- Jan 7, 2009
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Scrappy Doo
I have to confess, after watching the first half I was not exactly thrilled. I thought QPR looked typically shit and we looked lethargic. We were dominating, but almost as much by default as it seemed as much part of QPR's game plan as it did ours.
But I'm going to give the team some credit here, because what the second half became was a real scrap, with QPR starting to show some teeth and what I really like about this young team is that it seems to thrive on alley scraps, which is really uncharacteristic for any Spurs team and a trait I love.
Obviously I remain slightly bemused by Townsend's selection as I just don't think he fits the system, he's lazy and wasteful and a liability without the ball. He was largely disappointing again bar a very well placed free kick for the first goal. I guess one moment of substance is an improvement but there's still too much head down waste, carelessness and laziness off the ball.
I understand why Rose was probably rested but I also think Eriksen and Bentaleb were due a rest too as that was their fifth game in 16 days I think. And I think those decisions inevitably showed. Neither let us down, in fact both had decent games but a rest would have done both some good I think, preferably wednesday.
It's easy for us to watch games like this and whinge about some of the quality (and I did), but sometimes you have to earn wins the ugly way. Our football was superior for large spells, but when we needed to we got stuck in and didn't allow ourselves to be bullied, when they tried to get up us we got right back up them harder. Typifying that spirit for me is Mason. The boy had another good game, gritty, determined, fluid and played a nice through ball for Chadli, even if Kane did end up taking it and burying it. He was ably assisted by Bentaleb, who didn't have his best game, but was still very good and showed much of the same characteristics as Mason.
The other player who deserves a mention os Eriksen. The kid has just played (tough high pressure) 5 games in 16 days but no midfielder/attacker saw more ball than him.
There wasn't much we could do about their goal really, you don't expect Sandro to score a goal like that, he never did for us. But apart from that and maybe a couple of half snifters we really limited them to fuck all, by a combination of control of the ball and our own ability to battle. It was rarely pretty, but we've been famous for losing pretty. We seem to be becoming a new animal.
Individual stuff:
Lloris - Decent game when called on. Seems to make at least one certain goal saving save a game. Baled out Walker big time.
Walker - Look, I know the boy tries, no-one puts in more effort, and he does put himself into the game and for 80 minutes of a game he can be OK, decent, but he does some mind blowingly fucktardially stupid things. Like his header in the first half, he knows their player is there he's just watched him go there, what the fuck was he thinking. There was the blunders late in the game where he lets a ball go across him to their player then gets fucked by Hoilett. Then there's being played through 1v1 (god knows that's a rarity in itself) and he just dribbles it straight into the keeper. They are just three moments amongst a few today. But there are always a few, every single game just about. The playing the ball inside to an oppo on an attack with everyone up field, the wasting of every single chance to cross, the weird positional shit, the shielding a ball out that isn't going out etc etc. I get the conundrum with him, there aren't a plethora of world class RB's out there and it's like do you swallow the utter banal stupid crap he does for the bulk of OK he does. For me it's a no, but I can understand why its a conundrum. If he was called Carlos Walkerino I'm pretty sure there'd be hardly any left with any patience for the shit he does. Hurry up KWP.
Dier - Decent enough
Vertonghen - Good game.
Davies - OK/Meh. Not as much stupid as Walker, but not much ambition either and I don't think he's a brilliant defender from what I've seen so far.
Mason - Joint MOTm. Typifies the spirit that's getting us hard earned victories on the road.
Bentaleb - Mason's partner in crime, a slightly cooler head but still got the scrap in him when called on.
Townsend - Very good set piece for the first goal but very wasteful on a couple of other occasions like when played in by their mistake, he could pass or at least shoot on target, instead blazing high and wide. he's very slow at chasing back and closing down too. Not his worst game of late but just doesn't do what is required with or without the ball.
Eriksen - Joint MOTM. He's still struggling with that incisive pass in crucial moments and that is a bit disappointing but despite playing 5 games in 16 days (including away in Florence and the CCup) he saw more ball than anyone in our midfield/attack, made more passes and was very unlucky not to score. Really put a shift in and his work rate and consistent level of involvement in games has been one of Pochettino's biggest successes.
Chadli - OK.
Kane - Worked hard, got his reward with two well taken goals. Occasionally he's bait green with the choices he makes, a bit greedy sometimes in impossible situations but I guess part of that is his youthful exuberance and who's to knock where it's getting him so far eh ?
Subs - I thought the subs were all OK today,
Utterly astounded by your assessment of Eriksen who had a worse than very poor first half. Shocked.
Flabbergasted.