How do we fix him? Play him? Bench him? Hug him?
Monday, December 21, 2009 at 1:05PM Does he even need fixing?
He's a bit lethargic. Expect more from him. The way he's moving around, he's just cumbersome. Okay, so he shows us glimpses and there are positives but it's not in anyway a complete performance. It's all we get from him. He's disappointing and not showing signs of improvement. Not in a big-step kinda way.
Jenas right? Huddlestone? Nope. Neither.
Wilson Palacios.
The question is simply this. If Wilson's current and recent displays (arguably nowhere near the tenacious and disciplined marshal of the midfield we were blessed with at the back end of last season) belonged to either the much maligned JJ or Hudd - we’d be crucifying them. Not that we don't anyway.
Are we too soft on Palacios simply because we know that when he's on song, he's a monster of a player (unlike the other two who are not quite at the same level of expectancy and delivery)? Or does he still offer too much to ignore even when he's not at his very best? Meaning he still has a positive effect on the side and tactics.
Is he perhaps immune to really loud criticism? Interested to know what people think. Interested to know if some of you are even aware that he's not quite 100% at the minute, because opinions on this seem to vary depending on who I'm talking to/reading.
Personally, he has to be there in the mix of things regardless. Because we don't have another option. Which is not the best way to handle the matter. His form is a little confused at the moment, especially his passing. But take him out of the side, and where does the protection came from? Hence the need for an understudy come this Jan transfer window.
So.
Is there a problem?
Is he detrimental to the side when not playing well (because of the importance of his role)?
Do we have to be patient and wait for him to reclaim form?
Will he do so when the team finds a satisfying equilibrium?
I believe in the lad. Smashing lad he is. And he's no Zokora, who was also a smashing lad, just lacked a brain.
I just can't seem to work out why General Wilson is 'suffering' at the moment (other than the personal problems he experienced the death of his brother). Which might answer my question.
Reader Comments (49)
geeez, I take it you're not working today then Spooky? As for Wilson, I thought he was terrific against Citeh (his passing doesn't count) and without him we'll look shite again. People need to get off his back and start moaning about someone else. How about Keane? BAE? Gomes? Crouch? THud? Jenas?
Christ, we moan a lot. For all you moaners out there.....shut the hell up.....and have a wonderful Christmas. :)
I'm thinking maybe a new song? For the first half of the next home game.
'[Wilson's] Killing in the name of''?
'Wil-son Pal-a-cious' (to tune of champion the wonderhorse)
'Sergent Wison, can we fix him? Sergent wilson, yes we can'
err, I'll get me coat.....
Because of his excellence (Wilson) when he under performs at let's say 70%, its noticeable.
Hope you and all your readers have a happy Christmas and a great New Year Spooks.
I'm with 1882, we dwell on the negatives far too much. How about a post on awesome Dawson. The boy's coming of age with captaincy and a run in the team. He always gives 100%, puts his body on the line and deserves huge praise.
The problem there Oops is that he;s been closer to 60%.
It's fine to dwell on such negatives. Not that's it a negative as such. Palacios has not been playing well, that's a fact. And usually Harry is quick to repair any lingering damage spotted early on but seems like he's not concerned too much with some of Wilsons clumsy play.
Dawson (okay go on then) has been immense for us.
was at both the blackburn and citeh game and must say in particular against blackburn he was dog shit. he couldn't pass water. he does get stuck in but have to say he was a bit of a liability at the weekend. has to be mentioned, he's not been the same since the sad passing of his bruvva, that in itself cannot be a coincidence imo, but that said, if thats what titsing his form up, get him out for a bit to sort himself out.
Positive news articles? Me? You must have me confused with someone else.
dawson was superb, short sleeves et al.
what a ledge.
Wilson is tired. He came back from playing Mexico (a 12 hour flight) and went straight into the team. The internationals have taken their toll on him.
Harry will use him as he's doing for the first hour of a game and let him get over his burn-out. But he will be back to his best soon.
Spinagh might be the answer. Hope he wasn't in Dublin !!!!
Send him to passing school.
And bit more squad rotation around him, Jenas an Hudd - and Modric/Kran, perhaps. Give the lad a break, the weight of expectation would affect anyone.
Often see criticism of BAE (slight hint of it, above). Am not a particular fan of his but don't think people appreciate that in most matches he spends most of the time defending against two opponents, as Kranc is seldom on the left. When he does move forward, he's not overlapping a midfielder/winger so knows that nobody's covering for him. In view of this, I think he's been doing a marvelous job, this season.
PS This is not a criticism of Krank, as he does chase over/back when BAE is under pressure. However, the point is that BAE is always under pressure as kranc is not there in the first place.
He needs a rest. O'Hara back to us in January if the Sandro deal doesn't happen otherwise we are shagged if he then gets injured or worse.
thfc1882, how can you mention Gomes and BAE in your list of players to moan at? What has Gomes done wrong? - I think he is within the top 3 keepers (form-wise) in the prem at the moment.
And BAE? Ok, he was poor againt wolves, but who wasn't? Otherwise he has well and truly cemented the left back position and has come on leaps and bounds.
Also, for me, crouch has not done much wrong. ok he got a little eager towards the end against citeh, but is it really his fault that he gets fouled all the time and has the ball lumped up at him throughout the game?
thfc1882, you end your post slating the moaners, but have just told us spurs fans to have a moan at 6 other players !!!
His form dipped the moment Modric got injured. Get Moddle back in the team. Watch the beast re-wake!
i agree with Lawrie BAE is not world class but he has been good recently and looks confident on the ball
Spot on Lawrie. BAE's been solid in defence, and when he's given options does go forward and pass the ball to feet. Gomes likes to give him the ball, so if Kran's not there he's often in the position of having to lump it up field. Not his fault though.
Wilson is what we've lacked for over a decade now, even playing below his best he is leagues above jenas and huddlestone. He also has double the workload as Huddlestone is just not physically capable of getting up and down the pitch. All the best holding midfielders in the world play next to players who are willing to run and battle as well. Huddlestone is lethargic, can't tackle, and a couple of great passes a game doesn't makeup for contributing nothing the rest of the time. Wilson offers energy, pace and nearly always looks to go forward..Huddlestone and Jenas take all the pace out of the team looking to backwards and sideways. Leave Wilson alone and lets get him a decent partner to play in the middle, pick on Robbie Keane instead, cause he really is a detriment to the team. And BAE has been our most improved player.
spooky, i think wilson is still giving us that edge against most teams, even though we lost to wolves and stoke, we have dominated 80% of our games. He does allow the attacking players to do their thing and sometimes that is where we fall short, the ability to unlock a nine man defense, the top teams have mastered this art and we will need to, to progress into regular top four contenders! Right now i am a proud yid of how our season has progressed, with half the season gone we sit only 8 points from the summit, that hasn't happened in a long time.
to those of you saying hoe good BAE is, i give you not just the wolves game but the Everton one, when he was so bad he go pulled at halftime. He was turning his back on the ball and chickening out of tackles. Not something you want in a defender. Bale is a much better prospect. Yes he has also been poor, but if we don't make use of his immense potential and talent, I guarantee you he will come back to haunt us in a Man utd shirt at some point in the future.
Why is it that we never seem to be able to bring our young players on? Chris Gunter? Terry Dixon? that chec bloke that couldn't stop scoring for the reserves never to be heard of again, J2S,Tarabt, Kevin prince boateng, Dean Marney, Luke Young, before you know it we will be saying the same about Danny Rose and John Bostock. There is something about the culture of our club that whoever is manager is never prepared to give the youngsters a chance.
Wilson seems to have had an attack of The Bentleys and has started trying to do too much, especially with his passing which isn't his best attribute. There's no point busting a gut to tackle someone only to try a fancy flick or lofted pass and give the ball straight back again. Keep it simple: find ball, get ball, re-locate ball to nearest team mate who can distribute it with a modicum of accuracy.
Johnson Kid nails it.
Yes Wilson is not at his very best. But the job he does is still to a degree disciplined, more so that what OHara or Zokora could have given us. And because of this Huddlestone/Lennon/Niko have freedom to go on the attack. I think your answer is in there Spooky. Keep playing him.
Can' believe people on here slating either Gomes or BAE minus the stoke and Wolves games this is the most dangerous looking spurs side we have seen for ages we just beat Blackburn away ! ( a game our soft underbelly is normally exposed in ) harry is doing great things for the club ! and those who think BAE isnt up 2 it tell me a better left back in the prem other than A Cole , Evra or Clichy ??? the kid can play .
just wanna see us try and introduce Gio and Taraabt into the side and we may then see an improvement in the creativity because i for one am not enjoying our Plan b route 1 approach . Crouch's strength is not predominantly ariel ability ! (why does no-one else seem to realise this ??)
I've read it time and time again on this blog that Palacios is the player Spurs have lacked for practically a generation. We shouldn't ignore or dismiss his current clumsy sloppy passing and he's not without a doubt not 100% in mind but he's still part of the mechanics of the team we can simply not do without. He has to play. And Harry has to resolve whatever inner demons are keeping the panther at bay.
Imagine if we did have a team consisting of Gunter, J2S,Taraabt, KPB, Dean Marney and Luke Young. We'd be nailed on for the Champions League for sure. Or maybe they are just a bit rubbish and we're better off with Corluka, Defoe, Modric, Krank and Wilson.
Terry Dixon was looking like a very good prospect but dislocated his knee a few too many times.
Huddlestone has started every game and yet poor Wilson is having to do the work of two men. I don't think so.
He is not as good as we thought and hoped, Could he ever be?
He provides something that we have lacked for some time but at the moment is playing averagely at best. His passing and heading are poor.
Jenas played the last half hour, set up the second goal, did his shift in defence and yet still comes in for criticism because he's not Pal;acios, or Gerrard or someone else.
Incidently Palacios, Huddlestone and Jenas are all on four yellows so lets hope they don't all get another in the next match because then we would be struggling.
O'Hara has already been confirmed as remaining at Portsmouth until the end of the season.
bit of a departure from the original post but I have to disagree with Rebrov. You list the players wh didn't make it but look at our current first team - Dawson (bought as a youngsternow captaining the side in King's absence), Aaron Lennon (arguabl the best out and out winger in the league right now), BAE (bought as a young prospect now first team constant), Huddlestone (bought as a young prospect has started every game this season)
Yes it's frustrating to hear about all these promising young players only to see them do zilch but sometimes they just aren't good enough. Ok some clubs and manager are better at developing young players, but a closer look at our side shows that if the player is good and hungry enough (hudd?) then they can stay in the first team.
Spooky does it again. Should come with a disclaimer that these are not his opinions but they are an amalgamation of what the masses are preaching.
The team without wilson in it will not struggle, but a vital ingredient will be missing therefore not as good. His passing may be useless, but at least the other team Knows there is someone in the midfield who will rattle them when they approach the half way line.
I feel a bit of competition for his position may get him back focussed and help him.
Bring ohara back in january please harry, as this sandro chap will take an age to settle in.
Who would you guys replace wilson with currently? JJ or Ohara
Its why we all love football - debates and wide opinions like we see here from blokes that all love the Spurs. My 2 penneth; Wilson P has to play every away game and the majority of home games but can be rested against the weaker teams who come to WHL to defend only. He cant pass for toffee, we just have to accept that and move on. I too have some reservations about BAE, but Bale playing there instead, do me a favour! Players to sell to raise some cash in January; Bale, Hutton, JJ - abroad only, not another Prem team (that will evoke some comment!), Bentley, Pav. Buy Cattermole or Parker and get Tarabaat back from QPR and dont sell O'Hara, ease him back into the team next season. Get another left back as cover for BAE, if we could buy Upson then do the deal and of course we could do with another striker if Keane moves on too.
Are we going to finish 4th? Maybe if we stop losing games we should win - Stoke, Wolves and believe when we play Chelsea, Manure and Arse - body language is poor the minute we step on the pitch against those guys, yet against City (arguably with a stronger squad than Arse) we showed no fear - why? Without belief we are never going to get the monkey off our back (look at the national side for a perfect example)
Drop Wilson. Give him a rest. He seems to be in a desperate need of re-galvanisation (new word that).
I agree with mjd,
Why do people keep slating BAE? I honestly think hes been one of our best players this season and definitely top 5 LB's in the prem.
As for Wilson, he is a bit off, but he's still making those tackles and playing decent.
This is why signing Sandro would be a very good thing. Nothing like having some competition at every position. Wilson's passing is horrid, but that is fixable. Look at Aaron Lennon. Wilson is a lot more good than he is bad, but he is certainly being overplayed given all of the international play. For the same reason, BAE has seen his play fall off sharply because there really is no better option. We need DM cover (Sandro), experienced LB cover, experienced CB cover and a striker (Ruud Van Nistelrooy). I would also add Petrov from City if possible (he could be awesome for the development of O'Hara for next year). This must be done if we're to snatch top four especially given what we will lose during the African Cup. If we fail to add a striker, I'd play 4-5-1 with Defoe up front and a midfield of Palacios, Hudd, Krank, Modric, Lennon. Boss the midfield and we'll put defences under enormous pressure as we have pace and oodles of talent. Everyone on Spurs can score and that's how it should be. Bale, Pav, Jenas, Bentley, Taraabt, Hutton all out as I don't see any of them ever making it with Spurs. COYS
To be honest I am starting to have enough of Palacios. Im not saying he should be dropped, but i tottally blame HR for Palacios Demise. He was licking palacios ass at every chance and singing his praise at every interview, even saying he was the main reason we avoid the drop. He wasn't. We would have never got relegated. The squad was too good for that. Now palacios thinks he is the complete football player trying back flicks and dribbles and difficult passes. Well he isn't. He is excellent at breaking play. So if HR tells him to just break play, and then give it to the HUDD, as he did last year, we'll see the old Palacios back. Simple as that really!
This will become a talking point when the window opens and we see who comes knocking and for whom the clubs ask for Steve Bruce Fergie manccini..Or his he suffering from depression and guilt over is brother because it is down to his success is brother was kidnapped and sadly Lets put one theory to bed here we can win without Palacios but find it more difficult without Hudds this is fact dont underestimate hudds is speed is real others lets say get a little help from cold remedy's.Palacios and the Hudds will shine in a great season Santa has promised me and i believe him.Spookster hold on where going to the very top and i hate heights but this one is breathtaking. COYS
he will bounce back......simply i think to keep match fitness and in the ist team consistently is the only way......
all players have low periods etc.......its up to redknapp and the staff to finetune the players regardless of opinion
into the next game.....
We need somebody to perform that defensive role in front of the back 4 and at the moment even playing at 80% Wilson is better than anyone else we have. You don't improve a player by not playing him for any length of time and in the last couple of matches I think he's starting to pick up again. He's never going to be great going forward but doesn't need to with the attacking options we have
2 clean sheets is as much about the midfield as the defence however we do need cover for him and I would like to see O' Hara back in January to cover him and also left back/ midfield.
I think Wilson's feeling a little exhausted, but he still does a great job. Every player has off-days and potential for improvement, and Wilson's no different: he must improve on his passing and even shooting (he got into a few good positions in the past two games and I was on the seat's edge expecting him to shoot!), but he's still done a great job. I'm more concerned about the reliance of long balls to Crouch, we could be too predictable at times, and maybe Pav can give us something else.
I honestly think his attacking side is being shown up because he's doing it more.
We are absolutely dominating the midfield in most matches and his tackling has been on song as ever.
I think he's been asked to shoulder most of the drive forward as although Hudd is more attacking, he's our "quarterback". This means Wilson is getting forward and trying to play nice balls - but it's not as bad as it's made out to be either. Unless of course, we're talking about his flicks and backheels...
Look at his ball to Lennon against Citeh, Defoe against Wigan, there's more of them too. Often plays a cracking through ball. I think he just rushes a bit.
No doubt he's been off his peak since the WCQ, but with enough variability that he's had performances that were spot on defensively and only had a couple of "those" passes on the top end, but some really poor performances on the low end. The boy has been through so much, from the personal tragedy to the dramatic qualification, as well as playing a LOT of football in the process. He looks tired, and tiredness manifests as the things we're seeing: sloppy passes (which can come from good vision and weak execution), late tackles, too often out of position.
i find one part of this rather insulting (and the rest a bit of a waste of time) Zokora no brain? Well his brain was intelligent enough to go from a club that appeared not to want him to a step up where he plays Champions league. Call that brainless? I don't. On the Palacios issue, he has had a family tragedy nobody on this board could contemplate what effect this could have on him trying to do his job......tophobunty..
This may go funny-we cant fix him,or hug him but we can love him and find him a better partner in the middle.Only Dawson and Niko has been consistan so far for us so i guess he came after them this way.also he got half way true 4 yellow cards-much better compair to last season,no red at all.What so far is catching my eye is since Corluka join us Aaron work better on the right now we got similar case with BAE and Niko,wasn't to bad with BAE and Luka.also finaly-i can't believe it even Arry spot it without Keano we do much better-about time to see all other details like Gio,Roman guess to late,and tax man.Agains Man C he was the reason for final score and now we can deam because of that Bentley go away
It says more about JJ and Hudd that even when playing (relatively) badly, Palacios is still head and shoulders above them performance-wise.
He has to keep playing, and inevitably will.
I think the issue instead is Huddlestone. Even when given minutes/hours on the pitch, starting game after game, he still flatters to deceive. He's played against good sides and bad sides, against teams who stand off him and teams who shut him down. And don't even say that he's young and has potential: the guy is 5 months older than Cesc Fabregas!
At least his shot was so bad V Blackburn that Niko could keep it in a whip in the cross for the first goal.
Wilson is a fantastic player who seems to be going through a minor and temporary (I'm 100% sure) confidence issue. I think the reason why the fans haven't directed any frustration at him is because we all know what he has gone through this summer. He still puts 150% heart into every match and just as much as we appreciated O'Hara for that, we will continue to support Wilson through this rough patch... heel passes and all. I think adding another CDM to the mix will help fuel him again. The boy is competitive.
COYS!
Tom Huddlestone, unfortunately, is over-rated! He only plays for Spurs because he's English. If we didn't score from his mis-shot...it would have been one of the jokes of the year! Luka Modric should partner Palacios as soon as possible and all this talk will be over. Best Team: Gomes - BAE, Woody, Dawson, Corluka - Krankjar, Palacios, Luka, Lennon - Giovanni, Defoe.
BTW, if Giovanni was English he would play every game. Thats a fact!
Some dubious thinking here.
Tom
Huddlestone is five months older than Fabregas so that makes him old? No that makes them both young
Ronny.
That my friend is an opinion, not a fact.
Harry is not known to have a preferance for English players. Have a look at his signings over the years.
This concentration on individual players is misleading. Football is a squad game and the team actually put out depends on pairings or groups of players whose abilities complement each other.
Modric is our 'best' player but he can't do everything, anywhere. He can do a lot of things better than say Huddlestone but not everything better.Kranjcar is an excellent and skilful player but does not give Ekotto the same support that Lennon gives Corluka.
This has to recognised in the game plan. To simplify everything down to who is better than who is to devalue the different qualities of the individual players that combine to make a succesful team, which we are at the moment. Even 11 Modric's would not make a team not even if you throw in Gomes and make it 10.
2 Clean sheets in a row.
5 Goals scored.
STOP COMPLAINING.
Wilson will get a goal soon and he'll pick up. In the meantime his 'below par' performance are getting us clean sheets.
Dawson to Sunderland? HAHA thats a joke! Can tell the window is approaching!
Wilson is one of the best defensive midfielders in the business.
I strongly believe football is heading towards being like American Football, specific players for specific duties.
Yes he can tackle, but he cant pass for sh*t!
His role should be to get the ball and play a short pass to our Quarter back (Hudd)!
Under no circumstances should he be allowed to try and nutmeg / turn someone, or play a long ball. Dock his wages if he does! Gomes cant kick a ball, so he doesnt, we play it short. Wilson has to have the same constraints
COYS!