SPURS v ASTON VILLA

[Geez]

SPURS 0 - 0 VILLA

Spurs: Gomes; Corluka, Dawson, King, Bale; Bentley, Huddlestone, Palacios, Modric; Crouch, Defoe.
Subs: Alnwick, Bassong, Kaboul, Kyle Walker, Jenas, Kranjcar, Gudjohnsen.

Harry Redknapp makes three changes from Wednesday night's win at Leeds.

Ledley King returns for Sebastien Bassong, Wilson Palacios is in for Jermaine Jenas while Luka Modric takes over from Niko Kranjcar.

New signings Eidur Gudjohnsen and Younes Kaboul are joined by Kyle Walker, recalled from his loan at Sheffield United, on the bench.

Villa: Friedel, Cuellar, Collins, Dunne, Luke Young, Ashley Young, Milner, Petrov, Downing, Heskey, Agbonlahor.
Subs: Guzan, Sidwell, Carew, Delfouneso, Davies, Delph, Beye.

Referee: Chris Foy

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[khop145]

ManCity lost to Hull. It's time for Spurs to take advantage to consolidate 4th post...

[spursFanKC]

i wish we could have more offensive options on the bench. Bassong, Kaboul and Walker seems to much defensive options for me. Rose would be nice or even one of the kids - townsend?

i do understand that Kaboul can play midfield and score goals if needed.

I also assume that Pav still has his groin strain

[SpurredOn]

This is a must win game - Liverpool knocked us off 4th place due to their win against Everton and if Villa get a result today we slide down by another place so we needn't worry about motivation - we want our 4th place back - COYS!

[Shepspurs]

Is that the same Townsend who is on loan, and scored today, for MK Dons

[eastsidef1ava]

Can't believe we have just into HT 0-0.

We should be 2-0 up at least.

Villa are too much of a threat, as they have shown on occasions, to carry on missing our chances. Just hope it does not haunt us in the 2nd half.

Thud seems intent on pinging long/deep balls up to Defoe or Crouch - but they have no support. We attack much better when we pass/attack as a team, not just a long ping from Thud! Maybe its acceptable away from home but at WHL we should be attacking as a team...

[TPdYID]

Off topic but...

Can someone please confirm just how much we payed for Kaboul?

[KingKeano]

Bale is playing outstandingly at the moment i think BAE will have a hard time to get back in to the team, Bale's forward play is better and his defending is improving in every game.
And on another note i think Wilson is getting back to his best
C.O.Y.S.

[will8587]

Spurs have looked poor so far in the second half. A sub or two is needed to shake things up. we can't settle for a scoreless draw here.

[will8587]

When was the last time we scored on a corner??

Bassong's vs Liverpool in August in the only that comes to mind.

[browndchl]

I'm getting so annoyed with both our strikers. Midfielders are breaking forward with the ball and there's no movement or options for them......get Eider on ASAP.

[WhiteHeartLowe]

BUGGER!! Another bloody draw, and more vital points thrown away, and Liverpool go fourth, for me, thats fourth place gone.

[teejay]

How many chances or halfchances did Crouch have today? Good headers and link up play but he has to make those chances count!

[browndchl]

Garbage garbage garbage. Too many long balls pumped from back to front and no one even challenging!! A wasted opportunity to give us some breathing space.

[Geez]

I spent the last 25 mins yelling at Harry to put Gudjohnsen on to change the shape of the game :bang:

Draw written all over this one :roll:

[2bearis2do]

Well unlike the doom-mongers amongst us, I thought we were by far the better team and with a little rub of the green we would have taken all three points. All in all a very good performance, but yes, lacking in the final third ...again.
I´ve only one point to make, wouldn't we be better having Bale take the corners from the right hand side????

[browndchl]

On 60 mins I wanted a change......Modric and Bentley didn't impress today. Should have given Niko & Eider a chance to change the game.

[If**kinglovespurs]

Thank you 2bearistodo, finally someone is talking sense. :bowdown: Villa are a very good team, as demonstrated by their success at Old Trafford. To come out on top with a decent performance should not be underrated.

[JuanRebelde]

Lack of quality up front has cost us again at home. Poor movement and positional sense from Defoe whilst Crouch again showed just how limited he is as a player. We are becoming increasingly easy to play against at home if you are prepared to sit back and collect Crouchs poor lay offs and defend the hopeful crosses from the edge of the area.

[Legacy]

We may have won today if the FA didn't put a substitution embargo on us.

[Legacy]

And on another note, Villa should be nowhere near the CL spots if you look at the two games between us this season. What a gulf in ambition.

[deadlight]

Where were the bloody Subs, Harry?

[KingKeano]

should've been a pen end of! that would have won us the game.

[will8587]

Such a frustrating game. Harry should have subbed on Eidur or Kranjcar for Palacios. We needed someone in the middle of the field to link up to the strikers.

Villa's back line was very good and managed to block every damn shot we took. We took 33 shots!!! But only forced Friedel to make five saves. So frustrating.

We also might as well just not bother taking corners. Of the 12 we took today, only two caused any trouble.

[TajSpur]

Not a great result in the end, but I thought the team played well and I can't believe we didn't get a penalty, which was clear cut.

I thought Fulham was one of the worst teams I've seen at the Lane, and Villa didn't play much better!

[gusrowe]

Great team performance and terrific football from Spurs. Yet again we missed a rub of the green and a touch of luck and that was all. Disappointed at the result yes but this side is building into a very very good team. Please lady luck come back.

[DiscoD1882]

good game we were very good. So was the villa defence

[sebo_sek]

Watched the last 20mins and I saw that:

Bale is amazing,
Hudd is amazing,
Bentley is unrecognisable,
Modric is amazing,
Crouch and Defoe are a great partnership and were simply unlucky today,
Lennon and BAE might have to prove a thing or two at training.

[sebo_sek]

should've been a pen end of! that would have won us the game.
Sorry but that was one the most blatant dives ever.

I don't want to win like that, end of.

[gloryglory]

Performance was quite good, Villa parked the bus but didn't they do it well. And for us, 10 players did the job they are paid to do and 1 didn't - Defoe, who hat tricks notwithstanding seems out of sorts at the moment. I would have liked to see Harry play with the shape or do something to vary it, but truth is I don't know eaxctly how - Krancjar on, but who for and what to do?

My weekly mantra is that we look like the 6th or 7th best team in the league and we will finish 6th or 7th.

[yiddopaul]

BUGGER!! Another bloody draw, and more vital points thrown away, and Liverpool go fourth, for me, thats fourth place gone.
Yeah, 'cause they're 1 point ahead of us... we'll never catch them now :roll:.
There's a long way to go yet. Personally, I don't think we'll get 4th, we're not quite there yet IMO. Hope we do, but this team will get better and better in the next year or two providing we don't make major changes in the summer. Just need a couple of quality additions.

[kernowspur]

Let'd face it Villa defended well, managed to block or deflect nearly every attempt we had. Neither team really looked a top four team.

[Knarf44]

Liverpool scraped a win today playing ugly football. After getting their goal they turned into Stoke City and just sat back behind a 4411 formation and showed no further ambition to get another. If they keep that up, I can't see them maintaining 4th. To think what a once proud side they were and now they resort to ugly football, Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley will be spinning in their graves.

[alamo]

Poor movement and positional sense from Defoe whilst Crouch again showed just how limited he is as a player.

Poor comment and football sense from JuanRebelde whilst he again showed how limited he is as a supporter.

In all honesty though such a shame we didnt hit the net today. We were so much better than Liverpool have been in recent matches and they keep on getting the points

[davidmatzdorf]

Even Richard Dunne thought it was a penalty, as well as confirming that Villa set out today to get a point. There was contact, but Defoe was going away from goal and made the most of it, plus the ref was struggling to get a view when the incident happened.

I can't really see why Harry would have bothered to make a substitution, except for adding a third striker for the last 5 minutes, which would have risked giving Villa a window of opportunity. At just the point where he might have been considering changing things around, we grabbed the match by the scruff and dominated the rest of it. With every passing 5 minutes, we got closer and closer to scoring. So why mess around with it?

Anyway, we've proved over 180 minutes that we're a far better footballing side than Villa, but without beating them. I'm with the 2bearis2do version of today: we edged the first half, then completely outplayed them in the second half, but without breaking down a really excellent defence and one of the best goalkeepers I've ever seen, thinking of Friedel's whole career.

Dominating games without scoring is becoming an unwelcome habit, but that's because teams who once viewed us as a soft touch and came to win at WHL now come for a point and to stop us playing - even direct competitors like Villa. Look what happened when Man City came and tried to outplay us. Or West Ham. Or even Fulham, who sort of did a half-and-half. Getting a result in these circumstances is another stage in the development of a top team and it's no surprise that we haven't mastered it yet.

Interesting to hear how much of his American accent Friedel has lost.

[bryanabutler]

Well unlike the doom-mongers amongst us, I thought we were by far the better team and with a little rub of the green we would have taken all three points. All in all a very good performance, but yes, lacking in the final third ...again.
I´ve only one point to make, wouldn't we be better having Bale take the corners from the right hand side????

We were the far better team against A Villa ,Everton, away and Wolves, Stoke, Hull, and Villa today. But that is 14 points lost, we need a more creative C/M and a top class Striker

[fabman555]

i think we played well tonight , but we just lack a killer instinct in front of goal ! unless defoe is in top form .

we have failed to score in quite a few home games this season despite dominating games

we should definately buy a really top class striker in the summer

also we certainly dont get any big decisions in any of the big games , even dunn admited it was a pen after the game !!!! refs dont seem to like us ( liverpool, chelsea wrong decisions etc ) even the goal at the lane wolves scored from was never a free kick :evil:

[Geez]

I can't really see why Harry would have bothered to make a substitution, except for adding a third striker for the last 5 minutes, which would have risked giving Villa a window of opportunity. At just the point where he might have been considering changing things around, we grabbed the match by the scruff and dominated the rest of it. With every passing 5 minutes, we got closer and closer to scoring. So why mess around with it?
Sorry David but it was obvious the two sides were cancelling each other out - you have to change your strategy to outwit an opponent
We didn't and the ending was obvious

"If your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. ....
If his forces are united, separate them. If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected."
- Sun Tzu, the Art of War

[Bonjour]

Shitsticks

[18Klinsmann]

A very frustrating game to watch. We did everything right in the first half, but Villa defended like we know they can, and our finishing was disappointing - again.
As was to be expected Villa adjusted well and pushed forward from the begininning of the second half, but like at Villa Park we proved superior in the middle of the park and dominated most of the half. Again Villa defended well, but I'm very disappointed that Arry didn't make a change halfway through the second half. We just proceeded with the approach that clearly didn't work today. We were the better side agaisnt Villa - again - but we've lost another crucial two points due to poor finishing, bad luck and lack of tactical skills. Why oh why didn't Arry at least throw Niko on towards the end if he didn't believe Eidur had it in him to change the game?
Credit to the players on the pitch who gace everything they had, but we're falling behind in the race for the top spots now. Drawn games don't get you far in a three points for a win league. We need a winning streak, and fast :-|.

[2bearis2do]

We were the far better team against A Villa ,Everton, away and Wolves, Stoke, Hull, and Villa today. But that is 14 points lost, we need a more creative C/M and a top class Striker
If you ever read any of my posts with regards to your aforementioned points dropped, you'll see I've more than slagged off our inability upfront (which still exist) and our inability to kill teams off and therein the points lost. But I find myself today saying that it really was just one of those days, and that's the first time I've used that phrase this season.
Let us not forget Villa have the best defensive record in the league, unlike any of the other teams we have failed against.

[davidmatzdorf]

Sorry David but it was obvious the two sides were cancelling each other out - you have to change your strategy to outwit an opponent...

They were doing that up until about 70-75 minutes, which is just when one would expect a substitution to try to win the match. But then we stopped getting cancelled and started swarming all over Villa. So I can see why he might have thought "I think I'll leave it a few more minutes".

If I'd been managing, I would have put on Gudjohnsen for either Crouch or one of the wide players with 5 minutes left, but it might have backfired...

[kernowspur]

We were the far better team against A Villa ,Everton, away and Wolves, Stoke, Hull, and Villa today. But that is 14 points lost, we need a more creative C/M and a top class Striker

agree we need a top creative CM. Hudd sprayed the passes about today but none of them were the killer ball we needed. He is not as good as some on here think that he is.

[JuanRebelde]

Poor comment and football sense from JuanRebelde whilst he again showed how limited he is as a supporter.

In all honesty though such a shame we didnt hit the net today. We were so much better than Liverpool have been in recent matches and they keep on getting the points

So idiot you're basically agreeing with me - about the poor quality of our front line. Shame ? What the f*ck are you talking about? Haven't you noticed the little run building up at home - teams sit back, we run out of ideas in midfield and our movement and finishing lets us down up front? Result - no goals.

Frankly the most pathetic comment I've heard in weeks ... shame
:stupid:

[alamo]

So idiot you're basically agreeing with me - about the poor quality of our front line. Shame ? What the f*ck are you talking about? Haven't you noticed the little run building up at home - teams sit back, we run out of ideas in midfield and our movement and finishing lets us down up front? Result - no goals.

Frankly the most pathetic comment I've heard in weeks ... shame
:stupid:

:lol:

[avonspurs]

If you ever read any of my posts with regards to your aforementioned points dropped, you'll see I've more than slagged off our inability upfront (which still exist) and our inability to kill teams off and therein the points lost. But I find myself today saying that it really was just one of those days, and that's the first time I've used that phrase this season.
Let us not forget Villa have the best defensive record in the league, unlike any of the other teams we have failed against.

And you can certainly see why. I didnt see the match; instead was relying on text commentary from BBC. 'Sounded' like we dominated for the vast majority of the match but their defence, particularly central defenders, played exceptionally well. However, and I agree with some 606-texters, it would be a shame if Villa got anywhere near the top 4 as in all the games that I have actually seen them play (about 4 or 5 now) they are so irritatingly defensive to be bordering on the sublime....

...... saying that, perhaps we could ask MON to come to Spurs and be our defensive coach; although we are doing okay on that front too, there's always room for improvement :-)

[StokeSpur]

We have a creative midfielder, his name is Kranjcar.

he can play in the middle and we missed him today.
He works well with Modric, the only problem is Harry dosnt fancy Modric in the middle because if he did kranjcar could play left and Modric central, these two , for me, are the best attacking options we have and its a shame Harry cant/wont fit them both in to the team.

A midfield of Kranjcar, Modric, Palacios and lennon (Bentley while he's out) would be the best.
I dont go for the 'Modric is too small to play CM' argument, he can pass as well as Hudd and is quicker footed and a lot trickier.

I guess Harry could get around it if he thought about it by playing one up front with Modric or Kranjcar just off Defoe.

Kranjcar is probably the best finisher out of our midfielders, he is quick and can pass through the eye of a needle, that's something we could do more of, when other teams strikers go through a dry spell their midfielders chip in with vital goals, we don't seem to get that too often. if either Modric or Kranjcar could play behind Defoe it would keep Crouch off the pitch too.

Sort it out Harry.

[pistolP]

We may have won today if the FA didn't put a substitution embargo on us.

I hope, you are not having a go at our hero, Harry because if you are, i will come after you with vengeance. :grin::grin::grin::grin::grin:

[pistolP]

should've been a pen end of! that would have won us the game.

As long Defoe did not take it :grin:

[lyndonh]

As a few have said already I'm quite dissapointed and frustrated not because we did'nt play well because we did but because Harry is beginning to prove tactically limited.
We had a strong bench today but it was not used... I'm all for leaving the team shape as it was but Villa played with three central defenders even though Cuellar was at right back, and all we did was play the long ball up to Crouch which was meat and drink to Villa. Harry should have went for it at home and tried something different we needed to play through them but there was not enough creativity.
Gudjonsen or krancjar for the last twenty might have changed things I say might but if you don't buy a ticket you can't win the raffle!
And it was a blantant pen, since when do you have to be facing the goal in the area to win a pen??? Defoe was upended Cuellar was no where near the ball...rant over!

[StuckinPoland]

Though I thought it was a game that we needed to win, I can't look back at that game and criticise anyone. We played well. They played well. Maybe we wanted to win more but then, we needed to win more than they did.

It seems Crouch has won more headers and flick ons in the past two games than in the rest of the season combined. Wilson is getting back to his best. We have shape and are dangerous down both wings. We're a good team.

Defoe wasn't as involved as we'd have liked but our long passes towards him were just that little bit too high or strong.

We did everything but score ! Would the subs really have improved anything?

And those who don't rate Huddlestone? What do you want from him? He spreads the ball so well and is always available. He gets better and better each week. He and Palacios are just like Carrick and Davids were. As much as I like the idea of Modric/Kranjcar in the middle, I LOVE the fact that we can play possession football nowadays.

Really, a bit more luck was all that we needed. It aint over yet - there's still 13 games left !

COYS !!!

[ostrov]

As a few have said already I'm quite dissapointed and frustrated not because we did'nt play well because we did but because Harry is beginning to prove tactically limited.
We had a strong bench today but it was not used... I'm all for leaving the team shape as it was but Villa played with three central defenders even though Cuellar was at right back, and all we did was play the long ball up to Crouch which was meat and drink to Villa. Harry should have went for it at home and tried something different we needed to play through them but there was not enough creativity.
Gudjonsen or krancjar for the last twenty might have changed things I say might but if you don't buy a ticket you can't win the raffle!
And it was a blantant pen, since when do you have to be facing the goal in the area to win a pen??? Defoe was upended Cuellar was no where near the ball...rant over!

I keep thinking about Krancjar and Gudjonsen, but for who? Modric played well. Gudi for Crouch? But is he up to speed yet? It could have disrupted the team play and backfired, don't you think? We were not chasing the game to take risk. We were on top and creating chances.

[mdharris]

We have a creative midfielder, his name is Kranjcar.

he can play in the middle and we missed him today.
He works well with Modric, the only problem is Harry dosnt fancy Modric in the middle because if he did kranjcar could play left and Modric central, these two , for me, are the best attacking options we have and its a shame Harry cant/wont fit them both in to the team.

A midfield of Kranjcar, Modric, Palacios and lennon (Bentley while he's out) would be the best.
I dont go for the 'Modric is too small to play CM' argument, he can pass as well as Hudd and is quicker footed and a lot trickier.

I guess Harry could get around it if he thought about it by playing one up front with Modric or Kranjcar just off Defoe.

Kranjcar is probably the best finisher out of our midfielders, he is quick and can pass through the eye of a needle, that's something we could do more of, when other teams strikers go through a dry spell their midfielders chip in with vital goals, we don't seem to get that too often. if either Modric or Kranjcar could play behind Defoe it would keep Crouch off the pitch too.

Sort it out Harry.

I'm not sure I'd classify Krancjar as quick.

[2bearis2do]

To put it bluntly and for the fear of sounding repetitive, we simply fail upfront.
We´re doing well both defensively and in the midfield in general terms. Kranjcar does provide that deft touch and vision as can Modric. Huddlestones is more of a controller of games, determinging the pace with which we play and sweeping the ball from side to side to change our attacking option. Adifferent type of creativeness. So all in all I think we're in decent shape there.

I think we fail upfront because of the following;
- Defoe is at his best when he plays down the channels, when he uses his pace to get past defenders or when he turns quickly on the edge of the box.
- Crouch does what he says on the tin. And that is limited. Though I will forever praise his work effort.
- But what we really need is someone upfront who does have VISION and the ability to deftly play in his strike partner. This is where ultimately we lack the creativity. You can only whip in so many excellent crosses a game before that becomes the expected. We don't have the unexpected upfront. And good teams know how to defend against this.
- If we had that missing link, we'd be so much stronger, we've proven we're a good footballing team, we pass the ball a lot better than most teams, but then fall flat in the final third. Ohh for a bit of craft upfront, a bit of guile, a bit of vision.
- Obviously we miss Lennon a wee bit in that department. But I'd also suggest that the best bit of link play I´ve seen all season was Pav's cameo apparance and his one two with Defoe. Lovely stuff.

I hope maybe he'll get another chance or that Gudjon can give us that. Keano used too. I can only add that am hoping that Harry has at last seen this with the purchase of Gud and the release of Keane, and I hope that the Pav groin injury is fact and not sellable fiction.

[davidmatzdorf]

- But what we really need is someone upfront who does have VISION and the ability to deftly play in his strike partner. This is where ultimately we lack the creativity. You can only whip in so many excellent crosses a game before that becomes the expected. We don't have the unexpected upfront. And good teams know how to defend against this.

It's a source of regret for any Spurs fan, except those blinded by their expectation of the same kind of loyalty from players as one sees from fans, that we had a pair of strikers who had exactly those qualities and, better yet, brought out and emphasised those qualities in each other. But both of them left and, although Berbatov has done better than Keane since then, it's fair to say that neither of them has excelled since they broke up their partnership. Strikers like that are hard to find, even one of them.

One reason we are relying on crosses so much more than we were even at the beginning of this season is that other sides have changed the way they play against us, to try to stop our passing game. Even decent sides get men behind the ball as soon as we get possession and clog up the area outside the penalty box to force us wide. Poorer sides just set up two banks of four and play for a point.

[tottenham28]

A good lesson for us today in how to defend, if we defended all our 1-0 leads this season, the way Villa defended today, we would not be sweating over a champions league spot.
I suppose Harry will come out and say the usual, their keeper had a blinder, their defence were amazing and so on. We could all see, yet again it was not going to happen for us today. With 20 minutes left I could see it!!! Harry should have made a change or two, try to mix it up, but no, he is a one trick pony. We could have got goals by playing through them, but no Harry wants to aim for his boy Crouch all day...
I hate the way we play when Crouch is playing. Why the hell did he bring him to this club. Long balls, long balls... He is 6ft 7in and he hardly connects with the ****ing long balls!!!!<!-- google_ad_section_end --> <!-- / message --> <!-- sig --> __________________

[will8587]

To put it bluntly and for the fear of sounding repetitive, we simply fail upfront.
We´re doing well both defensively and in the midfield in general terms. Kranjcar does provide that deft touch and vision as can Modric. Huddlestones is more of a controller of games, determinging the pace with which we play and sweeping the ball from side to side to change our attacking option. Adifferent type of creativeness. So all in all I think we're in decent shape there.

I think we fail upfront because of the following;
- Defoe is at his best when he plays down the channels, when he uses his pace to get past defenders or when he turns quickly on the edge of the box.
- Crouch does what he says on the tin. And that is limited. Though I will forever praise his work effort.
- But what we really need is someone upfront who does have VISION and the ability to deftly play in his strike partner. This is where ultimately we lack the creativity. You can only whip in so many excellent crosses a game before that becomes the expected. We don't have the unexpected upfront. And good teams know how to defend against this.
- If we had that missing link, we'd be so much stronger, we've proven we're a good footballing team, we pass the ball a lot better than most teams, but then fall flat in the final third. Ohh for a bit of craft upfront, a bit of guile, a bit of vision.
- Obviously we miss Lennon a wee bit in that department. But I'd also suggest that the best bit of link play I´ve seen all season was Pav's cameo apparance and his one two with Defoe. Lovely stuff.

Fantastic post. I wholeheartedly agree.

I hope maybe he'll get another chance or that Gudjon can give us that. Keano used too. I can only add that am hoping that Harry has at last seen this with the purchase of Gud and the release of Keane, and I hope that the Pav groin injury is fact and not sellable fiction.

I think that last point is the most important. We desperately miss Lennon. He provides what no one else on the team can- incredible speed and the ability to get past his man. When he does get through on the right, he can cross the ball or cut in towards the box- either way, it forces the opposing defense to bring another man out and defend Lennon, giving space to Crouch and Defoe. Right now, Bentley's crosses are met by four defenders tightly packed into the box, which makes it much more difficult for Crouch to get space to get a good head on the ball. It also limits the space available to Defoe to get off a clear shot.

Regarding Pav, his little fake out, where he let the ball pass between his legs and fall to Defoe, who promptly passed it back to Pav was brilliant, and it's something we've been missing since for a while. When that goal was scored, I had serious flashbacks to when Berbatov was making goals like that look easy.

For all Defoe and Crouch's merits, they're too predictable. They're good at what they do, but they're easy to defend against. When the ball is huffed down to Crouch, the defense only needs to rough him up a bit or make sure that his back is to the goal. He'll complain for a foul or he'll try to hold it up, but will inevitably lose possession. When Defoe gets possession, just make sure you keep a man between him and the goal. He gets tunnel vision when he's in the box, and gets so preoccupied getting a shot off that he misses anyone who might be open. This happened several times today.
If the defense does this, they'll shut our strikers down. But what made Berbatov and Keane's partnership so strong was that they lacked that predictability. Keane could hold up the ball and play further back, but also be a clinical finisher when he was in form. Berbatov was a fantastic striker, could handle balls in the air, and hold up play. If defenders shut down one aspect of of their play, they could just exploit their other talents.

I'd love to see more from Pav, because I think with time he'd show more of the talent he displayed in the aforementioned goal, especially because I don't see Crouch or Defoe ever developing these other talents.

[tottenham28]

<hr style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" size="1"> <!-- / icon and title --> <!-- message --> <!-- google_ad_section_start -->Your not at Pompey anymore Harry, 1 defeat in 12 sounds good but 8 points from the last 24 is not champions league form. What are you going to do about it now.
As I said in previous posts. In April we play, Arsescum home, Chelsea home, Man u away, three games straight. In other words, you have fcuked it mate!!!!!
You as the boss should have made this team believe we were capable, but as we can now see, they are no more than average. Without Lennon we are absolute average...
Bring back Jol. In my eyes, never given a fair crack and never, was Levy right....
Thanks for setting us back at least 3 or 4 years Daniel Levy!!!!
As far as I can see the season is over, bar the F.A cup I am no longer optimistic.
Thanks for your help for last season Harry but as taking us to the next level goes, I really can't see ithttp://www.myp2pforum.eu/images/smilies/mad.gifhttp://www.myp2pforum.eu/images/smilies/mad.gifhttp://www.myp2pforum.eu/images/smilies/mad.gif<!-- google_ad_section_end -->
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[spurs_viola]

I think that last point is the most important. We desperately miss Lennon. He provides what no one else on the team can- incredible speed and the ability to get past his man. When he does get through on the right, he can cross the ball or cut in towards the box- either way, it forces the opposing defense to bring another man out and defend Lennon, giving space to Crouch and Defoe. Right now, Bentley's crosses are met by four defenders tightly packed into the box, which makes it much more difficult for Crouch to get space to get a good head on the ball. It also limits the space available to Defoe to get off a clear shot.

Regarding Pav, his little fake out, where he let the ball pass between his legs and fall to Defoe, who promptly passed it back to Pav was brilliant, and it's something we've been missing since for a while. When that goal was scored, I had serious flashbacks to when Berbatov was making goals like that look easy.

For all Defoe and Crouch's merits, they're too predictable. They're good at what they do, but they're easy to defend against. When the ball is huffed down to Crouch, the defense only needs to rough him up a bit or make sure that his back is to the goal. He'll complain for a foul or he'll try to hold it up, but will inevitably lose possession. When Defoe gets possession, just make sure you keep a man between him and the goal. He gets tunnel vision when he's in the box, and gets so preoccupied getting a shot off that he misses anyone who might be open. This happened several times today.
If the defense does this, they'll shut our strikers down. But what made Berbatov and Keane's partnership so strong was that they lacked that predictability. Keane could hold up the ball and play further back, but also be a clinical finisher when he was in form. Berbatov was a fantastic striker, could handle balls in the air, and hold up play. If defenders shut down one aspect of of their play, they could just exploit their other talents.

I'd love to see more from Pav, because I think with time he'd show more of the talent he displayed in the aforementioned goal, especially because I don't see Crouch or Defoe ever developing these other talents.

Very good points, totally agree. Been saying that for quite some time now, too - we have become too predictable with the long balls/crosses to Crouch and for a good team with good defensive organisation it is quite easy to deal with. Crouch may have won most of the headers today, but what has become of that? Apart from about 4 times out of about 25 (roughly of course), the ball was invariably lost and attack ended before it started.

The long ball from the back (Dawson and Corluka) cuts out our creative midfield and wastes Modric and Huddlestone to an extent. And it also means very poor service to Defoe, who has to try to control a bouncing fast ball from yet another knock-down while surrounded by 2-3 defenders.

What really annoys me is Harry's apparent inability to see this? Insisting that Crouch "is in a very good form" (4 goals and 3 assists in 5 months, since September) and "he was winning nearly every header, so I couldn't sub him" sounds too much like protection of one of your favourites. I agree with Geez - with about 25 min to go it was getting clear that we needed more inventiveness and unpredictability up front, which even not 100% fit Gudjonssen could have provided in the end.

[striebs]

....For all Defoe and Crouch's merits, they're too predictable. They're good at what they do, but they're easy to defend against....

England have a real problem up front in Rooney is injured because individually and together Crouchy and Defoe are not of the requisite quality .


Not that great players guarantee success as Man City showed again .

[peter123]

Left the game today thinking to myself that we didn't take our chances and Crouch cant score and the ref was abysmal. He bottled a high foot on the edge of the box just before the pen and missed several corners / throw-ins. Clearly not prem standard.

I wonder what Villa fans make of their team coming down here and refusing to play football-they obviously are not playing for a CL spot. Infact I saw more football, more creativity from wolves a few weeks ago who went 1-0 up at the start of the game.

They obviously watched the vids as it seemed every corner went near post, but they also looked very similar to wolves in terms of their set-up - i.e. no intention what-so-ever to play football.

We coped better today than we did against wolves and it suggests the team is working on getting round the buses but the finishing was poor.

As for the bench I was expecting a sub but it just didnt happen - i dunno what the state of gudjohnson is but i'd have liked to have seen kranks on for bentley, while modric was off the pace a bit today he is a much better team player than bentley, charlie seems isolated at times due to bentleys lack of off-the-ball whereas modders helps bale both in defence and attack.

Anyway its looking better lets hope gudjohnson can stick the ball in the net :grin:

[Greenspur]

My weekly mantra is that we look like the 6th or 7th best team in the league and we will finish 6th or 7th.

...... and do Villa look better than a 6th or 7th team?

[Locotoro]

Guys I'm not sure we can say we lacked creativity yesterday, we created chance after chance, but the finishing was not there. We are currently experiencing that whole park the bus thing thAt teams will do but be patient, it's another stage in our development.
We just needed that cutting edge that we had earlier in the season.

On a side note, I watched barca v getafe later in the day and they were out of this world. Playing with ten men they controlled possession with 2 touch passing for a stretch of what was 50 or so passes. Magnificent!

[newbie]

I dont know why all the doom and gloom we are playing really well, we are not finishing but we are dominating teams. Our team is very very young i think we have 1 player starting today who proberly wont be playing in 3-4 years time.

Our team is imporivng from regulation to top 4 candidtates that is a big improvement we are playing well away from home. Harry has done wonders with our team and squad we look solid i never poo myself at every time we conceed a corner.

We play awesome football we defend well and get forward to attack so fast crouch played very well, shame we could not get the ball in the net. very soon we will click and start hammering team.

Final point

we have a completely new team its been playing together only this seasona and a few of them last season we need time to gel and get to know each other better. give it time and we will be top 4 i think this season is 1 season to early.

stop blamming harry give him a chance he is doin better than hughe and Oniel and the Man city other manager. with a bit of luck we would be 3rd now :) i cant think of many teams in the league maybe 2 or 3 if you count United who are playing as well as us. every team is defending for the lifes when they come to the lane, no one commits to many players forward against us.

[newbie]

P.s we need to get Modric scoring then we will start winning :D

[JimmyG2]

Another impressive performance admittedly against a team that didn't really take us on. But sound defence and quick counter attacks is what Villa are about. We coped well with anything they offered.
Gomes made his usual early saves to give us a firm basis and Ledley worked hard to keep the back line together. Liked the way he covered Bale and allowed him the freedom to roam.
The long ball to Crouch was effective today because it wasn't our only method of attack and he not only won the ball frequently but laid the ball off very well on a number of occasions.
Modric took quite a while to get into the game but had a couple of early chances. Huddlestone was excellent and unlucky with his shooting. They made sure that Defoe coudn't turn and never had fewer than four or five defenders in the box. Sometimes seven or eight.
I was particularly impressed with Corluka who not only made me glad that we kept Bentley and didn't spend another £15 million on the innocuous Downing but in a different way to Bale was an excellent attacking force. When he and Bentley reach some sort of understanding they will make a real threat.
Palacios shouldn't give up shooting as he had more than one opportunity to have a go.He played well again.
Their goalkeeper was excellent (again), they came to keep a clean sheet and achieved their aim.
I agree with Harry who has come unstuck making substitutions lately. Who would you have taken off as for the last 20 minutes we could have scored at any time?
Very pleased with the performance, a lot of good football.
Whether we make fourth is up in the air at the moment but we are certainly playing well and still have every chance.
Everton let us down but Hull came up trumps.

[Spurs_Bear]

Another impressive performance admittedly against a team that didn't really take us on. But sound defence and quick counter attacks is what Villa are about. We coped well with anything they offered.
Gomes made his usual early saves to give us a firm basis and Ledley worked hard to keep the back line together. Liked the way he covered Bale and allowed him the freedom to roam.
The long ball to Crouch was effective today because it wasn't our only method of attack and he not only won the ball frequently but laid the ball off very well on a number of occasions.
Modric took quite a while to get into the game but had a couple of early chances. Huddlestone was excellent and unlucky with his shooting. They made sure that Defoe coudn't turn and never had fewer than four or five defenders in the box. Sometimes seven or eight.
I was particularly impressed with Corluka who not only made me glad that we kept Bentley and didn't spend another £15 million on the innocuous Downing but in a different way to Bale was an excellent attacking force. When he and Bentley reach some sort of understanding they will make a real threat.
Palacios shouldn't give up shooting as he had more than one opportunity to have a go.He played well again.
Their goalkeeper was excellent (again), they came to keep a clean sheet and achieved their aim.
I agree with Harry who has come unstuck making substitutions lately. Who would you have taken off as for the last 20 minutes we could have scored at any time?
Very pleased with the performance, a lot of good football.
Whether we make fourth is up in the air at the moment but we are certainly playing well and still have every chance.
Everton let us down but Hull came up trumps.

What an absolutely brilliant analysis JimmyG2 :clap:

[laurence]

I agree, JimmyG2. Your succinct analysis is pretty well spot on.

Nonetheless with fifteen minutes to go i was thinking that it would have been a good idea to bring Gudjohnsen, or even Krancjar, on for Crouch because, although Crouch was winning headers and knocking the ball on well (much better than in previous games where his ability to win headers has been surprisingly poor), I felt that a change was needed in order to disrupt Villa's defensive pattern. However, my son pointed out that Harry might want to keep Crouch on because of his usefulness in defence when Villa get set pieces. If that was Harry's thinking, it was sensible.

[DiscoD1882]

Another impressive performance admittedly against a team that didn't really take us on. But sound defence and quick counter attacks is what Villa are about. We coped well with anything they offered.
Gomes made his usual early saves to give us a firm basis and Ledley worked hard to keep the back line together. Liked the way he covered Bale and allowed him the freedom to roam.
The long ball to Crouch was effective today because it wasn't our only method of attack and he not only won the ball frequently but laid the ball off very well on a number of occasions.
Modric took quite a while to get into the game but had a couple of early chances. Huddlestone was excellent and unlucky with his shooting. They made sure that Defoe coudn't turn and never had fewer than four or five defenders in the box. Sometimes seven or eight.
I was particularly impressed with Corluka who not only made me glad that we kept Bentley and didn't spend another £15 million on the innocuous Downing but in a different way to Bale was an excellent attacking force. When he and Bentley reach some sort of understanding they will make a real threat.
Palacios shouldn't give up shooting as he had more than one opportunity to have a go.He played well again.
Their goalkeeper was excellent (again), they came to keep a clean sheet and achieved their aim.
I agree with Harry who has come unstuck making substitutions lately. Who would you have taken off as for the last 20 minutes we could have scored at any time?
Very pleased with the performance, a lot of good football.
Whether we make fourth is up in the air at the moment but we are certainly playing well and still have every chance.
Everton let us down but Hull came up trumps. Agree 100% people need to get real. we have hit a run where we cant beat the keeper. But we are playing better football than Liverpool, Villa and Man City. We just need to keep the belief. And that means the fans that go to the games as well as the players COYS!

[JoeT]

After the eary 'get rid of Harry' rants, it's good to see some sensible analysis posted now...and I agree with the last posters here that we ARE doing 99% of what good football is all about -especially our passing game. Stay the course and good things will happen. We are so close!

[spurs_viola]

Wow, some people must have been in a really happy mood and determined to let nothing spoil it...

Another impressive performance - and more points dropped against a team who was happy to sit back, where we were allowed to have the ball in the middle but (apart from a couple of good moves on the ground) lacked inventiveness in and around their penalty box.
How many more of these "impressive" performances would it take to finally realize that the attacking approach needs to change if we want to achieve a top 3-4 place?

Refusing to notice shortcomings that threaten to hinder our team's best chance since 5 years ago and who knows for how many years ahead to get into the Champions League is a false loyalty in my opinion.

It's like refusing to notice the lack of experience and power at Arsenal or the lack of balance and quality options at Liverpool. Loyal and positive on the surface, but counter-productive in reality.

[18Klinsmann]

We have lost momentum in terms of results. We are playing well, but are too predictable when Modric isn't on the ball - his little gem of a pass for Crouch in the first half was a perfect example of what he can do from the edge of the box. Sadly our finishing hasn't been good enough to get the needed goals of late, and a consequence we have lost bundles of points despite playing very good football.
Despite our "triffic performances" we therefore must win at least 6 of the next 8 league games if we are to have a realistic chance of finishing fourth. It would be a very interesting (and nervewrecking) prospect to enter the dreaded top three clashes in fourth place.
Wolves and Wigan away are tough games, but simply must be won now, and playing away from home seems to become us quite well at the moment - I wouldn't be surprised if we win both games, but if we don't I hope it's not because of anymore injury time equalisers.

[JimmyG2]

Wow, some people must have been in a really happy mood and determined to let nothing spoil it...

Another impressive performance - and more points dropped against a team who was happy to sit back, where we were allowed to have the ball in the middle but (apart from a couple of good moves on the ground) lacked inventiveness in and around their penalty box.
How many more of these "impressive" performances would it take to finally realize that the attacking approach needs to change if we want to achieve a top 3-4 place?

Refusing to notice shortcomings that threaten to hinder our team's best chance since 5 years ago and who knows for how many years ahead to get into the Champions League is a false loyalty in my opinion.

It's like refusing to notice the lack of experience and power at Arsenal or the lack of balance and quality options at Liverpool. Loyal and positive on the surface, but counter-productive in reality.

Good football before success. Success through good football is JimmyG2's slogan.
I am in a happy mood because my team is giving me the first requirement.
All we can do is play well which we are doing.
Where we finish in the league is not entirely in our hands.
I often, like you, suggest improvements that we could make: more pitch time for Pavlyuchenko and Gio for example; more tactical nous from Harry at times.
I am not Crouchy's biggest fan but my piece was about what I saw on Saturday, not what might have happened had we done something different.
I notice many shortcomings in Harry and individuals but I always try to highlight the positive things, when there are any.
I have suggested playing Modric or Kranjcar or Bentley off the front player and now I think Gudjohnson could play that role when Harry thinks he is ready.
Would we have made more chances and would Defoe still have missed them? Who knows.
I think we do lack movement and inventiveness around the box and have said this many times. But on Saturday we drew ,not because we didn't make chances, but because we didn't take them.
Until the summer we have what we have; who we could have brought in to change it round better than what we have and who would have come to us I don't know.

[theoldguy]

Like JG2 I found the entertaining football played by our guys a joy to watch. Not to say I wouldn't have liked to win obviously. We have had a run of not scoring against packed defenses. However I'm seeing a number of chances created and I believe we will likely have a run where they go in. Although City and Villa have games in hand on us neither is playing with the consistency that we have to be fearful of them. Same with Liverpool but they at least appear to have overcome early season jitters. Finally what price Arsenal's third place also being up for grabs (as HR suggests). Their loss to Chelsea must be disheartening following the one to Man U. Next it is Ars vs Liv so a draw is what I'll hope for. A win for us at Wolves would then have us knocking on the door once again.

[1882andallthat]

Another impressive performance admittedly against a team that didn't really take us on. But sound defence and quick counter attacks is what Villa are about. We coped well with anything they offered.
Gomes made his usual early saves to give us a firm basis and Ledley worked hard to keep the back line together. Liked the way he covered Bale and allowed him the freedom to roam.
The long ball to Crouch was effective today because it wasn't our only method of attack and he not only won the ball frequently but laid the ball off very well on a number of occasions.
Modric took quite a while to get into the game but had a couple of early chances. Huddlestone was excellent and unlucky with his shooting. They made sure that Defoe coudn't turn and never had fewer than four or five defenders in the box. Sometimes seven or eight.
I was particularly impressed with Corluka who not only made me glad that we kept Bentley and didn't spend another £15 million on the innocuous Downing but in a different way to Bale was an excellent attacking force. When he and Bentley reach some sort of understanding they will make a real threat.
Palacios shouldn't give up shooting as he had more than one opportunity to have a go.He played well again.
Their goalkeeper was excellent (again), they came to keep a clean sheet and achieved their aim.
I agree with Harry who has come unstuck making substitutions lately. Who would you have taken off as for the last 20 minutes we could have scored at any time?
Very pleased with the performance, a lot of good football.
Whether we make fourth is up in the air at the moment but we are certainly playing well and still have every chance.
Everton let us down but Hull came up trumps.
I also agree with the match summary in all but the last sentence. It should not be about whether teams in other games either help us or let us down. Its up to us to make it happen and a turn single points in into three points in tough close games.

[ricardo_archibald]

As Stuck in Poland said 'We played well. They played well' I don't think much more can be said other than the other points that have been made about making a daring substitution or two which didn't happen and, quite frankly, could have taken the game either way.

It was frustrating that we didn't polish the good play off with a goal, but reassuring that we looked better than our 'Top 6' opponents. Plus, we now have an even better ability to change the team around a little mid-week and still keep a strong team for the Wolves game.

It's not all bad, despite the loss of 2 points, as 'Arry says many more twist and turns to come.

[avonspurs]

Good football before success. Success through good football is JimmyG2's slogan.
I am in a happy mood because my team is giving me the first requirement.
All we can do is play well which we are doing.
Where we finish in the league is not entirely in our hands.
I often, like you, suggest improvements that we could make: more pitch time for Pavlyuchenko and Gio for example; more tactical nous from Harry at times.
I am not Crouchy's biggest fan but my piece was about what I saw on Saturday, not what might have happened had we done something different.
I notice many shortcomings in Harry and individuals but I always try to highlight the positive things, when there are any.
I have suggested playing Modric or Kranjcar or Bentley off the front player and now I think Gudjohnson could play that role when Harry thinks he is ready.
Would we have made more chances and would Defoe still have missed them? Who knows.
I think we do lack movement and inventiveness around the box and have said this many times. But on Saturday we drew ,not because we didn't make chances, but because we didn't take them.
Until the summer we have what we have; who we could have brought in to change it round better than what we have and who would have come to us I don't know.

I really wouldnt worry about justifying your previous positive post. There are too many individuals on here who are quick to post nothing but negative vitriol about the team and individuals - they very (if at all) note any positives. Consequently, why should someone who sees positives be slated as "ignoring shortcomings". Highlighting positives DOES NOT mean ignoring the shortcomings, even if they are not listed in a post. But, hey, why be positive when we can just have the usual anti-HR, anti-Crouch, anti-Spurs rants

[spurs_viola]

Good football before success. Success through good football is JimmyG2's slogan.
I am in a happy mood because my team is giving me the first requirement.
All we can do is play well which we are doing.
Where we finish in the league is not entirely in our hands.
I often, like you, suggest improvements that we could make: more pitch time for Pavlyuchenko and Gio for example; more tactical nous from Harry at times.
I am not Crouchy's biggest fan but my piece was about what I saw on Saturday, not what might have happened had we done something different.
I notice many shortcomings in Harry and individuals but I always try to highlight the positive things, when there are any.
I have suggested playing Modric or Kranjcar or Bentley off the front player and now I think Gudjohnson could play that role when Harry thinks he is ready.
Would we have made more chances and would Defoe still have missed them? Who knows.
I think we do lack movement and inventiveness around the box and have said this many times. But on Saturday we drew ,not because we didn't make chances, but because we didn't take them.
Until the summer we have what we have; who we could have brought in to change it round better than what we have and who would have come to us I don't know.

Fair and reasoned points. I agree, "Success through good football" should be the Spurs target. And perhaps "To Dare is to Do" should be reminded to Harry a bit more often.