Decisions

[Paxtonite]

The game is about players. We all know that. I dont suppose Ferguson or Mourinho or Ancelloti are super geniuses but you have to have the quality players to make things happen. and that will make you look like a super tactician sometimes.In our team we have good players but we dont have great players in every position. The usual suspects will get slaughtered after each performance and i can be as guilty of that as any of you. However, its down to the players and the decisions that they make on the pitch a lot of the time that will win us games.

For example, Jenas breaking forward in the second half with a wide open Modric to his right and he decided to shoot instead; Bale breaking down the left near the end of the game and deciding not to cut back for the open Pav or Keane; Bale breaking forward in the dying seconds of injury time and not heading for the corner towards Pavlyuchenko and instead ran into their defenders and lost posession; Dawson deciding not to attack the long ball to Beckford before he gave away the penalty and compounding it by backing off the guy and allowing him into the area and then deciding to slide in when he didnt need to (three bad decisions in one move).

As good a game as Bale and Dawson had, its this type of decision making that stops them from reaping the rewards of their endeavours. And i also think that a lot of the despair that people show towards Jenas for example is precisely because of his decision making. That is ultimately what frustrates supporters and leads them to get on his back, because we see passes and touches that as a professional he should see too. Jenas stood and watched a prostrate Beckford scramble their first goal (in fact it seemed that our whole defence did that too). But as Jenas was the closest to the inital ball perhaps he should have decided to attack the ball with greater purpose.

For our players to be great, they have to make better game time decisions. Doesn't matter what Redknapp says or does, if they do the job to the best of their ability and make the right decisions then they will triumph more than they will fail and everyone on these boards will believe that Redknapp is a great tactician. He only looks like a poor tactician in my eyes when he relies on lumping the ball forward to crouch. There wasnt much of that today thankfully and we had a decent game of football on our hands.

As far as today goes i also think that Modric and Kranjcar had poor games. Jenas is too pedestrian in midfield. Rose looks like he needs to develop still and is similar to a very raw Lennon when he first burst on the scene. He got into some good positions today but then didn't really deliver. He has time. Pavlyuchenko showed in his movement and his touch that he can offer as much or probably more than Crouch does. His first touch is infinitely better than crouch's and he also brought others into the game as well as offered a threat on the ground in open play. Keane is not really a left midfielder but i saw something in him today that i haven't seen in a while and that is his desire to get forward. Hutton did ok too i think. Defoe should not be let anywhere near a penalty again. That is four in a row he has missed now. The last two have cost us 2 points at everton and passage into the next round of the cup today. Bassong started the season well but looked a bit shaky in the last few games too.

We got Foolham on Tuesday night. It has to get better quick and we need to get that winning feeling again very very soon as well as make better decisions on the ball.

 

[dontcallme]

Very good post. Decision making is crucial and however much possession you have it doesn't really count if you don't have that cutting edge. I was sititng in the pub and Defoe was through on goal and I said calm as day "he's not even going to trouble the keeper here".

We seemed to play with a lacklustre attitude when we were in the lead like it was already decided. In the final third we need to keep pushing for another goal whatever the scoreline but the decision making was poor and we didn't trouble them half as much as we could have.

 

[defoe18]

I like to see Pav given a game a Redknapp to play the best XI based on their positions, not who he thinks are the best players at the club

 

[BorisTM]

It's about managerial decisions as well. Harry still has the mentality of mid-table team where there are the first choice players and the reserves. Him playing favorites with certain players affects the team in a negative way and it clearly shows it with the lack of confidence in some of them or excessive cockiness in others.

 

[Damian99]

The game is about players. We all know that. I dont suppose Ferguson or Mourinho or Ancelloti are super geniuses but you have to have the quality players to make things happen. and that will make you look like a super tactician sometimes.In our team we have good players but we dont have great players in every position. The usual suspects will get slaughtered after each performance and i can be as guilty of that as any of you. However, its down to the players and the decisions that they make on the pitch a lot of the time that will win us games.

For example, Jenas breaking forward in the second half with a wide open Modric to his right and he decided to shoot instead; Bale breaking down the left near the end of the game and deciding not to cut back for the open Pav or Keane; Bale breaking forward in the dying seconds of injury time and not heading for the corner towards Pavlyuchenko and instead ran into their defenders and lost posession; Dawson deciding not to attack the long ball to Beckford before he gave away the penalty and compounding it by backing off the guy and allowing him into the area and then deciding to slide in when he didnt need to (three bad decisions in one move).

As good a game as Bale and Dawson had, its this type of decision making that stops them from reaping the rewards of their endeavours. And i also think that a lot of the despair that people show towards Jenas for example is precisely because of his decision making. That is ultimately what frustrates supporters and leads them to get on his back, because we see passes and touches that as a professional he should see too. Jenas stood and watched a prostrate Beckford scramble their first goal (in fact it seemed that our whole defence did that too). But as Jenas was the closest to the inital ball perhaps he should have decided to attack the ball with greater purpose.

For our players to be great, they have to make better game time decisions. Doesn't matter what Redknapp says or does, if they do the job to the best of their ability and make the right decisions then they will triumph more than they will fail and everyone on these boards will believe that Redknapp is a great tactician. He only looks like a poor tactician in my eyes when he relies on lumping the ball forward to crouch. There wasnt much of that today thankfully and we had a decent game of football on our hands.

As far as today goes i also think that Modric and Kranjcar had poor games. Jenas is too pedestrian in midfield. Rose looks like he needs to develop still and is similar to a very raw Lennon when he first burst on the scene. He got into some good positions today but then didn't really deliver. He has time. Pavlyuchenko showed in his movement and his touch that he can offer as much or probably more than Crouch does. His first touch is infinitely better than crouch's and he also brought others into the game as well as offered a threat on the ground in open play. Keane is not really a left midfielder but i saw something in him today that i haven't seen in a while and that is his desire to get forward. Hutton did ok too i think. Defoe should not be let anywhere near a penalty again. That is four in a row he has missed now. The last two have cost us 2 points at everton and passage into the next round of the cup today. Bassong started the season well but looked a bit shaky in the last few games too.

We got Foolham on Tuesday night. It has to get better quick and we need to get that winning feeling again very very soon as well as make better decisions on the ball.

Excellent post fella.

Im no professional football player or even close to it, but my decision making(and judgement) is by far better than alot of what i have watched(do watch) tonight.

In the position Bale gets into(although i wouldn't have the ability to got into it) Im cutting the ball back to an oncomming spurs player, for what should be an easy goal scoring chance.

Im also taking the ball into the corner(or laying out to pav who's out there) to run down the clock, its basic decision making though.

There are too many Tottenham players that cannot make the right choices at the right times, that do cost us badly throughout a season.

Added to the fact that some of them just are not good enough when the going gets tough.

It's all well and good strutting around like they did in the 9-1 defeat of Wigan, but those types of games happen once in a life time at best.

 

[Luka Lennon]

The game is about players. We all know that. I dont suppose Ferguson or Mourinho or Ancelloti are super geniuses but you have to have the quality players to make things happen. and that will make you look like a super tactician sometimes.In our team we have good players but we dont have great players in every position. The usual suspects will get slaughtered after each performance and i can be as guilty of that as any of you. However, its down to the players and the decisions that they make on the pitch a lot of the time that will win us games.

For example, Jenas breaking forward in the second half with a wide open Modric to his right and he decided to shoot instead; Bale breaking down the left near the end of the game and deciding not to cut back for the open Pav or Keane; Bale breaking forward in the dying seconds of injury time and not heading for the corner towards Pavlyuchenko and instead ran into their defenders and lost posession; Dawson deciding not to attack the long ball to Beckford before he gave away the penalty and compounding it by backing off the guy and allowing him into the area and then deciding to slide in when he didnt need to (three bad decisions in one move).

As good a game as Bale and Dawson had, its this type of decision making that stops them from reaping the rewards of their endeavours. And i also think that a lot of the despair that people show towards Jenas for example is precisely because of his decision making. That is ultimately what frustrates supporters and leads them to get on his back, because we see passes and touches that as a professional he should see too. Jenas stood and watched a prostrate Beckford scramble their first goal (in fact it seemed that our whole defence did that too). But as Jenas was the closest to the inital ball perhaps he should have decided to attack the ball with greater purpose.

For our players to be great, they have to make better game time decisions. Doesn't matter what Redknapp says or does, if they do the job to the best of their ability and make the right decisions then they will triumph more than they will fail and everyone on these boards will believe that Redknapp is a great tactician. He only looks like a poor tactician in my eyes when he relies on lumping the ball forward to crouch. There wasnt much of that today thankfully and we had a decent game of football on our hands.

As far as today goes i also think that Modric and Kranjcar had poor games. Jenas is too pedestrian in midfield. Rose looks like he needs to develop still and is similar to a very raw Lennon when he first burst on the scene. He got into some good positions today but then didn't really deliver. He has time. Pavlyuchenko showed in his movement and his touch that he can offer as much or probably more than Crouch does. His first touch is infinitely better than crouch's and he also brought others into the game as well as offered a threat on the ground in open play. Keane is not really a left midfielder but i saw something in him today that i haven't seen in a while and that is his desire to get forward. Hutton did ok too i think. Defoe should not be let anywhere near a penalty again. That is four in a row he has missed now. The last two have cost us 2 points at everton and passage into the next round of the cup today. Bassong started the season well but looked a bit shaky in the last few games too.

We got Foolham on Tuesday night. It has to get better quick and we need to get that winning feeling again very very soon as well as make better decisions on the ball.

great post I agree with all of that and the highlighted part about Dawson is part of the reason I made my Dodgy Daws thread

the guy is a commited all action player but lately his decision making has been dodgy and he is a big believer in the last gasp lunge. Last few games he's progressively getting worse and needs to get his act together sharpish especially if he's to be our captain and defensive leader

 

[Alfieconnman]

The game is about players. We all know that. I dont suppose Ferguson or Mourinho or Ancelloti are super geniuses but you have to have the quality players to make things happen. and that will make you look like a super tactician sometimes.In our team we have good players but we dont have great players in every position. The usual suspects will get slaughtered after each performance and i can be as guilty of that as any of you. However, its down to the players and the decisions that they make on the pitch a lot of the time that will win us games.

For example, Jenas breaking forward in the second half with a wide open Modric to his right and he decided to shoot instead; Bale breaking down the left near the end of the game and deciding not to cut back for the open Pav or Keane; Bale breaking forward in the dying seconds of injury time and not heading for the corner towards Pavlyuchenko and instead ran into their defenders and lost posession; Dawson deciding not to attack the long ball to Beckford before he gave away the penalty and compounding it by backing off the guy and allowing him into the area and then deciding to slide in when he didnt need to (three bad decisions in one move).

As good a game as Bale and Dawson had, its this type of decision making that stops them from reaping the rewards of their endeavours. And i also think that a lot of the despair that people show towards Jenas for example is precisely because of his decision making. That is ultimately what frustrates supporters and leads them to get on his back, because we see passes and touches that as a professional he should see too. Jenas stood and watched a prostrate Beckford scramble their first goal (in fact it seemed that our whole defence did that too). But as Jenas was the closest to the inital ball perhaps he should have decided to attack the ball with greater purpose.

For our players to be great, they have to make better game time decisions. Doesn't matter what Redknapp says or does, if they do the job to the best of their ability and make the right decisions then they will triumph more than they will fail and everyone on these boards will believe that Redknapp is a great tactician. He only looks like a poor tactician in my eyes when he relies on lumping the ball forward to crouch. There wasnt much of that today thankfully and we had a decent game of football on our hands.

As far as today goes i also think that Modric and Kranjcar had poor games. Jenas is too pedestrian in midfield. Rose looks like he needs to develop still and is similar to a very raw Lennon when he first burst on the scene. He got into some good positions today but then didn't really deliver. He has time. Pavlyuchenko showed in his movement and his touch that he can offer as much or probably more than Crouch does. His first touch is infinitely better than crouch's and he also brought others into the game as well as offered a threat on the ground in open play. Keane is not really a left midfielder but i saw something in him today that i haven't seen in a while and that is his desire to get forward. Hutton did ok too i think. Defoe should not be let anywhere near a penalty again. That is four in a row he has missed now. The last two have cost us 2 points at everton and passage into the next round of the cup today. Bassong started the season well but looked a bit shaky in the last few games too.

We got Foolham on Tuesday night. It has to get better quick and we need to get that winning feeling again very very soon as well as make better decisions on the ball.

A very well presented post - have some rep :clap: - I agree with most of your comments but would add that, despite what you say, it is up to the manager to make the most of his available resources and it is on this point that there are a few question marks. For the game today I feel it was both foolish and indefensible not to include a defensive midfielder in the starting lineup. We had our fair share of bad luck in front of goal but, notwithstanding, it was our weakness in defensive midfield that in my view cost us the match. Why Jenas was played in preference to Wilson is quite beyond my comprehension.

 

[Krafty]

I think we are experiencing some bad form, which doesnt help decision making at all. I've already ranted at Jenas who epitomises bad decision making, and I do think we really need a midfield lynchpin who everyone else can react off, positionally, that would improve us defensively.

Some will come with experience, and everyone has bad days at the office. We still lack a ruthlessness, we still lack a cynical side, as well as some mad moments. Some players will be able to improve, others are probably too set in their ways. But at least we didnt lose!