27 Aug 2016 17:31:48
Ed001 your review of the game?

{Ed001's Note - have to be a quick one, I have got the dreaded man flu, so need to type it out quick in case I don't make it through the day....

Basically we looked the better side, outplayed them for probably 80 minutes of the 90 and should have won by a clear margin but didn't because of individual defensive mistakes. It happens, we played mostly well, so it is good to see the performance improve. It is still early days but we needed that performance to boost confidence after the Burnley disaster.

One quick thing, the ref was bloody awful, how was that not a pen in the first half when Matip was dragged down? And that set the tone for a performance that just left me shaking my head at the number of decisions he got wrong. At least he wasn't favouring either side, just truly awful.

Mane was the clear standout for 60min, then he faded out of the game. Lallana really needs a kick up the backside, Cruyff turns just outside our box into an opponent are not clever. 14 touches when we are on a fast break is stopping us getting chances we should. He was the weakest link for us yesterday. Still nice to see Migs actually managed to complete some passes and Milner, apart from the really poor error for the goal, looked much better at left back than Moreno.}


1.) 28 Aug 2016
28 Aug 2016 09:46:51
I thought most players played very well, another decision that went against us was the disallowed goal. was it really offside, very debatable.


2.) 28 Aug 2016
28 Aug 2016 10:56:04
With the offside goal. My view on it is.
He was offside from the angle we had (Marginally), but the view from the other side where the referee assistance was. He couldn't of called that. He was two three yards behind play, and from his view point he couldn't of been completely 100% that it was offside.


3.) 28 Aug 2016
28 Aug 2016 11:15:06
And if people are saying 50/ 50 it goes to the attacking team.


4.) 28 Aug 2016
28 Aug 2016 13:18:26
Agree Ed. The performance was much better and Spurs were ripe for a good hiding but it is what it is. Rues is also correct. That was not offside. And if it's tight, the attacker gets the advantage. I just think the assistant just had a bad angle at it but I also should say that Mane was lucky to remain on the pitch because with another ref, he would have been off. On the non penalty on Matip, could it have been that the ref didn't give it because the ball wasn't in play yet? Your thoughts.

{Ed001's Note - the ball was in play, he just made a mistake.}


5.) 28 Aug 2016
28 Aug 2016 19:41:39
Thanks, Ed.


6.) 28 Aug 2016
28 Aug 2016 19:25:01
Lallana infuriated me! For one example, we were on the attack with Spurs' back four back-peddling, Lallana had the ball while Clyne was making a run into huge space on the right into Spurs' box, Clyne then halted his run because Lallana was taking so many touches on the ball and not looking likely to pass it. and then he passes it to Clyne after Clyne stops his run, leading to a ruined attack! It's stuff like that which really grinds my gears with Lallana.

Overall, our performance was level was just a rung below 'superb'. I think that despite the goal, we defended Tottenham very well. I don't know if conceding a goal and dropping points despite a good performance is yet indicative of a major problem with closing out games, sometimes it just happens - especially away from home against very good teams like Spurs. On any other day, it could have easily ended 1-0 or 2-0.

I thought Mane was fantastic, the powerful dimension he adds to our attack is there for all to see. No, pace is not everything, but god can it help!

I thought Henderson did pretty well in the midfield. I don't understand some of the criticism towards Gigi, this was his best game for us thus far. He may not defend well, but he knows how to be an effective cog in an attacking unit.

Coutinho. was good, but would have been great if he scored that sitter. How he missed that, I have no idea! He seems to have a problem with converting easy chances. He basically missed an open goal against United in the Anfield leg, and he missed another wonderful chance in the OT leg after dribbling through their whole team. He said he wants to increase his goal tally, but he needs to pad his goal tally up with simple goals, he's not going to score many if he only does it the spectacular way.

Matip was very, very solid.

Mignolet should have saved that Rose goal. How on earth does he let a goal in from that angle after closing Rose down?


7.) 29 Aug 2016
29 Aug 2016 01:38:56
I saw that too with Lallana, Nick. I was screaming at the TV and was so infuriated with him.