welbeck was the two worst players for Arsenal

 

You've got to be kidding about Ozil! Were we even watching the same game? He was working hard the whole game and put in some good crosses/balls (it was his that started the move that turned into Ramsay's goal afterall). Not even the British newspapers rated him poorly afterwards, and we all know how much they'd love to jump on the Ozil is a flop bandwagon which was prevalent not too long ago.

 

Cazorla and Sanchez were easily less influential this particular game. Coq was also more defensive (obviously), and so Ozil was by far the most effective of the midfield three against an organised Monaco midfield.

 

The guy can't win, he gets slated by everybody even when he is effective and works hard (with stats to back it up) cause everything is apparently his fault. I mean seriously, I expect to see an article in all the British papers (who actually praised his performance this time) tomorrow about how he's at fault for the influx in criminal immigrants or something equally ridiculous.