Auditions For The Tottenham Midfield Step Up A Gear
A relatively awful game. Man of the match was Benjani. He showed endless enthusiasm and ploughed on despite the galaxy of no marks Sven has clustered around him.
Our best player was probably Chimbonda. Why? Because he reminded me of how he used to play when we bought him. Great interceptions, useful passes (assist inc., obviously) and... hold tight on the upper deck... he wasn't caught out of position.
5
Robinson.
The first was offside the second nearly knocked his newspaper out of hands.
7
Chimbonda
Good stuff. Put out a few fires.
6
Dawson
Alright. Which is to say not awesome. Which is in fact a very big job, being awesome.
7
Woodgate
Looks like a squatter, plays like a seasoned Champions Leaguer.
6
Hutton
Physical, intelligent and should blossom alongside Woodgate.
4
Zokora
Waste of rations. Is a DM? Is he AM? Is he in the Witness Protection Program? Came out of hiding twice. Shouldn't have bothered. I'd seen him fall over before and didn't need a re~run.
4
Lennon
Not good enough. I thought we'd moved on from the tedious needs a final ball conversation.
4.5
Huddlestone
Pretty average. Some sweet strikes but yet again needs to do more.
5
Malbranque
Grafted but to little end.
4.5
Jenas
Overhit spot kicks and underhit corners. The cocktail of champions.
4.5
O'Hara
A bit nothingy.
6.5
Berbatov
Dismayed with the third class service from our second class midfield and rightly so.
6.5
Keane
The strop was foolish. Great to know his passion to play is permenantly at boiling point, but coat throwing and dummy spitting only incites ridicule from the other lot. Not to mention the open show of contempt for Ramos. Players are employees not prima donnas doing us a favour and consequently can wind it in. I hope he enjoys his fine.
5.5
Benty
A patronising 'Bless' from me.
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46 comments:
Bit unfair on Bent i think Harry, He tried to link up with Berba.. And scored a fair goal. Spot on with the rest though. Also id love to see Robbo dive, even if he doesnt think hel get to it.
Wow Harry. 8.16 from the Prematch Prattle page here. Sorry about my spelling errors previously, blame it on the emotions!
Got to say, incredibly generous score for Berbatov. Is he playing off scratch there or does he start with a +2 handicap on your system?!!
P.S. I'll eventually sign up with a name, so you don't think I'm hiding out when someone disagrees with me and vice-versa! In the meantime I'm off to think of a great name...!
one of your fairest set of ratings to date methinks harry.
although dawson and hutton probably deserve a little bit more praise.
could REALLY do with robbo to stop ball watching. it's frustrating for us so god knows how the defence must feel.
zokora is absolutely doing my head in. hes not even good enough to be a liability. we might as well have taken him off and played 10 men (which ramos has done in the past!).
jenas im very sad to say has completely lost his bottle now thanks to the PSV game and i doubt he will have another good game before the end of the season.
was rather hoping that taraabt would get a game, very disapointed by keanos reaction (he was having a blinder) and i still stand by bent for at least another year.
Ha ha! Ur captain is a right prick! U cant be knocking Gallas now pricks!
he is not our main captain u prick. and he just showed his passion to play the game.at least he doesnt have a stupid haircut
I expect we may be stuck with Bent for another year, just to restore his value.
He probably does deserve a longer crack of the whip but (considering Torres hit the ground running in his first season) it's frustrating that - despite being no stranger to the English game - he isn't more effective.
Granted he's been hampered by a couple of injuries. Plus, there was the presence of Defoe and the issues surrounding that. I'd look forward to him playing, though, if he were a just bit more tricksy.
The current Spurs crop are a far cry from top four players. If they aren't stoic enough to see out single matches, how will they maintain efficiency over an entire league campaign?
Can't but wonder where a sustained winning mentality will come from. Some of it has to be home-grown, but that can take seasons, as it's no easy culture to develop. Some of it can be imported ready-made in new signings - signings who'll run the risk of infection from the WHL doubt and complacency bug.
Technically gifted and visionary midfielders required urgently. Any retained from the current lot will need the benefit of different kind of Inside Job - a job inside their heads.
9.37 Anon
that and the fact that he doesn't kick the shite out of the opposition when things aren't going his way.
of the current midfield that have a genuine chance of a future i would have to say that (in an ideal world) it would be THudd, OHara and Taraabt.
Mainly because they are the only ones who actually have some balls. THudd has become so cocky and self assured on the ball of late you have to love him for it.
OHara doesnt give a shit who he is playing against, he will always make the tackles and play the good ball. Taarabt runs as players.
Today it was painstakingly obvious we have no players who will do that (even Lennon). Desperately needed.
Oh and obviously Bale when fit.
That’s ended the season now for me. Since the cup final all I have learnt is that beating Chelsea was more luck than a sign of great things to come from the current first team. It’s obvious so many of the Tottenham players are good players but only for teams like Birmingham, Sunderland etc. but for Spurs NO NO NO!!! No true top club would go near them! I can’t wait for the summer when I hope we can get some major rebuilding done and sign players that will really help us challenge the top four.
OUT:
Robinson
Zokora
Bent
O’Hara
Lee
Kaboul
Stalteri
Ghaly
Gardner
Rocha
Assou-Ekotto
Cerny
KEEP AS BACKUP:
Huddlestone
Dawson
Chimbonda
Lennon
Jenus
Taarabt
Malbranque
Tainio
Gilberto
FIRST TEAM:
Keane
Berbatov (?)
Hutton
Woodgate
King
Bale
So in the summer we will need two strikers, a defensive midfielder, attacking midfielder/playmaker, central defender, left and right wingers, and a new goalie. The board has to spend big! If not I’m afraid it will be another poor season full of ups and downs.
Another game, another few lessons learnt (or verified).
1. Lennon is painfully one-dimensional.
2. Jenas really is far too inconsistent to ever big it big - I don't care how well he plays "on his day"
3. Zokora is an absolute waste of space - He can do none of the four basic elements of football. (Run, pass, shoot, tackle)
4. Why did Robinson stand and watch as Ireland scuffed the ball over the line? At least some effort please.
On a brighter note, Hutton, Chimby and Keane impressed.
Actually Tottinghams the one thing Zokora can do is run, trouble is it usually ends with a shot and as you say he can't shoot.
9.37 You are spot on regarding "winning mentality " etc . It's all about what goes on in players heads. Jenas for example has loads of ability but not enough belief.
We need some real winners in there, players who come through when their backs are against the wall the players who will die for the cause and I think O'Hara for one might just have those credentials.
We'll see.
They tried to make me rate Zokora -
I said 'No, no, no.'
Now he keeps goal, but he'll soon draw dole -
It's Rob-bo, bo, bo.
Lennon's final ball
Isn't any good at all.
Jenas didn't win me over -
he can go, go, go.
Sorry, Harry. Feeling facetious tonight. And fickle.
COYS
9.37 Anon
When will the Spurs management learn that:
Bent - is rubbish,and a complete waste of £16M + £73K a week. Has pace but nothing else. Clearly not good enough for us!
Zokora - not good enough!
Lennon - Is rubbish theres days!
Roll on the end of the season when we can off load these and other rubbish players. Plus spend another £40-60M!
Crimmal to sub Keane off for the donkey Bent!!!
Ramos is job will be on the line if he keeps making strange subs!
Wow - first mean-nothing game of the season, and fans seem to have lost their heads. Ramos' job in danger? Give me a break. He was right to bring on Bent. In fact, Bent should've started. Why? Not because he's earned a start, but because he needs to prove he can earn one. Ram's already stated this is evaluation time, so let him evaluate. What did he learn? Than Keane can spit out his dummy if he doesn't like something, that Lennon is struggling mightily to find the form he had under Jol, that Zokora is useless and that Robbo needs replacing. This is obvious to fans and gaffer alike. I, for one, can't wait for the season to end so the re-tooling can begin in earnest and the team Ram wants can set about chasing a top 4 place with a clean sheet.
when half time reached,i expect our intelligent RAMOS to sub zokora out but to my disappointment,he sub lennon out(even-though lennon is not playing that well but he is at least 100 miles better than zokora) huddlestone is not that good linking play with zokora(as both are more a DM than midfielder who can command the center line battle) so the whole midfield become a big mess when jenas went to right hand side. there are so many wrong sub in the 2nd half by ramos that i suddenly thought that ramos is not even interested to actually want to win this game.(make me so sad) if you want those players to prove their worth for SPURS then just field those players who want to play for their future like Taarabt,tianio,gilberto etc
probably one of the worst games i've watched, gotta agree with everything said about zakora here what a waste of a shirt......and as for Jenas i think the lad needs a rest, taarabat, tainio and o'hara from the off not counting huds display here today.
and i'm sur someone glued robbo to the spot, irelands mishit barely flopped over the line and all he did was sand and watch not even make a move for it
Their first offside!Our disallowed second had nothing wrong with it. Stupid Crappenburg. again!
wtf Ramos job on the line ?we lose a nothing game and some ungrateful no nothing pricks say things like that.this geezer got us our first trophy in 9 years you c*nt get a fucking grip ! Keano was a prick yesterday i love the bloke but he was like a petulant little kid throwing a tantrum he's wearing the TEAM captain armband ffs he needs to fucking grow up n not be so fucking disrepectful to his team mates and his boss(who incidently got him his first winners medal ever).I cant help think that some of these wankers want to try n call Ramos's bluff,they will be rightly fucked off tho coz JR has shown with all his previous clubs that he holds all the cards when it comes to playing in his team, bring on the summer when we can lose some of these fuckers!
bty
also noticed how berba has returned to his dramatics everytime the ball doesn't go directly to his foot! he mislayed passes as much as anyone yesterday and i didn't notice to many wobblers being thrown at him! Just his usual shit when coming up to transfer time, Hey look everyone i'm amazing and they are all shit!
bty
My Thoughts On the club.
1. I want the season to end now!
2. We won't get into the top 10 - disgraceful.
3. Robbo - Please try and save them ffs.
4. Too much average in our side to be honest. Dawson hasn't developed like I thought he would.
5. Zokora is dreadful. Can't tackle can't shoot, was te of time.
6. Jenas suffering from lack of confidence.
7. Lennon looks like he is too. Would love to see him score more.
8. Keane - Don't throw a strop like that. Way OTT.
9. Berba - Sorry for the 3rd rate deliveries. I feel your frustration.
10. Give Tainio and Taarabt a chance. Tainio was brilliant against Arsen*l in the Carling Cup.
11. We need a two gk's, one cente back, left winger, two central midfielders and two strikers.
12. Alot of work to do but give Ramos the power to make the signings he wants!
COYS!
It is worrying that Ramos cannot see that Jenas and Zokora cannot play in the centre midfield, individually they are atrocious, collectively they are even worse....emperors new clothes?
We have no steel and no creative outlet. lennon is a waste of space, a one trick pony with the footballing brain of vinnie jones.
As for Keane, I think I would react the same if I was getting subbed for Bent. Bent has had his chances to prove his inclusion in the team and he has failed. I don't buy the sentiment that his price tag has affected his performance. He is a professional and should raise his game when required. Woodagte, Hutton havent found it difficult (albeit slightly different circumstances), why should Bent?
Very worrying.
"jenas im very sad to say has completely lost his bottle now thanks to the PSV game and i doubt he will have another good game before the end of the season."
More like he still thinks he can live off the Ar5na1 game and the England start.
won something at last ( league cup ) and so I am happy.
The problem is zokora really needs to leave and get a midfielder who can create things as well as control the midfield ( Gareth Barry please ). And if Jenas can't be consistent, he can f**k off too.
Mark
I think they are some way between Chinawhites and the beach - Woodgate and Hutton (who have both played for Proper football teams chasing proper accolades) excluded, the majority of the rest (some exclusions) are unprofessional prima donnas who arent quite as good as they think they are.
YOu won the carling cup - Well done your career does not end there - you are behind West Ham, Blackburn etc - get some faffing perspective.
And that just sums Robbie Keane up to me. Big "team" player that he is....
I can't believe the amount of ass-kissing Berbatov is getting. I'd say he was one of our worst player(although they were all pretty diabolical.) He was a disgrace yesterday, the only reason keano was so pissed off was because he's now been subbed 6/7 previous games and berbatov was worse than him!! The guy needs to start showing some bottle and do some graft coz he's getting on my nerves thinking he owns the show! Chimbonda put in a good performance..surprising considering everyone knows he wants to leave and his attitude stinks....Why have we started resorting to long ball football as well!??! I just find the complete disrespect for the fans amazing, especially those who will travel up to manchester on a sunday to watch that pile of shit.....Other than that I think we were fantastic!
Generally agree with your assesment H, Chimbonda was better but he was still caught hopelessly out of position on a couple of occaisions and was only spared by Woody's brilliant anticipation...talkin of Woody, his intervention and rolling of the eyes when Hutton and Zokora got completely bamboozled was priceless!...O'Hara once again lost his man and was completely out matched for the 2nd goal...why is the little guy marking Cenral Defeneders at corners?
I dont know why everyone is so biased against zokora. I honestly think he made a lot of good tackles and interceptions and did his job relatively well. Yes, he did end up giving the ball away, but can you blame him? Thats not supposed to be his role, but when useless JJ keeps threading passes straight to the opposition and couldnt be bothered to make a tackle, he's playing the role of 2 mids. And when he starts those runs, even though they rarely materialize, I have to say I get excited
Second, Lay off Bent. Just cause hes not scoring doesnt mean hes no good. He was on for a short time and if I recall made two really nice flick ons to the direction of berba, who couldnt be bothered to chase them. Also scored a legit goal.
Lenon and Jenas out, get some real pizzazz in mid, like a vandervaart or guti(esque), a great keeper and two wingers. That would make us challenge for top 4.
Oh and also, how can anyone say O'hara out, the man is so tidy and works hard, makes good passes and has only played a handful of premiership games! Also Ekotto was pretty impressive before the injury, hopefully he can provide some cover for bale next year
We made a big mistake getting rid of Martin Jol. All Ramos had to do was finish off Martin's hard work to win the cup.
And now look, it's the same situation as before, Ramos is just talking things up as if he's some superstar whereas Martin was more honest, more humble and did well for us in previous years. We should have worked with him.....now our chances of becoming a top 4 club look down the pan, Ramos is clueless substituting Bent for Keane.
Bring back Jol!
Awesome, we appear have a record high of fickle assholes, just what I wanted at my beloved spurs.
Just to put this into perspective. We lost a nothing game, away, 4 days after a 120 minute run around in Holland, to a team that has done the double over man utd this season, and now Ramos is a terrible manager and needs to be replaced!?!
I really wish that it was just a bunch of gooner twats trying to wind me up, but the sad reality is that this is what counts as 'support' from some sectors these days.
what a load of rubbish about Ramos. he won us the first silverware in nine yrs , we beaten Arsenal 5-1 and won against Chelsea , this game against Man city was nothing he is only giving the players a chance to proof themselves.we were unlucky to lose against PSV BUT THEN again we are in europe next season so come on Ramos been with us only few months what do you expect miracles
Coys does jol remind you of those worthers original moments alone on your scary uncles knee or something ? do you stalk him? it was amazing the clamour to snap him up once he became available wasn't it? even keegan got a job before him although don't worry last i heard he is going to a second tier dutch team so maybe you can fuck off and support them ! jol had 3 yrs to get us a trophy Ramos took 4months. i bet you have been waiting for us to lose a game like that eh? the thing is though that now these games mean nothing the players are virtually on thier hols n thats just a natural thing ,it isn't even ramos's team yet ! crawl back under your rock you tool.
bty
Far too early to start comparing Ramos' record with Jol's but finishing 5th - and very very nearly 4th - is a lot harder than winning the league cup. And finishing 5th two years in a row is a lot lot lot harder. But Jol has gone so let's hope Ramos can do better. But to suggest already that Ramos is a lot better than Jol is to ignore the facts.
Go on the bty!
anon
if its so easy to win the league cup how come jol never managed it? how come with jol we lose to arsenals kids in the semi then absolutely do em under Ramos? how can you talk of 5th place like its such a glorious achievement?(not knocking it but it aint glory in my book) you sound like a younger generation yiddo but spurs to me is days like that at wembley, having the boys holding silverware aloft, thats glory! if you were a player what would you rather do when your old n grey, tell the grandkids about how you finished 5th in the league a couple of times,should of finished 4th but fucked it? or would you rather they helped polish your winners medals? the one thing you can't compare is the league placings as your have to wait for next year for that i'm afraid. Ramos had the slight handicap of being in the bottom 3 when he took over but he has shown he can take the extra step that jol couldn't and next season i'm sure he will prove it in the league too.
bty
Just caught the highlights on 101 great goals (great link btw). Good goal from Keano, he stropped when subbed, but oh well, good to see some passion. Their equaliser was clearly offside, ours wasn't and their winner, pains me to say, was a great header giving Robbo or defenders no chance.
OK - gleaned from 5 minutes highlights only, but dems da facts.
The Ramos hater / Jol lover above - get a life. One thing that was obvious is Ramos had told them to have more long range shots.
Me - deflated but I'll get over it; big game Wednesday.
coys
I would argue that none of our remaining games are 'big'. In what sense? Playing for pride? Leave off!
The rest of the season is surely just about sussing out who's got the right level of attitude & talent. If Wendy hasn't clocked it already that is.
I'd like to see him play around with it for the next 10 games. Let Taarabt, Peckhart and Rose loose for a bit or something. See what they've got while we've nothing to lose. Apart from maybe a tandem ride with Newcastle. Gulp!
I want Xabi Alonso, Kim Kallstrom, Christian Poulsen, and Carlos Kameni. Have I been reading the gossip section on the beeb website? you betcha. Throw in David Villa for good measure.
"I'd like to see him play around with it for the next 10 games. Let Taarabt, Peckhart and Rose loose for a bit or something. See what they've got while we've nothing to lose"
Blimey! Any more volunteers for the Good Ship Crazy. Final call for boarders! I've had my berth booked for months now.
How bad could it've been if we'd thrown Adel at Citeh? The crowd have got behind him.
And don't Pekhart fans at least deserve a cameo appearance before this season's done?
Give us what we want Juandeline!
I think this will come sooner than you think, 'Arry old boy. I believe JR & Gus fully plan to audition the young talent, but in the first mean-nothing game after what heppened in Holland, sends the wrong message to the players. Namely, that they are guaranteed their spots and can relax for the run-in, as they watch the youngsters take it on home. No. Instead, the message is: "Each game is a privilage not a right, and if you want to be here next year, then you will play as if each game is precious. To me, this is the correct thing to do.
Lynnick Hair
This is quite possibly what lies behind Keane's tantrum. Wants to show he cares despite the circumstances. Of course, he went a bit far, but we all got the point, as did the stand-in skipper's teamates and coaching staff.
Happy St. Patty's Keano
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If we bought a new keeper in the summer and after 10 games he has let in 30 goals, would you still play him, would you think he was still in a "transitional period", would you say he needs some slack cut for doing the exact opposite of what he was brought in for?? The answer is no. This is no different to Bent...lets face it, we have another Sergei Rebrov on our hands...Rebrov was a good player..just not in our team. (although his goal against Wham was shining point)
Lets face facts, winning the Carling Cup has flattered to deceive. We have a lot of work to do as a team, a lot of players to get rid of (ZOKORA PLEASE) and the possibilty of our main asset leaving in the Summer.
I think our league posistion is a true reflection of our status and it needs to be addressed now.
I'm concerned that, with our position in the table, we still haven't broken properly free of gravity. A few games of achieving zero points might see us drop back to launch pad - not a great situation, especially with the potential upward momentum of lower sides fighting for their lives, coupled to some apparent disinterest from a few Spurs players.
Chelscum will give us no quarter on Wednesday. To them, at least, tomorrow will be a big game. Not only do they demand revenge, they're still contending for the title. I wonder at the psychology of the Spurs players who will face
them. A sense of fatalism may prevail. I hope I'm wrong.
Maybe a few leftfield team inclusions would be of benefit. Taarabt and Pekhart would surely seize the opportunity to excel. Whether they would excel or not is another matter.
The game against Man Sh*tty was remarkable for how artless and porous was our midfield. Without so stout a defensive display, we might have conceded more goals.
Since the transfer window, the player to impress most, in my opinion, has been Jonathan Woodgate. When Spurs made overtures to sign him I was initially ambivalent. For years, I'd associated him with that incident back in 2000, when he
and Lee Bowyer got themselves into trouble. But everyone deserves a second chance, and it's wrong to judge a man on something that he did a while back now. Woodgate took the consequences of his actions and moved forward.
Since arriving at Spurs, his impact at the heart of defence has been immediate and enormous. He operates with composure and governs his game efficiently. Seldom is he out of position. He sees danger quickly and responds appropiately. He compensates for others. His calmness is reassuring, his reading and understanding of movement an inspiration. Neither fussing nor over-complicating, he defends by taking simple measures - a block, a header, a clearance. Already, he has made many timely, goal-preventing interceptions. A lesser player partnering him has the opportunity to learn much.
His quality is becoming a benchmark for other defenders to rise to.
Apart from that, he's dreadful.
9.37 Anon
whoever says jenas lost his confidence and self-belief...
can you tell me exactly when jenas had played at a reasonable standard to justify any confidence?!?!? birmingham are waiting JJ
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