Home Opener (vs. Stoke), 15 Aug, 15:00 BST

  • The Fighting Cock is a forum for fans of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. Here you can discuss Spurs latest matches, our squad, tactics and any transfer news surrounding the club. Registration gives you access to all our forums (including 'Off Topic' discussion) and removes most of the adverts (you can remove them all via an account upgrade). You're here now, you might as well...

    Get involved!

Latest Spurs videos from Sky Sports

Not Lamela's fault at all as he was no where near the play.

I dont blame Lamela for the goal specifically for what its worth, but the guy had us in all sorts of trouble from the second he came on. Also destroyed any momentum we had when we did break.

I would have rather Kane was sent off to be honest and we had 10 men.
 
Let's just get the goals over with: Jan was due one and Toby the other.

The positives were few - Hugo looked good as ever shot-stopping, Mason and Dembele were very good, Eriksen and Walker too and Dier probably my MoM. Everyone else were distinctly below par for a top 4 chasing team. Lamela and Bentaleb were outright poor, neither of them had any idea of where to be and what to do against a team like Stoke.

IMHO MP made the wrong subs, bot tactically and because neither of them mentally were ready.
 
Yep. I don't think we can blame the players. People zooming in on Jan for one of the goals: the floodgates were open due to Poch swapping a tiger for Erik. Then our shape was gone and the pressure was massive resulting in the bank 4 having to do too much. If Jans positioning was better for that one instance, the goal was coming anyway because they overpowered our midfield.

Good allegory. We completely collapsed when Mason went off, cost us at least 20 yards for the midfield line. How embarrasing to be camped in front of our own box by a dysfunctional Stoke team.
 
For me I'm not turning anti Lev because of transfer windows. I think his choice of managers had been poor and that is why he should be fired.

Levy's choice of managers has been outstanding. Look at how successful they have all been at Spurs and at other places subsequently. The only problem Daniel Levy's managers have ever had is having Daniel Levy as their boss.
 
Three month wait to get back to the Lane! Wonderful!

I think like most you can point fingers in a few directions.
Was Kane injured? Not sure but failing that he's being rested for Leicester because we have no other options. I'm in the pro-Levy/ENIC camp but why have lessons not been learnt from the season Keane and Berbatov went? We've gone in to our first two games with just one striker as an option. We're having to be cautious because once Kane is injured what else is there?
You make the Kane substitution and then there's nothing like-for-like so it made Stoke's last 30 minutes a very easy 30 minutes.

Lack of strikers aside you can forgive Poch for taking Kane off. 2-0 up we should be winning that game.
Why haven't we? Poch can be frustrated with the lack of attacking options but why are we still struggling to keep clean sheets so consistently? I thought we played some good football at times yesterday and I think we'll be a job to watch at times but it's pointless if we can't keep clean sheets.

Lastly, I thought Toby had a good game but what a stupid decision for the penalty. It got Stoke back in to the game, we go in to the last 15 minutes with no striker on the pitch and I expect most like me reacted to their first goal by looking at the clock to see how long we were going to be hanging on for.

Infuriating to get just a point from a game we were so comfortable in for an hour.
 
What was going on in the Park Lane?

Looked like a few punches thrown over the barrier in both upper and lower tiers at one point when we were winning 2-0, though mostly just a lot of shouting and their fans rushing over to the barrier. I also saw what looked like one Stoke lad trying to climb up onto a railing as well, like an ultras capo, and falling down! What set all this off?
 
dont u think some of the things people get called a melt for are really pathetic.
those accusers are so hard to debate with as they are so dramatic & over sensitive.

u dont know what criticism u can say without hurting there feelings & causing them to get angry at u.
its like dealing with an emotional teenage american girl.

i dont know what criticism u can say without offending the drama queens.
i wonder if these people are the same in real life. they cant handle any criticism.
it would make more sense if that were true.

how to put this?

we were terrible 2nd half. poch made some poor decisions. levy has let us down with incomings & we are very underprepared for this season. & lamela was poo.
what did u just say u melting bitch?!!!

i said...
we were average 2nd half. poch made some average decisions. levy could have done a lil bit better with incomings & we are a bit underprepared for this season. & lamela was average.
shut up u melting melvin.

sorry. i was just saying...
we were unlucky 2nd half & would have won if stoke were oldham. poch made some great decisions but hughes is tactically 1 of the best in the game . levy has done well with incomings. do u know how hard is to sign a player?!! its like eating a doughnut without licking your lips. & we have a good chance for top 4 this season. & lamela did his bestest. & he really influenced the game....next time it will be for us.

Unlucky last week, unlucky this week, unlucky squad is thin for first two games. What can you do hey, it's only 2 games in (over 2years for me). We will win next time, as long as we're not unlucky again.

Rgds,

Erik Lamelt
 
finally brought myself to watch the highlights.
The equaliser was a bit fo a cluster fuck but if you're going to blame any player it needs to be Eriksen and then maybe Vertonghen.

Peters gets the ball on the centre circle and Eriksen looks to press but realises the reast of the side are sat deep so back tracks, which is the right thing to do. Peters plays it to Ireland who exchanges a one two with Arnautovic. At this point Bentaleb move in to cover Arnautovic, but Ireland runs beyond Eriksen who, due to either fatigue, laziness or poor game awareness (or a combination of these) makes absolutely no attempt to track him, leaving Ireland in a 1v1 situation with Walker. The delivery is top notch to be fair. This is where Jan comes in, as if you watch he is no way near touch tight to Diouf which allows him to run in on goal freely. If he could have got hands on he might have been able to use his body to hold off the run.

http://www.footytube.com/video/tottenham-hotspur-stoke-city-aug15-365272?ref=wv_rel_mp
Skip to 5:40 if you can be bothered.

Long story short. Not Lamela's fault at all as he was no where near the play.[/QUOT

we have to give credit to stoke here, but steven ireland and co just breezed through Eriksen and Bentaleb, would an established DM read and acted on the situation better? I am also wondering whether walker made the best decision at the time turning his back to them
 
Let's just get the goals over with: Jan was due one and Toby the other.

The positives were few - Hugo looked good as ever shot-stopping, Mason and Dembele were very good, Eriksen and Walker too and Dier probably my MoM. Everyone else were distinctly below par for a top 4 chasing team. Lamela and Bentaleb were outright poor, neither of them had any idea of where to be and what to do against a team like Stoke.

IMHO MP made the wrong subs, bot tactically and because neither of them mentally were ready.
In hindsight we did.

However, losing Kane and then Mason going off did not do us any favours. Kane was playing more deep, more as a No10, which fucked them right up. Mason, Eriksen etc moving from deep. It caused them problems. We absolutely bossed the midfield up until then and Mason was outstanding. Everywhere.

It's easy to say now, although only a guess, but I believe Carroll could have done the Kane job better. Losing Mason for Alli would have been better than Nabil.
We could have kept Dembele, Chadli & Eriksen where they were.

Yet we played well. It's only the start of the season.
If we would have won 2-0 Poch would have been the dogs bollocks and everyone would have been happy.
Yet there were some who could not wait for Stoke to get back into the game to prove their pessimistic points.
Of all my years of going Spurs I have never been so disappointed with some of the fans we have.
Yesterday was bad enough with hearing cunts creaming their pants one minute then blaming everyone the next. Then reading some posts on this thread.
The fickle fan base we have now I want no part of being associated with.
I think I will just bother with away games.
 
we have to give credit to stoke here, but steven ireland and co just breezed through Eriksen and Bentaleb, would an established DM read and acted on the situation better? I am also wondering whether walker made the best decision at the time turning his back to them
Bang on there. Not impressed with Bentaleb when he came on at all yesterday.
That is the flaw in the ' get Bentaleb a DM' and fuck off Mason.
It won't solve anything.
Mason and Dier, along with Kane who was playing more of a No10 role I thought, controlled the midfield for the large part.
 
Now go back to the first penalty at 4:42, Hilarious, look at ireland get another lovely through ball while Eric dier is watching meanwhile Lamela is tracking a player to the right.

Overall for me, the overlying issue is our midfield is shit. Eric Dier's goal in the first half glosses over the massive liability he is in central midfield. same when he played right back, but El pocho thinks he is the second coming philip lahm
 
Now go back to the first penalty at 4:42, Hilarious, look at ireland get another lovely through ball while Eric dier is watching meanwhile Lamela is tracking a player to the right.

Overall for me, the overlying issue is our midfield is shit. Eric Dier's goal in the first half glosses over the massive liability he is in central midfield. same when he played right back, but El pocho thinks he is the second coming philip lahm
To be fair to Poch, I think it's more out of necessity than choice.

Although if he could just work with Etienne Capoue we could play him instead.
 
dont u think some of the things people get called a melt for are really pathetic.
those accusers are so hard to debate with as they are so dramatic & over sensitive.

u dont know what criticism u can say without hurting there feelings & causing them to get angry at u.
its like dealing with an emotional teenage american girl.

i dont know what criticism u can say without offending the drama queens.
i wonder if these people are the same in real life. they cant handle any criticism.
it would make more sense if that were true.

how to put this?

we were terrible 2nd half. poch made some poor decisions. levy has let us down with incomings & we are very underprepared for this season. & lamela was poo.
what did u just say u melting bitch?!!!

i said...
we were average 2nd half. poch made some average decisions. levy could have done a lil bit better with incomings & we are a bit underprepared for this season. & lamela was average.
shut up u melting melvin.

sorry. i was just saying...
we were unlucky 2nd half & would have won if stoke were oldham. poch made some great decisions but hughes is tactically 1 of the best in the game . levy has done well with incomings. do u know how hard is to sign a player?!! its like eating a doughnut without licking your lips. & we have a good chance for top 4 this season. & lamela did his bestest. & he really influenced the game....next time it will be for us.

Post of the season
 
Who took Mason off for no reason after an absolutely brilliant performance?

Who put Lamela on instead of Alli?
Why don't you go a few matches instead of watching from your laptop?
Mason has just come back from a 2 month lay off and was obviously getting knackered around the hour mark.
When Kane went off Dembele then went to a position you have been wanting him to play for a while, No10, and then Bentaleb came on for Mason. The same Bentaleb you wanted to start over Mason btw,
So, you're saying that Alli should play on the right or is it keep Dembele on the right and put Alli at No10 when Kanw came off?
Poch did what you have cried out for him to do: Shoved Dembele to No10 role. He then put the only logical 'right' sided player on the right, Lamela.

Bentaleb then came on for Mason - who was knackered. Then we went to pieces in midfield and Alderweireld decided to concede a soft penalty.
Now, all of a sudden Bentaleb needs an experienced head to help him? Is that the excuse for him being pants when he came on?
Mason, also unexperienced, like you say did fine with Dier beforehand. Truth is Bentaleb was not good enough. Didn't do much defending or attacking as they waltzed through our middle.
Losing Kane and then Mason turned the game in their favour.
Eriksen was on the left, like you want and Dembele in the middle, like you want. You also wanted Bentaleb to play alongside Dier, instead of Mason which was where they all played for for the last 20 mins.
Chadli is also not worth a fuck but the only other regular scoring midfielder we have bar Eriksen.






It's called hindsight.
I would have had Carroll come on for Kane and kept Dembele out on the right.
I would not have put Bentaleb on for Mason. Not after I saw Dier and Bentaleb perform last time. Alli would have been the better option.
However,
We never lost 2points because of our transfer policy. It wasn't MP's subs. Most wanted Bentaleb to start. And if Lamela would have started on the right nobody would have moaned.
It was circumstance that led to the team changing.
Bentaleb Dier and Dembele in central midfield should have been good enough not to get walked over and Lamela was nowhere near the right when they scored the 2nd.
 
Why don't you go a few matches instead of watching from your laptop?

I went to hundreds before I moved abroad, and now I dont have the time or money. I go when I can get home to see the family....that point you make is so yaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn its unbelieveable.

Then you go on to post an essay, like you are here to debate like the good, stand up poster.

Wasted your time, I didnt read it.

You disect a game, frame by frame after the event on your laptop, then spew it back up like you observed it all from the stands. You absolute cretin.
 
Last edited:
Home fans deserved this result btw

I remember someone moaning at Walker for asking the fans to make some noise on twitter before the game, several of you said that if the players gave them something to cheer about then they would... well at 2-0 all that could be heard was Stoke fans. Pathetic.

Fair weather fans can't even do that right anymore.
 
Back
Top Bottom