Ekotto @ right back....

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

 

[Jimmypearce7]

I didn't think it was a bad decision before kick off- BAE has played there before and done ok. The two challenges for the penalties were bad judgements by the players concerned- that is 6 conceded in our last 3 away games- but i don't think we can blame Harry for that. If any judgement now looks poor it is letting Hutton go on loan- he would have been very useful.

 

[worcestersauce]

I thought the gameplan Harry set out was the right one. He used Bale at left back to counter the pace of Valencia down that side. We kept it tight in the first half, Gomes didn't have much to do all game long. It was a stupid penalty given away about an hour in, and we went 1-0 down. But the response was good. Harry made the right changes, and we started to threaten. We started to make chances, we got the equaliser and looked good for it. Everything was going to plan.

Where was Ekotto for the Nani goal though? He was at left back for that goal, yet it was Bale who was blamed for letting the runner go. Ekotto was nowhere to be seen though. Like I said, it was a shit performance from Ekotto both at right back and when he went to left back. Then another poor penalty given away by Palacios and it was game over.

Everthing was set up well by Harry, Gomes didn't have much to do aside from save 2 penalties and a 1 on 1 with Nani, he was kept relatively quiete (especially as it was at Old Trafford). We kept it even for an hour, then started to come out and attack more, and we looked good for it at 1-1. Individual errors cost us the game though, simple as.

You suggest we should have attacked sooner, but that would play into United hands. The plan would've been to keep it tight, frustrate the Uniterd fans, and nick a win. Had it not been for individual errors, not tactical ones, it would've come off and we'd all be praising Harry.

Your second sentence just about sums up my case mil1lion, I have said this before about Harry Redknapp this season and that is that he is too timid against the top teams, why did he take out our best attacking threat and move him back to defence to counter Valencia who is actually not as good as Bale and is not super fast, Christ we set up the proper way against arsenal and Walcott is shit off a stick fast.
I agree with your sixth sentence absolutely when he moved BAE across Bale forward and Modric inside “We started to threaten” that is my whole point.
Nani’s goal was a peach, we can blame who we like but sometimes goals get scored.
I believe that when a team is having to defend and with a right back being taken apart by a left winger they are less likely to score than if they are allowed to come forward with no fear, your post seems to back up what believe was Harry’s plan to get a nil-nil but hope to nick one where I believe we could have done better than that, after we set up properly we got a goal and they got a goal and then we gave away a penalty by a player I argued before the game should have been on the bench anyway.
I simply don’t believe that by having Bale at left back instead of BAE made us any tighter at the back at all, it just took away the forward threat.
It was the wrong decision and he realized it during the game and changed it so I really can’t see any argument.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

It certainly is particularly when you had it two weeks before the game.
I said BAE – Bale – Modric before the arsenal game and was pleased that Harry saw it that way too so I was saddened by his decision on Saturday.

 

[kdspur]

ekotto is a shit full back, been saying it since i first saw him. a pure weak link in out team and time and again fucks up.. he conceded penalty and then let nani in on his side of defence when he switched over.. he is a fucking liablility of highest order and on top of that plays like a player who at end of day really does not give a shit.

i have been shouting for us to sign left winger for ages but u know what i think we should sign new left back in figeoroa instead.. think he is so much better than ekotto. fuck him off back to france.. waster

 

[Paxtonite]

I think people on this thread are confusing BAE's ability to adapt to life at right back with the challenge for the penalty. The penalty incident is totally separate and he never should have dived in.

HOWEVER, that does not mean he is comfortable at RB. Whereas for example he can naturally play a ball down the line to Bale when on the left, he cant do it for say Bentley on the right because logistically its awkward for him. Yes he is all left foot, that is why all his passing comes infield or backward when he is in posession. At one point he preferred to pass back to Gomes from the half way line and he did the same when he played RB against a weakened Bolton in the cup.

All his passes were cross field or inside and many got intercepted that time too so i cant see how Redknapp thought he played well at RB then!

Stoof is right to remind us that we played Man U away. All the more reason therefore to keep a settled side that had done so well the previous two games without feeling the need to put square pegs into round holes.

Ekotto at LB does well. Harry has to have faith with others more suited at RB.

 

[DC_Boy]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

i said I didn't want BAE at RB before the game - in fact i say it periodically on here

it's nothing about hindsight it's about commonsense

harry is a top manager who's done a very good job for spurs - but even he makes mistakes, that was one of them

and it has to be mentioned we have two RBs out on loan - both of whom i suspect are better at RB than BAE

now the loan situation isn't just down to harry, it's economics as well, but i assume harry had a big input into the decision

 

[Wiener]

I really don't understand this obsession with BAE at right back. Clearly Redknapp prefers him to Kaboul. The latter isn't entirely comfortable either at right back.

Manure's main threat came through the middle, not from out wide. 2 of their goals came from silly mistakes by BAE and Palacios. We contained them reasonably well and limited their threat.

I think our main error was playing Defoe and Pavlyuchenko up-front. I believe we could have put more pressure on Manure with a lone striker and a more withdrawn striker (ie Gudjohnsen). When Redknapp did finally rejig the team we did look better, but we had lost momentum and belief in the first 55 minutes.

In the end it was 2 silly mistakes and we were playing Manure at Old Trafford. We are still in pole position to finish 4th. I hope Redknapp doesn't play Defoe and Pavluychenko against Man City. Gudjohnsen's experience, composure and ability to drop deep would be the ideal partner for Defoe. Man City will have to win if we beat Bolton, so we need to hit on the the counter.

I do hope that Corluka is back soon, but if not, I don't have a big problem with BAE at right back. The big decision is midfield and up-front.

 

[stevethfc]

Stoof, I think that more professional you become the more specialised you become too. Being a pro doesn't make you infallible in all positions it just means you're very very good in one. Much easier to swap a position on your strong side than move across the pitch and play on your weaker, especially when that leg was previously only used for standing.

Agreed Michael. Its nothing to do with being an athlete, switching sides for any defender is a difficult task wich is why so few are able to play on both sides successfully.

I have praised Redders when he has made good decisions, and now im criticising his bad decision, which was a very bad one.

 

[StartingPrice]

Someone mentioned Kyle Naughton, and whether we should have kept him at the Lane. Don't know how he has performed since going to SmogVille, but he was on the bench at the weekend.
Is he gonna make the grade?
I agree with whoever said the real mistake was in letting Hutton go out on loan.

 

[Stoof]

Agreed Michael. Its nothing to do with being an athlete, switching sides for any defender is a difficult task wich is why so few are able to play on both sides successfully.

I have praised Redders when he has made good decisions, and now im criticising his bad decision, which was a very bad one.

I wasn't saying it was anything to do with being an athlete.

I said it was to do with being a professional footballer. Someone who lives and breathes the game as well as playing at the highest - international - level.

It's not too much to expect.

 

[stevethfc]

I wasn't saying it was anything to do with being an athlete.

I said it was to do with being a professional footballer. Someone who lives and breathes the game as well as playing at the highest - international - level.

It's not too much to expect.

Ok he may well live and breathe football, but you still havent addressed the point of how hard it is to switch sides as a full back and be successful at it. Its quite a lot to expect actually, especially against a team who has won the league for the past 3 years, hardly giving him a chance to bed is it?

 

[Stoof]

Ok he may well live and breathe football, but you still havent addressed the point of how hard it is to switch sides as a full back and be successful at it. Its quite a lot to expect actually, especially against a team who has won the league for the past 3 years, hardly giving him a chance to bed is it?

Just because his 'starting position' is different doesn't mean everything that he's learned and shown us as a left back doesn't suddenly count. And that's my point. The mistakes weren't because he was playing as a right back - they were Benoit Assou-Ekotto mistakes as a player playing for Spurs. In the same way, a few years ago now, he had an absolute mare against Arsenal at the Emirates.

During the course of the game, not one player in the team will stay in their designated spot/quadrant of the field.

You're defence of the player is admirable - I know the poor Premiership footballer having to play on the other side of the iddy biddy pitch, what a travesty - but ultimately BAE lost the mental game with United, as did most of the team.

 

[Dharmabum]

I am just a bit concerned that even with 4 RB at the club Harry had to use a LB.
Look at Manu, how they have eased Rafael into the RB role. Ok, it has helped him that Neveill and Brown have both been injured.
But why haven't Harry given more chances to Walker or Naughton (when he was at the club)?
Also, loaning out Hutton in order to get a good selling price for him may prove costly in the end. He's been doing fine for Sunderland and for sure could have helped to hold the fort vs ManU.

 

[ward1848]

I was at the game and he was pish poor in everything he did. Id have taken anyone ahead of him for the next 3

 

[Eric_s]

I was at the game and he was pish poor in everything he did. Id have taken anyone ahead of him for the next 3

So that was the only game you watch live all season? Please stay away for the last three. We were doing pretty well when you were not there.

 

[worcestersauce]

Just because his 'starting position' is different doesn't mean everything that he's learned and shown us as a left back doesn't suddenly count. And that's my point. The mistakes weren't because he was playing as a right back - they were Benoit Assou-Ekotto mistakes as a player playing for Spurs. In the same way, a few years ago now, he had an absolute mare against Arsenal at the Emirates.

During the course of the game, not one player in the team will stay in their designated spot/quadrant of the field.

You're defence of the player is admirable - I know the poor Premiership footballer having to play on the other side of the iddy biddy pitch, what a travesty - but ultimately BAE lost the mental game with United, as did most of the team.

I think we did that before the game and Sir Alex knew that as soon as he saw the set up.

I really don't understand this obsession with BAE at right back. Clearly Redknapp prefers him to Kaboul. The latter isn't entirely comfortable either at right back.

Manure's main threat came through the middle, not from out wide. 2 of their goals came from silly mistakes by BAE and Palacios. We contained them reasonably well and limited their threat.

I think our main error was playing Defoe and Pavlyuchenko up-front. I believe we could have put more pressure on Manure with a lone striker and a more withdrawn striker (ie Gudjohnsen). When Redknapp did finally rejig the team we did look better, but we had lost momentum and belief in the first 55 minutes.


I do hope that Corluka is back soon, but if not, I don't have a big problem with BAE at right back. The big decision is midfield and up-front.

Quite possibly but the game plan was clearly not to put pressure on Utd as was made clear by the changes he made and that's been my point all along.

 

[Wiener]

Quite possibly but the game plan was clearly not to put pressure on Utd as was made clear by the changes he made and that's been my point all along.

I don't understand. Are you saying the game plan was to defend and settle for a goalless draw? Playing 2 out-and-out strikers doesn't is hardly parking the bus. Defoe and Pavluychenko are of little use defensively. I think Redknapp set out to win the game. He just got the tactics slightly wrong.

 

[DC_Boy]

I don't understand. Are you saying the game plan was to defend and settle for a goalless draw? Playing 2 out-and-out strikers doesn't is hardly parking the bus. Defoe and Pavluychenko are of little use defensively. I think Redknapp set out to win the game. He just got the tactics slightly wrong.

well against chelsea pav was being praised for his defensive contribution - unfortunately pav seems to lose energy when he goes away from the confines of the Lane

be interesting to see which striker(s) play at city