Tottenham taught another lesson
3 min read
A team should always be looking to improve, no matter how good they are, standing still is never an option, even after a title win. Tottenham must continually be looking to improve, even in the areas that some would think are OK.
Tottenham are the second highest scorers in the Premier League and yet we are nowhere near clinical enough and time after time it costs us points. Against Southampton we dominated the opening 20 minutes but when it came to the final third and time to play the perfect pass or put the ball away it didn't happen.
We should have taken the lead in that game and given ourselves a chance to control it. Against top teams that is generally what Chelsea do, they take a lead and usually don't need stacks if chances to do it, then go more defensive to maintain the lead. Manchester City won because they exploited a weakness ruthlessly.
Now I'm not suggesting we become Chelsea but we certainly have to be more defensively minded at times. Against Manchester City at the weekend we did the same thing again, dominated the opening and when it came to it were not clinical enough. The final ball, wasn't quite eight, Chadli to Lamela for instance ot we simply missed golden opportunities. Dier missed the target with an easy free header, Bentaleb missed the target with a header, from which they scored, Fazio nearly hit the corner flag again with an esy free header, Ryan mason couldn't beat Joe Hart, Harry Kane fired wide.
The culture within the club over the last few years is we have done enough, epitomised by Adebayor dropping into midfield when we are two goals ahead to pass the ball around and not even looking to score another goal. Then we hav had a chance then we seem to have treated it as a bit of fun and it doesn't matter if we miss. At the time I maintained it does matter, this is the time to train yourself to be clinical, that opportunity should be as important as a chance when the game is 0-0.
We have a whole bunch of new players now and each, even Harry Kane, will admit they could have done better. Fortunately players like Kane want to improve and work at improving their game. With Christian Eriksen playing on empty for the last 6 weeks, Eric Dier seems to be our best attacking option, the balls he plays into the area are excellent and he's a centre-back.
The front three attacking midfielders have to improve their creativity, too many times the final ball, just when that quaiity is needed, falls short of requirements. Is that a lack of skill? No, the players have the skill, it's mental. It's the decision making, then the brain telling the body what to do.
Educating a player as to what he should do and how to do it can only take you so far, skill has to be produced under pressure and pressure is a an emotion that the brain has to control. It's the same in any sport, those who can control their brain better handle pressure better and perfprm better when it really matters.
Football, indeed sport science improves all the time and the biggest area of all, the brain is still relatively untouched. Leaving an individual to improve himself under pressure is old hat, it doesn't happn in a sport like snooker, when it is worked on a a skill. You constantly hear them saying how they have worked on improving it with their coach.
It is something Tottenham should be doing with their players by bringing in a expert in th field to work with them on a daily basis, just 15 minutes a day going through mental exercises will improve each player in pressure situations. That has the affect of winning us more points, but it also makes them better players and therefore worth that much more in the transfer market. The reality is players do not stay at clubs that are not winning trophies so increasing thetr value is important, especiallywith income determining what you can spend now..
Tottenham are the second highest scorers in the Premier League and yet we are nowhere near clinical enough and time after time it costs us points. Against Southampton we dominated the opening 20 minutes but when it came to the final third and time to play the perfect pass or put the ball away it didn't happen.
We should have taken the lead in that game and given ourselves a chance to control it. Against top teams that is generally what Chelsea do, they take a lead and usually don't need stacks if chances to do it, then go more defensive to maintain the lead. Manchester City won because they exploited a weakness ruthlessly.
Now I'm not suggesting we become Chelsea but we certainly have to be more defensively minded at times. Against Manchester City at the weekend we did the same thing again, dominated the opening and when it came to it were not clinical enough. The final ball, wasn't quite eight, Chadli to Lamela for instance ot we simply missed golden opportunities. Dier missed the target with an easy free header, Bentaleb missed the target with a header, from which they scored, Fazio nearly hit the corner flag again with an esy free header, Ryan mason couldn't beat Joe Hart, Harry Kane fired wide.
The culture within the club over the last few years is we have done enough, epitomised by Adebayor dropping into midfield when we are two goals ahead to pass the ball around and not even looking to score another goal. Then we hav had a chance then we seem to have treated it as a bit of fun and it doesn't matter if we miss. At the time I maintained it does matter, this is the time to train yourself to be clinical, that opportunity should be as important as a chance when the game is 0-0.
We have a whole bunch of new players now and each, even Harry Kane, will admit they could have done better. Fortunately players like Kane want to improve and work at improving their game. With Christian Eriksen playing on empty for the last 6 weeks, Eric Dier seems to be our best attacking option, the balls he plays into the area are excellent and he's a centre-back.
The front three attacking midfielders have to improve their creativity, too many times the final ball, just when that quaiity is needed, falls short of requirements. Is that a lack of skill? No, the players have the skill, it's mental. It's the decision making, then the brain telling the body what to do.
Educating a player as to what he should do and how to do it can only take you so far, skill has to be produced under pressure and pressure is a an emotion that the brain has to control. It's the same in any sport, those who can control their brain better handle pressure better and perfprm better when it really matters.
Football, indeed sport science improves all the time and the biggest area of all, the brain is still relatively untouched. Leaving an individual to improve himself under pressure is old hat, it doesn't happn in a sport like snooker, when it is worked on a a skill. You constantly hear them saying how they have worked on improving it with their coach.
It is something Tottenham should be doing with their players by bringing in a expert in th field to work with them on a daily basis, just 15 minutes a day going through mental exercises will improve each player in pressure situations. That has the affect of winning us more points, but it also makes them better players and therefore worth that much more in the transfer market. The reality is players do not stay at clubs that are not winning trophies so increasing thetr value is important, especiallywith income determining what you can spend now..
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