Spurs unveil new home kit
Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 1:01PM 
No matter how many times we fire, we just never seem to do any real damage.
This might just be the words engraved on our 4th spot headstone cometh the end of the season.
You can't fault the side for effort. It's not like we're not crafting out chances. [ground-hog day] We just don't seem to have the cutting edge to put to bed teams who sit back and defend against us [/ground-hog day].
Christ, imagine if we were a tad more clinical? We'd wipe the floor with practically 90% of the Prem. Instead, we make the art of winning a game (based on chances and possession) look like hard graft, and in the end we get a point for our troubles and plenty of head shaking. What makes it even more frustrating is the fact we are leaving ourselves susceptible to a counter-attack and sucker punch goal. Simply because we don't stick in the back of the net. It's not great for the heart, but then watching Spurs never is.
Are we unlucky? Maybe, a little. Perhaps its our routine 'trying to hard' style of play when at times perhaps we should disguise our play a little with a clever ball. Game could have done with the touch of Gudjohnsen. I'm assuming he's not quite ready for action. Or Harry simply decided the game was just too highly strung to risk changing it's dynamics.
Villa, I expected to see arrive at the Lane and give it a right old go. Instead they parked the bus and defended, at times, brilliantly. Respect from Villa or just negative tactics from MON? Either way, they're the ones happy with the point. We're left with heads jam-packed with what ifs.
We played well, perhaps not excelling in one or two areas. But once more, did enough to win it and yet just about enough not to. Modric was involved but not quite on top of his game in the final third. Bale and Bentley continue to impress - Bale especially from a defensive perspective. Proud to see these two do well. Bentley continues to show determined consistency. Wilson was strong, Hudd equally so but didn't do enough IMO in an offensive way. Game needed someone to dictate. Hudd doesn't always impose himself half as much as he's capable of doing. We defended well too but then it wasn't like Villa put us under pressure. Gomes alert when called upon.
Should Harry have made a sub and taken a risk? Niko for Moddle? Had it not worked out I'm sure some of us would have still criticised him for making the wrong substitution.
I do think that had Lennon played in this game and one or two others in recent weeks we'd be in a better position. CL football is not in a galaxy far far away, but rather just a hyper-jump away.
13 games left. No need for a funeral procession just yet. But with Liverpool back in 4th and waiting on the return of Torres, once more we're left hoping all this possession ends with one or two head shots. At the very least.
Reader Comments (79)
Having just spent the last hour reading all 50 comments I have to agree with the words from the last author that Harry doesn't seem to have the balls to make those important decisions when things are not going right. i.e. using the right subs. Hoddle didn't seem to be able to make that bold decision when he was in charge neither did Jol, and it now seems Harry is just content to sit there and prey it all comes good. Other tems have sussed as out and know how to frustrate us, so we have to mix it up and bring on other technically gifted players who may give us a new dimension otherwise what is the point of having such a big squad if you are not going to use them.
We have got a Mexican and Russian striker who may just do that if given the chance after all Bale and Bentley have come good, where would those 2 have been if it hadn't been for injuries to BAE and Lennon.
When BAE returns, I think the ability to move Bale up the field might be one of those tactical changes that could turn the game against bus parking. Move Hudd up a little and slide Modric or EG or Niko behind Defoe. Bale and Lennon on the wings with their pace and ability to track back could really allow more aggression in the middle.
We've got to develop a better strategy that kicking it up to the beanpole and praying he can actually get his Uncle Ned on the ball.
Spooks. Good to see you
Spooky, cheers for brightening up a monday morning.
Dave, are you on ephedrine? It's just that your typing seems a little erratic and over zealous.
(ps. I still blame Robbie Keane)
I think we have to except that teams are going to come to WHL now and play defensively and try and nick a goal (everyone bar the traditional top 4) - its a sign of success. What we missed yesterday was a goal from midfield, when the opposition park the bus, its usually a goal from midfield ala Gerrard, lampard, Carrick, Scholes, Fabregas that decides it as the front line is so tightly marked. Unfortuantely for us Hudd and Palacios just dont seem to have that in their locker as yet and Hudds shots this season seem to be off radar. The top teams central midfielders contribute 15-20 goals a season and thats our main difference.
The hudd is getting there. He has improved immensely since wilson has been partnering him.
Great article. I think this really is probably our only chance to get into top 4 for many years.Man City will be stronger next season and you can see how good a weak liverpool are doing, so next season I think they will be title contenders. If I am honest I think we will never get top 4 when Jenas and Levy are at the club. Maybe some think that is harsh, but what has Levy achieved apart from spending more than arsenal potentially building a stadium 10 years after them. As for Jenas...god...he is awful, just awful. Im sure a nice guy but never should he be in a squad like spurs, maybe a Hull or championship team.
Thudd should have been dragged with 20 to go. How many assists has he actually got this year, Gudjohnson would have been a better link man to play intricate balls in and around the box. Harry seems to be Martin Jol in disguise, he doesn't have enough tactical sense. When we can't break a team down he does nothing (how many inspired subs this season?) and when we go ahead we seem to drop back into our 18 yard box to defend instead of continuing to dominate and get the second. If we do not finish 4th it will be a travesty, Liverpool are awful but are still above us. Villa were never going to attack us and I said that on here before the game. MON knows we are the better team so was always going to defend, surely Harry should have known this!
god u would think we were mid table, arry doin great job, yes villa game was frustrating but hey atleast we created, COYS
Not a bad game for the lads. Modric has been getting better as he plays and will soon be back to his impeious best. Crouch should come off the bench as an impact player. We should play a 5 man midfield with Guddie or krannie in the hole. And finally no tinkering. 5th spot good for us - 1 year in the Europa league and CL next year. I am somewhat concerned we might get swamped in CL qualification. God blog mate enjoy your comments.
I thought MON paid us a massive compliment by playing the way Villa did and I think we should take that as recognition of how far we have come under HR. Yes there have been blips along the way but teams come to WHL now knowing that could get tonked and see taking a point of us as a massive acheivement. 18 months ago teams came expecting to beat us and there are so many elements of our play that are very, very good so we are not miles away.
I think Liverpool back in 4th will hopefully take of some of the pressure on the players. It seems to me that we need a couple of been there done that type players in the squad (a davids type influence) that can take us to the next level. Despite Bentleys form I think Lennons absence has been significant and I was surprised we didn't see Niko for a 20 minute cameo but we were playing well enough to score and a change could have upset the rythm of the team.
April has always looked like a difficult month but to be fair we dont deserve to finish 4th if we continue our rank performance against the sky4.
I do not understand people's comments about Crouch, he is an excellent forward, without him I guarantee Defore wouldn't have twenty goals this season. Just because a player doesn't score regularly doesn't mean he's not playing well or contributing!
I think its more about the way the team goes about utilising crouch that is the problem. He can play with his feet but we don't give him the chance. Therefore people perceive that it is because he is on the pitch that people like dawson are hoofing it to him, whereas if he weren't we'd be playing more along the floor. Thats why people blame crouch, even though its not really his fault, its the tactics employed by the team. Harry should tell Corluka and Dawson to cut it out. Or at least do it sparingly.
Right lads i promise you this i have had my medication and if you don't believe me our season is being ruined by Ephedrine cheats don' come to my mental hospital and visit me The reason i have bean locked up is you lot telling Barwick a lifelong Liverpool fan and the Boss at the Fa till the end of this season,That i am mental this has left me rocking in the corner rambling cheats. I am Hoping to get out soon and save our season from this new football craze block throw your body in the way save save follow the ball across the pitch until you make the other team hit long balls .Then at half time top up your energy with Lucazade( ha ) and start again .The formula ones Bosses are adopting the same method instead of cars filling up at pit stops they are making the cars tanks bigger so they don't need to stop .And that my scetical Spurs supporters is why when we think we have the team to beat Wolves on wenesday Mick upsets the form book and explains it like this we pat to play 9/10 tempo to beat Spurs and i cant play the same players twice. This is how he told the reporter why , He had changed ten of his team against Utd . The real reason they where playing Burnley the week after so on Wednesday expect ten changes or if i am right a team who will defend far far better than they did at Birmingham when 36 years of age Philips did what Defoe and co couldn't score twice he his nine years older years older than DEFOE. Don't live on the the hope that Liverpool will slip up both them and UTD wont get beat by shock results it wont Happen while Gill Dein Barwick are in the FA and these two famous Clubs are saddled with Massive Depts .Why because the PREMIERSHIP brand cant be damaged and you cant test a whole team or expext one player to carry the can for all is team mates. That is why Paddy Kenny only got 9 months ban instead of two years and he was pardoned of energizing is display in the semi final play offs and preventing Preston fans of a day at Wembley against the other team of shocks Burnley .i promise all my fans faithfully if you call my team in a proper manner when they have played rubbish then my mental rant will stop because no one believes me any way ,but for me to stay silent when bin dippers and manx fans are texting and ringing me saying i told you Spurs are rubbish hurts even more when you have seen the evidence of anorexic looking players like ex boo boy Fletcher and skrtl kuyt carrgher lets hope i am mental or we are in for some more shocks outstanding saves and last gasp goals and blocks. yours for ever the Equalizer
Loving the love for Bale and Bentley.
Loving the DAVESPURS.
(Bale and bentle get sloppy seconds, soz TM)
Oh poo, that doesn't bode well for wednesday:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/8504283.stm
I'd seriously laugh until I cry if the mighty Davspur was talking sense, well, trying to formulate sentences to convey the truth (in his own inimitable way). Sometimes, you just wanna grasp at anything to beleive that Spurs got beaten, not because they lacked guts, or desire, but because this super drug, undetectable, and only employed by other teams against us is to blame. Well, not this chap, as I think Dav is clearly a fuckin' loony, but a friendly loony, one who'd hug you to death, the big crazy bastard. If anything, he keeps us all chuckling, like the old faithful family pet, who's reaching a renaissance in old age, by thinking it's a pup again, making us smile at it's antics, but still, there's that feeling residing in the back of your mind, the shotgun's gonna be needed.
DAVSPURS YOU ARE MENTAL
this might sound a bit odd but he might be on to something our Dave ... I have been playing for a long time on different levels and i have seen quite a few strange things both energywise and medically.
For my professional activity i also interact with a lot of people in and around the top level footballing community and they tell me that the dope is present in football. But the controlling system and the governing bodies lack the will/knowledge to counter this issue.
Not at all claiming that it is widespread but there are indications of the infestation on lower level football and from what i gather it is also happening on higger levels. A little example : on of my colleagues used to play for a Belgian premier league footballing club and they had a medical cabinet that was unlocked (that held heavy medication) and a vitamin cabinet that was locked ... and only opened when you went in all alone to discuss your physical state with the club MD. he is still not sure what he took in that period but he never felt more awake, fit and his fat burning has never been as good as it was then
Just saying :-)
Davspuurs might sound mental, and he probably is, but i can tell you that shitloads of players are on EPO. I know this as a semi fact. I have been in a car with PL player taking drugs!! The police rolled up and knew what was going on, everyone thought we wewre in the shit till the lad got his I.D out and said 'I knock around with Alan Shearer, who the fuck are you'. The police couldnt apologise (or ask for autographs) quick enough. So when Dav says PL players are abouve the law with drugs etc, believe it, cos they are. Your average fan on the street know nothing of this, and blessem, they still naively believe that everyone is squeaky clean. It is quite funny when you think about it.
And to the person making the ponint about Huddlestone, and the fact that Gerrard, Lampard etc score 15-20 goals a season - you are missing one quite fucking gaping point - Those player play with at least 2 other more defensively minded players in midfield, so have the license to go forward and attack. Spurs, however, play with 1 holding midfeilder and two wingers, so to say that Huddlestone or palacious should be getting forward and scoring that amount of goals is ignorant at best, and at worst completely stupid. Its the job of our wide players, who have the cover of 2 screening midfielders, to score goals. And frankly, Modric doesnt do enough of this. Also, to the person who said Huddlestone should be creating more goals - its his job to supply the wingers, who in turn supply the forwards.
Defoe and crouch - the problem with these 2, is that one is completely fucking useless without the other. They are like the flippin chuckle brothers.Yeah defoe wouldnt have scored 20 goals this season without crouch, but without defoe up there, how shit would crouch look? Without crouch, how ineffectual would defoe be? The answer to both questions is very. Thats why we are so tactically inflexible, because we HAVE to have both of them up front for either to be of any use.
the mean machine........
We could try play football rather than kicking it long to Crouch's head and looking for the flick ons and knock downs all game.
Yes we played well defensively and probably deserved to win but the football made me feel sick, all we did was kick it 40-60 yards to Crouch's head... I've watched the game back over again and it's worse the second tme round.
As hard as Crouch is for defenders to deal with, I'd rather draw 0-0 playing our football than draw 0-0 playing to Crouch's strengths.
We're playing football like a bottom 5 side and that's an insult to West Ham.
Crouch has opened his mouth again!!! Why oh why can't he simply shut it and allow his football (goals) to do the talking!!!
Yes, a admit, I'm not a keen supporter of Crouch!! We can't continue to play this way. Watch the Aston Villa game again and tell me what you see!!!
carlton cole, or even kevin davies for crouch
Bless you and your ironic ways Chrissman ... i know it sounds off but i can only state what i know.
Btw Juventus with Zidane were on EPO (proven fact) and Mutu has tested positive just last week ... but that's only Italy ... and everyone knows that Italians have no say over EPL football at all
Oh wait ... that's not right now is it ?
Lets get one thing out in the open her i was a very good sportsman i had a chance to play professional football or Rugby League . And my academic ability is more down to the fact of me missing school for twelve months at eight years old and not catching up through my spine disease, This would take my cartilage's aged 16 and 19 and then develop into full blown spine disease at 23 Akylosing spongy i call it closing of the spine to my fellow cockerels.I sometimes wish i was mental and i no drugs have played a part in sport for years and all the deaths prove its not worth the moment of fame. But i will tell all my fans there is no more Loyal fan on here who has felt more pain this year when my team have bean beat and i don't mean the pain of Anky, after the battles with this disease over 28 years i am used to it by now.Its the terrible pain of knowing that not just one or two players are taking drugs like the secret 25 who failed cocaine tests and where kept from the public but full teams and please i no i should not be telling fans and believe me this goes back to when we lost our battle for fourth last time This statement about are we being targeted yes we are for two good reasons .Spurs 9 Wigan 1 is one and the other was our Squad every team that faced Spurs had to stop our attacks and the one place where we where vulnerable was Defense ,This how teams beat Spurs one striker and five man midfield this is not the only way but the most successful, from the kick of the chase begins the lone man chases afer the ball and we pass it away from him , then has the ball goes across the back line another two players press then Daws or any other defender is rushed and has to hit a long ball then all the team attack and defend and leave one up front .This game plan Depends on the first goal being scored by them if we get it they start frenetic attacking to get level and then if they do its back to the pressing and chasing throwing body's at the ball and because the keeper is energized he can get across goal all afternoon and beyond at half time a top is required and this is when the opportunity arises to score til the energy kicks in and when it does you can see players start chasing the ball and a mesmeric look of concentration start to appear on there faces and that is how we draw or get beat .This one stat back's me. Wolves 40 percent Spurs 60 wolves fouls 13 Spurs8 shots on Target 10 of 9 Wolves 1 of o. This is not a team getting beat by normal stats and if it was one or two then you could say it Happens this way of playing would be mind blowing fitness, if it was normal but all the sudden and tragic deaths makes you wonder are sportsmen dying of overexertion last year in Rugby and Football there was over eight sudden and unexplained deaths .This is what made me bring my findings to the radio stations and Sky .plus the way i found out is my wife neice is boyfriend was using this drug to play rugby League .He wasent even proffesional even more sad and they went form six defeats to tow promotions andd one drunken night at a club he told me where he got these pure Ephedrine from and i was staggered how famous this team was .This lad done some work for ths medic who looks after you when you are recovering from injury his father in law found these by accident hid under the sink unit. When i started to report this was when my neice used them to lose weight she went form ten stone to 7 and looked ill and was complaining of back pains this is when i started investigating this drug and was staggered to learn it can cause heart and major organ failure. So no i am not mental just a concerned father and Grand father who used to love watching my team win lose or draw but not get cheated because this drug has so many sines you cant miss it and looking at a game the other day funny enough it was Arsenal and a player very much in the headline took is shirt of one of the sines and there allover is body red Blotches and a red face is another along with massive weight loss something like Fletcher Whithead Fellani Piennar skyrtl Kuyt this is just a few thin ill looking faces and studying this rugby team is why i can see who is and isent and for the final prove Uk sport admitted its rife but they are keeping it under the radar she said thats all i will ever say on this but you like me will after wonder is he right or mental . and don't think crouch he looked like that when he was born . This could have bean why one of is clubs used him sparingly or he would have disappeared up is own arse like skrtl and Kuyt are M.B.davspurs
Remember, a Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware. Anger, fear, aggression. The dark side are they. Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny.