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Good morning.

It was a combination of things. After the intensity and focus of Thursday’s performance invoked the Tottingham malaise of not quite being at the races for their next game. QPR pressed and pressed. The first half and indeed good spells of the second were miserable.

A key issue we have is that the physical absences of Modric and Rafa have been filled but the overall creative footballing IQ of the group has dropped.

Now this is in part to players still finding their way.  But right now we aren’t as mentally dangerous as we were. Or at least we weren’t yesterday. Now, fortunately we have a manager with a tactical brain of immense human dimensions, but the plan that I and many others thought was good turned out to be …less than good.

Bale at left back didn’t work. Not only was his heart not in it, but it left us beyond uninspired up front. And of the entire 90 minutes Bale’s charge alongside Jan Vertongen and the subsequent goal was not only the only highlight of the afternoon but what is really damning is that it is was a one off. Bale eventually moved up to play as an inverted winger and it was here when playing from deep he and Vertonghen showed the benefit of players with pace having space to in which to exploit it.

Admittedly this isn’t a classic example to make the point I appreciate, as it was a break. But Bale in a position that is too forward negates his pace as he has nothing approaching the space in which to fly and really cause havoc. I think his worry is that he was turning into a one trick pony who every time he got the ball he went haring up the wing.

If his season continues like this the only positive that will come out of it will be that January’s back pages won’t be carrying any ‘Barca Set To Swoop’ tales.When I wrote that Ego Has Landed piece it wasn’t well received. Weeks later fans at games were singing ‘He plays on the left’.

Bale is drifting into the realm of the mediocre and he needs to find a compromise that works for Tottenham somewhere between his Ronaldo ‘vision’ and being an outstanding footballer in the Lilywhite. Right now, he’s being indulged. So there, I told you so.

The boss switched to a 442 or as near as dammit in the second half and this made the onslaught from QPR ‘less worse’.

The league table says we won and took all 3 points but the table doesn’t say how fragile we were and how much possession QPR who aren’t the world’s greatest were allowed. Manchester United up next in the premiership and we won’t buck the losing habit of a lifetime playing like that. It was confused and unconvincing out there yesterday and a really talented outfit would have kicked our heads in. 

He kept us in the game. He stopped them from winning. 

If he wasn’t a footballer he’d open up a gym called ‘Love Muscles’ that would shut down within a year. Or start a fight in a Chick King demanding to order a pizza. Thick as paint. 

Yes he gave the ball away, yes he was off his game. Playing with Kyle would leave most people sucking their thumb in the fetal position, with a facial tick. So he did quite well to stay on the pitch.

I’m a fan. Very, very happy to see him out there. More please.

Forget the big boys coming in for Bale. Jan’s the man who will be getting all the press attention come the new year and it will be genuine. Eridivisie player of the year and looking good enough to walk into any top flight European first eleven.

It’s early doors but we urgently need to find this guy a specific role. Right now we have a talented bloke who seems to spend most of his time doing a good impression of a dog chasing cars. This was QPR and he wasn’t quite up to the task.

Beast-like. Given that fact that he was doing the job of at least three people it’s little surprise he looked knackered come the end. He was outstanding.

  Suffering from being frequently hemmed in, but he didn’t help himself. He needs to move. make space and have in his head, ‘what would I do if I got the ball know?’ Too frequently the ball came to him and he seemed to start weighing up his options from scratch.

Lennon flattered to deceive. Lots of huff and puff but bantam weight on achievement. Needs to find the confidence to start taking shots on goal, especially when cutting in, he also needs to do this and make his passes at least a yard sooner. You can hear every fan in the world shouting ‘hit it!’ then there’s a 2 second delay and he does it.

  Sort it out.

A bit nothingy.

He scored. Elsewhere he contributed zip.

The good news was that he changed the system and by the skin of our teeth we took the points. I’m really worried that players like Walker and Bale are saying, ‘yeah boss, 100% boss’ and then going out there and doing whatever the hell they feel like. When Benny returns he needs to shuffle the back four and bench Kyle.

You were booing again weren’t you? Those that boo their own should be evicted by a squad of heavy mob stewards. If the price of admission is weighing so heavy then refund these arrogant dogs.

Nor do I want to hear that ‘others were doing it and they just sort of joined in.’ Funny, that’s what a lot of people said about National Socialism in the 1940’s. Booing at half time and clapping at full time. If I was playing I’d tell you to stick your full time cheers up your bottoms. You’re not fans, you’re idiots. How do you go in the Home stands when you sound like the blokes in the Away end?

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258 comments

  • BrizzleSpur says:

    Harsh. But fair.

    • Colm says:

      Jan was immense!! (But alas, I only saw highlights!)
      Going in the right direction. Could imagine last year, losing that 1-0 and Harry coming on after saying they’d a tough game on Thursday, / insert other excuse here, etc.

      Big test Saturday, lets see if the rest of the lads lift it to the correct standard

      • All pretty much there or thereabouts, however, Dempsey looked much better than ‘nothingy’. He certainly moved his backside about more than JD.
        I said to my mate after the game, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a player like Jan playing for Barca – the new monster icon leg-end superlative…

        The boo boys. A bunch of sad w*nkers who want Brazillian artisty five games in. My same mate said at halt time “if he doesn’t sort it out he is going to be told to f*ck off”! What?
        BAE out, Naughton out, Kaabullk out. The team was a cobbled together mash at the start of the game. Didn’t work, changed, did work. What’s everyone’s beef?

    • Waltertull'sghost says:

      What game were you watching? Dembele has been atrocious! Gets in the way, bad distribution, was pants. Siggy, looks like a squad player destroys momentum by going backwards, headless chicken’s spring to mind. And why so harsh on Bale, going forward he is always a threat, same with Walker, alright, not so great defensively but the best form of defence is attack. Clint upfront was good but slightly deeper and he looked lost. You can say early doors for these guys, but they’re all seasoned prem and international players. There’s a reason Belgium were not at the Euros, their squad is overrated, I supposed loads of you think Fellaini is amazing?

      • Phil McAvity says:

        Totally disagree that Dembele has been atrocious, I think he’s been quite good overall and is going to be a main man for us further on in the season.

        • Waltertull'sghost says:

          Frank is that you? I still think mod was overrated!!
          My bag got knicked today, on reflection it was a bit harsh

      • nedkelly says:

        Yo walterwank! You got to be kidding. What s the point in supporting a club if u just do it down? We won. You r like helmet cheese – unwanted and smelly but then just washed off and forgotten. So get behind the team or wash off x

        • Waltertull'sghost says:

          Doing dembele down, and sigurdson. Did you actually read what I wrote? What part of it was doing the club down? I like all the players, apart from those two, not impressed. It’s an opinion. Why so angry?

    • My Heart Is White says:

      I think you’re a bit of an idiot! You should be an art critic, can’t paint, but instead you’d rather dig at people that can. What the fu(k is your problem? We’ve had huge changes to our management, squad & team, we’ve got a number of injured players, which makes it difficult to keep things flowing. ALL PLAYERS ARE MAKING IMPROVEMENTS, IF NOT GETTING AMAZINGLY GOOD! I’m starting to wonder about many Spurs fans, they’re beginning to sound like fu(king arse fans. Always moaning and booing, begging (please wenger please sign xxxxxx, please get xxxxxx)!!! Gets on my fu(king nerves. People like you aren’t real fans, your just like winging little girls. I enjoy laughing at the arse fans for being so pathetically complacent and contradicting, but I can’t when Spurs fans start acting the same way. If you don’t know how to support Spurs, FU(K OFF and support the arse instead, they’re much more fitting to you’re needs!

  • ran says:

    FIRST again hehehe

  • Sid Trotter says:

    Hmm, I generally agree though do believe that if we play with potatoes we wont win any juggling competitions

  • Sam Marks says:

    Watching the game from hom allows us few the luxury of seeing the game from a different perspective.

    For me there are a few outstanding issues that we need addressing.

    1. Creativity with a plan. Whilst we have bundles of possession and creative flair we’re missing the brain of Modric / VDV who could direct play in a way Pirlo does for Juve & Italy. Moutninho in jan now seems a must if we are to take it to the next level and attack with a plan better than “see what happens”

    2. Bale – Danni Alves made a very good comment re Bale a few months back saying he is strongest with a run up – (see Maicon) and his obvious starting point is defence…however his performance against QPR showed he either wasnt up for it or couldnt do it.
    If he stays wide left, he needs to start his runs from deep – then get in behind the defence,

    3. Walker – Needs to think a little more when marking. Not sure what more you can do for him.

    4. Defoe – he’s still not mastered the offside – looks menacing enough be good if he passed once or twice.

    5. Boo boys – shut the fuck up! Early days, new Manager, new tactics.

    6. We do need another forward – suggestions we might get Damiao in Jan – this would be a good thing..as well would llorente.

    Spot on review Harry.

  • spursgoliath says:

    In our defence:

    1. This is a new team and manager.

    2. Any other side would label this an injury crisis (No Ade, Kaboul, Benny, PNB, Naughton)

    The press are still on our case, as are some of the home support and these two factors appear to have been glossed over.

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