More problems caused by not playing with a centre half alongside King imo, Bassong looked allergic to challenging for the aerial ball all night. He was really poor.
The fact that neither centre forward wanted to play up front as a focal point, they both kept coming back (and Pavlyuchenko went down under every touch too, instead of using his strength to hold up play) also meant that the benefits of having the passing/movement provided by a Modric/Huddlestone/VdV centre were wasted. You don't need two guys running from up front to add creativity there, you need them stretching the centre backs and holding the ball up intelligently.
Not sure I ever advocated not playing a DM in the CL though! Maybe in home PL games where we'll be stonewalled, but usually I'd be happier with a destroyer type in there.
Still have high hopes for a possible 352 when we get some centre halves back, but again the form of our strikers makes 2 up front a very hard sell at them moment, because 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, 30 September 2010 11:40 (thirteen years ago) link
that's got to be my most properly-typed post all year, and i dunno why
― i dont love everything, i love football (darraghmac), Thursday, 30 September 2010 11:41 (thirteen years ago) link
Don't think either Pav or Crouch (or Modric for that matter) have learned to play with VDV properly yet, they didn't seem to be getting in the right space for him. That'll come with time, but it was telling that most of our joy last night came from crosses pinged in from wide positions.
Just don't trust Bassong any more, hope he can pull it together but I think the Young Boys game has left in permanent "MUST NOT FUCK UP" ticker tape paralysis.
― Matt DC, Thursday, 30 September 2010 11:49 (thirteen years ago) link
I'd like him removed from the firing line for a while, he's a good 'go straight for the tackle' defender in the Dawson mould, but right now yeah he's definitely suffering. Without King last night we'd have suffered too, but nobody else fit at the moment.
Pav/Crouch- I don't think it's a new problem that Crouch doesn't stay up front or hold the ball up properly (particularly for his height) but Pav would definitely want taking aside and a word had (I love football grammar) about running wide and also about hitting the deck so easily.
Thought most of our joy last night came from running down the wings directly at full backs, not through the actualy delivery (Bale put in some good early balls, but again Crouch and Pav weren't anywhere near the penalty spot (Crouch six yards to the right of the 6yd box for one cross, wtf)
― i dont love everything, i love football (darraghmac), Thursday, 30 September 2010 11:57 (thirteen years ago) link
bTottenham Hotspur* Rafael Van der Vaart has had 17 shots in just four league games since joining Tottenham. Peter Crouch has had just nine in seven games.
* No Premier League player has created more chances (20) than Gareth Bale this season. But he is yet to be credited with an assist.
* Spurs have kept just two clean sheets in 12 games in all competition this season.
Bale stat is blowing my mind. CMON STRIKERS GET ON THE END OF IT FFS
― i dont love everything, i love football (darraghmac), Tuesday, 5 October 2010 08:57 (thirteen years ago) link
Have assists actually become an official thing then? I thought they were strictly for fantasy footy.
― Ismael Klata, Tuesday, 5 October 2010 09:38 (thirteen years ago) link
nah they've been keeping official stats as far back as the utd team of late 90's at least.
― i dont love everything, i love football (darraghmac), Tuesday, 5 October 2010 10:15 (thirteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2HWUbFGHMU
I was watching this ridiculous George Best footage from 1981 last night. "One goal and THREE assists!" quoth the announcer.
― Ismael Klata, Tuesday, 5 October 2010 10:18 (thirteen years ago) link
Looks like we'll be getting rid of Kranjcar then. He's worth at least 10m imo, but I doubt we'll see anything like that amount.
― i dont love everything, i love football (darraghmac), Tuesday, 5 October 2010 11:17 (thirteen years ago) link
I read that as "worth at least 1 onimo" - need to get over myself
― meta the devil you know (onimo), Tuesday, 5 October 2010 11:36 (thirteen years ago) link
^ fancies himself a bit of a player imo
― i dont love everything, i love football (darraghmac), Tuesday, 5 October 2010 11:38 (thirteen years ago) link
http://imgur.com/NpH9h.jpg
― James Mitchell, Thursday, 7 October 2010 13:16 (thirteen years ago) link
modric absolutely aghast there.
obviously arry's indicating the number of midfield slots available for vdv and luka, so get yer finger out lad.
― i dont love everything, i love football (darraghmac), Thursday, 7 October 2010 13:22 (thirteen years ago) link
modders deserves that, he's looked complete pony the last few games i've seen of him
should make some FREE NIKO shirts really
― r|t|c, Thursday, 7 October 2010 21:04 (thirteen years ago) link
Man management, Harry style. Almost as funny as when Gomes rolled his hands to indicate he needed to come off and 'Arry gave him a thumbs up and left him on the pitch.
And then he was injured for three weeks during which time we weren't much cop at the back.
― Matt DC, Friday, 8 October 2010 13:35 (thirteen years ago) link
i don't know if modric is just off-form or if he's struggling to find a role between VdV and Bale.
really hope it's the former
― i dont love everything, i love football (darraghmac), Friday, 8 October 2010 13:36 (thirteen years ago) link
Might be a bit of both.
― Matt DC, Friday, 8 October 2010 13:44 (thirteen years ago) link
i'd love to inhabit your complicated world, tbh, but i'm just not that guy
― i dont love everything, i love football (darraghmac), Friday, 8 October 2010 13:45 (thirteen years ago) link
well, i guess we'll be a big club when we get a pet ref like cuntyberg
― cant believe you sb'd me for that (darraghmac), Saturday, 30 October 2010 19:16 (thirteen years ago) link
This is presumably United's pet ref who didn't give United a penalty when Nani was pulled? You'd think if the referee was biased to United / against Spurs, the easy (and far less controversial) thing to do would have been to give the penalty, rather than give Spurs the advantage and then send misleading telepathic signals to Gomes that caused him to place the ball then stand and watch while Nani asked the referee if it was OK to score (and then scored).
― Running the Gantelope (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Saturday, 30 October 2010 19:48 (thirteen years ago) link
here's a stat: not only have Spurs failed to win here since 1989, not counting the time they did thanks to Pedro Mendes but weren't allowed to, they've also failed to register a victory in any of their last 67 away games against the Traditional Big Four
― Ismael Klata, Saturday, 30 October 2010 21:48 (thirteen years ago) link
Things you can guarantee will happen every season:1 Spurs will roll over for Man U.
― Pete W, Sunday, 31 October 2010 09:34 (thirteen years ago) link
uh didn't Chelsea fans call it Three Point Lane for a while? They were undefeated there for years.
― a fucking abortion (onimo), Sunday, 31 October 2010 10:15 (thirteen years ago) link
more worried about our recent form against wolves and wigan tbph
nb&s i'd rather he didn't give a soft peno for your famous diver, hadn't booked our two centre halves for nothing as early as possible, booked your famous diver for grabbing and holding the ball, listened to his linesman instead of overruling him, not booked our captain for repeated protests while not allowing your captain to hold a fucking conference with him and his assistant.
i'd rather all of that.
― cant believe you sb'd me for that (darraghmac), Sunday, 31 October 2010 13:36 (thirteen years ago) link
arry's wrong, handball is not a yellow card
― caek, Sunday, 31 October 2010 13:37 (thirteen years ago) link
deliberate, sustained handball on the ground after not getting a penalty isn't necessarily a yellow card, but should be though- right?
when did yellow cards for diving stop, on a not-unrelated subject
― cant believe you sb'd me for that (darraghmac), Sunday, 31 October 2010 13:41 (thirteen years ago) link
They haven't stopped, have just seen a Kilmarnock booked for it not fifteen minutes ago.
― ailsa, Sunday, 31 October 2010 13:42 (thirteen years ago) link
+ player
― ailsa, Sunday, 31 October 2010 13:43 (thirteen years ago) link
There was at least one classic "dive or penalty" moment in the Barnsley - Hull game last night, neither given of course, sick of chickenshit cop outs like that.
― Uncharted: Nick Drake's Fortune (Noodle Vague), Sunday, 31 October 2010 13:45 (thirteen years ago) link
a handball is only ever a caution if it's "unsporting conduct". unless the ref thinks nani was diving, he has to assume nani handles because he thinks he's got a penalty. players handball after tackles all the time. to penalize nani would be inconsistent with how this is refereed.
― caek, Sunday, 31 October 2010 13:45 (thirteen years ago) link
tbf he had a pretty shitty view of the penalty claim
― caek, Sunday, 31 October 2010 13:46 (thirteen years ago) link
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.
― Running the Gantelope (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Sunday, 31 October 2010 13:51 (thirteen years ago) link
ha fair point, and i've acknowledged that tbf also
― cant believe you sb'd me for that (darraghmac), Sunday, 31 October 2010 13:59 (thirteen years ago) link
would ask you why nani didn't play to the whistle tho :)
― cant believe you sb'd me for that (darraghmac), Sunday, 31 October 2010 14:00 (thirteen years ago) link
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.
― I see what this is (Local Garda), Sunday, 31 October 2010 14:25 (thirteen years ago) link
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.
― Matt DC, Thursday, 4 November 2010 11:48 (thirteen years ago) link
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.
― cant believe you sb'd me for that (darraghmac), Thursday, 4 November 2010 12:05 (thirteen years ago) link
I would expect Redknapp to put Defoe straight back in the team when he's fit. The man fucking loves him.
― Matt DC, Thursday, 4 November 2010 12:11 (thirteen years ago) link
central attacking unit of modric vdv and defoe in a 4411 would definitely merit a run of games.
― cant believe you sb'd me for that (darraghmac), Thursday, 4 November 2010 12:14 (thirteen years ago) link
noted on another thread, but modric's comments have made my day.
― cant believe you sb'd me for that (darraghmac), Thursday, 4 November 2010 17:08 (thirteen years ago) link
He's such a dude.
― Matt DC, Thursday, 4 November 2010 17:08 (thirteen years ago) link
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
― cant believe you sb'd me for that (darraghmac), Friday, 5 November 2010 20:01 (thirteen years ago) link
are we running a book on which bolton player will break bale's leg? #steinsson
― coz truise (cozen), Saturday, 6 November 2010 12:53 (thirteen years ago) link
steinsson yeah
― cant believe you sb'd me for that (darraghmac), Saturday, 6 November 2010 12:57 (thirteen years ago) link
thugg
― geddit (cozen), Saturday, 6 November 2010 22:48 (thirteen years ago) link
^ onimo said this in the pub today (and then said lol amirite). When real life and ILX collide.
― ailsa, Saturday, 6 November 2010 22:50 (thirteen years ago) link
Heh, very good. Didn't think he was, um, that kind of player. Has he lashed out before?
― Ismael Klata, Saturday, 6 November 2010 22:54 (thirteen years ago) link
yep, he's got a very short fuse
― cant believe you sb'd me for that (darraghmac), Sunday, 7 November 2010 00:03 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah he elbowed someone in the twente game, i think. avoided a ban for that one.
― mizzell, Sunday, 7 November 2010 00:04 (thirteen years ago) link
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.
― cant believe you sb'd me for that (darraghmac), Sunday, 7 November 2010 00:05 (thirteen years ago) link