Spurs Post Match

[Dan LCFC]

Jeff Schlupp is simply wasted at LB.

He's not really a LB.

He plays best and does most damage when playing as a LWB, giving him licence to get forward.

Just like he did in Pearson's run of wins at the end of last season. He got forward to devastating effect (shielded by the extra man at the back). We simply won't see the best of Schlupp if played in a 4-4-2 where he rarely ventures into the opposition half.

Schlupp is not a bright player. He's an instinctual player. Give him the ball, let him push it past the full back and get a low cross in. That's Jeff at his best.

 

I could've sworn it was you who was disagreeing with me when I said exactly this.

[ozleicester]

6:28 it will not dissappoint

 

 

On this video.........The sound in the stadium when we score (About 7.55) is fantastic... you can almost feel it roll across the park all the way to the Spurs fans... BOOOOOMMMM!

[Ross-Kemp]

So after 3 games last season, it was: P3, W0, D2 L1, GF3, GA5, P2.

In the games against Sunderland (H), WHU (A) & Spurs (H), our record was: P3, W0, D1, L2, GF1, GA4, P1.

So already, comparing the results against the corresponding fixtures for last season, we're 6 points better off.

The heat didn't help on Saturday, it was very humid and CR has already mentioned this.

Looking at the next 4 games (excluding Bury as it's the cup), we've got Bournemouth (A), Villa (H), Stoke (A) & Arsenal (H).

There's no reason we can't have 14 points at the end of September.

[Guest MattP]

Didn't see the game so can't comment on overall performance but it's a decent point on paper.

Wtf Jeff was doing for the goal I have no idea, lovely goal from Mahrez again.

[hornyhollthefox123]

Mason and Dier were better? most of there possession was with there centre backs and wide players. We were very narrow so let them have it at full back and didn't want to give them the space to exploit us, and it worked.

We didn't play open and toe to toe, man for man stuff, it was very compact and if you like, Italian.

Anyway, Lamela? Were you watching the game? It was Dembele that operated in in the middle with them, and was very much a 3 man midfield. Lamela drifted in too but Dembele bossed things a little as he has lovely turn of pace and is so strong.

I just do not understand what people want. For all there possession and dominance I think Kasper only made routing stops from long range hopeful punts? If it was that easy for them, why shoot from distance?

2 wins in 2 has gone to people's head if you think were going to play spurs off the park.

This.

Spurs playing a 4231 whereby only the full backs play wider than the 18 yard box means there's going to be 8 outfield players centrally.

We had two banks of four across the width of the 18 yard area. Much deeper than we've been thus far this season but it worked. We looked comfortable defending apart from late on for the goal.

Good performance for me. And if some are complaining then I guess that's a positive too. 1-1 with Spurs and people are upset? Shows how far we've come recently

[Ric Flair]

I thought we looked like we didn't get out of 2nd gear for most of the game and that's got to be from the heat. We allowed them a lot of the ball and we weren't as quick to counter attack as devastatingly as we have been doing. Our defence bothers me if i'm honest. Schlupp is competent as a left back but I agree that he's wasted there. First half he defended well but wasn't getting forward. 2nd half he barely got involved except for disappearing for their goal. De Laet was the good, the bad, the ugly again and i'd much prefer to see another defender come in to challenge him.

 

I couldn't quite fathom why Okazaki was kept on for so long, the game was crying out for either Ulloa or Kramaric to mix things up a bit. I hope Ranieri tries to be a bit more flexible with his attacking substitutions going forward, because we're going to have some very unhappy attackers otherwise.

 

Vardy, Albrighton, Drinkwater and Mahrez were absolute class again. I liked the look of Inler and Kante's energy is a massive positive. I think our 4 central midfielders are all going to really push one another and it'll be a case of keep performing or expect to be replaced.

 

A point was about fair and Mahrez's goal was worth the horrific temperature in the stadium, hopefully we'll paste Bury on Tuesday and players like Kramaric, Fuchs and Kante can get a full 90 minutes.

[Col city fan]

I thought we looked like we didn't get out of 2nd gear for most of the game and that's got to be from the heat. We allowed them a lot of the ball and we weren't as quick to counter attack as devastatingly as we have been doing. Our defence bothers me if i'm honest. Schlupp is competent as a left back but I agree that he's wasted there. First half he defended well but wasn't getting forward. 2nd half he barely got involved except for disappearing for their goal. De Laet was the good, the bad, the ugly again and i'd much prefer to see another defender come in to challenge him.

I couldn't quite fathom why Okazaki was kept on for so long, the game was crying out for either Ulloa or Kramaric to mix things up a bit. I hope Ranieri tries to be a bit more flexible with his attacking substitutions going forward, because we're going to have some very unhappy attackers otherwise.

Vardy, Albrighton, Drinkwater and Mahrez were absolute class again. I liked the look of Inler and Kante's energy is a massive positive. I think our 4 central midfielders are all going to really push one another and it'll be a case of keep performing or expect to be replaced.

A point was about fair and Mahrez's goal was worth the horrific temperature in the stadium, hopefully we'll paste Bury on Tuesday and players like Kramaric, Fuchs and Kante can get a full 90 minutes.

All this....

[Captain...]

People seem to be ignoring the fact that Spurs came to stop us playing, they congested the midfield, pressed us very quickly and every time we tried to get a quick break we got fouled.

 

14 fouls and 4 yellow cards, some real cynical ones too, we should have had a penalty and I thought the ref was quite lenient, let a lot go and wasn't overly fussy.

 

The number of fouls is even more impressive when you consider we only had 35% possession (according to BBC, 43% according Who Scored).

[Babylon]

Amazed so many people credit spurs and their players with bossing the middle and bossing possession when it was clear our tactic was to just let them have the ball (whether to combat them or the weather I'm not sure). But Vardy and Okazaki dropped back to just before the half way line rather than chasing the ball and trying to force errors, so they just knocked the ball about at the back.

 

Their pass map shows how much of it was just in their half and just over the half way line down the wings to the full backs. In the centre itself and within 25 yards of our goal there is very little at all.

 

You

[Simi]

Surprised to see RDL get as much stick as he as, thought he had a decent game for the majority of it.

 

Schlupp seems to get away with a lot more because he occasionally offers something going forward, defensively he is a bigger liability than RDL. Switched off for the goal which is a common trait for him, if you watch him defend he has to be coached every single step of the way by Huth, Morgan and Kasper. I like Schlupp but he is a defensive catastrophe waiting to happen. 

 

Like a lot of others I think we waited too long to change it, it was clear the heat was having a big impact on our style of play and quite a few looked tired. I'd have dragged Shinji for Ulloa around 60. Leo would have complemented our game better at that stage and helped to hold the ball and perhaps get on the end of some of the crosses we kept sticking in.

 

All in all a decent point, Spurs had a lot of the ball but no substance. We were happy to let them have it and try and counter. People moan about us not keeping the ball but it was a clear tactic from us to allow them to have a lot of the ball and catch them, didn't really happen but it didn't cause us any major hassle. Can't really remember a clear cut chance for Spurs until the goal.

[hornyhollthefox123]

Amazed so many people credit spurs and their players with bossing the middle and bossing possession when it was clear our tactic was to just let them have the ball (whether to combat them or the weather I'm not sure). But Vardy and Okazaki dropped back to just before the half way line rather than chasing the ball and trying to force errors, so they just knocked the ball about at the back.

 

Their pass map shows how much of it was just in their half and just over the half way line down the wings to the full backs. In the centre itself and within 25 yards of our goal there is very little at all.

 

YouScreen Shot 2015-08-24 at 08.30.10.png

 

 

Exactly.

 

Good example

[NotTheMarketLeader]

So it was a good idea for Wes to Shepherd he ball with a Tottenham player around him about 10 yards to Kasper into his own 6 yard box?

Kasper looked confused as to what he was doing and so was I.

Come off it.

There was plenty of time for Kasper to come and get that. He stood and watched - in his 6 yd box where he, facing the ball, should be taking charge.

It not an isolated incident either as anyone who has watched Kasper would know - this is his weakness.

This season already I can cite one of the Sunderland goals as further evidence - ran off his into no mans land when he should have stayed, and we conceeded.

Ditto West Ham, when he clothes lined their man and got away with it. No reason to be just inside his area with two defenders around the attacking player.

[Ashley]

Amazed so many people credit spurs and their players with bossing the middle and bossing possession when it was clear our tactic was to just let them have the ball (whether to combat them or the weather I'm not sure). But Vardy and Okazaki dropped back to just before the half way line rather than chasing the ball and trying to force errors, so they just knocked the ball about at the back.

Their pass map shows how much of it was just in their half and just over the half way line down the wings to the full backs. In the centre itself and within 25 yards of our goal there is very little at all.

You Screen Shot 2015-08-24 at 08.30.10.png

I love it when people talk sense and provide examples on this forum.

Seen and heard a few people moaning on Saturday for us not closing down like we done previously. Our game plan worked, Spurs got a very lucky goal and I suppose we did coming baxk within 90 seconds.

On to Bury

[Col city fan]

Again I simply don't think either Schlupp or RDL are 'orthodox ' full backs.

They are both better coming forward to link attacks than they are defensively.

Schlupp gets caught out of position, RDL seems to panic sometimes.

Neither are bad full backs, they just aren't completely right in these respective positions.

But they are both probably going to be 'good enough' to do a job I guess.

The shame for me is that Schlupp offers the team so much in terms of bombing on and linking up forward play. He's not a great crosser, of course, but like Dyer, his pace creates spaces for the true forwards to exploit. Having him hardly leaving our own half of the field is a waste really.

That said...7 from 9..I ain't complaining.

[Babylon]

 Having him hardly leaving our own half of the field is a waste really.

Currently the only other option is him being on the bench. Frankly that's not something I'm totally averse to as it then gives you an option on the bench to replace a winger, which we are going to badly need the longer the season goes on. At the moment we have a great bench, but it's really lacking in pace. But sometimes he might not even get on... which could be seen as more of a waste.

[NotTheMarketLeader]

There's much to admire in Ranieri but I hope he's not going to ruin the potential of our side with his massed 4-4-2 across the front of our penalty box.

Before long he'll be contracting the shape into a square (had the pitch already been narrowed before yesterday's match?), get the Premiership to accept us using shields in honour of the ancient Roman legions and have all us fans turn up with short swords and wearing tunics.

That might make for good television but, while we might important battles on the way to a place in European football there is so much excitement about our emerging team that surely we're not going to aim for a succession of cagey -0's in getting there.

From admiring and enjoying so much about the way we played against Sunderland, and so many moves that might have ended in goals to grace any Goal of the Season programme, we virtually flattened the carnival atmosphere at The King Power yesterday with the kind of football that made sightseeing in the Sahara seem attractive.

I was reminded of so many occasions in the past - under Pearson and others - of when we tried to steal points rather than win games - and honestly thought we'd learned better.

But no. There were the massed ranks of a demonstrably entertaining team shuffling to and fro in strict formation across the ground outside our penalty area, while outriders tried to beg something like scavengers at a big knob's party.

There was no noticeable attempt to defend and attack like a team.

Nine blokes voluntarily conceded ground and defended while Vardy and a random other searched for crumbs from what must have seemed much like a concrete cake.

Our defence and attack was further apart than the extremes of the Labour Party

I remember Ranieri talking in admiration about our pace and marauding spirit - so why bring out the shackles even Pearson was finally forced to abandon, and so soon?

Vardy seemed to be auditioning for a part in the Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner and Drinkwater for The Invisible Man.

One of the reasons we looked so good against Sunderland was because we had runners and close support all through at least an hour of the game.

Yesterday we were invited to witness an attempted master-class in sterile, virtually risk-free football of the sort that might be devised by a system analyst determined to stifle all aspects of adventure from the game.

You just knew that Spurs would eventually score.

But what irony when we showed how easy it was to break down the physically formidable Spurs defence by showing some attitude.

What was it - 15 seconds or so? And then we almost plundered a winner. What was there really to be afraid of?

Big defenders are mostly the same. Dominant in the air and strong in the tackle. Play the ball on the floor (Ranieri's said to like it), spread the play as wide as possible and have the little fellows flying in, around and through the gaps and it usually leaves those same defenders feeling decidedly uncomfortable. Because they don't like running, they don't like being twisted and turned and they don't like being exposed one on one.

Yes, of course I'm pleased we took a point. I not so pleased we left the other two behind.

Don't panic it's only one game.

If we play the same for the next month I will agree, that this is not the best use of the players we have. I do agree in your overall.point we should play to our strengths - an attacking game.

There may be mitigating circumstances for yesterday such as:

Spurs are a better team than they are being credited for

Very difficult to utilise our usually high energy, pressing style in that heat

A few players maybe not at their best for whatever reason - not necessarily because of tactics employed

Referee extremely lenient with Spurs which does have a material effect on the game - every time we ran past a man he would be cynically fouled.

Probably would have won the game having been rightfully awarded a penalty.

I was happy with a point, but looking back I think Spurs were a little fortunate, for all their possession.

[lgfualol]

Poor old Richard. I thought he was okay on Saturday, though I'd like him to work on his crossing as it seems whenever he needs to cross it in it just hits their first man. 

[ImBlue]

Come off it.

There was plenty of time for Kasper to come and get that. He stood and watched - in his 6 yd box where he, facing the ball, should be taking charge.

It not an isolated incident either as anyone who has watched Kasper would know - this is his weakness.

This season already I can cite one of the Sunderland goals as further evidence - ran off his into no mans land when he should have stayed, and we conceeded.

Ditto West Ham, when he clothes lined their man and got away with it. No reason to be just inside his area with two defenders around the attacking player.

Not disputing it's his weakness or the examples you have provided. However agree to disagree on Saturday as I think Wes should have had a size 10 through that long before it got to Kasper.

[foxgas]

Again I simply don't think either Schlupp or RDL are 'orthodox ' full backs.

They are both better coming forward to link attacks than they are defensively.

Schlupp gets caught out of position, RDL seems to panic sometimes.

Neither are bad full backs, they just aren't completely right in these respective positions.

But they are both probably going to be 'good enough' to do a job I guess.

The shame for me is that Schlupp offers the team so much in terms of bombing on and linking up forward play. He's not a great crosser, of course, but like Dyer, his pace creates spaces for the true forwards to exploit. Having him hardly leaving our own half of the field is a waste really.

That said...7 from 9..I ain't complaining.

Last seasons turnaround came when NP went to three centrebacks which gave Schlupp and RDL cover when they went forward. The problem would be fitting Mahrez and Allbrighton, who are our most creative players, into this system if we want to play with two upfront. I think CR has to pick the current starting team on their results but with the players we have bought in I can see the starting eleven changing to give us more options in attack and a steadier defence.

[Ric Flair]

Last seasons turnaround came when NP went to three centrebacks which gave Schlupp and RDL cover when they went forward. The problem would be fitting Mahrez and Allbrighton, who are our most creative players, into this system if we want to play with two upfront. I think CR has to pick the current starting team on their results but with the players we have bought in I can see the starting eleven changing to give us more options in attack and a steadier defence.

 

RDL wasn't really part of the turnaround. Albrighton played the RWB role. The main worry is if we went to this formation now, would this impact on how devastating Mahrez has been this season?

[bmt]

Anyone watching Ref Watch? Can't believe Dermot Gallagher is saying the Mahrez decision isn't a pen. 

 

His reasons were that they both grabbed eachother equally (which he then admits Mahrez only did when he was going to ground after being pulled down, but you could only see that in slow motion), and that the second foul where Vertonghen comes through him isn't a penalty because the referee is concentrating on the prior decision. 

 

He wasn't saying it was an understandable mistake, but that the referee was right. Poor analysis.

[Dan LCFC]

Again I simply don't think either Schlupp or RDL are 'orthodox ' full backs.

They are both better coming forward to link attacks than they are defensively.

Schlupp gets caught out of position, RDL seems to panic sometimes.

Neither are bad full backs, they just aren't completely right in these respective positions.

But they are both probably going to be 'good enough' to do a job I guess.

The shame for me is that Schlupp offers the team so much in terms of bombing on and linking up forward play. He's not a great crosser, of course, but like Dyer, his pace creates spaces for the true forwards to exploit. Having him hardly leaving our own half of the field is a waste really.

That said...7 from 9..I ain't complaining.

 

He's doing a lot less of this under Ranieri though from what I've seen. It's far more of a flat back four than it was under Pearson. Given that I think it's only a matter of time before Benalouane has De Laet's place.

[Wymsey]

The bloke at 06:56 (in video quoted at top)... !

[Ian S]

Have you ever watched them play in the PREMIER LEAGUE?

 

 

Its a totally different game. Kingy looks better in a 3....reminds me joe allen though, decent ball retention but little else. But too lightweight in a 2.

 

 

Drinky hasn't impressed me as much as many others this season, he again gets bullied and lacks a killer pass whilst never being a goalscoring threat.

 

 

 

 

In 5 minutes yesterday inler was far more physical and kante offered more options.

Yet more rubbish about Drinkwater and King.The love in with Inler before he has barely kicked a ball is laughable.He may well turn out to be be brilliant but all this he looked class in the few minutes he was on is nauseating. If Drinkwater had given the ball away where Inler did in the last few minutes he would have got slaughtered on here.

[lifted*fox]

Did anyone else think Kasper's distribution was poor again against Spurs? A few poor goal kicks that went straight out for a Spurs throw-in. 

 

Think he could have been a bit less hesitant with attacking the ball for their goal as well.

 

For all of his shot-stopping prowess I still think he can be far too immature at times and doesn't know when to slow the game down.

 

Not the finished product yet, sometimes I wonder if the goalkeeping coaches or even his dad might have a word about his decision-making at times?