Attack v Defence
The problem at Tottenham is a simple one, we don't score enough goals and we concede too many.
Over the life of the tournament the Premier League winners on average score 2.05 goals per game and concede 0.84 goals per game.
Tottenham Hotspur score an average 1.41 goals per game and concede 1.31
We know we don't score enough goals but it's unlikely we are going to be as prolific as Manchester City or even Liverpool last season in which case we seriously need to do something about the goals we concede.
In their first meeting since his appointment Mauricio Pochettino, Franco Baldini and Daniel Levy outlined the defence as a cause for concern. It was known a left-back was a priority and that centre-back was an area of concern. Pochettino agreed that these areas had to be strengthened if Spurs were to have a chance of achieving the desired aim of top four.
With only one striker banging in goals that was also noted as an area that needed strengthening but the defence was the immediate priority. You can score all the goals you like, but if you are letting them in at the other end you are undoing all your hard work.
No team regularly achieves their season aims if they are conceding, and Tottenham have conceded more goals in the Premier League than anyone else. It's almost as if our attack is playing against our defence and playing a losing game, because our defence are far better at conceding goals than our attack is in scoring them.
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We are the only club to have conceded over 1,000 goals, mind you there are only 7 clubs who have been ever presents like ourselves and 5 of them have financial budgets far in excess of ours. Money can't be blamed for everything and our soft underbelly has let us down far too often.
Under AVB we were initially tighter, at least after Dawson returned to the defence, but then with summer signings it all went pear shaped. We weren't conceding goals but neither were we creating chances to score, it was if we had a policy of 1-0 will do, that however is not commensurate with the brand we are selling to sponsors.
Interim Tim was a 'fun time' appointment. Sherwood was asked to score more goals and entertain a little more, results clearly were not the important order of the day as I have no doubt there was never any intention of keeping him in the post beyond the summer.
There was bound to be heartache along the way, but there were goals, there were successes like, Eriksen, Kane, Adebayor and Bentaleb. The one legacy of Tim Sherwood is that he showed the club there is already talent under the surface if it is given a chance.
Now we have gone back to the drawing board, moving on to an Argentinian. Time will tell if he can gel the group we have and create a cohesive unit. There is optimism and uncertainly, none more so than with Erik Lamela, a talent who couldn't show his talent.
It is players like him who will need to shine if Spurs are to up the goals for column while new signings deplete the goals against column.
Over the life of the tournament the Premier League winners on average score 2.05 goals per game and concede 0.84 goals per game.
Tottenham Hotspur score an average 1.41 goals per game and concede 1.31
We know we don't score enough goals but it's unlikely we are going to be as prolific as Manchester City or even Liverpool last season in which case we seriously need to do something about the goals we concede.
In their first meeting since his appointment Mauricio Pochettino, Franco Baldini and Daniel Levy outlined the defence as a cause for concern. It was known a left-back was a priority and that centre-back was an area of concern. Pochettino agreed that these areas had to be strengthened if Spurs were to have a chance of achieving the desired aim of top four.
With only one striker banging in goals that was also noted as an area that needed strengthening but the defence was the immediate priority. You can score all the goals you like, but if you are letting them in at the other end you are undoing all your hard work.
No team regularly achieves their season aims if they are conceding, and Tottenham have conceded more goals in the Premier League than anyone else. It's almost as if our attack is playing against our defence and playing a losing game, because our defence are far better at conceding goals than our attack is in scoring them.
Recent Articles:
Holtby, Howard, World Cup Spray, Ghoulam, Cambiasso
The USA view of each Premier League club
Tottenham News Shorts Issue 20
Swansea captain backs Davies to succeed at Spurs
Spurs most popular Premier League team in USA
Michu, Robben, Janmaat, Marshall, Cole, Fellani, Balotelli
Swansea captain backs Davies to succeed at Spurs
Roll on August
We are the only club to have conceded over 1,000 goals, mind you there are only 7 clubs who have been ever presents like ourselves and 5 of them have financial budgets far in excess of ours. Money can't be blamed for everything and our soft underbelly has let us down far too often.
Under AVB we were initially tighter, at least after Dawson returned to the defence, but then with summer signings it all went pear shaped. We weren't conceding goals but neither were we creating chances to score, it was if we had a policy of 1-0 will do, that however is not commensurate with the brand we are selling to sponsors.
Interim Tim was a 'fun time' appointment. Sherwood was asked to score more goals and entertain a little more, results clearly were not the important order of the day as I have no doubt there was never any intention of keeping him in the post beyond the summer.
There was bound to be heartache along the way, but there were goals, there were successes like, Eriksen, Kane, Adebayor and Bentaleb. The one legacy of Tim Sherwood is that he showed the club there is already talent under the surface if it is given a chance.
Now we have gone back to the drawing board, moving on to an Argentinian. Time will tell if he can gel the group we have and create a cohesive unit. There is optimism and uncertainly, none more so than with Erik Lamela, a talent who couldn't show his talent.
It is players like him who will need to shine if Spurs are to up the goals for column while new signings deplete the goals against column.
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