Spurs Rescue a Replay

Like I said in my last post, the underdogs have the advantage and quite frankly Spurs could easily have lost the FA Cup tie against Middlesbrough because of the poor mentality of some of our players.

If you haven't read that last post, quite frankly you really need to:
The Underdogs Have The Advantage

It discusses fear, anxiety and the causes of mistakes and a lack of composure.

What did we see against Middlesbrough? Exactly that.

Dele Alli was playing too deep, he gets in the way, slows the game down and performs how Raheem Sterling used to perform before Pep Guardiola got hold of him. He just wants to look good, every pass is a show.

He is more interested in looking the part than being the part. He is more interested in creating YouTube moments than playing the pass at the right weight. His passing is very lazy, too casual, it lacks concentration.

Flicks or ambitious passes trying to open a defence you don't mind not coming off, but basic passing around an area, that is a different kettle of fish, he needs to buck his ideas up. For those of you new to reading the blog, I was saying the same thing after the game against Bournemouth when he had scored two goals.

Jan Vertonghen is fast asleep, one of the laziest passers of a ball you will find. Everything has to be done in slow motion and with plenty of time on the ball, even then he will only stroke the ball at a snail's pace so the next guy has to wait 5 minutes for it to actually arrive at his feet!

Eric Dier simply doesn't look, doesn't consider who he is passing the ball to and the options they will have when they receive it. His high ball across the back three to Vertonghen then was seen a mile off by a Middlesbrough player and who as a result was almost through on goal was ludicrous.

What if Vertonghen had controlled the ball stone dead immediately, he would still have been confronted by an opponent!

Where was the advantage of playing the ball to him, what options was Dier giving Vertonghen in possession of the ball?

It was passing the buck, switching play for the sake of it at a point where it would make no difference.

Why does Eric Dier go through the back of a player so often and then claim his innocence? He does it frequently in our half and puts us under pressure.

Ryan Sessegnon just isn't anywhere near the player he is needed to be. Playing for Fulham there were some idiotic people suggesting £50 million for him, the guy isn't anywhere near £20 million yet in my view.

He offers very little. he needs to learn to read the game better and be far more proactive. He needs to learn how to use his upper body and be more aggressive.

There was a cross to the back post to him (when he was in an offside position) where he ran in to knock the defender out of the way but the ball just hit him before he could do anything. He was more attacking the player than the ball.

He was expecting the defender to win the ball, he didn't have the mental determination that he was going to win it, that is something he must develop.

It was as if he didn't want to get hurt.

Game time will help buy boy he is a million miles away. He can arrive late in space and put a ball away, at the moment that is his only attribute.

Serge Aurier showed us in the last 5 minutes what he is all about, panic.

He had the chance to win the game and concentrated on his ball-striking technique, unfortunately, he totally forgot about his body shape so he was never in the right position, when with time and space, to be in the correct position to strike the ball.

Next, the ball was in the air is our half with Eric Dier I think it was there to head it but in comes Aurier getting in the way and they both try to head it, unchallenged.

Then the pair of them go for the same ball and leave it to each other (Aurier was the player in the way) giving the striker the opportunity to steal the ball in our own box.

He plays without an awareness of his fellow players when under pressure. Mentally he needs a lot of work, but despite it being obvious we need it, the players do not get weekly mental coaching.


Giovani Lo Celso is on a different level it would seem. He was starting to make us tick with some incisive passing when he came on. He kept playing the ball behind the defender for Aurier to run onto or defence-splitting passes.

He needs game time. It was his pass that gave Aurier time to pick out a cross for Lucas Moura to head home the equalizer. In that moment we saw what Aurier can do.

On Moura, there was a moment in the first half that should never happen and again shows an incorrect mentality.

You should always expect the ball. Spurs had lost it after a two-man attack around the Middlesbrough box and the ball was played to their left. Moura was walking back. Unexpectedly we won the ball back and played it forward to him.

We could attack the heart of their defence, but no, Moura was still offside when a gentle jog would have seen him onside to receive the ball.

This is schoolboy game awareness. As a striker, you ensure you are onside, even when walking back, just in case your side wins the ball and you are in. How much are these people paid and they can't even do something that simple!

It shows a wrong mentality, it shows no urgency, no game intelligence, it shows a player who has switched off when the ball isn't near him.

Until these players learn what Mourinho wants, and that won't be this season, we are going to struggle.

Thankfully we escaped with a draw and get to fight again another day.