Another day... another Triumph Only to add I still have a good grouch to give on the whole Cole foul fiasco which will hit your his res recepticles well before your last bunny is burped this weekend. COYS!
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Tottenham Triumph
Another day... another Triumph Only to add I still have a good grouch to give on the whole Cole foul fiasco which will hit your his res recepticles well before your last bunny is burped this weekend. COYS!
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17 comments:
What a travesty it would've been had we not won this match. With five in midfield opposing us, play was often congested; and we seemed determined to over-egg the pudding by manouvering the ball ever closer to the net till it could be walked in. Please just shoot, Yids, when the opportunity arises! Also, the intricacy of play sometimes causes a loss of forward momentum and the opposition, rather than being hypnotised by the passing-play, simply regroups.
Lennon looked promising in the first half, so I thought. Second half he faded noticably - or maybe that was the consequence of seeing more of the same forward runs without a finished product, and the statute of limitations was enforced. He certainly appeared to be doubling his efforts today in recognition that he is (perhaps) on trial. Left the field with grace, as mentioned earlier.
Chimbonda's performance was good in parts - better early on, quite poor later. Hutton was pretty solid, but for a couple of errors, and got forward well.
Zokora was dynamic and useful, perhaps unhampered by partnering Hudd instead of Jenas. I send Zokora an olive branch. Hudd himself made some delightfully accurate passes, and looked poised and confident on the ball.
Woodgate was exemplary. What a signing this man is proving to be. Gone is the Kaboul / Dawson panic of the (not so) old days.
Malbranque wasn't at his best, but showed his mettle once or twice in disposessing the opposition of the ball. He has a frustrating habit of running faster than he carries the ball, the ball often winding up under his feet or behind him, and he almost spilling over it.
Robbo made one fine save from a long-range lob, having to back-track hurriedly before just tipping the ball over the bar. Unfortunately, when he does make a good save, there's an inclination to over-praise, as if something exceptional had taken place, rather than something fundamental to good goal-keeping. As a professional keeper, he should be expected to protect the goal better than your average man. As England's erstwhile No. 1, he should be expected to perform the occasional extraordinary feat. This second element is absent. In fairness, he wasn't overly employed today, such was our dominance.
Spurs teetered a bit after O'Hara and Bent replaced Dawson and Lennon, and I wondered if we'd lost the balance of power and would rue the change. The goal from Bent, when it came, was a little scrambled, but well deserved and long overdue. Bent's opportunistic positioning was key. It was a bonus to score again so rapidly afterwards, and effectively end the game. Bent's speed and determination was central, and he delivered a challenging cross through the retreating Pompey defenders for O'Hara to take a deft slot-in. In the post-match interview Bent came across well. I have to say he seems a genuinely nice bloke - at any rate, quite a different character to Defoe (who, as usual, was seated watching the game, only in a more comfortable environment. The irony was probably lost on him.).
This wasn't an easy win, due to the stubbornness of the Pompey midfield and defence. Also, the weather was unfavourable to a skilful game, and it was a credit to Spurs that they played so much good football, rather than participate in an ugly match of blow-football. In addition, the fact that we scored twice so late in the game is, I hope, a testament to the growing resolve and fitness of the team.
Ramos himself seemed slightly bemused by the changeability of the weather, and probably drew comparisons between it and the Spurs team. Spurs, like the weather, can occasionally have stinkers. Today was mostly sunshine.
COYS
Comment above moved to kick us orf and for being fab. Cheers.
Bit of a dilemma Harry...do I watch the above highlights now, a tantalising option given that all it would take is a simple click of my mouse or do i wait it out for MoTD which is now merely minutes away...damn you and your efficient postings Harry, damn you.
Cheers, HH.
You're right about the goals not being "cinematic triumphs". Supporting a club with a good footballing tradition, there's sometimes a sense of being 'cheated' when goals are scrambled rather than well-crafted.
As Yids, we all prefer a sweetly choreographed move to a penalty, for instance. We value winning by intention and design over winning by accident and chance - a sort of difference between 'high' football and 'low' football.
Goals all count, of course, no matter how they go in. Opportunism is a skill and luck an invisible 12th man who works for those who work on themselves.
Maybe the club carries an historical imperative to entertain, imbuing the players and fans alike with a desire for artistry, like a standard of excellence.
Or maybe I've had a few too many in the B&H and I'm talking BS. We won. Nice one, Darren. Well done, Jamie.
COYS
9.37 Anon
I thought chimbonda was good again today, as he has been pretty consistently at left back - so much for his sulky image. Zokora was also (miraculously) very effective - he has been awful so many times of late that I dont want to read too much into it. In the first half in particular, we played some really good football considering the conditions. Pompey only had 2 chances all game - I cant say robbo inspired me with confience in dealing with either.
lenny tw
Robbo was excellent in dealing with Davis's chipped effort, or did you forget that one? I thought our worst player was Berba today; shame Ramos took off Keane. Would have been good to see Keane and Bent together. Not disputing the mans quality, Berba, but would we REALLY miss him if he left?
Bring on the howls of derision ;-)
coys
Great analysis 9.37. I also thought Zokora had a good game and the Hudd was as creative as usual. I agree that the goals were not works of art but the key thing for me was the win. This was exactly the sort of game that we would have lost not so long ago and in some way demonstrated the improvement under Ramos.
You are right about Robinson and I can't believe we won't sign a keeper in the summer. The other main cause for concern is Lennon. His final ball is often poor and given a choice he usually picks the wrong option he seems some way from the finished article. Will he make it ?
Are you serious dannyboy? Would we miss Berba if he left ? That's not a question. We would probably be fighting relegation if we hadn't had him this season. I am not sure we have ever had a striker as good as him.
*HOWLS OF DERISION*
that's directed your way Dannyboy!!
Another great game by Zokora. Hope all you haters out there paid good attention.
dannyboy - would we miss Berba?
Now I see why all those posts praising Jenas, it's just to get the arguments flowing, not stating anything you really believe.
'I am not sure we have ever had a striker as good as him.'
Erm - Lineker, Klinnsman, Sheringham, Greaves, Smith, Allen, Allen, Archibald, Gilzean, (Falco - JOKE!!!!), Chivers, White, Keane; to name a few. You lot obviously didn't read my post and I quote 'Not disputing the mans quality, Berba, but would we REALLY miss him if he left?'
With the money we would get for him, I don't think we would. Why do I bring this up? Not, as 1.34 states to get the arguments flowing, just my thoughts and good old healthy debate. If he played like he did against Bolton last season when we were down to 10 men, he was world class, yeah, no question, keep him. My nagging doubt, is he lacks the consistency to be a true world class player, playing only when he can be bothered; yesterday was an example of that.
I don't think it's that he can't be bothered, I think he looks around the team and thinks why isn't every other position filled with one of me, if you see what I mean, so doesn't give his all when it's not all going his way. He's a bit of a moaner really isn't he?!
Personally, I hope he stays for years to come, scores 30 goals a season and wins loads of silverware with us. Will it happen though? mmmmmmmmm
This Summer will be interesting!!!
coys
Harry - any chance of a quick snap poll - best striker of the last 30 years? Cheers.
"ANOTHER" "GREAT" "GAME" "BY" "ZOKORA" - thats 4 good games in 2 seasons now!! £8m well spent!!
Glad we beat Harrys bores!
Dannyboy forogt to mention Qu Bo
just watched the old 'simply the best' video to remind me of gary lineker. berbatov is a thousand times better.
Regarding Zokora - you know how sometimes good players can have bad games...can't bad players have good games?
to all zokora slaters
YOUR WRONG
his job is to simply break up play, give it easy and generally be a pain in the arse demented headless chicken to the opposition, which he does to good effect.
his job is not spraying 50 yard passes on the toe, gracefully ghosting past opponents, slamming in 30 yard free kicks or fizzing in un defendable corners......er... we have jenas for latter tasks....bollox!!!
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