Good win. battered their A-Team 2-nil with our reserve side. Decent of Havertz to save his hat trick for the 2nd leg. Lukaku due a goal as well ... probably trying too hard tonight.

I just hope Dave is OK. We really don't need to lose another defender  ... 

 

MOTM a toss up between Saul and Alonso. Sarr's best game yet as well.

I actually think Alonso just shaded it ...

If I were a Tottenham fan (God forbid) I'd have been licking my lips after seeing our lineup today. Then it turns out to be the one time we put out an XI that looks like we're playing a back four, then actually do!

In my weaker moments, I almost feel sorry for them... then I remember.

We played well…so why am I disappointed? This tie should be over, Spurs are atrocious 

For a scratch side we looked balanced, Sarr and Saul stepped up to the plate

Alonso had a good game at LB, the importance of Rudi and Azpi though as calm heads kept the back line in trim

Kepa clean sheet…two good saves

Lukaku is a handful if we could get him into the game, he does though have to improve his shooting 

Havertz looked good , Werner put his usual effort in but it just doesn’t happen with the important stuff like scoring

We do need to gain a killer instinct when opponents are on the ropes

 

 

Nice to get a clean sheet and a home win. Most of us would have been very happy with this score before the game but based on the chances we should have put the tie beyond them tonight. We still have a nice advantage going into the second leg but we will need to ensure we defend well there and keep their crowd quiet.

Just now, Argo said:

It felt some sort of hybrid like away to Leeds last year.

Spot on mate I'm convinced we played in between 343 and 4231 often times depending on personnel we can often look like this but it requires Ziyech, CHO or Puli to play one of the wbs. 

Either he was playing rw with instructions to come back or he was playing rwb with instructions to get really high and move central.

Sarr-COV-2 had a good game.

Timo, it’s glad to have you back mate, missing chances as usual, wouldn’t have it any other way.

Ziyech played some sexy football. 

Saul played like a man possessed, his first good game for us! 

Lukaku meh. 

TT masterclass again completely out foxed Don Antonio. The tweak with Ziyech on the right. Kai playing as number 10/false 9 alongside a true number 9. Having Saul in a midfield with Mount and Jorginho allowing him to play more to his natural strengths. Everyone looked well drilled and knew what they were doing.

1 minute ago, LongtimerLurker said:

TT masterclass again completely out foxed Don Antonio. The tweak with Ziyech on the right. Kai playing as number 10/false 9 alongside a true number 9. Having Saul in a midfield with Mount and Jorginho allowing him to play more to his natural strengths. Everyone looked well drilled and knew what they were doing.

Except the people who should score..... I don't know if they need additional shooting practice or something but it is getting depressing watching them waste chance after chance. 

We played well, liked seeing us in a back 4 but we should have scored 4 or 5

Did we end up playing a fluid mixture of a back 4 and a back 3 tonight? There were times were it looked like we had a back 4 with Alonso at LB and Azpi at RB but other times, where it looked like Alonso was LWB and Ziyech was dropping and playing a RWB role. Didn't know if anyone else noticed this or if I was just being distracted by work expecting me to do what they pay me to do.

Just now, Argo said:

It felt some sort of hybrid like away to Leeds last year.

Yeah in possession seemed like 433– and a back out of posession

 

Just now, RomansRoubles said:

Except the people who should score..... I don't know if they need additional shooting practice or something but it is getting depressing watching them waste chance after chance. 

I know it's exasperating mate, again I must reference Eden because he truly spoilt us with what a top tier/elite forward looks like. Elite fwds are so hard to come by nowadays especially inside forwards/wingers. I still have hopes Werner, Ziyech and Havertz will all become super consistent but only time will tell. 

TT just confirmed we played 442 interesting I wonder if that was a diamond or flat

Anyone have the XG stats for tonight's game ?

3 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

Anyone have the XG stats for tonight's game ?

Something around 2.14-0.37 give or take.

that little pass from werner to lukaku in the last minutes was great 

Just now, Argo said:

Something around 2.14-0.37 give or take.

So 2-0 sounds like a fair result then !

Sometimes I think we are a bit optimistic on perceived "easy" chances

"last years tottenham level have dropped"

– Conte

Just now, azpi28 said:

"last years tottenham level have dropped"

– Conte

That interview was hilarious, some things never change.

Conte was pretty honest in his assessment. Gave us a lot of credit.

1 minute ago, Argo said:

That interview was hilarious, some things never change.

he looked so depressed feel for him. We have Jorginho, Kovacic, Kante and he has Skipp and Winks

Just now, azpi28 said:

he looked so depressed feel for him. We have Jorginho, Kovacic, Kante and he has Skipp and Winks

It's quite poetic though.

He bigged us up more in 5 minutes after a match against us than he did for his entire final season actually managing us.

47 minutes ago, forbzy said:

He seems to have lost his magic touch against Spurs based on tonight

you saw the first goal?! but yeah no goal from him.

3 minutes ago, Argo said:

It's quite poetic though.

He bigged us up more in 5 minutes after a match against us than he did for his entire final season actually managing us.

i think he was very realistic, also it's one of his ways to send the message that they need to invest. 

Did anybody else think Lukaku looked a bit heavy? I don't know if it's due to injury/Covid layoff, but it looked like he's put on weight again.

Edited January 5, 20224 yr by abramovich

3 minutes ago, abramovich said:

Did anybody else think Lukaku looked a bit heavy? I don't know if it's due to injury/Covid layoff, but it looked like he's put on weight again.

stress eating maybe? he did look a bit heavy but he seemed fit 

Edited January 5, 20224 yr by azpi28