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Analysis Of The Historic Win

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Good afternoon.

What a game. Based upon the first half we might have won by 3 or 4. Based on the second we were lucky to we didn’t concede by a similar margin. Spurs sit 5th and a the thought of Villa indoors to savour. The style of play really seems to suit our squad. Possession driven play and pace driven counterattack. I like Brad I really do, but he’s giving me a naffin’ migraine with his sadly outdated play. I want Lloris in next week.

Keeping the ball on the floor is key when retaining possession. It doesn’t guarantee it, but it stacks the odds in your favour. Brad made 17 passes. His accuracy percentage was a woeful 18%. Anders Lindegaard by contrast passed 13 times, his accuracy percentage was 85%. So 82% of the time Brad had the ball, he gave it to a bloke wearing a Manchester United shirt. 

 

All heart, lots of pace but as daft as a brush.

Monster game. If you hurt your thigh at home though kids, ask an adult before liberally applying Duck Tape.

Fortunate not to concede a penalty but what an extraordinary talent he is. He wins the ball and he immediately counter attacks.

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This chap is a real talent folks, only Billy made more effective clearances and total clearances. So refreshing to see him step up and look right at home.

Really had his work cut out and by and large he succeeded, making more interceptions that any player of either side. In the second half he was fighting fires, which given all the free petrol Brad was handing out was no surprise.

Some elegant touches and inspired dribbling. He’s a sort of Modric/Carrick hybrid who I believe could become one of our most significant signings of that last 30 years.

Some interesting runs but he just didn’t get involved enough. His pass accuracy rate was 91%. Tip top. This matched his opposite number’s Paul Scholes’ rate. But Scholes made 148 passes, Nani had 43, Kawaga 39… Azza’s passing figure was close to the lowest on the pitch which given his position is pretty damning.

I’ve accused him of slacking of late and he certainly joined in a hell of a lot more yesterday. The goal was great and he needs to thank Defoe for drawing their last man. Whether it was intentional or not is another matter, but it made the space.

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The bottom line with this guy is that he’s not the world’s greatest footballer, but he is an intelligent player and dare I say it very, very reliable.

To his credit, he really is trying to offer more than perhaps his default setting game and this was probably his best game yet in this respect. Lots of running and some useful defensively play.

An historic win that upset the odds on sport betting sites. He needs to (and I’m certain he will) figure out why we had so little possession in the second half. I will mail him a tape of Brad continuously giving the ball to Manchester United players if he needs it spelling out. Chris Foy could’ve ruined us and if we want sustain doing this well, then we must iron out the daftness that could let the officials put us back in our box.

The passion of Villas-Boas is to be commended. Ray ‘Frank Sidebottom made my head’ Houghton was scoffing this morning, ‘You’d have thought he’d won the league.’ Well Raymond, one of you is a hero this morning and one of you is getting their lunch out of a vending machine.

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Love our away fans. They’re top of the range. No straightforward task to heard there. They were. Lots. Well done.

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133 comments

  • Hartley says:

    Longest second half for a long time, thank god that quite possibly the worst referee this league has seen in decades was officiating otherwise we’d have had a clear penalty to deal with……

  • Habib says:

    Your heart’s in the right place with the ratings mate!

    A word on Brad. We enjoyed 17% possession in teh second half. A 50/50 ball in such a scenario is a viable tactic! Can’t judge Brad on this game.

    • DannyBoy says:

      I can’t agree with you on that. I think Harry has it spot on. If you go back to the first games of the season it was obvious that Brad had been told to keep the ball on the floor and play possession football out from the back.
      I don’t see why this wasn’t a viable option yesterday. You mention 17% second half possession but his persistent long-ball kicking unnecessarily gifted possession to the opposition.
      You would think that a man of his experience could see the benefit of slow playing from the back. There was no need to go back-to-front so quickly, especially as Defoe is quite limited in his hold-up play.

      • Liamyid says:

        I think Brads distribution was poor. And he prefers to stay on his line, which is better than flapping Gomes style but means you’ll relying heavily on your defenders to stay focused. I think the stat of 17% is unfair, as we have no target man, and in the 2nd half there’s was nothing on where they pressed us high. I think it’s time for Lloris. Brad didn’t have a great game, and if Lloris performs Thursday, he’s got to play the weekend IMO.

      • Habib says:

        I think it was an unusual game and he was following orders. Arsenal have dropped six points last two games that Brad’s consistency would have saved. I saw Reina take a powerful shot and spill it yesterday for Norwich to score. Brad took two far more venomous ones like a champ.

        I saw the same game you guys did. Can you tell me ONCE that a defender moved in such a purposeful way that Brad could pass the ball to them? Just ONCE did any defender show the desire to take the ball? How the hell can he distribute when no one wants the ball and is covered by a Man U man? Not ONCE I tell you. Go watch the game again on the net. I was astonished then.

        I won’t judge him on this game and I will not underestimate his performance in a second half barrage the likes of which a Spurs goalie has not had to defend in decades. Hell the game away to Milan was a walk in the park compared to this blitz. Y’all need to be more thankful and less judgemental on this one game.

        • mille147 says:

          Spot on, brad caught 2 or 3 stinging shots flush. It was a hectic second half and I feel the team as a whole should have worked much harder to keep possession…..to lay it all on brad is incredibly harsh.

    • zed says:

      I also cant agree, Im surprised more hasnt been said about his distribution. Whilst he has been fantastic this season and a consistent performer his distribution has been terrible for the last couple years. His passing has been a constant frustration and before it was fine because we did not have a viable alternative and such consistent shot stopper, it may just be time now to hand over the gloves.

  • Bobbles says:

    5th!

    (see what I did there)

  • Andy says:

    awesome result, just watched teh game 5 minutes ago after a full day on the water fishing.

    Managed to avoid the score on the radio etc, so was an excellent day today.

    Top marks to Sandro today, he did brilliantly. I swear he has go go gadget legs with some to the tackles he made.

    AVB showing real passion too, oh how things are looking up. :-D

  • Spurstough says:

    Great to get this monkey off our back but in mind we have beaten them a few since 89 but we were robbed / cheated out of our just deserts so it ain’t that historic!

    Oh and it would ‘An historic win’ not ‘ A historic win’! Sorry to be pedantic……actually no I’m not! ;-)

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