that's that. coulda been worse, I suppose, as we're still in the tie. one hour-plus of utter, utter shite, though. rough viewing.
You can see why people are saying Nagelsmann at 32 is going to be the next Klopp. That was brilliant to watch, really they should have beaten us 3 or 4. Jose meanwhile is yetsreday's man. That was the same kind of tepid football display we saw from his Manchester United side when they were knocked out by Sevilla.
I dont think this tie is quite done, yet. Tottenham got into the game later.. too bad they didnt play like that earlier, although some of that could be due to RB sitting back and soaking up the pressure with the away goal already achieved. Either way, Ajax won @ Tott. 1-0 last year.. we know how that turned out.. though Tott. last year was much better than at this point this year.. soooo.. who knows? Gedson is frustrating.. even at Benfica.. tons of talent.. but his passing is just so bad.
Actually, Spurs were already pretty bad by the CL semifinals last year. Our League form* was significantly worse then than it is now. *results-wise, I mean. our 'play' has been poor for over a year now.
The only negative for Leipzig is they didn't bury the tie, but if Jose continues to insist on leaving players like Ndombele and Tanganga on the bench and playing vintage Stoke City football, I don't like our chances.
Yeah. Thats a valid concern if i was Leipzig. The amount of chances they had and only buried 1.. via PK of all things (still dont understand what Davies was doing.. embarrassing).. it could come back to cost them. Lets not fool ourselves.. while Leipzig provided the better goal scoring opp's.. Tottenham had a handful of them aswell.. 1-0 result takes this to ET.. from there.. who knows? I would like to think that a EPL side is more fit and have better training regimes than Leipzig does (could be wrong).. and if i am.. i would then like to think Spurs depth is greater than Leipzig.. which could be pivotal heading into a potential ET. As i said, this tie isnt done, and while i am not overly optimistic about Spurs chances heading into Germany.. i wouldnt be surprised if they come out of this victorious.
Leipzig shouldn't be concerned. Not that last year's team was much better but at least we had a striker. At least there was someone capable of hold up play. Watching the team try to lump the ball forward to Lucas was depressing. I saw that Dele was pissed when he was taken off. Well he should be mad at himself. Both he and Gedson did nothing all night. It was like playing with 9 men out there who had just met for the first time.
Yeah. Dele was pretty invisible for the most part minus that one play in the box that almost came off nice.. Gedson, i would disagree with you. I mean, i do and dont... He had some nice moments but his passing was horrible and completely off resulting in some almost dangerous counter attacks by Leipzig. Im curious if Mourinho will make the right changes.. I gotta assume Lamela will step into the starting 11.. Gedson should be removed too in place of Ndombele.. Aside from that, not much else.. i think those inclusions could be enough to win.. Oh, and most important of all.. get that damn ball to the feet of Lo Celso more..
The game did change when Lamela and Ndombele were brought but as good as they were, neither are fit enough to go more than 60 minutes. In Ndombele's case, he always looks knackered after 20 minutes. I wish they could both get to a point where they could go 75-80 minutes because that would make the team more positive.
Interesting reading the comments here, not too dissimilar to the Man U threads when Jose was in charge there. My thoughts: 1. Jonathan mentioned a 1-0 would get us to ET. I think we will need to score at least 2 goals to go through because we just cannot keep a clean sheet and every game somebody is making a bonehead error to cost us a goal. For Davies, that is the second time he has conceded a rash penalty in a knockout tie and the other one against Juve eventually cost us the tie. 2, Adrenaline mentioned he was depressed watching us lump the ball up to Moura. Well get used to it, that is Mourinho-Ball. Have you noticed our defenders never pass the ball to our midfielders? They just lump it. That is how Tony Pulis and Sam Allardyce have their teams play and it is awful to watch. We don't create anything from our build-up play and we don't press. The only way we create chances is when the other team gives the ball away. Mourinho believes that the longer the other team has the ball, the more chances they will make a mistake. Yet the few times we looked dangerous, Lo Celso was involved. We should be building the play through players like Lo Celso and Ndombele, but Jose is too negative to do that. 3. Why on earth was Sessegnon not in the team? With our lack of strikers, this would be the perfect time to play him on the left of an attacking 3. That was his best position at Fulham.
Some wiseguy said Ndombele has to start on the bench because he's winded from running down the tunnel. Spurs did look better when he and Lamela came on. If the two of them can stay healthy / get fit, we may have a chance in the league. It is a mystery why Sessegnon is getting so little time after we spent 3 years trying to acquire him.
Tbf I don't hate the tactic. We were doing the same thing last year. The difference is that we had Llorente who, as limited as he was skillwise, was good at hold up play. He was a supermassive black hole with the ball but at least that black hole sucked up some defenders from time to time. We can't do that with Lucas. I have nothing against Lucas but like Dele, he's someone who can exploit space but doesn't necessarily create space.
Yeah, i would tend to agree with that... the tactic itself isnt bad if you have an old school forward capable of holding up play, which the Spurs do not have. Such bad luck with the Kane and Son injuries.. even the Sissoko too.. speaking of which, does anybody know when he is expected back or will he miss the 2nd leg too? Either way, i like the fact Leipzig came out right after the game and said they plan on pressing again and playing the same style. It can go either way, it will allow Spurs to create more going forward (with the right players in place, ofcourse) giving them chances to tie it up, which will then revert to a defensive style game ... which is fine at that point tied 1-1.. it would play into the Spurs hands.. ORRRRRRRRRRRR.. Spurs will get absolutely shelled next game out (which is what should have happened 1st leg with better finsihing)
All I know is Jose has used the ultra-negative park the bus tactics that he has so often derided in the past in our home games aganst Liverpool, Man City and now Leipzig. Two of them resulted in 1-0 losses where we created few chances and were fortunate not to lose by more goals and we nicked the other one when City missed a pen, had a man sent off and we scored on our only 2 shots on target. And I am not even mentioning the other nick against Southampton in the FA Cup when they played us off the park in our stadium. Apparently these are the progressive tactics 15 million pound a year gets you these days.
So some thoughts on the match/comments: 1 - Dele is an emotional person/player, and does get effected by things off pitch. I'm wondering if his coronavirus/Chinese video and subsequent backlash had a negative effect. 2 - One thing Spurs have, sans Kane, is tremendous speed up front. In that context, I can understand why Mourinho would play to that strength, but... 3 - Spurs have some good passing midfielders. Lo Celso was, IMO, Spurs MOTM, for his movement with the ball and decision making/passing. Ndombele is also really good on the ball, and has the ability to control close. I would like him to get match fit (and considering that is was Poch who bought him, I suspect he can do the 90). I would like to see Spurs play in a similar way to how Leipzig did (short to moderate quick passing and looking for a cut through). 4 - As poor defensively as Aurier was, Sanchez really stepped up. I think his presence on Werner is really why Werner did very little in the second half. 5 - Lamela really fits well into Mourinho's style of combative players. I wish he had better dribbling skill where he could be a great deep lying center midfielder. A final question - this is the first match I have seen post Eriksen. Do you all think that Dele might also be effected by the loss of him in a way others are not? And one final note: I really grates on me when the announcers say "Alli" rather than "Dele."
I think it is tough for a player like Dele to thrive in a Mourinho system that basically bypasses the midfield. How many times in the game did our defenders win the ball, then look up and just lump it in the general direction of the Park Lane? We do have speed up front, but it can only be a weapon if we pass through the midfield, Lucas and Bergwijn are not going to be winning many headers from long balls. Would like to see us try a 4-3-3 with Tanganga in for Aurier at RB, with 3 of Lo Celso, Winks, Ndombele and Dele in midfield and Sessegnon on the left of a front 3 with Bergwijn and Lucas. Or a 3-4-3 to accomodate the 4 mids. But that would be a footballing side, anathema to Jose.
ESPN.com writer Nick Miller channels Golara (and a helluva lot of other Spurs fans, i'd guess) in his latest offering. https://www.espn.com/soccer/blog-th...ty-doomed-spurs-for-failure-in-leipzig-defeat