*** SPURS v SLAVIA PRAGUE *** Official Match Thread

[Gilzeanking]

It was Eddie Bailey who reminded me of the possibility of new manager 'bounce' . It does exist

On the subject of creative midfielders , I may be out of date on this but a player in the oppo half with enough skill to make a yard space , with his head up looking forwards for a slide rule pass ,maybe a wall pass or something unexpected . Also with enough skill that he doesn't need to panic that he's going to lose possession so can hold the ball up if necessary .

This kind of player is not needed at Spurs ? sure ?

Yes , these impressions are not just from last night but last night didn't make these concerns go away .

 

[Stoof]

I agree with several points here .

Yes , this is the kind of performance we thought JR had cured us of ,leaving a horrible trace of doubt that our improved form since his arrival is partly due to new manager 'bounce' ´.god I hope not.

A few fires were fought in the Jan window , but our creative midfielder never materialised and he has been missed . Without Berby to link and assist we are well short of top quality . Noone else seems able to hold up the ball so we are getting into situations where we get battered ,unable to stop pressure on our defence ....and service to forwards is very poor .

Frightening stuff .

Agreed GK. Bent, Berbatov and later Keane were frightfully short of anything remotely decent.

We showed that we missed Steed and Jenas - but what their introduction also showed was that they are not benchwarmers who can come and produce the magic. They are 2 we need starting every game as to maximise their influence.

I agree to an extent about a creative midfielder, however, I would take a dogged, brute of a man + Jenas as my pairing - with Steed on the left and Lennon on the right. That would be truly frightening for any opposition.

 

[knilly]

last night was job done as far as im concerned. we've got through to the next round.

it was also a wake up call showing that we are not a top team just yet, as we didnt manage to win while not being on top form.

 

[Evolution]

I would take a dogged, brute of a man + Jenas as my pairing - with Steed on the left and Lennon on the right. That would be truly frightening for any opposition.

:up:Agreed. Jenas can do the creativity and Berbatov can/does do this also from deep positions. We need a General in the midfield like a Gutusso/Vierra who can control the flow/pace and dictate the game.

 

[worcestersauce]

It's a bit of a cliche to say we had our minds on Sunday's game but the fact is that its true, not only the team but 30odd thousand fans, don't deny it you know its true.
We went there for a simple run out and a pre final party .
We played a weakened side to rest players for Sunday and then got found out, Slavia were too good for that and they gave us a fright.

In the end though it was a good thing because it stuck a bit of a rocket up us and we'll be better for it at Wembley.

I thought the Slavia fans were good last night, a little rep to them as well as their team who got a big round of applause from the Park Lane at the end.

 

[Stoof]

I thought the Slavia fans were good last night, a little rep to them as well as their team who got a big round of applause from the Park Lane at the end.

A great little touch that all the players lined up so that their fans could take a picture of them.

As jimbo said to me yesterday, makes them seem like a football team rather than a group of assets on a balance sheet.

WP Slavia Prague. :clap:

 

[sloth]

It was Eddie Bailey who reminded me of the possibility of new manager 'bounce' . It does exist

It doesn't actually. Not in statistical terms. A team on appointing a new manager is no more likely to do better than it is worse or the same. It's just when it does do better people like to give it a name. An old wives tale I'm afraid.

(N.B. that's in the immediate aftermath of an appointment of course, in the fullness of time a new manager can work wonders or horrors.)

On the type of creative player you exampled, I think there is a need, but I think Ramos likes to sacrifice some of his CF's getting forward-ness to play that creative role. The quid pro quo being that he doesn't sacrifice any of his midfield's defensive qualities and indeed can afford to play a forward thinking dynamic CM to get beyond his CFs.