Match Ratings -VS- Chelsea

[phil]

DOW summed it up perfectly. Playing Chelsea isn't the same as playing Arsenal or ManU, whose desire to play attacking football will always allow you some freedom in a game. Chelsea are like the most expensively assembled Bolton. You must compete and win battles all over the pitch but mainly at CB and CM. It is about bollocks and strength and today Woodgate, King, Jenas & Zokora won all the important battles against one of the most expensively assembled and highest paid opposite numbers on the planet. Our four players entire combined transfer fee was less than Essiens alone. Their combined wages less than lampards.(or close).

How anyone can single out Zokora is baffling. It was his superb interceptions (2 of which lead to great chances) all day long that helped keep us on top for most of the game.

Everybody made a mistake today but everybody redeemed themselves during the course of the game.

Ratings:

Woodgate, King, Zokora, Jenas 9

Everyone else 8.5

Ramos 9 - Don't try to argue with me that coaches can't improve players and teams. You know who you are. And you now must be aware that you are wrong.

Levy 10 - Took stupid shit for making a couragious decision. Don't know how he managed to talk a coach of Ramos's ilk to come to us but I salute you. And (amongst many other great things and money spent) he then went out and spent big money on a player who came with risk, aged 28, with absoloutely no likelyhood of retaining inherent value. Today he paid Mr Levy back. He deserved it.


Redemption is sweet.



Nearly forgot:

Us - 9.5 - great atmosphere, and maybe the result has made me biased - but I loved the new Wembly. Sat up in the gods and had a fucking fantastic view. Shame the seats are all red.

Well said BC. This triumph is really down to Levy/Comolli for having the courage to remove Jol and for identifying Ramos as the person who can take us to that next level.

Many posters here were opposed to us signing Woodgate. Yesterday we saw what an awesome player he is.

 

[Evolution]

TEAM

8 - Robinson: Was positionally at fault for the Chelsea goal but made up for it with some solid stops at the end which kept Spurs in it

9 - Hutton: Looked very strong down that side and kept Anelka out of the game. Great performance
10 - Woodgate: Man of the match and solid at the back. Brave as a lion for the winning header
9 - King: Solid and unflappable. He looked sharp and partnered very well alongside Woodgate
7 - Chimbonda: Great first 15 mins with probing runs down the left and a header against the bar. Went down hill from there and was subbed. Bad reaction to coming off also.

8 - Lennon: Was a total bystander in the first half but after switching flanks looked a new player. Terrified Chelsea in the 2nd half down the left
8 - Jenas: Ran and Ran and Ran. Wasn't quite as penerating as he can be but his workrate more then made up for it
7 - Zokora: Some sloppy tackles and bad free kick to give away for the Chelsea goal. Other then those he was solid in the middle and a great one-two saw him against keeper but no composure for finish. Great TV moment when Berba took his penatly with him looking away.
7 - Malbranque: Some great early runs but then seemed a little ineffective and was subsequently subbed

8 - Berbatov: Some nice touches and good play. Was unlucky not to score. Worked very hard and you could see he really wanted it
8 - Keane: Good performane but found himself pushed out wide left to receive the ball sometimes. Worked very hard

Subs:
8 - Huddlestone: Looked very good coming on and played some good passes. Forced Bridge into conceding penalty
7 - Tainio: Solid at the end
7 - Kaboul: Held his nerve during the Alamo

 

[degoose]

Robinson 7 - poor most of the match. Made two amazing crucial saves at the end. I still want a new keeper. Reluctant to come and claim the ball, and over time, these mistakes cost us points.

Hutton 6.5 - Nothing I have seen from this guy makes me believe that he is better than Chimbonda. I guess I need to give him time.

Woodgate 7.5 - Great goal, but was turned too easily by Drogba a few times.

King 9 - ABSOLUTE LEGEND. MAN OF THE MATCH FLAWLESS DISPLAY.

Chimbonda 6 - played well but downgraded due to petulance showed after being subbed.

Lennon 8 - Great 2nd half. Truly world class. Made SWP look 2nd rate.

Jenas 6.5 - poor 1st half and pretty much same 2nd half. Great ball to set up winner.

Zokora 4 - I honestly don't want him to play for us again.

Malbranque 7 - played well the whole match. Player of the season

Berbatov 7- great penalty, played well.

Keane 5.5 - did nothing but bottle challenges and flap his arms.

Subs:

Huddlestone - 7.5 Immense when he came on. He was everywhere.

Tainio 6.5 - played LB, (LOL)

Kaboul 6 - not on long enough.

COYS

we won a cup and we oplayed great as a team so im not going to rate anyone, i would say your being a bit harsh on hutton, everyone ive spoken to thinks he is doing great, i do to, he looks more defensive minded when its needed than chimbonda.

Once he plays a few more games and settles in more he'll be more attacking like he was at Rangers

 

[nickspurs]

Have to say, it's always great to read these reports (even though on days like this we have a temptation to give 10's all around!).

I was toughest on Zoko but reading some people's scores and comments I might have to re-watch the game in it's entirity (what a chore :grin. Some excellent points made by many on Zoko. Someone said how he and JJ did a fantastic job on a Chelsea midfield with Mikel and Essien - great point and made me think.

 

[leffe186]

With you all the way Evolution, apart from

Robbo down to 7
Hutton down to 8
Chimbonda up to 8
Woodgate down to 9
Zokora up to 8

Robbo just can't quite cut it at this level - great shot-stopping but his decision-making on crosses is still abysmal.

Hutton and Chimbonda did the jobs they were supposed to do - we were clearly targeting Belletti as the weak link which meant more attacking work for Chimbonda and he did all that could be expected of him on the wrong side. He did better than Lee would have done defensively too.

Woody did very well but dove in a little too much on Drogba - he got turned one too many times.

Zokora did what he was there for. We all know that his passing and control is a bit ropey but he covered every blade of grass and had he scored that break he'd be sitting on a 9. He gets a point for the arse-tackle alone.

Finally, a word for the man-beast Hudd. I have never seen him look more like a midfielder, making proper runs and all. Could it be that the puppy-fat iscoming off? If he continues in this vein he will become the man we all know he could be...

 

[don1]

motm for me was woodgate

 

[milkman]

Robinson 7 - poor most of the match. Made two amazing crucial saves at the end. I still want a new keeper. Reluctant to come and claim the ball, and over time, these mistakes cost us points.

Hutton 6.5 - Nothing I have seen from this guy makes me believe that he is better than Chimbonda. I guess I need to give him time.

Woodgate 7.5 - Great goal, but was turned too easily by Drogba a few times.

King 9 - ABSOLUTE LEGEND. MAN OF THE MATCH FLAWLESS DISPLAY.

Chimbonda 6 - played well but downgraded due to petulance showed after being subbed.

Lennon 8 - Great 2nd half. Truly world class. Made SWP look 2nd rate.

Jenas 6.5 - poor 1st half and pretty much same 2nd half. Great ball to set up winner.

Zokora 4 - I honestly don't want him to play for us again.

Malbranque 7 - played well the whole match. Player of the season

Berbatov 7- great penalty, played well.

Keane 5.5 - did nothing but bottle challenges and flap his arms.

Subs:

Huddlestone - 7.5 Immense when he came on. He was everywhere.

Tainio 6.5 - played LB, (LOL)

Kaboul 6 - not on long enough.

COYS

Zokora 4!!!! are you joking!!! i think he played really well, dispossed chelsea loads of time, passed the ball well and was very good when on the ball. he created himself a great chance when he was one-on-one with Cech but his poor finishing let him down, but you cant mark him down from that!

definately not a 4, id give him a 7 or 8.

 

[milkman]

Woodgate got MOTM for me, i thought he was great at the back and did well to score the winning goal!

 

[N10toN17]

General levys marks are so bad I think he should retire himself from watching football. I hear netball and egg chasing are after supporters maybe you should give it a go. :wink:

My motm was Woodgate and like most no average performances, every player was either good, very good or excellent.

 

[Johnspur]

Robinson- 8. Positioning was off for their goal but made 2 important saves inside the last 10 minutes.

Hutton- 8. Did what he had to do, wasn't spectacular but Right backs don't have to be.

Woodgate- 10. I thought he was faultless as plus he scored so that's worth an extra point.

King- 9. Woodgate just gets the nod cos he scored. King showed throughout that he may well be spurs most vital player.

Chimbonda -7. Did ok, cannot remember him doing much apart from taking ages to leave the pitch.

Lennon- 8. Poor first half very lively last 30 mins caused them problems, won the free kick from which we scored the winner.

Zokora -6. I reckon he was played just to break up their play. I like the guy and he's good with the fans but I'm not sure how long he has left at spurs.

Jenas- 7. How much energy does this guy have? Must be the new fitness diet, was still workin hard even in the closing minutes.

Malbranque- 6. Far from his best had a good effort saved in the 1st half that was about it. I reckon he has had a good season though so I won't knock him.

Keane- 8. Up for it from the very start, always lookin to score or create a chance, I always fancied his chances when he was one on one with a defender.

Berbatov- 9. The hardest I've ever seen him work in a spurs shirt, it was great to see how tired and how much he wanted to win deep into extra time. The coolest penalty of all time was pretty fookin good aswell.

The subs pretty much did what they could.
Hudd- 6
Tainio- 7
Kaboul- 6

 

[General Levy]

General levys marks are so bad I think he should retire himself from watching football. I hear netball and egg chasing are after supporters maybe you should give it a go. :wink:

My motm was Woodgate and like most no average performances, every player was either good, very good or excellent.

Yet he was at fault of throwing Drogba to the ground for a stone wall penalty, which wasn't awarded, due to the play being stopped for an offside.

Woodgate was turned inside out by Drogba a number of occasions.

 

[milkman]

Zokora -6. I reckon he was played just to break up their play. I like the guy and he's good with the fans but I'm not sure how long he has left at spurs.

6 for Zokora!!??? thats too harsh IMO, at least a 7 but should get more...

 

[Cemboi]

Yea I say king or woodgate were my MOTM

 

[Stavi]

i was trying to explain to my mate how good zokora was yesterday and rationed that lampard, essien, mikel, and ballack all failed to get anything significant out of him. Their shit performance should thus be credited in part to zokora. same with steed's performance and that of both our wings. Wright-Phillips got nothing; neither did anelka, or bridge. everyone did their job in their respective positions against top quality players.

 

[leffe186]

Zokora -6. I reckon he was played just to break up their play. I like the guy and he's good with the fans but I'm not sure how long he has left at spurs.

But that's like saying Robbo was played just to save their shots. That's what Zokora does. I thought he did it very well and after all, the reason he almost scored was precisely because he broke up their play. In our heart of hearts we all thought he would probably arse up that chance but frankly (and this isn't a pop at JJ) Jenas has done the same thing before on more than one occasion. Everyone did what they were meant to do and that's a credit to both them and Juande.

 

[Johnspur]

I know Zokora is just their to break up the play I didn't mean that as a negative thing! I actually said to my mates before the game who thought Thudd should have started, that I'd play Zokora to stop them playing football not to mention he has a lot more bite than Thudd. I gave him a 6 just cos I wasn't seeing the kinda bite and tackles that break up play as often as I'd like.

Besides 6 isn't that bad a mark! To me it's job done.

 

[leffe186]

Fair enough - I just think that 6 is too little for a job that big! Wrestle a game away from the most expensive midfield in the universe after two days rest?

 

[degoose]

zokora is a lot like our own robbie savage, he does a great job at pissing of the opposing team and break up play, he isnt classy play but he does a good job , he also doesnt ever seem to get tired, he just seems to do the dirty stuff leaving Jenas to get about up field and do more of the classy stuff.

He did a good job sunday and shut up essien, mikel and lampard, think thats good enough for me

 

[AlanHuttonAteMyHamster]

Hutton - 0.

'E eated ma 'amster as after match snack.

'E promised me 'e woodint this time and I beleevid 'im.

Hutton the Hamster Eater.

(In all seriousness - everyone did what they had to do which made it an enjoyable day to be a Spurs fan).