- Aug 20, 2013
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0-0 draw with a last minute penalty miss from Palace.How did City do at Palace.... was it 1-0 win or am I not remembering correctly
0-0 draw with a last minute penalty miss from Palace.How did City do at Palace.... was it 1-0 win or am I not remembering correctly
Nope not having that. I agree that too often we focus on our performance and not the opposition's, but this was an odds and sods Palace side, that wouldn't get out of the Championship. If we played with the correct tempo and application early on, we should have eviscerated them,As usual, the comments are 95% about how Spurs played badly. We didn't. We had 75%+ of the ball and Palace only had one real chance (Aurier semi-redeeming himself for his treble-brain-fart at the throw-ins).
It wasn't about us. Palace defended brilliantly. We've had the same experience at least 30 times now over the past 3 seasons and still people here do not learn from it. It is extremely difficult for a good, creative, attacking team to score when a well-drilled opposition declines to attack, sits deep and packs the box. It doesn't matter if you whip in crosses, it doesn't matter if you put on pace, it doesn't matter if you try tricks and flicks and it scarcely matters if you shoot from distance. It is still extremely difficult to score if the opposition are organised and committed and defend in force. Palace also had a fair amount of good fortune with the run of the ball and we missed a few sitters - we always do.
Palace's midfield trio - all of them - spent the entire game in a line directly in front of their back four. That's why they couldn't get the ball to Benteke, despite playing two big, strong, quick attackers to link with each other - they scarcely tried, because their midfield was too far away from them. Hodgson is a vastly-experienced manager who knows how to coach team shape and that's exactly what he's done. But it didn't work, because we're too good and too relentless.
This is the kind of spectacle you get in the modern game when a team digs in to play for a point, especially when they're at home. They make the opposition look blunt and the game look turgid. But it isn't about the opposition [us] playing badly. It's about the defensive team playing well.
And it didn't work. We won. Because we're that good and we have the most mentally-tough striker I can recall seeing play for anyone.
A quick word of appreciation, if I may, for James Tomkins and Damien Delaney.
August 2016:
Delaney plays incredibly well. Keeps it to 0-0 with 10 minutes to go. Gets injured. Replaced by Tomkins who fucks up his positioning at a corner. Spurs win 1-0.
February 2018:
Tomkins plays incredibly well. Keeps it to 0-0 with 10 minutes to go. Gets injured. Replaced by Delaney who fucks up his positioning at a corner. Spurs win 1-0.
Much appreciated, lads. Keep it up.
The game is also about us. It takes two to tango. It's about what you do with the possession that counts and I would argue that at times we didn't do as much with it as, say Man City - since those are the levels we should be aiming for. I hope that many (95%?) of comments would still be about performance even if we had won 4-0 or 5-0 which is a realistic scoreline given the chances. The number of players not performing (not just a few) and thus the overall performance was concerning. Whilst acknowledging Palace's and our efforts, there is no harm in people on here focusing on targets. That's how we will get better.
Again we are FC Barcelona when it comes to creating chances but then FC Banterlona in front of goal.
Some lessons need to be learned from this or it will cost us down the line.
Again we are FC Barcelona when it comes to creating chances but then FC Banterlona in front of goal.
Some lessons need to be learned from this or it will cost us down the line.
I agree with this 100%, except that superfluous hyphen in "vastly-experienced". You momentarily let your standards slip there, DM.As usual, the comments are 95% about how Spurs played badly. We didn't. We had 75%+ of the ball and Palace only had one real chance (Aurier semi-redeeming himself for his treble-brain-fart at the throw-ins).
It wasn't about us. Palace defended brilliantly. We've had the same experience at least 30 times now over the past 3 seasons and still people here do not learn from it. It is extremely difficult for a good, creative, attacking team to score when a well-drilled opposition declines to attack, sits deep and packs the box. It doesn't matter if you whip in crosses, it doesn't matter if you put on pace, it doesn't matter if you try tricks and flicks and it scarcely matters if you shoot from distance. It is still extremely difficult to score if the opposition are organised and committed and defend in force. Palace also had a fair amount of good fortune with the run of the ball and we missed a few sitters - we always do.
Palace's midfield trio - all of them - spent the entire game in a line directly in front of their back four. That's why they couldn't get the ball to Benteke, despite playing two big, strong, quick attackers to link with each other - they scarcely tried, because their midfield was too far away from them. Hodgson is a vastly-experienced manager who knows how to coach team shape and that's exactly what he's done. But it didn't work, because we're too good and too relentless.
This is the kind of spectacle you get in the modern game when a team digs in to play for a point, especially when they're at home. They make the opposition look blunt and the game look turgid. But it isn't about the opposition [us] playing badly. It's about the defensive team playing well.
And it didn't work. We won. Because we're that good and we have the most mentally-tough striker I can recall seeing play for anyone.
I agree, but the problem is a catch 22. Don't play him and he doesn't acclimatise and realise our investment. Do play him and maybe a more reliable player is kept out of the side. A tough one for Poch and I think he's gone about it the right way so far by giving him a decent amount of minutes but not playing him all the time.
Remind me who put in a goal saving challenge on there bean pole center forward just before half time?Aurier put in the worst performance i've seen from a spurs player in a very, very long time.
Not sure what Lamela has done to justify his starting place instead of Son.