GroundPoch Day
Quite similar shit, different day.
I like that Poch actually went 433. I think that front three is pretty much our best front three right now. But it's a shame he couldn't put a couple of footballers in the midfield three with Winks. Watching Dier and Sissoko clunk their way round our midfield is like having your soul removed, taken out back, given a kick in, then being urinated upon. Please god, grow some fucking bollocks Poch and give us a midfield back soon.
By his own, very turgid standards, Sissoko was decent enough first half and did exceedingly well when setting up Lamela for the goal, but lets not fucking kid ourselves, his technique is atrocious, his passing is clunky, a ball rarely glides to its recipient's stride does it, it bobbles, invariably behind the stride, or at best is very deliberately whacked at said recipient. His movement off the ball lacks wit, and any press is met with abject panic.
Dier isn't much better. It's like watching Frankenstein on a sherbet enema. One day the wind will fucking change and he'll be stuck in that point position, like a model in my mum's old Gratton Catalogues. So many times people were looking for an out ball, and instead of fucking moving to offer them one, he just pointed. When he did get on the ball it's like football by numbers. A to B to A to B. Several times he has yards of space in front of him and instead of stepping into it and maybe surveying the situation, trying to inject something of value into the game, he panicked and tapped it backwards three yards instead.
We started OK, then seemed to lose our way, WH started to get some momentum going, but just as they were, they first lost Zabaletta for a bit and went down to ten men, then lost Yarmalenko, and seemed to lose whatever momentum they had, and the last 20 minutes of the first half we gained some kind of control back, and during this spell scored one and possibly could have had another.
The second half was up there with some of the worst football we've played under Poch. We basically shelled a whole half, and that would have been more bearable if on the odd occasion we did counter, we broke the chaotic incoherent monotony of it by not continually just running the ball straight into their defenders. Several great counters were ruined by stupid fuckery where players just had to pass it and we'd have been bearing in on goal with overloads.
Don't get me started on the subs. Fucking abstract.
Still, 433....there is some hope.
Individual
Lloris - Very good game, couple of nice saves, no howling gashes.
Trippier - Not one of his better games. Didn't contribute much going forward and was poor defensively on two or three occasions second half.
Sanchez - Bit like Bambi on ice first half but, ironically, as we got shitter, and came under more pressure, he got better. That fabulous save everyone was raving about late on, I'm pretty sure was actually proceeded by a great last ditch tackle by Sanchez.
Alderweireld - Solid enough.
Davies - Really fucking meh. Left back has got to be second priority after midfield in terms of improvement of personnel.
Sissoko - By his standards he was decent enough first half. His decent is well below what a club of our level needs though. Credit where it's due, he did really well for the assist. Second half was pretty rank though.
Pointer - Dire.
Winks - In the slim pickings of positives from today, second behind actually beating the wankers I fucking hate most, is probably Winks' performance. I'm not kidding myself it was orgasmic or anything, and I'd have liked him to be a little more creative in forward areas, but he was easily the best midfielder on that pitch today. 63/70 90% pass rate. The only midfielder who continually looked to get on the ball (only Trippier saw more touches than him), took the ball and dropped a shoulder a few times, beating lines and getting us moving. Playing in this 433/CM3 system suits him best, be nice to see him with a couple of better CM's in there too.
Moura - Quick zippy legs, brain struggles to keep up.
Lamela - Seems a bit more purposeful this season, if we can keep him fit he's like the proverbial "new signing" who isn't a new signing. Very good first half. Like everyone, less effective second.
Kane - Touched the ball 22 times, completed 8 passes of 10. Not great, but to fair to him, this was more about what was happening behind him, which gave him fuck all to work with. He worked hard without the ball and was always showing for it. I think he's looking more like proper Kane lately.
Quite similar shit, different day.
I like that Poch actually went 433. I think that front three is pretty much our best front three right now. But it's a shame he couldn't put a couple of footballers in the midfield three with Winks. Watching Dier and Sissoko clunk their way round our midfield is like having your soul removed, taken out back, given a kick in, then being urinated upon. Please god, grow some fucking bollocks Poch and give us a midfield back soon.
By his own, very turgid standards, Sissoko was decent enough first half and did exceedingly well when setting up Lamela for the goal, but lets not fucking kid ourselves, his technique is atrocious, his passing is clunky, a ball rarely glides to its recipient's stride does it, it bobbles, invariably behind the stride, or at best is very deliberately whacked at said recipient. His movement off the ball lacks wit, and any press is met with abject panic.
Dier isn't much better. It's like watching Frankenstein on a sherbet enema. One day the wind will fucking change and he'll be stuck in that point position, like a model in my mum's old Gratton Catalogues. So many times people were looking for an out ball, and instead of fucking moving to offer them one, he just pointed. When he did get on the ball it's like football by numbers. A to B to A to B. Several times he has yards of space in front of him and instead of stepping into it and maybe surveying the situation, trying to inject something of value into the game, he panicked and tapped it backwards three yards instead.
We started OK, then seemed to lose our way, WH started to get some momentum going, but just as they were, they first lost Zabaletta for a bit and went down to ten men, then lost Yarmalenko, and seemed to lose whatever momentum they had, and the last 20 minutes of the first half we gained some kind of control back, and during this spell scored one and possibly could have had another.
The second half was up there with some of the worst football we've played under Poch. We basically shelled a whole half, and that would have been more bearable if on the odd occasion we did counter, we broke the chaotic incoherent monotony of it by not continually just running the ball straight into their defenders. Several great counters were ruined by stupid fuckery where players just had to pass it and we'd have been bearing in on goal with overloads.
Don't get me started on the subs. Fucking abstract.
Still, 433....there is some hope.
Individual
Lloris - Very good game, couple of nice saves, no howling gashes.
Trippier - Not one of his better games. Didn't contribute much going forward and was poor defensively on two or three occasions second half.
Sanchez - Bit like Bambi on ice first half but, ironically, as we got shitter, and came under more pressure, he got better. That fabulous save everyone was raving about late on, I'm pretty sure was actually proceeded by a great last ditch tackle by Sanchez.
Alderweireld - Solid enough.
Davies - Really fucking meh. Left back has got to be second priority after midfield in terms of improvement of personnel.
Sissoko - By his standards he was decent enough first half. His decent is well below what a club of our level needs though. Credit where it's due, he did really well for the assist. Second half was pretty rank though.
Pointer - Dire.
Winks - In the slim pickings of positives from today, second behind actually beating the wankers I fucking hate most, is probably Winks' performance. I'm not kidding myself it was orgasmic or anything, and I'd have liked him to be a little more creative in forward areas, but he was easily the best midfielder on that pitch today. 63/70 90% pass rate. The only midfielder who continually looked to get on the ball (only Trippier saw more touches than him), took the ball and dropped a shoulder a few times, beating lines and getting us moving. Playing in this 433/CM3 system suits him best, be nice to see him with a couple of better CM's in there too.
Moura - Quick zippy legs, brain struggles to keep up.
Lamela - Seems a bit more purposeful this season, if we can keep him fit he's like the proverbial "new signing" who isn't a new signing. Very good first half. Like everyone, less effective second.
Kane - Touched the ball 22 times, completed 8 passes of 10. Not great, but to fair to him, this was more about what was happening behind him, which gave him fuck all to work with. He worked hard without the ball and was always showing for it. I think he's looking more like proper Kane lately.
Last edited:
