Sideways Spurs need fantastic forward
Monday, January 24, 2011 at 1:20PM The one definitive observation from Saturday’s draw at St James Park was the one we always discuss in the aftermath of another ninety or so minutes of frustration. You know exactly what it is I’m referring to. Regardless of all the tippy tappy possession and the undoubted Barcelona brilliance of Modric (just call it Lukalona football) who you just have to stand back and applaud when remembering the slow but necessary process of his gradual but now explosive return to complete form.
Even if his performance at Newcastle was not full pelt thanks to the physicality of the opposition, pushed and barged throughout the game, but refusing to be bullied and was desperately unlucky what with the woodwork rudely getting in the way from a shot that deserved net.
So regardless of all that...we still don’t quite manage to make it count up top, we don't seem to create the clear cut chances that the build up play deserves, mainly because when the ball gets up top in and around the box, we are let down by either lack of composure, wrong decisions or poor ball/cross. So that vital bit of the build up is where it sort of falls flat.
Plenty of guilty touches shared by many. Lennon, on the left (having started off in his traditional right) got his foot stuck under the ball once or twice when a cross might have resulted in a goal. On the left, crossing with his weaker foot. Not going to work really.
There was a patch in the second half where we knocked on their door constantly. Well actually, we were practically kicking the door down even though we had the keys in our hand, however dropping said keys walking away from the door back towards the start of the driveway before running back and kicking the door...again. Never really breaking through it. There was an easier way.
PICK UP THE KEYS, PUT THE KEYS IN THE LOCK, UNLOCK THE DOOR. WALK IN.
Lennon did do quite well trying to get in via the window (that’s cutting in onto his strong(er) right foot and what with him being so small, perfect fit for it). Along with Modric, Azza was our best player on the day. Even with his final ball hiccups. His goal was deserved. For his effort and for our effort with not giving up. Even though we might look back in regret at some fundamental issues that aided Newcastle into the lead and for most of the game likely to hang on to it. I under-rated them post-match. Shame on me.
As for us - we made hard hard work of grabbing a point.
Their goal, awful really from our perspective. Hutton’s slow and slower footwork the first facepalming moment, Cudicini’s attempted save the second. The latter redeemed himself. The former is fortunate he’s decent going forward. His positioning remains awkward at the back, along with his lack of instinctive quick thinking defending with additional ball and player watching. Can we try Charlie again at RB again? Or Kaboul?
Before this, should have been 1 up at half time (JD miss) but 1-0 down in the second it was, and the day continued to run with the ominous theme of despair. What with BAE out injured, Bale in at LB from LW and then out early in the game with a back injury. And then 1-0 down and lacking punch.
Dawson, talismanic on his return bringing with him some clean sheets to replace the dirty old ones found himself hiding under the blankets avoiding the big scary hairy monsters. He got turned, badly on one occasion. I still love the big smiling lad to bits but a day to forget for the most part. Could have easily been 2-0 once or twice when we pushed forward only to be countered.
Jenas was like a goldfish swimming in shark infested waters. Talks a good talk does JJ. Talks. Pienaar didn’t look sharp or completely 100%. Did have one or two worthy moments of intent, but he’s come straight into the side so we can hardly start having a go. He did okay, we’ll expect better over time if he’s going to be more than just a squad player (which is what I think he is). Bassong did fine considering it’s the first time he’s slotted into LB this season.
Other mentions. Defoe should have had it just before the half time whistle, as mentioned. Buzzed about but his decision making sometimes has me eating my fist. I dislike the way he always seems to fall down after a poor first touch in front of the pen area. I know it was physical game, but it happens too often. van der Vaart? You sort of forgot he was playing at times, what with dropping back in deepest midfield to help out Luka and sort of getting stuck there. And please Rafa, stop allowing gravity to pull you down with such comparative ease.
Also found a lot of our play was down the middle, forever smacking into a cluster of Newcastle players. Lost the balance of width and as the game progressed (three at the back) we still seemed to get to their pen area and lose impact due to a loose ball or whatever. Ref was as messy as our final third effort.
When you cry out for Crouch (which is what five of us were doing as we watched the game on a plasma – the wonders of streaming from lap top to tv) you just knew the day was now totally engulfed in ominous-ness. When he came on we hardly managed to us his tallnessness. Lack of width, lack of crosses. But he did get his head onto a flick-on once or twice which is either deemed as constructive to bringing his team mates into the game or the only thing he does which is hardly reason to depend on him.
In the end, Lennon worked his swagger and from the jaws of defeat yadda yadda yadda. He made the right decision and finished splendidly. Two points dropped, no? Well actually probably not. Because that observation from the game once more illustrates that if you have no consistency up top you’re not going to produce consistent performances. This is not an issue with the 4411 formation. Well it is, I guess, because we’ve not got the player to compliment vdV and especially the magic of Modric. But I prefer this step up to a more traditional 442 as with the right players it will work better than say having JD and Crouch starting. Will being the operative word.
Our midfield has remained more or less the same and when Huddlestone returns we’ll be even stronger in terms of creativity. Pinged balls and disguised passes aplenty from Tommy.
But the forward conundrum continues to plod along.
Recent games, recent partnerships:
vs. Newcastle - Defoe/VDV
vs. Man Utd - Crouch/VDV
vs. Fulham - Pavlyuchenko/VDV
vs. Newcastle - Pavlyuchenko/VDV
vs. Aston Villa - Defoe/VDV
vs. Chelsea - Defoe/Pavlyuchenko
vs. Birmingham - Defoe/Crouch
(thanks to Mumorn, GG)
And the stats:
Crouch - 1 goal in 1315 minutes, or 1 goal per 14.6 games
Defoe - 0 goals in 548 minutes
Keane - 0 goals in 226 minutes
Pav - 5 goals in 801 minutes, or 1 goal per 1.8 games.
Our strikers - 6 goals in 2890 minutes, or one goal per 5.4 games.
6 goals in 23 Premier League games
Our Midfield - 21 goals in 9580 minutes, or 1 goal per 5 games.
21 goals in 23 Premier League games
(thanks to...not sure, if stats are not correct – let me know)
Now, take the team as is and stick a prime time Dorgba-esque player up top. Much like the Dutchman and Croatian galvanise our midfield, so will a top drawer centre-forward.
We don’t test the opposition keeper enough, when we do we don’t score enough from chances created. It’s almost there, the design, the workings. I know we struggled with the final ball but it’s all limp where it matters. None of the penetration deserving of some of our football.
Was a time when we were scoring goals for fun (circa Berba/Keane era). This team just needs that spark. Because the moment we click and we're clinical and ruthless, we’ll be dangerous. We’ll kill teams off and we would win games that ‘Top 3’ teams are expected to kill off. The reason we are once more thinking more about the 'battle for fourth' is because we are probably sort of better than last season but not massively improved to compete with the other sides who are churning out the results.
Final word:
Don’t fret at the Prem table. We got completely written off last season, countless times. We’ll still finish fourth. But it will go down to the final week(s) again.
Also, I have a question about our scouting system. I've discussed this a few times already this past weekend with Lilywhite supporting family and friends and it's something a number of you have probably scratched your heads about plenty of times. Why do we let it drag out, re: signing players? Is there no smart decent striker somewhere in world football we could pick up for a relatively good price or are we are about to enter the usual last gasp bid and win transfer bingo of deadline day? Do we not have people working on potential transfers in the months leading up to the opening of the window so we can just make bid on the first day - 100% it's the player we believe will better us?
Behind the scenes, we might well have two or three players that fit the bill. But you can't quite believe that's the case. Hope I'm wrong.
COYS.
Reader Comments (65)
Same old same as!!
That young Bent fella looks as though he might be worth a punt, ticks all the boxes for playing a 4-4-1-1,............!!!!!
Time to call Fergie and bring back Berba......
I woukd suggest that your stats are misleading, because you are calling Vdv a midfielder when you are adding up his goals whilst at that same time describing him as being a partner to Crouch, Defoe and Pav. The guy is currently playing a forward role - in a similar one that Rooney is playing. When Rooney scores, you would say that a striker has scored. I am not disputing with the points made however. The only point I would make is that we do not need to sign a big-name striker. A no-name striker could suffice.
Our midfield doesnt seem to create loads of clear cut opportunities - cant work out whether this is actually a point in defense of our strikers or whether its because our strikers lack the intelligence/cunning/speed/work rate/strength (depending on which one we're talking about) to make the right runs/get on the end of balls from Modric etc.
Very frustrated by the T window - Levy obviously doesnt want to get shafted by buying a striker and then not being able to get rid of keane or pav except at a knockdown price. Maybe we genuinely cant afford to buy without selling. Cant help thinking that if we'd signed someone on 1st Jan they would have had time to settle in and maybe played a couple of games by now. As it is, we may not see any benefit from a new signing till late Feb and by then our CL chances my be slim. We seem to be relying on Chelsea imploding - I think they have to play Manu twice (?) so we really need a favour from Suralex in rerturn for giving him first option to sign Jenas.
Say what you want about van der vaart, modric, nice passing around the centre of the park.... but we got the goal via the old route of Dawson punt, Crouch knockdown, Defoe wins second ball passes to Lennon, scores.
Bit sad, isn't it.
And FFS Arry, if you're playing Lennon on the wing, play Corluka. What's that poor guy done in training to deserve all this bench time.
Tony, vdV is playing in a forwards positions and he is scoring goals so yeah good point, but I was trying to highlight that our out and out forwards don't score many. vdV is in the hole and is more midfield than a striker because a striker (the ones we have) are not capable of playing in that role currently. Or ever.
There's only one striker who will guarantee us being better. All the others are massive gambles and overly expensive. If we don't sign Andy Carroll in this window we can kiss goodbye to the top 4 for this season. Having said that, if the rumour you wrote about on facebook is true about him being pissed up in a casino on Friday night I'm not sure London will be the best choice of locations for him. Plus, he'd have to get his hair cut.
Would like to know what type of budget we have for a forward + what ever else we might need.
Dont want to re-open the whole northumberland/stratford debate but whichever side of the fence you sit, dont you just which that sl#g karen brady would shut the f#ck up for once? Whether or not we get/want Stratford I dearly hope they dont award it to Spam or that bitch will never stop crowing about it - I really hope she ends up with egg on her face (although I bet she's had plenty of other stuff on her face in her time). Listening to her you'd think that she andher grubby little porn merchant mates gave a toss about Spam, the community, athletices, etc - they probably only bought Spam after many years owning Birmingham when they realised there was an opportunity to make money out of the Olympics and all they've done in the last 18 months is turn the place into an undignified laughing stock.
Alternatively if Spam do get it, I suppose there will always be the consolation that they will hopelessly f#ck it all up. I keep reading about their 17000 waiting list for season tickets, so why is it that they keep giving away tickets at bargain prices to fill the ground??
She'll shut up when West Ham win the bid. Actually, she won't. She'll keep on banging on about it I'd expect, celebrating in our faces via The Sun.
Hope they don't award either bids.
What is everyone else's view of the ref during the game.
Although you have to give high marks to Newcastle for attacking intent I would suggest that their strategy for most of the game was kick any player in a light blue shirt, the annoying thing was the ref let them get away with it. Barton was already on a yellow by the time he signalled to the ref that Bassong should be carded, I'm not sying that Bassong wasn't deserving of a yellow but Barton of all people tryin to pass judgement on others?!?!?!?!?!?!
Until I see that a new striker has been signed and there is a photo of him holding his new shirt with Harry standing next to him I am trying to ignore all of the speculation as it is really doing my head in now. I trust levy and Redknapp between the two of them to get it right. I guess patience really is a virtue.
I think we will sign a striker last min from Italy. Ive got a feeling (no ITK bollocks) that ETO will come. Since we beat Inter they have not done well and I rekon he is just the player we need at around 17m taking age into consideration,
I also would mind Kanoute back - to be fair I think he would be perfect for the role.
Ref was fucking atrocious. I think that sums it up perfectly.
Klinsmann would be nice.
I am going to start a rant.
1. I dont know what's wrong with Gomes but I really really dont rate Carlo at all. The shot was saveable. That is all I will say. He did make up with two or three good saves later but not good enough, we need to look for another.
2. Hutton cannot play RB. He went missing many many times. Why was Dawson (and not Hutton) covering for Ranger's miss? And dont get me started on his mispositioning of the goal. I still maintain we should try him at Right Wing instead. What has happened to Corluka? What about Kyle Naughton or Walker? Come on. This is so frustrating because it's an obvious weak point and all except HR can see this.
3. We had Jenas!?&*%$#@ playing in place of Palacios. Why?
4. Defoe and VDV need to work more together. But Defoe needs to learn to be less selfish. He wasted many chances, but the one chance we scored, he passed to Lennon.
5. I do hope both BAE and Bale get well. Both were sorely missed. Pienaar I dont rate (yet). I find him annoying, tries a lot but flatters to deceive. He is like Jenas only uglier.
6. What has Pavlyuchenko done wrong? I know he's not everyone's favourite but at least he scores on occasion. Should try him with Defoe.
7. Dont we have a plan B? We try to pass through the middle like trying to enter a locked door. And we keep on trying the same trick and keep getting repelled the same way. Why? They sussed out our approach, kept like five players in front of goal and were happily keeping us out.
8. Joey Barton, like Tiote is an annoying git. I wish we could have beaten them just to rub their noses in. The stats being dredged up pre-game showed that we are very poor there, but they were there for the taking.
9. How much patience does Krancjar have? Why not use him at Left Midfield with BAE injured? If he is rusty, it's because he lacks requisite game time. I despair at the waste because he is talented and can turn it on when necessary.
10. I dont know who is the idiot who said we were title contenders. We are not. But I do expect a top four finish, hopefully at the expense of Chelsea (we can but only dream !) but I would take anyone. At this stage, it only looks like Chelsea or Man City who will slip up but we must maintain our push.
Rant over.
harry himself has no idea who to put up front. Crouch, keane, pav and even defoe would never get into a top 4 club (other than us). We need the perfect striker but that costs 25mil+ (which we have). Jenas, palacios and hutton ruin tottenham. They are all awful at their jobs. GET a bloody good striker!
Singapore - Palacios was injured. And we really did miss him because Modders had to play deeper, which meant that Vdv had to come deep too.
Sometimes Harry seems to drown in the tactical aspects of how best we should line up. Also don't quite grasp why we have signed people like Sandro and hardly played him. We have no reserves. Either loan him out of get him involved. Does my head in.
One more point.
What's the point of our talented youth if no one gives them a chance? Instead of banging about the lack of available talent on sale, why not look within our ranks to unearth a gem or two?
How many of our youth are being given a chance?
We buy Pienaar and immediately he starts on the left? Why? There is no one else? Krancjar?
If there is a fear / concern that our youth lack experience, it's f%$#&ing because they arent given the experience in the first place !
Someone please tell me why we dont blood people like Bostock, Townsend, Mason, Pekhart and or Caulker more often? Why send them out on loan, and a few years later ship them out. In the meantime, those that shine in the youth games get no chance to step up. This policy I dont understand when there's a gap in the senior squad due to injury or whatever.
If the management think about it, there are financial benefits to such a policy. We play our youth, they gain experience and sell-on value. We push 3 or 4 through the ranks every year. We sell one or two at significant or massive profit, the system pays for itself. Those who do really well, i.e. score the winning goal or whatever, value will enhance even more.
Instead, we loan out Bentley, we dont sell Jenas, we put Krancjar on the market, we buy Pienaar? I mean, come on.
Last point. Keane must go or stay and fight. Otherwise he's no good to us in limbo.
1. karen brady is a total joke, if anyone wants to watch west ham get relegated then you can still buy half season tickets for upton park, which surprises me if they had 17,000 people waiting for a season ticket.
2. until we buy a decent striker then we will struggle to take the next step.
@TonyRich
My point being why bring in Jenas and not someone else? Implicit in your analysis is that Jenas did nothing since Modric and Vdv both had to play deeper.
Pristar - the perfect striker does not cost 24m. He costs 24m if the selling club sees you coming. The wages is the problem. Arsenal, Man U and Chelsea have large Stadiums, and years of Champions League football to pay for their wage bill. Liverpool have neither the stadium nor champions league, but have already broken their wage structure - and used to being in big debt. We cannot stretch it that far because the stadium must come first. So we should sign someone under the radar. We cannot afford to break the bank on this one - mainly because I cannot see us winning the Stratford bid.
As Singer said...same old, same old.
I think we are a team of not quite good enough from the boardroom, via the manager and coaching staff to the players on the pitch, and as such we the fans keep hoping for something that can never happen....a bit like turning lead into gold.
Many regard Levy as a great Chairman, and to be fair ( not easy in my case where Danny is concerned) he has demonstrated a level of financial competence without ever convincing me of his true passion for the game, and the team. His ability to look a the the business situation and make business decisions appears good, but he seems unable to connect his business strategy with the demands of the team going forward.
Last Summer was the time to buy new strikers and ship out the dross, even if it meant taking a hit on the bottom line. It was clear to everyone (well at least the supporters) that having scraped/scrapped our way into 4th we needed reinforcements to stay there, given the financial muscle of Man City and their proximity to us in the finishing positions. In particular, it was obvious to all that strikers were the main priority as well as a Central defender. Gallas was shrewd work, VDV probably more luck than judgement, but the constant lack of any activity in the striker dept. left us all with a bad sense of lost opportunities to come.
It is entirely possible of course that Danny will pull another rabbit out of the hat at 11.59 on Jan 31st or whenever, but even if he does the moment will have been lost and we will have to rely on the failure of other teams to regain 4th, whereas with a goalscorer in the side we could have been aiming higher.
Now with Bale injured we face the prospect of several games with virtually no goal-scorers in the team and a manager who continues to pick underperforming players while freezing others out.
I'm not really going to criticize Harry as in his own way he has raised the level of our team performances, but if Levy is going to function as the DOF then he an Harry need to have some serious discussions as to the way forward.
If things continue as they are then it might not be the Spammers with a new stadium and egg on their faces it could well be us.
As most Spurs' fans, I live in hope but it's becoming harder to remain positive as each year passes with the Chairman playing his same stupid transfer games and watching opportunities to progress further being spurned.
Danny boy, stop being sidetracked by stadiums and build us a team first, worthy of a shiny new stadium. Get Joey boy to invest some of his stash just like the Dubai owners are doing at City and then maybe we can all be happy.
stop knee jerking people. Hutton was excellent against Man U, he is improving defensively and I expect that to continue.
youth players rarely come good, Ledley King was probably the last one. That young chap scored two against Everton on his debut and where is he now? (can't remember his name). Harry knows when players are ready and obviously the likes of Bostock are not. Will Townsend end up playing for Spurs? No. Why? Cos he's not good enough.
Kranke looks overweight, I liked him last season but we have to trust Harry who has judged that Pienaar is an upgrade on him.
We do need a striker but until one of Pav, Keane or Crouch get moved on we won't sign anyone.
Oops - Sandro is being saved for next season. He played whole Brazilian season before he came here. He has not had a break yet. I did think that he would have been worth a shot though vs Toon. Especially with Tiote suspended. As Singapore said. Jenas did not play great.
Singapore 2:10pm, agree totally about your point ' dont know who is the idiot who said we were title contenders. We are not'. We never have been and it is a sign of extreme delusion if any of you bought into this rubbish. But I do disagree with that you EXPECT a top 4 finish. Why ?????? We are having a great season, playing in the Chapions League and playing traditional exciting football. Yes absolutely. But are we better than Man U? No. Are we better than Arse? No. Are we better than City or Chelsea? Hmmm, we play better but dont get their results, so No. Are we better than the rest? Yes. So 5th is exactly where we should finish and this is not a bad season at all. How easily we forget, until recently we would have been praying for a 5th place finish. Keep it real people and dont believe the hype !!!!!!!!!!!!!
best / highest scoring strikers in the last few years of the premier league, tevez - £25m, berba -£30m, rooney -£25m, drogba - £24m, bent £18 - 24m, torres - £25m, is about time we open the cheque book? or is it too much of a gamble
armstrong - Ithink Townsend will be good enough. Certainly it is too early for you to make such a judgement on him. But I agree on Hutton - why do people focus on the negative? Yes Hutton is not the most talented defender, but a full back's role involves attacking these days. Hutton has created as many goals in the League as Bale - and he has had some games where he has defended well on top of that. Additionally he has scored more goals than Crouch and Defoe and Keane combined in the League!
decision on olympic stadium has been postponed
ok yes T Townsend might be good enough - yes too early, was just making a point that 90% of yoof don't make the grade. so lets not get hung up on it. these players don't set the championship alight (Townsend was at Ipswich) so I don't hold out too much hope. Caulker might be our best shot.
we have to accept that teams know how to play against us sometimes, Man U did a job on Bale and VDV and got a draw.
that's Man U people, coming to Spurs with a game plan to nulify our best players to get a draw. I think that shows how far we have come.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympic_games/london_2012/9371972.stm
Fucking huge sigh with this.
More spin, more Brady.
completely fed up with this olympic stadium thing, no matter what side of the fence you sit (or even on it), the decision is such a massive point for our club and us fans, to delay the decision is ridiculous.
@armstong-nose-mole
I would stop jerking my knee except I have seen Hutton fail many times this season. If you point out that he was excellent against Man U, then he has regressed. Too many mistakes. Like I said, try him out at Right Midfield. Focussing on the positive.
I also disagree with the promise of talented youth. The idea is not to play them every game, but develop their experience through intelligent sparing use. King was the last one because no one since gave our youth any chance.
I remember people like Carr who, because there was no one else, was forced to play at RB almost every week when he was younger. Although he has slipped in his standards recently, he was a decent player in his time.
I look at clubs like Villa (Clark and Albrighton), West Ham (Noble), Everton (Coleman?, Osman, Rodwell) Southampton (Bale, Walcott, Oxlade?) Sunderland (Henderson?) Stoke (Shawcross?) and ask why cant we unearth some gems from our lot. I realise that not everyone has been an unmitigated success but most are promising and can only get better with time and experience.
I expect 4th because Chelsea and Man City are there for the taking. But we arent taking the chance, and we are failing because of obvious mistakes that HR seems to repeat.
If Man U come to nullify VDv and or Bale, then we unleash Lennon, or Modric or Hutton (Ha!). Either way I knew the more canny teams would eventually suss out Bale so we need a Plan B when that happens. Why not bring in Corluka to work with Lennon sometimes?
Is Pienaar really an upgrade on Kranjcar? Or simply the exuberance of a new boy?
For all these reasons, that's why I rant.
this is painful I can't take waiting any longer.
Already looks too late for a striker. Don't want a smaller player - already have RVDV and Defoe but big, physical and fearless. Dzeko and Carroll were good ideas but they won't be coming so who else is there? Love the name Hulk but goals are not from wars in the penalty area. Seems to be more of a big Defoe from internet videos anyway.
Jesus.....listen to the melters!!
Teams are playing a lot more defensivley against us - it's to be expected, it's a sign that we are playing well and teams fear us. As such, the biggest single improvement our team would benefit from is getting Huddlestone back playing. For all Modric, VdV et al delightful ball possession and neat, short, one-touch passing, ultimatetly, all it achieves against defense-minded teams is allowing them time to get back and defend in numbers.
Man U and the Newcastle games are cases in point; for all our possession and attacking intent, we still only managed to create one clear cut chance in the 2 games. We need some more decisive passing; greater speed getting the ball forward accurately, before the oppostion have time to regroup and close down the space. Tom is the man for this, in the middle, alongside Mordic. It was their performances last season together that got us to 4th. A mixture of fleet-of-foot guile and devestating long range delivery. We're lacking a decisive cutting edge at the moment and I believe it's our inability to adapt to the way teams are sitting back and trying to smother us that's key. Scoring the first goal would be nice, means that the other team has to push forwards and puts all their planning out of the window. Teams see a point as a good result against us now. Time to raise/change our game.
With regards to a new striker; this is Levy we are talking about! He's not just going to show his cards straight away, he'll wait until the river card is down and everyone has gone all-in before concluding a deal.
So many points and so little vision. No, no, no and no really are the answers.
If it was easy to pick a C/Fwd everybody would be doing it but the only one to travel so far this window is Arthur Dent.
Scouting & youngsters, we are no better or worse than anyone else other than Ar5ena1, even then, their 'kids' are vastly overrated and few go on to be superstars. Of all the kids mentioned above, none are playing for Manu/Chelsea etc. and most are currently in relegation threatened teams... Say something to you does that?
Knocking on doors? Teams are sitting deep and blocking us out of games, as we can't get behind them we have to go up the middle and the only way is to try and tippy tap your way through, which we did a few times (I'd say harper save rather than Defoe miss BTW).
Way too much negativity surrounding everything at the moment. Forget about the stadium and Levy, acknowledge the fact that the first call C/Fwd's agents are going to make are going to be to ManUre, Barcelona et al, resign yourself to the fact that waiting until the window is nearly closed is the ONLY way we can pick up what's left and get on with it.
God, some of the guff on the web has been so bloody suicidal recently.
"I look at clubs like Villa (Clark and Albrighton), West Ham (Noble), Everton (Coleman?, Osman, Rodwell) Southampton (Bale, Walcott, Oxlade?) Sunderland (Henderson?) Stoke (Shawcross?) and ask why cant we unearth some gems from our lot."
None of those would make our starting 11, except for Bale.
With regards to "canny teams would eventually suss out Bale" - they haven't, not unless they have a RB who is as fast an relentless against him. What they have done is double up on him; meaning that there is more space for someone else (unless they are playing 12 men!) or they are playing deep and stringing 5 across the back - see my previous post. If you are implying the Bale's poor performance against ManU was because they had figured out a game plan to deal with him, they hadn't. Bale simply wasn't fit, as can be seen by his infrequent runs and lakc of appetite for pushing forwards. He hadn't trained for 3 days before the match and limping off at Newcastle confirms this.
He's still a monster though and short of a bullet to the knee, there is little that any team can do to limit him, without making themselves vulnerable elsewhere.
there is nothing suicidal about wanting to improve and reach the next level.
I will never score again but my buddy Harry will play me in every game. Enjoy my headers/flick ons/whatever sh"t you want to call them because I will be giving that sh*t to you aplenty. And though I will never score again, my lovers will be hear suffocating you with tales of how 'important' I am. I make Van der Vaart tick you know? Wonder how he managed to 'tick' without me at Hamburg! Ha.Ha.Ha!!!!!!
Jenas showed me the trick. If I get really really poor (not difficult, I have no talent you know?), I'll appear at the official website saying how much I love the competition and how 'we' are moving forward.
Ha.ha.ha.haaaaa. I will finish you people....Finish you!
Hi 'crouchy', Harry will keep you cos you are a bit weird in the CL.
and a plan B in the prem. no starting games though please.
and thanks for heading us into the CL at Citeh.
Ref did a very good impression of someone who'd been bought.
Was readin the article on Alves on ZM and wondered if the formation talked about in the first few paragraphs (3-4-1-2) would suit us until/if we get the perfect forward:
Gomes
3 CH's, we've got the players to do this
protected by Moddle + 1
2 wingbacks, Lennon/Hutton right and Bale left
VdV in the hole
Crouch and Defoe up front (i.e. until we get a forward who can play target man and shoot, we need 2 to do it)
Having said that, I've seen it said that we've never lost this season when Pav has started and his goals scored is the best of the lot.
Better take down the 'knee jerk free zone' banner spooky.
We cant go out and buy a striker if no one wants to come ( yes boys I always want to come) or if they are overpriced. We know what will happen it will be a last day fiasco. I still think Fabiano will come in we are just waiting to tie up deals for Keane and/or Pav. Also expect Benzema on loan and hopefully Diarra. HHXX
'In addition to the two shortlisted bids, the Legacy Company also has the option of the original plan to convert the Olympic Stadium to a 25,000 seats, mixed-use venue. In going to market, the Legacy Company’s aim was to consider options which would enhance and build on that plan.'
By: Olympic Legacy Company.
Yipeeeee! They are keeping their stadium.
Hope that's true. Suggestion is they are leaning towards us.
spooky your conspiracy theories are as good as ever. but I'll put this one out there, the decision seems to be a fairly simple one 3 very different proposals, surely it can be that hard to make a decision, the THFC option is clearly the most controversial, but probably the most financially secure option, perhaps they want to award us the stadium but are waiting for the heat to die down first.
I also chuck another couple of theories into the mix. 1. Apparently Boris backs us. 2. I remember seeing Dave Cameron on lawro's predictions a few weeks back saying a lot of people who work with him are spurs fans, and in this age of cutbacks, it might be difficult to justify anything other than the most financially viable bid.
Ed, maybe you were about in the days of Jones, Ian Moores and John Pratt in which case you'd agree that there's not so much to improve on as demands this constant level of whining. The team has come on in leaps and bounds in the last 2 years and we still hear the same old carping. Yes, we need a c/fwd but it's not so simple as just go and pick the one you want like picking a pair of shoes - These things take time and it'll take Real madrid deciding if they need a new striker and who before ANY of our targets will decide what they're doing.
We're doing incredibly well for our first CL season and yet the sound of Spurs fans on message boards is like a rusty gate in the wind. When did we ever go up to Newcastle and stroll to a win?
Re: West Ham's proposal: WH plan to pull down the temporary tier and then build a new, permanent tier on top the 25k bowl? Has anyone actually seen any plans, architectural drawings or even a rough artist's impression of how it's going to look? Have WH even commissioned the required work? Or is it just a plan in writing only, that will be fleshed out once they get approval?
I suspect that the OPLC would "like" to give it to West Ham but they're (or someone higher up) is going to look into the financial side of things, particular how WH plan to finance it and WH's current financial situation and come to the conclusion that they are just chancers and that their bid is not backed by any substance other than wishful thinking and public subsidies.
Guys, really?????? What is this an audition for dignitas?
Cream of the crop....
"As most Spurs' fans, I live in hope but it's becoming harder to remain positive as each year passes with the Chairman playing his same stupid transfer games and watching opportunities to progress further being spurned."
DaveK
Wow.....Dave you're a muppet mate, sorry and all but how long have you been a spur? 9 months? Is Levy perfect....no way, is he gonna stiff us all over stratford? Who knows? but until he has and does; have the last few years not bought him a little but of trust and patience from us?? Moan about him sure, if you have a valid point but really mate what the fuck more do you want? We're in the champions league, we're possibly a player or two away from challenging for the title.....not since 87 have we been anywhere near as close, thats nearly 25 years and yet your saying that its becoming harder and harder to remain positive......??? What are you a time traveller from 94?
You then state that you want him to build us a team and ignore the new ground........are you a gooner?? or 8 years old?? I don't have the energy to explain why that is ridiculous mate.
Am i frustrated? hell yes, do i want a striker? damn right and last week too but really guys, lets have a reality check here.
As for the game analysis, spot on as always spooks.......just one additional comment.......and please bear in mind that im the guy who said that none of us knew just how good he is when he signed (and immediately offered him my wife/home/car/soul) Pre rafa 442 it seems like we scored for fun.....Since rafa 451 it seems to be harder to score....just my perception, would be keen to see the stats.......I realise that if we want to eveolve into a bigger team and a Euro contender then we need to play the way that we are now but could we be using him better??
Probably not but would love to know some (coherent) thoughts.