Tbh I think there’s been a massive overreaction to some of the results.
Spurs performance was fine against Conte’s side who have won their other PL games.
Brentford we dominated possession away from home against a premier league team who wouldn’t have scored any other way than us gifting them a penalty.
Then Liverpool. I have watched derbies against them when we’ve looked like we couldn’t even get the ball. Even in the two games last season, it was disappointing that we couldn’t really do anything but defend and launch the odd attack. The Allardyce derby at Anfield we had good upfield that turned into the Rooney penalty but couldn’t get out our own penalty area. There’s been derbies where they are literally toying with us in our own penalty are and the ball is flashing between the goalposts every minute of the game.
On Wednesday though what I saw was actually not that much wrong with the tactics. We didn’t get hemmed in unable to get out at any point. We played through their lines multiple times and could get behind them at will if w head executed better. We started poorly yes but coming into half time it had been a fairly even game.
The difference lies in the mistakes for the Salah goals. Godfrey and Digne on the first one, Coleman on the second. That’s not tactical errors, that’s poor players losing concentration and not doing their jobs against one of the best forwards in the world at this point. Then of course we folded after the third goal and it looks like we’ve been routed and everyone is absolutely fuming. ‘Why did he play 442, we got overrun etc.’
I didn’t see us get overrun at all, in fact along with the Silva Pickford derby at Anfield, and the Martinez 3-3 at Goodison, it was one of the few derbies when I thought we actually tried to get on the ball and make the play and attempt to control the game against them rather than just put up a wall and hope for the best.
It didn’t work out, obviously, but have people not been calling for a manager who will try and take the game to top opposition? If those individual mistakes get ironed out moving forward suddenly that’s a very competitive performance against a very good side.
It was blown massively out of proportion, I can see why, it’s understandable, I was angry as well, but in the cold light of day that derby loss is nowhere near the massacres we had under Martinez, Koeman Silva, and in a way I’d rather land a few blows on them than get plucky draws.
There were times when Gray was getting played in behind them, Richarlison’s through ball for the goal, us working it round their box and across the pitch. Give me that any day over praying we can get a corner or set piece to somehow try and score. There were times in that game Liverpool were flustered and under the cosh but we didn’t execute on good positions to punish them whereas Salah was clinical on our mistakes.
I’ll get a load of abuse for this but it’s honestly my opinion on the game, we’ve played far far worse in a lot of derbies than we did on Wednesday.
