Tottenham v RB Leipzig Champions League first leg. | Vital Football

Tottenham v RB Leipzig Champions League first leg.

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Perhaps the toughest game in our season so far; a (still) Spurs legend gives his views:

Speaking to Betfair, Berbs had this to say:

"Spurs are through to the last 16 in the Champions League and maybe we will now see them get the best of Mourinho. Leipzig are a team that cannot be underestimated. When they played Bayern Munich they had a number of great chances to score but were unlucky in the end. Spurs must be careful especially with the speed of Leipzig who with Timo Werner have a player who can run at the speed of light. They cannot afford to underestimate them.

Spurs aren’t the favourites to win the Champions League, they weren’t the favourites to reach the final last year, but now they have that Mourinho-factor! When he won it with Porto they weren’t the favourites but they lifted the trophy. He gives Spurs that extra bit in this competition, if he wins it with them he will go down into the Tottenham folklore.

Of course, he is already one of the greats, nobody can take anything from him, if he wins the Champions League with Spurs he will have done it three times with different teams, and it is always good to do win a trophy with the underdogs, it’s the best feeling.”

Frankly, the only chance we'll have is if we can see an immediate and momentous improvement with our defense, a defense that so far has shown little ability to deal with pace....play so openly and so tactically naive as we did against Villa - which was for me like watching schoolboy football i.e. one end to the other with very little quality in between and we're going to risk an embarrassing thumping from a German side at home once again.

Jose has to show his strategic mastermind approach in this game if we have any hope of progressing.
 
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Because of our defensive frailties, I suspect Jose will set us up as against Pool and City. Shame, as a home team, we set up so defensively. But if the front players can get their act together, we should get breaks to make it count. Paramount that we do not concede. 1-0 will do to take to Germany.

Lo to start. Tanga back in.
 
I watched their game against BM.....they played on the counter, had a few chances....Timo Werner looked average and missed an open goal from 6 yards, but spent a lot of time complaining to his teammates about the lack of the type of service he wanted so he may prove to be brilliant against us. They also had another youngster who played on the shoulder of the last defender and had pace, a bit like Son, Berg and Moura.

Their most impressive player was their CB and captain, a giant of a man but fast and dominating in defence.

The whole game was a bit of a damp squib so difficult to judge them, but Jose was there so he will know their strengths and weaknesses and plan accordingly...if only our lads can execute the plan!

if we plan to play counter attack and they do the same it could be a very boring game.
 
Pounding incoming I fear.

Too many players that CBA\finished.
 
Must admit, I'm looking forward to see Mukiele, Klostermann and Upamecano. Everyone talks about Werner, but these three are equally as intriguing to me.
 
We need pace in defence. Would possibly play a 3 with Tang and Sanchez providing the pace with Toby orchestrating. Aurier and Davies as Wing backs.
 
That's how I'd play rackny, we must be cautious. Could easily be out of this game if we go for it, they're capable of putting 3 or 4 past us if we ain't careful.

Lloris, Aurier, Sanchez, Toby, Tanganga, Davies, Winks, Lo Celso, Bergwijn, Lucas, Son

No doubt he will fit Dele in there though :rolleyes:
 
Maybe we will see some N'dom and LoSo action?
It's a big ask really. They look like a decent outfit.
 
total spurs said:
I would play Tangana instead of Serge....Gio instead of Dier and then as we started Sunday. If we actually move the ball (and ourselves) around if (BIG IF) the front players decide to pass....then I can see a narrow win for us.
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I'd go with your choice Total. Serge spends most of his time by the halfway line or beyond and if we set up defensively to break, we need players with ball control through the middle who can quickly re-align to defend. Serge = playing with 10 men. I'd also want to cut out playing from the back. Continue as of late, mix it up.

Regardless of what's happened with the managerial change etc, I am sure European teams will show us respect (CL finalists + the Jose factor). Looking forward to it.
 
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I firmly believe that projecting forward 2-3 seasons, Sanchez and Tanganga will develop into a top class CB partnership. If we can sign a quality right back in the summer to partner these two plus Davies, with Toby and Sessegnon as alternative options, our defensive set up going forward looks good. In the short term however, Tanganga must play right back for the majority of fixtures. We have a huge ten weeks or so coming up, with virtually every game being a must win. Although he has his moments, Aurier is far too high risk for what lies ahead of us.
 
Jose is going to have to put his trust in players like Sess, Gedson and maybe Troy.

Personally I hope we don't put too much into the CL from here on. Focus on the league and getting CL next season, treat the FA Cup as our best chance for a trophy but even then, getting CL next season would be massive for us going into next season so Mourinho can start his first full season on the front foot.
 
Son out, who is honna score the goals? Maybe put Toby as striker? He looks better upfront than at the back nowadays.
We seriously have to move Lamela on and free up space for another player. I like his attitude and determination in games but that is useless if he cannot even be fit for games. Tired of his 'play a handful of games and have reasonably lengthy absence' kinda roster.
We need Moura to do an Ajax.
If the RB players are as fast as Berba said, then we should set up a bit lower and dont play high line.
 
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