Defences win titles...
I don't post on here often but after possibly the most depressing loss of the season so far, I feel the need to vent and express my opinion as to the real reason we're experiencing this poor run of results and the main weakness of this potentially great Spurs team.
Early on in the season, we were attacking with flair and freedom, scoring lots of goals, and winning games with good football. The pundits were singing our praises and we were allegedly 'the best team in London'.
Now the goals have dried up, the real weakness of our team has been exposed. Our defence, or lack of, is leaking goals left right and centre. We conceded 5 against Arsenal, another 3 against Man Utd, we've let in 8 in total against Man City. Another 5 against Chelsea today. Even the 2 against Norwich should have been avoided (City exposed them as the team they are yesterday...) Winning teams just don't leak goals like we do. Our team now is undoubtedly better than the 2010 team that qualified for the Champions League on paper but we qualified that year because we defended well.
Who or what is to blame? A small part bad luck, a large part bad coaching and management. Let's start with the coaching... I'm sure I'm not alone that I assume the worst every time opponents have a set piece. We don't defend them well, and our back 4 always seems disorganised and unsure of themselves in open play. Today was a clear example, Mata was threading balls through our defence and the Chelsea players were running past our two centre halves and fullbacks like they weren't even there.
As for the luck and management, we've been very unlucky that our two best centre halves are injured (Dawson and Kaboul) but we should not have been left short of decent replacements. It's been clear in these last few games that King and Gallas are past their best, but what was the point of bringing in Nelson if no faith is to be shown in him? We have a good young Centre Half in Caulker, but are unable to recall him. This will be controversial I know, but Bassong was loaned out and was actually a big part of the solid defensive partnership formed with Dawson in the 2010 season - perhaps with consistent games he could have retained that level of form.
Why is it that Utd can cope without their talisman Vidic and/or Ferdinand? Because they have good backups, and good, solid coaching. Their team on paper is in no way the best in the premier league but they're still top. They have 18 clean sheets (4 more than City) and it's that solid base that allows their attacking players to play with confidence, which no doubt contributes to their clinical finishing.
Our twelve (still arguably, not bad) clean sheets this season may be a stat one can use to argue against our shoddy defence but lets not forget that we're a team that largely dominates possession. If the opponent doesn't have the ball, they can't attack us, but when they do, we invariably look shaky. This in turn affects the mindset of the whole team and confidence drops hence the contrast in our and Utd's fortunes.
I pray for Mourinho (best case...) or any other defensive minded manager to be our next manager as our attack I believe can take care of itself. We have enough flair in Bale, Modric, Lennon, VDV, Adebayor to hurt any team. Players like them can be left to 'just facking run around a bit' but defences can't. They need to be organised, disciplined and work as a unit. Only when we sort out our defence will we have a chance of winning title.
I don't post on here often but after possibly the most depressing loss of the season so far, I feel the need to vent and express my opinion as to the real reason we're experiencing this poor run of results and the main weakness of this potentially great Spurs team.
Early on in the season, we were attacking with flair and freedom, scoring lots of goals, and winning games with good football. The pundits were singing our praises and we were allegedly 'the best team in London'.
Now the goals have dried up, the real weakness of our team has been exposed. Our defence, or lack of, is leaking goals left right and centre. We conceded 5 against Arsenal, another 3 against Man Utd, we've let in 8 in total against Man City. Another 5 against Chelsea today. Even the 2 against Norwich should have been avoided (City exposed them as the team they are yesterday...) Winning teams just don't leak goals like we do. Our team now is undoubtedly better than the 2010 team that qualified for the Champions League on paper but we qualified that year because we defended well.
Who or what is to blame? A small part bad luck, a large part bad coaching and management. Let's start with the coaching... I'm sure I'm not alone that I assume the worst every time opponents have a set piece. We don't defend them well, and our back 4 always seems disorganised and unsure of themselves in open play. Today was a clear example, Mata was threading balls through our defence and the Chelsea players were running past our two centre halves and fullbacks like they weren't even there.
As for the luck and management, we've been very unlucky that our two best centre halves are injured (Dawson and Kaboul) but we should not have been left short of decent replacements. It's been clear in these last few games that King and Gallas are past their best, but what was the point of bringing in Nelson if no faith is to be shown in him? We have a good young Centre Half in Caulker, but are unable to recall him. This will be controversial I know, but Bassong was loaned out and was actually a big part of the solid defensive partnership formed with Dawson in the 2010 season - perhaps with consistent games he could have retained that level of form.
Why is it that Utd can cope without their talisman Vidic and/or Ferdinand? Because they have good backups, and good, solid coaching. Their team on paper is in no way the best in the premier league but they're still top. They have 18 clean sheets (4 more than City) and it's that solid base that allows their attacking players to play with confidence, which no doubt contributes to their clinical finishing.
Our twelve (still arguably, not bad) clean sheets this season may be a stat one can use to argue against our shoddy defence but lets not forget that we're a team that largely dominates possession. If the opponent doesn't have the ball, they can't attack us, but when they do, we invariably look shaky. This in turn affects the mindset of the whole team and confidence drops hence the contrast in our and Utd's fortunes.
I pray for Mourinho (best case...) or any other defensive minded manager to be our next manager as our attack I believe can take care of itself. We have enough flair in Bale, Modric, Lennon, VDV, Adebayor to hurt any team. Players like them can be left to 'just facking run around a bit' but defences can't. They need to be organised, disciplined and work as a unit. Only when we sort out our defence will we have a chance of winning title.