Didier Zokora tonight

[AnotherSpursFan]

I called Didier Zokora shit, but last night for 90 minutes, he wasn't shit. Last night was the first time i've seen Zok put his body in harm's way with some hard tackles.

However until he shows me that he can do that consistently, he will remain as sh*t

 

[Class1987]

I have to disagree with you on that. That howler which Robinson made was during the worst possible timing in the match done in the worst possible fashion. We were dominating the game at that point, creating numerous chances, pushing Villa back with them not having a sniff of our goal at all. With one innocuous corner, he turn it all around. Villa started believing they can get something out of the game because we were defending like shit with a shaky keeper behind and you can see the droop of shoulders in almost all our players with Thudd and Berbs being most noticeable.

It wasn't just the about Robbo making a mistake SS57. It was the timing of the mistake and the manner in which the mistake was made which dealt a heavy blow to the players who are mostly young and not strong mentally. It curtailed our momentum and let Villa back in the game. Seriously, if you can't see the effect that mistake had on our players and the match then you surely were not watching it at all.

:clap::clap::clap:

 

[Stavrogin]

I was abroad and couldn't see all the match. But it looked like typical Zokora.

Some great tackling and covering, quick thinking link-play, nice thoughtful passes but all the usual errors... Slack passes, being forced upfield ahead of Huddles and being unable to get back properly for the subsequent passage of play. Tantalisingly close to a good player.

 

[StockSpur]

the defensive problem is not just organizational. Dawson is straight up shit. There, I said it. He's amazing at throwing his head at the ball but that's about all he is good at. He has NO FUCKING BRAIN. Case in point: towards the end when he let the ball run out for a throw-in when there was no other Spurs player near that he could take it quickly to. That, for me, made me realize how thick he is as a footballer. He is not aware enough of his surroundings.

hallelujah!

Ive been waiting a long time for someone to say this!

 

[StockSpur]

And afaic, we are terbbile at defending set piece plays, chimbonda doesnt concentrate for 90 minutes, maybe only for 15 minutes per game. Dawson makes bad decisions .

Robinson istn controlling his area. And did anyone find it worrying that he built a wall and left a huge gap through the middle of the 18yard area for the free kick?

And then stood on the same side as the wall...

 

[michaelden]

Successful Passing Stats
Player Percent

Lennon 89

Zokora 88

Keane 85

Chimbonda 79
Tainio 79


SO WHO GAVE THE BALL AWAY TOO MUCH?


You Zoko-haters are blinded to the faults of others!

 

[muffwah]

He was shocking, passing was terrible.

I am guessing you would criticise him whatever and you love Huddlestone. Hudd was shite tonight, he is completely immobile and his fabled passing is a myth. He is also too thick to realise floating high straight balls into the box with Bent and Defoe up front is a bad idea.

 

[michaelden]

The Hudd 75 percent

 

[michaelden]

Telegraph Stats

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2007/10/02/sfgtot102.xml

 

[Real_madyidd]

Successful Passing Stats
Player Percent

Lennon 89

Zokora 88

Keane 85

Chimbonda 79
Tainio 79


SO WHO GAVE THE BALL AWAY TOO MUCH?


You Zoko-haters are blinded to the faults of others!

These stats don't tell the story. Zokora completed loads of 5 yard passes. But then he would try the "Hollywood" ball when he had simple options open. The "passes" that others didn't complete were mainly crosses or "final" balls that need to be played to get goals. The FACT is that Zokora makes poor pass selection to often.

 

[michaelden]

These stats don't tell the story. Zokora completed loads of 5 yard passes. But then he would try the "Hollywood" ball when he had simple options open.

The "passes" that others didn't complete were mainly crosses or "final" balls that need to be played to get goals. The FACT is that Zokora makes poor pass selection to often.

please define then compare those two phrases as they seem to be different but also mean the same.

 

[SpurSince57]

I have to disagree with you on that. That howler which Robinson made was during the worst possible timing in the match done in the worst possible fashion. We were dominating the game at that point, creating numerous chances, pushing Villa back with them not having a sniff of our goal at all. With one innocuous corner, he turn it all around. Villa started believing they can get something out of the game because we were defending like shit with a shaky keeper behind and you can see the droop of shoulders in almost all our players with Thudd and Berbs being most noticeable.

It wasn't just the about Robbo making a mistake SS57. It was the timing of the mistake and the manner in which the mistake was made which dealt a heavy blow to the players who are mostly young and not strong mentally. It curtailed our momentum and let Villa back in the game. Seriously, if you can't see the effect that mistake had on our players and the match then you surely were not watching it at all.

The timing was awful, sure, and I'm not trying to exonerate Robbo from blame by any means. I just disagree with the statement that he, single-handedly, lost us the game, because there's a pretty obvious problem with fact there. 'Almost lost us the game' would have been more like it.

We were defending like shit before the goal went in. You didn't notice Robinson had to pull off a pretty good save a few minutes earlier, that he shouldn't have had to? Young was skinning Chimbo on a regular basis. If anything it was the second goal that was almost the killer, because we were back in charge before that went in—81% possession to us flashed up on the screen, which I couldn't quite believe. The defending was collectively awful, and, sorry, I don't buy the 'Robbo unsettles the defence' argument, because you can just as easily turn it round the other way. The 'inexperience' excuse for Dawson is beginning to wear a little thin now, too. Kaboul seems to think he's an AM, if not a striker.

And Gibbsy can crow all he likes, because his claim that we have no coaches who can organise the defence falls down on one simple basic fact. In Jol's first two seasons our defensive record was about as good as it has ever got for Spurs. Is the suggestion that we suddenly forgot how to do it last summer?

Something's gone badly wrong and I don't really understand why, except that blaming it all on one player, or on the coaching or the formation, is oversimplifying things.

Back on topic, Zokora had his best game for ages, probably since we played Bolton at the Lane, and I don't think you can seriously fault his contribution. More, please. But playing him and the Hudd does give us one problem. They both sit deep and, whilst they weren't getting in one another's way as they have at times in the past, neither one is going to be getting up with the strikers very much.

 

[nidge]

Successful Passing Stats
Player Percent

Lennon 89

Zokora 88

Keane 85

Chimbonda 79
Tainio 79


SO WHO GAVE THE BALL AWAY TOO MUCH?


You Zoko-haters are blinded to the faults of others!

I thought Zoko did well yesterday, generally kept it simple and try anything to difficult. My only problem is I am not sure that is enough in a central midfield 2. I would say however that huddlestone definatly wasn't at his best but at least he put in a decent corner from which berby score :grin:

 

[Bill_Oddie]

Zokora is always good when we are pressing forward as he sits deep and uses his space to tidy up. But in general he was poor tongiht, as was Huddlestone. The Hudd cannot play with Zokora. Hudd was poor other than the goal against Boro.

When we press forward everything Zokora does is noticeable as it is in space. If he makes a tackle, or plays a pass, he's the only Spurs player around. Until we were 4-1 down I suspect anyone who thought he was good tonight, thought he was having a stinker. I'm assure you that there is no way he made more tackles or won the ball more than the Hudd, but he simply did it in a more noticeable way and in a shorter space of time (ie towards the end, when we were chasing the game and he was covering from deep). Tomorrow they will publish match stats (The Times website is excellent and will have details of tackles, balls won, passes etc), and Zokora will not have got through anymore than the Hudd. If I'm wrong I'll hold my hands up and prasie Zokora, but I won't be.

Successful Passing Stats
Player Percent

Lennon 89

Zokora 88

Keane 85

Chimbonda 79
Tainio 79


SO WHO GAVE THE BALL AWAY TOO MUCH?


You Zoko-haters are blinded to the faults of others!

The Hudd 75 percent

joey? Your thoughts?

You know I like your posts and agree with you on lots of stuff, but surely today you can see you ran your mouth a little too quickly last night? And, yes we're still waiting for the tackling stats, which will be more interesting still. Possibly not in the way you want though.

 

[nidge]

joey? Your thoughts?

You know I like your posts and agree with you on lots of stuff, but surely today you can see you ran your mouth a little too quickly last night? And, yes we're still waiting for the tackling stats, which will be more interesting still. Possibly not in the way you want though.

Tackling stats were four each Bill. Also Huddlestone made 4 key passes to Zokora's 1 (whatever key passes mean :shrug

 

[liberty]

Bollocks our midfield was pretty fucking poor last night - I thought Zokora was terrible up until about the 75th minute mark. Even then he made some shit passes but his stamina was there (maybe because he did fuck all else before the 75th minute???).

 

[SpurSince57]

joey? Your thoughts?

You know I like your posts and agree with you on lots of stuff, but surely today you can see you ran your mouth a little too quickly last night? And, yes we're still waiting for the tackling stats, which will be more interesting still. Possibly not in the way you want though.

Wait no longer!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2007/10/02/sfgtot102.xml

Both appear to have put in four good tackles, which is rather fewer than I thought. Last night's top tackler was Kaboul, with six. Somewhat alarmingly, Chimbonda managed just the one, the same as Keane, whilst Tainio and Bale put in none at all. :shrug:

 

[liberty]

That's bullshit. Says Bale "Balls won 0" dispite him winning countless headers etc. Wankers.

 

[Daredevil]

Personally, Zokora has not turned out to be the player I was hoping for when he signed - though he could be a great player in another role.

When he signed we were desperate for a straight Carrick replacement. A settled holding midfielder able to distribute the ball to the forward lines efficiently and accurately. This is not what we got. However, inept and woeful some of Zokora's attacking play normally is, tonight he showed that if the defensive midfield side of his game was focused on in training, we could have our own Makele.

His shooting is shocking, his long range passing isn't much better and his vision is poor, but his athleticism and willingness to fight for the ball and break up opposition attacks (albeit with a foul or two) and by far his greatest strengths.

When Hudd has a more experienced head on his shoulders, I think there will be room for the two of them to play together with TH the more attacking of the two. In the meantime Jenas could be the perfect foil for him.

Zokora is not the player I think most of us wanted, but we could have ended up with something special all the same.

 

[llamafarmer]

Zokora was class last night, kept it simple most of the time, usual incredible energy and tackled back superbly. I remember one especially when Bale lost possession on about half way and Zoko powered back to cover.