Norwich @ The Lane - September 1st

Hatch99

Poor Result.
Poor performance.
2 from 9 , not good.
But ffs give the fella a chance lads.

mickman

Hatch -what is really getting to people is that we are so poor.


Fried played a blinder yesterday , excellent stuff . For their equaliser Hudd didn't even compete for the header . It was cringe stuff from him , useless player

Hatch99

mickman wrote: »

Hatch -what is really getting to people is that we are so poor.


Fried played a blinder yesterday , excellent stuff . For their equaliser Hudd didn't even compete for the header . It was cringe stuff from him , useless player

I know mate, I am not saying we were great , far from it. But it's a new manager, new system, new tactics, and a few new players, it's not all going to click from day 1, that very rarely happens.

We need to have a little patience imo, despite our anger and dissapointment. I know we all have our views, sure my old man is like most of you lot and is very concerned. I just think he needs to be given time. Listen don't get me wrong, if we get to Xmas and we are 11th or 12th and 15 points off the CL positions, I'll be like a lunatic. But let Vert settle down now, Adebayor will be fit come the next league game hopefully which will be a big addition, and Bale hasn't really started yet, so lets wait and see. Dembele will be a great addidtion too.

The good players we have have not turned in to bad players. I still think we have an excellent group of players, lets just give them a little time.

The last thing we want to be doing is sacking them all and paying out 20m or so in compo !

mickman

Well i for one cannot get behind him until he plays dawson ahead of gallas or at least explains the reason why he is playing gallas.

I would not be surprised that avb tries to run a soccer team like a computer game - he feeds stats into a computer program and the program tells him who to play

AVB has never played soccer as a professional player

What computer programs and stats dont tell you though is that when the chips are down you need MEN on the field , people who dont neccessarily have all the skill but will put their bodies on the line. The stats dont tell you that you need a player to grab the team by the scruff of the neck and to lead by example.

Football is as much mental as it is physical (same as most sports) but i really think that avb believes its all about stats and numbers and his computer program has convinced him that it will come good eventually :-)

The proof this will be if he drops friedal in the next game for lloris. That will tell me 100% that he has no idea what it takes to win tough / physical premier league football matches.

Hatch99

mickman wrote: »

Well i for one cannot get behind him until he plays dawson ahead of gallas or at least explains the reason why he is playing gallas.

I would not be surprised that avb tries to run a soccer team like a computer game - he feeds stats into a computer program and the program tells him who to play

AVB has never played soccer as a professional player

What computer programs and stats dont tell you though is that when the chips are down you need MEN on the field , people who dont neccessarily have all the skill but will put their bodies on the line. The stats dont tell you that you need a player to grab the team by the scruff of the neck and to lead by example.

Football is as much mental as it is physical (same as most sports) but i really think that avb believes its all about stats and numbers and his computer program has convinced him that it will come good eventually :-)

The proof this will be if he drops friedal in the next game for lloris. That will tell me 100% that he has no idea what it takes to win tough / physical premier league football matches.

He's the manager, he decides who plays so we just have to support them. Maybe he thinks Daws needs the 2 weeks break to get his head straight after the transfer talk and everything that has gone on.

I'd like to think a premier league manage doesn't allow a computer to pick is team.

Does it matter if he played football or not ? Did Mourinho play football ?

As for Friedel, yes he played superbly well yesterday. Maybe Llloris will be eased in to it but does it matter if Lloris is not stocky and well built etc ? Not for me. No matter what we want, the reality is that soon enough Lloris will be our regular keeper.

mickman

I think comparing him to jose is a fruitless exercise, jose is an enigma , a once off who wont be replicated for many many years

I agree that lloris is our future number 1 but if avb puts him between the posts in the next match then its a sudden / knee jerk move for a position that we have a very good player in at the moment. TIme will tell anyway

Ever seen moneyball ? Thats proof that some coaches in some sports use stats and simulations to pick their squad and team. It worked very well in basebell but maybe not so much for football , as i say time will tell but i am very very very sceptical

Having said that , i will of course be behind him for the next match and hope for a win.

Hatch99

mickman wrote: »

I think comparing him to jose is a fruitless exercise, jose is an enigma , a once off who wont be replicated for many many years

Who's comparing ? Very different people obviously, but neither really played, that's all I am saying. Our biggest rivals have one of the best managers around over the last couple of decades, he hardly kicked a ball either mate.

DubPerryman

mickman wrote: »

Well i for one cannot get behind him until he plays dawson ahead of gallas or at least explains the reason why he is playing gallas.

AVB probably appreciates that Gallas has a better understanding of the high line..... oh and the other tiny fact that Gallas is twice as fast as Dawson.

All teams go through ruts. Unfortunately our rut has lasted since February.... give it time.

Morgans

The only decision that I dont understand is the Defoe playing up front on his own. Ok, Adebayor was on the bench WBA as he wasnt signed for long (not sure if he was even training at Spurs before it) but yesterday was inexcusable.

Patience is required for AVB's tactics to come through. THe gamble is whether the tactics will be worth while waiting for.

Hatch99

Morgans wrote: »

The only decision that I dont understand is the Defoe playing up front on his own. Ok, Adebayor was on the bench WBA as he wasnt signed for long (not sure if he was even training at Spurs before it) but yesterday was inexcusable.

Patience is required for AVB's tactics to come through. THe gamble is whether the tactics will be worth while waiting for.

Was Adebayor fully fit ? What sort of pre-season did he do ?

Morgans

I dont know. Its the only plausible excuse, or that Jermaine knows what is expected of him in that role. That is his 100% unsuited to the lone striker role is the flaw. I'd think that bringing on Jermaine when their back four is tired is a better ploy and Id always have Adebayor start ahead. We are going to have to hope Adebayor stays uninjured and motivated for the season for the 4-2-3-1 formation to get us near the top 6.

oppiuy

The man needs time.. The fact is we have been poor for just 3 games now, its actually nearing 20 if you take last season form into account. We'll get there.

mushykeogh

Will AVB get the time? Reading away is going to be tough, if we dont win the media pressure will really begin to mount, QPR is not going to be easy based on current form, and then UTD away. A win at reading will buy him some time, anything less i can just see it snowballing like it did at chelsea.

I dont think he gets the english game!, hope he proves me wrong.

Morgans

I hope he gets the time, and I like what he is trying to do with the team. However, its far from certain that he is the right man with the right tactics. Part of the attraction of him is that he has a point to prove, but its not difficult to see how the self-fulfilling prophecy of him not having the right tactics for the premiership sees him out of a job sooner rather than later. Just needs a couple of early wins. You'd have thought they were going to be WBA and Norwich at home.

Leinstersqspur

1. The NEW squad will have more time to settle over the international break. Dembele will come straight into the Modric vacuum and learn to play the little pressing triangles with Bale & BAE, Lennon & Walker that Livermore/Sandro clearly can't..

2. Parker will be back for QPR maybe Reading. He and Dembele in the middle should be a formidable partnership..

3. Adebayor and Dempsey should be at full fitness and could form a prolific partnership, 34league goals between them last season..

4. We've got tactics now (AVB's record at Porto was phenomenal) so hopefully no more of the old "even at 2-0 up I said to myself, we're gonna get beat here"

5. Two world class keepers, one in the twilight of his career, the other looking to take the reigns..

Not time to get worried yet, fair enough not an ideal start but no reason to boo..

mickman

Morgans wrote: »

I dont know. Its the only plausible excuse, or that Jermaine knows what is expected of him in that role. That is his 100% unsuited to the lone striker role is the flaw. I'd think that bringing on Jermaine when their back four is tired is a better ploy and Id always have Adebayor start ahead. We are going to have to hope Adebayor stays uninjured and motivated for the season for the 4-2-3-1 formation to get us near the top 6.

Why was he given a new contract ? The mind boggles

Morgans

I think he is a great player to have on the bench, but you know what you get with Jermaine. You have to suspect that a lot of the contracts are to ensure a transfer fee.

Bodie Doyle

Was at the game on Saturday and it was not pretty. A few conclusions:

Defoe cannot play up front on his own. Time and time again the ball kept on coming straight back.
Is Ade still not match fit? That can be the only reason he did not start.

Why play two defensive midfielders at home , against Norwich. We were set up like an away team. Team looked much better when Dembele came on.

After watching VDV on numerous occassions and being fairly annoyed at his departure, I was intrigued to see what Siggy could do. Not fit enough to lace VDVs boots at this stage.

The players looked tired, a bit lost and the intensity that we have had over the last few seasons seems to have gone missing ( in this game at least).

Without Brad Friedel we would have lost. How much did we spend of LLoris?

Vertonghen looks class.

And lastly....

The locals are not happy. It was not the usual one or two mindless blokes booing at halftime and full time there were thousands. And the abuse was not aimed at the players but at the manager and a lot of it in the direction of Levy. The gist of it was our transfer dealings which saw us lose our 2 most creative players and Levy not willing to part with his moola and bring in adequate replacements. These fans ( the ones who go every week especially) are used to seeing us play a certain style of football. That flair, creativity was missing and the fans let everyone know.

I want to give AVB a chance but he badly needs a win . We fail to pick up maximum points v Reading or QPR and he will be under serious pressure.

Morgans

I find the complaining about Lloris a little misguided. Even if Freidel saved us 2 pts at the weekend.

Freidel is nowhere near agile enough to be in a Champions League team. Its where we should be looking at being. Having Kyle Walker run back to the post at several dangerous free kicks last year shows this. Cannot afford this. He can still save us, because he is a very good keeper but was always a short-term solution. We needed a new keeper. Lloris may turn out to be a flop, but on paper, its about as good as we could have hoped for.

Bodie Doyle

Morgans wrote: »

I find the complaining about Lloris a little misguided. Even if Freidel saved us 2 pts at the weekend.

Freidel is nowhere near agile enough to be in a Champions League team. Its where we should be looking at being. Having Kyle Walker run back to the post at several dangerous free kicks last year shows this. Cannot afford this. He can still save us, because he is a very good keeper but was always a short-term solution. We needed a new keeper. Lloris may turn out to be a flop, but on paper, its about as good as we could have hoped for.

I am not comlaining about Lloris - he will turn out to be our no 1 for many years to come hopefully. Time is catching up on Brad but at the moment he is one of the best keepers around.
We spent 12m on a player who will have to fight for his staring position but Levy was not willing to cough up the extra money to ensure AVB got his number one target in Moutinho.

Morgans

Sorry, Bodie Doyle, didnt mean to point that at you. There are plenty of people in the last few days saying we dont need another keeper, even going to cite Gomes and Cudicini. None are good enough. Friedel hasnt done very much wrong since he has come, but in most games he hasnt had to. Lloris may not be an improvement, but might be the last keeper we buy for 10 years.

Bodie Doyle

Morgans wrote: »

Sorry, Bodie Doyle, didnt mean to point that at you. There are plenty of people in the last few days saying we dont need another keeper, even going to cite Gomes and Cudicini. None are good enough. Friedel hasnt done very much wrong since he has come, but in most games he hasnt had to. Lloris may not be an improvement, but might be the last keeper we buy for 10 years.

No problem Morgans. I am just still a bit p*ssed off at what happened in the transfer window again. I was one of those who thought we did not need a new keeper (in this window anyway) and could not believe Levy spent 12m on a new one. Maybe thats why Brad had such a good game at the weekend.

Leinstersqspur

Lloris will play as a sweeper keeper, Brad in his little time at WHL has become one of great keepers but he lacks speed and ability with the ball at his feet and is nearing the end of his career. It's a no brainer really.

Bodie Doyle

Leinstersqspur wrote: »

Lloris will play as a sweeper keeper, Brad in his little time at WHL has become one of great keepers but he lacks speed and ability with the ball at his feet and is nearing the end of his career. It's a no brainer really.

Taken on its own spending 12m on the French national keeper to replace a 41 year old ex American international makes sense. Spending all day Thursday/Friday trying to tie up the deal why taking your eye off your main transfer target does not make sense. We needed another midfielder ( not too sure where Dempsey fits in yet) and most definitely needed another striker.

Leinstersqspur

Yes I'm not sure yet where Dempsey fits in, is he a striker? If so we have three which should be enough considering we'll be playing a lone striker for most of the season. I don't think Levy took his eye off the main target per say but that Porto gave him a taste of his last medicine (holy sh1t they've squeezed €50m out of Zenit for Hulk).

Just on the Lloris/Friedel debate, I don't doubt that Brad have saved us many points since he arrived, this season already included, but here's post from another blog which probably explains why AVB wanted us to move for him now rather than risk another club getting him....

Lloris will add the agile ‘sweeper keeper’ that we need in order to play Andre Villas-Boas’ high line and his distribution with the ball is good.

Brad Friedel, while steady and reliable between the sticks, isn’t able to rush off his line anymore to deal with any danger over the top. As well as this, other than passing out to his defenders, his distribution is also not that good anymore.

PogMoThoin

The club appealed Huddlestones red card and got the suspension lifted
http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/spurs/News/tom-huddlestone-red-card-rescinded.page?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter