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20 Jan 2015 17:17:41
Regarding our overall tactics, I feel, we look a lot more informed on the pitch under Pochettino, and apart from the LFC game(where I think Pochettino was a bit naive, but in his defense, he was still experimenting a bit), have matched our opponents at least from a tactical point of view.

Even in the 3-0 defeat to CFC, we were very much on top before they scored. The ManC game was unlucky, and the CFC game at the lane, and AFC at the Emirates were great results. Also, we seem to be moving the ball a lot faster versus smaller teams, when they counter, and we counter their counter, which has allowed us to score a lot of goals this season.

Our fitness levels have been terrific, and we've avoided the general long injury lists, so credit to Pochettino there, and Eriksen, and Kane just cover so much ground. We seem solid defending set pieces, but offensively, there is a massive scope for improvement. I don't get why Eriksen is firing them in low at the near post, if no one is going to attack it. I'd like to see us stick Kane around the near post, with Fazio at the back post, and vary the length, to keep the opponent guessing, Vertonghen can attack the corner from deep, while Chadli can roam around the penalty spot.

Looking at our squad, we look solid in just about every department. Lloris is one of the best GKs, Fazio-Jan is a rock solid partnership at the back, with a wonderful set of traits between them, Walker at right back, and Davies and Rose at LB, look really good, especially in 1v1s, but definitely need to work on their crossing, perhaps Pochettino should have them practice drilling it in low into a dangerous area, with Kane & Chadli attacking them or providing decoys to free up space for the other too attack into.

Moving on to midfield, I think 1 spot in our pivot belongs to Bentaleb, while the other is up for grabs. I don't want to see us sign a new midfielder just yet, because I believe the answer could lie at the club. I like Mason, he moves the ball forward very well, and reminds me a bit of Modric, but I'm not overly convinced of his physical presence, especially as Nabil too, is a bit of a-on the ball player.

What Mason does well though, is that he plugs in the gaps, when Eriksen and Kane press, taking up good intercepting positions, to start a counter high up, as seen vs ManC in particular, he is also willing and able to get into the box. Paulinho is very inconsistent, and I'm still not too sure what his best role is.

He can run around a lot, has decent skill, but often, neglects his defensive duties, so I'd have him sold soon. Capoue looked the part a while ago, and seems a solid DM, but I don't think a midfielder not capable of pressing high, and still getting into solid defensive positions can be part of Poch is system, and Capoue strikes me as a lazy player.

He has a very good passing range, and reads the game well, but he needs to be able to press high, and recover into part of a solid defensive shape. He did this at the start of the season, but then for some random reason, wanted to attack more and more and was nowhere to be seen for the goals. Stambouli seems like an all action midfielder, with a bit of positional naivety.

He can press high up, is assured in possession, and really looks like the proper man for this system. My only qualm with him, is that his positioning is a bit naive, and I'd really prefer a bigger, more physical player in that position.

Apart from that, like Mason, he plays those vertical passes very well, and is very forward thinking with his passing. Dembele is a tricky one, he is perhaps the most talented member of our squad, a silky smooth dribbler, very solid in the tackle, which has stats prove, has had a success rate of over 60%, averaging over 2.5 tackles since he's joined us. He also has size to complement this.He can pick a pass at times too The problem with Mousa, like Capoue, is that he is lazy.

He won't press high up, and his defensive efforts in the defensive third are often half hearted, hence, such few clearances, and blocks. Also, his passing is to sideways and backwards, he needs to be more adventurous with his passing, and shoot more!!. Overall, I think Stambouli looks the best fit atm, but Mousa has the best potential, we should give all a run till the summer, and if all fails, look at someone like Schneiderlin who would be perfect, or McCharty who would be decent too, or take a gamble on Song.

Moving further forward, Eriksen is pure class in attack, and the central attacking spot is his own. On the left, Chadli has been brilliant, got goals, and assists, made some excellent runs, (telling that all his goals are from inside the area), and can drive at defences. Up front, Kane looks a proper quality striker. He may not have great pace, but he can pick a pass, shrug off defenders, hold the ball up, beat his man, shoot from range, and is constantly on the move. Fits Poch's pressing style too.

Only issue in attack, is on the right, and I hope Lamela can make the spot his own. Lamela has looked good this season, but I feel he needs to stick wider to his flank, before peeling in upon receiving the ball, like Ribery, Robben, Hazard and all other inverted wingers do, his starting position is too central.

While I'd love Depay(mainly plays off the left), I think we should perhaps look at a cheaper option like Konoplyanka(mainly plays off the left), or Yarmolenko. Mirallas has been linked, and I like the idea of him, he can play off the right and the left, gets involved in goalscoring situations, and I don't think he would, in the long term impede Lamela's progress either.

Apart from that, we just need a bit of cover in some positions. Reid and Ings on frees look good to me, perhaps we could look at a goalscorer like Soriano, also to come in as cover, or play cup games. Tactically speaking, once we take the lead, like yesterday, versus smaller teams, I'd like to see us push up and press hard, make it a lot tighter, and give us a chance to win it higher up.

If they pass the initial press, we can drop deep, and hit them on the break. Another tactic I'd like to see us try in the future, in big games, is a type of man-marking. Wherein, a tricky player like Aguero or Sanchez, notorious, for their great runs on and off the balls are handed onto a specific player, however, only upon them entering a offensive position, i.e, in the final 3rd.

So, let's say Benji is doing the job on Sanchez. He ignores him, and forms the block until Sanchez moves into a position, from where he can threaten our goal, when Benji looks to mark him, and allow a forward player, to make up the numbers in the block. I'd also like to see us target specific players who are weak on the ball, and press them hard when in possession.

We are starting to look dangerous on the break, however, when in possession, versus a deep sitting team like Sunderland yesterday, I do feel we need another Chadli-esque runner, who will make runs in behind, forcing the defenders to make decisions, and move out of position; Lamela needs to do this a lot more from the right, also think we could do with a bit more pace and directness in attack.

Another solid aspect of our game, has been, that once we have gotten in between the lines, we haven't been indecisive, versus Arsenal, we looked a bit unsure, but we have improved markedly, we do not dwell on the ball too much either. One more aspect we should look at, is that once we lose the ball, we should try to press very hard, for 5-7 seconds to win it back.

However, if we cannot, the back 4 and midfield 2 need to be in position, with the front 3 actively pressing the player on the ball, and Eriksen taking up intercepting positions. The last aspect that we need to look at, is building a winning mentality. We seem to be doing well on this front, as seen by the number of late winners we get, but we need to keep this going.

Eriksen has a deadly strike, and the opposition block his shots for long, but as they tire, in the dying minutes, he can effectively get his shots away. Having another able long range shooter in Kane helps too. Also, feel Eriksen needs to at times drop a bit deeper versus teams sitting deep, to orchestrate our play, spread it into the final 3rd before taking up a goalscoring position.

Overall, I am pleased with the amount of progress we've made this season, and remain very optimistic. Sorry for such a rambling post.

1.) Belgian Hotspur

This is a good positive analysis. I don’t entirely agree with all of it, but it is a welcome counterbalance to all the gloom and doom that we so often indulge in.

I haven’t seen as much improvement as you (I think we were playing just as well last season, under Sherwood), but Pochettino is still settling in so I know I must be patient.

Much has been made of our fitness and ability to last the full ninety minutes, but this is largely due to a relative handful of late goals (particularly from Erikson) which have boosted our points count. I suspect that down to luck as much as anything.

The other side of the coin is our continued inability to effectively defend narrow leads. This has been a problem for some years and we saw it again in the Sunderland game, when we almost blew it in the final moments.

Instead of just continuing to do the things that got us the lead in the first place, we start trying to play possession football; rolling the ball around at half pace. But this just makes it easy for the opposition to press us into making mistakes. I would like to see Pochettino give his players a good kicking every time they do this.

I think he is also struggling to implement his favourite line-up of two defensive midfield players in front of his two central defenders. Done right, this can be a very solid formation, but we are not doing it right yet and are still too vulnerable to simple long balls into the heart of our defence. The pairing of Mason and Bentaleb comes closest to what he wants, but if they are not available then nobody else seems to get the message.

Pochettino is still experimenting and I am not sure he knows his best team. Against Sunderland he played Soldado up front again, but this meant Kane dropped back into the midfield. He did well enough there, but this is not his best position and it forced Erikson onto the right, which is definitely not his best position. We looked to have a better balance when Townsend came on.

I still think Lennon is our best right-sided player, but he is so far off Pochettino’s radar that his departure seems inevitable. Personally, I would rather offload Lamela, especially while he still has credibility in Italy. I have not yet seem anything from him that suggests he has a future here and his most notable statistic is the number of fouls he commits.

However, I don’t see these players in training so I don’t really know the basis for Pochettino’s decisions.

Overall, I am reasonably satisfied with our progress and still have hopes we might actually lift a trophy of some kind this season.

30 Oct 2014 05:34:05
There is no one solution to the situation that we find ourselves stuck in, wherein we've seemingly succumbed to the fact hat we will finish 5th, and if recent performances are anything to go by, even 5th seems rather unlikely. Now, I'm not going to rant about tactical issues, but something that I found striking, is the lack of real success achieved by our players before they joined us.

Sure, a lot of them have shown promise at their previous clubs, but it seems glaringly obvious, that the half-decent players in our roster only see us as a springboard to get them a move to a "Bigger Club" Hence, while a lot of our players have experience, very few have it at a high level(i.e UCL). Who has really won anything of note at our club?(Eredivise doesn't count, I'm talking EPL, UCL etc), who has 70+ caps for a top 10 international side?

We have absolutely no role models at the club, no one, who the rest of the squad can look at when we are down and on a bad run of form, and say, it's just a sticky patch, we're in the company of a UCL winner here, and gather the confidence to push themselves to perform at a respectable level.

Look at our recent sides, which flourished. We had Ledley King, a defender who everyone looks up to, William Gallas(EPL winner x2, WC runner up), & Rafael Van Der Vaart who had played for big clubs and won competitions of note, and not some small league. Every good team has at least one player of this sort, and perhaps even Manchester United are victims of a similar situation right now.

Continuity is absolutely key, but first we need a player or two who have a winning mentality and hope it rubs on to the rest of the squad, both, when we're smashing a team, and when we're on the brink of embarrassment, like yesterday, someone who can say, look I've been through this before, and trust me it always ends up good if you can find that extra yard when you're down.

Now, it may be difficult to find some UCL, or EPL winner so easily, but as far as I see it, there were quite a few of them who were free agents in the summer, VIdic, Cambiasso etc, who we missed out on, they may not have an impact on the field, but in the dressing room, they can be the difference between 4th & where we are stuck now.

The alternative, obviously, is to sign a world class player still in his prime, which given our financial capabilities is nigh impossible.So, the former seems more likely. The only player to have actually won something, and currently plays for our club, is Adebayor, I mean. Adebayor. Come on, when you're losing he'll cry about not getting the ball, not find that extra bit of energy to press, and chase lost causes, which brings me to the other point about passion.

How many Scott Parkers, Michael Dawsons and Lewis Holtbys who will run themselves to the ground, put their body on the line, cover every blade of grass for the club do we have in our squad now? Very few if any.We have the talent in our squad, but that is not where investment is needed, we need to look at players who are winners by nature, and their CV speaks large volumes about their capabilities.

Look at how many winners that CFC side has, Drogba, Terry, Cech, but not all of them start. Look at ManC- Kompany, Toure, Lampard. The thing I love about those two sides, is that they have the perfect combination of winners, talented players, and strong, powerful athletes/bulldozers(key to success in the premier league in my opinion, need to have strong powerful lads on the pitch).

Reckon we should look at the next few windows as an opportunity to bring in experienced players who have won major competitions to replace our current squad players, and try to have their experience, and winning mentality rub off onto our young, talented core, who will run our side in the future- Eriksen, Kane, Nabil, Mason, Lamela, Rose, Walker, Jan, Hugo.

Let that core stay constant, let them start games together, as time will wear, they will know each other better, know their strengths, weaknesses, movements, and be more comfortable around them in the dressing room, and hence be more free to express themselves.

Look at all the big teams, they all have a core set of players who have played with each other for a long time- Barca-Pique, Messi, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta etc. RM- Ramos, Casillas, Marcelo, CR7, Pepe; Bayern: Lahm, Basti, Muller, Holger, Boateng, Neuer, Van Buyten, Ribery, Robben; Juve: Buffon, Chiellini, Bonnuci etc.

It will be tough to keep them, but we too must try to keep majority of the core of our team constant, and just add in the missing pieces each summer(Aforementioned clubs make just the one marquee signing most of the time) Additionally, these core players should all be of Pochettino's choice, as after all, he has to develop, them, and field them in the side based on his system.

The alternate method to build a winning mentality apart from just bringing winners in, is to breed them, by achieving success ourselves, perhaps the Capital One Cup or the FA Cup would be a good start.The issues obviously run far further than just lack of winners at the club, there are several issues regarding tactical effectiveness on players, how settled the players are, how well they know each other(which is absolutely crucial for the running of anything that requires a team, it is telling that most sides have their core built long before success follows(Barca under Pep.

Bayern today etc. wherein majority of the key players have known each other for a while, accustomed themselves to the league, country, city and can communicate effectively to the entire squad. Then the issues are purely tactical, for starters, our defensive block is far too high at times given our defender's lack of positional sense, and the lack of pressure there is on the ball at times(more under AVB, improved a lot under Poch), and of course the speed, and incisiveness we move the ball, especially in the final 3rd.

That said, replacing the so called deadwood, squad players with proper winners, and players who give their heart and soul to the club would be a great start. It's not an easy task, but that's what Baldini is here for, anyone who has had a respectable amount of time at RMCF, Barca, Bayern, MUFC, Milan(not current squad), Inter(see Milan), Juve would do. It's a small step, but would be a great start.

Bring in experienced players or even staff members, to generate a winning mentality within the future of the squad(Lloris, Jan, Walker, Rose, Davies, Bentaleb, Eriksen, Lamela, Kane, Chadli, Mason, Capoue etc. so that when they are at their peak, this mentality will have settled in, and then the cycle can continue. Hence, I think it is vital that we can find an equilibrium between the squads played in all competitions, because a trophy, even the Capital One Cup, would go a long way, instilling confidence into the side that they are yet to experience.

Just to reiterate, stability is key, but we have got to give Pochettino a squad of players he wants to work with for a couple of years, and it's key that we keep the core of the team constant, let them get to know each other better, create a winning atmosphere among each other with the help of experienced players who have seen it all, won it all.

It's really telling, that Dier(forced through injury) is the only summer signing to have played a full 90 in the PL, the rest probably don't even have 90 between them, does Pochettino want them? If not, what's the point of buying them?

I'm pretty sure he wanted Schneiderlin & Jay Rodriguez, but Levy & Baldini told him to settle with the cheaper option of Stambouli, and utilizing last summer's purchases more. Tactically speaking, it is my conjecture, that a football game is won by the team who can find more space.

Having players who can find space out of nothing is of paramount importance, and while we have that, I'm not too sure, if they are of that quality yet, to merit playing in the way they have recently. If we want to play with inverted wingers, it's alright, but they have to stick to their flank, until the ball reaches the final 3rd, from where, they can go on a nice inward dribble or into a goalscoring position.

Look at any top club. Hazard sticks to the touchline till he gets the ball, same with Ribery & to an extent Robben, as I see it, we play with 3 AMs, Chadli is still alright, but Lamela seems to want to play in a free role off the right which is unacceptable, especially as he can't offer anything offensively while doing that, hence, all the space we get falls to the fullbacks, and Walker being out injured definitely doesn't help our cause.

Personally, I prefer maintaining a deep, compact defensive block, and given that Hugo is perhaps the best at dealing with crosses and long shots in the PL, stifling the opposition in the final 3rd seems viable. Cut off all the space in the final 3rd, then when you win it, break with terrifying pace, and don't play any pass backward or sideways.

If you lose it, give yourself 7 seconds to win it back, before settling into a very tight, compact, defensive shape, while having at least 4-5 at the back at all times. It's tough to execute, but I think it would work for us.

There is still hope, we look brighter on the counter these days, and some of the younger lads look very talented, but we need someone to take this club by the scruff of the neck, and make the changes required to push us into a top 4 position we so dearly desire.

{Ed001's Note - really good post that mate.}

1.) 30 Oct 2014 08:20:43
Ed001: Thanks :)

{Ed001's Note - you are welcome mate, it was a very good read.}

2.) 30 Oct 2014 10:59:16
A lot of good points all made by others at different times. The question of Baldini's role and the managers wants has been rumbling since AVB, the return on investment made by Baldini "acquisitions" is pathetic and needs to be addressed by Levy.

3.) 30 Oct 2014 16:18:11
Excellent post there Belgianspurs.

The whole point of our new training facilities are, with ffpr in mind, to become self sufficient, nurturing our own talent to come through and play for the first team. Our development teams are doing very well with players like Winks, Sonupe and Velkjovic to name a few coming through.

I've been waiting to see if anyone mentions Deandre Yedlin who will hopefully join in January. This is the type of bargain we have to look for, imo he will be a 20, 30m player in a few years. Keeping him will be the problem.

I think that it lookslike a lot of the players aren't trying hard enough which is a no no. Adebayor is a vice captain so if he can't be bothered then what signal does that send. We made a big mistake with the captain appointment s I think.

Lloris is one of the only players who might command instant respect from other players, would of said Vertonghen but he is a baby.

Plenty to be optimistic about though for me, we have some very good players they need to be a team though.

4.) Another problem is we have Kaboul as captain, Ade as vice captain . Who would look up to them . Both play when they want to, both so inconsistent, both drop their heads when it's not going well . Then Wednesday, Lennon is bloody captain, what??
Perfectly right that we need a constant run for our defence . Why we keep chopping and changing them God knows . How many other top teams have a different defence every game? This is where you build from, the back!

5.) Why would you consider Verts for a captains role - he quit on the team last season, declined to sign a new contract this summer. Not exactly someone yiu want in your squad let alone as a captain . and yes I don't understand Kaboul or Ade either.

6.) 31 Oct 2014 12:13:12
I thought Lloris was vice captain?

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30 Oct 2014 08:20:43
Ed001: Thanks :)

{Ed001's Note - you are welcome mate, it was a very good read.}