Match Thread - Sheffield United FC vs Tottenham Hotspur - PL

[muttley]

Mourinho's comments made me laugh in the presser. He called it high intensity and high press. I'm not sure what game he was watching. SU were very poor and operating about 80% of the intensity they were at home last season.

As for "Player X not playing well because the team plays a certain way" and his comments about Ndombele being able to play multiple positions, sure he knows his answer is total BS. Tanguy is a great example of this. Put him back in 2 man midfield with a minder and give him freedom to express himself and run the game. Put him in a defensive minded number 10 position and then expect him to shut down the keeper and watch him tire and become ineffective in the 2nd half.

Obviously, because Jose makes these statements in his pressers they must be true :-)

Anyway, I was happy with the incremental improvement today and Jose did well. Despite Aurier's goal, if we had the equivalent of Reggie on the right we would have torn them a new one. The wide wing backs stretched them and Bergwijn was fantastic exploiting the new space created. Obviously, Tanguy was superb.

Despite the early mistakes from Rodon, Dier and Hojberg we didn't concede early and did deserve the 2-0 lead. I'm glad Jose allowed his eleven to get 87 mins together and work more things out. That was good management. Moura then came on and showed us why it was a good idea to keep them on the pitch :-)

 

[RichmondSpur]

Brilliant goal capping and outstanding performance by Ndombele, with the goal perfectly timed, both in terms of execution and in the context of the match, United were just starting to get the upper hand. Decent all round effort, with some good performances by two or three of our less vaunted players. Bergwijn, who I'm not a big fan of was excellent on the day, whilst playing Davies as an extra CB allowing Reguilon plenty of freedom to get forward is a tactic I can envisage Jose using regularly.

It's a tactic Jose could envisage with a better distributor of the ball than Davies. His passing is woeful, and with Reggie, upfield leaves us vulnerable to being picked off.

 

[Departed]

What pisses me off is Manchester United is playing the same counter-attacking game and no one roasts them.

 

[Critical_Spur]

I just want it noted that McGoldrick guy @ 33 yrs of age. FFS we have Bale, not only can not last half the distance, he doesn't even have the energy or agility for a 31 yrs old. All the other senior players in the PL are setting an example.

 

[muttley]

What pisses me off is Manchester United is playing the same counter-attacking game and no one roasts them.

I'm observing that Ollie plays an open, attacking game in most game and just switches to some counter attacking football against the big sides. He has unlocked his players and let them play with freedom which is why they don't get roasted. It's way different to what Jose has been doing.

A few more performance like today from Jose where we play more on the front foot and the pressure on him will subside a little would be my guess.

 

[stupops]

Mourinho's comments made me laugh in the presser. He called it high intensity and high press. I'm not sure what game he was watching. SU were very poor and operating about 80% of the intensity they were at home last season.

As for "Player X not playing well because the team plays a certain way" and his comments about Ndombele being able to play multiple positions, sure he knows his answer is total BS. Tanguy is a great example of this. Put him back in 2 man midfield with a minder and give him freedom to express himself and run the game. Put him in a defensive minded number 10 position and then expect him to shut down the keeper and watch him tire and become ineffective in the 2nd half.

Obviously, because Jose makes these statements in his pressers they must be true :-)

Anyway, I was happy with the incremental improvement today and Jose did well. Despite Aurier's goal, if we had the equivalent of Reggie on the right we would have torn them a new one. The wide wing backs stretched them and Bergwijn was fantastic exploiting the new space created. Obviously, Tanguy was superb.

Despite the early mistakes from Rodon, Dier and Hojberg we didn't concede early and did deserve the 2-0 lead. I'm glad Jose allowed his eleven to get 87 mins together and work more things out. That was good management. Moura then came on and showed us why it was a good idea to keep them on the pitch :-)

I saw that as in his set up showponys need to do the hard yards as well.
Nothing more.
If you look at the players that have improved their all round game, he may have a point.

 

[Gary Onedaysoon]

Mourinho's comments made me laugh in the presser. He called it high intensity and high press. I'm not sure what game he was watching. SU were very poor and operating about 80% of the intensity they were at home last season.

As for "Player X not playing well because the team plays a certain way" and his comments about Ndombele being able to play multiple positions, sure he knows his answer is total BS. Tanguy is a great example of this. Put him back in 2 man midfield with a minder and give him freedom to express himself and run the game. Put him in a defensive minded number 10 position and then expect him to shut down the keeper and watch him tire and become ineffective in the 2nd half.

Obviously, because Jose makes these statements in his pressers they must be true :-)

Anyway, I was happy with the incremental improvement today and Jose did well. Despite Aurier's goal, if we had the equivalent of Reggie on the right we would have torn them a new one. The wide wing backs stretched them and Bergwijn was fantastic exploiting the new space created. Obviously, Tanguy was superb.

Despite the early mistakes from Rodon, Dier and Hojberg we didn't concede early and did deserve the 2-0 lead. I'm glad Jose allowed his eleven to get 87 mins together and work more things out. That was good management. Moura then came on and showed us why it was a good idea to keep them on the pitch :-)

LMAO. Your last sentence.

 

[vinniecopenhagen]

I just want it noted that McGoldrick guy @ 33 yrs of age. FFS we have Bale, not only can not last half the distance, he doesn't even have the energy or agility for a 31 yrs old. All the other senior players in the PL are setting an example.

He retired last year from the Ireland team,so it was obviously a good decision from him,think he scored 1 goal for us but only got 14 caps.

 

[steveperryman]

Not the perfect game by any means but a vast improvement all the same. It's blatantly obvious we're a well drilled & organised unit. Once the lads become more accustomed to it we'll be a total nightmare to play against.

 

[vinniecopenhagen]

Great to see all the positive comments on here, about time. Just hope Jose realises we have the best attacking formation in the PL,so why hold back.

 

[cummings]

With all the points we have thrown away especially in the drawn matches and to be just one point behind Liverpool is astonishing to say the least!

 

[SpursEagle]

Really good performance today, apart from a short period after half time where I was thinking here we go again!

Kudos.

 

[total spurs]

Gotta improve our control & passing. Too many wayward passes & too many with a bad first touch. Against better teams we will get punished. Hope he sees that Ndom is great in this position. Hopefully many will get a decent rest before the pool game, whilst they will probably have to play at full strength v Utd. Thought Dixon looked decent, looking to no e the ball forward and mostly his passing was good. Onward and upward....hopefully...maybe!

 

[Timbo1882]

Son is abject, he loses the ball in EVERY contact. Vinicius please.Jose dropped Davinson again. That will only succeed in undermining his confidence. I liked the look of Rodon, good distribution. Davinson used to look good on distribution but his in/out role has destroyed him. Davinson is better than Dier, he is faster, taller and he can turn.

 

[total spurs]

Gotta improve our control & passing. Too many wayward passes & too many with a bad first touch. Against better teams we will get punished. Hope he sees that Ndom is great in this position. Hopefully many will get a decent rest before the pool game, whilst they will probably have to play at full strength v Utd. Thought Dixon looked decent, looking to no e the ball forward and mostly his passing was good. Onward and upward....hopefully...maybe!

Dixon...wtf! Rodon.

 

[Critical_Spur]

Son is abject, he loses the ball in EVERY contact. Vinicius please.Jose dropped Davinson again. That will only succeed in undermining his confidence. I liked the look of Rodon, good distribution. Davinson used to look good on distribution but his in/out role has destroyed him. Davinson is better than Dier, he is faster, taller and he can turn.

Just my perception. I note whoever you pair with Dier, there is too much to and fro passing between them, barely finding a pass forward. In the absence of Toby, Dier appears to be the designated hoofer... and he is poor. Rodon inevitably (being younger and newbie) is still quite rigid and seeing how Jose slates mistakes, he is playing safe. But the pairing with Dier irritates me. Rodon has a good physique and height and will mature to be quite imposing.

Dier's heading imo is very poor, like Sanchez, is very random in to no man's land. Dier doesn't read the corners very well. Not the first time he was caught by the flight and Goldrick simply our-muscled Davis for the header.

Final rant is, and I have watched it time and time again to comment, Dier takes too many pauses before passing the ball. Partly due to no outlet but mostly he's looking for the clever long ball which he invariable executes poorly.

Pretty obvious I am not a fan of Dier!!. I think playing at DM over several years, he's like a new signing still learning.

 

[Gary Onedaysoon]

I've just been reading that Real Madrid have a £41m buyback clause for Reggie that they can activate at the end of this season or next. Or any other club can activate it if RM are not interested. I thought this deal was structured so that we didn't have to sell if we didn't want to. Does anyone have any knowledge of this deal that confirms it one way or another?

 

[muttley]

Just my perception. I note whoever you pair with Dier, there is too much to and fro passing between them, barely finding a pass forward. In the absence of Toby, Dier appears to be the designated hoofer... and he is poor. Rodon inevitably (being younger and newbie) is still quite rigid and seeing how Jose slates mistakes, he is playing safe. But the pairing with Dier irritates me. Rodon has a good physique and height and will mature to be quite imposing.

Dier's heading imo is very poor, like Sanchez, is very random in to no man's land. Dier doesn't read the corners very well. Not the first time he was caught by the flight and Goldrick simply our-muscled Davis for the header.

Final rant is, and I have watched it time and time again to comment, Dier takes too many pauses before passing the ball. Partly due to no outlet but mostly he's looking for the clever long ball which he invariable executes poorly.

Pretty obvious I am not a fan of Dier!!. I think playing at DM over several years, he's like a new signing still learning.

Dier isn't where we need him to be....yet.

That is 2 or 3 goals now where Dier has been caught under the cross and missed it, almost Dawsonesque. He drifts over to the side that the ball is on whereas great centre halves hold their centred position. Sometimes just 1 or 2 yards can make all the difference.

I also think Jose is trying to suss out how quickly he can get a tune out of Rodon. He's clearly raw at this level but the talent is there. He can go from looking really cultured one minute to looking rugged and ready for battle the next. I like that about him.

The net, net is that Jose isn't settled on his centre halves. If Dier isn't careful, he'll be the one back on the bench.

 

[Spursex]

I've just been reading that Real Madrid have a £41m buyback clause for Reggie that they can activate at the end of this season or next. Or any other club can activate it if RM are not interested. I thought this deal was structured so that we didn't have to sell if we didn't want to. Does anyone have any knowledge of this deal that confirms it one way or another?

It's pretty simple really; as it has been explained to me by an agent familiar with the situation, RM can trigger the clause, but then the player has to agree. The buyback valuation clause does not apply to any other club.

What isn't being spoken off is what (if any) obligations them not activating the clause would mean for our Loan to buy deal for Bale.

 

[Spursex]

Anyway, much better performance against a pretty inadequate side really, but at least we weren't set up to be negative, we looked so much more balanced as a unit without Sissososo.

Rondon was a brave move and he did well once he settled, Dier marshaled the back line well, but both LLoris and he are now the teams hoofers from the back into nowhere most of the time - the tactic has been done to death i.e. get the ball up quick so that Son can run onto it, or can create something from it, trouble most teams are fully aware of it now.

But let's not be churlish, I was literally having nightmares about what could happen in this game, and thankfully it didn't. Although I did say to 80 during the game that if we went in 1-0 at halftime, I was hiding in the dressing room for the second half.

Our next few games are tough and I believe will be the defining games of our season - I hope Jose stays brave and trusts his players.