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Crystal Palace vs Tottenham Hotspur - Match Thread

zoneD

Active Member
Aug 9, 2014
632
173
...absolute criminal finishing...luckily Kane-dado finally came through at the end...
...if we had taken our chances and been given the 2 pens that were deserved, we would've scored 6...

COYS
 

danielneeds

Kick-Ass
May 5, 2004
24,179
48,764
As usual, the comments are 95% about how Spurs played badly. We didn't. We had 75%+ of the ball and Palace only had one real chance (Aurier semi-redeeming himself for his treble-brain-fart at the throw-ins).

It wasn't about us. Palace defended brilliantly. We've had the same experience at least 30 times now over the past 3 seasons and still people here do not learn from it. It is extremely difficult for a good, creative, attacking team to score when a well-drilled opposition declines to attack, sits deep and packs the box. It doesn't matter if you whip in crosses, it doesn't matter if you put on pace, it doesn't matter if you try tricks and flicks and it scarcely matters if you shoot from distance. It is still extremely difficult to score if the opposition are organised and committed and defend in force. Palace also had a fair amount of good fortune with the run of the ball and we missed a few sitters - we always do.

Palace's midfield trio - all of them - spent the entire game in a line directly in front of their back four. That's why they couldn't get the ball to Benteke, despite playing two big, strong, quick attackers to link with each other - they scarcely tried, because their midfield was too far away from them. Hodgson is a vastly-experienced manager who knows how to coach team shape and that's exactly what he's done. But it didn't work, because we're too good and too relentless.

This is the kind of spectacle you get in the modern game when a team digs in to play for a point, especially when they're at home. They make the opposition look blunt and the game look turgid. But it isn't about the opposition [us] playing badly. It's about the defensive team playing well.

And it didn't work. We won. Because we're that good and we have the most mentally-tough striker I can recall seeing play for anyone.
Nope not having that. I agree that too often we focus on our performance and not the opposition's, but this was an odds and sods Palace side, that wouldn't get out of the Championship. If we played with the correct tempo and application early on, we should have eviscerated them,
 

Wsussexspur

Well-Known Member
Oct 2, 2007
8,918
10,176
Not the best performance but three points is all that matters! Aurier’s performance is a concern just seems to be getting worse. Dier had a really good game in central defence and thought Wanyama got better as the game went on. Son made big difference when he came on.
 

WiganSpur

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
15,974
32,682
Again we are FC Barcelona when it comes to creating chances but then FC Banterlona in front of goal.

Some lessons need to be learned from this or it will cost us down the line.
 

spursfan77

Well-Known Member
Aug 13, 2005
46,680
104,956
A quick word of appreciation, if I may, for James Tomkins and Damien Delaney.

August 2016:

Delaney plays incredibly well. Keeps it to 0-0 with 10 minutes to go. Gets injured. Replaced by Tomkins who fucks up his positioning at a corner. Spurs win 1-0.

February 2018:

Tomkins plays incredibly well. Keeps it to 0-0 with 10 minutes to go. Gets injured. Replaced by Delaney who fucks up his positioning at a corner. Spurs win 1-0.

Much appreciated, lads. Keep it up. (y)

You had to wait a long time to post that stat!
 

Coyboy

The Double of 1961 is still The Double
Dec 3, 2004
15,506
5,032
The game is also about us. It takes two to tango. It's about what you do with the possession that counts and I would argue that at times we didn't do as much with it as, say Man City - since those are the levels we should be aiming for. I hope that many (95%?) of comments would still be about performance even if we had won 4-0 or 5-0 which is a realistic scoreline given the chances. The number of players not performing (not just a few) and thus the overall performance was concerning. Whilst acknowledging Palace's and our efforts, there is no harm in people on here focusing on targets. That's how we will get better.

I wouldn’t agree with the Man City comparison firstly because there were 3-4 games this winter where they were similarly blunt (Southampton, Huddersfield, West Ham off the top of my head) and scored late. It’s interesting to note how City did at SP, and should have lost. Secondly, they’re City. A team with virtually no budget and the world’s best coach. So even if subjectively we were poorer than City in these sort of games (which I would dispute), if we’re getting the same results that’s not too bad is it?

Also, the hackneyed cliché that because a team has tonnes of chances and therefore should have been 4-0 up is misguided. If we score, the game changes. Palace push for a goal, we commit more defenders and there may/may not be more goals. Yes, we could exploit space and extend our league or we could concede.
 

CowInAComa

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
7,293
18,237
Again we are FC Barcelona when it comes to creating chances but then FC Banterlona in front of goal.

Some lessons need to be learned from this or it will cost us down the line.

Some day we will get beaten by a team, and maybe a team outside the top 6, if we dont play excellent every single game without fail. Mark my words.
 

Lilbaz

Just call me Baz
Apr 1, 2005
41,363
74,893
Again we are FC Barcelona when it comes to creating chances but then FC Banterlona in front of goal.

Some lessons need to be learned from this or it will cost us down the line.

You are correct but i don't know how they learn from this to finish their chances? It's not like it's lack of effort.
 

Johnny J

Not the Kiwi you need but the one you deserve
Aug 18, 2012
18,124
47,897
As usual, the comments are 95% about how Spurs played badly. We didn't. We had 75%+ of the ball and Palace only had one real chance (Aurier semi-redeeming himself for his treble-brain-fart at the throw-ins).

It wasn't about us. Palace defended brilliantly. We've had the same experience at least 30 times now over the past 3 seasons and still people here do not learn from it. It is extremely difficult for a good, creative, attacking team to score when a well-drilled opposition declines to attack, sits deep and packs the box. It doesn't matter if you whip in crosses, it doesn't matter if you put on pace, it doesn't matter if you try tricks and flicks and it scarcely matters if you shoot from distance. It is still extremely difficult to score if the opposition are organised and committed and defend in force. Palace also had a fair amount of good fortune with the run of the ball and we missed a few sitters - we always do.

Palace's midfield trio - all of them - spent the entire game in a line directly in front of their back four. That's why they couldn't get the ball to Benteke, despite playing two big, strong, quick attackers to link with each other - they scarcely tried, because their midfield was too far away from them. Hodgson is a vastly-experienced manager who knows how to coach team shape and that's exactly what he's done. But it didn't work, because we're too good and too relentless.

This is the kind of spectacle you get in the modern game when a team digs in to play for a point, especially when they're at home. They make the opposition look blunt and the game look turgid. But it isn't about the opposition [us] playing badly. It's about the defensive team playing well.

And it didn't work. We won. Because we're that good and we have the most mentally-tough striker I can recall seeing play for anyone.
I agree with this 100%, except that superfluous hyphen in "vastly-experienced". You momentarily let your standards slip there, DM.
 

piedpiper

Well-Known Member
Aug 14, 2008
3,758
6,763
I agree, but the problem is a catch 22. Don't play him and he doesn't acclimatise and realise our investment. Do play him and maybe a more reliable player is kept out of the side. A tough one for Poch and I think he's gone about it the right way so far by giving him a decent amount of minutes but not playing him all the time.

Very valid points. I didnt think his performance could be as bad as it was today. Poch must play him on Wednesday to get thus performqnce out of him. Lets hope a good preseason will help.
 

worcestersauce

"I'm no optimist I'm just a prisoner of hope
Jan 23, 2006
26,891
45,041
There is a tendency to praise other top sides in games like this being able to grind out the win even when they are not playing well but very rarely do I see people give the same credit to our team, and that includes from our own fans.
Like it or not this was a Roy Hodgson side and so defensively well drilled without their main attacking force and so disinclined to come out even more than usual.
Good win away in a London derby with huge pressure on them with regards what was riding on the result.
 

Mighty Spurs

Well-Known Member
Oct 13, 2008
583
466
Further proof that agsainjst much weaker teams we tend to struggle. We have no clue how to penetrate such teams that tend to park the bus. At least ,we managed we managed to win the game, however, most of our players seemed not to be interested. with the exception of Lamela.
 

markiespurs

SC Supporter
Jul 9, 2008
11,899
15,576
Not sure what Lamela has done to justify his starting place instead of Son.

Son had been below par the last couple of games and looked tired last week against Rochdale, so can have little complaint about being dropped to the bench for this game.
 
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SirNiNyHotspur

23 Years of Property, Concerts, Karts & Losing
Apr 27, 2004
3,125
6,743
Don’t think it was anything tactically today that nearly cost us, don’t think Palace defended well either, we could have won comfortably but this was simply down to the likes of Kane and Eriksen having really off days, we had enough good positions/chances to have won 3 or 4 nil and that’s not even including the 46 penalties the ref refused to give us...
 

Phantom

Well-Known Member
Jun 6, 2005
5,856
3,212
Not a single mention of the penalty we should have had in the BBC report just coverage of Alli again.
 
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