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 I like Brad I really do, but he’s giving me a naffin’ migraine with his sadly outdated play.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.
Love our away fans. They’re top of the range. No straightforward task to heard there. They were. Lots. Well done.
What did you expect Brad to do when United pushed high to cut off the short ball? Dempsey won a few headers and it was put in his direction when he was on the pitch. When United were pushing high we needed someone like Ade on to hold the ball and relieve pressure.
Totally agree..
Sorry I don’t buy that. Dempsey ‘won a few headers’ is a miserable phrase to use
Our possession went down to 26% thanks to distribution in the second half from a man that gave away the ball 82% of the time. That is a shocking stat.
Here here – best sides in the world win matches by keeping the ball and also conserving energy ie Bara ..
I’m guessing you mean Barca there (and not Boro).
It wasn’t just Brad though, the aimless hoofing was coming from everywhere in the 2nd half.
You cant base the second half possession stat on Brad. It went down because we went into siege defence mode. I saw four times SPurs break out with the ball. Not a single time did they reach the Man U thirty yard zone. That wasn’t Brad. It was just how the half was. We cannot make judgements of pattern on a game that was surely an anamoly. Yeah consultant talk but we know our shit atleast 10% of the time.
Ballbags here. Im still buzzing my balls off over last nights result. Top banana. Saucey sandro was superb. Cocky caulker was cracking and nice vertongen was great. Think this season will be a heart strainer but thats why we all love it. Ballbags over and out.
I agree wholeheartely with Harrys analysis.
just a couple of notes though. Defoe indeed ran really well and so did Lennon but both of them should have held the ball up more in the second half (they had weak support from a presured midfield though)as losing it (along with Brad) offered just more United pressure.
Its important to savour the win but also to understand what we could have done for next time.
We have played well before at OT.usually for the first 20 minutes and then cave.
But there was a deepened resistance this time.
On the positive our attack was no less exciting than its been at the best times over the past few seasons and our defence looks much more stable than its been for a long time.
On the negative Kagawa and others in the second half got lots of space to work in and we were not focused enough on shuttingb them down with better positioning play and marking.
Overall a great win,hopefully a learning experience and a look forward to some great things.
Again a really good summing up Harry(glad the rose tinted glasses were off)
Yeah but we’re still going to win the league :-D
This reminds me of Morecambe and Wise’s ‘get out of that’ routine
Aim high is good Harry,Predict high is pressure.
I am not looking as results as much as quality.Results do offer a yardstick and a possible CL place and the ultimate a title but keeping a eye on reality is the way to sustained growth.
Have to say that Fergies 4 minutes more is such a sham considering the past.
We’ll be ok when we get our injured guys back. I know this is conjecture but do you think we missed Kaboom yesterday?
Kaboul was fantastic in the first game or two.
He is really coming on now.
Gallas was do or die yesterday.Really went 1000 per cent but cant be there too much longer.Dawson is history in view of Caulkers emerging talent.
It wasnt the defence in the second half.It was more our midfield was not holding up anything.They were supreme in the first.
Just reread it.About kaboul coming on I mean from the first game or two compared to prev years.
I feel for Dawson but if he ain’t in the plans so be it,QPR in Jan would be my guess
Fantastic result if AVB continues on like this i will happily eat my hat and any other garment he wishes me to consume. Despite the fantastic first half display we were very lucky in the 2nd half but over the years we’ve more than earn that , I’ve seen us play better up there and lose but 3 points in the bag and AVB is winning me over (the lucky fella)
I posted at the half hour mark yesterday that we were already sitting too deep and inviting them on to us. The midfield kept looking for the killer ball instead of guarding possession – Dembele, for all his qualities, is particularly culpable. That’s the big difference between this year’s model and last. This time last year we had Parker and Modric in the centre dictating possession and the tempo of the game and a bit more of that would be welcome now. Perhaps when PNB is fit the balance might be better?
Dembele in his present role is a short term fix… 4 me he will slot into (the whole) just behind the stricker(s) when a player like Moutinho is purchased shortly :-)
Steve Stricker’s not havin’ a good time right now!
I was watching with a Fulham fan yesterday who said Dembele was statistically the 2nd best tackler in the league last season
sorry to be obtuse, but who is PNB?
Pathe News Boy – Scott Parker