The lack of quality was reflected in the lightning exit of many home fans last night. Those blue seats that welcome me home take on a depressing hue when there are still players on the pitch.
There are so many negative issues around the performance that I've covered in previous posts that I shall try not to repeat myself. Of course, we remain width less. And the link play to the strikers in fairness has gone from non existent to rusty.
Individually there were some good moments from Spurs. The case for Zokora to be officially made our midfield general is proved. He is authoritative, tough and motivated. Davenport needs a mention in dispatches too. The stigma of an own goal can take some shaking off and his level headed tackles and deft touches out let the North London rain wash away his previous bungle. Chimbonda is just what you want at the back. Fantastic pace, clean intelligent tackling and a desire to turn into attacking flank man when the chance to break is on.
Jenas? The jury's still out. I've defended him in the past as a typical Spur's luxury player - an indulgence for when we're looking for a cherry on the cake. He still is, but perhaps this is why he is frustrating the bulk of Spurs fans at present - we don't need eye candy decorations. We're half starving here and need something more substantial to gnaw on!
In summary? The old school report line is about right - 'must do better'. Portsmouth may have suffered their first defeat but by no means have the wheels fallen off. The have an impressive defense as anyone playing Fantasy Football will tell you.
Friday, September 29, 2006
Toothless Tottenham Raise A Smile
Posted by Harry Hotspur at Friday, September 29, 2006
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
27 comments:
Poor performance last night, slavia prague were about as good as what we'll face in milton keynes! dont agree with some of your comments, i dont think jenas is a luxury, yes he did miss a shocker at anfield, but he is our best player at the moment along with zakora, works hard and does create although out of position. Davenport is rubbish, made a few good tackles yeah, but he is also clumsy and i can see now why weve tried to swap or sell him 10 times!! main problem is our strikers, no movement, no creativity, rarely shoot! I think we need to give Jermania a few games to get his confidence back when he's fit and im sure he'll start scoring again, he is one of the best finishers in the premiership.
Broadly agree Harry, although I think Jenas worked harder last night.
I was dismayed at the lack of movement overall..the number of times a player on the ball had no-one to pass to...the way they passed a ball and stood still, no pass and move...the way the mid-field and defence did not move up to support the strikers....even Jimmy Graeves would struggle in this side.
Sad to say but MJ is still not organising play. Only Zokora looked good enough for Spurs and Ghaley made a difference when he came on, but the rest, Keane excepted for effort, were the worst I have seen for many years.
I know we have to get behind the team but MJ has to create something rather than stating the obvious....we aren't very good at the moment.
THOUGHT IT WAS QUITE AN EXCITING GAME BUT IT WAS VERY FRUSTRATING TO WATCH. HOPEFULLY WITH THE INTERNATIONAL BREAK COMING UP A FEW OF OUR INJURED PLAYERS WILL HAVE ENOUGH HEALING TIME TO MAKE OUR NEXT FIXTURES. WE THE WAY OUR LUCK IS GOING AT THE MOMENT I WOULDNT BE SURPRISED IF A FEW OF OUR PLAYERS COME BACK INJURED FROM INTERNATIONAL DUTY THOUGH
Why is the internet spawning such a multitude of worthless football articles? You'd think that with so many lovers of the game, a few articles would be written by people with some intelligence. Instead, we just get gunk like "Toothless Tottenham raise a smile." It seems that any idiot is now free to waste our time with worthless, weakly-written, valueless rubbish.
This was a negative article that was written by a fickle nincompoop that has the audacity to call himself a Tottenham supporter...bugger off and spout your ***** on a Chelsea site.
I thought Jenas did ok, consider he is generally crap. I have finally realised what it is that stops him being a good player, lack of decisionmaking ability, a couple of times he skinned the left back only to then give it away because he had no idea what to do next.
Only two shots on target I counted. In the last two games....50% scoring ratio though.... awesome.
oh and sir cecil you are a cock, a typical stroppy feet stamping response and as usual despite all the throwing of toys no valid counter arguments raised?
Its a bit of a trend with the rose tinted briagde, all noddy men with nothing to back up their daft blind faith that all will be alright on the night.
As a side note, did anyone notice the epiphany Robbo had half way through the 2nd half when he created a decent counter attack with a quick throw down the left wing?
I am sure I saw a glowing light bulb appear above his head and for the next few minutes it was all quick throws and inteligent distribution. A new era may have dawned
Sir Cecil - If you want well written article read a journal where the writers are paid. Its football we're interested in not the english language.
Jenas played well last night after he settled in from his first few mistakes. Dawson I thought was typical of most of the spurs team last night. They did great to win the ball; then a few nice passes only to finish up losing the ball because they just had no idea where they wanted to go. Ziegler - well he came off but none too soon. I thought Lee had a really good game too. He made some good tackles and a few good runs. They didnt all go how he wanted but at least there was a little bit of creativity. Praise the lord for Chimbonda. A few mistakes, sure, but I have to say I'm pleased with how he's taking command at right back
toothless tottenham? i think that despite a bit of poor finishing, the odd bit of sloppy play and a huge chunk of bad luck (be that on the pitch and with all the injuries) we would have had a great start to the season. last night was a good solid performance, rarely troubled and enough chances created to have made it a cricket score. the back 5 were solid, despite the kings absence. not easy for anyone to fill his shoes especially for one game, and such a big game. thought davenport did everything asked of him. the midfield looked 200% better without the crazy frog look-a-like anywhere need the pitch (hope his injury is worse than first feared, for example out for the rest of his career!!) murphy looks to be improving with a run in the side, though i would prefer to see big tom alongside the ever improving zakora. jenas, (not my fav player) did ok, some good runs, but all to often lacks any kind of end result, not too much of a brain in that little pea head of his. the front 2 are proven prem finisher/partners. unlike defoe who is flashy but not a good finisher. neeeds to learn how to slot a ball home as well as melt the leather off it, when berb is back it will give the big egyptian the kick up the backside he needs or he will lose his place. all in all, bring on the group stages, bring on that over achieving team in blue from the south coast and lets start flying so the whl faithful can have something to sing about so we dont have to read all these negative reports from people who probably could do with davids glasses
jolsgonemental
'I thought Jenas did ok, consider he is generally crap' what a brilliant statement that is... do you know who our top midfield goalscorer was last season? who do u think it will be this season? please stop embarrasing yourself with rubbish statements and think about what you are typing. last night was ok, but we're through! for f*ck sake we're through! european nights at the lane is what we've been after for years
Completely disagree with almost everything you said. Jenas had a really good game and covered the park for every minute. Davenport and Dawson were strong at the back and stopped Slavia creating hardly any chances. (I can't remeber a clear cut chance at all) Lee played well but had a few dodgy crosses and a few times just hoofed it. Ziegler was quiet in open play but his corners and swinging free kicks caused numerous problems and I can see them (especially his corners) being a potential scoring weapon in the future. Zokora was quiet in the first half but improved in the second. Murphy made some good assit-like passes and got forward to support the attacks. Keane was his usual run around-never-giving-up-on-anything self and Mido was quiet and didnt win too many of the balls fired in at his head. All in all I thought we did really well apart from the lack of finishing (but the chances and positions we created were good). Oh and just a sub note - i though Ghaly looked very good when he came on - kept his width and put in some decent crosses.
Sorry forgot to mention Chimbonda! Absolutely outstanding! From what I've seen so far he is worth every penny of the 6mil we paid! He is my early vote for Spurs player of the season!!!! (You heard it here first)
no one has mentioned murphy give the lad some credit thought he was best player first half only one looking to create- the problem we have is that there are no skill players to create any chances for the forwards - i never see our players taking other players on - it seems that this part of our game has vanished - yep i know injuries havent helped - but over the years we have always has a player who can create something out of nothing . a player like ronaldo at man u - gets slated all the time but he is quality would love to have that kinda player at spurs - forwards will thrive on it ! hurry up lennon and stead your needed now ! :) up the spurs
Not a great performance last night, but at least it was the right result. I would happily settle for the next 4 or 5 games being below-par performances but ending 1-0 in our favour. A winning run, however achieved, will boost confidence and with increased confidence comes better football. Old cliche, but one game at a time, and whatever else can be said the result on Thursday was better than the one on Sunday!
i didn't see the game, but it appaers from these posts that chimbonda and zakora are both successfull signings. Davenport has improved on his last outing, JJ is putting in extra effort every game, Murphy, Ghaly and Lee played well and Keane scored. We won both games home and away without conceding agoal.
Let's hope we can build on this success to further successes.......
TOM HUDDLESTONE
LENNON ON THE LEFT
last season our midfield was fantastic and had shape. Carrick was the holding/playmaker with Jenas attacking in the middle and Davids/Tainio & Lennon on the flanks. While Davids is not an out-and-out winger, he provides more stability to release Lennon.
This season - nobody has a clue what to do...
Jenas looks much better on the right than in the centre. When Lennon returns, he should stay there with Lennon on the left.
Zokora looks great and will improve as he learns the english game and the rest of our team.
HUDDLESTONE is the key. In the first leg at sparta prague, he looked like Carrick WITH MORE... He is bigger and stonger than Carrick. He can head the ball better. His passing is very good, especially with the short- simple passed. Carrick can dribble but cannot shoot to save his life. Although we have not seen much, Huddlestone has a few long range shots against Slavia Prague and will hopefully take after Pedro Mendes in this department. All in all- the team knows how to play with a "carrick-type" player and I hope Big Martin plays him on Sunday instead of "fat-boy-Reid" i mean Danny Murphy. Murphy can create good attacking through-balls but cannot do short passes, cannot head, cannot tackle and has the stamina of a rabbit. Ghaly looks ok & should be on the bench to come on and inspire Mido and the rest of the team.
DEFENSE
we should of bought Ayala. If SIR LED misses games, Dawson & Davenport are too inexperienced. Gardner is the best option- but he is also too young. We need experience here.
FALL BACKS
Chimbonda looks awsome. We have decent cover here too. Akoutto also looks like a clever player but. I am glad we have Lee, who is fantastic player in his own right to cover both positions. Ziegler is too slow for midfield and should only be used as a left back cover. Are you allowed t play with a wig? Mido needs his hair back!!!!
ATTACK
Berbatov is my 1st choice stiker. I would play him with Defoe. Keano is class- but Defoe need his chance again. The biggest problem we have with Defoe & Keane is that nobody passes the ball to their feet. If we learnt this simple point then they will score. simple. Huddlestone is the most adapt to fill this role.
Sir Cecil free speech is great. But repetition is boring. You've wished me a Chelski fan a few times now.
I'm not. nor do I have plans to become one.
So f**k off.
I thought Our Performance last night was one the worst i have ever seen at White Hart Lane. The team could put any decent passes together and as for their goalkeeper.....he didn't have too anything to do for most of the game, Slavia Prague were a very poor opposing side and we're lucky we didn't get Palermo.
Martin Jol needs to sort it out or Portsmouth will be taking three points back to the south coast.
Not Good Enough and im quite bored with how we play.
Sir cecil, you clearly love this site. Who are you trying to kid? You also appear to be intellectually coarse and full of yourself. This is definately the site for you, welcome.
If the obvious paradox between your on site personality and what you're complaining about is a clever expression of irony I applaud your subtle wit. You indeed had me smiling. Let's have some more.
All the best, a fellow 'idiot' ;)
Yid15
sir cecil, you miserable git.
a lot of what was written here may be negative but, unfortunately, is pretty accurate. was you actually at the game last night? i was - 90 minutes of mainly dross. worst game at the lane for a long time.
no passion, no creativity, no ideas. lots of posession but the simple fact is too often they didnt know what to do with it.
it pains me to say, as i have been a lifelong, 30 odd years, spurs fan, but unless we improve sunday and show more imagination, i cant see us beating a team who, on paper, we should.
i suggest you need to buy a daily telegrapgh or other broadsheet if you want true 'intelligent' articles. i apologise if you dont like my grammar or lack of proper punctuation / capitals, but i just cant be arsed.
me and HH dont always see eye to eye, but most comments on here are usually accurate - negative or positive.
no matter what, i'll be at the next game, in my seat before kick off until 5 minutes after the final whistle. in my opinion, too many prawn sandwiches in the crowd last night!! the atmosphere was very poor last night - even gary mabbutt tried to rouse the crowd at half time! was a nice touch by the way, that the prague supporters applauded the park lane faithful after the final whistle - never seen that before.
COYS
I've a good idea who Old Cecil is and it seems every Spurs forum on the net is plagued by this lonely weirdo.
Keep up the good work Harry and feel free to delete that prick into outerspace - every other site does mate.
I thought Jenas was really good last night, he was my MOM. Chimbonda, Zokora, and Ghaly also impressed me. I was suprised at how effective Ghaly was on the right after he came on. I was dissapointed in Lee (not as dissapointed as I thought I would be though) and Zeigler, who I thought might be the answer on the left wing but he just didn't look the part. I still maintain that Davenport is good, but only good enough to be a deputy for Ledley.
1.06
Welcome. Refreshing to see someone else wanting to see the ball played in on the floor. I often see the arial attack as more of a 50/50 ball. And what's the point of that?
Recent games have seen this crappy long punt from PR either miss or bounce off Mido and go straight to the opposition.
yeah.i wanna see the ball played in on the floor.PR likes to use long ball to find mido.this is an old tactic..same as chelsea tactic.i feel bored watch typical style of football playing by spurs.they have to play beautiful football like arsenal.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/tm_objectid=17846660%26method=full%26siteid=94762%26headline=spurs%2dare%2dnot%2dup%2dfour%2dit%2dsays%2djol-name_page.html
What? We arent good enought to challenge at the top but Pompey are according to Jol.
F@cking ambitionless C'nt.
I would play Defoe and Keane on Sunday. Campbell is not good against quick players and Mido is just a magnet for the big boot upfield. I was gobsmacked to see them try the old hoof up the left wing from the kick-off second half.They used to do that in the early eighties with Tony Galvin. It did not work then either.
MJ must take a lot of blame for the current state of affairs. Poor selections and lack of freedom to go forward for Zakora and before him Carrick. Zeigler would struggle in the Conference and Murphy wasn't good enough for Charlton.
I would persevere with Ghaly, he set up the goal and spoon fed another to Mido. Get fit soon Aarron.
I like Murphy. I think that he has been out of the team for a long time and he needs some time to get some match fitness. There have been some promising games from him already this season (ie Liverpool a week ago) and I would stick with him with Zokora for tommorrow. Ghaly was good but I think that he does well when put on late as a substitute like he was Thursday.
COYS!
Post a Comment