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►►►►►► Ratings -vs- Queens Park Rangers◄◄◄◄◄◄

Spurs' Man of the Match


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    322

Sanj

Well-Known Member
Jun 22, 2003
1,680
1,130
I must say, everyone else praised Brad and the ratings here are all 7-8 from SC folks. 5 for Friedel yesterday, really?

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I do not see any evidence to support your very low rating for a Spurs player who performed well yesterday. Just an observation, no other agenda at play from me. Since it was the only one like it, your rating caught my eye.

COYS!!! :chicken:
sim0n - thanks for the question (rather than just a rating).
I did wonder about the marks when reading everyone's ratings for Brad. he made 1 really good save and a couple of good saves - this i have no problem with.
However, QPR were piling crosses into the 6 yard box and brad was rooted to the line. QPR were winning most of the headers and Brad really should have been coming for these balls to help the defense out. We have conceded most of our goals from set-pieces this year and teams have bombarded us at times knowing that they can put the ball right into the 6 yard box and the keeper will not come. If Brad came and caught/punched a few out team would need to put their crosses out of that zone, making it harder for teams to score.

This is not an anti-brad rant from me, but something that i believe is hurting the team. Every time the ball was cossed close to the goal i was worried yesterday and i think this was a tactic from QPR knowing how brad likes to stay on his line..
 

EnfieldYiddo

Silence
Aug 6, 2012
15,505
26,871
The goods:
Sandro was awesome as always.
Dembele not as effective as other games he's had for us so far but still very good.
Vertonghen... There are no words faultless.
Bale much better 2nd half; can't pin blame on him for his anonymous performance in 1st.
Lennon, still looking our best attacking outlet at times, just needs to improve on his final ball

The bads:
Walker... What's up with his defensive frailties? He can't defend his back post for shit. Also I feel his electric pace masks a lot of his defensive errors many a time.
Defoe... Yes he scored but how greedy is the lad? Also offside so many times. Commend his work effort but get Ade back in ASAP when he's fit.
Sigurdsson... Absolutely buzzing when he signed and had good pre-season... But what's up with him? Looks lost out there. Blah blah blah he's only 22. Not an excuse tbh. He looks ineffectual and I would drop him for mean time and play him in cup games.
 

Gedson100

Well-Known Member
Feb 13, 2012
4,487
14,648
Just watched a replay, was at work so missed it yesterday.

Ratings
Friedel: 7 Solid
Walker 6.5 Energetic
Gallas 6.5 Gallas
Vertonghen 8 Classy
Bale 7 Winger
Lennon 7 Indecisive
Sigurdsson 6 Learning
Sandro 7 Tenacious
Defoe 6.5 Typical
Caulker 7.5 Big
Dempsey 7.5 Box to box
Dembele 7 Tricksy

A few comments.

1. Dempsey did well in the second half. Keeps it simple, has an eye for a shot and basically did what we'd hoped Sigurdsson would.
I think he was playing the Sig role as the front of the midfield 3, despite Tony Gale insisting we were playing 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1. Liked his energy and willingness to work. Also felt his aerial skills were good and made good decisions. If he'd have snuck a goal, we'd all be raving about him.

2. QPR, despite injuries, played well and have good players. Just looking at where their signings have come from tells a story.
Julio Cesar (Inter Milan), Ji-Sung Park (Man Utd), Granero (Real Madrid). Nelson (Tottenham:) ). All players from top clubs and vastly experienced. Add in Hoilett, whom many of us would have been happy with and you've a strong core. They played well vs Chelsea last week and Hughes can set up a team.
A lot of us probably just looked at the game and thought 3 points, but both teams are a work in progress and they've got similar room for improvement as we have without our benefits of youth and dynamism.

3. Caulker needs to be starting soon. Just thought he looked cool and composed, couple of minor errors but no more than Gallas and IMO it's no coincidence that we've conceded zero goals in the three halves of football he's played. When he was at Swansea last year before Christmas, they went through a spell of conceding hardly anything, and his presence in that defence was duly noted.

4. Defoe is Defoe is Defoe. He scored the winner and was energetic but was typically moderate in many ways. That's how he rolls.

5. Bale is Bale is Bale. Think he's been reading the 'next Ronaldo' articles in pre-season. That's fine but he'll need to up his contribution to Ronaldo levels too otherwise he'll frustrate.

6. The manager tried an experiment in the first half (Bale LB). It didn't work aso he changed it. Credit for that.

7. We weren't nearly as bad as the booing fans, Tony Gale or the Sporting Life updates would lead you to believe. We had twice as many shots.

8. Friedel made good saves, but saves he should have made in the first half, and did little subsequently. I feel Lloris would have been his equal and his dynamism is the final piece of the jigsaw for our defence. I hope he starts soon, although maybe the cauldron that is Old Trafford might not be the game. Saying that an experienced international should be fine in such a situation.
 

StartingPrice

Chief Sardonicus Hyperlip
Feb 13, 2004
32,568
10,280
Few thoughts . Vertonghen showed Bale what an attacking LB looks like . We have several CBs and no LB (amazing to remember that Bale was once a devastating LB ) , reckon he should stay there at least til Benny returns . I like the idea that Verts can use his attacking skills at LB ,because he's obviously very good at both defending and attacking .

Overall I think AVB will learn that going for a European title as well as wanting to be successful in the Prem is a very tricky balancing act . Wenger makes this point regularly . Maybe this was easier to do when the home league is in Portugal . I reckon that there was a Lazio hangover yesterday . AVB will need to use his squad for these midweek games . I want a lot of first teamers resting for the Carlisle match plz .

Finally Defoe's form continues on a level a bit above that we often see , which is great ....but ye gods we need a performing Ade back asap .

Yup.
Bale didn't show little in an attacking sense from left-back because he was moved to left-back and isn't a left-back. That was supposed to be his main strnegth, as a left-back and the reason folk wanted him pushed forward. He showed little in an attacking sense as a left-back yesterday because he was poor, and his form has been poor (yet more rewriting of things to suit predispositions). He wasn't particularly great when he was moved forward, either - yes, he contributed to the second goal, but it isn't like he was having a barnstorming game before then - he most certainly wasn't. He only looked so much better after that because Rangers went two down and had to really open themselves up in pursuit of an equaliser, exposing the fact that they only had a couple of genuine defenders on the pitch and leaving masses of space for him to run into. Vertonghen showed more in an attacking sense after five minutes, from left-back, than Bale did in the whole of the first half - that wasn't because Bale isn't a left-back, but because he was pish-poor. How could Bale be such a fantastic attacking threat from left-back, causing folk to want him moved forward and yet be so poor in comparison to Vertonghen in the same position, if it was just because he was moved to left-back. It, literally, makes no logical sense to make that argument. He was poor because he was poor and his form has been poor, not because he was forced to play left-back.
 

EnfieldYiddo

Silence
Aug 6, 2012
15,505
26,871
Notable mentions.

Walker, headless chicken, with little movement around him he seemed to not know what to do with the ball.
Gallas, again sloppy with passing, and his first port of call with tackles and interceptions is the stands.
Bale, so greedy in really good positions, we could have had 4-5 if he'd got his head up.

Verts... Can we have 3 more like him please?

Dembele great start but was trying to do too much when we were behind and not showing.

Mug of the day goes to Tony Gale for three notable moments.

Criticising Sandro for "ironically clapping the ref" WTF? just happy to be baled out after a foul as he'd given the ball away...
Then for the "Spurs are being tactically outplayed" which was clearly a not so subtle dig at AVB (from a friend of H's)
Then to top it all off, he said we needed to bring on Caulker and put Vertonghen to LB and move Bale to Wing, then when this was done at half time he said "that's too late"
:hungry:
My favourite Tony Gale quote was when he thanked both the teams for letting him commentate on the match... Wtf...
 

mendesstormer

Well-Known Member
Jan 11, 2005
644
418
I couldn't watch the match as I was away at the weekend. Anybody feel like commenting on these questions?
1 Was Bale really crap at LB? (I was looking forward to seeing how he'd do there.)
2 Was there no sign of a good potential link up between Bale and Dempsey on the left?
3 Did we play so badly in the first half to warrant the half-time booing? (inexcusable in my book)
4 How was the overall performance over 90 minutes? (e.g. compared with previous games)
 

bugsdad

SC Supporter
Feb 15, 2006
460
198
I couldn't watch the match as I was away at the weekend. Anybody feel like commenting on these questions?
1 Was Bale really crap at LB? (I was looking forward to seeing how he'd do there.) yes
2 Was there no sign of a good potential link up between Bale and Dempsey on the left?no sign
3 Did we play so badly in the first half to warrant the half-time booing? (inexcusable in my book)bad but never enough to boo
4 How was the overall performance over 90 minutes? (e.g. compared with previous games)
Getting there last half we were the better team by far.
 

SydneySpur

Active Member
Dec 6, 2006
664
1,644
Just watched the game again and a few thoughts -

QPR will not stay at the bottom for long. Granero looks class and they have bought some decent players in Park, Nelson and Hoillet particurly. I thought they played really well and worked their bollocks off. Very cruel not to get a point at least.

Vertonghen was MOM for Spurs. What a quality player!! Looks better every time I see him now. Slotted in effortlessly at LB and played how I expected Bale to play in the first half. Could easily play in the midfield as well. Looks so debonair and princely

I thought Lennon had a pretty good game. His final decision can be frustrating at times but he worked hard to make things happen and was our most dangerous player.

Friedel keeps his spot for another week. Deservedly so, but i cringe everytime I see Lloris on the bench.

Thought everyone else was pretty average. Sandro got stuck in at times but him and Dembele gave the ball away a bit and did not control the midfield. Dempsey seems a bit rusty and Sigursson is totally lost out there. Hopefully they start to find their feet asap.

Defoe was pretty anonymous but thought he did brilliantly for the goal. Was a hard first touch, but he finished calmly when alot of other players would have snatched at that.

Caulker is a beast. Think we have a good one on our hands. Not sure he is first choice just yet, but he is not far off.

Tony Gale is a ****...that is all.
 

Spurs_Bear

Well-Known Member
Jan 7, 2009
17,094
22,286
I couldn't watch the match as I was away at the weekend. Anybody feel like commenting on these questions?
1 Was Bale really crap at LB? (I was looking forward to seeing how he'd do there.)
2 Was there no sign of a good potential link up between Bale and Dempsey on the left?
3 Did we play so badly in the first half to warrant the half-time booing? (inexcusable in my book)
4 How was the overall performance over 90 minutes? (e.g. compared with previous games)

1. Difficult to say whether he was crap, he certainly didn't get to utilise his attacking qualities.
2. Not really, which was disappointing, although as we couldn't hold onto the ball as players (notably Sandro as well as others) kept giving the ball away.
3. We were so very poor in the first half, worse than we've been for a long long time, usual reliable players were having nightmares, notably Sandro. Having said that I'm not a fan of the booing.
4. Pretty ropey, but sometimes you have to win ugly, and that was what we did.
 

jamesc0le

SISS:LOKO:plays/thinks/eats chicken like sissoko!
Jun 17, 2008
4,974
944
Bale should stay at left back, and told to work his arse off up and down the whole wing (with and without the ball) . this will come as a shock to him. but hopefully will remind him about the hard dirty work in football, which is what brought him this far.

and when we have options on the bench tell him straight up, we're gonna bring you off after 70 or so minutes so just rinse yourself out mate, don't pick and choose your moments, just leave it all out there on the pitch..

man up management!:sneaky:
 

davidmatzdorf

Front Page Gadfly
Jun 7, 2004
18,106
45,030
...QPR were piling crosses into the 6 yard box and brad was rooted to the line. QPR were winning most of the headers and Brad really should have been coming for these balls to help the defense out. We have conceded most of our goals from set-pieces this year and teams have bombarded us at times knowing that they can put the ball right into the 6 yard box and the keeper will not come. If Brad came and caught/punched a few out team would need to put their crosses out of that zone, making it harder for teams to score.

This is not an anti-brad rant from me, but something that i believe is hurting the team. Every time the ball was cossed close to the goal i was worried yesterday and i think this was a tactic from QPR knowing how brad likes to stay on his line..

I reckon that the reason why Friedel stays on his line is that he is 41 years old, has been keeping goal in the toughest leagues for a few decades and has worked out that he saves more goals by staying on his line and using his shot-stopping ability than he saves if he comes charging out for crosses that he might not collect.

All goalkeepers have differing skills. I think that Friedel, after all these years, has worked out that he is better at stopping the shots than he is at claiming the crosses.
 

southlondonyiddo

My eyes have seen some of the glory..
Nov 8, 2004
12,599
15,012
I reckon that the reason why Friedel stays on his line is that he is 41 years old, has been keeping goal in the toughest leagues for a few decades and has worked out that he saves more goals by staying on his line and using his shot-stopping ability than he saves if he comes charging out for crosses that he might not collect.

All goalkeepers have differing skills. I think that Friedel, after all these years, has worked out that he is better at stopping the shots than he is at claiming the crosses.


That's all well and good but as a top keeper you shouldn't do 1 or the other you should take every situation and scenario as it comes and stay or come as you see fit.
I think your right because of the age he is.
That actually makes the current situation as to which keeper to play even worse because one of the two keepers doesn't take risks due to his lack of pace and agility now!
 

davidmatzdorf

Front Page Gadfly
Jun 7, 2004
18,106
45,030
I couldn't watch the match as I was away at the weekend. Anybody feel like commenting on these questions?
1 Was Bale really crap at LB? (I was looking forward to seeing how he'd do there.)
2 Was there no sign of a good potential link up between Bale and Dempsey on the left?
3 Did we play so badly in the first half to warrant the half-time booing? (inexcusable in my book)
4 How was the overall performance over 90 minutes? (e.g. compared with previous games)

1. He defended competently. He never got a chance to attack from LB, mainly because Dempsey kept drifting inside and gave no protection, also because the midfielders couldn't retain the ball, so Bale was pinned in our half, having to defend.

2. No, for the reasons mentioned: Dempsey was infield, Bale was stuck in defence and we rarely had the ball after the first 15-20 minutes. They were miles apart and couldn't interact.

3. Booing isn't ever really merited, except when your own players are cheating, but we were dreadful, especially in midfield. The defence was OK, Vertonghen and Friedel were very good and Lennon played well when he got the ball.

4. A bit better than dreadful, but worse than against Norwich. A few press reports have included revisionist views of the second half based on the result, but in fact, we retained the ball no better than before half time and we mounted very few attacks until we equalised rather fortunately. Once QPR had to come forward to find a second goal, there were gaps and we created a succession of good, exciting, direct fast breaks, but we never really controlled the midfield at all.
 

davidmatzdorf

Front Page Gadfly
Jun 7, 2004
18,106
45,030
That's all well and good but as a top keeper you shouldn't do 1 or the other you should take every situation and scenario as it comes and stay or come as you see fit.
I think your right because of the age he is.
That actually makes the current situation as to which keeper to play even worse because one of the two keepers doesn't take risks due to his lack of pace and agility now!

He still looks pretty agile when he's flying through the air making saves. I just think he's adapted his game to what he's best at and not so good at. He came for and claimed several crosses yesterday, but they were crosses that were relatively close to the goal line. He doesn't like to barrel into the throng pursuing a cross that's 6-8m from the goal. Gomes does that and it used to cause us a lot of defensive headaches.

I also wonder whether Friedel's impressive durability is related to his disinclination to hurtle into traffic after high-risk crosses. A lot of goalkeepers' injuries happen that way.
 

Sanj

Well-Known Member
Jun 22, 2003
1,680
1,130
I reckon that the reason why Friedel stays on his line is that he is 41 years old, has been keeping goal in the toughest leagues for a few decades and has worked out that he saves more goals by staying on his line and using his shot-stopping ability than he saves if he comes charging out for crosses that he might not collect.

All goalkeepers have differing skills. I think that Friedel, after all these years, has worked out that he is better at stopping the shots than he is at claiming the crosses.
We're not talking about Gomes' style come to the edge of the box to claim a cross, i'm talking about claiming crosses in his 6 yard box. There's a huge difference in this.
To be honest, i prefer keepers who command their box but Brad is a decent keeper and if he could command the 6 yard box i think we'd be a much tougher team to beat.
 

Spurs_Bear

Well-Known Member
Jan 7, 2009
17,094
22,286
We're not talking about Gomes' style come to the edge of the box to claim a cross, i'm talking about claiming crosses in his 6 yard box. There's a huge difference in this.
To be honest, i prefer keepers who command their box but Brad is a decent keeper and if he could command the 6 yard box i think we'd be a much tougher team to beat.

I agree with the claiming crosses thing, but I am really struggling to think of any of these occasions that happened yesterday that you are claiming. I remember most of the headers from QPR being around the penalty spot, including the one where Friedel made his save early doors. I wouldn't expect a keeper to come and claim that far out.
 

southlondonyiddo

My eyes have seen some of the glory..
Nov 8, 2004
12,599
15,012
I agree with the claiming crosses thing, but I am really struggling to think of any of these occasions that happened yesterday that you are claiming. I remember most of the headers from QPR being around the penalty spot, including the one where Friedel made his save early doors. I wouldn't expect a keeper to come and claim that far out.

Friedel played well yesterday. Still doesn't mean Lloris shouldn't start though. For me it was a case of a game working out well for Brad where everything was cut and dry and there weren't those moments when he should have come to relieve pressure
 

Spurs_Bear

Well-Known Member
Jan 7, 2009
17,094
22,286
Friedel played well yesterday. Still doesn't mean Lloris shouldn't start though. For me it was a case of a game working out well for Brad where everything was cut and dry and there weren't those moments when he should have come to relieve pressure

You are preaching to the converted there mate...
 

Riandor

COB Founder
May 26, 2004
9,414
11,621
Lloris in my view could do with a few cup games against the likes of a "Stoke" to get to grips with the bloody dirty tactics and launched balls into box.

Not that i don't think he is the better keeper, but why have him pressured with that in a PL game whilst Brad is still doing well? That's before you take into consideration the respect factor in that you don't say to your squad "heyyy, i don't care how well you play, if I have a player worth more than you he plays instead!"

Lloris will be number 1 soon enough.
 
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