I'm using those descriptions to highlight Holtby as having both the energy and desire to keep trying to contribute no matter how dire the situation. It isn't lazy penmanship; Holtby chips in defending, constantly moves into space and doesn't collapse into a broken heap as soon as we concede. He keeps trying to drive the team forward. Contrast this with Berbatov, who is the complete opposite; mindblowingly efficient with his movement (read lazy)
No one has created chances for Soldado this season; the whole team is cowardly at the moment, including Soldado, and not many players actually want the ball. Poor as Townsend is, he at least tries to impose himself on the game. Holtby is the same.
Spurs play at the pace of geriatrics. I think it is a mixture of confusion and lack of confidence but Spurs meander the ball around the pitch and hope it somehow goes into the opposition goal. Contrast that with just about every other effective team who play with purpose and intent.
Berbatov is not even slightly lazy, running forwards with no quality isn't an advantage, it's just running. It says to me, Holtby might do well in a charity marathon, not he's a good footballer.
He has had more of the ball than many others, he's had loads of the ball relatively near Soldado, yet never gets the ball too Soldado. Driving forwards all the time is an admirable attitude, but not a talent, nor does it make a player good or bad. A great player who drives forward will impose themselves on a game, a bad to meh player who constantly drives forward will, much like Holtby, have almost no effect on any game he's involved in.
For all Holtby's driving forwards and all his attempts to impose himself on the game... he doesn't. He did entirely nothing of note yesterday, a goal against Fulham, assists against the worst Russian team and Villa in the cup where they didn't even try is the sum total of his season.
Maybe he'd be better deeper, though I can't see it, and as said he wants to play deeper and Dembele plays further up. If Holtby is actually good or not doesn't really matter. He's had the least effect on most games I've watched, and there are other players who can and have played there to more effect, Dembele is exactly what the team needs there, and this whole "is Holtby any good" conversation started out of me having a go at AVB for consistently playing him there and not making changes.
Holtby looked ineffective last season after he joined, and he's looked ineffective this season while Spurs have been unable to score, win or impose themselves in any games against better teams...... that he hasn't tried to play someone who might do more with the ball in that area is on AVB, not Holtby.
But the fact that Holtby is apparently one of the few who constantly try to impose themselves on the game, and his absolute lack of ability to do so, should suggest how well he's been playing.
Your movement was good but you had acres of space, free men all over the place and they allowed you to run freely wherever you wanted. An averagely organised defence wouldn't have allowed you to score more than 2 of those goals let alone the great chances you missed. You genuinely could have won that game by 7 or 8 and still had missed chances.
Perhaps the movement of your players broke down their defence at times but a lot of their mistakes we just embarrassing.
This is basically what I thought, talking up Liverpool's movement, it wasn't special, when someone in defence made an error, Liverpool pounced, not with epic passing moves(mostly) or brilliant movement but by looking left, then right, realising the entire Spurs covering midfield was standing still to see what happened next and...... running straight at goal.
It wasn't magic, or brilliant movement but seeing the gaping hole in the Spurs.... I would say defence but really it was this hole down the middle of the entire damn pitch, and running towards it.
The first goal(I think the first) highlights that so well, Dawson slides in, the ball comes loose I think all 3 Spurs central mids were standing between Suarez and the ball, Suarez actually ran towards the ball, none of the Spurs midfield did. One of Suarez's best attributes is he' simply expects the ball to come loose and keeps going, he saw the slide tackle coming in and thought, hmm, if I run now I might run onto the ball if it comes away from those two.... and it did. What Paulinho, Sandro and Dembele I think did so poorly was they waited to see what happened with the ball before reacting, they didn't have that moment where their brain went "uh oh, I can see Dawson not being able to control that ball while in a slide tackle, I'm going to move into that gaping space just in case".
That was exceptionally easy to defend, and I would point out that Parker would undoubtedly have read that and got into that position and got the ball. Spurs were truly woeful defensively yesterday and as you say, most of those goals were pretty easily averted.
