Home
Spurs vs Sunderland

Spurs achilles heel strikes again

3 min read
Once again a weak mental approach cost Tottenham a victory over Sunderland that was quite frankly there the taking, but Spurs didn't want to take it.

Spurs achilles heel strikes again


It's an age old problem and one I've brought up before, we have had the same problem certainly since Robbie Keane left and we fall foul of it time and time and time again. Until the matter is addressed, and that can't be done overnight, then these stumbles will continue to happen. We will continue to drop points when we should be winning games 4-0 or 5-0.

We lack a killer instinct.

Today we controlled the game totally virtually, yet only got a point. We started by ripping Sunderland wide open. After one minute Rose is free down the left, all he has to do is cross the ball across the 6 yard box for a Chadli tap-in. He doesn't.

After two minutes the Sunderland defence give Adebayor an acre of room so he shoots and Chadli backing up tucks away the rebound. We then gift them a way back in by not closing down Johnson instantly, the way Walker does. Still Rose should have done better on the line. Three minutes 1-1.

Recent Articles:
Fryers demonstrates the problem at Spurs
Redkapp is right of course
Twickenham or the Olympic Stadium
The English Game vs The Italian Game
How is it a blow for Spurs?

In 9 minutes we had had 7 goals attempts, 5 on target but only 1 goal. With a killer instinct the game would have already been dead. I have banged on about how important it is in games where we are 3 up with 10 minutes to go to be clinical, while some supporters try to say it doesn't matter.

I'm afraid it does. Those ae the games you practice clinically scoring instead of playing as if it doesn't matter if we miss, it does and games like this show you why. Scoring in the 87th minute when you are 3-0 up should be just as important as when you are 1-1.

If you practice being clinical, trained yourself to be clinical when you get a chance, you become clinical when it matters, if you don't, you don't and we aren't. You can't just turn it on and off, it has to be ingrained so it is natural, then when an opportunity arises you'll be totally focussed on putting it into the net.

Yet again in the second half we started passing it around like it didn't matter, we were 2-1 up, we have the ball, we'll just pass it among ourselves for a bit. The third goal is going to happen, no need to try and make it happen, that seems to be our mentality, instead of let's bury this game.

There was plenty to like, plenty of positives, we looked good in possession, we had more creativity than than we have seen for a couple of years, our movement was good, the pressing was more evident and we have a goal threat.

We did too often choose the wrong option like Adebayor trying to drag the ball back on to his right foot when he had a clear shooting opportunity inside the penalty area with his left. There are no extra points for scoring the perfect goal, only for scoring a goal, Eriksen bundling the ball into the net was just as important as Chadli opening the scoring.

It's frustrating because watching, you can see us take a foot off the peddle, you can see players have accepted a 2-1 win and play for it, result, poor defensive judgement and we don't get it. Two points simply thrown away.

Pretty to watch, enjoyable to watch, but add the killer instinct and it will be better still.


8 comments

  1. Absolutely right. Attitude is just as important as skill. Once Spurs nail this part of their game they'll become a Champions League contender.
  2. Pop psychology. The last resort of the clueless. So you understand what's going on in the head of all our players? And they all lack a "killer instinct"? There are two things (at least) you're overlooking. First, what happens on the field is a reflection of the ability of the players. We weren't quite good enough to kill the game off. We were good, but not good enough to put Sunderland away 4 or 5-nil. Second, luck. Stuff happens in football. If we'd won 2-1 you wouldn't be talking about a lack of "killer instinct". Come on, mate. When 11 players go out on to the field, there are 11 different psychologies (at least) out there. Saying that the whole team has the same psychology is just lame and lazy. There is no lack of "killer instinct", there are just 11 players out there doing there best. We should have won, Poyet conceded that. But a ball rebounded off Kane into the goal. If Lamela's shot is two inches lower and goes in, what ha…
  3. I agree with the post above. I am actually a Sunderland supporter and to be honest, you guys rip us a part on so many occasions I actually lost count. But luck has it that you guys hit the post 2 times. Even then, there was a bit of luck element in the second goal when the ball that was supposed to be cleared came off Brown and Eriksen took an easy tap in.
  4. The game was pure entertainment; the lads did well; on another day we would have won that game. Dier is currently playing out of position thus we're missing the thrust and pace of Walker on the flank. Kaboul makes far too many costly mistakes; the combo of him and Vlad on todays evidence will lose us many valuable points; all in all still a good start to the season.
  5. I understand sport and I understand a winning mentality, I understand the right mentality which any sports psychologist will tell you can be read by what a player does at certain times of the game if you know what you are looking for. The mind is the most important component of any player in any sport in the world.

    What happens on the field is a reflection of the decisions the mind makes, the body merely performs the skill the mind tells it to.

    As I point out I talk about a lack of killer instinct when we have won 2-0 simply because it will rear it's ugly head in games like this and the masses will simply say weren't we unlucky, no were weren't. We made avoidable mistakes for their goals which were the result of wrong decision in the mind, not luck.

    Should have won doesn't get you three points as Pochettino himself pointed out. Our manager in his press conference said the same as me, we lack a killer instinct and we have to kill games.
  6. Whether you actually understand sport is, I think, for others to say. What's the difference between a "winning mentality" and a "winning team"? If a team starts winning have they discovered the winning mentality? And if they start losing, have they lost it? You seem to be saying that there is some psychological curse that infects any footballer that comes within a mile of WHL. Let me put a different point of view. Your pop psychology is self-fulfilling nonsense. The reason Spurs have finished around the same spot on the table for the last few years is because of the quality of players they are able to afford; better than most but not as good as the top clubs. Seems reasonable to me. No need for psycho-babble conspiracy theories. I mean, it's just possible that a) when players come to the club they get infected with your lack of killer instinct disease or b) that players who already have this disease are somehow particularly attracted to joining this club. B…
  7. Well if there is anywhere lower to go than pop psychology, it's sports psychology. Sure, what an athlete does is partly a reflection of what's in their head. But your post says that "we" - that is all the players (inincluding the subs and presumably all the back room staff) - lack a "killer instinct". How on earth would you know? All the players? Most of them? Which ones exactly? Even the ones that have just joined the club? Did we lack the "killer instinct" when we put four past QPR? Perhaps it should have ten? The point is that claiming that the entire club - the entire club?? Really? - lacks a "killer instinct" is just another way of saying "I really have no idea what happened out there." I mean, it makes nice blog post but as an idea it's just completely nuts. How on earth would you know what's in all the players' minds?
  8. Not at all MG. You don't suddenly start winning by accident. Take a 100 metre runner or a rugby player taking a penalty. They both visualise what they are going to do before they do it, it's all mental. It's the same in any sport, if you don't have the mental side you will never be as good as the player who does, as they will push themselves to get better and better while the other only slowly progresses.

    People who don't understand the mental side of sport often say it's nonsense because it's something they can't understand. Whether you like it or not it exists, Pochettino told you so himself and continually takes about instilling the right philosophy.

    Players like Bale and Ronaldo get to where they are because of a superior mental attitude. That attitude is what makes them train to radically improve themselves over time where the likes of Rooney go backwards or stay still.

    A sports psychologist knows what is in a players mind by watching him, as I said before. You have a list of key points to look out for and you see how the players reacts in certain situations, again and again and again. There are many ways to see what's in someones head if you know what to look for.

    All sport is mainly in the brain, it is the most important aspect above all others. Without it you wont win a thing.

    What was it Pochettino said when he bought Fazio, oh yes, he'll bring a winning mentality into the club.