Good morning.
Where to start? Well it was by and large a great game. And as the first coffee of the day works its magic the frustrations of last night are ebbing away…It was a well earned point against a side that any bookmaker will tell you are genuine title contenders. We aren’t genuine contenders.
There were essentially three phases to the game. The really good bit at the beginning, the collapse after that bit and then the desperate battle against evil …and Howard Webb.
8.042 If accusing a goal keeper of being lucky is a criticism then call me Brad and get me to a casino. One tip top save and another that saw Sturridge make a spectacular clearance.
6.000 Underwhelming. Pace to burn, blah blah blah but I’d really like to see him working on his defending. Moving forward he actually reminds me of a speedier version of Bentley. Less haircut, more football please.
7.081 A low key, intelligent enough performance. Arry clearly picked him and King for their collective experience, but there was something about this ‘on paper’ supremely solid pairing that didn’t quite transmit onto grass.
7.079 Looked sluggish. Play to the whistle is a tedious phrase to be hurling at a man of his stature but the sight of him waving at a linesman who wasn’t waving back at him was pitiful. At this level, there’s no room for that nonsense.
6.008 For their goal he was a postcode away from his man. Unacceptable. Elsewhere his passing on the floor was routinely outstanding, yet his passing in the air turned possession into a 50/50 ball we invariably failed to win. Must do better.
6.784 He appeared to not quite understand what his role was. I certainly didn’t quite understand what his role was. In possession we didn’t get enough of his stellar game changing passes. Without the ball he looked like J****.
8.909 A soldier. Out and out marine. It was his determination that sparked the move that made the goal. His will and application makes him more valuable than money. The energy levels were immense. Man Of The Match.
7.654 This wasn’t a game for him to be making any forays forward. Being in the thick of it is where he should be in games like this. The PNB/Sandro/Modric strategy looked scruffy and only Sandro managed to come out of it in a good light.
7. 832 Marauding forwards he’s a weapon. One of the finest players in the Premiership, in Europe even. Defensively though he was poor. It sounds like I’m being petty but we need to see these guys demonstrate they know that you build a team from the back forwards.
7.897 Fantastic poacher stylee goal but it is his complete unselfishness that routinely impresses me. The yellow wasn’t so much, but the endless attempts by Terry & Co to get him sent off obviously undermined him. Oh yes and his second goal was legit. That’s show business.
@theboyhotspur “Terry appears unaffected by off field troubles” You don’t need Brian Cox to explain that one away. Terry is a conscienceless piece of dog muck.
Last week on MOTD2, Colin Murray asked Alan Hansen if Spurs were title contenders.
He replied that they look good at the moment, but if their key players – Adebayor, Bale, van der Vaart, Modric, Parker, King – get injured then they’re in trouble.
What side wouldn’t struggle with half their team out?! What we have this season which has been lacking in previous ones is simple – multiple match winners.
What we must face if we want to progress is the need to prepare different shapes and formations. Too often on Thursday the players were drifting around unsure of themselves. Just because we lost our right winger?
Harold thanks for the 2011 memories, I dont even bother reading other blogs now (even DML, sorry spooky) you provide the intellectual rants that is fills my needs. In a whole world awash with spur blog wannabes you stand tall as the King of Wannabes, Lord of Assumptions, Prince of Comedy and occasionally a bit of an old Queen.
Carry on old man, carry on :-)
HR should have realised after the Arsenal game that playing VDV wide right leaves us weak when defending. Would rather see Krankie or Pieenar out there, not because they are better players but because they are not a liability when we defend.
For all his faults, Azza is excellent when we have to defend.
It appears to be true as others here have said that our lot still don’t really believe they are better than the chavs…,how else can we explain it?
We showed them too much respect, we should have gone for the throat and once we had them by it after 10 mins, we should have throttled them. Instead we sat back and invited them to come at us.
What does Nico have to do to get a game? surely we would have had more balance with him on the right or even the left with Bale switching to the right, but bringing on Pav did nothing for us and unbalanced the team. Also Nico might manage to take a decent corner for us.
As for that dog Terry, I withdraw my previous comments, the ‘C’ word HH, is one of my favourite words (and things), It has so many uses and of course has that wonderful taboo about it that gives it special powers to shock and offend (at least it does over here). However, it is too good a word to waste on that piece of schmegma.
It is surprising that Harry thinks we have no cover for Azza, so why do we have players like Gio, Nico and Peanut?
Niko (not “Nico” like the Velvet Underground collaborator) has plenty of skill, but is slow.
Gio is not a RW. Peanut is Jenas Mk. II.
Harry is right we have no cover for Lennon. We used to have Bentley, but alas he’s out of favour/injured etc. etc.
As someone else suggested, moving Walker up and playing Kaboul at RB would be better.
I think any of the 3 could as effective if not more so than what we saw last night. If it’s about providing balance and defence you play Pienaar on the left and Bale on the right would be a better option than pulling Modric or VDV out of position to accomodate Pav. Anyway I guess they will move on or continue to rot on the bench and we will be in for a jet-heeled winger in the january sales…
I don’t know if you could see on the TV, but every time the ball came over Terry was giving Pav a wack on the head; and yet Pav didn’t give anything back, it looks like, he was having an out of body experience. No heart, and no fight.