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No Sandro? Burn the heretic!
We on TFC idolise him. Sin bin the witch!
*** I didn't actually cast the vote. ***
No, in all honesty, think we need him because our defence is so fragile looking at the moment. A good sitting defender like Sandro IMO would of stopped Jarvis' goal. Maybe not the header...
My starting XI - Lloris, Rose, Dawson, Verts, Rose, Sandro, Lennon, Dembele, Paulinho, Townsend, Soldado.
Adebayor has had one decent game, so would consider chucking him in for Bobby Soldier, but he is just on the back on a hat trick.
We on TFC idolise him. Sin bin the witch!
*** I didn't actually cast the vote. ***
No, in all honesty, think we need him because our defence is so fragile looking at the moment. A good sitting defender like Sandro IMO would of stopped Jarvis' goal. Maybe not the header...
My starting XI - Lloris, Rose, Dawson, Verts, Rose, Sandro, Lennon, Dembele, Paulinho, Townsend, Soldado.
Adebayor has had one decent game, so would consider chucking him in for Bobby Soldier, but he is just on the back on a hat trick.
Fuck. See, now you have just made me feel really bad for leaving him out of there..
But I always struggle to choose between the 3 of Dembele, Sandro and Pauli..
I feel like our defence is fragile due to the lack of Super Jan
Dont quote me on this, but didnt we have our brilliant defensive record when this guy was at CB?
* I do love The Beast and find this smiley rather arousing! *
But I always struggle to choose between the 3 of Dembele, Sandro and Pauli..
I feel like our defence is fragile due to the lack of Super Jan
Dont quote me on this, but didnt we have our brilliant defensive record when this guy was at CB?
* I do love The Beast and find this smiley rather arousing! *
You know, if Ade is sharp and not as disruptive a dressing room presence as rumored, I'd give him a go. I think he could even lead the line on his own in some games the way we did in 2011/12, with Eriksen replacing VdV and Lamela replacing Bale - though neither are as (proven) prolific as their counterparts, and it'd depend greatly on the 'conductor' replacement for Modric (Holtby is probably the closest in style).
Defense: Lloris, Walker Vlad Jan Rose
My concern there is the lack of aerial ability between the CBs. I don't want to play Dawson if we're playing a high-ish line, but the likes of West Ham have really exposed how vulnerable our backline is in the air. I think this is definitely a priority area to address in Jan - we need a CB with both passing ability and aerial dominance now that Kaboul is essentially kaput (
), and we need FBs that are much more stylistically similar to Rose and Walker than the likes of Naughton or Verts.
Fredericks has shown he has the pace and enthusiasm going forward at LB, but his defending isn't ready for this level, while Adam Smith is a huge risk. Coentrao on loan would be absolutely ideal, but I highly doubt he's attainable. If Fryers is as good at CB as has been suggested, and he's strong in the air I think we could give him a go - on balance though, even a slow Dawson is probably better due to experience.
Midfield: A trio of either: [Holding DM, Pressing CM, Attacking Playmaker] or [Hunting DM, Deeplying Playmaker, Attacking Playmaker].
The former might look like [Sandro/Capoue, Holtby/Paulinho/Dembele, Eriksen/Lamela], with the 'holder' asked to sit deeper and act more like a shield, and the 'presser' driving forward on occasion to attack the box but mainly tasked with pinching the ball back and shuttling it to the wings or the AM as quickly as possible.
The latter trio replicates Liverpool's most successful formation under Benitez (Mascherano, Alonso, Gerrard). With us it could look like [Sandro, Capoue/Holtby/Carroll (don't laugh, Carroll's actually been playing deep for QPR with a 'hunter' beside him in Barton), and Eriksen/Lamela]. Sandro protects the zone around the playmaking DM to buy the space+time to launch the fast transition, and the no. 10 would carry a higher burden of pure productivity in terms of goals and assists. I'm not sure we have the vision and speed of thought to carry this out though, even though I think Capoue has a surprising range of passing.
Tom Carroll is a real wildcard and needs some serious protection, but I am impressed with the way QPR fans are saying the same things about him that we keep deriding Henderson and Allen for - 'oh, all he does is pass and move a lot'. Well no shit, we could do with someone who does all those quiet things at speed and keeps our momentum moving forward. I've commented before that Carroll seems to play the ball to space rather than to feet, which means the receiver doesn't have to adjust their body shape or take extra touches; he doesn't do this consistently by any means, but he seems to do so more than a lot of our other players.
Attack:
For me it depends on who is at FB - if we have attacking FBs like Rose, then I think we can play narrower inverted AMs/WFs. If we have a conservative FB then I think we need a player more likely to stay out wide to create, like Townsend on the left.
In any case, I tend to like the triumvirate of [Wide Playmaker, Spearhead Striker, Wing Forward]. That doesn't mean two strikers are out of the picture, it means that the way we're positioned is more like a set of triangles - a "W" - than flat lines, and that creates more diagonal options for passes and runs. (Of course, we have to actually make those runs! Otherwise we're just compressing the W - congesting ourselves in front of their lines.)
The central striker here is pretty clearly Soldado, since we didn't pay mucho dinero for him to sit on the bench while Defoe collects offsides. For the creative wide playmaking option, Lamela would be my ideal on the right (gets involved in build up, can both score like a WF and create like a 10). The left is kinda up in the air: in a de facto sense, I think Ade often ends up roaming in the LAM space - he creates, crosses, links up with the midfielders, drifts inside to support the other striker, etc - although he plays much more with his back to goal than a WF. If Rose is our LB then I don't think it's ludicrous to try out Ade on the left. Yeah he's very much a mobile striker rather than a WF or no. 10, but his role is different than an old-fashioned 'big man': in the flat 442, it's more like you lump it up to Ade/Crouch and he brings it down for the poacher to shoot, or the winger runs in a straight line and crosses to two strikers in the box - here Ade would play more like Siggy, building a triangle with Eriksen and Soldado and releasing Rose down the left or making the run out wide.
Townsend on the left would give us more width, but I think Ade is more intelligent and versatile in the final third, has more presence than Siggy, and holds the ball up under pressure better than our other attackers. For example, several times last night he faked a dribble inside to buy time for someone (Townsend) to make the outside run ---> cross, and he could constantly play it out wide as three West Ham shirts converged on him. That's pretty critical, because offloading the ball back to midfield every time someone pressures us has been a major part of our problems in attack - we end up playing safe passes in front of their defense, and finally we run out of ideas and Townsend comes inside and shoots. Or the ball just bounces back every time we try to really attack because no one up front can hold up the damn ball or they run with it too long and thereby lose it ... and when you combine that with our inconsistent team pressing of late and a mishmash back four, you get disaster.
Defense: Lloris, Walker Vlad Jan Rose
My concern there is the lack of aerial ability between the CBs. I don't want to play Dawson if we're playing a high-ish line, but the likes of West Ham have really exposed how vulnerable our backline is in the air. I think this is definitely a priority area to address in Jan - we need a CB with both passing ability and aerial dominance now that Kaboul is essentially kaput (
), and we need FBs that are much more stylistically similar to Rose and Walker than the likes of Naughton or Verts. Fredericks has shown he has the pace and enthusiasm going forward at LB, but his defending isn't ready for this level, while Adam Smith is a huge risk. Coentrao on loan would be absolutely ideal, but I highly doubt he's attainable. If Fryers is as good at CB as has been suggested, and he's strong in the air I think we could give him a go - on balance though, even a slow Dawson is probably better due to experience.
Midfield: A trio of either: [Holding DM, Pressing CM, Attacking Playmaker] or [Hunting DM, Deeplying Playmaker, Attacking Playmaker].
The former might look like [Sandro/Capoue, Holtby/Paulinho/Dembele, Eriksen/Lamela], with the 'holder' asked to sit deeper and act more like a shield, and the 'presser' driving forward on occasion to attack the box but mainly tasked with pinching the ball back and shuttling it to the wings or the AM as quickly as possible.
The latter trio replicates Liverpool's most successful formation under Benitez (Mascherano, Alonso, Gerrard). With us it could look like [Sandro, Capoue/Holtby/Carroll (don't laugh, Carroll's actually been playing deep for QPR with a 'hunter' beside him in Barton), and Eriksen/Lamela]. Sandro protects the zone around the playmaking DM to buy the space+time to launch the fast transition, and the no. 10 would carry a higher burden of pure productivity in terms of goals and assists. I'm not sure we have the vision and speed of thought to carry this out though, even though I think Capoue has a surprising range of passing.
Tom Carroll is a real wildcard and needs some serious protection, but I am impressed with the way QPR fans are saying the same things about him that we keep deriding Henderson and Allen for - 'oh, all he does is pass and move a lot'. Well no shit, we could do with someone who does all those quiet things at speed and keeps our momentum moving forward. I've commented before that Carroll seems to play the ball to space rather than to feet, which means the receiver doesn't have to adjust their body shape or take extra touches; he doesn't do this consistently by any means, but he seems to do so more than a lot of our other players.
Attack:
For me it depends on who is at FB - if we have attacking FBs like Rose, then I think we can play narrower inverted AMs/WFs. If we have a conservative FB then I think we need a player more likely to stay out wide to create, like Townsend on the left.
In any case, I tend to like the triumvirate of [Wide Playmaker, Spearhead Striker, Wing Forward]. That doesn't mean two strikers are out of the picture, it means that the way we're positioned is more like a set of triangles - a "W" - than flat lines, and that creates more diagonal options for passes and runs. (Of course, we have to actually make those runs! Otherwise we're just compressing the W - congesting ourselves in front of their lines.)
The central striker here is pretty clearly Soldado, since we didn't pay mucho dinero for him to sit on the bench while Defoe collects offsides. For the creative wide playmaking option, Lamela would be my ideal on the right (gets involved in build up, can both score like a WF and create like a 10). The left is kinda up in the air: in a de facto sense, I think Ade often ends up roaming in the LAM space - he creates, crosses, links up with the midfielders, drifts inside to support the other striker, etc - although he plays much more with his back to goal than a WF. If Rose is our LB then I don't think it's ludicrous to try out Ade on the left. Yeah he's very much a mobile striker rather than a WF or no. 10, but his role is different than an old-fashioned 'big man': in the flat 442, it's more like you lump it up to Ade/Crouch and he brings it down for the poacher to shoot, or the winger runs in a straight line and crosses to two strikers in the box - here Ade would play more like Siggy, building a triangle with Eriksen and Soldado and releasing Rose down the left or making the run out wide.
Townsend on the left would give us more width, but I think Ade is more intelligent and versatile in the final third, has more presence than Siggy, and holds the ball up under pressure better than our other attackers. For example, several times last night he faked a dribble inside to buy time for someone (Townsend) to make the outside run ---> cross, and he could constantly play it out wide as three West Ham shirts converged on him. That's pretty critical, because offloading the ball back to midfield every time someone pressures us has been a major part of our problems in attack - we end up playing safe passes in front of their defense, and finally we run out of ideas and Townsend comes inside and shoots. Or the ball just bounces back every time we try to really attack because no one up front can hold up the damn ball or they run with it too long and thereby lose it ... and when you combine that with our inconsistent team pressing of late and a mishmash back four, you get disaster.
Hi, new to the forums.
Just thought I would ask what people believe to be a starting XI that should would use.
Not dependant on what the game is, and with no injuries.
After last night, I thought that Adebayor was making most things happen, and thats with no play time for a while.
Id personally go for something like this:
.......................Lloris
Walker, Chirches, Verts, Rose
Lamela, Eriksen, Dembele, Townsend
....................Ade
.......................Soldado
I do wonder how this is going to go down..
Just thought I would ask what people believe to be a starting XI that should would use.
Not dependant on what the game is, and with no injuries.
After last night, I thought that Adebayor was making most things happen, and thats with no play time for a while.
Id personally go for something like this:
.......................Lloris
Walker, Chirches, Verts, Rose
Lamela, Eriksen, Dembele, Townsend
....................Ade
.......................Soldado
I do wonder how this is going to go down..
Lloris
Walker Vlad Jan Rose
Lamela Sandro Dembele Eriksen
Ade
Soldado
Similar to the way City play.. all guns blazing and an attacking midfielder on the wing (Eriksen has plenty of pace)
Either that or this...
Lloris
Walker Vlad Jan Rose
Sandro Paulinho
Lamela Eriksen Andros
Soldado
all IMO obviously
Walker Vlad Jan Rose
Lamela Sandro Dembele Eriksen
Ade
Soldado
Similar to the way City play.. all guns blazing and an attacking midfielder on the wing (Eriksen has plenty of pace)
Either that or this...
Lloris
Walker Vlad Jan Rose
Sandro Paulinho
Lamela Eriksen Andros
Soldado
all IMO obviously
I think we have two viable options.
Against sides we dominate possession against, generally weaker sides...
------------------------Lloris------------------------
Walker---Chiriches---Vertonghen---Rose
-----------------------Sandro----------------------
--------------Eriksen-------Holtby---------------
Lamela-------------------------------Townsend
----------------------Soldado----------------------
I think replacing Paulinho (who I'd have against ''tougher'' sides) with Holtby means that we have more creativity from our midfield and the opportunity for lots of 'triangle passing' between Eriksen, Holtby and Lamela, creating more opportunities to thread through to Soldado. Having Townsend on the left can also give us a secondary creative option of crossing for Soldado, rather than the through balls from the Aryan pair and pretty boy.
Against stronger sides...
------------------------Lloris-----------------------
Walker---Chriches---Vertonghen---Rose
---------------Sandro---Paulinho--------------
Lamela----------Eriksen----------Townsend
----------------------Soldado---------------------
Obviously, replacing Holtby with Paulinho we become a bit more rigid and functional, I also think Paulinho's late runs into the box are an underrated asset and would be very useful in a more counter-attacking setup inevitably being used against sides better than us who will have more possession. Dare I say it, those late runs that saw him pocket a few goals earlier in the year are rather Lampard-esque.
In essence, we payed a fuck load for Lamela, Eriksen and Soldado and I think it's key to our future they develop an understanding and if (when) they do, we'll see Soldado start scoring when he wants.
With the likes of Dawson, Capoue, Lennon, Sigurdsson, Dembele, Adebayor on then bench with Chadli, Dawson, Defoe on the periphery and Carroll and BAE to return our squad is in fantastic shape, despite the absolute despair I feel lately.
Anyway, this is my first post. Look forward to chatting shit and moaning Spurs a little with you all.
Against sides we dominate possession against, generally weaker sides...
------------------------Lloris------------------------
Walker---Chiriches---Vertonghen---Rose
-----------------------Sandro----------------------
--------------Eriksen-------Holtby---------------
Lamela-------------------------------Townsend
----------------------Soldado----------------------
I think replacing Paulinho (who I'd have against ''tougher'' sides) with Holtby means that we have more creativity from our midfield and the opportunity for lots of 'triangle passing' between Eriksen, Holtby and Lamela, creating more opportunities to thread through to Soldado. Having Townsend on the left can also give us a secondary creative option of crossing for Soldado, rather than the through balls from the Aryan pair and pretty boy.
Against stronger sides...
------------------------Lloris-----------------------
Walker---Chriches---Vertonghen---Rose
---------------Sandro---Paulinho--------------
Lamela----------Eriksen----------Townsend
----------------------Soldado---------------------
Obviously, replacing Holtby with Paulinho we become a bit more rigid and functional, I also think Paulinho's late runs into the box are an underrated asset and would be very useful in a more counter-attacking setup inevitably being used against sides better than us who will have more possession. Dare I say it, those late runs that saw him pocket a few goals earlier in the year are rather Lampard-esque.
In essence, we payed a fuck load for Lamela, Eriksen and Soldado and I think it's key to our future they develop an understanding and if (when) they do, we'll see Soldado start scoring when he wants.
With the likes of Dawson, Capoue, Lennon, Sigurdsson, Dembele, Adebayor on then bench with Chadli, Dawson, Defoe on the periphery and Carroll and BAE to return our squad is in fantastic shape, despite the absolute despair I feel lately.
Anyway, this is my first post. Look forward to chatting shit and moaning Spurs a little with you all.
such amaze
Did this guy sell it to you?
He's been giving out dodgy batches lately...:adelol:
You'll need meth to get through reading some of the threads round here
Fucking goals, I want goalsThe fuck?
If this means we would win 5-4 I would take it
Walker has been our best performer this season, any XI that leaves him out is ludicrous IMO
Naughton at right back?
"Lennon" and "The left" and "Whip in balls" do not go together in the same sentence unless it also includes "Cannot"
______________Lloris______________
____Chiriches_Dawson_Vertonghen___
______________Sandro____________
__Lennon__Paul___Dembele_Andros__
____________Eriksen_____________
____________Goldado____________
Call the cops, I don't give a fuck.
____Chiriches_Dawson_Vertonghen___
______________Sandro____________
__Lennon__Paul___Dembele_Andros__
____________Eriksen_____________
____________Goldado____________
Call the cops, I don't give a fuck.
