Worst. Defending. Ever.
Saturday, October 31, 2009 at 2:32PM Embarrassing. Three goals that were all birthed from Tottenham mistakes. If it isn't hard enough defending against their players on any given day, gifting them goals is the type of irony that laughs in your face then slaps your backside as you walk away with your head down, shaking, and asking yourself....why?
I was naive to ever believe that we could get something out of this game with Modric, Lennon and Defoe missing. Although for 42 minutes my original hope looked to be justified. Although the signs were there. Little tenacity and hunger to 'get in their faces'. We were containing them. Frustrating them. But that's not enough and too much of a risk. Which it proved to be the case when RvP beat King to make it one from a cross and then 11 seconds from the kick-off, a comedy of apologetic defending, allowed Sylar to dart through nothingness to make it two. All topped up (in the second half) by Gomes and King mixing it like a shit pub dj who's had too much booze to make it a despairing 3-0.
Arsenal don't have to perform above and beyond to beat us if we're going to pull our panties down and bend over for them. All lubed up, purring.
Fabregas about to rip the head off Tottenham...
Shame on them. Five stages of grief at the ready then.
So where did it go wrong? Apart from the on pitch suicide?
Tactically, although we needed a game plan (they pass the ball quicker, keep it better in possession and carry it around the pitch with intent and purpose) we don't have the outlet of Modric or Lennon, which left us with very little other than to attempt a quick break or a long ball up to Crouch. It was probably enough to keep us in the game until very late on. But the pre-half time collapse saw an end to that little dream. So whatever the strategy was, it wasn't enough. Playing pound-for-pound would have been equally suicidal (because of the missing player), but I'm not going to dwell on that excuse. We had players who could do a job. Or maybe that's where it actually went wrong. We 'thought' we had players who could do a job.
No pace. In mind and feet. No chance.
It wasn't enough to just go there and sit back and live dangerously. No blood and thunder. More like fluffy feathered pillows and a hot cup of coco.
Roll on next weekend. And if the Gods didn't think this was enough, shock horror, we've got United away in the cup.
Wonderful.
Reader Comments (153)
Worst thing about living in the Middle East?
1) Every game is live (so I had to watch that crap)
or
2) Sun-Thu week - work tomorrow and boss is a Gooner.
i never said anything about sacking managers...i was talking about playing staff. you buy a ridiculous amount of players year on year.
another player you should have shown a little more faith in was jamie o'hara. i think that kid has got potential.....plus he was spurs through and through. fuck niko kranjcar...he'll go missing when the going gets tough. it's the one thing i wish arsenal had a bit more of...REAL homegrown talent, not ones cherry-picked from other teams like fabregas.....and slowly but surely it's starting to emerge through gibbs, eastmond and wilshere ect.
Stratty, how's this one grab ya.....
Achte auf deine Gedanken, denn sie werden Worte.
Achte auf deine Worte, denn sie werden Handlungen.
Achte auf deine Handlungen, denn sie werden Gewohnheiten.
Achte auf deine Gewohnheiten, denn sie werden dein Charakter.
Achte auf deinen Charakter, denn er wird dein Schicksal.
Talmud
You never know with intellectual (no disrespects intended) shit like this we might be able to bore them ........ away!
A terrible performance. Very weak in defence and very poor in attack.So, how could we win against Arsenal that defended well and attacked well. Frankly, Spurs never looked like being able to score at all with Keane and Crouch being slow on the ball and not being able to combine effectively. Our midfield was practically non-existent. I wonder why Kranjcar did not play. I am sure he would have made a difference. It was such a bad performance that it is best we forget it and put it behind us and concentrate on winning the games ahead otherwise we shall be left behind many good teams who are at our heels. So, let this defeat de a wake-up call.
Let's just cut out the bollocks. We have a distinctly large number of average players who are too quick to shout their mouths off but can't cut it on the pitch. Modric, Krancjaer and Lennon aside, I can think of another 6 or 7 PL teams who have better midfields than Spurs. We need another 2 or 3 world class centre midfielders.
It's time Redknapp taught a number of our players a lesson - the likes of Bale, Dawson, Woodgate, Hutton, Bentley, Krancjaer & Pav should be given the opportunity to stake their claims for a 1st team place. As much as I love Ledley, he is costing us quite a few goals this season and I think we miss Woodgate much more than King when he doesn't play.
Re: Redknapp - sorry Harry - you got our starting lineup wrong against Man U, you got it wrong against Chelski and you got it wrong again today. I am now starting to wonder whether he has the tactical nouse to take on the top 4 on a regular basis and outfox them. Prove me wrong Harry and stamp out the complacency that has started to creep in to our performances.
Tarrabt! He must be given a chance at Spurs. He has been scoring some amazing goals for QPR. He could be very effective for Spurs. He is learning to pass the ball too! (This makes him better then JJ). Of course we need someone at the helm for a number of years to build a team that can really give it a go. Managers at Spurs don't get this chance though, look at Jol! Though until you get in the top four it's very hard to attract the more class players unless you have amazing scouts like they do down the road at Arsenal. Harry is the man to do this. His impact has been there for all to see already. I think it's 6th or 7th at best for us this season. Tarrabt could be Harry's Xmas present!
Bill Nich must be turning in his grave at this shambles from the manager,coaching staff and overated players they are not fit to wear the shirt ! what a gutless spineless performance that was even worse than the second half debacle at stamford bridge, Levy can build a new stadium it will only be the loyalty of the fan base that will fill it NOT performances on the pitch.
It's hardly surprising we lost with attitudes like some of yours. No wonder when they sneak a goal we press the self destruct button. Personally, I get pissed off with so called supporters slagging off every player under the sun.There maybe one or two positions we could strengthen but I for one thought Jenas provided some of the few attacking threats from midfield ( as he did last week ) and even Pav did some clever stuff with the ball notably keeping possession when outnumbered by Arsenal players & even getting a couple of shots in. Did you lot actually watch the match ? Oh and did you notice that until we actually went behind we had the we frustrated the gooners so much that there crowd was about to turn on them...?
If I'd criticize anything it was the game plan that was simply not adventurous enough (even allowing for absentees ) & led to mistakes being made pinging the ball around instead of attcking them more.
I hope the players apologise to Harry! Great interview!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/t/tottenham_hotspur/8335789.stm
It's hardly surprising we lost with attitudes like some of yours. No wonder when they sneak a goal we press the self destruct button. Personally, I get pissed off with so called supporters slagging off every player under the sun.There maybe one or two positions we could strengthen but I for one thought Jenas provided some of the few attacking threats from midfield ( as he did last week ) and even Pav did some clever stuff with the ball notably keeping possession when outnumbered by Arsenal players & even getting a couple of shots in. Did you lot actually watch the match ? Oh and did you notice that until we actually went behind we had the we frustrated the gooners so much that there crowd was about to turn on them...?
If I'd criticize anything it was the game plan that was simply not adventurous enough (even allowing for absentees ) & led to mistakes being made pinging the ball around instead of attcking them more.
Lennon- Walcott
Modric- Nasri
Defoe- Rosicky
Bendtner injured after 25 mins.
If you've got a better team / squad / bench, show it or be quiet keano.
What a bunch of w..nkers
How much longer are these players going to believe their own publicity instead of rolling up their sleeves and fighting. Fighting ... remember that Harry. A billion miles from top four .. a billion miles from giving us respect against the gooner scum. Sick of it!
Yes i watched it - do you need to be reminded that football is not about 40 minutes effort but 90 minutes!
Very poor performance. No pace, guile, width or concentration. We were one dimensional (mindless long balls to no-one) and lacked drive in midfield. I expect more from this team, they're good players as they've proved for the majority of this season, but today there seemed to be no cohesion or collective team spirit. The second goal pretty much summed it up.
As for class of supporters, I watched the game in a pub where the goon contingent booed Bentdner then cheered when he got injured. Nice.
We are 3 points off second spot.
No need for the RIP's just yet.
at least we're not Liverpool...
TonyBLUE
This is all very inspiring - I always try to minimise the overt links between our beloved team and the cultural/political source of your resource, what with living in QATAR, and all. Thank God you did not write in the original Hebrew!!!
Ich spreche nicht so gut Deutsch aber hinsichtlich der Anspielung auf das Schicksal.... das Schicksal... no not destiny - having an alternative to the Search for Crouch's head would have helped - even the Arsenal worked it out after 42 minutes.
"Sacrifice is nothing other than the production of sacred things." George Bataille
We're still 4th, Buddy!
what an awful bloody performance that typified our games against that lot for the past 15 years. even if our teams weren't very good in that period, they may have sneaked a win at some time. the difference is not in class but in the courage to play against the best teams in the league. even Hull can go to the Emirates an have a bit of balls and go and play. we were beaten before that game even started today.
the fact that the most we can hope for is to "keep their lot quite" is a sad indictment of our aspirations. what happened to the idea of taking on Arsenal Harry? the fact is, that we lack players with bottle, and have for some time now. King and Palacios are probably the only two I would rely on to rise to the occasion of a big game. Jenas, Huddlestone are renowned for wilting against superior opposition and I felt the latter was so gutless today. Didn't make any attempt to take them on, scared to make a mistake...gutless!
we've been a soft touch for too long, always scared of the big boys, hoping to "nick one" after 85 minutes. We gave them the game today, they didn't even have to play well. why are we bothering trying to make the Champions League? I mean what the hell would happen if we met, say, Barcelona. Our boys would sh!t themselves!
Audere est Facere? A sad day for Tottenham...
A DISAPOINTING RESULT/ PERFORMANCE, BUT NOT THE END OF THE WORLD.
IN MANY WAYS LAST WEEKS DROPPED 3 POINTS WAS WORSE THAN TODAYS.
ANY TEAM WHICH LOSES ITS BEST THREE ATTACKING PLAYERS IS GOING TO STRUGGLE. TAKE VAN PERSIE, FABREGAS AND ARSHAVIN OUT OF THE ARSENAL TEAM AND THEY ARE NOT THE SAME TEAM EITHER.
THERE IS STILL PLENTY TO PLAY FOR, IF WE TOUGHEN UP MENTALLY, LOSE THE BEATEN BEFORE WE START ATTITUDE DISPLAYED IN SOME GAMES AGAINST THE BIGGER TEAMS AND IF HARRY SELECTS HIS TEAM ON CURRENT FORM RATHER THAN PERSERVERING WITH PLAYERS WHO ARE NOT PRODUCING.
We're still 4th :-)
this is the third wee in a row Harry's decisions have confused and left us in trouble
against pompey he made 3 subs early defoe red. 15 min to hold the lead... we got away with it.
against stoke again 3 early subs and lennon off injured... fuck me we lose to stoke at the lane
today kranjcar (the only player with class on the ball not hurt or suspended) does not start or get subbed in (Bale wtf) subs out Hudd (didnt think he had played worse than bentley). Then bentley slides into the middle.... excuse me what the fuck is that about... he not a central mid wtf Harry- did you want to win. keane usually fucks up a lot boys but he ends up on the score sheet cause he keep getting in the right place, wouldn't have subbed him out.
cannot stand the way we play with Crouch on the field. i counted 4 long balls that just rolled to almunia in the first half. i would have taken out crouch for pav
but fuckin a we looked bad... Spooky it s that old word again... Professionalism... where was it. stopped playing before the whistle on the 3rd goal. that minute where there were 5 lillys withing 30 feet of each other outside our box and no one wanted to touch the ball... there it is who the fuck wanted the ball today........fuck me unt away
oh and keane cant play wide on the left. just cant. never again wtf
I want to know why dawson is not playing Harry is always full of praise for him but never starts him
for me daws is better than any of the other 3 puts his head on or into any place needed not to hot going forward but mr tottenham looking after the back .what a vvvvvvvvvvvvvery poor game we had today
Why don't you start to look at the other results you wont belive this but after we got beat it said spurs would be in eight place by 5 oclock and i told my liverpool relations i bet we are still in fourth. sundeland 2-0 down 10 men 2-2 fulham 3-1 liverpool pompy cant score 4 wigan 0 everton tired 1 - aston villa 1 stoke back four brilliant 2-0 half time full time stoke 2- wolves 2. BOLTON 0 CHELSEA 4 THE SAME TEAM THAT WIGAN BEAT . Now stan colymore told a spurs fan that we struggled against Birmingham so did arsenal few weeks ago city hammered them west ham came back and drew ,This week we a miles behind them according to pundits .Can every body be wrong why are the bookies winning every week. two reasons energy and bad ref's. So yes be upset we got beat but look around the corner because it could be stoke beating arsenal or blackburn winning or drawing at utd . If any fan can tell me WHY SO MANY HEAD SCRATCHING RESULTS . THEN i would be grateful so don't call our players because we don't cheat to win and blame bee stings or cough mixture.
The STOKE game was a far worse game to lose than today..... we cannot start with CROUCH!
It's not actually his fault, but after 42 minutes of "Boot it up to Crouch's head..." even Arsenal worked out the great Spurs tactical mystery.
Harry does tell them not to overdo it, but they can't get out of the mindset, and they DEFINITELY don't do anything else once the panic has set in.
Still, with Sunderland and Wigan to come at home, I'm still feeling positive.
HAHAHA
You losers looked well out of your depth today.
I reckon your gonna struggle to make 8th place at best.
:D
DAVSPURS you weirdo! God you talk crap! Hahaha
Lets look at the real problem. HARRY! What a screw up tactically. Bale? Bentley? Hutton? someone explain please.
Harry the halfwit!.
To all fellow Spurs fans... I know how you feel. 1999 - 2009, 10 years of constant misery playing the goons. How long till we regain our rightful place at the helm of North London?
For me the worst , worst, worst thing is the longball nonsense that has creeped into Tottenham Hotspur with the introduction of Crouch. Its simply pathetic and thoroughly embarrasing. Not only is it a guarantee that we will lose when we lump it forward like some Div 2 team...but I'm usually so ashamed when mindless goons and man u fans here in Kenya keep on questioning why anyone thinks this "route 1" team can make it into the Top 4... I can`t even defend my own team when we play like that....
I'm really beginning to detest Mr. Crouch...the anti-Tottenham-way!
You lot are just shite, hopefully you'll learn not to run-up your mouths and let you football do the talking. Old Shovel face definitely scored an own goal, bout who's got the strongest squad! I'm sure there was no need for any pre-match team talk, just need to read out his ramblings, and job done.
Well some good news - the firm and the youth caused mayhem inside and out of N5! Wish I was there - YID ARMY
Dean -
Bentley coz Lennon waz injured.
Hutton & Bale - well as we were losing anyway then no harm in giving them a runout?
@thfc1882
Yeah the firm smashed up seats and broke into the home end in the concourse area. Fucking pussies were running for their lives outside as well. Gooners walking around with claret all down their shit shirts - FUCK EM ALL, FUCK EM ALL, chelsea, west ham and arsanal, COS WE ARE THE TOTTENHAM AND WE ARE THE BEST, WE ARE THE TOTTENHAM SO FUCK ALL THE REST
Shameful. Where was the fight? I can take losing, but not like that - gutless and clueless.
our line up today should have been
corlka king daws or woody bae
kyle wilson kranjka bale
pav crouch
jj and hud not good enough,kean lost his confidence and harry yet again got it wrong against arse-chelski-manure ,what a load of gutless shit we played .
our line up today should have been
corlka king daws or woody bae
kyle wilson kranjka bale
pav crouch
jj and hud not good enough,kean lost his confidence and harry yet again got it wrong against arse-chelski-manure ,what a load of gutless shit we played .
TMWN - fuck it mate, dissapointing but its one game. We're still Tottenham Hotspur and their still the same fake fraud bastards dial square from woolwich - they can NEVER change that.
Tottenham youth are fucking lunatics btw
If only it were just a one off. Nah, when I think of the kind of dough we've spunked, it's nothing short of a disgrace. I'm not sure whether half of them give a shit either.
Boys, I don't think we need to be so despondent. Defeats can prove very beneficial if one learns from them and in my opinion, that's where Levy needs to focus his attention on with the management team. Yes, Harry's done very well for us but let's not also forget, he took over a side that, one-eyed Arsenal fans apart, is historically one of Engalnd's top clubs, and our predicament at the time, and it reflects the terrible mis-management of our great club over far too many years, is the result of boardroom ego, just as with Newcastle and even West Ham, whose present situation has to be laid directly at the feet of a chairman called Brown. These are the guys who really fXXX up clubs.
Like, Keane, for example: how many more games must be played before he is relegated to the substitutes bench? This as I said last week, is for me easily Harry's most major mistake, and giving him the captaincy in many ways beggars belief. I'd reckon even some Spurs players harbour dark thoughts about it.
And let's take our much maligned midfield. How come many Spurs fans realise what our management teams don't seem to: that, for example, Jenas and Huddlestone, for all their so-called potential and promise, are just so inconsistent that they are little better than inconsequential? You watch Jeans in our great Carling Cup semi-final win against Arsenal and he can make you tear your hair out, he was that good that night. Yet week in, week out, you struggle to get any real substance from him in midfield. Crazy!
If things go on for the rest of this season like they have so far, with such woeful performances against the stronger teams and little or no difference in the players picked and their performances, with more mediocre purchases in the January transfer window, then, yes, time for Levy to show he really does want to take us back up to the heights of English football where we rightly belong.
Terrible performance and a painful viewing experience. Totally outclassed and fortunate not to have lost 5-0.
The loss of Lennon-Defoe-Modric-Woodgate made the task of competing with the arse impossible, but very disappointed that guys like Bentley could not seize the opportunity and rise to the occasion. The constant long balls was an embarrasment! Aside from being plain outright ugly one dimensional football, all we achieved was gifting the ball back to the arse and back-peddling for long periods of the match.
That said, it is hardly the end of the world. Still sitting 4th with some very winnable games coming up and hopefully a full strength squad.
I actually thought Jenas was one of the better players on the pitch. not a big fan of the guy, but he did not deserve critiscm on the day. Crikey, cannot believe the anti King sentiment...you guys have got to be joking. He had an off day. Well guess what, every player at every club turns in a shocker at times. How quickly we have forgotten what a commanding figure he has been in the other games this year.
Another week, another game, do not lose the faith!
A bit of a bummer, i picked Arsenal to win 4-0.
I guess something as feeble as that would upset you, DoggiesStokie. While you're drying your eyes, see if your psych can fit you in on Sundays.
you got licked spuds...,
cescsz\
Thanks for enlightening us
Do you know how to read?
I think we've figured that out you twat
Poor performance. Blah blah blah, injuries. Arsenal could only beat the team we fielded and beat them they did. I've noticed a few times this season that King has been exposed. Now Bassong is out now. I hope Woodgate and Dawson are fit enough. Palacios looked ordinary. Huddlestone looked poor. Jenas gave it a good shift but he's not quality enough to get us to top 4. Need the guy to compliment Palacios in the middle or a guy to play on the left to allow Modric to play in the middle.
We could sell Keane, Jenas, Bentley, Pav and not finish a point lower than we would otherwise. Especially if we are out of the cups before January.
Spooky has been saying, we need another Palacios, as an understudy. I think we someone to play next to him as badly. I believe in Lennon, Modric, Palacios have the makings of a top 4 midfield. The fourth midfielder hasn't emerged and I'm not sure he is at the club at this point. For mine, Huddlestone is a central defender, not a midfielder. Jenas can't pass.
Its time to get rid of Jenas. He was poor against stoke last weekend and even more so yesterday. We didn't play him midweek and we won!
Huddlestone can do a job alongside Palacios till jan and then we can get someone in.
Wonder if the Muntari-jenas swap can happen?
KNEE JERK AFTER KNEE JERK REACTIONS AS USUAL FOLLOWING A DEFEAT....
I totally disagree with these comments about this or that player being so bad that they need to leave the club after us getting our best league start ever. What are these people on?
Shall we look at what really happened yesterday?
Whichever way you look at it, Cashburden Grove is a difficult place to go for any team but until that terrible 1min spell they had created ONE chance of any note, as the home team. Pathetic, and mainly down to the fact we matched them with relative ease everywhere. I thought we looked in good shape and as the game went on their 'prawn sandwich brigade-only sing when we're winning' crowd were really starting to get on their backs as a result.
Lets not forget this was the strongest team Arsenal can field and ours was without three big, key players who have all been a major part of our early season form. Defoe's been getting the goals, Lennon's been an integral part of our attack and Modric as we all know has that extra quality you need to unlock defences at the top level, and was tearing it up until he got injured. Without one we've done ok but all three, it starts to show. They are as important to our attack as Arseshavin, Van Persie and Fabregas are to them, without doubt. Arsenal would have little or nothing to offer without them, everone knows that. Most teams are the same.
Having said all this, we conspired to lose this game rather than Arsenal win it. Arsenal were worried before that game and even more worried approaching half time, until we handed them the game that is... 2 goals down is hard to come back from, and they were very aware of it especially as they messed up at West Ham last week. With our injuries, we had nothing different to bring on to put some pace into the game to put them under pressure. it was game over, a totally different set of circumstances from the 4-4.
I doubt any Goon that really knows their football will think they've got a chance in hell of having anything to do with the title this season again and their opinion won't be changed by the result yesterday, nor mine.
Keano will feel his timing of what he said was poor but he's right, we are catching them up, the points show that and our performance yesterday even without key players showed that untill we let ourselves down. Sure they have bragging rights but they got away with it. It's not the same as it used to be some years back when they had more quality than us. We are getting there now and they know it...
'I doubt any Goon that really knows their football will think they've got a chance in hell of having anything to do with the title this season again and their opinion won't be changed by the result yesterday, nor mine.'
5 points behind the Chavs with a game in hand; I'm sure everyone of them thinks it's completely impossible.
'Shall we look at what really happened yesterday?'
Let me tell you what happened: A Tottenham side went to a5ena1 and completely bottled it. I don't care who was or wasn't playing for us; a lack of guts in this fixture is unacceptable. Nothing knee-jerk about it - if you're happy with it, that's your business, but don't try to tell me otherwise.
Thanks
Just one other thing, before Saturday's disaster these Spurs players have stuck NINE goals past the Arses in our last three derby games and went into the game on the same points, i don't think that happens if you're that far behind Mr Wenger...
Lillywhite, we are so far behind them, and these pre-match comments only serve to embarrass us all the more. Ok, we may be on the same points but we never, ever match them int eh derby. As TMWNN says, we have too many players that freeze against the big boys. Old Trafford last year, and practically every other game against our supposed rivals. That wasn't even a derby game yesterday, the atmosphere was so poor, due completely to the way we rolled over. It was like a training match in fact.
I'm sick of us going away to the "big 4" and "keeping it tight" for as long as possible until they inevitably score and then rap on another few after we decide to chase the game. (eg. Chelsea this season, Arsenal yday, United at home) Make no mistake about it, Arsenal were there for the taking yesterday, but as usual we don't spot our opportunity. As some people here have already said, I don't mind being beaten when we give it 100%, but that performance was gutless. The fact of the matter is, when we do give it our all, we are a match for anyone. Bottle, courage and mental strength were all missing yesterday, not really surprising with Jenas and Huddlestone in the middle.