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Dawson

dagraham

Well-Known Member
Sep 20, 2005
19,115
46,080
We all know he has limitations and isn't the most cultured footballer but sometimes you just need a defender who simply enjoys defending.

On paper he probably wouldn't even be first choice with a fully fit Kaboul but football is not played on paper, its real life and Dawson's grabbed his chance and Kaboul may well struggle to get back in.

Which brings me to the real point of this thread.

Dawson's attitude is first class. Instead of sulking when told he's not first chioce, he has decided to prove the manager wrong and fight for his place. It shouldn't really be remarkable but in the modern game it somehow is.

If every player at Spurs displayed the same attitude we'd stand a far greater chance of winning trophies.
 

StanSpur

Ronny Rosenthal
Jul 15, 2004
2,436
2,042
Yes Dawson is awesome. Honestly he has been the rock of late and his partnership with Vertonghen looks composed and solid. Kaboul may have to play RB! It will be a tough selection once all are fit but that is great news for our club and the way AVB picks his best team for the opposition rather than his best 11 each week means all will get a shot. Great example was Vertongen at LB vs the hammers - because benny is too short and they pile the balls in on the angle to carroll.
 

CJMurray

****
Aug 3, 2011
3,565
10,563
You can't argue with this...

BEddVZzCIAAXgt6.jpg:large
 

Damian99

Well-Known Member
Mar 17, 2005
7,687
4,771
I cannot understand with all the limitations he clearly has and how he struggles with this, that and the other, just how on earth he is playing in a team for a manager almost everyone said he couldn't do. Slow on the turn, no pace, can't read a game etc etc playing in a team adopting a high line, somethings not right (y)
 

Wardy

Well-Known Member
Nov 13, 2008
1,015
820
You can't argue with this...

BEddVZzCIAAXgt6.jpg:large

Legend. Sure he's slow, but makes up for it with his other defensive qualities.

Best bit about him is his no non-sense approach to tackles... cuts people up it's awesome :D
 

Mr Pink

SC Supporter
Aug 25, 2010
54,770
99,331
Love Dawson. Was actually quite gutted when he was made available, as I think guys like him are invaluable to squads. Great for team spirit around the group, highly dependable and a top professional, great example etc I'm sure AVB was very impressed by his determination to stay and fight for his place - it says a lot about your character when you do that, instead of sulking and becoming a negative influence on the group.

He's not the most talented CB we have but I like his no nonsense approach and his attitude/commitment is fantastic - always puts in 100%, always - and that elevates his worth to us, without doubt.

AVB using his CBs selectively is working a treat IMO. Many will say stability and familiarity is the way to go with a back 5 but its working fine for us. Different teams in the League carry different types of threats etc Whether its movement and tricky forwards or the more physical long ball approach - I think its clever what AVB is doing, tweaking his defensive options with consideration for the opposition. I think he realises he's got a great variety of CBs and intends to take advantage of that.
 

Gbspurs

Gatekeeper for debates, King of the plonkers
Jan 27, 2011
26,945
61,824
He a proper legend. I remember watching that special day thing SSN did a while back for that kid to meet his hero Gareth Bale. Daws was the first to greet him and was joking with the kid about bale being his favourite player not him!

Always seems genuinely nice and a proper professional. Deserves more than he gets including international recognition but he will always be seen as less desirable than other names.

Him and Lennon are great ambassadors for our club and I can easily see both spending the rest of their career with us.
 

Peters

SC Supporter
Nov 4, 2003
363
86
You can't argue with this...



BEddVZzCIAAXgt6.jpg:large

imo Dawson is a popular and inspirational captain - I am really impressed by the way he fires the players up in the pre match huddle. He is a no nonsense experienced defender and our longest serving player.
His record this season speaks volumes:
13 games with captain Dawson 2.38 points / game
15 games without Dawson 1.53 points / game
The fact that he has missed only 2 PL games through injury and 1 other in the last 16 games shows how much AVB believes in him.
Kaboul was our best defender last year and will look to oust Dawson but I expect he will have to bide his time.
 

Damian99

Well-Known Member
Mar 17, 2005
7,687
4,771
Thank god he decided NOT to go and instead stay and prove his worth, i very much doubt we would have been better off without him based upon those stats, buts it's quite conceivable we would be much worse off.
 

double0

Well-Known Member
Aug 29, 2006
14,423
12,258
You just have to admire Michael Dawson.

Far from being his biggest fan, MD done so well to turn being available for transfer to being near enough first choice at the back, furthermore the much talked about high line Vilas-Boas style of defending you'd have thought Dawson had water in hells chances.
 

trnk

Active Member
Jan 31, 2013
277
376
I cannot understand with all the limitations he clearly has and how he struggles with this, that and the other, just how on earth he is playing in a team for a manager almost everyone said he couldn't do. Slow on the turn, no pace, can't read a game etc etc playing in a team adopting a high line, somethings not right (y)
The pace doesn't matter if you cannot get the ball behind him.

No seriously, Vertonghen is fast and that's good enough : if there is a through ball behind the defense, Jan can go for it, so can Lloris. We saw that a number of times this season, we don't really need 2 fast defenders : 1 who blocks the opponent + Hugo who clear the ball, is enough.

And the difference between Dawson and the others is that he doesn't do big mistakes. Caulker and Vertonghen are good, but we conceded goals this year directly because of them.
 

jimmyh

Well-Known Member
Jan 20, 2006
527
1,150
He epitomises everything that you would like in a footballer a commited professional who just loves playing football, loves our club and doing the job he is paid to do defending, a trait which a lot of other players would do to remember.

Was over the moon when he refused to be pushed out and decided to fight for his place. Spurs Legend.
 

KILLA_SIN

Well-Known Member
May 24, 2008
7,808
14,449
The teams been better when he played with Vertonghen at CB and those defeats were also when Dembele was missing
 

hodsgod

Well-Known Member
Jan 12, 2012
4,241
3,082
A lot of us argued at the time that Dawson may not be first choice, but one hell of a squad player. In fact his transfer was a bullet we and AVB dodged.
 

absolute bobbins

Am Yisrael Chai
Feb 12, 2013
11,649
25,962
He is the man!

His ethos is Spurs in a nutshell this season! AVB clearly was indifferent to him, Dawson decided not to take the bag full of shiny coin at QPR and through hard work and determination has earned his position in the starting XI and I bet AVB won't be letting him go this summer.
 
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