Match Report: Avalanche of Spurs goals Sweep Bournemouth away:

Rodmorg

First Team
The recent managerial change at Manchester united had led to speculation of current Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino of potentially taking over the Red Devils. The potential void of Tottenham’s managerial spot led many to dispute who would be the next manager. One prominent candidate is Eddie Howe, who had the arduous task of his team meeting Spurs, one of the few teams The Cherries had not experienced victory over.

Bournemouth had a comfortable 2-0 victory against Brighton going into Christmas. Similarly, Tottenham had seen a highly-spirited 2-6 win over Everton the same day so the battle on Boxing Day at Wembley would most likely result in a goal fest. There was only one change for the away side as Josh King was dropped for Ryan Fraser in a 4-4-2 formation.

Bournemouth had a couple of opportunities after kick-off, a desperate cross by Francis met Fraser, whose header was blocked… by Stanislas. Not even a minute later a great ball by Lerma met an isolate Brooks in the Spurs box, but the in-form winger could not finish properly and missed a golden opportunity to take the lead.

Spurs were gifted the first of a few to come as a powerful effort from Eriksen took a huge deflection off Lerma and sent Begovic the wrong way for the first goal. Only 5 minutes later, Daniels on the left side took too long to clear the ball and paid the price for it as the Walker-Peters stole it off the defender and squared it to Son to make it 2-0. They continued to pile misery down on Bournemouth as another cross to the right wing gave Moura plenty of space in the box to finish off calmly for the third goal, after only 35 minutes of play.

Eddie reverted to a back three with Fraser now at RWB and it instantly looked to have paid off as a Stanislas cross from the left narrowly missed Wilson; Fraser picked up the scraps and crossed for Stanislas to head in the centre who couldn’t find the net.

The bleakest moment of the game came when Francis twisted awkwardly and planted his foot to the ground and fell in agony instantly. After being tended to by the medical staff deep into half time, the skipper was stretchered off in tears and to a warm reception from both sets of fans. Rico came on as his replacement. Devastating news for our only-recognised right-back.

Before half-time, a corner from the right led to Fraser whipping in a beautiful cross for Daniels 8 yards out, and his header forced Lloris into a difficult save.

Half-time Tottenham 3-0 Bournemouth

Bournemouth restarted brightly; a neat through ball by Fraser gave Wilson some space, only for their defender to clumsily barge into Wilson. A definite penalty not given. Spirits were higher and Bournemouth looked on the front foot for a constrained amount of time as Rico surged forward and planted a low cross for Stanislas to slide into the net. However it was not given, as Stanislas was a yard or two offside; a good call by the linesman.

With an hour gone, the defence once again picked the short straw as Eriksen once again looped the ball over to Wilson’s England team mate, Harry Kane, to plant a neat finish underneath Begovic. A set-up reminiscent of Brooks and Lerma earlier on.

The Cherries had a chance to provide a consolation with Stanislas’ effort being well-blocked by Rose, but Bournemouth couldn’t block Son from scoring a fifth after a bundle in the Bournemouth box, and a bad spill by Begovic.

Both Stanislas and Rico had chances to reduce the deficit but Spurs held on to their five-goal lead against a team they showed no mercy for.

Full-Time Tottenham 5-0 Bournemouth

Team Ratings:

Asmir Begovic – 5: Didn’t have plenty to do but not at fault for most of the goals, except for his spill that led to the fifth.

Simon Francis – 5: Did look bright before his devastating injury, and could have been cause for a third goal at 2-0.

Steve Cook – 5: Simply outclassed by a strong Spurs front line but tried. His long throw-ins caused no concerns for the opposition back line.

Nathan Ake – 4: Similar to Cook but had no contribution and looked severely demotivated.

Charlie Daniels – 3: At fault again for another goal. Looked all over the place at LWB and seemed more composed after shifting to the centre, but you can’t be making mistakes against such a prestigious team.

David Brooks – 5: Was able to get out of cul-de-sacs easily and possessed some great dribbling but should have scored after the Lerma through ball.

Jefferson Lerma – 6 - MOTM: Did make some good long-balls that are usually expectant of his partner. Picked up the inevitable yellow-card but could have had an assist. Tough to pick between him, Surman and Fraser for MOTM.

Andrew Surman - 6: Intelligent passing and positioning today, and made a handful of blocks to prevent further goals.

Ryan Fraser – 6: Didn’t look particularly good on the left side but was better after changing to RWB. Made some very good crosses and could have scored earlier on if it weren’t for Stanislas.

Junior Stanislas - 5: Provided some excellent opportunities that could have been pivotal moments in the match if they were scored but missed due to poor finishing.

Callum Wilson – 5: Very quiet throughout the game due to a lack of support. Good move by Eddie to take him off rather early.

Substitutes:

Diego Rico (Francis – 45) – 5: Looked very good going forward but left massive holes behind him. Too far up the pitch against a team such as Spurs.

Lys Mousset (Callum Wilson – 70) – 5: Once again only appeared for a cameo but did not change the tempo and had little influence on the game.

Overall Team Performance: 4. Dominated in both halves against a well-oiled Spurs machine, who put us to the sword in swift fashion. Midfield looked quite composed but it was the defence and the forward’s performances that let us down.

Verdict:

A tough result to take given the scoreline. Spurs had 5 goals with 10 shots and 7 on target while we had 14 shots with 4 on target, which resulted in no goals. It’s obvious that our finishing was poor today. Another issue with the tactics that seemed to be a bit confusing – the formation. Eddie must know from previous experience of how ruthless Spurs are. Not even a week ago they beat Everton by four goals so to be away to a side with so much ruthlessness and scoring consistency and field four at the back is an odd move to make. Even so, after three goals in only 35 minutes, Eddie did switch to three at the back and we were a little more comfortable and surprisingly looked more confident going forward.

His decision to pick Daniels and Stanislas is quite odd too. Stanislas has been below par recently and once again he’s proven that perhaps he should be given a rest so others in his position can be given an opportunity. People who can play on the wing such as Mousset and Ibe excelled against Chelsea last week. Daniels made a mistake against Wolves which proved to be costly and did it once again today. Despite the few chances he’s been given, it’s probably time for Diego Rico to be given the chance to impress.

On an additional note, our central midfield has impressed despite the injury concern that arose a month or so before. Surman and Lerma are of different mindsets in their position but gel well with their capabilities and deserve some recognition for that. They have performed well in situations when the team has not, such as against Liverpool, Wolves and today. Both Surman and Lerma deserve to get some goals and assists under their belt, and I can certainly see them being starters for most games this season.

Spurs have once again drifted us aside. That is now our biggest defeat in the Premier League, against a team that have only bettered that record, given their 1-5 win and 4-0 wins in the past. Next up is a daunting trip to Old Trafford, a team that possesses a ‘new look’ manager in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
 
Excellent write up.

Tough day... I agree about the arrogance we show in these games by insisting on playing our way. Back four, central two in midfield...three flat lines...and then we wonder why we get picked off so easily.

Eddies only Achilles heel now is his lack of effective formations/plan b.
He sticks to his formations, and his principles.
 
Excellent write up.

Tough day... I agree about the arrogance we show in these games by insisting on playing our way. Back four, central two in midfield...three flat lines...and then we wonder why we get picked off so easily.

Eddies only Achilles heel now is his lack of effective formations/plan b.
Not sure I completely agree. I posted this in the main match thread, but even ignoring the possible foul on Wilson in the box, based on chances created the game should have been more like 2-1 for Spurs.
We lost first of all because Spurs are a better team, secondly because of a series of horrendous defensive (and probably one goalkeeping) mistakes, and thirdly because of a failure to finish a host chances.
If 2 and 3 had been different, we might have prevailed over what is a pretty good team in Spurs.
 
Like I just said on the other thread, not sure you can blame tactics and formations for the goals today.

The first was a deflection so just bad lack there. For the 2nd Daniels gives it away and the 3rd he’s just ball watching. I don’t see how Eddie can be blamed for any of that.

However, where Eddie has got it wrong is by picking the same players who keep making the same mistakes. The formation wasn’t responsible for those mistakes but surely past performances indicated the likelihood of those mistakes.

The frustration is we’ve been at this level for 3.5 seasons now. I believe we are on course to concede more than our first season. We can’t keep thinking our poor defence is a consequence of our tactics, it’s a consequence of playing defenders who aren’t good enough
 
I think Spurs were under par today but somehow forced goals from just about every half-chance they got.

We looked pretty good until their first goal. Biggest alarm for me is the visible way our heads seem to drop at 1-0. Mentally, the game was lost at that point.

We should also rightly be concerned by the lack of chances we are able to create in recent weeks. Our offensive build up play has been predictable and safe. Playing with fear. Prefer to avoid the mistake than create the chance.

Daniels and Stanislas have both been going through a torrid patch lately. While I appreciate that one of Eddie's qualities is his loyalty to players, these 2 have both been so consistently bad for so many weeks that it's surely time to try mixing things up...

Disappointed we couldn't keep our heads up and play football for 90 mins. We're really struggling to find some form at the moment. I would love to see us play with a bit more freedom now. We've got a decent number of points on the board and don't need to play with the fear we saw today.
 
The recent managerial change at Manchester united had led to speculation of current Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino of potentially taking over the Red Devils. The potential void of Tottenham’s managerial spot led many to dispute who would be the next manager. One prominent candidate is Eddie Howe, who had the arduous task of his team meeting Spurs, one of the few teams The Cherries had not experienced victory over.

Bournemouth had a comfortable 2-0 victory against Brighton going into Christmas. Similarly, Tottenham had seen a highly-spirited 2-6 win over Everton the same day so the battle on Boxing Day at Wembley would most likely result in a goal fest. There was only one change for the away side as Josh King was dropped for Ryan Fraser in a 4-4-2 formation.

Bournemouth had a couple of opportunities after kick-off, a desperate cross by Francis met Fraser, whose header was blocked… by Stanislas. Not even a minute later a great ball by Lerma met an isolate Brooks in the Spurs box, but the in-form winger could not finish properly and missed a golden opportunity to take the lead.

Spurs were gifted the first of a few to come as a powerful effort from Eriksen took a huge deflection off Lerma and sent Begovic the wrong way for the first goal. Only 5 minutes later, Daniels on the left side took too long to clear the ball and paid the price for it as the Walker-Peters stole it off the defender and squared it to Son to make it 2-0. They continued to pile misery down on Bournemouth as another cross to the right wing gave Moura plenty of space in the box to finish off calmly for the third goal, after only 35 minutes of play.

Eddie reverted to a back three with Fraser now at RWB and it instantly looked to have paid off as a Stanislas cross from the left narrowly missed Wilson; Fraser picked up the scraps and crossed for Stanislas to head in the centre who couldn’t find the net.

The bleakest moment of the game came when Francis twisted awkwardly and planted his foot to the ground and fell in agony instantly. After being tended to by the medical staff deep into half time, the skipper was stretchered off in tears and to a warm reception from both sets of fans. Rico came on as his replacement. Devastating news for our only-recognised right-back.

Before half-time, a corner from the right led to Fraser whipping in a beautiful cross for Daniels 8 yards out, and his header forced Lloris into a difficult save.

Half-time Tottenham 3-0 Bournemouth

Bournemouth restarted brightly; a neat through ball by Fraser gave Wilson some space, only for their defender to clumsily barge into Wilson. A definite penalty not given. Spirits were higher and Bournemouth looked on the front foot for a constrained amount of time as Rico surged forward and planted a low cross for Stanislas to slide into the net. However it was not given, as Stanislas was a yard or two offside; a good call by the linesman.

With an hour gone, the defence once again picked the short straw as Eriksen once again looped the ball over to Wilson’s England team mate, Harry Kane, to plant a neat finish underneath Begovic. A set-up reminiscent of Brooks and Lerma earlier on.

The Cherries had a chance to provide a consolation with Stanislas’ effort being well-blocked by Rose, but Bournemouth couldn’t block Son from scoring a fifth after a bundle in the Bournemouth box, and a bad spill by Begovic.

Both Stanislas and Rico had chances to reduce the deficit but Spurs held on to their five-goal lead against a team they showed no mercy for.

Full-Time Tottenham 5-0 Bournemouth

Team Ratings:

Asmir Begovic – 5: Didn’t have plenty to do but not at fault for most of the goals, except for his spill that led to the fifth.

Simon Francis – 5: Did look bright before his devastating injury, and could have been cause for a third goal at 2-0.

Steve Cook – 5: Simply outclassed by a strong Spurs front line but tried. His long throw-ins caused no concerns for the opposition back line.

Nathan Ake – 4: Similar to Cook but had no contribution and looked severely demotivated.

Charlie Daniels – 3: At fault again for another goal. Looked all over the place at LWB and seemed more composed after shifting to the centre, but you can’t be making mistakes against such a prestigious team.

David Brooks – 5: Was able to get out of cul-de-sacs easily and possessed some great dribbling but should have scored after the Lerma through ball.

Jefferson Lerma – 6 - MOTM: Did make some good long-balls that are usually expectant of his partner. Picked up the inevitable yellow-card but could have had an assist. Tough to pick between him, Surman and Fraser for MOTM.

Andrew Surman - 6: Intelligent passing and positioning today, and made a handful of blocks to prevent further goals.

Ryan Fraser – 6: Didn’t look particularly good on the left side but was better after changing to RWB. Made some very good crosses and could have scored earlier on if it weren’t for Stanislas.

Junior Stanislas - 5: Provided some excellent opportunities that could have been pivotal moments in the match if they were scored but missed due to poor finishing.

Callum Wilson – 5: Very quiet throughout the game due to a lack of support. Good move by Eddie to take him off rather early.

Substitutes:

Diego Rico (Francis – 45) – 5: Looked very good going forward but left massive holes behind him. Too far up the pitch against a team such as Spurs.

Lys Mousset (Callum Wilson – 70) – 5: Once again only appeared for a cameo but did not change the tempo and had little influence on the game.

Overall Team Performance: 4. Dominated in both halves against a well-oiled Spurs machine, who put us to the sword in swift fashion. Midfield looked quite composed but it was the defence and the forward’s performances that let us down.

Verdict:

A tough result to take given the scoreline. Spurs had 5 goals with 10 shots and 7 on target while we had 14 shots with 4 on target, which resulted in no goals. It’s obvious that our finishing was poor today. Another issue with the tactics that seemed to be a bit confusing – the formation. Eddie must know from previous experience of how ruthless Spurs are. Not even a week ago they beat Everton by four goals so to be away to a side with so much ruthlessness and scoring consistency and field four at the back is an odd move to make. Even so, after three goals in only 35 minutes, Eddie did switch to three at the back and we were a little more comfortable and surprisingly looked more confident going forward.

His decision to pick Daniels and Stanislas is quite odd too. Stanislas has been below par recently and once again he’s proven that perhaps he should be given a rest so others in his position can be given an opportunity. People who can play on the wing such as Mousset and Ibe excelled against Chelsea last week. Daniels made a mistake against Wolves which proved to be costly and did it once again today. Despite the few chances he’s been given, it’s probably time for Diego Rico to be given the chance to impress.

On an additional note, our central midfield has impressed despite the injury concern that arose a month or so before. Surman and Lerma are of different mindsets in their position but gel well with their capabilities and deserve some recognition for that. They have performed well in situations when the team has not, such as against Liverpool, Wolves and today. Both Surman and Lerma deserve to get some goals and assists under their belt, and I can certainly see them being starters for most games this season.

Spurs have once again drifted us aside. That is now our biggest defeat in the Premier League, against a team that have only bettered that record, given their 1-5 win and 4-0 wins in the past. Next up is a daunting trip to Old Trafford, a team that possesses a ‘new look’ manager in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Good report....a balance of pos and neg it seems.
The only real disturbing part of your report is the reference to Ake seeming demotivated...I'd had a previous notion of him emerging as the natural Captain of the side due to his ability...so this is disappointing to be made aware of. Has 'transfer talk' derailed him a bit? Or the constant changes around him?
Other than the Brighton game...it seems the injuries have affected confidence!
 
Good report....a balance of pos and neg it seems.
The only real disturbing part of your report is the reference to Ake seeming demotivated...I'd had a previous notion of him emerging as the natural Captain of the side due to his ability...so this is disappointing to be made aware of. Has 'transfer talk' derailed him a bit? Or the constant changes around him?
Other than the Brighton game...it seems the injuries have affected confidence!

Thanks. He always seems to be demotivated whenever we play the 'big sides' and lose by a fair margin... Most likely all the team were but he was far more noticeable... he seemed to be scared of having the ball today...
 
Thought we were good on the ball....till the final one, but poor when not in possession. But 2-1 would have been a fairer scoreline. The thing that gets me is it is all so predictable! Saw on Twitter we conceded 71 goals to the top six since we have been in the Premier League.
 
Thought we were good on the ball....till the final one, but poor when not in possession. But 2-1 would have been a fairer scoreline. The thing that gets me is it is all so predictable! Saw on Twitter we conceded 71 goals to the top six since we have been in the Premier League.

71 goals...which is my point. It’s fine to have principles..it’s fine to have a guiding philosophy. It is also possible to play that way with three sitting midfielders and with a back five and offer yourself more protection. Going up against a high pressing side of world class players and asking Daniels and Francis to play out from the back is suicidal.

It may well work against the bottom ten so fine to do it against them.

We get caught so many tines passing it pointlessly around the back when all we are going to do is lump it eventually anyway...or knock it to Begovic to launch it.

It’s madness.
 
Good report....a balance of pos and neg it seems.
The only real disturbing part of your report is the reference to Ake seeming demotivated...I'd had a previous notion of him emerging as the natural Captain of the side due to his ability...so this is disappointing to be made aware of. Has 'transfer talk' derailed him a bit? Or the constant changes around him?
Other than the Brighton game...it seems the injuries have affected confidence!

In terms of Ake seeming demotivated.. he was really hacked off in his interview with Afcb TV using words like embarrassing and lack of fight.
 
Whilst defensively Rico is slightly suspect he made some great runs, put some very good crosses into the box and had a blinding shot in the last minute. I was impressed
I’ve noticed in a few of Rico’s games. He’s dreadful for his first few minutes then gradually grows into the game. He’s the classic example of a player who’ll come good after a run of games. Right now he’s getting some games, albeit sadly due to the misfortune of others
 
I’ve noticed in a few of Rico’s games. He’s dreadful for his first few minutes then gradually grows into the game. He’s the classic example of a player who’ll come good after a run of games. Right now he’s getting some games, albeit sadly due to the misfortune of others

Deserves a run in the team, would work better with a back 3 and playing as a wing back I reckon. It’s whether Charlie is part of the back 3 or not....
 
I think Spurs were under par today but somehow forced goals from just about every half-chance they got.

We looked pretty good until their first goal. Biggest alarm for me is the visible way our heads seem to drop at 1-0. Mentally, the game was lost at that point.

We should also rightly be concerned by the lack of chances we are able to create in recent weeks. Our offensive build up play has been predictable and safe. Playing with fear. Prefer to avoid the mistake than create the chance.

Daniels and Stanislas have both been going through a torrid patch lately. While I appreciate that one of Eddie's qualities is his loyalty to players, these 2 have both been so consistently bad for so many weeks that it's surely time to try mixing things up...

Disappointed we couldn't keep our heads up and play football for 90 mins. We're really struggling to find some form at the moment. I would love to see us play with a bit more freedom now. We've got a decent number of points on the board and don't need to play with the fear we saw today.
Agree about Stan and
And to cap it all, second up on MOTD...
just watched it - bloody awful defending and a lack of application at the back.... not good at all .
 
71 goals...which is my point. It’s fine to have principles..it’s fine to have a guiding philosophy. It is also possible to play that way with three sitting midfielders and with a back five and offer yourself more protection. Going up against a high pressing side of world class players and asking Daniels and Francis to play out from the back is suicidal.

It may well work against the bottom ten so fine to do it against them.

We get caught so many tines passing it pointlessly around the back when all we are going to do is lump it eventually anyway...or knock it to Begovic to launch it.

It’s madness.
Totally.
 
71 goals...which is my point. It’s fine to have principles..it’s fine to have a guiding philosophy. It is also possible to play that way with three sitting midfielders and with a back five and offer yourself more protection. Going up against a high pressing side of world class players and asking Daniels and Francis to play out from the back is suicidal.

It may well work against the bottom ten so fine to do it against them.

We get caught so many tines passing it pointlessly around the back when all we are going to do is lump it eventually anyway...or knock it to Begovic to launch it.

It’s madness.
I agree.
Have you noticed though, when we do that, and then get beaten 1-0 - just like Spurs away last year, then over half the people on here bitch about the fact we defended too much...
 
Well, today didn’t happen. Moving on to United...

------------Begovic------------
---Cook---Simpson---Ake---
Ibe----Lerma---Surman---Rico
-------------Brooks------------
------Mousset-----Wilson------

Subs: Boruc, Mings, Taylor, Fraser, Stanislas, King, Defoe

We need to start playing a back 3 on a regular basis until we can get some cover in. I also think Mousset, Simpson and Rico deserve a run of games, based on their performances and also due to circumstance. Though I would have gone with a back 3 anyway. Simpson or Mings will be coming in, and honestly Simpson has outperformed Mings in his limited game time so I’d go with him. With Francis out now, Ibe is the only option we have for RB; he was fantastic against Chelsea so hopefully he can recapture that form on a consistent basis.

I’d get Ian Harte back ahead of Daniels on current form, so obviously Rico has to come in. King has been coasting, Mousset looks hungrier, so I’d have him in as well. Get Brooks in his natural No10 role to feed the two willing runners in Callum and Lys. And pray Lerma doesn’t get injured. Might be harsh to drop Fraser to the bench in this formation, but his actual full-90 minute performances dropped off months ago for me. He’s better coming off the bench than Mousset or Brooks would be so...that’s just how it is sometimes. I genuinely believe this team can beat United.

On just a general note, I honestly find it a bit distasteful to see Simpson put in such a fantastic performance against a top 4 side, and then be immediately dropped from the match day squad. Or hear EH complimenting Rico after the game, only to drop him for Daniels straight away. Or hear EH stating that Chelsea was Moussets best performance for the club. Dropped. Why not give the players that are showing some form a chance??? He might have to now, judging by these injuries we’re racking up. And who knows, with a run of games, they might actually be good.

The fact that Eddie hasn’t rotated the squad over this Christmas period at all is naive and very poor, and shows that he still has some ways to go before he is ready for the “big time clubs”. Did Francis really need to be rushed back so quickly, with Ibe looking capable?
 

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