Schalke04 - Aug 9th - Block 35 - ITV4 - 1730KO

[cahspur]

My team for West Ham

Lloris
Walker Kaboul Vertonghen Rose (wait what?)
Capoue Bentaleb
Lamela Eriksen Lennon
Adebayor

Bring Holtby on early in the second half to keep the high pressing going.

Didn't see this previously, please excuse my stupid question on the latter page.

I like this team for this game. It seems the only question mark is Walker. That picture of him in training was pretty shocking in terms of the weight he's acquired since his injury. Incredible that such a young athlete of his level with undoubtedly a great metabolic rate managed to put that on. But it's not that which is the problem, it's that it indicates a level of fitness that's lacking. I wouldn't be surprised to see Naughton start next week, unfortunately.

Also wouldn't be surprised to see Holtby there alongside the CDM based on what we've seen of yet, but despite my favoritism of him in general for the role I do actually agree with you that I'd like to see a more physical lineup such as the one you suggest.

 

[Mad Yid]

Based on what I saw, Lennon has taken on board Poch's system the quickest & looked dangerous. All I saw Ceballos do was chip the crossbar. Looked untidy second half with all the substitutions but the senior players took the system on board very well. Townsend looked ok today but I think Lennon suits the system better on that performance.

Lennon has looked good pre-season on the left but lets see how he does when the pressure is on and the games aren't meaningless. He got unlucky with 1 or 2 of the offside calls today first half, it looks like Poch is trying to get him to really play the line and exploit it with his pace drifting in off the left.

 

[cahspur]

I certainly agree that he's earned the opportunity. I think he's been absolutely fantastic during the preseason. My thought is that a pressing team tends to wear down in the second half and the ability to bring on a fantastic fresh presser like Holtby is something that could really help.

I will say that I don't rate him in the position he started in today. He's good pressing and very strong in possession but his defensive positioning is questionable and he doesn't track runners well. I much prefer him as one of the three behind the striker.

I thought he did rather well defensively today actually. Stayed with his runners, got stuck in when the opportunities presented, and got back to defend after getting upfield. I'm just not sure about his kind of defensive contribution against Stoke or West Ham.

 

[Boltonspur]

Lennon has looked good pre-season on the left but lets see how he does when the pressure is on and the games aren't meaningless. He got unlucky with 1 or 2 of the offside calls today first half, it looks like Poch is trying to get him to really play the line and exploit it with his pace drifting in off the left.

His pace seems to catch defenders (& linesmen it seems) napping. I thought he had a really good half-there's no way I thought I'd be saying that at the end of the season. He has to show it back in the real world, starting next week, but he definitely deserves to be in the starting 11 in my opinion. Time to finally get his career going consistently & I think the new system will suit him.

 

[Nicky B]

Ceballos or Lennon ?

Interesting debate actually

I was at the Cambridge United v Spurs XI game last week and Ceballos really showed nothing against a team that have just been promoted from the Conference.

Carroll was the best player on the pitch, but I'd expect that. Still don't think he'll ever cut it in our first team though.

 

[JDK]

Didn't see this previously, please excuse my stupid question on the latter page.

I like this team for this game. It seems the only question mark is Walker. That picture of him in training was pretty shocking in terms of the weight he's acquired since his injury. Incredible that such a young athlete of his level with undoubtedly a great metabolic rate managed to put that on. But it's not that which is the problem, it's that it indicates a level of fitness that's lacking. I wouldn't be surprised to see Naughton start next week, unfortunately.

Also wouldn't be surprised to see Holtby there alongside the CDM based on what we've seen of yet, but despite my favoritism of him in general for the role I do actually agree with you that I'd like to see a more physical lineup such as the one you suggest.

Yeah I don't know what to make of Walker. The picture doesn't mean too much to me. Remember last season when that picture of Eddie Lacy with the Packers came out and he looked super fat? Well it turned out it was just a bad picture and he had a great season.

I saw Walker in Chicago and he didn't look overweight but he did look lacking in fitness. The half he played was on the side of the stadium I was on and he had his hands on his hips a bunch, wasn't making his normal runs and looked visibily winded. I just attributed it to injury, but we'll see. Naughton has looked solid, but he's a limited player.

 

[cahspur]

Lennon has looked good pre-season on the left but lets see how he does when the pressure is on and the games aren't meaningless. He got unlucky with 1 or 2 of the offside calls today first half, it looks like Poch is trying to get him to really play the line and exploit it with his pace drifting in off the left.

Which is exactly how Poch had Rodriguez play from the position. Really happy to see the team adjusting so rapidly to what Poch has asked.

I think such a tactic could be devastating against West Ham's back line of clonkers, and then have Townsend to come in and run at those tired legs late on.

 

[jimmyriggle]

Funny. If I hadn't have watched 50% of the game myself I would have absolutely no clue which player was actually good or shit based on the completely conflicting comments on here

 

[Mad Yid]

Funny. If I hadn't have watched 50% of the game myself I would have absolutely no clue which player was actually good or shit based on the completely conflicting comments on here

No one was really bad other than Naughton, JJ and Paulinho

they're always shit

 

[cahspur]

Yeah I don't know what to make of Walker. The picture doesn't mean too much to me. Remember last season when that picture of Eddie Lacy with the Packers came out and he looked super fat? Well it turned out it was just a bad picture and he had a great season.

I saw Walker in Chicago and he didn't look overweight but he did look lacking in fitness. The half he played was on the side of the stadium I was on and he had his hands on his hips a bunch, wasn't making his normal runs and looked visibily winded. I just attributed it to injury, but we'll see. Naughton has looked solid, but he's a limited player.

Oh no doubt that the injury's had everything to do with his lack of fitness. And I agree, Naughton looks like he can "do a job," but nothing more. Hope we'll keep him until near the end of August if he's set to go, and thereby afford Walker more time to get up to speed.

The Lacy pic I think ended up having been shown to be doctored. I don't have the pic on hand, but Walker did appear to have put on a bit of a gut in that training picture from this week. Was also square on, while that pic of "Lacy" was him in a twisted position (which pushes the abdominal cavity contents forward).

 

[shangweibaliu]

What this game combined with other pre-seasoners showed me is that we really don't need many new players at this point. We've gotten the most critical ones and we're quite crowded in the middle. Hard to decide the combination from Lamela, Eriksen, Holtby, Sandro, Townsend, Lennon, (soldado), Bentaleb, Capoue, Dembele, Chadli, Paulinho. I'm a big MS fan but gettin' him would mean gettin' rid of one of the current good ones (this is not a bad option though). The best thing to do is to let 'Tino really beat the guys in to shape and boost the morale...and get Pirlo.

There's SO much potential there.

 

[Mensa]

Funny. If I hadn't have watched 50% of the game myself I would have absolutely no clue which player was actually good or shit based on the completely conflicting comments on here

Exactly watch the debate rage into the night now, this is a friendly though the huge debating for these fellas starts next week, each match thread a minimum of 100 pages with nothing resolved

 

[Mad Yid]

His pace seems to catch defenders (& linesmen it seems) napping. I thought he had a really good half-there's no way I thought I'd be saying that at the end of the season. He has to show it back in the real world, starting next week, but he definitely deserves to be in the starting 11 in my opinion. Time to finally get his career going consistently & I think the new system will suit him.

I've been a big critic of his over the past season or 2 mainly because of the huge potential he had when he burst on the scene almost 10 years ago, fack I'm getting old

at 27 though he's right in his prime and hasn't lost a step so hopefully Poch and his people will be the ones to really push him up a level to were he should be

 

[cahspur]

What this game combined with other pre-seasoners showed me is that we really don't need many new players at this point. We've gotten the most critical ones and we're quite crowded in the middle. Hard to decide the combination from Lamela, Eriksen, Holtby, Sandro, Townsend, Lennon, (soldado), Bentaleb, Capoue, Dembele, Chadli, Paulinho. I'm a big MS fan but gettin' him would mean gettin' rid of one of the current good ones (this is not a bad option though). The best thing to do is to let 'Tino really beat the guys in to shape and boost the morale...and get Pirlo.

There's SO much potential there.

Very true, but don't let it take away from the fact it also showed the CB situation is far from sorted. Obviously Vertonghen would take that LCB role over Dier, and we'll have to hope Kaboul can remain fit for an extended four-front season.

 

[JDK]

Oh no doubt that the injury's had everything to do with his lack of fitness. And I agree, Naughton looks like he can "do a job," but nothing more. Hope we'll keep him until near the end of August if he's set to go, and thereby afford Walker more time to get up to speed.

The Lacy pic I think ended up having been shown to be doctored. I don't have the pic on hand, but Walker did appear to have put on a bit of a gut in that training picture from this week. Was also square on, while that pic of "Lacy" was him in a twisted position (which pushes the abdominal cavity contents forward).

True the Lacy one was in an odder position but I still think I'll wait and reserve judgment until we see more of Walker. Pictures can be weird.

 

[shangweibaliu]

Very true, but don't let it take away from the fact it also showed the CB situation is far from sorted. Obviously Vertonghen would take that LCB role over Dier, and we'll have to hope Kaboul can remain fit for an extended four-front season.

Basically the biggest question for me is the strikers and has been for years now. Not many steady performances to be seen and really can't expect any to come. I really hoped that Soldado would have solved the problem last year but unfortunately seems like the problem is a bit more complicated.

 

[cahspur]

Basically the biggest question for me is the strikers and has been for years now. Not many steady performances to be seen and really can't expect any to come. I really hoped that Soldado would have solved the problem last year but unfortunately seems like the problem is a bit more complicated.

True. Very much hoping they'll get it figured out, but Soldado has got to find some way to get his head back in the game. Some really poor plays today. Thought his pass across to Ceballos on the run was even worse than his open miss on the ball in from Townsend. No reason to not put in a left-footed drive on the ground across rather than a flicked right-footed pass. Poor mental decision rather than poor physical play.

 

[cahspur]

Feel it's more relevant here:

"Jasper on spurs odyssey says:

Walker, Verts, Capoue, Mason I believe carrying slight knocks. Dawson injured. Dembele not sure."

 

[Wikipedia Brown]

Anyone else catch the BeinHD stream of the game? Honestly some of the worst announcing I've ever heard.

Lowlights: referring to us as 'the spurs' countless times, confusing Holtbly/Kane/Eriksen with each other constantly, not just entertaining the idea that Jan was going to spend most of the year at leftback but more or less agreeing that it was set in stone (with a healthy Rose and Davies in their equation, mind you), and taking twenty minutes to realize Townsend wasn't the only sub brought on at half time.

Sometimes I just don't understand how people like that get such sweet jobs...

 

[Murphy]

Sometimes I just don't understand how people like that get such sweet jobs...