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Good Week/Bad Week

Krafty

Well-Known Member
May 26, 2004
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2,099
Good Week

Gylfi Sigurdsson

A ‘man of the match performance’, AVB called it. Siggy showed what he is all about, picking up both goals. What pleased me most was to see someone running into the box, and getting beyond the striker. It’s something we have lacked this season, and it would appear AVB knew this as well.

Andre said that Siggy also makes the most of his opportunities, and he certainly did on Saturday.

Christian Eriksen

Yes. Just yes. We were all disappointed to miss out on Willian (who?) but in a way I think Eriksen is a better fit for what we needed. He was integral to all our play, flitting between the lines, showing the vision that our central midfield lacks, and generally oozing class.

Although on the flip side, the feeling that the Dane is crucial to our success this season after just one game is a little worrying.

AVB

There was lots of surprise in the press room when our team sheet went up. Siggy in? No Lamela? No Sandro? But as the game showed, AVB was spot on with his selection, to be truthful against opposition like Norwich we should not need a holding midfielder.

Sigurdsson, for example, came back from the internationals with a dead leg but AVB told him he was needed. As mentioned, it is pleasing to see that AVB identified where we were lacking, and with such a strong team at his disposal he must not be afraid to make changes, make use of the players’ different abilities, and ignore reputations/price tags.

Ryan Mason

Impressing on loan at Swindon. Seems to be a player our development staff has rated for a while but injuries and some poor loan moves have stunted his development but looks to making a mark now.

Thursday night’s crowd

Looking at our bench on the weekend, you could not help but be impressed. Come Thursday night against Tromso, we can expect to see a very strong Spurs lineup – Holtby, Lamela, Sandro, Kaboul, Chiriches (not sure on the permit problem implications), Naughton, Friedel, Defoe. It is going to be an extremely strong XI and show easily overpower the Norwegians.

Bad Week

Kyle Walker

Lots of bad publicity which to be honest has been absolute bull, and goes to show that the English media really don’t care if the national team does well. Player doing something silly but not illegal? Check. Blow it out of all proportion because its England week? Check. Happened three months ago? Check. We have a winner.

He didn’t play particularly well against Ukraine, but he was up against their biggest (nay only) threat, who scored the last time he was up against an England right back, and was given very little help by Walcott who manages to escape under the radar despite being sprinter in a footballer’s kit. Yes, there needs to be improvements, he sometimes loses the ball in bad positions, but some of the stick he has received has been well over the top.

Emmanuel Adebayor

Do we think he’ll play for Spurs before January? The tone of AVB’s words indicated that it will take a remarkable change in attitude before Ade is back in first team contention, and that is as likely as Alan Shearer offering some tactical insight on Match of the Day.
 

DreadySpur

Well-Known Member
Dec 15, 2006
1,037
642
Great read as always. The worrying thing I find with Walker is the silly free kicks he gives away,which seems to be because he does not read the game well and gets caught out of position.

Ade's position seems extremely doubtful, with reports today that he wants us to cancel his contract, but with a £1m payoff...
 

rupsmith

Well-Known Member
Jul 29, 2006
1,714
2,328
Brilliant read as always. Agree totally with your observation on Eriksen - a great player but he's 21 and the sign that we may always have to rely on his subtlety in the final third to unlock defenses is not great. Holtby is a good player but perhaps lacks that killer pass instinct (which btw the set up for the first goal yesterday was - what a brilliant brilliant pass - smiling just thinking about it today.)
 

minesadouble

Drove my Chevy to the Levy
Jul 27, 2006
749
2,933
Yes, a good week for Rose. I wasn't at the game but watched Sky Football First and then MOTD. I think Rose's all round performance was his best in a Spurs shirt, especially defensively. Two last ditch tackles but solid overall and only a couple of errors. He's improving when we attack too, in terms of decision making and delivery. If he keeps working and improving then it's all credit to AVB for sticking with him.
 

yid-down-under

Well-Known Member
Sep 21, 2003
3,181
4,016
Agree/disagree about eriksen.

Yes he looked good and what we need in the central attacking midfielder role but I think holtby can do a good job there too if given the chance
 

UncleBuck

Well-Known Member
Aug 20, 2003
9,186
11,148
Ade's position seems extremely doubtful, with reports today that he wants us to cancel his contract, but with a £1m payoff...
seriously? If that's what he's said then I think levy needs to do it, it's the equivalent of three months notice...even though some might say he's been on gardening leave for the last twelve months.
It'd actually save us money long term and he's quite clearly not bothered, we don't need that sort of attitude at the club.
 

JimmyG2

SC Supporter
Dec 7, 2006
15,014
20,779
Good week.
THFC.
I remember this good feeling and no doubt it won't last.
(Spurs supporter to his last breath)
Funds well invested in the right areas,
manager maturing and using his good judgement.
Quality players, playing pretty damn well.
Fans generous in their appreciation,
even Rose applauded and Walker forgiven almost everything.
Of course it was only Norwich,Tbilisi, Palace and Swansea
and we failed the only real test we have had at Arsenal
and Chelsea loom on the near horizon.
but I watched the game yesterday with a smile
and I'm still smiling today in anticipation of good things to come.
And even with all the exciting newcomers
we started with four old Tottenham players.
A nice balance.
 

Jenko

Well-Known Member
Mar 18, 2004
5,290
4,157
Ade's position seems extremely doubtful, with reports today that he wants us to cancel his contract, but with a £1m payoff...

Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if true, nothing would surprise me about Ade. All summer, despite last seasons crap fest, we were uneasy about slagging him off because his brother had passed away. But, that being what it is, he has still managed to let the club down to the point where the boss (the only one who knows all the details) puts him out with the kids. Not something you'd do to someone who was legitimately greaving - he's somehow shown even more lack of discipline/respect when he was already in the last chance saloon. So sorry we couldn't shift him in the summer - we obviously tried but Ades greed knows no end. If he wants us to cancel his contract then he's already arranged another payday for himself from the next suckers. Lost any hope of him coming good now, let him rot in the reserves on double training sessions and fine him as often as possible. Everything I hate about football at my own club :mad:
 

vegassd

The ghost of Johnny Cash
Aug 5, 2006
3,356
3,330
He didn’t play particularly well against Ukraine, but he was up against their biggest (nay only) threat, who scored the last time he was up against an England right back, and was given very little help by Walcott who manages to escape under the radar despite being sprinter in a footballer’s kit. Yes, there needs to be improvements, he sometimes loses the ball in bad positions, but some of the stick he has received has been well over the top.


How can you describe Walcott as that in a paragraph about Kyle Walker?!

I don't want to completely write Walker off yet because he's still young, but he gives me the impression that he completely lacks footballing intelligence. He's primary asset is pace and at the moment it seems like it's his only asset.

Walcott is a far superior player to Walker so let's not go throwing random insults around.

Agree with everything else though. :)
 

Jenko

Well-Known Member
Mar 18, 2004
5,290
4,157
How can you describe Walcott as that in a paragraph about Kyle Walker?!

I don't want to completely write Walker off yet because he's still young, but he gives me the impression that he completely lacks footballing intelligence. He's primary asset is pace and at the moment it seems like it's his only asset.

Walcott is a far superior player to Walker so let's not go throwing random insults around.

Agree with everything else though. :)

Based on yesterdays performance Walcott deserves to be slagged off. He was fast as usual, but wasted several good opportunities and created nothing for others. Besides, he is Arsenal, so why care?
 

Smokinhotspur

Well-Known Member
Jun 11, 2012
510
953
let him rot in the reserves on double training sessions and fine him as often as possible.:mad:


I feel your sentiment but we all know everyone loses in this situation. The way we need to look at this is that our development team contains some of our future first teamers so although he will be away from the first team we don't want him being disruptive there either. If true I say pay him the £1m asap and get through to Jan before going back in for a top striker.

We will end up paying him more than that for doing nothing over the course of the season anyway and it is unlikely to see how he can ever become our number one striker (as he thinks) after we have splashed £26m on Soldado. The guy is an egomaniac who only responds to being treated as the main man around the place (as Redknapp did hence, getting the best out of him) but this is just not the way AVB works and I have no problem with that.
 

GetSpurredOn

Well-Known Member
Jun 18, 2006
5,022
8,922
Been away, so only just caught up with yesterday's game.
Impressed with...
Lloris, just looks to inspire confidence.
Rose, supposed to be the weak link, but seems to be improving week after week in his defensive duties. Pace makes him hard to get around/get away from defensively, and coming forward he put some nice touches in.
Paulinho & Dembele, power and technique in abundance. Nothing flash about these two in the middle, but they just make everything look so simple, and they dominated their opponents in the middle with minimum of fuss, and always looked relaxed on the ball too. Always on the move too, huge shift. Then we get Sandro and Holtby joining them later on, who maintain the exact same ethos.
Townsend, just gets better game by game. Confident on the ball, always a willing runner and always looking to move into space to offer himself as an option. The one thing that really stood out, was his ability to put a decent cross in from the right, on his right foot, despite that being his weaker foot. Looks to be a player maturing and improving vastly.
No point talking about Eriksen and Sigurdsson, all been said. Lamela looked good in his cameo, confident and classy on the ball.
Huge plus is the players look like they're starting to gel and find some rhythm. First game or so, passes were not finding runners so fluently, but they are now starting to read each other better. From that base, they are just going to get better and better, which must scare other teams.
 

Jonesey

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2004
695
391
Biggest concern so far this season is Soldado.

The guy is undoubtedly quality - if only that back heeler had gone in ... - but so far we don't seem to be playing the kind of game that gets the best out of him.

He doesn't drop deep too often because its not his bag to pick up the ball, beat a couple of defenders and blast it into the top corner.

Looks like we need to figure out how to stretch defences more and give him the space to work his magic.

Otherwise Defoe and, dare i say it, Adebayor might be better starters for us, with Bobby coming on to terrify more fatigued defenders after 60/65 mins.
 

Spurs 1961

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
6,665
8,739
How can you describe Walcott as that in a paragraph about Kyle Walker?!

I don't want to completely write Walker off yet because he's still young, but he gives me the impression that he completely lacks footballing intelligence. He's primary asset is pace and at the moment it seems like it's his only asset.

Walcott is a far superior player to Walker so let's not go throwing random insults around.

Agree with everything else though. :)
To be honest I am not sure there is too much difference between Walker and Walcott...both great sprinters who can do good things but make mistakes. Defensive mistakes are it seems considered worse than attacking blunders. Walker is not the best defender around but we underrate his attacking importance. In between sleeping I seem to remember him creating as much as anyone for England plus having to cope defensively with the best attacking player on the pitch. Defenders usually get batter with age and experience, the best are often playing well into their thirties, so he has a long of development still ahead
 

vegassd

The ghost of Johnny Cash
Aug 5, 2006
3,356
3,330
To be honest I am not sure there is too much difference between Walker and Walcott...both great sprinters who can do good things but make mistakes. Defensive mistakes are it seems considered worse than attacking blunders. Walker is not the best defender around but we underrate his attacking importance. In between sleeping I seem to remember him creating as much as anyone for England plus having to cope defensively with the best attacking player on the pitch. Defenders usually get batter with age and experience, the best are often playing well into their thirties, so he has a long of development still ahead

I think defensive errors are often more important than attacking ones. Obviously a goal missed is not much different to a goal conceded, but in terms of the momentum of the team and general atmosphere it's better to create chances and miss them than concede chances and goals.

Walker will almost certainly improve. But I still think it's out of order to throw insults at Walcott during a piece about Walker. If we take our collective Spurs hats off I'm pretty sure we would all prefer Walcott to Walker in our teams if it was an either/or decision, so I'm just saying we should cool off with the hubris.
 

tomo

Well-Known Member
Jun 12, 2003
1,094
425
Good week - Gylfi Sigurdsson

Bad week - Me for taking him out of my Dream Team on Saturday morning as I didn't think he would start....
 

Bobbins

SC's 14th Sexiest Male 2008
May 5, 2005
21,548
45,031
Completely agree, particularly with the part on Walker and the disappearing act Walcott pulled - he showed yet again why he's an awful footballer, and provided Kyle with no protection whatsoever. Kyle didn't play well, but was under pressure from ther first minute, and ultimately we still got a clean sheet.
 

Rout-Ledge

Well-Known Member
Jul 29, 2005
9,611
21,718
I was desperate for Wiillian but there is no way I'd swap him for Eriksen now, despite the difference in price tags.

We lost a Bale and gained a Christian...just a shame Fergie's not around to get his name wrong...
 
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