Cardiff Vs Tottenham: Match Thread

[$hoguN]

So in other words, well done Clattenburg for making errors that benefit us?

I thought the disallowed goal was correct, but my first thought when Lloris made the earlier clearance was that it was outside the box, and subsequent replays only seem to confirm this. If I were a Cardiff fan I'd be furious with the officials for making such a big error of judgement.


I don't think a balanced view can praise Clattenburg for his performance yesterday. It's just that for once we were the ones benefitting.

Clattenburg got one big decision wrong yesterday. However, the incident wasn't cut and dry like you are stating, it was shades of grey. Firstly, it happened very quickly and Clattenburg couldn't be in a good position to see, secondly unless watched in slow motion it is very difficult to tell if Lloris stops touching the ball on the line or just outside. He has to be sure to send someone off so early, as if he had got it wrong he would have been crucified. Listen to their manager, he wasn't even sure, he said the bigger deal was Campbell not finishing it. That tells you how close the call was.

Just to add to this, I think it was handball too. However I wouldn't have complained if Marshal had done the same and not been sent off due to how close a call it was.

 

[thinktank]

You're kidding right? We strangled the game, but were so open at the back, anyone better than Craig Bellamy or Frazier Campbell would be punishing us heavily for those ridiculous mistakes we made. 29 shots and only 1 goal? Very happy to win but my god this needs to be more emphatic, and I think we were lucky tbh.

Cue backlash on unpopular opinion...

I agree that our performance at the back was shaky and we were very vulnerable at times for the usual reasons/lapses - by the usual people - but their keeper did a Jaaskelainen on us and we deserved to win the game on sheer attacking dominance alone.

 

[Spurger King]

Clattenburg got one big decision wrong yesterday. However, the incident wasn't cut and dry like you are stating, it was shades of grey. Firstly, it happened very quickly and Clattenburg couldn't be in a good position to see, secondly unless watched in slow motion it is very difficult to tell if Lloris stops touching the ball on the line or just outside. He has to be sure to send someone off so early, as if he had got it wrong he would have been crucified. Listen to their manager, he wasn't even sure, he said the bigger deal was Campbell not finishing it. That tells you how close the call was.

Just to add to this, I think it was handball too. However I wouldn't have complained if Marshal had done the same and not been sent off due to how close a call it was.

It looked like handball straight away to me, though I agree that it wasn't cut and dry. I just don't think I would have given Lloris the benefit of the doubt (though admittedly I don't know what view Clattenburg had).

He got a massive, game-changing decision wrong ultimately. For that reason I struggle to see how he had a good game. It's like. Congratulating the captain of the Titanic for a smooth and pleasant journey, y'know...apart from the whole iceberg/sinking incident.

 

[Gassin's finest]

Well it is not a backlash for an unpopular opinion, it will be a backlash for being totally wrong. Yesterday Marshall had the game of his life, he made 5 or 6 wonder saves. Honestly two of the saves from Soldado were Worldies as he had zero time to react but managed to get solid touches on them. We weren't lucky yesterday. We didn't rely on a moment of individual brilliance. Instead we stuck to our task and ground out a goal, which to me is as pleasing as any wonder strike as it shows that we are made of sterner stuff.

In terms of better teams scoring those opportunities against us? I'm not so sure. Against City we wouldn't be so cavalier with going for it, so it just doesn't compare. As a whole the performance was very pleasing yesterday. The team looks to be gelling, Holtby and Eriksen are pulling the strings. Soldado's movement is on another level to anything we have had since Jurgen and we look dominant.

Really? Contestable that Lloris didn't handle outside the box, and only brought about by terribly lax play in the opening minutes, a dissallowed goal that came from a senior moment from Lloris... thought we got the rub of the green somewhat there.

Thing is, we have played like that against a better team, and we have been punished. Which highlights two things: getting rid of those mistakes and being less wasteful in defence, and being more direct and clinical in scoring. The goals we do score come when we get our heads down and get into the box. Your point about the unspectacular being more favourable than indivdually brilliant moments is extraordinarily valid. For all our dominance I'd like to see less specultive efforts, and more good passing and intelligent movement such as the goals we scored against Norwich and our last gasp goal yesterday. Again, 29 shots and one goal.

I'm not at all blind to our effectiveness, and our great start to the season. And I'm not a fan who will not be happy if our performances are anything less than competely perfect, and we haven't won by 3 or 4 to nil. All I'm saying is that we have only been tested once this season, and we were found out. There are concerns there, and I think the balance is not quite there yet. And I hate to be a bubble burster, as it's easy to get excited when we're doing so well. But there are teams in this league who are capable of taking full advantage of those concerns, and I'd like to see us work on them while we can before it's too late.

Oscar, Hazard, Eto'o et al up next in the league, and a manager who pretty much taught ours how to build a team around the midfield and choke the life from a game.

 

[dagraham]

Right lads, Soldado is coming out of my fantasy football team. Watch him start scoring for fun now.

A schooolboy error $hoguN. Never, ever rely on Spurs to a)win money or b) win points in fantasy football.

 

[danielneeds]

So in other words, well done Clattenburg for making errors that benefit us?

I thought the disallowed goal was correct, but my first thought when Lloris made the earlier clearance was that it was outside the box, and subsequent replays only seem to confirm this. If I were a Cardiff fan I'd be furious with the officials for making such a big error of judgement.


I don't think a balanced view can praise Clattenburg for his performance yesterday. It's just that for once we were the ones benefitting.

In real time there was no way of being 100% sure it was outside of the box though. His fingertips were outside that's all. If the referee cannot be sure, he made the right call. Cardiff fans should be pissed at Campbell for not doing what any decent striker should and finish off a bread and butter chance, rather than direct their ire at Clattenburg.

 

[Cavehillspur]

Anyone see the extended highlights on Skys match choice last night? At the end of the game the cameras cut scene to the Spurs fans celebrating, throwing an inflatable sheep about

 

[mk_spur]

avb out

well done sebcole for not seeing the sarcasm and rating my post disagree. bravo brains lol

 

[dagraham]

well done sebcole for not seeing the sarcasm and rating my post disagree. bravo brains lol

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly some reach for the disagree/neg buttons without thinking. I think SC needs to develop a sarcasm font lol.

 

[Grapo2001]

@OptaJoe: 6% - Second-place Tottenham have the lowest conversion rate of shots into goals in the Premier League this season. Squeak.

 

[CowInAComa]

@OptaJoe: 6% - Second-place Tottenham have the lowest conversion rate of shots into goals in the Premier League this season. Squeak.

and yet we are second and have won 4 of 5.

imagine when we click...

 

[faymantaray]

From Super Jan's instagram: Sorry if already posted..


Get in there!!!!! @paulinhop8 @harrykane #German

 

[faymantaray]

 

[easley91]

A schooolboy error $hoguN. Never, ever rely on Spurs to a)win money or b) win points in fantasy football.

I have Paulinho in mine.

 

[Gaz_Gammon]

There's no point asking that of those still pining for their saint from Sandbanks.

One Swallow does not maketh a Summer. Been their, wear the hat and got the T-shirt. Let's just wait until May before really assessing what AVB has achieved with a 100 million player investment shall we?

 

[Gaz_Gammon]

I'm completely mystified by the multitude who keep insisting that we were 'lucky' to win today. It's just a bizarre, backwards notion of chance, luck, fortune or whatever you want to call it. Cardiff were hanging on through two or three continuous 10-15 minutes spells of Spurs pressure. I think they had one shot on target. We had about 25 shots and a lot of them were very good - they just got saved by a good goalkeeper having a great day. And we benefited from one of those refereeing decisions that are about acuity of vision and instant judgment, not about 'luck'. If we must discuss 'luck', then we were incredibly 'unlucky' not to be about 4-1 up by the 70th minute, which was when Cardiff started clawing their way back in the match.

They key point here is that this is what we just paid all that money for: players who have that extra focus and determination to break Cardiff's collective heart in the 93rd minute. Bale has it. Apparently, Paulinho, Lamela and Holtby also have it. Based on his previous 3 matches (because he was pretty anonymous today), Eriksen has it.

It's why players like Bale and Ronaldo and Drogba and Van Persie (and Scholes and Giggs and Gerrard) are worth so much: because they figure out how to get it done before the whistle goes, somehow. They find a way to win.

Cardiff ran their legs off, closed down like maniacs, tackled and organised and packed the box. Despite all that, they still had about 40% of the ball, made scarcely any chances, except those that we created for them through atypically slipshod defending, got the ball on target once and were so knackered by the 80th minute that we managed to get control of the game back, as soon as we stopped panicking and slashing the ball in all directions and resumed passing it calmly. Introducing a skilful dribbler (Lamela) and a high-energy attacking midfielder (Holtby) when Cardiff were on their next to last breath worked because they just couldn't keep holding out any longer and we had players on our bench who are every bit as good as the ones who had just spent 90 minutes playing rings around the opposition.

'Lucky?' We totally dominated the game. Even taking into account our dodgy/crazed moments, the accurate score for that game was about 6-2.

Totally agree David.

Two points of note that throughout the season so far is our ability to press the game from all areas of the pitch. Yesterday Cardiff were given little opportunity to settle on the ball (wherever they had it) and often resulted to the long ball game, that nine times out of ten gave us the ball straight back.

Secondly we used the ball better, were more creative (that's what 100 million buys you) and would have been home and hosed by half time had it not been for a supreme Pat Jennings performance from their keeper Marshall. I have watched the game live and on playback through NBC LiveExtra and can honestly say that i cannot remember the last time i saw a goalkeeping performance like that shown yesterday in any game.

Our patience and build-up was often clinical and should have given the whole team the confidence to understand that we can win playing this way and that nine time out of ten though we will come up against teams that park the bus (at home!) we certainly will not play against a keeper so possessed as we did on Sunday. Take away Naughton's horror back pass and what clear cut chances did a side that beat the side that demolished Man Ure yesterday really create in the whole ninety minutes?

Credit to AVB and his coaching staff for playing in a manner that pretty much dominated Cardiff after their initial ten minute bluster, because after that they had little to offer that in my opinion was down to the way we set about them. A hard skillful pressing game that we will in my opinion become synonymous with.

 

[Sweetsman]

One Swallow does not maketh a Summer. Been their, wear the hat and got the T-shirt. Let's just wait until May before really assessing what AVB has achieved with a 100 million player investment shall we?

No, it doesn't: AVB won a club record of points. The points accumulated, apart from the start of the season, were pretty stabled per month. The reason we lost out by one point was that many of the teams playing Arsenal had little to play for, most crucially Man Utd. It turns out we would have lost Bale even if we had got into the CL. Redknapp had Modric, VdV and Bale; AVB had only Bale. You can keep on suggesting otherwise, but you'll lose.

 

[Gaz_Gammon]

No, it doesn't: AVB won a club record of points. The points accumulated, apart from the start of the season, were pretty stabled per month. The reason we lost out by one point was that many of the teams playing Arsenal had little to play for, most crucially Man Utd. It turns out we would have lost Bale even if we had got into the CL. Redknapp had Modric, VdV and Bale; AVB had only Bale. You can keep on suggesting otherwise, but you'll lose.

I hope i do, i really do. Thought the same under Hoddle, Pleat, Jol, and Redknapp. I will wait until May if that's o.k. with you but thank's for your foresight.

Second guessing what teams will and won't have to play for is all well and good, and i admire your enthusiasm for doing so. I would expect an investment of 100 million to show some improvement in the pitch, wouldn't you? That sort of investment just wasn't their for Redknapp (or any other Spurs manager) but hey, you knew that anyway didn't you?

 

[mattstev2000]

I hope i do, i really do. Thought the same under Hoddle, Pleat, Jol, and Redknapp. I will wait until May if that's o.k. with you but thank's for your foresight.

Second guessing what teams will and won't have to play for is all well and good, and i admire your enthusiasm for doing so. I would expect an investment of 100 million to show some improvement in the pitch, wouldn't you? That sort of investment just wasn't their for Redknapp (or any other Spurs manager) but hey, you knew that anyway didn't you?

Why do people keep wheeling this out as a stick to beat AVB with? It's not like Levy found a spare £100 million lying around and gave it to AVB to do with what he wanted. We lost a world class player for a hefty sum and a number of other first team and squad filling players. We've reinvested that money in the team to replace the players we lost - reinvested it cleverly as well I would say.

But to pretend that AVB just got given £100million to buy a team is daft.

I think we've got one of our best ever squads at the moment, I'm still not sure our first 11 is quite as good as the one HR was lucky enough to have when the King, Modric, VDV spine was playing but the squads definitely better. Hopefully that means a good finish for us but I won't be sitting waiting to get on AVBs back even if it doesn't pan out that way.

Personally I think he's one of the best managers we've had in my time supporting Spurs and even better than that he's young enough and willing enough to learn new things and get even better.

Personally I hope he's around for a long time.

 

[Gassin's finest]

Jan looks a little... uncomfortable in this pic:

Almost like "...wait a minute... what's that I feel back there...?"