Spurs head to Turf Moor to take on a Clarets side which is enjoying their best stretch of the season, unbeaten in their last 7 games. Mauricio Pochettino has been boosted by the return of Harry Kane to the squad with only Danny Rose and Dele not available for selection. As we saw earlier in the season at Wembley, when Sean Dyche's side are in the mood, they can be difficult opposition. Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes play up top and are a handful for any defense, especially on set pieces and crosses into the box. Their back 4 is very physical, led by the slid CB partnership of James Tarkowski and Ben Mee and their outstanding keeper Tom Heaton can win a game all by himself. The 19-year-old Dwight McNeil has impressed in midfield. Again, the key will be our passing and ball retention - if we give the ball away like we did against Leicester, it could be a difficult afternoon.
I like that we're playing first this weekend. If we put a win on the board, 2 points behind City, 2 points behind Liverpool and all the pressure on them as they go to Old Trafford tomorrow. Kane is probably going to be on the bench, what a difference it makes to (a) have Son and Llorente playing so well that we don't have to throw him back in, and (b) have that kind of option to come on. Anyone know if Ben Davies is available? If not I'm a bit worried about Vertonghen playing wing back again, not because he'll be anything less than brilliant but because we need to save his legs a bit for the upcoming massive games.
Poch says he's an animal. Nah mate, he's a machine Lloris Foyth - Alderweireld - Vertonghen Aurier --------- Sissoko - Winks --------- Rose Eriksen Kane - Son Gazza, KWP, Davies, Wanyama, Lamela, Llorente, Lucas
Strong team, strong bench - and that's while missing Dier, Sanchez and Dele. Despite what we've read recently, this is a serious squad.
Not enough urgency, pressure. Weak defending. I think we can all put aside the title dreams now, even if they were a stretch.
We didn't match Burnley's physicality which has is concerning given the amount of time in between this game and the Dortmund game.
Dreadful, dreadful performance, Sissoko and Aurier give the ball away in the build-up to the 2 goals, but more concerning is we were thoroughly outplayed over the 90 minutes.
Poch messed up with his changes, taking off Foyth and going to a back 4 handed them the initiative when we were dealing with their arial threat pretty well in a back 3.
I miss the match today. I heard that Poch was fuming and confront Mike Dean the ref after the game. So what did Mike Dean do that got Poch so mad? Can someone please fill me in. Poch usually not a get mad that easily person, so I'm curious what did Mike Dean do? I didn't get to see the match today. Thank you in advance.
Burnley's first goal came on a corner kick that looked like it should have been a goal kick - it may have been that. I don't remember any other controversy. I see Dean has been reassigned for the next match, he was scheduled to be the 4th official for Chelsea.
Poch can moan all he wants about the incorrectly awarded corner, but that was not why we lost, it was a poor performance all around, including from the manager. First of all, congrats to Burnley, they were excellent and fully deserved the win, as they took the initiative from the opening kickoff and were positive for the 90 minutes, which could not be said about our players. A concern for me has been our fullbacks. Trippier, Aurier and Rose have all been poor this season (I think Trippier in particular has let the WC success go to his head). Since the Man U game, teams have been targeting the FB position against us. Since Poch likes to push them way up the pitch, the opposition have quite rightly identified that if you play balls into the vacated channels, you can get some joy against us. Leicester, Dortmund and Burnley all used this tactic to success. Poch made the adjustment at HT against Dortmund by going to a back 3 and also started the game at Burnley with a back 3, which did a good job of handling Burnley's attackers, but as soon as he changed to a 4, it created wide open spaces in our half of the pitch and Burnley actually had the better of the game for the final 25 mins after Kane had equalized. This was particularly evident on the winning goal, when Aurier gave the ball away instead of heading into touch and Rose didn't track the run of Barnes into the box. I think the best way for us to play is with a back 3 with the fullbacks as wing backs, otherwise I think we will have problems given the poor defensive play we are getting from that position.
I was concerned about the lack of shape during the game. After subs we were basically playing a 4-1-5; Sissoko as a one man midfield, with Eriksen and Lamela supporting Kane, Son, Llorente (or was it Lucas? Going off memory and apparently i've been subconsciously trying to forget it...) The 3-4-1-2 is IMO our best formation at the moment (certainly while Dele is missing). We also have the option of a 4-3-3, 4-1-2-1-2 or 4-2-3-1 with minimal personnel changes (1 sub at a time, for example Lamela or Lucas for a centre back); "Shit or bust" is exciting to watch, but we have players plenty good enough to put pressure on and break down the likes of Burnley while retaining *some* discipline and shape.
Bringing on Llorente for Winks with 30 minutes to go was a mistake as he had no impact on the game and left us one light in midfield - Moura or Lamela would have been a better sub at that point. Even though we equalized 3 minutes later, the change in formation left us way too open.