Everton v Spurs: Sun @ 13:30

mushykeogh

Devo from Dublin wrote: »

our medical staff brought a man back from the dead..
think they know what they're doing.

If a player is unconscious in any sport, they should be removed from the play straight away. That is best practice procedure for any sports medical team. Leaving him on was wrong and dangerous and condemned from so many quarters today.

jobeenfitz

mushykeogh wrote: »

If a player is unconscious in any sport, they should be removed from the play straight away. That is best practice procedure for any sports medical team. Leaving him on was wrong and dangerous and condemned from so many quarters today.

All seemed to turn out fine for Lloris but it could have gone horribly wrong. Should have been subbed regardless of wanting to stay on.

SuprSi

Completely agree, he should have been forced off the pitch if necessary. Having said that, he pulled off a brilliant save later on which made me selfishly glad he stayed on!!

PVincent

Did any of the top class managers on here, apply for the Irish Job. How does Spurs have so many people who seem to think that they know how to play the game of football at the highest level . Do all clubs have the same criticism of their team from their so called fans. It is beyond belief what negativity I see every week from so called supporters. Get behind the team for God sake. Joint second and we haven't yet played well. Surely that is a positive. The premiership is only about results. If we win the league or even qualify for champs league with a load of 1-0 wins and lucky results and penos, will you give a toss. Like hell you will. You will be singing at the top of your voice. Get over it lads, get behind the team for once.

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

I'm very surprised that some people seem to be under the impression that AVB has adopted negative tactics, or that we're playing on the counter. It simply couldn't be further from the truth. The blame doesn't lie with the manager here, it lies with the players. Whatever is happening, it's just not clicking up front, and by up front, I mean the furthermost 4 players.

I've mentioned Michael Cox a good few times now in the past year or so, he's one of the more highly regarded pundits out there, and he recently did a piece for the Guardian on Spurs. He looks specifically at tactics, and normally doesn't cover PL games, much less Spurs games. For anyone that thinks AVB is employing negative tactics, and for indeed for any Spurs fan in general, I recommend you read this article. He doesn't go too much in detail, but he still gets his point across very well, basically that we don't need to be more attacking, rather we need to be more efficient.

Link to article: http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/nov/03/tottenham

Article:

This was another poor attacking performance from Tottenham Hotspur, and it is remarkable that André Villas-Boas' side are fourth in the Premier League having scored only nine goals in 10 matches.

Spurs have depended on their excellent defensive record – only five goals conceded – but these raw statistics are rather misleading, suggesting Villas-Boas deliberately sacrifices attacking firepower in order to keep it tight at the back. In reality, Spurs are one of the division's more adventurous sides – they have the second-highest average share of possession, behind Manchester City, and have attempted the most shots. They have simply not been creative or clinical enough.

For this trip to Goodison Park, Villas-Boas continued with two wingers, Andros Townsend and Aaron Lennon. The former is capable of going down the line but generally cuts inside before shooting with his left foot, whereas Lennon's deployment on the left flank hampers his crossing ability without boosting his goalscoring potential. Lennon presented Roberto Soldado with one fine early chance but otherwise both wingers were unproductive.

Spurs were actually dominating possession too much in the first half.

Townsend and Lennon are more suited to direct attacking: Townsend impressed on England duty by driving forward powerfully from deep positions, while Lennon's best contributions are in similar situations – think of his assist for Peter Crouch at the San Siro, for example. Neither are regular goalscorers or proficient at playing clever through-balls, and neither was particularly useful in this situation.

While Soldado is adept at converting crosses, he is not a limited, old-fashioned target man who depends solely on that method of service. At Valencia, he was equally capable of bursting past the opposition's back four on to through-balls, often finishing first time from clever angles. In this Tottenham side, it is difficult to pinpoint a player capable of playing those type of passes.

A peculiar but perhaps revealing statistic is that Spurs have been caught offside fewer times, nine, than any other Premier League team. Being flagged offside is clearly not a virtue in itself, but it is a natural consequence of having a striker regularly sprinting on to through-balls, something evidently not happening at Spurs.

Lewis Holtby is tactically intelligent but not a catalyst in the manner of Oscar or Mesut Özil, and it is extremely rare to see Spurs' attacking quartet combining in dangerous zones. Lennon, Townsend, Holtby and Soldado seem like independent actors, and the closest thing Spurs have had to cohesion this season is when Gylfi Sigurdsson and Christian Eriksen have been fielded together, forming clever triangles with Soldado towards the left of the pitch against Norwich and Chelsea.

It is understandable, given so many arrivals and the departure of last season's star performer, that Villas-Boas is still attempting to find his best attacking combination – but he still seems surprisingly far away from an adequate solution. Eriksen is surely the key player, while the Argentinian attacker Erik Lamela will grow in prominence over the course of the season.

Villas-Boas will be reluctant to make any changes that risk jeopardising the fine defensive record and Spurs do not need to become more attacking, simply more efficient with their attacking.

KingdomYid

PVincent wrote: »

Did any of the top class managers on here, apply for the Irish Job. How does Spurs have so many people who seem to think that they know how to play the game of football at the highest level . Do all clubs have the same criticism of their team from their so called fans. It is beyond belief what negativity I see every week from so called supporters. Get behind the team for God sake. Joint second and we haven't yet played well. Surely that is a positive. The premiership is only about results. If we win the league or even qualify for champs league with a load of 1-0 wins and lucky results and penos, will you give a toss. Like hell you will. You will be singing at the top of your voice. Get over it lads, get behind the team for once.

First off am sure nobody here is a 'so called supporter'. We all love Spurs as much the next Spurs fan and I for one am delighted where we are in the table. But are we not allowed analyse a performance on a match thread? I mean this forum is all about opinions and discussion, nobody is being negative for the sake of being negative. I will always get behind the team, am going over next weekend and will support them 100%, I apologise if I come across as too negative but I just give an opinion of the games I watch. Anyway as you say COYS! lets kick on and click into gear from here.

jobeenfitz

I see loads of positive posts here. I would see myself as being mostly positive. I would like more positivity but everybody is entitled to their opinion whether they are right or wrong. We cannot demand people to change their opinions and how they express it. We can reason. We do not have to be top class managers to have our say on the club we love.

It can't always be positive.

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

jobeenfitz wrote: »

I see loads of positive posts here. I would see myself as being mostly positive. I would like more positivity but everybody is entitled to their opinion whether they are right or wrong. We cannot demand people to change their opinions and how they express it. We can reason. We do not have to be top class managers to have our say on the club we love.

It can't always be positive.

That's fair enough, it is an opinion board after all, and people are more than entitled to give their opinions. But people that give their opinion should back it up, especially when it is a negative opinion. I think it's completely fair to say that Spurs have not been good from an attacking perspective as of late, but some people are going as far to suggest that negative tactics are being employed. I asked one such poster to give reason with his opinion and all I got back were immature replies. I nothing against people that give negative opinions, however lazy opinions irk me. If someone says something, be it positive or negative, they should back it up with reason.

Leinstersqspur

Get a room lads. Everyone is entitled to their opinion be it good, bad or indifferent. Otherwise, what would be the point of a forum?

If you don't agree with unsubstantiated negative posts, ignore them.

And please, enough of this joint 2nd crap, we're 4th.:o:o

bishopmuzorewa

Leinstersqspur wrote: »

And please, enough of this joint 2nd crap, we're 4th.:o:o

How many points have Chelsea? How many points have we? I think that makes us joint 2nd ...don't you?

irishmover

bishopmuzorewa wrote: »

How many points have Chelsea? How many points have we? I think that makes us joint 2nd ...don't you?

If the season finished like this we'd be in the qualifying stages for the CL whilst Chelsea would be straight into the competition. I think that makes is fourth!

Leinstersqspur

bishopmuzorewa wrote: »

How many points have Chelsea? How many points have we? I think that makes us joint 2nd ...don't you?

Stop it please, you're embarrassing all of us:o:o

bishopmuzorewa

Leinstersqspur wrote: »

Stop it please, you're embarrassing all of us:o:o

The league doesn't end today so that makes us joint 2nd...no?

Leinstersqspur

bishopmuzorewa wrote: »

The league doesn't end today so that makes us joint 2nd...no?

Ah the gift that keeps on giving.;):D

We're fourth. 1, 2, 3..................4! We're fourth on goal difference. 4th. Just to be sure, we're not fifth and not third, or second for that matter. We're 4th. If you look at table, we're right in there between Liverpool and Man City. another example of this logic could be used where Man City are 5th, Southampton 6th and Everton 7th. 5, 6, & 7 are the numbers that follow 1, 2 ,3 & 4.

bishopmuzorewa

Leinstersqspur wrote: »

Ah the gift that keeps on giving.;):D

We're fourth. 1, 2, 3..................4! We're fourth on goal difference. 4th. Just to be sure, we're not fifth and not third, or second for that matter. We're 4th. If you look at table, we're right in there between Liverpool and Man City. another example of this logic could be used where Man City are 5th, Southampton 6th and Everton 7th. 5, 6, & 7 are the numbers that follow 1, 2 ,3 & 4.

My glass is half full not half empty;)

KingdomYid

bishopmuzorewa wrote: »

How many points have Chelsea? How many points have we? I think that makes us joint 2nd ...don't you?

Does that mean United were joint 1st the year City won the league? :pac:

bishopmuzorewa

KingdomYid wrote: »

Does that mean United were joint 1st the year City won the league? :pac:

League was over then..league not over last weekend;)

golfball37

We are 4th not joint 2nd. We are 4th because we can't even create a chance let alone score a goal.

The team below us has scored 19 goals more than us already but we should remain positive.

jobeenfitz

I think it's good to be in touch with the top without being top, under the radar a bit. Probably less pressure on the players. I'l take top in April or May when we are finished playing all the other top sides.

Pure Sound

To settle this: We are joint second points wise but fourth due to goal difference. The important thing is that we are still in the mix

Hatch99

Just reading all this now, forum gold, the best since someone had a break down over wanting AVB sacked after 4 games :D:D

Leinstersqspur

bishopmuzorewa wrote: »

My glass is half full not half empty;)

It's not your glass I'm worried about;)

starskey77

need to sign a goal scorer

mickman

starskey77 wrote: »

need to sign a goal scorer

his name is soldado

DubPerryman

starskey77 wrote: »

need to sign a goal scorer

Not this old nugget again. We've been saying that for the last three years and then we bought Soldado for a club record fee. The problem lies elsewhere now.

irishmover

DubPerryman wrote: »

Not this old nugget again. We've been saying that for the last three years and then we bought Soldado for a club record fee. The problem lies elsewhere now.

Have you read the article on Sky Sports which shows our passes in opposition half statistics and shots on goal? It's fairly clear that Soldado is having a stinker of a start to his career at spurs (goals wise).

bishopmuzorewa

irishmover wrote: »

Have you read the article on Sky Sports which shows our passes in opposition half statistics and shots on goal? It's fairly clear that Soldado is having a stinker of a start to his career at spurs (goals wise).

Couldn't disagree more. He's making some great runs but the bottom line is he's getting fcuk all service yet he still has scored almost half our goals in the league!

DubPerryman

irishmover wrote: »

Have you read the article on Sky Sports which shows our passes in opposition half statistics and shots on goal? It's fairly clear that Soldado is having a stinker of a start to his career at spurs (goals wise).

Jesus... yep I read that article, we must read stats very differently. Because what I read was that we have all the possession, we take loads of shots from long distance and we don't play any balls through to our striker.

When Man City were in the Championship they said "feed the goat (Shaun Goater), and he will score".

We are certainly not feeding our goat.... and the stats support that.

nipps

from the games i've watched its pretty clear that soldado is getting very little service. we tend to pass the ball around the edge of the opposition area but aren't able to find that final pass. the solution to this (we had the same problem last year) was supposed to be eriksen/lamela. most of us here seem to agree that playing the inverted wingers is making us too narrow, and too predictable. i'd like to see the wingers staying out wide on his good side along with two of holtby/eriksen/sigg in the middle with either sandro/paulinho holding. there just isnt enough creativity from sandro and paulinho in the middle at the moment, which means the team are almost completely relying on one player to pull the strings.

GS11

Soldado is a class striker but he doesn't make things happen on his own, we really have to get Eriksen and Lamela on the pitch(for home games at least), and someone like Siggy who will give us more options in the box. Soldado is getting very frustrated at the lack of service.