- May 26, 2004
- 4,797
- 2,139
Good Week
Christian Eriksen
Two goals and an assist on sunday, extending the Dane's recent run of great form. Eriksen is, along with Adebayor, one of the few positives from this season and should be central (Tim!) to our chances of success next season.
Roberto Soldado
Pretty woeful against Benfica, but made up for it with a determined display against Southampton. He is showing plenty of endeavour and some really classy touches. If only he could receive service the like he is giving. Regardless, the positive feelings about Bobie re back.
Harry Kane
Two assists on Thursday night and with Adebayor injured, first reserve for the sole striker berth.
Nacer Chadli
Most improved player in 2014? From looking like an athlete but not a footballer, Chadli hs been rewarded for his performances in training with more game time in his preferred position of the striker, and is showing signs of coming good. If he could perfect his final ball then he has the making of a very good player.
Gylfi Sigurdsson
Siggy has always caused me a problem. Undoubtedly a good goalscoring midfielder, who strikes a ball fantastically and is also adept at making late surges into the box, the Icelander lacks the strength, tackling or passing to really convince in central midfield. However, given how much others have failed to nail down a CM berth I think it is worth giving Sigurdsson an extended run.
Not only did he come up with a fine late winner on sunday, but his passing is good if simple, and his positioning helped make us a far more solid team in the second half. More on that later.
Tim Sherwood
Gets a bit of credit for his half time team talks, but he is not going to get the job based on his ability to right his wrongs.
The magnificent-ly young eight
Always nice to see youngsters getting a bit of first team exposure.
Bad Week
Kyle Naughton
Two horrendous errors from a player who has performed well in recent weeks. Did well to not crumble completely, but when you are the more defensively-sound Kyle and you make two errors like that it does not look good.
Danny Rose
Not that our other full back covered himself in glory. Likes to get forward but consistently fails to find a Spurs shirt with his crosses, makes surges forward but does not show the greatest appetite to get back into position, one wonders if a new manager would persist with Rose.
Moussa Dembele
Granted he was injured going into the game, but to put himself forward for a start and then play so poorly maybe shows an alarming lack of self awareness that explains why his positioning throughout that first half was so utterly dire.
Seriously, watch back that Southampton game and look at how Dembele would line up even when Boruc was taking a goal kick. With Chadli filtering in behind Soldado, as you would expect, and Bentaleb in front of one of his centre backs, Moussa would stand in between Nabil and Nacer. Southampton did not pass through our midfield, they simply slipped a ball down the side. By merely standing next to instead in front of Bentaleb Sigurdsson made us infinitely more difficult to break down.
When he wasn't exposing Bentaleb and our defence, Moussa was standing in anonymity, five yards off where he should have been and where the action was. I don't know if it is that hip injury he picked up way back when in his Spurs career but for some reason Dembele is a shadow the player he was at Fulham. Not making the most of his ability was one thing, being a liability to the side is quite another.
It is little surprise that a forward turned into a midfielder lacks the positional know-how of a central midfielder, and Sherwood has tried in him a more advanced position, but given we need a playmaker in the midfield and Dembele's lack of goals I think the Belgium man is for the chop.
Daniel Levy
He can't exactly take a chance with a new manager next season who was beaten twice by the old one, can he? That short list gets ever shorter.
Christian Eriksen
Two goals and an assist on sunday, extending the Dane's recent run of great form. Eriksen is, along with Adebayor, one of the few positives from this season and should be central (Tim!) to our chances of success next season.
Roberto Soldado
Pretty woeful against Benfica, but made up for it with a determined display against Southampton. He is showing plenty of endeavour and some really classy touches. If only he could receive service the like he is giving. Regardless, the positive feelings about Bobie re back.
Harry Kane
Two assists on Thursday night and with Adebayor injured, first reserve for the sole striker berth.
Nacer Chadli
Most improved player in 2014? From looking like an athlete but not a footballer, Chadli hs been rewarded for his performances in training with more game time in his preferred position of the striker, and is showing signs of coming good. If he could perfect his final ball then he has the making of a very good player.
Gylfi Sigurdsson
Siggy has always caused me a problem. Undoubtedly a good goalscoring midfielder, who strikes a ball fantastically and is also adept at making late surges into the box, the Icelander lacks the strength, tackling or passing to really convince in central midfield. However, given how much others have failed to nail down a CM berth I think it is worth giving Sigurdsson an extended run.
Not only did he come up with a fine late winner on sunday, but his passing is good if simple, and his positioning helped make us a far more solid team in the second half. More on that later.
Tim Sherwood
Gets a bit of credit for his half time team talks, but he is not going to get the job based on his ability to right his wrongs.
The magnificent-ly young eight
Always nice to see youngsters getting a bit of first team exposure.
Bad Week
Kyle Naughton
Two horrendous errors from a player who has performed well in recent weeks. Did well to not crumble completely, but when you are the more defensively-sound Kyle and you make two errors like that it does not look good.
Danny Rose
Not that our other full back covered himself in glory. Likes to get forward but consistently fails to find a Spurs shirt with his crosses, makes surges forward but does not show the greatest appetite to get back into position, one wonders if a new manager would persist with Rose.
Moussa Dembele
Granted he was injured going into the game, but to put himself forward for a start and then play so poorly maybe shows an alarming lack of self awareness that explains why his positioning throughout that first half was so utterly dire.
Seriously, watch back that Southampton game and look at how Dembele would line up even when Boruc was taking a goal kick. With Chadli filtering in behind Soldado, as you would expect, and Bentaleb in front of one of his centre backs, Moussa would stand in between Nabil and Nacer. Southampton did not pass through our midfield, they simply slipped a ball down the side. By merely standing next to instead in front of Bentaleb Sigurdsson made us infinitely more difficult to break down.
When he wasn't exposing Bentaleb and our defence, Moussa was standing in anonymity, five yards off where he should have been and where the action was. I don't know if it is that hip injury he picked up way back when in his Spurs career but for some reason Dembele is a shadow the player he was at Fulham. Not making the most of his ability was one thing, being a liability to the side is quite another.
It is little surprise that a forward turned into a midfielder lacks the positional know-how of a central midfielder, and Sherwood has tried in him a more advanced position, but given we need a playmaker in the midfield and Dembele's lack of goals I think the Belgium man is for the chop.
Daniel Levy
He can't exactly take a chance with a new manager next season who was beaten twice by the old one, can he? That short list gets ever shorter.