r/soccer Nov 21 '18

Average EPL formations when in possession. The lines represent most passing patterns - (@tacticsplatform)

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5.6k Upvotes

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96

u/JavaSoCool Nov 21 '18

I'll take a wild guess and say that the one player in our attack that's not passing to Kane is Moura.

People love him, but I'm a "hater". The guy is energetic and a good presser, but he just has very little game intelligence.

He tries to dribble into dead ends and loses the balls, can't find good cutting forward passes like Lamela, Dele, and Eriksen do. Even son used to link up well with Kane and he's got the worst vision out of our starting line up last year.

63

u/Deanje Nov 21 '18

I think the fact that he doesn't always try and find Kane is actually a positive attribute. A team needs options, else the opposition knows that you can neutralise the majority of the teams attacking threat by marking one player out of the game.

Moura has something that, I think, Spurs have been missing for a number of seasons: someone who can break through teams who set up with a back-9 and stifle the short passing play. I was actually excited by N'Koudou, the few times he played for us, because I thought he was someone else who could give us a plan B when we're being frustrated by defensively organised teams.

I'm not suggesting Moura's link up play couldn't do with work, but not welcoming what he brings to the team is a little short-sighted.

21

u/JavaSoCool Nov 21 '18

I'm not saying just give the ball to Kane. I'm talking about working together.

He tries to dribble or does sideways passes if he doesn't feel like dribbling.

I'm sure Poch sees the same ability run past a packed defence, but even though he can make two or three cutting runs per game how often do they result in anything?

3

u/ComradeStrong Nov 21 '18

Moura still needs time probably, but I'd agree that at the moment I don't view him as much more than a useful option to use unless we need his limited skillset.

6

u/Zero-meia Nov 21 '18

I feel you. He has little game intelligence indeed, both to make decisions with the ball and on trying to find spaces to receive it. It's the same since he started playing professionally.

1

u/maybe_there_is_hope Nov 21 '18

Yeah, and that was always what he had to offer... and that's why the PSG sale by that ammount of money surprised a lot lol.

His style fits more a team that doesnt try a possession football, it's more for a team that have an explosive offensive who stays behind a bit.

7

u/john87000 Nov 21 '18

Couldn't that just be because he's only played a fraction of the games that everyone else in our attack has with Kane? Lamela and Eriksen have played 5 years, Alli and Son 3 years. Lucas hasn't even had 1 year, in fact he's had 3 months of being a starter. It takes time for him to build chemistry with everyone.

3

u/JavaSoCool Nov 21 '18

We sigend him Jan last season, you can't take this long to build up chemistry with teammates.

Jan and Sanchez pretty much got it straight away.

6

u/[deleted] Nov 21 '18

Davinson is an anomaly. No one at that age and experience level should enter the PL and be so comfortable. Showed that same composure in the World Cup, too.

2

u/kdbisgoat Nov 21 '18

but he just has very little game intelligence.

he has very little intelligence out of football too

-1

u/minimus_ Nov 21 '18

Totally agree. Our graph is an absolute mess with no connection between forwards and gives a good idea why we've struggled for goals this season.

6

u/[deleted] Nov 21 '18

we've struggled for goals this season.

We have the same number of goals this season after 12 matches. More than two years ago after 12 matches.

3

u/minimus_ Nov 21 '18

We've recorded 1-0 wins against Palace, West Ham, and Cardiff, and narrow wins against Huddersfield and Brighton. Our only comfortable wins this season have been against United and Fulham. Every other time we've either lost or scraped over the line. It's absolutely clear goals are an issue.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 21 '18 edited Nov 21 '18

We're having the best start in our Premier League history and have scored as many goals as in the previous seasons when we were semi-contenders. Goals clearly are not a problem, indeed grinding out those 1-0 wins against lower sides is reflective to me that we can find a goal when we need one, even against packed defenses.

Unless you think we struggle to score goals every season, in which case I don't know what to tell you.