Spurs v Barca - Match Thread | Page 11 | Vital Football

Spurs v Barca - Match Thread

We got schooled - terrible start, they toyed with us for much of it and could have gone up a couple of gears whereas we clawed our way back into the game and were playing at 110%.

Gulf in class ? Probably.

Tactically smarter and better prepared? Definitely.

Playing out at the back with a few minutes to go ? Stupid.

We're not getting out of this group.

I thought we could raise our game and in parts we did, but we can't sustain it.

Still, loved seeing Barca, the way they play is mesmerising.
 
muttley said:
Still scratching my head what is happening on the training ground with the full-backs. Why are they so close all of the time to the centre halves when we're defending? That's OK when you get your wide player to cover the wider space but that's not happening either. We're getting picked off every single week by easyish balls. It's subtle but they only need to move 5 yards wider and we will look way more tighter defensively and won't leave a gap between centre half and full-back.

That brings me to Moura and Son. Defensively, they just haven't got the brains that Eriksen and Dele have. It's all panic sprints to get goal side rather than engage the brain in the first place. Son was probably the worst outfield player on the pitch tonight. I say outfield, because Hugo had a mare and wins that accolade hands down. Poch is also culpable for the overplaying from our keepers. It's all 3 of them in every match this season and that comes from the training ground.
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Spot on.

With Son our press always gets broken, and now with Moura on board it's twice the trouble.
 
I feel sorry for Winks. He played out of his skin in the final quarter only for yet more brain farts from Lloris and Sissoko!

Yes we were outclassed but there were moments when we looked like getting a point from the game.

If it weren’t for Hugo’s first howler, their worldie in off the post and the 4th (avoidable) goal, we would all be praising the performance but that’s football I guess!

If my golf handicap was marked on that one good drive off the tea or that one 15 yard putt, then I’d be playing off 5, not 25!

We should aim to win the Europa Cup or whatever they call it these days...
 
Well after that round of fixtures, as expected we lose and Inter win and we're right up against it.

We now need to beat PSV twice, hope Barca beat Inter twice and then if we beat Inter by 2 goals at home we will go through due to it going down to head to head record if a teams tied (presuming we lose to Barca away and Inter beat PSV @ home on the last day)

So although we're right up against it, we've still got a half decent chance although I think PSV away next game will be tough.
 
Spesh-Spur said:
I feel sorry for Winks. He played out of his skin in the final quarter only for yet more brain farts from Lloris and Sissoko!

Yes we were outclassed but there were moments when we looked like getting a point from the game.

If it weren’t for Hugo’s first howler, their worldie in off the post and the 4th (avoidable) goal, we would all be praising the performance but that’s football I guess!

If my golf handicap was marked on that one good drive off the tea or that one 15 yard putt, then I’d be playing off 5, not 25!

We should aim to win the Europa Cup or whatever they call it these days...
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I actually think dropping into the Europa and really makinga fist of it would do us a World of good - we can never win the CL (even if in my fantasy World we had a chance) but putting everything on the line and we would have a great chance of winning the Europa and that could be just the trophy winning start we need...

p.s. My handicap had come down from 12 to 8 this summer! determined to get back to 6 but no matter what I do, just can't seem to get on track - so it's a bit like our progress! LOL!
 
RichmondSpur said:
If Sissoko had his body in line with the ball when it was played to him the defender would have had to play through him to get to it and potentially concede a foul. This boils down to the player receiving the ball not being proficient enough in possession to protect and keep it.
Why oh why, are we playing out into a technically deficient player when deep in our half late in the game, as you said crazy.
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This proves my point,well,rant about Sissoko,I was hardly jumping on the Sissoko bandwagon as others suggest.
 
Kinygerbils said:
This is a master class of how far we are from being anywhere near the top.

Granted we are missing a few through injury but that comes down to the manager needing to learn about rotation/squad protection as well
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To be honest, I'm not surprised; there is a 1.5 billion Euro plus invested in Barca over us - that makes a difference, no matter how positive we are, no matter how critical we are of ownership, management, tactics - we just can't hide away from the fact they have bought some of the best players on the planet...

The gap between the very elite of europe and us is a financial chasm, let alone a playing one.
 
Spursex said:
I think it's going to be a good few games until he's back to his best, but at least he is now on that track.
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So Kenya are away and then home to Ethiopia in the ACON on Weds / Sun next week. Makes you wonder whether Poch will reduce his role this weekend to the bench or even rested altogether. Reading between the lines, Spurs have a pretty decent relationship with the Kenyan International setup and have limited his time with his country in the last 3 international fixtures. They will probably be keen to get their captain back now they've seen him against Barca.
 
Spursex said:
I was depressed when we signed him, thought he might get better - for awhile it appeared he might, and then he just depresses me again.

Someone must be stupid enough to buy him from us?
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Levy will not cut prices for the players we need to shift off the bill

No matter how bad they have been for us Nkodou/Janssen/Llorente/Sissoko would attract interest.
 
muttley said:
So Kenya are away and then home to Ethiopia in the ACON on Weds / Sun next week. Makes you wonder whether Poch will reduce his role this weekend to the bench or even rested altogether. Reading between the lines, Spurs have a pretty decent relationship with the Kenyan International setup and have limited his time with his country in the last 3 international fixtures. They will probably be keen to get their captain back now they've seen him against Barca.
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Unless he gets a sudden post match injury, he'll have to go - and even if he does, after the last time he didn't travel, they'll be demanding he attends.
 
xvausch said:
This may be the most accurate and truthful analysis you've ever posted here.

Like a Unicorn.

But 100000000000000000% correct.

.
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I watched the lofted dink from Tripps I think it was. Two players one of which was Sissoko ran up the pitch expecting it to drop over their heads, but it was short, Sissoko realised and tried to adjust but had a player tight on him. Our other player was further up the pitch already. The ball bounced in front of Sissoko at knee height. Not easy to control when you are running towards the ball.
 
Spursex said:
To be honest, I'm not surprised; there is a 1.5 billion Euro plus invested in Barca over us - that makes a difference, no matter how positive we are, no matter how critical we are of ownership, management, tactics - we just can't hide away from the fact they have bought some of the best players on the planet...

The gap between the very elite of europe and us is a financial chasm, let alone a playing one.
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They also have an amazing brand that can attract talent. At this moment, Arthur has only a couple of caps for Brazil yet was fantastic in the Barca first team last night. I bet he thought for less than 2 seconds when offered the chance to go to Barca. They even got him for 40m euro. The difference is even if we had been watching him in Brazil, we wouldn't have the conviction to buy early or put in place a pre-transfer agreement. We'd also have to sell the hell out of our club to him versus just saying "we're Barcelona" and the chances are he'd wait for more offers to come in before making a choice.

We must keep trying to land these young stars though if we are to compete. Anyone can buy a Sissoko.
 
Spesh-Spur said:
I feel sorry for Winks. He played out of his skin in the final quarter only for yet more brain farts from Lloris and Sissoko!

Yes we were outclassed but there were moments when we looked like getting a point from the game.

If it weren’t for Hugo’s first howler, their worldie in off the post and the 4th (avoidable) goal, we would all be praising the performance but that’s football I guess!

If my golf handicap was marked on that one good drive off the tea or that one 15 yard putt, then I’d be playing off 5, not 25!

We should aim to win the Europa Cup or whatever they call it these days...
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Winks was invisible for most of the match, passing the ball sideways/backwards.
 
Winks did enough for me to put him straight back in the England squad. You just get the feeling that playing Spain and Croatia away will require someone like him coming off the bench in the last part of the game. He's nowhere deserving of a start for England, but tactically should be on the bench.

For Spurs, we just need to get him more and more game time. Then we might see the backwards and sideways stuff move back to forward passing. The good news is that he looks 90 mins fit and finished stronger than most. Winks will also benefit from having guys like Erisken and Dembele to play with.
 
Winks has been praised for his work rate in the game and got a fair rating. Tripps got a bad rating. Lamela the highest rating.
 
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