As crap as Liverpool were, they've had some good results and have the firepower to outscore plenty of teams. I don't think it's a coincidence that a few teams have loomed that bad against us. We have a very decent combination of being able to stop other teams from playing and being just a bit good ourselves.
crikey. whatever Poch throws out there seems to work. when I saw the lineup, there was some head-shaking, I will admit. he seems to have a fair grasp on how this game works, eh?
Liverpool's midfield. Can, Henderson and Milner are all a little bit of everything (workrate, passing, ball winning), but not much of anything in particular. Truth be told, between all 3 combined there isn't a single attribute that Harry Winks doesn't do better.
Whisper it quietly, but isn't there just a hint of Ajax's total football about it? Ask anyone what our first XI is and we'd all come up with very similar (Dier or Wanyama perhaps, Trippier or Aurier) but the 11 we put out doesn't seem to matter that much - there's no noticeable drop off in quality, and several players seem to have a handle on multiple jobs (Dier, Son, Eriksen, Aurier, Vertonghen). We even switch from a back 3 to 4 at will in the same game. We're a very, very well coached team.
I was thinking this of sorts watching the 2nd half of the match v. Real. They were driving forward though midfield, turning the ball, quick short and medium passes, but when they got to the final 25 or 30 yards, it seemed to stutter. And that is how the defense has been for the past two or three seasons. There has been the occasional breakdown, but that is the rare, unexpected moment, even with Aurier. He is the weak link, so far, but with some of his defending (there were a couple of very good moments he had v. Salah), that is really showing how good Spurs defense are.
It was mentioned either last weekend or midweek that Poch does a lot of video analysis. And from some of the past clips we have seen, that seems to be for training purposes with the players, not just for the players.
Pochs record against Liverpool the last few years hadn't been all that great. nice to see Spurs get over that, and at Wembley to boot
what a victory, what a spirit! let's see who the "pundits" will sell kane to, when he said he wants to be one-team-man!
so apparently Kobe Bryant was also there besides Maradona Poch getting some champion experience to mingle with Spurs players...
Another tactical masterclass from Poch - he is the first Spurs manager I can remember that is adapting his tactics against high-profile opposition. How many times over the years have we heard a Spurs manager (Jol, AVB, Harry, Sherwood) say before a match against one of the big boys: "We're Tottenham, we're gonna have a right go!" and then get destroyed 3-0? Similar game plan to the one that worked against Dortmund - let the pikies pass-pass-pass themselves to death, then hit them on the break and take advantage of weak defending. That's why Son was included, for his pace. Last season, when we went to Anfield, I thought Poch was naive trying to play out of the back against their pressing and we got hammered. Well this time he learned his lesson, it was noticeable how many times Lloris or the defenders went long rather than try to pass their way out. It was a good matchup, for once a team coming to Wembley and trying to attack us opened up the space in behind for our forwards. I thought Aurier was generally good, but there were one or two moments where he courted disaster. He reminds me of Assou-Ekotto when he first came to the PL, he was very rash, but learned to control his agression - Danny Rose was the same. Liverpool remind me of where we were a few years back, with defenders like Fazio and Chiriches...
he does seem quick to leave his feet. and he appears no more hesitant to do so while in the box. the penalty conceded v Madrid likely won't be the last.
Actually, both Merseyside teams look like us a few years back - spending a lot of money on mediocre players and then playing them out of position.