10 Hugo …a Gordon Banks save, a clean sheet and improved distribution. What is there to deduct points for?
8 Aurier …a better bet than Trippier for a number of reasons. Serge made the greatest number of successful challenges last night. The Frenchman recovered the ball 8 times, only Jan Vertonghen and Sanchez did better (9).
9 Sanchez …the big dawg. A successful pass completion rate of 94.9%, ladies and gentlemen. He fluffed just 6 passes, eclipsed by 111 good ones. 1 chance created.
8 Toby …a successful pass completion rate of 89.8%, switched play twice and fed Sanchez all night long.
8 Foyth …another NASA approved successful pass completion rate, of 90.9%. 41 passes in the middle third made him an excellent accomplice to Harry Winks. 2 chances created.
10 Verts …blistering yet composed. An amazing assist (does everyone understand the value of a cross that actually finds one of our own players, now?) …and what a goal. All whilst playing out of position against ze Germans best league side.
9 Winks …you guessed it. Successful passing accuracy of 93.1% and that was that splendid rarity, a player that was a s good in the first half as he was in the second. This lad is growing into a helluva player.
7 Sissoko …this nutter was lucky to still be on the park at half time. A torrid 45, followed by a second half that saw him strike fear in more nuanced fashion. Needs to be more thoughtful and improve on his passing.
4 Lucas …stank the place out. 60% passing accuracy is appalling at any level. For a Champions League game it suggests he got to play for us by winning a competition. Not good enough. Added nothing.
8 Eriksen …Dull first half, much improved second. 17 attacking third passes, 4 chances created and 1 assist.
8 Son …Sonny was as flaky as anyone else for the first 45, far to many poor passes, all heavily offset by a wonderful goal.
8 Llorente ..for once, the dream sub’s cameo. Great to see him so happy.
This is the problem with stats, Aurier recovers the ball the most times and all of a sudden he’s played a blinder. Only trouble is anyone with a pair of eyes in their head could tell you he was shite last night. Ball recoveries in meaningless areas can bejust that, meaningless and it doesn’t tell you anything about what he then did (or in Aurier’s case, didn’t) then do with it, like immediately lose possession again or drive an ineffectual cross into a packed defence. Aurier did a couple of things right last night but even a broken clock, etc etc.
Call me a happy clappy chap but Im pretty chaffed that 1) Aurier may just be developing enough self control after avoiding a second booking. 2) he looked up and provided a peach of an assist-almost as perfect as Jan’s. I aint nit picking nothing for the next coupla days-make that 10 days (….til Burnley)
Lovely, lovely, lovely.
COYS
Yes, Maurice is a genius this morning, as far as I can tell, for putting on a big man and lumping it into him….seems textbook.
I jumped loooong ago
I actually was replying to the post about our apparent disinterest in winning the fa cup. To win it we would have to beat full strength city, which I doubt we could do.
I agree winning the cl is far,far harder as apart from city there are plenty of other sides who probably would bear us.
My point was getting further in the cl is worth far more money than winning the cup in world of Daniel levy and also in the predicament financially the club will probably find ourselves in.
WE will have to beat one of City, Liverpool, Barca, Madrid or Juve without a doubt to win the whole thing, and I cant see us doing any of those. I would say juve and Liverpool are most realistic.
Not necessarily, re beating Citeh. A Madrid or Juve could beat City, and us them.
It’s damn unlikely but hell, let’s dream.
Yes, Reus by far their best player.
Agree about young John Stones.
The sideways and backwards passing is about pulling the opposition out of shape to open up the gaps. It’s also about tiring them out in their press and keeping the ball from them so they can’t mount their own attacks. Nothing wrong with it as such, just a bit boring to watch.
Do both! Build a legacy at the club whilst moving in to a new era! Winning!!!!
Its all going to be ok man, don’t jump.
Fan reaction is dreadful.
For further details see how violently the pendulum swings on Twitter from ‘I love him’ to ‘Must die’.
Lloris finding form at just the right time maybe
Jan…shame he doesn’t operate from the right flank. Rose and Jan on either side could have fixed our full back issue. Aurier is too damn inconsistent.
Seems like what not having our two talismans has resulted in is us never preforming well in the first 45 minutes :/
Still, Poch has formed a collective out of this group of walking woundeds and forgotten men, incredible really.
Levy is just scoring left right and centre….cos ENIC FC didn’t bother with an actual trophy that IS winnable, they got a whole week break now…..even though Burnley are out too and the fixture could at been played this weekend….but, it’s all about the financial targets. Stay on point. Meanwhile we can all watch Palace coast past Donny into a quarter final, while the lads have their feet up ready for the REAL business and those balance sheets. 💹💰
‘Put us against City, PSG, Real, Barca, Juve and we are stuffed.’
Think we’d give it a shot against those teams listed above if Alli and Kane return to fitness AND form plus no new injuries and Lloris, Son, Eriksen, Jan, Toby, Winks, Sissy, Rose all keep in good form. We need a better central midfield and right flank…but we can still just about cope if our 10 best players start and play well.
Not posted for along time but have been following the blog everyday since and must say at times there has been a fair degree of negativity surrounding the current state of affairs at our beloved club and quite frankly justifyably towards the charlatans called ENIC, speculation about who will be leaving the dismantling of the team are on reflection just speculation but i concur with H and all you others that the writing is on the wall if wage parity is not fulfilled.Having said all that the one thing that is most notable to me is how this squad of players looks so unified, maybe we are speculating a little too much whilst these guys are just going about the belief they have in each other & their superb manager. As Spurs fans we have always had superb highs leading to hope for glory only to fade away to disappointment. For some strange reason this season we have had enormous adversity but somehow they still seem to come up with a win and just maybe we are all in for a surprise who knows but as a spurs fan of 54 years i surely am proud of these guys.
Inspired tweaking by Poch and 2nd.half performance by the players.Once again Moura was the exception.
The thing that strikes me about the passing stats is that so many of them are sideways and backwards and amongst the defenders over very short distances at times.I could make those passes and I’m 71.
OK we retain possession,but so much is non productive.It would be more informative if the passes were divided into back,side and forward as the latter is more pro-active.There are so many stats used this can’t be difficult to sort out.
Quietly impressed by Foyth after a slightly nervous start.He has good composure on the ball,but just needs to become more spacially aware when coming away with the ball.I could see him playing defensive midfield if necessary.He reminds me of a young John Stones,willing to bring the ball out of defence and make things happen.Doesn’t always work but experience will help.
I thought BVB played like they came for the draw or to nick a 1-0. Like us, missing two of their best players it was clear they miss them more than we miss ours.
First half we were at our default of sideways and backward ball possession. When we did move the ball quickly we put them under pressure. I just wish Poch would insist on more of the second half performance than the first. I’ve not felt this confident of a last 8 in a long while.
Consistency and team moral is key. Keep the wins coming and moral stays high which in turn those players who deserve a wage increase get it. If they are not buying players then pay the ones who deserve it the going rate.
Shouldn’t forget they were without their most creative and best player in Reus. I got a glint in my eye last night that we could go all the way…then my rational brain kicked in today. Put us against City, PSG, Real, Barca, Juve and we are stuffed.
Why is that trophy so winnable? The fact is in all likelihood we’d have to beat city which quite frankly I don’t think we could.
In the world of levy it doesn’t justify the investment levels it would take. Only city and Chelsea have the depths of squad to really compete on all fronts. And Chelsea whilst big on numbers are a little short on quality. Liverpool have been lucky enough to get eliminated from both competitions to concentrate on bigger fish. The prize Monet for cl qualification starts at 50 million rising to 90 in Liverpool’s case last year. The winners of the fa cup get under 4 million. Levy’s spreadsheet has it all worked out.
That 2nd half was incredible really. Given how slickly they’d cut through us, I was hoping at HT to escape with a 0-0. But 2nd half their channels were cut off and they were simply overpowered. I think sissy frightened a few of them by flinging them to the ground and they just couldn’t handle verto when he went up through the gears. It’s amazing how comprehensively they were destroyed considering how many defenders poch fielded last night and how few creative players. Also when you consider we were the only group stage qualifiers with a negative goal difference, even with Kano and Dele.. while Dortmund qualified conceding just 2 goals. QF could conceivably be at the new lane. Cannot imagine many relishing going there. Heady days.
Must say I didn’t think Jan was played out of position, just wasted where he is at CB.
Ever since he showed the SuperJan after scoring against united, fuk of a lot better than Davies or Rose.
Jan I don’t think has ever let us down when he’s played LB even back under AVB, but he just seemed to enjoy it a little more last night.
Eriksen is clearly showing he needs that extra part of a yard to really influence matches, don’t feel he’s progressed in how he gains that himself as a player except with his constant intensity of keeping running.
I dunno what become of Spurs fans since I went, they sound like me when I was 12. There’s people saying on the back of last night that the competition is winnable ?! I’ve heard all the ‘we’re on the up….things are happening’ stuff… nothings changed since last week, all the top players are still off, there’s still a lunatic owner who doesn’t care about footballers in place. Don’t understand the fuss over Dortmund, Schalke, Leipzig, Hoffenheim, Wolfsburg are all in the doldrums, Munich are in flux, the Dortmund side used to be full of names, I recognised 3 or 4 of that team. It’s not a world beater here. It’s la la land at the moment. It’s perplexing how this patchwork lot are winning match after match and how they got stronger in the 2nd half after the busy injury hit programme they’ve had. Harry Redknapps saying Spurs can win the CL too….I’m not drinking the water this lot have been.
Call me a happy clappy chap but Im pretty chaffed that 1) Aurier may just be developing enough self control after avoiding a second booking. 2) he looked up and provided a peach of an assist-almost as perfect as Jan’s. I aint nit picking nothing for the next coupla days-make that 10 days (….til Burnley)
I actually was replying to the post about our apparent disinterest in winning the fa cup. To win it we would have to beat full strength city, which I doubt we could do.
I agree winning the cl is far,far harder as apart from city there are plenty of other sides who probably would bear us.
My point was getting further in the cl is worth far more money than winning the cup in world of Daniel levy and also in the predicament financially the club will probably find ourselves in.
This is the problem with stats, Aurier recovers the ball the most times and all of a sudden he’s played a blinder. Only trouble is anyone with a pair of eyes in their head could tell you he was shite last night. Ball recoveries in meaningless areas can bejust that, meaningless and it doesn’t tell you anything about what he then did (or in Aurier’s case, didn’t) then do with it, like immediately lose possession again or drive an ineffectual cross into a packed defence. Aurier did a couple of things right last night but even a broken clock, etc etc.
WE will have to beat one of City, Liverpool, Barca, Madrid or Juve without a doubt to win the whole thing, and I cant see us doing any of those. I would say juve and Liverpool are most realistic.
‘Put us against City, PSG, Real, Barca, Juve and we are stuffed.’
Think we’d give it a shot against those teams listed above if Alli and Kane return to fitness AND form plus no new injuries and Lloris, Son, Eriksen, Jan, Toby, Winks, Sissy, Rose all keep in good form. We need a better central midfield and right flank…but we can still just about cope if our 10 best players start and play well.
Not necessarily, re beating Citeh. A Madrid or Juve could beat City, and us them.
It’s damn unlikely but hell, let’s dream.
Lovely, lovely, lovely.
COYS
Lloris finding form at just the right time maybe
Jan…shame he doesn’t operate from the right flank. Rose and Jan on either side could have fixed our full back issue. Aurier is too damn inconsistent.
Seems like what not having our two talismans has resulted in is us never preforming well in the first 45 minutes :/
Still, Poch has formed a collective out of this group of walking woundeds and forgotten men, incredible really.
Why is that trophy so winnable? The fact is in all likelihood we’d have to beat city which quite frankly I don’t think we could.
In the world of levy it doesn’t justify the investment levels it would take. Only city and Chelsea have the depths of squad to really compete on all fronts. And Chelsea whilst big on numbers are a little short on quality. Liverpool have been lucky enough to get eliminated from both competitions to concentrate on bigger fish. The prize Monet for cl qualification starts at 50 million rising to 90 in Liverpool’s case last year. The winners of the fa cup get under 4 million. Levy’s spreadsheet has it all worked out.
Levy is just scoring left right and centre….cos ENIC FC didn’t bother with an actual trophy that IS winnable, they got a whole week break now…..even though Burnley are out too and the fixture could at been played this weekend….but, it’s all about the financial targets. Stay on point. Meanwhile we can all watch Palace coast past Donny into a quarter final, while the lads have their feet up ready for the REAL business and those balance sheets. ??
Not posted for along time but have been following the blog everyday since and must say at times there has been a fair degree of negativity surrounding the current state of affairs at our beloved club and quite frankly justifyably towards the charlatans called ENIC, speculation about who will be leaving the dismantling of the team are on reflection just speculation but i concur with H and all you others that the writing is on the wall if wage parity is not fulfilled.Having said all that the one thing that is most notable to me is how this squad of players looks so unified, maybe we are speculating a little too much whilst these guys are just going about the belief they have in each other & their superb manager. As Spurs fans we have always had superb highs leading to hope for glory only to fade away to disappointment. For some strange reason this season we have had enormous adversity but somehow they still seem to come up with a win and just maybe we are all in for a surprise who knows but as a spurs fan of 54 years i surely am proud of these guys.
Yes, Reus by far their best player.
Shouldn’t forget they were without their most creative and best player in Reus. I got a glint in my eye last night that we could go all the way…then my rational brain kicked in today. Put us against City, PSG, Real, Barca, Juve and we are stuffed.
Agree about young John Stones.
The sideways and backwards passing is about pulling the opposition out of shape to open up the gaps. It’s also about tiring them out in their press and keeping the ball from them so they can’t mount their own attacks. Nothing wrong with it as such, just a bit boring to watch.
I jumped loooong ago
Inspired tweaking by Poch and 2nd.half performance by the players.Once again Moura was the exception.
The thing that strikes me about the passing stats is that so many of them are sideways and backwards and amongst the defenders over very short distances at times.I could make those passes and I’m 71.
OK we retain possession,but so much is non productive.It would be more informative if the passes were divided into back,side and forward as the latter is more pro-active.There are so many stats used this can’t be difficult to sort out.
Quietly impressed by Foyth after a slightly nervous start.He has good composure on the ball,but just needs to become more spacially aware when coming away with the ball.I could see him playing defensive midfield if necessary.He reminds me of a young John Stones,willing to bring the ball out of defence and make things happen.Doesn’t always work but experience will help.
Yes, Maurice is a genius this morning, as far as I can tell, for putting on a big man and lumping it into him….seems textbook.
Its all going to be ok man, don’t jump.
Fan reaction is dreadful.
For further details see how violently the pendulum swings on Twitter from ‘I love him’ to ‘Must die’.
I dunno what become of Spurs fans since I went, they sound like me when I was 12. There’s people saying on the back of last night that the competition is winnable ?! I’ve heard all the ‘we’re on the up….things are happening’ stuff… nothings changed since last week, all the top players are still off, there’s still a lunatic owner who doesn’t care about footballers in place. Don’t understand the fuss over Dortmund, Schalke, Leipzig, Hoffenheim, Wolfsburg are all in the doldrums, Munich are in flux, the Dortmund side used to be full of names, I recognised 3 or 4 of that team. It’s not a world beater here. It’s la la land at the moment. It’s perplexing how this patchwork lot are winning match after match and how they got stronger in the 2nd half after the busy injury hit programme they’ve had. Harry Redknapps saying Spurs can win the CL too….I’m not drinking the water this lot have been.
Jan I don’t think has ever let us down when he’s played LB even back under AVB, but he just seemed to enjoy it a little more last night.
Eriksen is clearly showing he needs that extra part of a yard to really influence matches, don’t feel he’s progressed in how he gains that himself as a player except with his constant intensity of keeping running.
I thought BVB played like they came for the draw or to nick a 1-0. Like us, missing two of their best players it was clear they miss them more than we miss ours.
First half we were at our default of sideways and backward ball possession. When we did move the ball quickly we put them under pressure. I just wish Poch would insist on more of the second half performance than the first. I’ve not felt this confident of a last 8 in a long while.
Do both! Build a legacy at the club whilst moving in to a new era! Winning!!!!
That 2nd half was incredible really. Given how slickly they’d cut through us, I was hoping at HT to escape with a 0-0. But 2nd half their channels were cut off and they were simply overpowered. I think sissy frightened a few of them by flinging them to the ground and they just couldn’t handle verto when he went up through the gears. It’s amazing how comprehensively they were destroyed considering how many defenders poch fielded last night and how few creative players. Also when you consider we were the only group stage qualifiers with a negative goal difference, even with Kano and Dele.. while Dortmund qualified conceding just 2 goals. QF could conceivably be at the new lane. Cannot imagine many relishing going there. Heady days.
Must say I didn’t think Jan was played out of position, just wasted where he is at CB.
Ever since he showed the SuperJan after scoring against united, fuk of a lot better than Davies or Rose.
Consistency and team moral is key. Keep the wins coming and moral stays high which in turn those players who deserve a wage increase get it. If they are not buying players then pay the ones who deserve it the going rate.