Dean Smith - Confirmed

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Get the feeling we generally though Nuno would match us and go 3-5-2 today aswell. Was a surprise to me when I looked at their team and it was 4-3-3. He was bold and it paid off for him in the end.

Not sure why, every team posted before the game on the Spurs forums had them playing 4-2-3-1.

[TonyD]

We have a decent bench.  Unacceptable not to have made changes at HT.  We could all see it wasn’t working.   

[Demitri_C]

You can blame smith. Should have taken ramsey out sooner than he did. He struggled badly out there.

Nakamba would have added some steel there for a cb. Deans changes came way too late.

Also the ings and watkins partnership has been  proper failure so far.

[N'ZMAV]

It did need changes at half time. Even though we had 3 midfielders we couldn't keep the ball.

[Risso]

Smith’s post match comments bear no relation to the game I just watched. Him at his delusional worst.

[Demitri_C]

I didnt think we would get 6 points out if the last 3 so im happy with the return but smith got it completely wrong today. You could see how much space son was getting and we did nothing to prevent that.

We have enough star quality in this swuad to cause problems of our own and smith failed here against a poor spurs back four

[Bobby Boy]

Smith’s post match comments bear no relation to the game I just watched. Him at his delusional worst.

Dean saying that he sees no issues with the Ings - Watkins partnership which is an odd one as they clearly aren't clicking. To say that Ings has scored this season as though to confirm that we're creating chances for him again is a little off.

I understand that he is going to defend his players or his systems but I can't see why it can't be acknowledged that we're still a work in progress and that the Ings-Watkins partnership isn't quite there yet.

It begs the concern that he genuinely thinks everything is working out just fine.

[Nunkin1965]

Smith’s post match comments bear no relation to the game I just watched. Him at his delusional worst.

Dean saying that he sees no issues with the Ings - Watkins partnership which is an odd one as they clearly aren't clicking. To say that Ings has scored this season as though to confirm that we're creating chances for him again is a little off.

I understand that he is going to defend his players or his systems but I can't see why it can't be acknowledged that we're still a work in progress and that the Ings-Watkins partnership isn't quite there yet.

It begs the concern that he genuinely thinks everything is working out just fine.

I wonder if many post match comments are actually accurate though.
Managers give opinions but are always protective of their players.
It's not often you get them saying g I f****d up today!

[ozzjim]

I didnt think we would get 6 points out if the last 3 so im happy with the return but smith got it completely wrong today. You could see how much space son was getting and we did nothing to prevent that.

We have enough star quality in this swuad to cause problems of our own and smith failed here against a poor spurs back four

A top manager adjusts after 20 mins today to how much space Son was getting. He exploited all the holes in a 3-5-2.

[Demitri_C]

I didnt think we would get 6 points out if the last 3 so im happy with the return but smith got it completely wrong today. You could see how much space son was getting and we did nothing to prevent that.

We have enough star quality in this swuad to cause problems of our own and smith failed here against a poor spurs back four

A top manager adjusts after 20 mins today to how much space Son was getting. He exploited all the holes in a 3-5-2.

I said this before the game that the unchanged formation gives son space to play his dwadlh best and behold it happened.

Very predictable and shows how amateur smith can be at times. Should have changed it after 45mins

[brontebilly]

Smith’s post match comments bear no relation to the game I just watched. Him at his delusional worst.

Dean saying that he sees no issues with the Ings - Watkins partnership which is an odd one as they clearly aren't clicking. To say that Ings has scored this season as though to confirm that we're creating chances for him again is a little off.

I understand that he is going to defend his players or his systems but I can't see why it can't be acknowledged that we're still a work in progress and that the Ings-Watkins partnership isn't quite there yet.

It begs the concern that he genuinely thinks everything is working out just fine.

I wonder if many post match comments are actually accurate though.
Managers give opinions but are always protective of their players.
It's not often you get them saying g I f****d up today!

Deano often speaks a lot of sense post game, so much so we often wonder on here why he didn't correct during the game what he was able to assess afterwards. He seemed to be in a running battle with the ref and fourth official today for some reason. He had a good day the last day v United, it happens.

[Monty]

I tend to treat what Deano tells us with a pinch of salt anyway, despite the odd honest insights and assessments.

[SoccerHQ]

Smith’s post match comments bear no relation to the game I just watched. Him at his delusional worst.

Dean saying that he sees no issues with the Ings - Watkins partnership which is an odd one as they clearly aren't clicking. To say that Ings has scored this season as though to confirm that we're creating chances for him again is a little off.

I understand that he is going to defend his players or his systems but I can't see why it can't be acknowledged that we're still a work in progress and that the Ings-Watkins partnership isn't quite there yet.

It begs the concern that he genuinely thinks everything is working out just fine.

I wonder if many post match comments are actually accurate though.
Managers give opinions but are always protective of their players.
It's not often you get them saying g I f****d up today!

Deano often speaks a lot of sense post game, so much so we often wonder on here why he didn't correct during the game what he was able to assess afterwards. He seemed to be in a running battle with the ref and fourth official today for some reason. He had a good day the last day v United, it happens.

Think he's just one of those managers who trusts the starting 11 totally. No real shock to me we were unchanged and he usually likes to give them 60 minutes to sort things out and then eventually he decides to make a change afterwards.

I get the calls for earlier subs but let's be honest Traore and Buendia weren't very good at all when they came on.

[adrenachrome]

Ings/Watkins up front in a 3-5-2 isn't working, so you have to wonder how long D.S. will persist with it.

What are the alternatives if both players start? 4-4-2 might work. D.S. is more used to playing 1 up top.

[ROBBO]

I've said on another thread, love the way Dean handles the squad but would love someone different calling the shots during the game.