25 Mar 2016 23:30:08
Ed001, was wondering what your opinion on Danny Rose is nowadays, since your were very critical of him at the start of the season.

{Ed001's Note - he has improved a lot, but I still think he is a weakness for Spurs defensively (as are all your full backs), which is why Dier has made such a huge difference to the side. He reminds me of Moreno at Liverpool, always charging forward, though he offers a little more quality in the final third. If only he made as much effort getting back as he did racing forward, he would be a much better player.}

1.) 26 Mar 2016
26 Mar 2016 16:06:39
If you look at most of the best teams in Europe their fullbacks are better at attacking than defending, which is ironic considering they're defenders but this is the way modern football is.

They might be a weakness defensively but it hasn't affected us with the way we play and statically we have have the best defence in the prem. I do find it bizarre how Pochettino rotates them in pairs but it works. Walker and Rose are very attacking and it suits the high pressing game we play.

{Ed001's Note - I still think they are the weak link of your side and that you would have the title in your hands with decent full backs. Top class fullbacks like Dani Alves are a lot better at defending than any of yours, they are also much better going forward. Even the likes of Marcelo, poor as he is defensively, on a level with Rose, still offers much more going forward. It also helps that the teams they play for are much more dominant in possession than Spurs, so their defensive weakness is much less exposed.}

2.) 27 Mar 2016
27 Mar 2016 00:12:19
I disagree ed, I don't think they are weak links at all. Last season him and Walker were prone to a few errors but both have improved alot. They make no more errors than any soo called top fullbacks. I'm struggling to think of any fullbacks we could get that would better them, be as good at attacking and better at defending.

{Ed001's Note - that is the issue, there are very few good full backs around, but that does not mean the ones you have are great. It just means there are no good ones around. You are playing a system designed around covering for the full backs going missing, with Dier sat in front and (usually) two centre halves who are comfortable as full backs as well. So all three are able to spread out and fill the gaps without an issue. Personally I would rather my team just found (or brought one through) that could do the job properly so I did not need to build the team around covering for them.}

3.) 29 Mar 2016
29 Mar 2016 13:41:21
Ed001 I normally tent to agree with your opinions, especially on the Liverpool pages.

Though on this point I am starting to think you have lost the plot a bit. Rose and Walker have been among the best fullbacks in the league this season and comparing them to Alves/ Marcelo is a bit farfetch'd.

We do not play the system we play in order to compensate for the fullbacks, that is a very strange thing to say.

{Ed001's Note - if you say so, but the only reason you play a deep lying midfielder and split the centre backs so far apart is to allow the full backs to get forward with more freedom. Bielsa, who Poch is an acolyte of, used to abandon the full back altogether, in favour of wide midfielders and a back 3, but Poch is slightly more defensive in his outlook. His tweaks to Bielsa's system provide a more solid base to build on, based on defenders who are comfortable being dragged into the full back area and a midfielder who is comfortable if he has to drop back into defence to cover for them. It is about getting the best out of the players he has at his disposal.

By the way, being amongst the best fullbacks in the Prem is not saying much, the Prem has very few, if any, top class full backs. It is a very poor pool to pick from. More of a least worse than best....}