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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

  • NY Spurs Fan says:

    All present and correct, General. Well said.

  • kingBENNY says:

    There is no way we need to bench Kyle. He is starting this season a little slow but so did Sandro. Would you drop Sandro too?

    Siggy is completely out of his depth currently and maybe he needs to find some form playing just in cups or even the reserves. We should never have let vDv go. Hopefully when Parker comes back we can push dembele forward and Scott can play with Sandro. Or maybe start the Huddlestone as he can pick out the passes we seem to be lacking.

    Either way we need to start playing better. We barely beat a taped together bunch of randoms at home with a very strong (on paper) spurs team.

    • Habib says:

      I wouldnt call Sandro slow. He started well and became amazing. Kyle’s problem is he doesnt look like he is getting better.

  • Banks18 says:

    A very fair analysis on what was a very average performance from us. I left the boozer after the game thinking i’d been short changed by that performance but obviously I’ll take a bad performance if it comes with 3 valuable points.

    Final point. What’s with the booing at H/T now? Is this something we are going to continue to do, even if we’re playing well just to prove a point…Sort it out !!

  • spurskip says:

    well said hh,all of the above,caulker looks outstanding,leave big jan left back,and play caulker,even for our corners he was getting the headers,definitely has good few goals in him..sandro,,all i can say is wow.

  • Ronnie Wolman says:

    I agree with everything Harry except the part where Walker and Bale say we will do anything we like.
    No AVB had it wrong and to his credit he did change it.
    The players also lacked by not being focused.
    Sigg cant get it together (but I have faith he will),Dembele neither in this one. Maybe in this one AVB has to look at his comunication skills because too many didnt understand.
    Some players need structure.Sigg probably doesnt need it but Dembele looked like he did and Walker looked like he did.

    • Ronnie Wolman says:

      also this business of Defoe up alone at home is ridiculous when you have 4 players that swing the ball in from the wings.
      Defoe needs to run from the half way line,not stand there and wait for crosses that he cant get

      • philmccrackin says:

        HE(Defoe)was the cause of one goal and with skill struck the ball downwards under the advancing back to score the other.Even if that is all he did during the game it was enough to win it,what more do you want?

        • Ronnie Wolman says:

          Not complaining about Defoe.
          He was left isolated covered most of the time and we were running doen the wings
          he is not good is that situation.He needs room and is best playing off an up top striker

        • philmccrackin says:

          “Defence generally excellent one mistake but nobody taking the pressure off up front.Defoe is a waste up front needs to play off soemone.
          Defoe is not good by himself
          He is always marked out.
          Defoe is no good up top.
          PUT ANYONE UP FRONT!!!! SANDRO DEMBELE SOMEOINE”
          Your quotes about a player who caused one goal and scored one.DEFOE TOP TOP STRIKER.

      • Ronnie says:

        Well said.

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