Their back 4 are worse than ours and the keeper,

This playing out from the back bollox that every team seems to abide by looks to being a crock, 2 mistakes by Boro and Rochdale cost them dearly.

That left back Johnson makes itching look like an international, he’s shite!

That left back Johnson makes Kitching look like an international, he’s shite!

That left back Johnson makes Kitching look like an international, he’s shite!

cant believe they were so bad with 3 left backs

All called Johnson too, perhaps they were triplets?

Should of kept Ainsley Pears in goal, that Mejias lad did a howler.

There comes a time to just hoof it but most are thick as mince!

They're so shit that they got a draw with a Premier League team that were in the Champions League final last season. Followed it up by losing by the odd goal in the replay.

They must have been doing something right even if their right back got out-played in the first half and their keeper looked out of his depth at times. You could argue that hoofing it just lets the superior team come back at you more quickly and you end up under siege but the truth is that you usually lose when you play teams from higher divisions. I'd be fine with how they performed if I was a Boro fan.

Did you see the match?

I don’t really get the outcry about a lot of teams in this country now playing out from the back and focusing on possession football.

For years people moaned about us being light years behind other countries with our tactics and technical ability now we seem to be bringing through far more adept young players and our national team has not looked in a better state for decades yet some want to look backwards.

Yet you have dinosaurs like Allardyce waffling on about playing from the back as if it’s idiotic. I think it’s great that teams like Rochdale are going to Premier League grounds and trying to play football. If they hoof it long and surrender possession they are still going to get beat and it sounds like Boro gave Spurs a good game in the end.

Not an issue with playing from the back, makes sense most of the time, it`s the decision making part, there comes a time when they are pressing you 3 on 3 and pushing you back, for the keeper to hoof it and not cause panic which results in a goal against you, especially when the team is 3 leagues higher!

Can never have too many left backs.

I did Snowy, watched both. They were very lucky not to be about 6 down by half time last night but they did better second half and had a go at the end. The gap between the Championship and the top of the Premier League is huge so the underdog getting battered for long spells isn't surprising. If I was a Boro fan I'd be fine with their performance, particularly over the two matches but even last night they clung on and came back into it for a while.

I don’t think managers are instructing teams to try and overplay in those situations but you probably have to accept that if you are asking players to want to the ball and be brave in possession they will at times make the wrong decision and make mistakes. It’s not about being ‘thick’. If you have a culture were players are afraid to make mistakes you’ll get less entertainment and probably worse results. I know what I’d rather watch.

For the record regarding Pools we can smash and clog to our hearts content if it means getting out the National League though!

I don’t think managers are instructing teams to try and overplay in those situations but you probably have to accept that if you are asking players to want to the ball and be brave in possession they will at times make the wrong decision and make mistakes. It’s not about being ‘thick’. If you have a culture were players are afraid to make mistakes you’ll get less entertainment and probably worse results. I know what I’d rather watch.

For the record regarding Pools we can smash and clog to our hearts content if it means getting out the National League though!

I think tactics are constantly evolving. Playing out from the back used to mean being slow but keeping posession because the opposition would generally let you have the ball in your half. Now teams press more and more so players need to be faster and good on the ball to play it out. Longer passing to beat the press has to be an option or damaging mistakes get made. If that's what Mr Butt means by hoofing it I don't think anybody would disagree, both Liverpool and Man City hoof it regularly on that defintion.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/football/51114695

How not to play out from the back.

I gave up at half time. I suspect a full strength Spurs team would have shredded them by half time.

Considering football is more based around long periods of possession these days, hoofing it away is probably the worst thing you can do.

Worse than gifting a goal, really?