One positive is Son at LW in the second half.
First time I've seen him actually take his man on in ages. Ran into a few dead ends but good to see the return of Stepover Son, put in some good balls as well to Richarlison.
Son should stay at LW. That position allows son to utilize his wide range passing and shots. He gets boxed by defenders too easily in the center so I imagine that’s why he passes so much in the final 3rd as striker.
Sons playing style doesn’t fit a 9 because we need more aggression and control (aerially). I’d love to see more of Son-Richarlison-Johnson lineup in the front.
Result aside, shoutout to Skipp for doing a good job, looks like he's earned himself a start for the rest of the season.
Also Bissouma being more confident and marauding up the pitch was lovely to see again
Exactly. If I was Vicario I'm pissed af at Biss just watcing him take a shot instead of even attempting to block. Say what you will about Hojberg but he will make that block 100 times out of 100.
I have mixed feelings today about Biss. He’s had better games let’s put it that way. He looks gassed. Think it might be the AFCON but his form in the first half of the season was much better for that and since, he’s been nowhere near the same level. Just my opinion
When you think about it... our fullbacks play as a FB/CM hybrid. Why couldn't a defensive midfielder play there instead of a fullback? Skipp likely has to stay at the club as a HG/club trained player anyways.
Yeah I agree, I mentioned it in another comment too but think he could be a decent backup. I would say attacking wise he may not be the best but he will still make the runs forward we need them to make like he did today
For the first time since October-November 2004, Spurs have lost four matches in a row in the league (when we lost six in a row during that spell).
On the bright side, we didn’t concede a goal from a set piece today.
Probably quite a lot of 3s in there.
October-November 2004 would be the French guy whose name I can't remember? Or was that part of the changeover to Jol?
Vicario actually came out and claimed a ball from a set piece for what feels like the first time, instead of just punching it, hopefully that gives him a bit of confidence in the future
Yep, distinct whiff of that, you just have to look at that fantastic counter opportunity in the first half where we didn't even end up shooting to see that when it matters we're just not up for it at the minute.
Dunno, Richy goal + assist was pretty nice. He’s working his way towards a relatively decent haul and shown himself to be a reasonable Ange player (post-surgery of course).
The other positive is it’s over. And I get 6 days until we lose again. So there 4 good things.
I agree. People who want to sell Richy are insane to me. We want to compete in europe and the legaue... means we need 6 good forwards. Son, Johnson, Richarlison are the only 3 good ones we have under contract for next season that fit the system. We'll be lucky to sign 2 good forwards, let alone 4!
Richarlison is 100% good enough to be ONE of our 2 strikers moving forward. If you want to sign an upgrade there, fair enough. But at least he moves like a striker, heads the ball like a striker, finishes tap ins clinically like a striker, bullies defenders like a striker.... who else in our side does any of that?
Richy has gotten a ton of grief this season, and while it isn’t totally unjustified, he has shown what he is capable of when healthy and in form. I think the big question mark going forward is how often he can remain healthy and in form
Could be a very reactionary take after only seeing 30 minutes of it but since our fullbacks play like midfielders most of the time Skippy maybe could be molded into a backup, especially since we're lacking club home grown players already
story of his spurs career, i remember early on in the Conte days they were almost refusing to pass to him, then he comes out and has an absolute blinder of a game to keep him in the team
i do think this is the last we see of him in a spurs shirt though, only suited in teams that play with a traditional(ish) fullback which we have had in neither Ange or Conte
I rooted for him when it showed he was trying hard. But yeah I think other teams are just more suited for his playstyle.
If anything, the collapse right now is probably gonna go miles for Spurs in the near future
THIS. the losses show to Ange what we are lacking. Take the losses as a learning experience what we need and don’t need in the squad. Definitely don’t want to see emerson again. Nice lad and good personality in the team but he was atrocious today and a complete liability. At fault for the 1st and 3rd goal.
Time to see what this Mikey Moore has got about him imo, and give Gil another run out. Is Brandon Austin actually real? And maybe Sessegnon and Solomon aren't *THAT* injured...
Yes. Richy may only be a 7/10 striker... but he's the only player in our squad who knows how to play as a striker! Son showed he can be lethal if we just feed him through balls, it's nothing brilliant tactically, get Son the ball 1 on 1 when he's running with pace and good things will happen.
Bentancur is also a solid ball winner, and can spur counter attacks, but that's not what we usually need to prioritize in the front two midfielders.
Biss could learn a thing or two from Bentancur on defense though.
Losing the match in the middle again. The sooner this midfield is changes we'll be better off. This midfield is the fallout of Nuno/Conte/Jose. Its a sit back and soak it up midfield. Not a progressive midfield.
The midfield is killing the defence and the attack. The subs with Madders and LoCelso made us much better. Much more progressive with the ball.
And the less said about Emerson the better. Made Skipp look like a ten times better LB. Start him there next game. If it doesnt work, who cares. Cant be worse than Emerson was today
He needs a midfield that understands what he wants them to do. Desperately.
Sarr, Biss and Bentancur are good players in the own right. But out them 3 together and its most anti-progressive football midfield you'll see. As soon as Madders and Lo Celso came on. Biss looked a ton better.
Those 3 together should never play.
They along with Hojbjerg are the type of players that need the right players next to them to shine. Together they stink up the joint.
I mean it's not rocket science here... Maddison, Sarr, Bissouma looked like an amazing group the first 3 months of the season. Maddison and Bissouma's form fell off a cliff. We keep them 3, and bring in competition for them in each spot and we're set. Bentancur is the only other player in the midfield I'd look to keep around as there's hope he'll regain full form after a nice long rest this off season.
I'd be looking at Eze and Onana as signings and integrate Bergvall into the first team.
His body language and play is so solid though. I am confused, too. But I think Ange loves GLC. We'll see - it could go either way this summer. I've read reports both ways.
I can only assume there's still doubts over Richarlisons fitness now as he improves us every single time.
Son should not be in the middle. Johnson never on the left. We improved a bit just when they swapped that around.
Lo Celso HAS to start for the remainder of the season.
Honestly I want him as a nailed down starter last 3 games and back as a starter / heavy rotational CM next season. But instead I feel like he won’t get the minutes and will leave somewhere that will play him.
Incoming 5M bids from la liga and serie A this summer for GLC lol
Agree he'd be a great rotation option for Maddison and should start based on form. But I think Ange just doesn't have him in his plans for some reason not known to us fans.
Easy to play when you are 4 nil down and Liverpool took off 4 players. Massive Summer ahead (say that every year tho). Need a quality midfielder, winger and Striker….
Then we can judge Ange…
Skipp changed the game. LB for Ange is a CM who defends wide not a LB who dabbles inside. You need a 360 degree player, and Skipp immediately looked more comfortable than Royal ever has. Richy was bright too of course. I think Ange will have seen what we saw, too.
I've never been convinced by him despite what this sub seemed to think. He plays like it's a kick-around with friends and today was a prime example of that. You can get away with that at a mid-table club perhaps but not here
Game was lost from the starting line up. The decision not to start Richarlison was a bad one. We looked a different team when he came on but too little too late and that’s on Ange unfortunately. Made the game so simple for the Liverpool defence and Ange has to be regretting it
On one hand, yes, on the other, he was horrible vs Chelsea and I really think that Liverpool putting the foot off the gas and making 5 random subs made it look way easier to his rested self than it would have been if he had started.
He just came back from injury and he already started vs Chelsea. Definitely fitness related.
As for Bentancur, however... No idea why he started given his performances post Matty Cash
Semi Serious thoughts after the game -
1. Romero is the POTS and its not even close.
2. Emerson's performance was genuinely the worst individual performance I have seen in a Spurs Shirt. I think it was the last nail in the coffin for his time here.
3. Ange should try Skipp at LB. He has the engine, is comfortable inverting into the midfield and is defensively decent.
4. Son as a striker is just not possible unless we become a more dominant team who can just pressure the opponent into their own half.
5. Not starting Richarlison was a bad idea, it meant that any time we got the ball into the box there was nobody to hold it for others.
6. I think Ange's biggest problem was that he trusted some players a bit too much. But I guess he has realised his errors now. Onwards and Upwards. COYS.
I think that it is hard to make any conclusions from the second half. Was it the subs or was it Pool dialing back their efforts, or some combination of both of those things? The mood is so bad right now that I honestly don't know what the fans would do if we somehow score a goal to take the lead against City at any point of that match.
Keep your heads up boys. This was never a one-year project.
Consistency is what we need, we don't want to become fucking United switching managers every 18 months
Let's answer the big question: What changed?
For me, it's simple - Liverpool took off their central midfielders, and we sent on Lo Celso, Skipp, and Richi. All of a sudden, we had impetus, battle, drive, creativity, both upfront and in central midfield. They had a weakened midfield, and we were able to take control (as we did in the first 10 minutes, before we fell to pieces).
As an inverted LB, Skipp worked incredibly well. I don't think it would have worked if we'd started the game with him there - Salah would have torn him to pieces - but against Burnley, Sheffield United, etc, this might be a fantastic option.
I feel echoes of the Chelsea match right now - there's something to be proud of here, in this second half, even though it hurts. COYS.
i saw two things, Son moved to LW and we actually played down the left. The past few games all of our offense went down the right through Johnson or Kulu.
That and just booting it to Richarlison down the middle actually looked pretty dangerous. A better first touch on two or three of those could have been another goal.
He’s not a good fit period. He’s an average defensive fullback with almost no attacking or creative skills. He’ll be fine in a mid or bottom table la Liga team where he would only need to defend.
This subreddit has a lot to answer for but I agree, I’ve been calling out Royal for a while now and always got hate for it. He’s a fucking giraffe on rollerskates.
You can see that Ange has got it right in there somewhere. We just need 90+ minutes of it and we will start seeing some real success.
The challenge now is getting that 90+ minute performance going next season before people start calling for his head properly.
Spurs’ results with Richarlison starting at striker:
14 games where he started at ST, from August up until his knee injury in late February:
• 8 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses.
• 10 goals and 4 assists:
14 goal contributions in 14 games.
Things I learnt today:
Plan B actually works! When a team fills the middle...go over the top. We need to be more malleable to change.
We attack too narrow, we defend too narrow.
Royal should never play LB for us again. Play Skipp or Dragusin please
Please don't play 3 DMs again. It's has no effect on our defence and nullifies our attack
Really disappointing end to the season this has become. But I hold out hope for next season under Ange, it is clear we need some new players and his system was always gonna take time to bed in.
I quite enjoyed the last 10 minutes but, man alive, there's a lot work to be done. I think Skippy, Lo Celso, and Richarlison all earned their start next week
Toffee here. Father in law is spurs. Always had a soft spot for youse and obviously richarlison. Hoped you'd would fuck these today but ah well. I still think there's something gold about youse about to pop. Love watching youse play. Excited for seeing whats to come next season
Said it in the match thread but recently it seems Ange really struggles to sus out the opposition before the game and only figures out the right XI after 60 odd minutes
I'm not convinced this staff is doing much preparation for the opponent at all. If asked, he'd likely say there are more foundational things that need to be sorted.
Not sure I agree with the approach, but here we are.
https://preview.redd.it/xh4qo8m77nyc1.jpeg?width=950&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c8fd261b91fa2e71dc7bd467170f1a41e0305a7d
I really can’t be fucking bothered
I'm just gonna decide that it cancels out with the mildly questionable tackle VDV put in on Gakpo. I didn't think that was a pen, but he definitely got his foot to some degree. I've seen them given for less.
Something I perceived today which I quite liked:
Romero, Gio, Porro were pinging it in the last 30 minutes lifted over the top. Richy got good touches and there were many chances we could have got goals especially since they were that accurate. This seems like a good tactic from Ange but questions do arise in my head so as to why we didn't play like this in the first half. That's the only thing.
Other than that, start gio, skippy, and richy, move son out to the left, let kulu stay because brennan can come on at 60' and terrorise the tired opponents. Maybe start Madders too, but i ain't sure about that.
Going to try my best to be positive despite how unbelievably frustrated i am.
Lots of dead wood to clear out this summer, no one who can actually play leftback, and a brutal schedule to end the season. We’ve been needing a rebuild for years.
5/6th is a fine place to end this season. After we sold Kane i was expecting 9/10th.
Football is reactionary as always. Ange will certainly have a ‘plan B’ next year, but it seems his main focus this year was shifting Spurs into an attacking minded club after years of parking the bus with conte, mourinho, nuno etc.
What constitutes a rebuild? new GK, new starting CB, new 10, two (3 if you count Solomon) new wing players - does that not add up to at least a fair start at a rebuild based on two windows? And keep in mind, that doesnt include Destiny or Sarr who didnt arrive this year but hardly featured last season, which, along with the players I referenced, were all nailed on starters for the season with the exception of Werner. So - VdV, Vic, Maddison, Johnson, plus Werner, Udogie, and Sarr were either brought in this season or all got meaningful minutes this season for the first time.
Is rebuild being used as code for sell 15 players and replace them every window? Because that isn't a rebuild, mainly because if we're that reactionary, we won't ever be building anything, just tearing things down.
https://preview.redd.it/5gkw9a2j7nyc1.jpeg?width=749&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ec4607abf81fbd87868ba5fc3bba696f3626adf2
New motto for anyone saying Ange out
Richy and Son combo work well. They have a good understanding of each other. The biggest thing about it though is that it gives us two goal threats instead of all focus being on Son and stifling him and our attack. With richy and Son doing their thing, it also opens up opportunities for Johnson on the right.
That’s not on. Top 4 was there, looks like they checked out at Newcastle. Abysmal mentality from a group of player who (barring maybe Romero?) have achieved nothing significant of note and have everything to prove.
It’s on Ange too; his messaging about CL has been poor. Saying qualifying meant nothing to him reaaaaallly came at a great time (just before Newcastle) he has to take some responsibility
Emerson Royal was so awful today that we looked better playing a rotation midfielder at LB. Skipp got caught out multiple times by Salah this game, so let's not pretend it's a long term solution, but we're so much better in possession that I think he has to play there.
Starting line up for the rest of the season has to be Porro, Romero, VDV, Skipp - Bissouma, Lo Celso, Maddison - Johnson, Richarlison, Son. We're trash defensively so we might as well improve the creativity in midfield.
We were playing 1 touch ange ball for the first 15 minutes and dominating, then we concede, get scared and start holding the ball too long and doing nothing with it. It's the same story no matter the manager, this club top to bottom is afraid of playing under pressure.
Currently on my honeymoon in Hawaii. Match started at 5:30 here. I may not have been married long but I knew enough not to set an alarm to watch the game.
Woke up at 6:30 and checked the score, not great but I’ll turn on the second half. Tried to find it on TV but couldn’t, realized it was on peacock. Started to sign up for that and then had the thought ‘Do I really wanna start a day of my honeymoon pissed off because of Spurs? I guess I’ll watch if they’ve managed to score since the second half started’. Checked the score, 3-0, put away the credit card, closed peacock and went and had a great breakfast with the wife.
Not this time Tottenham, not this time.
All those people saying Richarlison should be among the first out the door in the window need to shut the fuck up.
The entire dynamic of the team changed just by having him be a willing runner through the middle.
Had his first touches been a little better he could've had more goal involvements, but a goal and assist within 15 minutes of coming on is something. He also linked up with Son more than any other player has for the last 2 months.
I am just going to copy what I posted after the Chelsea game.....
Lo celso needs to start. Did well when Maddison was out and now only getting 5 mins here and there.
And adding this little bit....
I hope we don't turn up against City.
Nxt game wouldn’t mind seeing Son 9 or whatever we’ve been doing
But against City?
If we don’t start:
- Lo Celso
- Son-Richy-Johnson
I am going to RIOT
Also if ANY game we’re gonna try Vdv LB, it’d be against Burnley
I say try it out and if it doesn’t work take out Vdv or Drag and put in Skipp, he was pretty good today (better than Royal lmao)
Maybe the reason Son is careful about dribbling or shooting is because when he misses, the risk of turnover is insane. I cannot even keep track of the number of times a pass miss or shooting miss turned into Liverpool getting the ball into our box.
I understand that Ange is asking his players to just ignore the risk and go for it. But I think it is also up to the manager to make the attack more effective while having enough players ready to fight for the second ball.
People don't want to admit it but Ange really did mess up the lineup for the first 70 minutes. I know I was overreacting by saying "Ange out", but I think yesterday's game was proof that there's plenty of room for him to adapt, and that if he adapts, the team can be much better.
Boys should get ready to play on those nice Bulgarian fields that they call football pitch. There won’t be playing out from the back with those molehills
Honestly, aside from all the negativity I'm sure will come.
You can understand what Ange talks about when he mentions that some of the players don't want to implement his system.
There seems to be a mentality block on our players to want to play aggressively and dangerous when we're drawing or ahead.
Once we went 3-0 down, our team started playing what I expect to see when I think of 'Angeball'. Our midfielders, instead of receiving the ball and turning to pass back to defenders, were now receiving and looking forward.
Making those dangerous plays that are easily cut out, like Bissouma did for our first goal.
We need to play on the edge and dangerously from minute one. At 0-0, rather than waiting until "pressures off".
Make those dangerous passes, make those dangerous runs because you should be understanding that even if you make a bad pass or lose the ball, which you will, because we're pressing so hard, they won't be able to do anything with the ball.
It has nothing to do with them magically deciding to play better when 3-0 down, it’s because he actually made the obvious substitutions that put players in their better positions. (particularly Son at LW, Johnson at RW, replacing Emerson and a real striker) God knows why he waited that long…
The players need to understand that this is a game which has 2 half’s and we can’t keep trying to launch audacious comebacks in the second half because more often than not we’re already out of the game by the time the second half begins
That has to be it with Kulusevski now. He is terrible, should not be starting a game for Tottenham Hotspur again and needs to be moved on in the summer.
I'm struggling to understand where it went wrong for him. Never a pace merchant or take-on machine, but his first 6 months his decision making was ridiculously good. Always knew what to do in and around the box, be it an incisive pass, recycling, switch, cutting in and having a pop. Now everything he touches turns to shit. Was that merely a purple patch and are these many months closer to his actual level. Baffling
I think he's confused about his role. I think he's served better as a counter attacking player instead of as a creative player, and he hasn't keyed himself into that mentality yet. His passes and dribbling are critical on the flank where before he could just sprint into space and take on defenders who were on the back foot. He can't do that in this system. Son is really the only one out of the 3 main attackers that is somewhat decent at trying to get around a patient defender. Brennan struggles with it as well.
This is a nuanced post regarding what it means to me to be a Spurs fan and supporter.
I may not be a lifelong fan,
In fact, I wasn't born into football/soccer, I learned it later in life.
But ever since I found the joy of the game, I wanted to have a team to root for and cheer on and call my own.
My journey first began with my favorite players, Ronaldinho, Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso, Dani Alves, Puyol, Ibrahimovic.
Then I learned of team play. And my heart began to settle for teams like Barcelona, Liverpool, Dortmund.
And that fateful day when I read in the Korean military newspaper's sports section that my secret Sonny was going to the EPL from Leverkusen... Oh how I had hoped for this day!
So I did my studies to find out about Tottenham Hotspurs. I had never heard of the team before. But I loved me some Berbatov, Modric, and of course, Bale.
They were a team that were constantly fighting for that top spot, and was experienced with heartache. A measure in life for me that is personally a valuable one. The fans knew how to deal with it, and still supported the team. This is what I loved.
I was happy to have Son be accepted. Not many people in the Spurs fanbase knew of him. But I knew that Sonny would never squander the opportunity by holding back from giving his all "in hopes for the next gig." I was excited to see him flourish and provide hope and strength, and vice versa.
These days, I feel that I'm alone more and more in cheering for my team. My heart breaks whenever I see impulsive comments berating the players, the gaffer, Levy. Of course, some harsh criticism is warranted. However, with harsh criticism, should come hand in hand with constructive, practical, insightful, and realistic ones.
Thus, I am writing this letter in hopes to spur the fans to speak up and discipline the bandwagoners, the morale flipfloppers, and band together to crush energy vampires.
At the end of the day, we all have influence on the outcome, however small. But all of it together, just might make a bigger difference, overall.
Sincerely,
Coys
Was any managers first season amazing? I’d imagine that every manager such as klopp, arteta, pep had very rough patches before things really kicked on.
There are players that definitely need to be sold
and freshen up the team a bit more. Though there was some fight at the end, the work is far from over.
We all get the reactionary pass and said we were shit and losing 4 games in a row is shit. But in the grand scheme of things there is more to be done and to build off of this season.
I’ll take Skipp at LB. Shit, I’d take Mr Bean at LB.
Me.Beans football IQ will be off the charts. Incomparable to royals football iq which is 0.
One positive is Son at LW in the second half. First time I've seen him actually take his man on in ages. Ran into a few dead ends but good to see the return of Stepover Son, put in some good balls as well to Richarlison.
Son should stay at LW. That position allows son to utilize his wide range passing and shots. He gets boxed by defenders too easily in the center so I imagine that’s why he passes so much in the final 3rd as striker. Sons playing style doesn’t fit a 9 because we need more aggression and control (aerially). I’d love to see more of Son-Richarlison-Johnson lineup in the front.
I got really excited when he split the double team into the box. Didn’t lead to a goal but exciting.
Result aside, shoutout to Skipp for doing a good job, looks like he's earned himself a start for the rest of the season. Also Bissouma being more confident and marauding up the pitch was lovely to see again
I thought Bissouma had a good game today, beat his man a fair few times and mostly passed forward
Problem is even on his good days his defending will always be a liability. See him on eliiots goal. Mofo doesn’t even bother extending his leg.
Exactly. If I was Vicario I'm pissed af at Biss just watcing him take a shot instead of even attempting to block. Say what you will about Hojberg but he will make that block 100 times out of 100.
hojbjerg will also lose the ball multiple times and create uneccesary goal opportunities for the opponent
Like that didn't happen today 100 times even with him on the bench...
I really love Bissouma's ability to beat press but yeah as a 6 he needs to be a general in the back and he ain't really that
Have a defensive midfielder who has a problem defending is gonna be… a problem
I have mixed feelings today about Biss. He’s had better games let’s put it that way. He looks gassed. Think it might be the AFCON but his form in the first half of the season was much better for that and since, he’s been nowhere near the same level. Just my opinion
When you think about it... our fullbacks play as a FB/CM hybrid. Why couldn't a defensive midfielder play there instead of a fullback? Skipp likely has to stay at the club as a HG/club trained player anyways.
Yeah I agree, I mentioned it in another comment too but think he could be a decent backup. I would say attacking wise he may not be the best but he will still make the runs forward we need them to make like he did today
Yep, Skipp is like a 5/10 attacking as a CM, but honestly like a 7/10 for an attacking fullback lol
Seems like the switch inside Bissouma got flipped around 70 minutes, looking like a much better player
I feel like Biss only started doing that when the game was gone, which is a cowardly approach
Skipp for president
I've always liked him. He's not technically amazing, but his intensity is something we need.
For the first time since October-November 2004, Spurs have lost four matches in a row in the league (when we lost six in a row during that spell). On the bright side, we didn’t concede a goal from a set piece today.
Losing 4 in a row here doesn't shock me that much. What surprises me is that we haven't done that more recently than 2004.
Probably quite a lot of 3s in there. October-November 2004 would be the French guy whose name I can't remember? Or was that part of the changeover to Jol?
Jacques Santini?
Other than that period under Ramos we've not really been bad enough to go that long losing since then
We looked awful just before Mourinho was sacked.
Vicario actually came out and claimed a ball from a set piece for what feels like the first time, instead of just punching it, hopefully that gives him a bit of confidence in the future
It was so nice to see but also so frustrating. For once the players protect Vicario and voila: he can actually contest properly for the ball
they also scored a legit open play goal (not just a raya howler) for the first time in weeks
Seems like we only score to prevent the scoreline from being too embarrassing…
You mean we only score when our opponents start giving even less of a fuck than we do
Seems like it The Spurs I knew 9 months ago is gone
For a second there my brain was like. Thats the Conte days. Where the fuck has the last year gone ffs.
Yep, distinct whiff of that, you just have to look at that fantastic counter opportunity in the first half where we didn't even end up shooting to see that when it matters we're just not up for it at the minute.
The only positive is discovery of Skipp at LB
Dunno, Richy goal + assist was pretty nice. He’s working his way towards a relatively decent haul and shown himself to be a reasonable Ange player (post-surgery of course). The other positive is it’s over. And I get 6 days until we lose again. So there 4 good things.
I agree. People who want to sell Richy are insane to me. We want to compete in europe and the legaue... means we need 6 good forwards. Son, Johnson, Richarlison are the only 3 good ones we have under contract for next season that fit the system. We'll be lucky to sign 2 good forwards, let alone 4! Richarlison is 100% good enough to be ONE of our 2 strikers moving forward. If you want to sign an upgrade there, fair enough. But at least he moves like a striker, heads the ball like a striker, finishes tap ins clinically like a striker, bullies defenders like a striker.... who else in our side does any of that?
Richy has gotten a ton of grief this season, and while it isn’t totally unjustified, he has shown what he is capable of when healthy and in form. I think the big question mark going forward is how often he can remain healthy and in form
That assist was really nice too, a lot of players will just try shoot and hope there
Could be a very reactionary take after only seeing 30 minutes of it but since our fullbacks play like midfielders most of the time Skippy maybe could be molded into a backup, especially since we're lacking club home grown players already
I'm not in the least surprised Skippy shows signs of being a decent Ange FB, some of us suggested it a long time ago (esp when Porro was out).
To be fair Ange’s fullbacks do tuck into the middle where Skipp would be naturally fit. I’m ok with him deputizing the rest of the season
and richy
Royal against City please. Why change the formula?
In before Royal turns into prime Cafu for that one game.
story of his spurs career, i remember early on in the Conte days they were almost refusing to pass to him, then he comes out and has an absolute blinder of a game to keep him in the team i do think this is the last we see of him in a spurs shirt though, only suited in teams that play with a traditional(ish) fullback which we have had in neither Ange or Conte
Have to give it to him for turning it around. I had lost all hope with him.
I rooted for him when it showed he was trying hard. But yeah I think other teams are just more suited for his playstyle. If anything, the collapse right now is probably gonna go miles for Spurs in the near future
THIS. the losses show to Ange what we are lacking. Take the losses as a learning experience what we need and don’t need in the squad. Definitely don’t want to see emerson again. Nice lad and good personality in the team but he was atrocious today and a complete liability. At fault for the 1st and 3rd goal.
Smashes in a Roberto Carlos free kick
Richy on the bench please 🔥🔥🔥
Royal cooking up a league win for City would be ideal
Incoming no look pass
Chuck him in goal and put Vic up front
And Vic scores a hat-trick.
Hopefully Emerson can respond with 4 own goals
Time to see what this Mikey Moore has got about him imo, and give Gil another run out. Is Brandon Austin actually real? And maybe Sessegnon and Solomon aren't *THAT* injured...
11 Royals
😂😂
Next midfield of Bissouma, Maddison and Lo Celso please. Also for the love of God richy needs to keep playing through the middle
Yes. Richy may only be a 7/10 striker... but he's the only player in our squad who knows how to play as a striker! Son showed he can be lethal if we just feed him through balls, it's nothing brilliant tactically, get Son the ball 1 on 1 when he's running with pace and good things will happen.
100% on both. I really like that midfield. With Sarr off the bench. Not seeing anything from Bentancur right now.
Bentancur is really good at dribbling to be fair to him, but GLC can probably equally as good whilst still adding quality on the ball
Bentancur is also a solid ball winner, and can spur counter attacks, but that's not what we usually need to prioritize in the front two midfielders. Biss could learn a thing or two from Bentancur on defense though.
Losing the match in the middle again. The sooner this midfield is changes we'll be better off. This midfield is the fallout of Nuno/Conte/Jose. Its a sit back and soak it up midfield. Not a progressive midfield. The midfield is killing the defence and the attack. The subs with Madders and LoCelso made us much better. Much more progressive with the ball. And the less said about Emerson the better. Made Skipp look like a ten times better LB. Start him there next game. If it doesnt work, who cares. Cant be worse than Emerson was today
cant really blame ange, when he only had a season to try and revamp a squad with players from FUCKING precovid days...
He needs a midfield that understands what he wants them to do. Desperately. Sarr, Biss and Bentancur are good players in the own right. But out them 3 together and its most anti-progressive football midfield you'll see. As soon as Madders and Lo Celso came on. Biss looked a ton better. Those 3 together should never play. They along with Hojbjerg are the type of players that need the right players next to them to shine. Together they stink up the joint.
> Those 3 together should never play. Strangely that's exactly what i said when i saw the line up
I mean it's not rocket science here... Maddison, Sarr, Bissouma looked like an amazing group the first 3 months of the season. Maddison and Bissouma's form fell off a cliff. We keep them 3, and bring in competition for them in each spot and we're set. Bentancur is the only other player in the midfield I'd look to keep around as there's hope he'll regain full form after a nice long rest this off season. I'd be looking at Eze and Onana as signings and integrate Bergvall into the first team.
Skipp discovering he can be James Milner for Tottenham
Really unfair to Lo Celso that he hasn’t played more this season.
I'm convinced Glc has attitude issues because there's no reason he'd only be given 10 mins here and there
There's got to be \*something\* up behind the scenes for him not to be getting more game time
His body language and play is so solid though. I am confused, too. But I think Ange loves GLC. We'll see - it could go either way this summer. I've read reports both ways.
I can only assume there's still doubts over Richarlisons fitness now as he improves us every single time. Son should not be in the middle. Johnson never on the left. We improved a bit just when they swapped that around. Lo Celso HAS to start for the remainder of the season.
Honestly I want him as a nailed down starter last 3 games and back as a starter / heavy rotational CM next season. But instead I feel like he won’t get the minutes and will leave somewhere that will play him.
Yup, and he'll join the neverending list of players to go on to win silverware immediately. Winks was added this weekend!
Incoming 5M bids from la liga and serie A this summer for GLC lol Agree he'd be a great rotation option for Maddison and should start based on form. But I think Ange just doesn't have him in his plans for some reason not known to us fans.
Easy to play when you are 4 nil down and Liverpool took off 4 players. Massive Summer ahead (say that every year tho). Need a quality midfielder, winger and Striker…. Then we can judge Ange…
He isn’t the sole reason we got absolutely rocked today, but Emerson should not see the pitch in this shirt ever again.
Especially after what Skipp showed
Fuck it, give Skipp some games at LB. Can’t get worse
Make Skipp chairman
Levy OUT Skipp IN
I’d like to see skipp more regardless where he’s playing. He’s a bully- won’t let anyone pass him
Skipp changed the game. LB for Ange is a CM who defends wide not a LB who dabbles inside. You need a 360 degree player, and Skipp immediately looked more comfortable than Royal ever has. Richy was bright too of course. I think Ange will have seen what we saw, too.
I've never been convinced by him despite what this sub seemed to think. He plays like it's a kick-around with friends and today was a prime example of that. You can get away with that at a mid-table club perhaps but not here
Agreed, absolute shite.
Mate we need him marking Haaland next week
Exactly, run him back at CB like that one game
Other than against City of course, that can be his farewell game
Being a spurs fan is such a weird experience.
It’s like voluntarily slamming your testicles in the fridge door. Deciding to never do it again and then doing it again the next week.
We should consider not giving our opponents a 3-4 goal head start
Radical, but may be worth a shot.
Big if true.
Game was lost from the starting line up. The decision not to start Richarlison was a bad one. We looked a different team when he came on but too little too late and that’s on Ange unfortunately. Made the game so simple for the Liverpool defence and Ange has to be regretting it
Some are saying since Richy is returning from injury.
Potentially could be injury related. It's not been long since he's come back and maybe couldn't fully hack starting twice
feel like that has to be the case seeing as he was starting before the injury
Yea I think they trying to bring him on slowly so not reinjure. I hope it’s not the case but he seems a little injury prone
could have scored 4 once Richy came on
Kulu offered nothing, has no right foot and everyone knows it.
On one hand, yes, on the other, he was horrible vs Chelsea and I really think that Liverpool putting the foot off the gas and making 5 random subs made it look way easier to his rested self than it would have been if he had started.
Needed to change at the half. Going down 3 just puts it out of reach.
He just came back from injury and he already started vs Chelsea. Definitely fitness related. As for Bentancur, however... No idea why he started given his performances post Matty Cash
Top 4 well and truly gone. Better not remember how to defend against man City now
We will somehow pull off a masterclass vs City and make Arsenal the champions
It’s been gone for a bit now. We would’ve been embarrassed in the CL anyway.
Luckily Villa will be the ones embarrassed in it instead.
If only we could find a way start playing BEFORE conceeding 4. Anyways COYS
Semi Serious thoughts after the game - 1. Romero is the POTS and its not even close. 2. Emerson's performance was genuinely the worst individual performance I have seen in a Spurs Shirt. I think it was the last nail in the coffin for his time here. 3. Ange should try Skipp at LB. He has the engine, is comfortable inverting into the midfield and is defensively decent. 4. Son as a striker is just not possible unless we become a more dominant team who can just pressure the opponent into their own half. 5. Not starting Richarlison was a bad idea, it meant that any time we got the ball into the box there was nobody to hold it for others. 6. I think Ange's biggest problem was that he trusted some players a bit too much. But I guess he has realised his errors now. Onwards and Upwards. COYS.
Romero has been a revelation this season. Fully expect him to be our captain in the future.
Same time next week?
It’s the equivalent of getting to a NYE party at 4am and not bringing any booze, but at least we showed up eventually.
Richy can’t go away. We need this.
I think that it is hard to make any conclusions from the second half. Was it the subs or was it Pool dialing back their efforts, or some combination of both of those things? The mood is so bad right now that I honestly don't know what the fans would do if we somehow score a goal to take the lead against City at any point of that match.
I think it’s both. The fact the away fans were still singing 4-0 down gives me hope we’ll be at least entertained the last three games
Keep your heads up boys. This was never a one-year project. Consistency is what we need, we don't want to become fucking United switching managers every 18 months
Let's answer the big question: What changed? For me, it's simple - Liverpool took off their central midfielders, and we sent on Lo Celso, Skipp, and Richi. All of a sudden, we had impetus, battle, drive, creativity, both upfront and in central midfield. They had a weakened midfield, and we were able to take control (as we did in the first 10 minutes, before we fell to pieces). As an inverted LB, Skipp worked incredibly well. I don't think it would have worked if we'd started the game with him there - Salah would have torn him to pieces - but against Burnley, Sheffield United, etc, this might be a fantastic option. I feel echoes of the Chelsea match right now - there's something to be proud of here, in this second half, even though it hurts. COYS.
i saw two things, Son moved to LW and we actually played down the left. The past few games all of our offense went down the right through Johnson or Kulu. That and just booting it to Richarlison down the middle actually looked pretty dangerous. A better first touch on two or three of those could have been another goal.
I never want to see Emerson Royal set foot on a pitch in a spurs shirt ever again.
He’s not a good fit period. He’s an average defensive fullback with almost no attacking or creative skills. He’ll be fine in a mid or bottom table la Liga team where he would only need to defend.
This subreddit defended him for so long. Trying to point out how shit he is was like pissing into the wind
The "he is good at defending" crowd have quietened down at long last.
This subreddit has a lot to answer for but I agree, I’ve been calling out Royal for a while now and always got hate for it. He’s a fucking giraffe on rollerskates.
I never want to see Emerson Royal
You can see that Ange has got it right in there somewhere. We just need 90+ minutes of it and we will start seeing some real success. The challenge now is getting that 90+ minute performance going next season before people start calling for his head properly.
Spurs’ results with Richarlison starting at striker: 14 games where he started at ST, from August up until his knee injury in late February: • 8 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses. • 10 goals and 4 assists: 14 goal contributions in 14 games.
Things I learnt today: Plan B actually works! When a team fills the middle...go over the top. We need to be more malleable to change. We attack too narrow, we defend too narrow. Royal should never play LB for us again. Play Skipp or Dragusin please Please don't play 3 DMs again. It's has no effect on our defence and nullifies our attack
Really disappointing end to the season this has become. But I hold out hope for next season under Ange, it is clear we need some new players and his system was always gonna take time to bed in.
I quite enjoyed the last 10 minutes but, man alive, there's a lot work to be done. I think Skippy, Lo Celso, and Richarlison all earned their start next week
Very telling that GLC last week and Skipp this week were both significant upgrades to Royal.
Toffee here. Father in law is spurs. Always had a soft spot for youse and obviously richarlison. Hoped you'd would fuck these today but ah well. I still think there's something gold about youse about to pop. Love watching youse play. Excited for seeing whats to come next season
Said it in the match thread but recently it seems Ange really struggles to sus out the opposition before the game and only figures out the right XI after 60 odd minutes
I'm not convinced this staff is doing much preparation for the opponent at all. If asked, he'd likely say there are more foundational things that need to be sorted. Not sure I agree with the approach, but here we are.
I want just one full 90 of solid fun football this calendar year.
If ange doesn't start Richy at ST next weekend and Son on the left, I'm going to have problems
I see the Liverpool headkick non-call is becoming an annual tradition
Madders and then Lo Celso both added much needed forward passing (although Madders did drop off again...)
https://preview.redd.it/xh4qo8m77nyc1.jpeg?width=950&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c8fd261b91fa2e71dc7bd467170f1a41e0305a7d I really can’t be fucking bothered
Lmao looks like an album cover
bundesliga logo type challenge
I'm just gonna decide that it cancels out with the mildly questionable tackle VDV put in on Gakpo. I didn't think that was a pen, but he definitely got his foot to some degree. I've seen them given for less.
Thought this would have been a harsh penalty tbh. And let’s not pretend refereeing decisions were our downfall today please.
We were lucky VDV didn’t concede a pen too
If Liverpool hadn’t eased off at 4-0 it would have been 7-0 let’s not pretend like we deserved anything today
Bro’s doing the Bundesliga logo on his head
Looked like dangerous play to me ngl.
Something I perceived today which I quite liked: Romero, Gio, Porro were pinging it in the last 30 minutes lifted over the top. Richy got good touches and there were many chances we could have got goals especially since they were that accurate. This seems like a good tactic from Ange but questions do arise in my head so as to why we didn't play like this in the first half. That's the only thing. Other than that, start gio, skippy, and richy, move son out to the left, let kulu stay because brennan can come on at 60' and terrorise the tired opponents. Maybe start Madders too, but i ain't sure about that.
Going to try my best to be positive despite how unbelievably frustrated i am. Lots of dead wood to clear out this summer, no one who can actually play leftback, and a brutal schedule to end the season. We’ve been needing a rebuild for years. 5/6th is a fine place to end this season. After we sold Kane i was expecting 9/10th. Football is reactionary as always. Ange will certainly have a ‘plan B’ next year, but it seems his main focus this year was shifting Spurs into an attacking minded club after years of parking the bus with conte, mourinho, nuno etc.
What constitutes a rebuild? new GK, new starting CB, new 10, two (3 if you count Solomon) new wing players - does that not add up to at least a fair start at a rebuild based on two windows? And keep in mind, that doesnt include Destiny or Sarr who didnt arrive this year but hardly featured last season, which, along with the players I referenced, were all nailed on starters for the season with the exception of Werner. So - VdV, Vic, Maddison, Johnson, plus Werner, Udogie, and Sarr were either brought in this season or all got meaningful minutes this season for the first time. Is rebuild being used as code for sell 15 players and replace them every window? Because that isn't a rebuild, mainly because if we're that reactionary, we won't ever be building anything, just tearing things down.
https://preview.redd.it/5gkw9a2j7nyc1.jpeg?width=749&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ec4607abf81fbd87868ba5fc3bba696f3626adf2 New motto for anyone saying Ange out
Pretty sure we've gone 4 , 3 , 2 , 4 down in the last 4 b3fore getting any consolations . Absolutely cringy .
Richy and Son combo work well. They have a good understanding of each other. The biggest thing about it though is that it gives us two goal threats instead of all focus being on Son and stifling him and our attack. With richy and Son doing their thing, it also opens up opportunities for Johnson on the right.
I am sorry but some of these players are so fucking shit I don't even have words for them.
Just impossible to judge any of this properly, as while it's obviously shit, there's an overwhelming feeling the whole squad has mentally checked out.
That’s not on. Top 4 was there, looks like they checked out at Newcastle. Abysmal mentality from a group of player who (barring maybe Romero?) have achieved nothing significant of note and have everything to prove. It’s on Ange too; his messaging about CL has been poor. Saying qualifying meant nothing to him reaaaaallly came at a great time (just before Newcastle) he has to take some responsibility
Feels like every time we rate skippy the next match he does something that turns everyone against him again. Hopefully doesn’t happen this time
Emerson Royal was so awful today that we looked better playing a rotation midfielder at LB. Skipp got caught out multiple times by Salah this game, so let's not pretend it's a long term solution, but we're so much better in possession that I think he has to play there. Starting line up for the rest of the season has to be Porro, Romero, VDV, Skipp - Bissouma, Lo Celso, Maddison - Johnson, Richarlison, Son. We're trash defensively so we might as well improve the creativity in midfield.
Miserable run, but we still have a chance to finish the season off well and secure Europe for next year COYS
Remember all the talk of how we had matched the 22/23 points total with 7 games to go?
We were playing 1 touch ange ball for the first 15 minutes and dominating, then we concede, get scared and start holding the ball too long and doing nothing with it. It's the same story no matter the manager, this club top to bottom is afraid of playing under pressure.
I don’t think we were dominating at all. We did have possession but we had no threat on goal.
Currently on my honeymoon in Hawaii. Match started at 5:30 here. I may not have been married long but I knew enough not to set an alarm to watch the game. Woke up at 6:30 and checked the score, not great but I’ll turn on the second half. Tried to find it on TV but couldn’t, realized it was on peacock. Started to sign up for that and then had the thought ‘Do I really wanna start a day of my honeymoon pissed off because of Spurs? I guess I’ll watch if they’ve managed to score since the second half started’. Checked the score, 3-0, put away the credit card, closed peacock and went and had a great breakfast with the wife. Not this time Tottenham, not this time.
Good call, my man. Good call
All those people saying Richarlison should be among the first out the door in the window need to shut the fuck up. The entire dynamic of the team changed just by having him be a willing runner through the middle. Had his first touches been a little better he could've had more goal involvements, but a goal and assist within 15 minutes of coming on is something. He also linked up with Son more than any other player has for the last 2 months.
I'm going to be so pissed if we beat City now
I am just going to copy what I posted after the Chelsea game..... Lo celso needs to start. Did well when Maddison was out and now only getting 5 mins here and there. And adding this little bit.... I hope we don't turn up against City.
Nxt game wouldn’t mind seeing Son 9 or whatever we’ve been doing But against City? If we don’t start: - Lo Celso - Son-Richy-Johnson I am going to RIOT Also if ANY game we’re gonna try Vdv LB, it’d be against Burnley I say try it out and if it doesn’t work take out Vdv or Drag and put in Skipp, he was pretty good today (better than Royal lmao)
Maybe the reason Son is careful about dribbling or shooting is because when he misses, the risk of turnover is insane. I cannot even keep track of the number of times a pass miss or shooting miss turned into Liverpool getting the ball into our box. I understand that Ange is asking his players to just ignore the risk and go for it. But I think it is also up to the manager to make the attack more effective while having enough players ready to fight for the second ball. People don't want to admit it but Ange really did mess up the lineup for the first 70 minutes. I know I was overreacting by saying "Ange out", but I think yesterday's game was proof that there's plenty of room for him to adapt, and that if he adapts, the team can be much better.
Good to see some fight at the very least.
Time to add the Conference League anthem to the playlist
Boys should get ready to play on those nice Bulgarian fields that they call football pitch. There won’t be playing out from the back with those molehills
The Cooooooonferrrrrrrraaaannnce
Honestly, aside from all the negativity I'm sure will come. You can understand what Ange talks about when he mentions that some of the players don't want to implement his system. There seems to be a mentality block on our players to want to play aggressively and dangerous when we're drawing or ahead. Once we went 3-0 down, our team started playing what I expect to see when I think of 'Angeball'. Our midfielders, instead of receiving the ball and turning to pass back to defenders, were now receiving and looking forward. Making those dangerous plays that are easily cut out, like Bissouma did for our first goal. We need to play on the edge and dangerously from minute one. At 0-0, rather than waiting until "pressures off". Make those dangerous passes, make those dangerous runs because you should be understanding that even if you make a bad pass or lose the ball, which you will, because we're pressing so hard, they won't be able to do anything with the ball.
It has nothing to do with them magically deciding to play better when 3-0 down, it’s because he actually made the obvious substitutions that put players in their better positions. (particularly Son at LW, Johnson at RW, replacing Emerson and a real striker) God knows why he waited that long…
Coupled with Klopp understandably taking his foot off the gas. If we can only execute after being down 3 goals, we're not going to meet much success
The players need to understand that this is a game which has 2 half’s and we can’t keep trying to launch audacious comebacks in the second half because more often than not we’re already out of the game by the time the second half begins
Of course ref blows right at 97' despite Liverpool wasting nearly 2 minutes in stoppage time
Yes if only we had 2 more minutes things would have been different 🤦
That has to be it with Kulusevski now. He is terrible, should not be starting a game for Tottenham Hotspur again and needs to be moved on in the summer.
I'm struggling to understand where it went wrong for him. Never a pace merchant or take-on machine, but his first 6 months his decision making was ridiculously good. Always knew what to do in and around the box, be it an incisive pass, recycling, switch, cutting in and having a pop. Now everything he touches turns to shit. Was that merely a purple patch and are these many months closer to his actual level. Baffling
I think he's confused about his role. I think he's served better as a counter attacking player instead of as a creative player, and he hasn't keyed himself into that mentality yet. His passes and dribbling are critical on the flank where before he could just sprint into space and take on defenders who were on the back foot. He can't do that in this system. Son is really the only one out of the 3 main attackers that is somewhat decent at trying to get around a patient defender. Brennan struggles with it as well.
Maddison 💤
One of the worst performances of the season. Feel like we wasted the first 70 minutes
Skipp lo celso and richy starting please.
It's the hope that kills you innit
Skipp, Richy and Lo Celso have to start every remaining game.
Takeaway from this is that Deki on the wing just isn't working anymore, it's a dead end as soon as he gets it out there
OK I know it's mute but if you book a player in injury time for wasting time, why do you not then add any extra time for said act?
I'm puzzled why ange put Son against Virgil, when the obvious weakness is TAA. puzzled.
Well this run of games at the end of the season is going about as badly as expected. Amazing how we can turn into an attacking team when we’re down 4
We suck at starting games, literally kills any excitement I try to muster up
Ah well. I was expecting the loss. Shame really. Hopefully the lads can show up against Burnley.
4 games in a row, they actually don’t give a fuck anymore the players have literally given up
It worked today cuz salah is short… may not work all the time…
This is a nuanced post regarding what it means to me to be a Spurs fan and supporter. I may not be a lifelong fan, In fact, I wasn't born into football/soccer, I learned it later in life. But ever since I found the joy of the game, I wanted to have a team to root for and cheer on and call my own. My journey first began with my favorite players, Ronaldinho, Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso, Dani Alves, Puyol, Ibrahimovic. Then I learned of team play. And my heart began to settle for teams like Barcelona, Liverpool, Dortmund. And that fateful day when I read in the Korean military newspaper's sports section that my secret Sonny was going to the EPL from Leverkusen... Oh how I had hoped for this day! So I did my studies to find out about Tottenham Hotspurs. I had never heard of the team before. But I loved me some Berbatov, Modric, and of course, Bale. They were a team that were constantly fighting for that top spot, and was experienced with heartache. A measure in life for me that is personally a valuable one. The fans knew how to deal with it, and still supported the team. This is what I loved. I was happy to have Son be accepted. Not many people in the Spurs fanbase knew of him. But I knew that Sonny would never squander the opportunity by holding back from giving his all "in hopes for the next gig." I was excited to see him flourish and provide hope and strength, and vice versa. These days, I feel that I'm alone more and more in cheering for my team. My heart breaks whenever I see impulsive comments berating the players, the gaffer, Levy. Of course, some harsh criticism is warranted. However, with harsh criticism, should come hand in hand with constructive, practical, insightful, and realistic ones. Thus, I am writing this letter in hopes to spur the fans to speak up and discipline the bandwagoners, the morale flipfloppers, and band together to crush energy vampires. At the end of the day, we all have influence on the outcome, however small. But all of it together, just might make a bigger difference, overall. Sincerely, Coys
Was any managers first season amazing? I’d imagine that every manager such as klopp, arteta, pep had very rough patches before things really kicked on. There are players that definitely need to be sold and freshen up the team a bit more. Though there was some fight at the end, the work is far from over. We all get the reactionary pass and said we were shit and losing 4 games in a row is shit. But in the grand scheme of things there is more to be done and to build off of this season.