Spurs should get used to Lazio’s stubborn defence

A 0-0 draw on a Thursday night at White Hart Lane, which will be better remembered for its controversy, than for the game itself. I won’t talk about the racist chants, but the disallowed goals will cause the Tottenham Hotspur to rue their bad luck. However, one thing I do hope is that these chalked off goals don’t mask a slight lack of creativity in this Spurs side.

Deadline day signing Clint Dempsey, made his first start, but found it difficult to find space between midfield and defence, something Rafael Van Der Vaart used to be able to do so regularly. Of course, Dempsey should not try and change his game; he has earned his considerable name in English football, as a goalscoring midfielder-make shift forward.

At times last night however, there did seem to be a lack of midfield creativity, which was needed to break down the underrated Lazio side (they’re joint top in Serie A – a draw is not the end of the world). Gylfi Sigurðsson is much the same, a sensational few months with Swansea, with whom he scored seven goals, but whether he would have had the media praise and a subsequent move to Tottenham without the goals scored, is doubtful.

Technically, these two players should suit the Tottenham style of play well. With the width given by Aaron Lennon and Gareth Bale, plenty of quality balls will be put either into the box, or pulled back, something both Dempsey and Sigurðsson should relish.

With these two goalscoring midfielders both vying for that role behind the striker, it will change Spurs’ style of play drastically, and while there were signs against Reading that things were clicking, against sterner defences, a lack of creativity may be a problem.

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Comments

[Woodsy]

The slow pace does take a little getting used to but the ability to manage the pace of the game is important and something that'll benefit us in the long run. With Naughton at left back stunting attacks, Defoe still incapable of holding up the ball and the team still getting used to one another, I was encouraged by how we controlled the game against Italy's form team.

Lennon looks like a new player, Bale is hitting the byline and delivering good crosses consistently. Sandro and Dembele are building a good partnership and Vertonghen looks like buy of the season to me.

I agree there could be question marks over the attacking midfield role but it's too early to judge when they're all still learning.

After all my excuses (!) we scored two perfectly good goals and if they'd stood everyone would be a lot more positive.

[David]

I agree it was a good performance against the Italians and we should have won 2 - 0 but the mid field creativity statement was correct. Dembele got the ball so far up the pitch them passed it to the wing each time. Now I am not got saying that its not ok, but I was just waiting for him to slip a ball thought the middle to the attack. It only happened once and it was when Sigurðsson came on the pitch. The final pass and ability to play between the mid field and defence is what we missed. Also Dembele isn't a pass and move creative mid fielder often players where left alone after Dembele passed the ball, he stood and waited instead of looking for the ball again.
Let me says the Dembele is a great mid fielder and will play brilliantly in the formation we have but we miss that Van der Vaart pass and move silky ball forward type player