TOTTENHAM ARE STILL A BIG CLUB!

tbf he had a pretty shitty view of the penalty claim

Nani wasn't seeking to gain advantage by handling it. It was hardly an Henry v Ireland type incident. He thought he'd got a penalty. Once he realised he hadn't, he let go of the ball (and threw himself on his back in a ridiculously over-the-top show of exasperation) while Gomes picked up the ball and walked off with it. He didn't gain anything from that.

I can understand your frustration, Darragh. Spurs worked hard, showed flashes of brilliance and, but for that bizarre incident, could well have left Old Trafford with just a 1-0 defeat.

ha fair point, and i've acknowledged that tbf also

would ask you why nani didn't play to the whistle tho :)

exactly...everyone is criticising gomes for not playing the whistle but neither did nani. the only diff is the ref didn't see nani's behaviour=bad refereeing. picking up the ball after a tackle before the whistle is petulant bullshit anyway, sort of thing someone does in the park when you're 9.

defoe's position troubles me. Doesnt play well pivoting off a big man, much better working predatorially against defenders rather than as part of an ttacking unit.

As well to discount him from tactics altogether when picking him treat him as joker in the pack rather than yr usual small, tricksy creative attacker.

― cant believe you sb'd me for that (darraghmac), Thursday, 4 November 2010 11:10 (35 minutes ago)

Carrying this on here but I think this is wrong fwiw. Defoe would be great as the tip of a 4-4-1-1 that's based on keeping it on the ground, as the current Spurs team is. If he had another foot of height he'd obviously be perfect but he can actually finish regularly, which helps, he gets himself into good positions and he's strong enough to hold defenders off. Could work well in front of VDV I'd say. Better than Keane at any rate.

well yeah, i would love to see him in exactly that position, my point was more that including him in your strategy (as harry clearly does crouch, for instance) isn't a goer- and going back to sheringham through keane and berbatov we've almost turned away from picking a player purely to get on the end of things (it's why defoe was sold before and why bent never got a fair crack, imo)

I think pav holds it up and passes better than any of our other strikers, but crouch vdv have hit it off, and with defoe back fit there's maybe a bit of tinkering to be done.

I would expect Redknapp to put Defoe straight back in the team when he's fit. The man fucking loves him.

central attacking unit of modric vdv and defoe in a 4411 would definitely merit a run of games.

noted on another thread, but modric's comments have made my day.

He's such a dude.

the obvious choice for Harry right now is to pick only one up front to accommodate VdV, Modric, Huddlestone, Lennon and Bale (or four from that lot and one destructive presence, as I said).

― i dont love everything, i love football (darraghmac), Thursday, September 30, 2010

visionary imo

are we running a book on which bolton player will break bale's leg? #steinsson

steinsson yeah

thugg

^ onimo said this in the pub today (and then said lol amirite). When real life and ILX collide.

Heh, very good. Didn't think he was, um, that kind of player. Has he lashed out before?

yep, he's got a very short fuse

yeah he elbowed someone in the twente game, i think. avoided a ban for that one.

he's had a few incidents. eng u-21's once or twice too. he's not actually that sort of player, but he reacts very badly, very quivckly if he thinks someone's had a go.

figured out the bale.gif btw. his balls are obv rattling about in there, that's a phantom dingus #PD

lollin @ #PD #balllols

#Imayhavebeendrinking

Amazingly enough, Tottenham's most lethal goalscorer over the past three seasons is none other than Roman Pavlyuchenko.

SuperPav has scored 32 goals in all competitions over the past three seasons from 4,179 minutes playing time, giving him a strike-rate of a goal for every 131 minutes played

His record during 2010-11 is an even more impressive goal for every 106 minutes played.

Closely behind Pav is new signing Rafael van der Vaart, who's 7 goals this season have come from 930 minutes played, giving the Dutchman a strike-rate of a goal scored every 133 minutes on average.

In third place comes the pint-sized assassin, Jermain Defoe with 29 goals from his 4,166 minutes played - a strike-rate of 144 minutes per goal.

Danny Rose only goal for Spurs came from 157 minutes played so far.

Darren Bent, now with Sunderland, managed 17 goals from 2,790 minutes played, which gave him an average of a goal scored for every 164 minutes played.

Tottenham Hotspur's Goalscorer's Strike-Rates in Last Three Seasons:

http://www.myfootballfacts.com/Spurs_Strike-Rates_Last_3_Seasons.html

"

not in any way amazed tbh. our best striker, and the sooner we get him and defoe to start playing together the sooner our consistency will cease to be such a major issue.

I can imagine Harry already figuring out wheezes to get his average up by no early baths from now on, subbing him on as an auxiliary CB in games long-won, etc

Thudd out for several months, by the way :(

Ideally that means playing a proper defensive midfielder from game to game. Realistically, it means a lot more Jermaine Jenas.

You live in a Sandro world now, it'll be ok.

yeah sandro or palacios to pick up the slack. ideally. But i'd share matt's reservations as to whether that'll happen

or harry can go mental, notice his shit defense is going to concede no matter the situation and just think fuck it, we'll go back to the ozzie days and play 4 creative midfielders and two strikers...

tbh three and two or four and one respectively aint far off that, with attacking full backs to boot

Pav's league goals 2008/09: 1 vs Bolton, 1 vs Liverpool, 1 vs Blackburn, 1 vs Boro, 1 vs West Ham
Pav's league goals 2009/10: 2 vs Wigan, 1 vs Everton, 2 vs Blackburn
Pav's league goals 2010/11: 1 vs Wolves, 1 vs Fulham, 1 vs Bolton, 1 vs Blackburn

I don't think goals per minute tells the full story (otherwise, iirc, Mark Burchill > Henrik Larsson) - you have to look at the opposition.

when a player never seems to get a fair run, i dont know if it still isnt a good stat to look at.

Pav's never scored more than five?!

remember when carlton cole had the best gpg record in the world? good times.

not in the league - a few against better teams elsewhere of course - vs Man U in the league cup, vs Inter in the CL.

All of his 2008/09 league goals were at home.

Not calling him out as a flat track bully or anything - to score against the top teams you need to play them and Harry's ignored him for a few big games.

not like our other strikers were filling their boots away from home or against yr chelsea in the same period.

No club going for cl spot can do without a flat track bully, if that's even what he is

^^^i call bullshit but all the examples that come to mind have a midfield that scores a lot more than spurs's.

Spurs now have a midfield(er) that scores.

g bale and vdv both

Oh aye, keep forgetting Bale is no longer classed as a defender. VDV looks like deal of the season so far.

chamakh up there too before sam hops in

nah vdv is a lock for signing of the season (along w/ zlatan + ozil)

I almost consider him a second striker but I can't remember the last time Spurs had a midfielder who had a serious change of getting 20 goals a season.

But yes, a big physical striker much needed at the moment. I'm a little disappointed that Sunderland got Asamoah Gyan, who'd be ideal.

srs, a cheeky bid for lou ferrigno and porto would let him torture english defenses instead.

lennon/modric need to contribute more goals, there's no doubt. Pav/defoe are always lookin to shoot early and occupy centre halves in a way crouch/keane dont/wont. You'd be sacrificing a certain amount of participation in buildup play playing the former as a partnership, but giving modric/vdv room in the centre. Worth trying over a period of time imo.

"Harry is a very special man, that's why I already feel at home at Spurs. It feels like I'm back on the street.

"There are no long and boring speeches about tactics, like I was used to at Real Madrid.

"There is a clipboard in our dressing room, but Harry doesn't write anything on it. It's not that we do nothing - but it's close to that."

Starting to think that it's Lennon who's going to make way in a 4-4-2. If you've got Bale firing on all cylinders you can sacrifice Lennon and play Rafa on the right, drifting in with Hutton overlapping.

lennon off form, sure. But straighter swap for modric, who by the same token can play naturally cutting in from the left.

Vdv may well turn out to be a striking option in 442 anyway