So here we go. Hold tight on the upper deck.
Hands up who can name two or more players from the Swansea side that we played yesterday? Three or more? Four or mo… oh look if you still have your hand up you’re either on a wind up or your on the playing staff at The Liberty.
So am I saying that they wanted it more? Am I saying that we screwed up? No, I’m making the point to that we need to focus on what we actually saw there and not dumb down our analysis to just whether we were were pants or not.
Swansea were excellent. They defended convincingly in number and to be frank their attempts on goal frequently had us looking like we were up against a marauding European outfit. Ball on the floor, wave upon wave of attacking football.
So beyond marveling at the discovery of the finest team the world has ever seen, where did we go wrong?
Well, we didn’t have much possession. And without the ball we only appeared to have Sandro who stood half a chance of winning it back. PNB is beginning to look pooped and what looked like a twisted knee might just be great opportunity to rest him up for a game or two.
On that whole ‘winning the ball back’ business, Bale and Modric do a good impression of two people waiting for their butler go fetch it for them. Modric tracks back, but it’s rare to see either putting their shoe in.
The substitution of van der Vaart revealed we had nothing creative enough left on the pitch to threaten them with. The removal of PNB revealed we will be horribly vulnerable without him. Any sparks that might have flown from us were extinguished there and then.
Livermore and Walker? Walker I’ll persevere with as there is only Charlie to replace him and he’s better than that. But when is young Kyle going to get some proper instruction from one of our illustrious coaches?
Livermore can go back to the reserves and pay off his outstanding dues. After some promising performances I’ve come to the conclusion he’s a pretender. Not a con man, rather he’s mastered looking the part but he’s a long way off from being the required standard. Swagger, sadly little substance.
I see in a few places Friedel getting some stick. THFC want to make that Arry quote, ‘People want goalies that don’t make mistakes – and they don’t exist’ made into a bumper sticker and include as the crappy ‘free’ gift with next season’s membership pack.
For those genuinely seething of course there is I suppose always the option of having a butchers at the league table and taking a deep breath.
you only have to compare our games vs Stoke in the last few years.
Whenever they did there long throw trick against us in the past it never worked. why? Because Gomes came for the ball and 90% of the time claimed it.
He made a few errors last season and when he first joined but the biggest ones vs Real Madrid we was already 4-0 down from the 1st leg and the 2nd vs Chelsea it did not cross the line anyway.
The saves he has made for us no other Goalkeeper could make.
Remember the save from Steed Malbranque? remember the Giggs free kick he saved when we drew 0-0? and then the following year Vs United Giggs did exactly the same With Cudicini in goal and it went in.
He only conceded around 11 goals i think it was at home in his first season at the lane and in a struggling team.
Gomes has received alot of flak but maybe just maybe if he had a chance in THIS Spurs team he would finally get the plaudits he deserves.
I’m not sure if everyone is too drunk this morning or what.. but I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels this way.. I always felt like ‘fans’ were kinda jumping on the media bandwagon with Gomes.. they ignored his brilliance and concentrated solely on his mistakes.. and as we all know, with a ‘keeper, they’re easy to highlight.. the same commentators/journalists are still trying to call BAE the weak link which from what they say can only be based on his performances from 3 seasons ago.. fortunately the majority of the supporters haven’t agreed.. but as I said.. its far easier to highlight a ‘keepers flaws as fact
So, you’re obviously forgetting why Fritdel and Cudicini before him were bought in?. Gomes is a talented keeper, but is also gutless and insecure under any type of pressure. I’m not saying either are better keepers than Gomes, I’m saying Gomes isn’t all that. Friedel is better at commanding the defence and causes far less uncertainty in his actions whereas Gomes causes pandemonium with his hesitancy and lack of courage.
Spot on…Gomes may be an amazing shot stopper, but Brad brings a reassurance to the whole back four.
yep, spot on.
Our central defenders play with more confidence also; with Gomes they walked on egg-shells
@Essex.
I know we have argued over Gomes in the past, but I do think “gutless” is totally unfair.
@Toddspur
Just my own point of view, but I can recall many occasions last season when the defence were abysmal. Last year we had the most unsettled defence in the league, with 7 or 8 different CB’s. Our two best, Woody and King barely reached double figures between them. Included with Bassong as CB’s last season were Charlie and Thudd.
Regarding confidence, I have said it before, and for me, Gomes greatest crime is the number of times he punches the ball away, invariably to an opponent, and then puts himself under grewater pressure when the ball is fired straight back into the area.
Moron. Count how many games and points that clown Gomes has cost us…..the WORST goalkeeper for f*ck ups EVER!!! A complete liability who when low in confidence is no better than a non league keeper. Real Madrid, fulham, Chelsea home and away, the penalties he gave away…and there’s plenty more!!!
@Ric
Another matter that should be considered is that the defence has been better organised this year. Last season, Gomes was called upon to make more saves that any of the other top 8 keepers. He made the fourth highest number of saves in the PL. The only keepers who made more saves than him were all relegated.
Iv’e always felt Gomes has been treated badly and agree with Laity that some yidos let footy pundits do their thinking for them.What I would love to happen is us to make offer which could not be refused for Swansea’s goalie.He’s the best iv’e seen in a while and he looks young.
He is known in Holland as “The Penalty Killer”. Swans paid a measly £1.5 mill for him.
In spite of my support for Gomes to stay, Vorm makes HG look like an expensive luxury!
I felt we started playing defensive from 60 minutes onward & Harry should really have been more adventurous with his sub & rather than trying to hold out which Tottenham rarely can do, he should have put pienaar & defoe on and played 442 with modders & sandro in the middle, bale & pienaar out wide, whilst defoe & adebeyor spearheaded the attack.
What’s the point in bringing on Defoe and putting him on the right where he is useless & he doesnt even have a strike on goal?
If we went down, then at least we would go down fighting to win not just hanging on, which we rarely achieve!
Also looking at the team line up, we should have freshened things up and rotated. I agree that Livermore gives us nothing and thus a poor substitution.
Gallas & Kaboul were fantastic, I like walker cause his speed gets us out of alot of trouble, ok he causes some of that trouble but he’s young. He needs to have a trick on him on how to beat a player with skill then cross, he has the pace & good delivery but not enough flair to beat his man when attacking, so coaches must work with him on this.
Assou Ekotto needs a rest, he was tired against Norwich, so although Rose hasn’t been impressive this season, he would have matched Dyer or Angel Rangel for pace at least and could have done a job for us, stopping delivery of the crosses.
This is why I say we should have gone 442, which meant less reliance on BAE to both push up & track back at a time he’s clearly in need of some rest.
I felt Bale got ‘shook up’ by the Swansea crowd and seemed aprehensive at going at it, especially after his booking, this was compounded by both Modric & Parker having a less influential game as they have, so for me, all of these were signs that we should have mixed things up for this tough away game.
Overall I feel we expended alot of emotional energy in that game, just like we did against Chelsea and just didn’t have enough stamina to have the killer instance. Simply didnt use our squad.
I’m ok with a point but seeing how Swansea celebrated after the draw, it’s obvious we could have got a better result there and I just hope we used our squad and freshened things up.
I just don’t understand why Harry always seems to rely on a handful of players & plays them to the ground rather than doing more obvious changes, for instance, when we need pace to replicate the energy of Lennon, why arent we brave enough to use Townsend? Instead Harry would prefer to use a more experienced player and have players playing out of position which spoils our shape.
It’s about performance, not just how good individual players are. I too think Modric or VDV are superior players compared to lets say Pienaar, Kranjaer, Dos Santos, Townsend etc but playing them in positions they don’t have discipline enough to maintain fucks with our shape as a team, so why the square pegs in the round holes when we have replacements who can do a job for a game or two?
Whats the fucking point of putting Defoe on the right FFS………GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
It was evident that Swansea were bossing the midfield when Parker took a knock. Why didn’t we put Dawson on and move Kaboul into defensive mid? It would have shored up Parker’s absence and allowed defensive stability at the same time.
My god,I agree with you.Happy new year.
;-) And to you
I couldn’t agree more with you. If he takes in Defoe, he better do it with a statement of intent. Pairing him with Ade. But what Arry did in this game was to shift him on the right. To me, VDV has been very hardworking all game. I don’t know where most criticisms come from, just because of 2 goals that resulted from his flank (arsenal & chelsea), it doesn’t make him putting less work on the right flank. VDV was tracking back (in fact more than he went forward), making sure Kyle is marking his eye on the right player instead of on the ball. Many times i’ve seen his gestures pointing to young walker. I think we could not have asked for more from VDV, who wants to prove he could play anywhere for the team. Defoe coming out, simply was the end of our game. Defoe is a deadly finisher, that doesn’t mean he’s excellent and composed, he’s dangerous though. However, without a good partner (ade) along him, he has proven time and time again to be ineffective. ANd now when he’s played on the right, he’s even more ineffective. I would rather ade plays as a right winger when that change was made, we’d fare better. However, i doubt defoe can lead the line alone up front.
My biggest worry is not the squad rotation or tired legs, but Ade. Yes, he is not the best finisher, he always tries to score the perfect place shot, but it’s pretty awful this season. Not of his goals were placed, as compared to the brilliant ones he scored for Arsenal back in the day. Give this guy some time. You can see Ade is tired, exhausted. At times he barely can run and put pressure on defenders, even though he wants to. He wants to encourage the team mates today, i can see that. Imagine if we can see how good Swansea has been pressuring our midfield, that we can barely make 5 good passes on their half – what do you reckon Ade is facing game in game out where he’s alone up front? I believe we will truly realise as fans, how crucial Ade has brought in an influence to us when he’s injured. However, i don’t want that day to come. I hope we can rest him, keep him fresh. That said, who can lead the line, hold the ball and link up play and face 4 opposition defenders ganging up on him? I highly doubt Pav & Defoe can make the grade.
Harry has to try and look at some Chelsea players who are unsettled and convince Levy to get a deal done. I don’t think this is “over the top”, as players like Drogba will choose football over China move. Drogba, is a footballer. He’s 33, and if he can play week in week out with a team for another 2 seasons, he’ll love it. He is still more than capable of doing the job for us. When you see him play, he doesn’t even look like 33!!! I’ll still sign him even if he’s 35! His contract is going to expire. ANd he’s keen for a 2 yr deal, a deal that Chelsea is reluctant to give him. All he wants is just securty and certainty of football career. Man, i hope Ade doesn’t get injured at all. I see him more irreplaceable than Scotty, although the media thinks otherwise. And he brings more change and improvement to our game than ever before.
It boils down to a single problem…Lennon. ‘Azza gives the side balance and allows VDV to play more effectively with Ade. Instead of shuffling the pack and putting players into positions they’re not suited for why not just play Kaboul or even Corluka at RB and shift Walker into Lennon’s position?
I think that the comments are focussing on the goalkeeper, rather than the midfield, where because of their invisibility meant the fullbacks went up attacks and even Kaboul ventured forward with runs into the penalty box, leaving us insecure in defense. Them Swans, with a special mention for Nathan ***** and ***** Sinclair played extremely well orchestrating attacks on both wings. I always thought that Walker was faster than anything on 2 legs, but his man marker was his equal and he couldn’t get passed him. Was Bale in his new “Liberal” role effective this time round?
You do know we are third from top right ? not third from bottom.
Swansea is one hard place to go just ask Manu and the other teams that have failed to win there, we got a point when not playing well and thats what its all about.
As for Gomes its not April first is it ?
Fair result and a point hard won. I thought Swansea were going to be a hard nut to crack and they proved to be a handfull as are all teams at home. Six away wins before the New Year is unheard of in my time as a Yiddo.
some reality at last… :daumen:
:daumen: Happy New Year! COYMS
Happy New Year you old goat ;-)
Disrespectful to both Spurs and Swans, some of the comments. Swansea have been winning over half their games for about 5 yrs or more, for the very most part as underdogs. Good team-spirit, passers, pace, they remind me of Spurs, tbh. Norwich wasn’t easy, either. Gnats-cock innit. Always close. Dyer and Sinclair have been mammoth buys for Swans – they wouldn’t be out of place at WHL. Spurs are still doing brilliantly. Can’t wait till Tuesday. Happy New Year you grumpy mf’s.