Tottenham v RB Leipzig Champions League first leg.

[Removed at own request]

Mourinho is sort of full of shit at the same time though. Son is a striker, and always has been. His versatility to play as a wide striker has just been heavily utilised but his entire mentality is that of a striker. Mourinho also has an option to give Parrott a chance. He may not be ready, but the challenge might just be the making of him. His comments about Lucas and Bergwijn being "dead" and Lamela having not trained made me all the more curious as to why Sessegnon wasn't given a chance to prove himself.

Whether Mourinho thinks the likes of Sessegnon, Skipp or Parrott are good enough for this level is probably the easier question to answer, but they are still options he could utilise to ease the burden on the rest of the squad. Needs must and I think step one is deciding what we can realistically achieve this season under these circumstances and my personal thoughts are CL is totally out of reach, FA Cup could be achievable if the draw goes our way but top 4 IS achievable and would give Mourinho the springboard he needs to have a proper go next season.

I’d bin it all in search for top 4

 

[Bienvenu17]

First we better change our entire negative anti-football approach to the game. Jose's tactics were child-like.

Is that fair to say Ex? If we’re not giving away a penalty and play with more intensity, like after Lamela/Ndom came on, we could’ve won the game.

 

[muttley]

Mourinho is sort of full of shit at the same time though. Son is a striker, and always has been. His versatility to play as a wide striker has just been heavily utilised but his entire mentality is that of a striker. Mourinho also has an option to give Parrott a chance. He may not be ready, but the challenge might just be the making of him. His comments about Lucas and Bergwijn being "dead" and Lamela having not trained made me all the more curious as to why Sessegnon wasn't given a chance to prove himself.

Whether Mourinho thinks the likes of Sessegnon, Skipp or Parrott are good enough for this level is probably the easier question to answer, but they are still options he could utilise to ease the burden on the rest of the squad. Needs must and I think step one is deciding what we can realistically achieve this season under these circumstances and my personal thoughts are CL is totally out of reach, FA Cup could be achievable if the draw goes our way but top 4 IS achievable and would give Mourinho the springboard he needs to have a proper go next season.

I'm with you on that last bit. Jose knows that Saturday 12-30pm comes around very quickly and his players need to recover. He knows that a higher back line and a 90 min attacking system that was more in Liepzig's face would have taken more out of them. It's his way of saying that CL football is luxury for the rest of this season. The bread and butter is the league and he'll deal with one distraction, the FA Cup. He won't be massively upset if we draw 1-1 in Germany and then gracefully bow out.

As you say, he's the one being realistic.

 

[Removed at own request]

I'm with you on that last bit. Jose knows that Saturday 12-30pm comes around very quickly and his players need to recover. He knows that a higher back line and a 90 min attacking system that was more in Liepzig's face would have taken more out of them. It's his way of saying that CL football is luxury for the rest of this season. The bread and butter is the league and he'll deal with one distraction, the FA Cup. He won't be massively upset if we draw 1-1 in Germany and then gracefully bow out.

As you say, he's the one being realistic.

Amen to this.

Most the starting 11 will have to go again sat.

 

[Spursex]

I'm with you on that last bit. Jose knows that Saturday 12-30pm comes around very quickly and his players need to recover. He knows that a higher back line and a 90 min attacking system that was more in Liepzig's face would have taken more out of them. It's his way of saying that CL football is luxury for the rest of this season. The bread and butter is the league and he'll deal with one distraction, the FA Cup. He won't be massively upset if we draw 1-1 in Germany and then gracefully bow out.

As you say, he's the one being realistic.

So he just 'caved in' to the negative view that we couldn't/ wouldn't go any further in the CL?

Seriously. You think that's the mentality and view of a 'winner'?

He's utterly childish:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">🗣 Reporter: &quot;Were Spurs bad or Leipzig good?&quot;<br><br> &quot;I&#39;m not going to answer that because it&#39;s out of order.&quot;<br><br> &quot;Great question mate!&quot;<br><br> Jose Mourinho is back to his best. <a href="https://t.co/hfBhxXxPGS">pic.twitter.com/hfBhxXxPGS</a></p>&mdash; SPORF (@Sporf) <a href="

https://twitter.com/x/status/1230431794270523392

">February 20, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Departed]

We went through the same shit with Pochettino. The only difference was that it was without any expectations.

 

[SpursEagle]

While I agree that Jose can be childish and obstinate, EX, in his defence I have to say that particular reporter asks dumb questions all the time. I think he's Nigerian and tried Jose's patience (and mine!!) a few weeks back with stupid questions about Wanyama.

I'm not excusing it as this is part and parcel of the job, but you know how it is: You've had a bad day and the permanently annoying guy quips something stupid and right or wrong, you just snap.

I told you when we hired him that if you guys had problems with Poch's interviews, then he ain't got nothing on Mourinho. Get used to this because Jose is gonna do Jose until he is fired or walks away.

 

[Nick Real Deal]

While I agree that Jose can be childish and obstinate, EX, in his defence I have to say that particular reporter asks dumb questions all the time. I think he's Nigerian and tried Jose's patience (and mine!!) a few weeks back with stupid questions about Wanyama.

I'm not excusing it as this is part and parcel of the job, but you know how it is: You've had a bad day and the permanently annoying guy quips something stupid and right or wrong, you just snap.

I told you when we hired him that if you guys had problems with Poch's interviews, then he ain't got nothing on Mourinho. Get used to this because Jose is gonna do Jose until he is fired or walks away.

It was a Dennis Pennis type question seemingly designed to provoke.

 

[muttley]

So he just 'caved in' to the negative view that we couldn't/ wouldn't go any further in the CL?

Seriously. You think that's the mentality and view of a 'winner'?

He's utterly childish

I think perhaps you're picking the extreme position. In reality, it is somewhere in the middle.

What we would have liked to see is a Spurs team go at RBL in the home leg, get a 2 goal lead and then protect that lead by resting behind the ball in the latter stages of the game and playing counter. In reality, Jose chose to do it the other way round and we finished on the front foot and perhaps were unlucky not to nick an equaliser.

There's a reason for that strategy. Firstly, think back through the entire season and you have a set of players simply struggling to adapt to new systems. Poch tried the hybrid 4-3-3 / 4-2-3-1 for his last year and they simply couldn't get it. They weren't pressing either and generally were just a mess. Jose has made it simpler for them. It's about defending deeper, conceding possession and playing on the counter. It's not without challenges but has got us to a point within 4th place. We've had many games where we've started slow and finished strong, even Liverpool where we changed the formation and put in an extra centre half.

So what happens last night if Jose tells his team to forget all of that and play it completely differently for one game? I would have predicted a car crash especially as a third of that squad aren't at the elite 90 mins level anyway. How can they possibly play a high pressing, passing game for 95 mins against an in form team like Liepzig?

In reality what Jose is trying to do is keep us in the CL by sticking to the same playbook he has been using for the last couple of months. It's not his favoured system in the bigger picture but it's one that might just get us through. It probably does make CL priority 3 but we don't even know that until we see the Norwich and Burnely line-ups in a couple of weeks. I think it is though.

I've been to 3 games in 3 months. I tell you something. From Boxing Day home to Brighton through to Saints away through to last night's game there is incremental improvements. I could see players playing for the shirt who knew their specific roles and were playing to their manager in a formation they feel comfortable with. I haven't see that for a while and hope next time I go it gets incrementally better again.

 

[Departed]

I think perhaps you're picking the extreme position. In reality, it is somewhere in the middle.

What we would have liked to see is a Spurs team go at RBL in the home leg, get a 2 goal lead and then protect that lead by resting behind the ball in the latter stages of the game and playing counter. In reality, Jose chose to do it the other way round and we finished on the front foot and perhaps were unlucky not to nick an equaliser.

There's a reason for that strategy. Firstly, think back through the entire season and you have a set of players simply struggling to adapt to new systems. Poch tried the hybrid 4-3-3 / 4-2-3-1 for his last year and they simply couldn't get it. They weren't pressing either and generally were just a mess. Jose has made it simpler for them. It's about defending deeper, conceding possession and playing on the counter. It's not without challenges but has got us to a point within 4th place. We've had many games where we've started slow and finished strong, even Liverpool where we changed the formation and put in an extra centre half.

So what happens last night if Jose tells his team to forget all of that and play it completely differently for one game? I would have predicted a car crash especially as a third of that squad aren't at the elite 90 mins level anyway. How can they possibly play a high pressing, passing game for 95 mins against an in form team like Liepzig?

In reality what Jose is trying to do is keep us in the CL by sticking to the same playbook he has been using for the last couple of months. It's not his favoured system in the bigger picture but it's one that might just get us through. It probably does make CL priority 3 but we don't even know that until we see the Norwich and Burnely line-ups in a couple of weeks. I think it is though.

I've been to 3 games in 3 months. I tell you something. From Boxing Day home to Brighton through to Saints away through to last night's game there is incremental improvements. I could see players playing for the shirt who knew their specific roles and were playing to their manager in a formation they feel comfortable with. I haven't see that for a while and hope next time I go it gets incrementally better again.

Agree Muttley. But the Mourinho hate is picking up steam. He needs to silence it with a few more wins.

 

[muttley]

Agree Muttley. But the Mourinho hate is picking up steam. He needs to silence it with a few more wins.

He needs Simon Felstein to play back the last couple of interviews. Jose was rude to the German guy who asked for an opinion on RB's 32 year old manager. He was rude again last night. Jose needs to realise that he should never be that guy. Just answer in a curt way. Something like "RBL were the better team in the 1st half but despite the goal we were the better second half team. Next question"

What's funny is that when Jose put Alisdair Gold back in his box on Tanganga, Jose was the good guy. We all hate that waste of space for his stupid questions, articles, boring video blogs etc.

 

[SpursEagle]

I think perhaps you're picking the extreme position. In reality, it is somewhere in the middle.

What we would have liked to see is a Spurs team go at RBL in the home leg, get a 2 goal lead and then protect that lead by resting behind the ball in the latter stages of the game and playing counter. In reality, Jose chose to do it the other way round and we finished on the front foot and perhaps were unlucky not to nick an equaliser.

There's a reason for that strategy. Firstly, think back through the entire season and you have a set of players simply struggling to adapt to new systems. Poch tried the hybrid 4-3-3 / 4-2-3-1 for his last year and they simply couldn't get it. They weren't pressing either and generally were just a mess. Jose has made it simpler for them. It's about defending deeper, conceding possession and playing on the counter. It's not without challenges but has got us to a point within 4th place. We've had many games where we've started slow and finished strong, even Liverpool where we changed the formation and put in an extra centre half.

So what happens last night if Jose tells his team to forget all of that and play it completely differently for one game? I would have predicted a car crash especially as a third of that squad aren't at the elite 90 mins level anyway. How can they possibly play a high pressing, passing game for 95 mins against an in form team like Liepzig?

In reality what Jose is trying to do is keep us in the CL by sticking to the same playbook he has been using for the last couple of months. It's not his favoured system in the bigger picture but it's one that might just get us through. It probably does make CL priority 3 but we don't even know that until we see the Norwich and Burnely line-ups in a couple of weeks. I think it is though.

I've been to 3 games in 3 months. I tell you something. From Boxing Day home to Brighton through to Saints away through to last night's game there is incremental improvements. I could see players playing for the shirt who knew their specific roles and were playing to their manager in a formation they feel comfortable with. I haven't see that for a while and hope next time I go it gets incrementally better again.

Good post, Muttley and I agree with most of it up until your last paragraph. To be honest, this team has me tearing my hair out since the turn of the year. I think we've been awful, both individually and as a collective.

 

[Nick Real Deal]

Full 90 minutes now up on the Spurs website, if you dare !!

 

[Departed]

The weird part is that the initial set up didn't allow any goals in the first half.

 

[Harry-Kari]

I'm with you on that last bit. Jose knows that Saturday 12-30pm comes around very quickly and his players need to recover. He knows that a higher back line and a 90 min attacking system that was more in Liepzig's face would have taken more out of them. It's his way of saying that CL football is luxury for the rest of this season. The bread and butter is the league and he'll deal with one distraction, the FA Cup. He won't be massively upset if we draw 1-1 in Germany and then gracefully bow out.

As you say, he's the one being realistic.

If that’s true Mutters he will need to play a higher back line against Chelsea on Saturday, but I bet he won’t until it’s too late.

Facing facts, Moura is knackered and won’t have recovered properly by Saturday so he should be sub at best in order to protect him....similarly, Berg is not yet fully up to PL fitness and also looked shattered....he can’t complain about injuries and then risk players that are in the Red zone on the grounds he has no one else...he has Sess, Skipp, Verts, Tanganga, all rested, plus Fernandes who should be ok and then ND and Lamela who should also be fresh.

He just needs a better tactical approach to leverage the skills in the team and that means higher lines and fighting for control of the game rather than passive resistance and relying on luck.

 

[muttley]

If that’s true Mutters he will need to play a higher back line against Chelsea on Saturday, but I bet he won’t until it’s too late.

Facing facts, Moura is knackered and won’t have recovered properly by Saturday so he should be sub at best in order to protect him....similarly, Berg is not yet fully up to PL fitness and also looked shattered....he can’t complain about injuries and then risk players that are in the Red zone on the grounds he has no one else...he has Sess, Skipp, Verts, Tanganga, all rested, plus Fernandes who should be ok and then ND and Lamela who should also be fresh.

He just needs a better tactical approach to leverage the skills in the team and that means higher lines and fighting for control of the game rather than passive resistance and relying on luck.

So out of interest, how do you think we should setup tactically to achieve that?

I actually don't think closing a 11 points gap to 4th is luck. There is method in his madness. Even last night we had 16 shots to their 12 and 5 on target each. You wouldn't think that reading some articles on the game.

 

[freundorfoe]

The weird part is that the initial set up didn't allow any goals in the first half.

/ Hugo and some decent last ditch blocks and non clinical finishing didn't allow goals.

 

[Nick Real Deal]

The weird part is that the initial set up didn't allow any goals in the first half.

I have re-watched the first 30 minutes and we dont look as bad as I remember last night. We contained them fairly well mostly. I have noticed Leipzig are quite dirty. Couple of obvious dives and cynical fouling when we won the ball back to stop us breaking maybe should warranted yellow cards red did not give. Bergwijn and Gedson fairly wasteful. The run from Loco ended with the wrong ball that Berg was not expecting, Dele was square !!

 

[SpursEagle]

So out of interest, how do you think we should setup tactically to achieve that?

I actually don't think closing a 11 points gap to 4th is luck. There is method in his madness. Even last night we had 16 shots to their 12 and 5 on target each. You wouldn't think that reading some articles on the game.

In fairness, Chelsea have been borderline relegation form since that 12 point gap. P-14 W-4 D-3 L-7 PTS-15. That's a major reason why its down to 1 point.

One of their 4 wins was against us at our place where they were the better team, which is galling to think about.

 

[muttley]

In fairness, Chelsea have been borderline relegation form since that 12 point gap. P-14 W-4 D-3 L-7 PTS-15. That's a major reason why its down to 1 point.

One of their 4 wins was against us at our place where they were the better team, which is galling to think about.

Yeah, agree but we were also behind a bunch of other sides when Jose took over. We have managed to nudge ahead of a lot of them although it can easily swing back.

There is a lot of "snatching defeat from the jaws...." going on again this season. I don't see that changing through to May.