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Good morning.
Boy there really is an attitude out there that we need to beat everyone 8-0 or it’s open season to groan. 3 points and the job done. Bill Nicholson did say it wasn’t just about winning but winning well. I one hundred percent agree with him. But that’s in an ideal world and we don’t live in one.
A game of two halves indeed. The issues are pretty straightforward. We dominated the first half and the second half was a joint effort of the Saints giving it their upmost and our lot wanting to get in out the rain and slip their jazzy beats headphones back on.
The sense of relief that we won – or based upon the harum scarum of the last 50 minutes – the sense of relief that we’d got away with it was palpable. And rightly so. Much improved with Bale on the wing but elsewhere what we miss in every department is wit. One knock on effect of Modric and van Der Vaart leaving has been the lowering of the team’s collective IQ. The closest we had to passes that made a real difference came from Huddlestone. 90% of the balls he pinged about were superb. Unfortunately 89% were in the first half.
We played a first half that was built upon mostlt tight, fast passes. More triangles than a Dairy Lea factory. But the second half degenerated into a cup tie between two old Second Division sides hoofing and huffing in the rain. Desperately sad to watch and nothing much to be proud of.
– Distribution of a dyslexic postman. I’m not too worried his ball saving so much. It’s this burning desire to hoof the bloody thing into the void at every opportunity. I don’t recall us winning possession from even one of these old school clumps upfield.
– He’s about as convincing as a carthorse in a wedding dress. Somebody make it stop.
– Solid. Only real negative was him passing to Brad who then passed to Southamptom.
– Everything on his side, including me. More please.
– Returned to form in the first half, looked half dead in the second.
– How long can he keep up doing the work of 3 men? Somebody find out whats keeping The Rolling Stones alive and give our boy some.
– Quite exceptional in the second half, joined the Witness Protection Program in the second.
– We should sell him in January. To B&Q or Wickes.
– The pigeons sitting on this statue must have got heavy as he could barely move at all after 50 minutes.
– Pinged and whizzed then fizzled out.
– As winning away goalscorers go, boy he’s unexciting.
– I was actually so angry he made me giggle. Put me in a coma of hysterical despair.
– A man that has inherited a squad pretty thin on brains that doesn’t particularly like playing for longer than an hour. The return of Kaboul and Moussa can’t come quick enough. Brad & Hugo’s roles need to be urgently reversed. If Walker cannot be improved in training then Naughton must replace him.
I don’t know how unfit Ade is but Defoe is so selfish and gormless I don’t know how much more of him I can cope with. This was Southampton, a team that have conceded more goals so far this season than anyone since 1804 or something. Come on.
Great review. Agree with everything especially with Lloris situation. Brad didnt have much to do and when he did he didn’t do it well. Maybe Kaboul could go right back when fit, if Walker doesn’t improve. I also didn’t realise just how important Dembele was to us. But 4 th and happy.
What a stinker. How many hours of football have we played this season and how many of them have been enjoyable to watch? To say we were in cruise control in the first half is putting it mildly. Southampton were the most generous side I’ve seen in a long while. It isn’t surprising that they’ve conceded an average of 4 goals per game (until yesterday).
So it all looked so easy, and should have been, but after the half time reefers in the away dressing room, our players decided to slip from cruise control to asleep at the wheel. Woeful, woeful. I don’t expect us to beat everyone 8-0, but given how accommodating the Saints were, I do expect us to beat them by at least 5.
Every single substitution AVB made was defensive. If you can call Livermore’s knack of giving away pointless free kicks defensive. This is dull and uninspiring stuff. So far this season we’ve played 2 teams of note. Utd we improbably held on through a 2nd half much like yesterdays and tactical thinking to match. The repugnant racists handed us our arses. We are 4th but we have been very fortunate in almost every league game this season. I fear for us and AVB when we get into the run of games we are about to hit in a couple of weeks.
I’m pleased that you were as uncomfortable as me.
I thought the second half performance was totally unnecessary.
It appears that we think the second half of an away game and the first half of a home game are unnecessary, too.
We cannot make an attacking substitution. We don’t have any attack minded substitutes. Except Townsend. Siggi is trying to do defence and attack. Something he didn’t do at Swansea.
Why am I not looking forward to being at the Wigan game.
4th. Now let’s stay there.
Rejoice
LLL i just don’t get the negativity. What you say about our performances are of course true, but people seem to ignore in comparing AVB to Redknapp…we’re missing practically a 1st choice XI through injury!
Ade, Dembele, Parker, Kaboul, Benny….and Thudd isn’t match fit.
It’s not AVB’s fault we have injuries, nor that we’re a wide player and midfielder light.
Give me one player performing worse under AVB…Walker. I’ll give you three players who have improved…Defoe, Lennon, Sandro. What he’s got out of Defoe as a no.9 (he still drives me nuts) is remarkable. Just look at the Bale’s goal at United and watch his movement.
I just can’t get my head around him not being given time when we’re 4th, and players have improved.
Injuries will ease and if we’re 4th going into January we’ll be absolutely flying.
3 points in the bag, my friends! Onwards and upwards (or, eastwards, anyway – to Norwich…)
Oh, the irony in Chelsea accusing the ref of racist language: apparently, the rumour that Chelsea are going to appoint Clattenburg as Captain are not true…
Apparently, the terms “Spanish twat” and “monkey” were used…
I must admit, I used to call my mates “monkey”, if they did something particularly half-witted…
…and, I will also admit that it felt wrong and incredibly awkward on the one occasion when I spouted it out to my mate, Mel, who happens to be black… don’t use it any more for that reason…
I suspect “stupid manky twat” was lost in translation…
“You cheeky monkey…” is no longer acceptable. It used to be a good geordie expression for cheeky kids.
I used it once at work…and apologised immediately.
Clattenburg is a North Easterner. I wonder if he made the same mistake?
I wouldnt put a monkey on it
I suspect Chelsea are playing the race card sanctimoniously, after being rightly criticized for keeping a racist captain. I would like them to have made a false complaint and get fined and banned. But then, Clattenburg is a grade-A twat so who knows?
We’ll soon see what his Asst. Referees and Fourth Official think of him!
Are the refs mikes switched on continuously during the match? Clattenberg might be a lot of things. But to be a racist and an incredibly stupid one at that with all the world watching beggars belief. Maybe what the ref says should be audible, like in the Rugby? It would certainly be a transparent way of avoiding issues like this. Funny and ironic how Chelsea are involved in racist incidents isn’t it?
Miked up but not recorded. So his assistants will have heard everything he said. Whether they will corroborate Chelsea’s claims or not, who knows? But agree, it would be pretty astounding if he had been that much of a twat. His worst refereeing decision yet – and he’s had some proper clangers.
There should be a Premier League Jeremy Kyle Show……accusations made during and after games by players officials etc…sit them all down, in a studio full of inbreds, lie detector tests all round, and for good measure DNA tests too.
We’d soon see who was telling the truth.
Clattenberg is toast as Ashley Cole is supporting his colleagues complaints and whilst Terry was not on the pitch, he was able to lip read Clattenberg from the stand.
Let’s face it any evidence from those two is bound to be accepted.
He might well have used the word monkey, but I would be astounded if he said it with racist connotations… (although, clearly it could be taken that way…)
Spanish twat isn’t racist, as such, but is rather foolhardy… having said that, I’m sure he was called far worse during the game by the same bunch of tw@ts who are whinging, now…
Good point Alspur, re what the players were likely to have been saying to the ref during the game.
I remember years ago a ref was miked up in a match between Millwall and Arsenal. The Millwall players were told this was happening but the L’Arse were not advised.
Their captain, Tony Adams apparently spent the whole match calling the ref an F…ing cheat but it was never shown on TV as L’Arse refused to give permission.
A bit like the supporters at matches who scream every obscenity imaginable at players but any response from the player results in the supporters going crying to the Police.
If you can’t take it don’t dish it out.
It is astonishing that Chelsea, of all people & under the current circumstances, should be making a big deal about this…
Too Harsh on Defoe. He didn’t have his best game yesterday, but Both goals we scored were made through him. The second would have been his had it had more power in it. His movement this season has improved under AVB. He’s drifting out wide a lot more, and running off the ball making space for midfield coming through e.g. Bales goal against Man U.
Spot on,its only Tottenham fans who would repeatedly slag off their top goal scorer.
but our ‘top goal scorer’ should have had at least 4 more, so far..Same old story wtigh this guy, just not good enough..
I know Defoe’s strengths and weaknesses, I think we all do. How far you are willing to suffer the weaknesses is maybe the only difference between fan’s opinions of him.
However, we all know that he can’t play a lone striker role effectively. I mean, he may get himself a few goals amidst all the wild blazers, thwacks and cracks against the defender 1 feet away from him. But a lone striker is supposed to do a lot more than that. ‘Making clever runs’ may be one part of it. I personally believe he is making those runs because he expects to be passed the ball so he can smack it at goal, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt there. But more than any of that, the lone striker needs to hold it up and involve the wide players and the attacking mid . That Defoe does not really do this job effectively shouldn’t be open to debate, even if AVB can’t see it. Play him in a 4-4-2 or not at all.
I personally believe he is making those runs because he expects to be passed the ball so he can smack it at goal, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt there.
Yes!
Agreed. His shooting boots were on the wrong feet but he still gives a lot. He is not helped by our formation, and when we start to batten down the hatches, he is SOOOOo isolated.
What worries me is that teams look at us and see a weakness. We let in goals, we retreat early and concede the momentum, we’re asking to be attacked and rely on defending well (something that Spurs have never done in my lifetime). So a 2-0 or even 3-0 teams will never feel out of it….1 goal can lead to 3 in Spurs case.
We’ve played almost a quarter of the season with a mid table striker who is hopelessly out of his depth in the lone striker role in a team that is still trying to adapt to a new system and yet we are fourth. The squad in its current guise is too light to go the distance. It must be strengthened this January to give us a chance and to give the better players more incentive to stay knowing that they can win things with Spurs.
Couldn’t agree more.
Need a player not prone to off-side and with a bit of an eye for goal.
I’m erring on the side of Huntelaar. He’ll be reasonably priced in January.
It’s always nice to have a cloggy in the side. They play similarly to us and don’t go to the African Nations Cup.
I guess we will buy…if we haven’t already. To think of only having Defoe and the Nextgen lot in January & February is pretty scary.
KJH would be a very good call/great addition, for sure!
You can errr on who you want dimwit, Defoe had a poor game leave it he’s also an England striker and although that may not mean much to a fantasy football supporter like you he aour striker and love the club he snapped at shots yesterday and wont be too happy with himself
That’s the whole point..he shouldn’t be happy with hisself..at all..:-)
He only plays for England ‘cos there’s not much better.
He plays for us up front by himself because we haven’t got anyone else fit enough.
He is a predator. No doubt. But as someone said above…doesn’t learn from his mistakes (being offside) and could have had a hatful yesterday.
We rely on goalscorers to win games. He should have had two yesterday. If he cannot deliver after playing in the side more than he ever has then he needs competition.
And if you cannot conduct a discussion without insults then you really are letting yourself down.
Play nice during half term.
:finn:
I would say that a ball player is more urgent, someone to dictate the pace of things so that we do not panic and retreat like we have in the last 30 minutes of many games this season.
Moutinho was nearly ours and would be ideal. We need the creativity and guile that we have lost from Modric / VDV.
As for the striker, we need someone who can be adaptable, who can play as a wide striker as well as up front…Huntelaar (29) does not offer that.
Who does?