- May 26, 2004
- 4,797
- 2,139
Good Week
Jermain Defoe
Has signed a very tasty contract to see him through the twilight of his career, and popped up with a goal on saturday to show everyone he still has it.
Tim Sherwood's half time team talks
A dire first half, followed by a much improved second half. Tim wasn't happy with our first half performance against Southampton, and the fact he can turn games around is very heartening to see - however he was to blame for our poor first half against Palace (see below).
Still, 13 points from 15 is very impressive in anyone's book.
Nabil Bentaleb
Oh so close to a magnificent first professional goal to top a very good performance for someone so young. His passing looks largely very accurate, he plays the ball quickly, if he can develop and impose his game on matches then he will be a very good player indeed.
Kyle Naughton
The redemption continues. He looks a lot happier as a right back, with Lennon ahead of him. If Walker is out the other Kyle has shown that there is not so much to worry about.
Christian Eriksen
Lovely run off the big man and nice finish.
Shaq Coulthirst
First senior goal, for Orient on saturday.
Bad Week
Tim Sherwood's starting tactics
I'm behind Sherwood, I like what I've heard and seen from him as Spurs manager so far, however he made two blunders before 3pm at the Lane.
First, he expected Palace to sit back and soak up pressure, and his players looked equally shellshocked to find Palace coming at them.
Secondly, and no doubt a result of this, the bizarre use of Lennon in the first half an hour contributed to our poor performance and openness that was exploited by Palace.
Azza was pushed right up against the Palace left back, basically in a Right-Forward position, in all phases of play - go back and watch and you will not see Lennon helping Walker out as he normally does until the half hour mark. In a 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 formation that is fine, but when playing a midfield four all four midfielders have to help out defensively. With Eriksen not exactly the most disciplined defensively, Dembele having terrible positioning (often picking up the deep Jedinak) and the young Bentaleb being overwhelmed by Chamakh dropping deep and two wingers cutting inside, it was no wonder we were overpowered through the centre.
Roberto Soldado
Hmm, what to do with the Spaniard? He may curse that Defoe got the good luck and fortunate bounce that Robbie is not getting, but JD's movement was a lot more livelier - perhaps a result of us taking the lead and Palace getting stretched.
Either way, Soldado needs to start making an impression on the scoresheet asap.
Paxton stand, row 23, seat 198
Some people face away when a penalty is about to be taken, too scared to watch. And then a ball smacks them in the back of the head....
Jermain Defoe
Has signed a very tasty contract to see him through the twilight of his career, and popped up with a goal on saturday to show everyone he still has it.
Tim Sherwood's half time team talks
A dire first half, followed by a much improved second half. Tim wasn't happy with our first half performance against Southampton, and the fact he can turn games around is very heartening to see - however he was to blame for our poor first half against Palace (see below).
Still, 13 points from 15 is very impressive in anyone's book.
Nabil Bentaleb
Oh so close to a magnificent first professional goal to top a very good performance for someone so young. His passing looks largely very accurate, he plays the ball quickly, if he can develop and impose his game on matches then he will be a very good player indeed.
Kyle Naughton
The redemption continues. He looks a lot happier as a right back, with Lennon ahead of him. If Walker is out the other Kyle has shown that there is not so much to worry about.
Christian Eriksen
Lovely run off the big man and nice finish.
Shaq Coulthirst
First senior goal, for Orient on saturday.
Bad Week
Tim Sherwood's starting tactics
I'm behind Sherwood, I like what I've heard and seen from him as Spurs manager so far, however he made two blunders before 3pm at the Lane.
First, he expected Palace to sit back and soak up pressure, and his players looked equally shellshocked to find Palace coming at them.
Secondly, and no doubt a result of this, the bizarre use of Lennon in the first half an hour contributed to our poor performance and openness that was exploited by Palace.
Azza was pushed right up against the Palace left back, basically in a Right-Forward position, in all phases of play - go back and watch and you will not see Lennon helping Walker out as he normally does until the half hour mark. In a 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 formation that is fine, but when playing a midfield four all four midfielders have to help out defensively. With Eriksen not exactly the most disciplined defensively, Dembele having terrible positioning (often picking up the deep Jedinak) and the young Bentaleb being overwhelmed by Chamakh dropping deep and two wingers cutting inside, it was no wonder we were overpowered through the centre.
Roberto Soldado
Hmm, what to do with the Spaniard? He may curse that Defoe got the good luck and fortunate bounce that Robbie is not getting, but JD's movement was a lot more livelier - perhaps a result of us taking the lead and Palace getting stretched.
Either way, Soldado needs to start making an impression on the scoresheet asap.
Paxton stand, row 23, seat 198
Some people face away when a penalty is about to be taken, too scared to watch. And then a ball smacks them in the back of the head....