Spurs 3 Aston Villa 1 post match thread.

[Sexual Ealing]

As we approached the ground a patronising Spurs fan said 'welcome to the best ground in the world'. I suspect it may be much better in corporate areas or the home areas but for a supposedly state of the art stadium it was a massive let down.

Gay Meadow is new houses or some fucking thing now so Christ knows where he thought he was.

[Scamps180]

I really think that first half showed we can defend against the best teams, also a threat going forward, my only greave is when they put Erikson on it was all going to be through him so thought Dean maybe get fresh legs to man Mark him to stop the supply to the forwards, good performance against a quality team, they also have big strong players that bullied us a bit, look forward to a very good season

[Footy-Vill]

Tactically first half , after a nervy few minutes , The Villa got settled and John McGinn made a run from deep to get the goal. It was spot on .
A real good shape, we dropped back into 4-5-1 at times without the ball. In recovering and tackling , I found the  two centre backs pretty immense, we managed to look a real danger on a counter. The midfield 3 managed to press and tackle and the old timer of Villa full backs were defending suitably. 
I do feel Smith decided to take a check with any attacking play from fullbacks  and play essentially 3 forwards to do the attacking and McGinn and Grealish to get up to support.
That was ok first half but in some respects having no fullback get high up the pitch contributed to such a deep defense.
I think in some ways it was very wise selection to have the 2 experienced full backs however would have been interested to see a game plan where they pushed on at the right times to over lap and overload.
The Spurs full-backs, as the game went on ,  began to move forward, and mostly not being at risk of having to come back. Here we needed to show something from out wide players getting beyond them.

The danger of Spurs was really apparent  in the second half due to Villa dropping deep and without McGinn making few forward runs little threat going forward was shown .
Now it brings me on to Wesley the striker .
The press when out of possession, especially by the central striker Wesley was lacking. I found him below my expectations and unsure of his standard. During the match I was wondering if he was a recommendation from Suso rather than a Dean Smith signing. I felt there was a lack of dynamism from him say in comparison to Tammy Abraham . The work rate in getting about the opposition and willingness to close from the front.
Wesley is essentially raw and hoping he will be developed to suit the system. Having seen little evidence he was closing down or giving movement I felt he could have contributed more from the front today.
I am concerned regard his goal threat
1 penalty area touch being a headed shot in 74 minutes on the pitch
21 touches overall with 15 in the opposition half.

Grealish was largely ineffective in an attacking sense . Having most of his touches in our own half didn't help. He didn't once touch the ball in the Spurs penalty area. I think he didn't even get into the penalty area.
John McGinn was the most effective in that respect. And all round. I would have liked to have seen Grealish shoot when he dribbled up the pitch however, he did create a chance for the impressive looking Trezeguet. Grealish would have been better served carrying the ball a lot more , playing some one -two pass and move. Also important to see him receiving the ball in possession far higher up the pitch than so deep as he did in the game.
Unfortunately the horror in which he was dispossessed just outside the penalty area lead to a goal being conceded. Too many times he had the ball in his own half and hardly in the final third or even Spurs half during the second half.

There were some encouraging signs and glimpses from all the new outfield signings (including Wesley) however the midfield possession and movement , the fitness , the willingness by Wesley to press , ability to hold on to the ball, link up with quick passing, and with team mates need improving.

Tactically the players knew what to do. The movements going forward in the second half were very below what came first half and it was really necessary for more possession and show some sense of attack . I was disappointed in that respect that small tokens offered as an attack and 31 shots against , despite super goal keeping by the excellent Heaton, and the solid Mings and Engels , ultimately payed the price for lacking any competitive attack or press from higher up the pitch . The midfielders  or attackers holding and passing ball in a form of dangerous attacks or even just resting possession with the ball was quite non apparent.

McGinn really excelled in his efforts today and by his own admission wished he was "brave"to  get forward more in the second half .
The goal was super and fully rewarded We can all rest assured he's fine in this league.
Applause to Heaton, Engels and Mings.
And some good work on pitch by Trezeguet, who faded. Noticably competent Taylor and Elmo honorable overall.
Hourihane managed a few interceptions and recovery of the ball and tackled well.
He was totally ineffective in starting any attacking play though tactically was disciplined lacks the movement required

Things to work on:
Being fluid from 4-3-3 to 4-1--4-1 and not retreating to just staying in a 4-5-1 when under pressure
The wingers finding more space and providing a threat to opposition
Wesley being less reluctant to press from the front. And being effective in his play. And linking in with team mates .
More movement from the middle and moving higher up the pitch to offer an attacking threat to the opposition.
Allowing wingbacks to be part of attacking play .
Having midfielders get up the pitch a lot more and into the  penalty area more
Having Grealish involved in an attacking sense providing the creativity and attacking threat.
Creating more chances
I think this can certainly be achieved to help us push on and being competitive especially against non top 4 clubs

[ChicagoLion]

Agree about Kodjia. If that is going to be his level of performance this season he can fuck right off.

Agree he looked completely out of his depth.

[AsTallAsLions]

Massively surprised by how things went down today. Like many I'd have identified Taylor as the problem selection before the game, but he played a blinder. Well done that man.

Unfortunately cannot say the same about Wesley who huffed and sulked, failed to execute basic hold-up play when the ball came to him, and ran a yard off the pace for 74 minutes. Extremely worrying that he is the best we've got up front this season.

I'm sure it's been said already but Spurs absolutely eliminated our midfield in the second half and protection for our back four went from stalwart to basically non-existent.

[KRS]

Watching the highlights on MOTD, we were completely dominated and boxed in second half. We were so deep with no outlet to relieve the pressure at all...and this subsequently led to Jack being caught in possession at the edge of the box with no one to pass to (he only had the ball at his feet for 3-4 seconds before being tackled from behind). I don’t know the answer to how to get out of that situation but Dean needs to learn from it and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

We will improve as the new players settle in, but failing to sign another striker could prove to be costly. You can’t judge Wes (or much of the team) on this one game so we’ll have to see how we develop and improve over the next few games, but only having Davis and Kodjia as the alternative options to Wes is a worry even at this early stage.

[brian green]

Disappointing but a universe beyond the notorious 8 touch Gabby game against that lot.

[ChicagoLion]

The front 3 got dispossessed or gave the ball away to often.
The substitutions made us worse, sometimes it looked like men against boys as we lost the physical contests.

[Brassneck]

I'm feeling very flat this morning.  Whilst I accept that we didn't deserve anything from the game, at 1-0 there is always hope in abundance.  To lose right at the death is always heartbreaking.

I think people are being harsh on Wesley.  He was up against 2 world class defenders.  It would have been difficult for most strikers.  Let's review the situation after 10 games or so, not after 1 game away to the CL finalists.

Jack was caught a couple of times before the goal.  It also happened occasionally in the Championship.  Hopefully, he has learned from that and it won't happen (at least in the final third) again.

I'm not sure how you can change the back 4 after that performance but suspect that the need to be more offensive at home in our next 2 games might see one, if not both of Guilbert and Targett

[Clark W Griswold]

Comments about us not playing good football (second half presumably) and Grealish playing too deep, Tottenham were like a Juggernaut, we were penned back and pressurised so much that we couldn't do much else the more tired we became as the game went on. We'll play 14-15 teams that aren't even close to that level, 8-9 i'd be pretty confident of getting something from every time.
Those moaning about the full backs and the selection, what did either do wrong apart from Elmo giving the ball away in the first couple of minutes? I can't think of them putting a foot wrong, the goals certainly didn't come from those areas. Smith picked them because he knew we'd be up against it and their experience would tell. The first goal no one could have done anything about, we did our best to keep it out but they just moved it and moved it until the new guy found a glimmer of a chance that he put away, Mings unlucky not to get in front of it. The second was a bit of luck with it bouncing and rebounding between our knackered centre backs who had been  superb all game. The third was a worse one to give away, but the guy everyone is pinning their hopes on, Douglas, stood and watched with no real attempt to stop goals 2 and 3, Hourahane had been doing far better. I'll cut the guy some slack as he only joined up with us last week but he needs more urgency than that. Kodjia was worse still, i agree with the comments about him. At least Douglas touched the ball a few times and looked like he could pass it, Kodjia looked utterly lost.

[Hookeysmith]

I thought we were excellent in first half and thier quality and physical ability wore us down.

A lot has Been made of our £130 m spend but they played a player they paid half of that sum for and it showed.

I'm more happy than I bet Watford or West ham fans are

[PeterWithe]

I’d say that the full backs didn’t move forward enough to give us more attacking numbers and reduce the effectiveness of their press.

They were well worth their victory, anything else would have been a travesty but, with us being so deep, their physical dominance and intensity when pressing in such reduced space meant goal scoring chances were going to become inevitable.

[Mister E]

Reflections from me after returning home:
- Wesley will be a lot better when the midfleld settles down
- the sooner we get Luiz and Marvelous match-fit the better, since we will see the team set up further up the field
- all players have had a wake-up call about the need to move the ball more quickly
- when fitness levels reach peak, we'll look alot better
- Dean's selection yesterday was pretty cock-on: there were very few underperformers - AEG, possibly, and Wes; but both will improve
- both Jota and Kodjia came on at a tough time in the game; jury is out.

I'm certainly not downbeat at all: and, it was a great day out. It is a hell of a stadium - certainly could be considered one of the best - but for £1bn you'd expect it to be.
I would say the Villa fans were in excellent voice, spoiled only by the emergence of the Konsa song and - I have to say - the rather small-time taunting about them never winning the European Cup. They are well-equipped to do so some time pretty soon.

[olaftab]

Agree about Kodjia. If that is going to be his level of performance this season he can fuck right off.

Agree he looked completely out of his depth.

He couldn’t get into our championship team so there is no need to expect anything different I. The higher division.

[Clark W Griswold]

I’d say that the full backs didn’t move forward enough to give us more attacking numbers and reduce the effectiveness of their press.

They were well worth their victory, anything else would have been a travesty but, with us being so deep, their physical dominance and intensity when pressing in such reduced space meant goal scoring chances were going to become inevitable.

I'd say their physical dominance and intensity was the reason we were deep. We were pressed back and not given the chance to get out, i don't think Smith told them to play deep, full backs and all. I honestly don't think i've seen Tottenham play that well against us in the 30 odd years i've been watching, their manager is top drawer and has built a brilliant team, top 4 for how many years on the bounce now and CL finalists. There is the potential for a good team at the Villa but i don't think anyone could expect a 5th in the championship team to match a team like that unless they have a massive off day. Yes, we've spent a load but as we know it was a necessity and our players will still be bedding in, partly why it was right of Smith to start with some players that finished the Championship season but probably won't finish this season.