Watford v Spurs how will it pan out? - Game Thread | Page 10 | Vital Football

Watford v Spurs how will it pan out? - Game Thread

Deli is ALWAYS overplaying it these days and losing the ball, he has fallen for his own hype that he is as good as the papers and fans claim him to be so he isn't working hard any more and just tries to look pretty instead of putting in the hard graft that is needed throughout the whole of the game.

He's a bit of a poser our Alli and a very overrated one.
 
Well if we needed any more proof that Dembele is a 1:10 player, we got it again today.

Eriksen and Davies were very poor.

Kane is still just off his game and the only bright spark who looked like he was going to make something happen was Moura.

All in all we were physically bullied at set pieces, so our back three all looked as if they weren't up for it.

Good to see Winks come on (far too late) and actually make positive forward passes and runs.

Alli worked hard, covered a lot of ground, but the quality in the final third was generally missing and he contributed to that lack of creativity, he has to do better.

They deserved the win as they physically hurt us where it mattered, Toby and Vert bottled it.

So pissed off, we've done it again - didn't expect it to be easy, but didn't expect us to go asleep after we went ahead yet again - when will we learn?!!
 
Best summary I've read so far:


Watford stay perfect and dent Tottenham Hotspur’s title credentials
Watford 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1
new
James Gheerbrant
September 2 2018, 6:00pm, The Sunday Times


Most pre-season predictions had Watford flirting with relegation. Instead, after four games, they occupy a position in the top three and are yet to drop a point.

For an hour here, it looked as if the magic was about to wear off – instead, they claimed their biggest scalp of the season so far, knocking off one of their fellow 100% starters and dealing the first setback of Tottenham’s Premier League campaign.

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Deeney levelled things up for Watford in the second halfFran Augstein/AP
This was a triumph for the management of Javi Gracia, who arrived to no great fanfare at the end of last season and after an ominously poor end to last season, has defied lowly expectations. He was expected to walk the plank; turns out he was standing on a springboard. His influence was discernible in Watford’s resolute rearguard and two well-worked set-piece goals.

For Tottenham, this was a result to evaporate the optimism generated by their three opening wins. There were some familiar failings here, both in their inability to break down a well-organised defence despite an abundance of creators, and in the absence of any real game-changing options off the bench.

The desperate addition of Fernando Llorente, a 33-year-old with one goal in 16 appearances for Tottenham, felt like a glaring sign of a weakness unaddressed. Teams with genuine title aspirations do not get to lose too many games like this.


This was, in one particular way, a genuinely extraordinary Premier League game. As the clock struck four and the game kicked off at a Vicarage Road stadium still bathed in late summer sunshine, all 20 outfield players arrayed on the pitch – and the two managers in the dugout – had been at their respective club last season.

Watford were naming an unchanged starting XI for the fourth league game in a row; nine of the Spurs XI, meanwhile, played in the 2015-16 campaign. In a volatile, relentlessly acquisitive Premier League, then, it was possible to see this meeting between two teams with a 100% record as an advert for the virtues of stability; for the idea that chemistry and cohesion, cultivated over time, can trump the ideology of incessant addition.

Watford, of course, have come relatively late to this logic. For much of their current stay in the top flight, they have been the league’s great reshufflers, reasoning that personnel turnover is a fundamental part of being a mid-table Premier League club, so they might as well embrace it though.

Perhaps they have realised lately though, that in order to truly thrive in the Premier League, rather than just survive, you have to practise evolution as well as revolution. Incredibly, this is the first time since 2013 that they have entered September under the same manager who oversaw the end of the previous season – it seems emphatically to be paying off.

One of the benefits of having a manager in situ for more than the usual ephemeral life cycle of the Premier League boss is that they can institute not just their idea of football, but their ideas, plural.

Here, Tottenham reverted to a back-three system that Mauricio Pochettino has favoured from time to time; a formation they are comfortable with, but not constrained by.

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Javi Gracia has guided Watford to four wins in a row to open up the Premier League seasonOlly Greenwood/AFP
And it was Tottenham, playing a sort of diamond midfield of Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Lucas Moura ahead of Mousa Dembélé, who created more of the early chances, with Alli sliding in Moura and looping a header over from Toby Alderweireld’s long pass.

Moura at times was playing so high he looked like Harry Kane’s strike partner. Watford carried a sting of their own, with Daryl Janmaat precisely intuiting the penalty-box co-ordinates of Troy Deeney’s meaty forehead for a cross that was headed over the bar.

Alli’s role was particularly interesting. Once he would have been the one at the tip of the diamond, playing in Kane’s orbit, but over the last 12 months he has been remodelled as a number 8 rather than a number 10, with his role subtly shifting towards more engine-room creativity, perhaps at the expense of a certain penalty-box sharpness. Here it was noticeable how deep he and Eriksen were willing to drop to forage for openings and try to draw Watford out of their defensive block.

At first glance, this season’s Premier League is full of competent attacking teams with dreadful, dysfunctional defences: Arsenal, Fulham, perhaps even Everton if you were being harsh. And what might elevate Watford above the fray is their superior organisation at the back. Janmaat, Craig Cathcart, Christian Kabasele and José Holebas are not elite individuals but under Gracia the unit as a whole looks rigorously well-drilled. For 50 minutes they were largely successful in thwarting Tottenham’s attempts to create clear chances.

These close, claustrophobic matches are often the ones on which title challenges stand and fall, and to get through them teams usually need a virtuoso moment of lock-picking individual skill, an irresistible piece of training-ground choreography, or a fat slice of luck. In this instance, Tottenham were served a steaming portion of the latter.

First, ten minutes into the second half, Ben Foster wandered indecisively off his line to claim a cross that eventually dropped to Lucas Moura. The Brazilian’s swinging boot smashed the ball back into the heart of the penalty box, and Abdoulaye Doucouré, rushing back to cover, inadvertently chested the ball in at the near post. His attempted shot might have been inexact, but it was no coincidence that Moura was in the right position to take it – he has now been directly involved in four goals in his last three matches. Son Heung-min might have avoided military service, but he may be subsisting off rations when he returns.

But Tottenham did not make their luck count. Ten minutes later, Alderweireld clattered the angle of post and bar with a miscued defensive header. Then Dembélé, who has looked a touch off the pace in recent games, conceded a free kick on the right, Holebas’s flat, fizzing delivery was perfect and Deeney met it with a skidding header that lodged in the bottom corner of Vorm’s net.

Finally, Tottenham’s inability to defend set pieces extracted a further cost. Holebas produced another superb set-piece delivery from the corner flag and Cathcart shrugged off Dembélé to plant a firm header past Vorm. In the final minutes, Kane headed over the top as Watford held on to preserve their 100% record.

Match stats
image.php

4-2-2-2
Watford2-1Tottenham Hotspur
image.php

3-1-4-2
English Premier League16:00 Sunday September 2 2018

Possession 34.5%
34.5%
65.5%
65.5%Shots 7
7
11
11Shots on target 3
3
2
2Corners 3
3
10
10Fouls conceded 9
9
8
8


Ratings
Watford (4-4-2):
B Foster 6; D Janmaat 8, C Kabasele 7, C Cathcart 8, J Holebas 8; W Hughes 7 (N Chalobah 86), A Doucouré 6, E Capoue 7, R Pereyra 6 (A Mariappa 90); T Deeney 7, A Gray 6 (I Success 70). Booked: Capoue, Success. Substitutes not used: H Gomes, A Masina, K Sema, K Femenia.

Tottenham Hotspur (3-1-4-1-1): M Vorm 6; T Alderweireld 5 (F Llorente 81), D Sanchez 5, J Vertonghen 6; M Dembélé 4 (H Winks 86); K Trippier 5, C Eriksen 6, D Alli 6, B Davies 5 (D Rose 89); L Moura 7; H Kane 6. Booked: Dembélé. Substitutes not used: P Gazzaniga, V Wanyama, E Dier, K Walker-Peters.
 
I am with NRD on Dele. IMO he was ONE of the players (2nd being Moura) who tried to make something happen. I think the win over United created a bit of an aura about the team and there was far too much of flicks and tricks on show, often either causing us to lose momentum in our attacks or losing possession. Credit to Watford, they played just as they intended to, being a physically strong side, made their weight felt. No shots on goals from us and conceding 2 set piece headers is not what I had hoped to see today. Gutted.

Poch also reverted back to his late subs. I thought 1st half would've given Poch the urge to change something.

Let's see what surprise we have in store after the international break. Not the prep we needed for the Pool game.
 
Poch selected the wrong players and formation which meant we couldn't score. Dembele lost his man for one of the goals and gave away the free kick in a daft place which he often does for the other. I would have hooked Sanchez and Dembele at half time for Winks and Dier.
In your opinion, I don't agree with it. Every time we lose a game all I read is Poch should have done this or Poch should have done that.
I guaranteed if he had selected Dier (who 80% on here have been slagging) all I would have ready is why is Poch picking him as he's been crap all season.
Every time we lose a game people just want to play the blame game, none of us know what we'd do if we were standing on the touchline making those decisions.
 
Tottenham player ratings: Mousa Dembele's poor day at the office as Spurs struggle at Watford
Here's how we rated the Tottenham Hotspur players during their Premier League match at Watford

By
Alasdair GoldTottenham Hotspur correspondent
  • 17:59, 2 SEP 2018
  • Updated18:01, 2 SEP 2018


Watch NextPochettino press conference: Every word on the defeat at Watford, a 'wake-up call' and his bench
Alasdair Gold takes a trip the new Spurs stadium




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Michel Vorm

His only real moment of the first half was to somehow send a goal kick out for a corner, slicing a sideways pass to Alderweireld. Could only watch Watford's two headed goals fly by. 5


Kieran Trippier

Plenty of neat interceptions and touches of the ball but didn't offer as much going forward as on his previous visits to Watford with his crosses failing to find their mark. Offered little as a wing-back. 5

Toby Alderweireld

Launched some early trademark diagonal passes and he picked out Alli on 12 minutes but the midfielder looped his header just over. Was fortunate to see his header in his own box bounce off the woodwork and away. He mistimed his leap for Watford's second which Cathcart headed home. Came off for Llorente with ten minutes to go. 5

Jan Vertonghen

He made a big interception to stop Hughes in the box six minutes before the break. Struggled at times with Deeney as did the others around him. 6

Davinson Sanchez

The Colombian made a couple of important interceptions and was the designated man to mop up in the air. Did well on the whole on his return, but still gets turned too easily by strong attackers. 6


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Troy Deeney scores Watford's first goal
Ben Davies

Tried to get down the left and sliced a shot well wide of goal from the edge of the box before the break. Same as Trippier, didn't offer enough going forward for a wing-back. 5

Mousa Dembele



His radar was off in the first half, sending simple passes too far from Vertonghen who had to scramble to get them and either side of the break he handed the ball to Watford on the halfway line. He gave the ball away in his own box soon after Spurs' opening goal but got away with it. He was yellow carded for a foul soon after and from the free-kick Deeney headed home the equaliser. The Belgian then lost Cathcart who headed home Watford's second. Not a good day at the office for the Belgian. 4

Christian Eriksen

Sent a couple of shots at goal early in the second half after a quiet first 45 minutes and another with ten minutes to go. Couldn't make anything happen. 5

Dele Alli

Sent an early header over the crossbar after running on to Alderweireld's diagonal ball. Almost played Lucas through on 21 minutes. Struggled to get the final ball away too often. 5

Lucas Moura

Couldn't quite get away in the box to get a touch on Alli's ball through midway through the first half. Sliced an effort wide from the edge of the box just before the half hour mark. It was his cross that was chested home by Doucoure for an own goal to put Spurs into the lead. Was Spurs' most dangerous attacker. 6

Harry Kane

Skipper for the day, Kane struggled for space in the first half but early in the second was free in the middle if only Lucas had passed. Tried to set the Brazilian through in a two on one in the Watford box but couldn't get his pass through. Headed over with four minute to go. At what point do we start to get worried about the lack of penetration in his performances? Although to be fair to him he had little service. 5


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Harry Kane vies with Christian Kabasele
Subs

Fernando Llorente

Came off the bench with ten minutes to go and almost got on the end of a Ben Davies low cross soon after. 5

Harry Winks

Came on with five minutes to go and tried to put Spurs on the front foot with some quick passing and one dribble through the middle. N/A
 
In your opinion, I don't agree with it. Every time we lose a game all I read is Poch should have done this or Poch should have done that.
I guaranteed if he had selected Dier (who 80% on here have been slagging) all I would have ready is why is Poch picking him as he's been crap all season.
Every time we lose a game people just want to play the blame game, none of us know what we'd do if we were standing on the touchline making those decisions.
I called it before the start. I didn't like it on paper. If the players are to blame I call it and I have with Dembele and Davies. But the key errors were by Poch on this occasion and I rarely slate him.
 
i'd larf at those ratings. If he can give Llorente a 5 for a 10 mins role, says a lot about his overall assessment of the game!
 
Most annoying thing is I'm not even surprised at how we played, though I must admit I thought we would still have enough to win. Its such a bummer that we all kinda know we have this in our locker just ready to come out and feck us over ….. feck feck feck
 
Didn’t see the game but wasn’t surprised by the result...it is only one game, but as Poch pointed out in his Press conference, it was bound to happen if we didn’t improve our own performances.....judging by the comments on here and the result clearly we didn’t....if as many suggest we were bullied by Watford then the Liverpool game doesn’t bear thinking about, not to mention Barcelona.
 
I think indirectly Poch is pointing the finger at the players. He uses the term 'we' in his criticism, blames poor defending, blames believing the perception (we call it hype), but why could he not see AND do something about it at half time?. Clearly that interval talk had no effect what so ever, so why not stand up and bark orders or make changes earlier?. Yes, the bench looked bare, no real game changers(?), so there goes the theory that we did't need to sign anyone and Harry saying no signing has made them stronger?

I still think many of the players were basking in the OT glory and trying to showcase their arrogance, where as Watford just worked their socks off to a drilled precision.
 
I think been defeated by the leaders of the competition isn't that bad.
We shouldn't forget that, unlike us, they bought a couple of players this summer and, as we have witnessed today, they have a manager who can motivate his players better than our manager.

Our weak points today were motivation and mentality.

It is wise to know how far our club can reach and keep our ambitions, if any, down to earth.

We shouldn't forget that soon we have to play two games every week with a squad of fifteen only first class players.

Nevertheless and despite defeat, we are all glad that our owners didn't spend their money to buy new players this summer and they have increased their fortune and the selling price of the club, which was their primary reason and target for buying Spurs, without winning any title or trophy.
We can not deny that judging them from a business point of view they are very successful with the club they own.