A Learning Exercise
A Learning Exercise
Tottenham were totally outplayed but in games like this, you can learn about individual players.
Ryan Sessegnon took his goal well but disappeared in the second half and was chasing shadows. He has a lot of improving to do and it demonstrates the difference in football between the Championship and where Spurs are.
Christian Eriksen only looked interested when he had the ball again, the rest of the time he was half-hearted. At one point in the second half he started walking back before deciding he had better jog and for Coutinho's goal, he basically got out of the way.
He was in the vicinity and stuck out a leg, but it was a token effort, he didn't actually want to get in the way of the ball at all. He seemed to use the game as a training exercise.
Giovani Lo Celso did the same thing and the reports from Spain suggesting he doesn't want to stay at Spurs might have some truth in them. He certainly won't want to stay if he can't force his way into Jose Mourinho's side.
Kyle Walker-Peters again showed he simply isn't good enough. he has never been good enough going forward and again showed he can't beat a man in an attacking situation in the first half when he needed to shift the ball, gain half a yard and cross, much like McNeil did for Burnley on Saturday.
Without that in his locker then he can only provide with time and space, but when he had that in the second half, he aimlessly put the ball across at chest height into an area he could see there wasn't anyone. It should have been along the floor, he played it across at the most difficult height for any attacking player, had they been there.
Defensively he was often all at sea too.
Oliver Skipp came out of the game with credit and will have done his chances of more game time any harm. He was one of the few who seemed full of energy.
Juan Foyth has to learn to cut out the fouls around our box. There are times when you need to jockey players and not try to steal or poke the ball, giving the attacker the chance to go over and get a free kick in a dangerous area.
Juan Foyth has to learn to cut out the fouls around our box. There are times when you need to jockey players and not try to steal or poke the ball, giving the attacker the chance to go over and get a free kick in a dangerous area.
An individual has to motivate themselves for a game like this and those who played had the incentive to put in a good performance. It will have given the training staff areas to work on and given Mourinho an insight into each player's mentality.
It looked very much like we were playing as a team of individuals and not as a team. The result didn't matter, it was an exercise. Onward to the weekend and a more important game, Wolverhampton Wanderers.
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