The Jol Verdict

[mawspurs]

Back at the training ground, Martin Jol offers his considered final thoughts on the weekend victory over Wigan Athletic at the Lane...

EVERY HOME WIN is good for us, we didn't play particularly well against Wigan on Sunday but I thought before if we could match their effort and determination - which they have a lot of - then we would have a great chance of winning the game with our quality up front.

That is what happened, Jermain Defoe scored after a dull period of the game. We went 1-0 down and that was disappointing because it is the fourth time in recent weeks that it has happened to us - the only good thing about it being that we have come back each time.

The crowd was good, lifted us again and we scored another through Dimitar Berbatov. It was a great goal that had nothing to do with team play as he did it out of nothing. We knew there was a bit of space down that flank which we tried to exploit with Steed Malbranque dropping off and putting the ball into that area. It came off and it was good.

We had to wait for too long to score the third one so it made for an exciting game again.

There were a few concerns in my mind when we went a goal down after such a busy spell. Before the game you know that scoring two early goals at home always provides a bit of a cushion and we needed that at the end of the week we'd had. We didn't get it, they scored first and it gave us a bit of a worry.

It didn't take too long for us to get back and we knew after we got the second that we would be able to hit them on the break. As I said, it took us a long time to get the third and what we want is for it to be like a couple of seasons ago when we scored five goals on a few occasions and three on others. If there is only a margin of one it is often not enough in the Premiership.

We have recorded good home results since the defeat to Everton, while we have had draws away against Aston Villa, Watford and Blackburn. The disappointing away game for us was Reading. Overall in all competitions we have done very well, but we need wins away from home in the league and that is a fact.

We haven't yet and we need to start winning on our travels, but it is not easy. We are not playing the way we would really like to yet, on Sunday our defence was the same and up front Robbie Keane played on the Thursday and because Jermain was sharp we played him and it came off because he scored.

In the midfield we have had too many changes because Jermaine Jenas has been out, Teemu Tainio played against Leverkusen but couldn't play again so soon after his operation. I played Tom Huddlestone and Didier Zokora and they did well, but you can't expect us to play immaculate football if we have to make changes in a particular area.

We have to work on our midfield play, we have to work on our passing to the forward players, which sometimes is good and sometimes a little sloppy.

We are a passing team and if you are that you have to do well on the ball. So we must keep improving. Results-wise we must be happy, if you play 14 games and win 10 with three draws you should be pleased, but it was that particular match against Reading which did us no favours. If we had won that we would have been in a terrific situation.

[taidgh]

... you can't expect us to play immaculate football if we have to make changes in a particular area.


hmm... but for the strikers its ok..?

[tommyt]

Does BMJ read these pages or what. Apart from summerising the game he has attempd to point out just where we have being going wrong. Some sloppy passing, having to change the team and not scoring enough goals.

Fair play to him, i think he is a fine manager.

[tommyt]

socallife thats a fair point. but if the stikers are given the chances they should bury them. a settled midfield are going to be the suppliers of these chances. So a settled midfield i'd imagine is more important?

[sloth]

I guess he thinks a settled centre of midfield is more important than a settled strike partnership... I'm not sure I agree, i'd have thought if you could get a settled strike partnership going you'd soon see some good results...

[spurs_viola]

Hey, is this the same sloth i had an animated debate about exactly the need for strikers to be settled and not chopped and changed every other game?...I thought you were perfectly fine with the fact that none of the strikers get more than 2 games in a row with the same partner?...

[LionKing]

I'm concerned about the lack of fluid football we have displayed right throughout Jol's reign. He has often spoken of us being a passing side, but I’m struggling to see any kind of fluid passing patterns. Time and time again we fail to keep and pass the ball to any standard.

As long as we continue to concede possession (particularly away from home) we will struggle to win games.

[banks_18]

We are still far to sloppy away from home and will need to keep this in check against the Gooners on Sat

[jenko]

I'm sure Jol would love to be in a league where he's able to play the same team week in and week out but its not the 60's anymore, the game has changed and we're competing in 4 tournaments... Squad rotation is the name of the game nowadays, ask ManU, Chelsea, Arseholes and Liverpool! We also have the problem of trying to keep a large squad happy without the lure of champions league football so Jol's job is not easy, made more difficult by story inventing media.

As spurs fans, we should all try to give him the benefit of the doubt. I didn't know why Tainio had been dropped for example but Jol knows more than we do and made the right decision by the sounds of it....

[camaj]

I'm concerned about the lack of fluid football we have displayed right throughout Jol's reign.

Actually we were fantastic in the first season. Last season we only got going in the second half of the year and perhaps the same will be true this time around.

But forget about weekly rotation, for the last three years we've had annual rotation! Think about the players who have been first team starters:
Kelly/Stalteri Dawson/Gardner Edman/Atouba/Lee/BAE
Dalmat?/Routledge/Lennon Carrick/Davids/Zokora Jackson/Ricketts/Ziegler/Reid/Tainio/Ghaly/Malbranque
Rasiak/Mido/Berbatov Defoe/Keane

Correct me if that's wrong (it probably is). Either way, we've had a hell of a lot of new players and before the team can gel it's "improved"

[jedimaster]

Our first away win will definitely come this weekend!

[sloth]

Hey, is this the same sloth i had an animated debate about exactly the need for strikers to be settled and not chopped and changed every other game?...I thought you were perfectly fine with the fact that none of the strikers get more than 2 games in a row with the same partner?...

Hey Viola, at the risk of re-hashing an old argument, I'm sure you'll recall that the reason I was content with the present system is that each striker is playing the optimum one game a week. We have six days now between our last game and Arsenal so I'm happy for Berbi to continue, however the midweek game the following week should see one of our young guns come in if Mido is still unfit.

Jol's policy is paying dividends and will increasingly do so the longer the season continues.

We have now got to a situation where each of our strikers has played themselves into some sort of form. I remember that when Defoe was dropped for the game against Leverkusen there were loads of complaints, then Keane put in a stonking performance (albeit he missed a couple of sitters) and suddenly everyone was moaning when he was dropped against Wigan. Earlier in the season Mido played a good game and was dropped for Berbi and there was uproar only for Berbi to perform and then when he was dropped for Mido uproar again.

I think we need to take a look at the stats. We all know we've not been playing as well as we could and that it's taken a while for our strikers to start firing on all cylinders however... Fourteen Games, Nine Wins, Four Draws and One Defeat. It speaks volumes

Finally, I know honest managers like Stuart Pearce and Glen Roeder agree with failed managers like Lawro and Steve Claridge that the be all and end all is the match in front of your nose, but others like Fergusson, Wenger and Jol will tell you that a season is a campaign and that the only way to maximise your success is to maximise your resources.

Now maybe Glen and Stuart are just unlucky when their players get injured or burn out... maybe they simply don't have enough resources to stop the inevitable slump which leads to mid-table mediocrity but I'm not so sure. I remember a time when I used to feel we were unlucky and that the cards never used to quite fall the right way for us. Strange the way I don't feel that any more...

[FinnYid]

I didn't know why Tainio had been dropped for example but Jol knows more than we do and made the right decision by the sounds of it....

Think Jol makes that one quite clear.

Jol: Teemu Tainio played against Leverkusen but couldn't play again so soon after his operation.

Had played one full 1st team game and one half at stiffs already on the week returning from 2 month injury. Now for player with tenacious style, third game after so long on the sidelines might be tad too much.

[spurs_viola]

quote=sloth;174043] We have six days now between our last game and Arsenal so I'm happy for Berbi to continue, however the midweek game the following week should see one of our young guns come in if Mido is still unfit.

Jol's policy is paying dividends and will increasingly do so the longer the season continues.

I hope so too...But still would prefer to see Berbatov and Defoe continue developing their partnership in more than 2 consecutive games, with Keane and Mido (when fit) coming on as 2nd half subs. Again, look at the top teams and you'll see they don't rest their main forward players like Ronaldinho, Totti, Rooney, Van Nistelrooy unless absolutely necessary - even though all of them play in CL as well as League and domestic Cup! Are we saying that we need to rest our main striker(s) more than the above mentioned top teams rest their ones? Talk of tiredness should not come in the first third of the season. It will be a factor in the last third - by which stage everybody should be much more settled and the rotation should have much less noticeable impact on the team's performance.

[spurs2dn]

This may not be the appropriate place to ask this but has anyone kept track of the number of 'spectacular' goals i.e. Tugay, Barry.. that are scored against us?