Fulham Vs Tottenham: Match Thread

[Nocando]

That result will have royally pissed Neil Ashton off

He probably had his article already penned.

 

[Gaz_Gammon]

What was Defoe doing on the first place?

The Manager picked him.

Why did we start with 2/3 defensive minded midfielders against Fulham?

AVB's worried about losing and Neil Ashtons DM column mentioning the result

We look a lot more susceptible at the back without Verts central.

We have a perfectly good left back..............oh shit he's at QPR. Bugger knows who sent him out on loan.

We still seem to lack quality in the final third in terms of picking a killer pass or delivering a decent cross.

He's out injured but Eriksen is the man, in the meantime i'd play Lamela behind Soldado (assuming Defoe hasn't picked himself again).

Townsend can't weight a decent pass to save his life. If he aint scoring then I'm not sure he's much of an option.

Lennon does more, and has more pace.

 

[Rout-Ledge]

I don't get this - we win the game, the heat's off our unfairly under-fire manager and we're acting like we just lost to S****horpe 5-1! Sheesh... anybody got any cathode rays handy, 'cos I'm all out of positive energy!

I'm happy with the win, but I understand the negativity.

We haven't shown proper attacking guile and creativity all season, and we still haven't. The result is fantastic. The problem most of us have here is that we can't see us pushing on and winning the number of matches we should be.

 

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

I don't give a fuck if we score goals inside or outside the box.

Although now some of our long shots seem to be hitting the back of the net now maybe some of the sitters we miss inside the box will start being converted soon.

 

[TheSecretNonFootballer]

yes, against Fulham, and we just about won. Sure, it's 3 points, and yes we won and yes of course I am happy we won. But I am not talking about the 3 points nor the victory, I'm talking about the PERFORMANCE against a bottom 3 side.

Yeah and I seem to remember a few years ago that we were a bottom 3 side when we sacked our manager. There were plenty reasons for Fulham to fight harder in this game then they have in any game so far this season. They won't get relegated.

 

[Dannyspur]

A lot of our problem is tempo - the possession football is ok but at the snail's pace we knock the ball about, defenders (and attackers) have all the time in the world to get back and crowd out our creativity.

 

[Nocando]

Seriously Nocando that comment is as bad as player wanting us to lose, I or any other rational fan does'nt hate Villas Boas quite the opposite, there'something about the guy that I really want him to do well, I'm caught between wanting to give him a hug & shaking him to get a grip & cop on.
At the sametime I'm not going to put my head in the sand & pretend that things are'nt right. If you want to ware rose- tinted glasses that's up to you.
I deal in reality & voice my concerns because I care what happens with our team.
This is'nt just related to the manager & players have to stand up & be accountable too, although I do believe a team mirrors it's manager

Off to the land of relegation (and la la) for you.

You really must get that bump on your head seen to.

 

[CrazyHeart]

Good win, but a concerning performance and tactical approach.

We need to improve, and we need to improve a lot.

I really hope we do, and I really hope we do with AVB in charge. But I'm not optimistic sadly.

That goal difference statistic compared to the other top sides is risible.

Missing sitters in front of the goal is not AVB's fault - NO manager can take responsibility - that's down to the players, you can agree with that I trust.

 

[DCSPUR]

Mods. Please set up two communities with a wall in between.....Berlin is a decent model. AVB haters on one side and those who, well, don't hate him on the other. Cheers.

 

[TheSecretNonFootballer]

Seriously Nocando that comment is as bad as player wanting us to lose, I or any other rational fan does'nt hate Villas Boas quite the opposite, there'something about the guy that I really want him to do well, I'm caught between wanting to give him a hug & shaking him to get a grip & cop on.
At the sametime I'm not going to put my head in the sand & pretend that things are'nt right. If you want to ware rose- tinted glasses that's up to you.
I deal in reality & voice my concerns because I care what happens with our team.
This is'nt just related to the manager & players have to stand up & be accountable too, although I do believe a team mirrors it's manager

I doubt he's referring to rational fans.

 

[ultimateloner]

Paulinho needs confidence.

 

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

First of all, that ball isn't offside. Defoe jumping over it has no bearing on Stekelenburg's position because there was no deviation. Secondly, they hit the post after putting 10 men up in the 90th minute. Finally, having a good goalkeeper doesn't mean we're lucky to win games. You win games off the strength of your squad.

This all day.

 

[CrazyHeart]

Paulinho needs confidence.

And some rest!

 

[thinktank]

Thing is, no-one is denying there are cracks. The problem arises when people only focus on the cracks.

The slow play and lack of movement are more than just cracks, they are simply fundamental.

The way we started today after what we should have learned playing against united was just horrible tbh.

Can't be defended.

Hoping for more of what we saw against united in the games to come.

 

[night-watchman]

AVB is the first spurs manager in 25 yrs of supporting I've genuinely wanted out. He is turning a great squad into an awful team.

That is just complete bollocks.

 

[Rout-Ledge]

Missing sitters in front of the goal is not AVB's fault - NO manager can take responsibility - that's down to the players, you can agree with that I trust.

Of course, but 2 swallows do not make a summer. If you watched that game and were happy with our overall attacking approach and creativity then....well. Fulham created more than us. And they're fucking awful.

 

[Roynie]

Bloody Hell's teeth! That was a great game. Yes we should have scored 2 or 3 before half time. But, we went a goal down to poor defending. What made it a great game for me was the reaction of the players. You could see the determination in their play, they were playing for each other, they are becoming a team. I agree that their defending is not good but their are too many changes in defence and we need to strengthen the defence with quality players.

All that said, we won when we are not playing well. We have a really good team who are learning to fight for each other. We are getting there, now all we need is some strikers who can score .... oh shit!

COYS!

 

[Darragh]

bottom line is any half decent side would have beaten us tonight. and beaten us quite easily.

shocking comical performance devoid of any class and maturity and inteligence.

we get lucky with five mins left to nick a second yet we still cud very nearly have lost it gifting fulham two goals only for a great save from lloris and the post saving us in the end.

we would give an under ten side every chance in a game and im not joking there.

like someone said this win papers over the cracks and until people from the very top start doing their job and coaches start using their fucking brain this club is only going one way im afraid. it was very very average stuff against a shocking poor side.

 

[robin09]

I'm happy with the win, but I understand the negativity.

We haven't shown proper attacking guile and creativity all season, and we still haven't. The result is fantastic. The problem most of us have here is that we can't see us pushing on and winning the number of matches we should be.

Up to today's game I'd have agreed with you. If we'd lost tonight there'd rightly have been doom and gloom. Problem is, the line between winning and losing is so fine. 2 swings of the boot from Vlad and Lewis, in fact.

So regardless of the result tonight, the reason I was happy from what I saw, is because there were more chances created in the opposition box. REAL chances. Not half arsed efforts like we've been totting up against other teams this season to pad the 'attempts' stats.

The negative is we're still wasteful. But I think that's clearly the players confidence. Definite progress attacking wise. We just need to finish these chances now.

 

[ajspurs]

It makes me laugh when certain posters complain about how negative we are as a team, yet they in turn are just as negative with their comments. The game is not over until it's over and today we proved that. Sure it wasn't the perfect performance but it doesn't need to be when the team is low on confidence. It just takes matches like this one to turn the team around. Just look at the lift we got after the Holtby goal went in. Today was a big momentum shift.

I don't think we can say it was a momentum shift at least until after the next game to be honest. I was one of the posters who complained when we were 1-0 down but with every right to do so because it was a carbon copy of what we've seen a lot this season already and it wasn't good viewing.

It's not tonight's poor performance on it's own that's the problem, it's the fact that we've seen this poor performance too many times this season. I'll have more confidence after what we do on the pitch starts to work and become effective. It will get us wins like tonight's but also losses like against Newcastle.

Until we do start showing more positive football to effect I'm very sceptical as to whether this style of play will get us to where we need to be in the league.