Sess makes life easier for the full back

[FulhamStu]

1st half especially yesterday, Spurs were overrunning us down their right.  This was because AK gave Bryan no protection at all.  On the other side, when Spurs attacked down their left, Sess was supporting Mensah and Spurs didn't threaten.  Second half at the start Sess moved across and guess what, Trippier was far less effective whilst their other wing back Davies started to cause problems.  Sess did not have his best game, but he is an incredible athlete and gets up and down the wing so quickly he is able to attack and defend.  AK on the other hand looked like he was in no mans land when defending, he has his moments and can cause problems with his trickery, pace and strength but he gives the ball away all the time and for me should only be an impact sub.

I thought Angussia looked quality, he clearly tiered badly towards the end but he and Seri will be stars for us this season.

I thought Fabri did ok, as did Mensah and Max.   Chambers not so good.  Great Mitro got off the mark, dispite us being dominated for a lot of the game, Mitro could have had a hat trick !

[alexbishop]

Completely agree. AK offered no protection for the full back we were really vulnerable down that side. Sure there was good reason to start AK but I would have probably have gone for someone a bit more defensively minded down that side for first part of the game until things opened up.

[MrD1879]

Spot on for me dissapointed that A) AK didn't realise it was his job the 1500 time trippier got to the ball in acres of space B) Slav didn't make the switch alot earlier as plain to see where the threat was. I felt for Bryan

Agree as well that Anguissa looked a huge step up really impressed by him. My only criticism of Seri is he needs to realise that the no look flicks round the corner need to be a further 30 years up the field and not on the edge of the 18 yard box. All in all though we played very well against probably the second best footballing side in the league. The 20 minute spell in the second half we looked superb but tired which will come roll on Burnley

[bobby01]

Dare I say that is why joka plays ayite, his covering is good.

[Brightster#2]

Can't wait for ayite to be back. Could do a sniilar job to Simon Davies with the covering.

[colinwhite]

dont forget  Spurs played 3 at the back which gave them 5 in mid field against our 3 .Until Dembelle came on in the second half we pushed up with our press on them ,were more aggressive and suddenly we had alot more of the ball and could dominante. Not an AK fan but he did ok even if his positional play is not the best. We still have to solve the problem of our right hand forward position (whoever plays there has to be 2 way ).

[toshes mate]

Dare I say that is why Jokanovic plays Ayite, his covering is good.

Agree. Also agree with comment that RW slot hasn't really been solved yet but, as said above, for twenty minutes or so, second half, we looked impressive going forward.  I have seen enough to convince me that with full squad fitness and more playing time together the team will be very competitive in any game they play.  I think Chambers lacks confidence and that may return once the whole squad is competing for places since we have a really good coaching outfit.  Thought the scoreline reflected our strengths and weaknesses quite well at this early stage.  Optimistic.     

[VancouverWhite]

Agree wholeheartedly with you OP. 

I will add one thing that I haven't seen mentioned. 
AK has committed some great fouls in both games. 

He "accidentally " bulldozed through their defender last week, and leaned into Zaha twice in our first game.

I think he'd be better as an impact sub as well.

[BedsFFC]

I dont want to jump on the bash Kamara thing. I'm sure he will be told by the manager. Also, I get the impression that defending from the front is not something he's done much of.

My biggest gripe for me is he commits the really anoying thing of not getting tight enough to the wide man, who is always able to get the cross in. Stop the cross man...

[Milo]

AK intermittently chases back - especially when he's lost it himself.

Only problem is that his tackling technique is literally just to barge their player over and give away a cheap free kick! Or at least it was early on when he arrived. He has improved a bit.

[FulhamStu]

I really hope this did not come across as AK bashing, more of Sess praising.   AK is just not as aware of his defensive responsibilities.  It will improve, he is also very young, but Sess has fantastic positional awareness, not just in attack but tracking back to support his full back.  These as amongst other abilities is why Slav always plays him !    Bacause he is not great at ball retention (yet) is another reason why for me AK should be an impact sub and not a starter.

[MJG]

Maybe, just maybe, Ak was playing as asked. Not going wide to be on Tripper by staying in that area closer to the middle of the pitch and when ball came out he had space and time to run with or run onto long balls.
It happened a few times but not enough. IF Ak was not following instructions to get close to Tripper do we not think Slav would have made it clear that was what he should do?

[colinwhite]

I think AK was follow instuctions ,but the advantage in this case with them playing 3 at the back with Ali in the hole meant we were overrun in midfield .When we tried to press them high with our front 3 they had the luxury of both wing backs licking the white lines so they just played past us. By bending his run (like a Roy wideplayer ) we could have cut out the wide pass but the they would still have been able to play through us centrally.
By pressing higher and more aggressively at the start of the second half,things changed .We also went man v man toe to toe to cut out being outnumbered with our spare man no longer free at the back .

[FulhamStu]

Maybe, just maybe, Ak was playing as asked. Not going wide to be on Tripper by staying in that area closer to the middle of the pitch and when ball came out he had space and time to run with or run onto long balls.
It happened a few times but not enough. IF Ak was not following instructions to get close to Tripper do we not think Slav would have made it clear that was what he should do?

Yes, quite possible he was doing as instructed, but if that was the case, 1) it allowed Spurs to overrun us on our left and totally exposed Bryan, where as on the right we were much better with Sess providing cover.  2) I can't believe our tactics were for AK to give the ball away so much.   I know his game is to attack his marker, which he does well, but he has and I am sure will learn to pass to his own player and not give the ball away so much.    It's all work in progress I know but the main feature of the first half was the huge space that Trippier had and that was our biggest issue.   Sess is excellent at providing cover and to repeat, this really was my main point of the pos, not to bash AK.

[RaySmith]

Kamara did very well in attack I thought, and did tackle back, but we lacked cover on the left, but was that the role he was given? as said.

We weren't set up to be  very defensive, but actually mounted a lot of attacks, considering the pressure, we were under and Spurs' possession, and were a bit unlucky not to score more.

But  good OP, that has  stimulated interesting debate.

[General]

Did spurs score their second and third when he was on or when schurrle was on?

Watching the highlights the second if blame is being attributed to anyone would have to go to Anguissa sadly. Caught in possession initially he tried to make up for it and went into a tackle over eagerly and gave away the free-kick.

[MJG]

Maybe, just maybe, Ak was playing as asked. Not going wide to be on Tripper by staying in that area closer to the middle of the pitch and when ball came out he had space and time to run with or run onto long balls.
It happened a few times but not enough. IF Ak was not following instructions to get close to Tripper do we not think Slav would have made it clear that was what he should do?

Yes, quite possible he was doing as instructed, but if that was the case,
1) it allowed Spurs to overrun us on our left and totally exposed Bryan, where as on the right we were much better with Sess providing cover. 2) I can't believe our tactics were for AK to give the ball away so much.   I know his game is to attack his marker, which he does well, but he has and I am sure will learn to pass to his own player and not give the ball away so much.    It's all work in progress I know but the main feature of the first half was the huge space that Trippier had and that was our biggest issue.   Sess is excellent at providing cover and to repeat, this really was my main point of the pos, not to bash AK.

Its natural that Sess would give more cover as he is (And I know many disagree) a LB by trade. Also Mensah gave us more coverage as hes clearly a more fefensive Right Back than we have seen in a long time. No Fredericks/Christie runs forward from him. Could be argued he never crossed the halfway line. Where as Bryan had more space and ablity to get forward as shown by the goal.
AK gave the ball away less than Mirtovic, was involved in most of our key attacking phases. So the comment about giving it away a lot, forwards and wider players nearly always do.

[Statto]

AK intermittently chases back - especially when he's lost it himself.

Only problem is that his tackling technique is literally just to barge their player over and give away a cheap free kick! Or at least it was early on when he arrived. He has improved a bit.

In fairness to him, that's not a foul, it's just him using his strength and looks like a foul because he knocks other people out the way so easily. It used to pi&& me right off in the Championship that refs would always give those decisions against him because they weren't clever enough to work out some basic physics. His challenge on Zaha vs palace was the same but (quite rightly) not given as a foul. Hopefully that's a sign that we'll get better refereeing at this level.