- Oct 17, 2006
- 10,709
- 25,296
- Thread starter
- #101
This is where I miss Spurs Bear!And I'm just sitting here waiting for @Bus-Conductor .
And hopefully an argument between him and @Mr Pink
This is where I miss Spurs Bear!And I'm just sitting here waiting for @Bus-Conductor .
And hopefully an argument between him and @Mr Pink
Spurs Bear returned...This is where I miss Spurs Bear!
Lloris - 8 (his usual good self)
Naughton - 4(was meh then was sent off on the penalty. Automatic deduction)
Dier - 9(soooooo tempted to go 10 here. What a debut. Great in the shalke friendly. Fantastic today then scored the winner. Nothing bad to say. MOTM)
Kaboul - 5(not a good game at all. A few stupid mistakes.)
Rose - 5.5(how many more crosses you gonna give up?)
Capoue - 7(good at CM. Did well at center half too)
Bentaleb - 5(gave the ball away way too often. Passing wasnt great. Not his best game. I know he could do alot better. Alot of potential here, IMO)
Lennon - 4(same as always. Runs and tracks back somewhat. Shit in every other regard. Get rid already.)
Eriksen - 6(not his best)
Lamela - 6(tried to do too much but looked to be the only player trying to create something out there)
Ade - 3(terrible. Not fit at all. Cant head the ball. Awful touches, bad hold up. Bad vision.)
Subs
Holtby - 6(energetic. Game changed when he came on)
Townsend - 6(game changed when he came on. actually getting his shots on target for a change. Still needs to learn to be a teammate and run with his head up)
Kane - NET (was poor until that pass, really. But 10 min isnt enough time to give a rating)
Poch - 6(Didnt like the CM pairing from the start. Holtby or Mason should have started over Bentaleb. Should've subbed Holtby for Bentaleb instead of Lamela when he came on. Left Ade on wayyyy to long. You could see early on in the first half he wasnt fit at all. Should've gone off at half. Poor man management, IMO. But Holtby and Townsend changed the game. Thought he made the right call to shift Capoue to center back when Naughton was sent off. Would have lost if we sticked with 3 at the back, IMO.)
I think you could be right, he has the ability to provide incisive forward passes even if they don't always reach the intended target; the vision and mentality is certainly there. It will be interesting to see who holds down the 2 midfield spots when Sandro, Paulinho & Dembele are all at full fitness.Better get used to watching Bentaleb playing in our midfield the rest of the season because he will.
Ben taleb was the best player on the park today and has one hell of a future ahead of him.
Ben taleb was the best player on the park today and has one hell of a future ahead of him.
I'm finding it really comical reading through comments on this game, especially on the match thread. The blistering rage vented at half time when we were a man down, followed by the resignation and bitterness throughout the second half, miraculously transformed into admiration for everyone as a result of a winner crafted by a substitute and scored by a defender.
Everyone seems to be getting an extra 1.5 points because we won. It's all absolute bullshit. We were very, very bad. It was the antithesis of everything that Pochettino is supposedly instilling in the team, from about the 14th minute right through to the point at which Collins got sent off, and it improved only slightly thereafter.
Unlike most people here, a shit performance doesn't transform itself in my memory into a good performance just because we won. I recall what I actually saw, not how I felt when Dier's goal went in.
It was garbage. The main issue was the fabled pressing high up the pitch: no one did it. Just no one. It never happened. The whole strategy depends on winning the ball high up the pitch and no one even tried.
The second issue was the way in which our attacking play closely resembled everything that was sterile and grim about our play under AVB. Lots of precise passing with no great attacking intent, followed by a vertical pass to a man who loses the ball. Last season we would have advanced to the edge of the penalty area and pissed around making horizontal passes for 45 seconds before losing the ball. Today we never got as far as the edge of the box.
The defence wasn't actually that bad, despite Naughton's attempt to wave at the crowd. Dier looked mature and composed. Kaboul combined generally good play with several specific incidents when he lost concentration and got the wrong side of his man or lost the ball in a sensitive area - it was a classic fan-adverse display, combining inconspicuous good play with highly visible howlers. Rose was facing a fired-up Downing and got fried quite often in the first 30 minutes, but still managed to prevent Downing from actually producing anything most of the time.
But if this season is going to be 'we've got our Tottenham back', then it isn't going to look anything like today. Today's football was just as congested, inhibited and unfocused as the worst of what we saw under AVB last autumn. And, like AVB's team last autumn, we squeaked a narrow win against an inferior team.
Individuals:
Lloris 7 Excellent when called upon as usual.
Naughton 5 Not bad until the incident, which deserved a penalty, but not a sending off.
Dier 8 Was going to get a 7 anyway for being mature and commanding, then gets an extra point as a result of the goal. Classy debut in every way.
Kaboul 5.5 Generally good work, let down by several serious lapses of concentration, strength and technique.
Rose 6 Given a very hard time by Downing in the first half, got a grip after half time and looked good going forward.
Capoue 6 Started well, but let West Ham, especially Noble, progrssively get control of midfield as the game proceeded. Stuck in defence for much of the game, where he acquitted himself without embarrassment.
Bentaleb 6 The opposite of Capoue: relatively un-influential until Collins was sent off, then took up a more advanced role and looked a good player.
Lamela 5 Just like last season: ineffective and easily bullied; disappointing. He tried, but nothing came off.
Eriksen 5 Uninfluential and pallid.
Lennon 5.5 Worked hard, but stuck tracking back for the central hour of the game, until after Collins was sent off. One good attacking move and a shot.
Adebayor 5.5 Lumbering performance. Always available for the ball, but nothing came off whenever he got it.
Holtby 6 Bustled about effectively, but no creativity.
Kane 7 A footballer with a brain who understands how to weight a through pass.
Townsend 6.5 Looked way more threatening than Lennon and, although I was concerned about his lack of defensive cover, it didn't prove to be a problem.
Hahaha wow! You definitely were not at the game !!!Ben taleb was the best player on the park today and has one hell of a future ahead of him.