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Good Week/Bad Week

Krafty

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



Harry Kane



A storm swept over North London last Wednesday. Hull City, victory within sight, were blown away as the Harri-Kane struck. It was the England U21 international’s first Spurs goal in 22 months, and showing some good strength, movement and ball striking, one wonders whether Kane should not be in the match day squads every week, given Adebayor’s absence.



Hugo Lloris



Another clean sheet, even if he can’t remember it.



Sandro



The beast is back, putting n another very impressive performance until injury concerns meant his withdrawal at Goodison Park. On the one hand it’s great to have the Brazilian back performing if anything better than before his injury in January, on the other its alarming that the midfield loses its authority with Moussa Dembele in Sandro’s stead.



That knee injury will have to be carefully managed but we should have the squad strength to avoid testing the joint too much. Capoue’s return is most opportune.



Bad Week



Brad Friedel



He did save a couple of penalties, and I don’t think there was anything he could have done with Hull’s first goal, but the second goal showed again how different Brad is from Hugo. There is no way Lloris would have stayed on his line at a corner that was headed in six yards from goal, dead central.



Also, I bet Friedel can’t believe his luck that he happens to be competing against the one Frenchman that is not a coward! Brad was all stripped and ready to go, bless him...



Erik Lamela



The only Spurs player to miss a penalty, epitomising his start in a lilywhite shirt. He had looked better against hull but still short of where he should be.



Note also that when Lamela trudged back it was Kyle Walker (and pretty much only him) that moved towards the Argentine and put an arm around his shoulder.



Roberto Soldado



I don’t think it’s his fault that we are not scoring enough goals, but the media is starting to get on his back. The fact is he is not getting the service a striker would expect, his runs aren’t being noticed let alone picked out, and he is often the only one running beyond the back line, but naturally a lot of pundits will only look at the goals scored column.



Andre Villas-Boas



He got the atmosphere he wanted in the League Cup, but the struggles were the same. A wonder goal from Siggy and a late Kane strike covered our usual sins, and after completing dominating Everton up until the final third in the first 45 we could not create any real opportunities.



Lies, damn lies, and statistics. Anyone who regularly attends Tottenham games or sees the whole 90 minutes knows that despite having the most shots in the Premier League, we have created very few clear cut chances. Keepers do not need to have ‘worldies’ against us anymore, and the lack of a coherent game plan to get the first goal or break down teams is worrying. After the outburst last week Andre should have known the spotlight would turn on him and the team if the fans picked up their game, and another couple of impotent displays in the attacking third were not what the manager needed.
 

PhilosoSPUR

Well-Known Member
Jul 21, 2009
932
596
Always enjoy reading these. Thanks!

"Note also that when Lamela trudged back it was Kyle Walker (and pretty much only him) that moved towards the Argentine and put an arm around his shoulder."

I only saw from video, but it looked like Holtby was cheering him up afterwards as well, with some clapping and shouting from the bench. He and Walker have a good spirit.
 

balalasaurus

big black member
Dec 29, 2012
2,065
3,101
Think we can include Walker in the good section following the improvements he's made on his freekicks. Looks like someone's been practicing.
 

Geyzer Soze

Fearlessly the idiot faced the crowd
Aug 16, 2010
26,056
63,361
Love these posts Krafty! I'd kind of forgotten Harry-Kanes good week in all the hand wringing & Lloris furore!
 

beuller

Well-Known Member
May 10, 2005
1,533
2,353
I personally feel that a little too much is being made of the manager's tactics and selection.

We have a lot of new midfield and forward players being integrated into the squad. It's taking time but I have seen enough from paulinho, eriksen, Soldado, townsend (included as he is effectively a new player) to expect it to come together.

On the up side, we are so solid now. Maybe a nil nil at Everton isn't super exciting but it beats getting beaten 3-2 or throwing away a 2 goal lead and missing a last minute Penno like a few years back.

If the manager has had a bad week after making the carling cup qf's and getting a decent point at Everton to consolidate a very good points tally this far..... Then I am certainly not going to cry about it.
 

Greenspur

Very old member
Sep 1, 2004
2,681
3,090
Also, I bet Friedel can’t believe his luck that he happens to be competing against the one Frenchman that is not a coward! Brad was all stripped and ready to go, bless him....

FFS. "the one Frenchman that is not a coward!".
Get a life.
 

Greenspur

Very old member
Sep 1, 2004
2,681
3,090
Dear vuzp. Make your point and I will reply to it. It is hard to make a cogent argument against a doh.
 

JimmyG2

SC Supporter
Dec 7, 2006
15,014
20,779
Good stuff again.
Disagree about the first Hull goal,
it was an incredible miss by Davis and was going wide.
Friedel diverted it into the goal.

Think Gomes should be given a go.

Harrikane. Considered that for my blog but didn't have the nerve.
 

JimmyG2

SC Supporter
Dec 7, 2006
15,014
20,779
Most shots, lowest conversion rate I read somewhere.
I blame Townsend aided and abetted by Paulinho.
 

thinktank

Hmmm...
Sep 28, 2004
45,893
68,893
Good stuff again.
Disagree about the first Hull goal,
it was an incredible miss by Davis and was going wide.
Friedel diverted it into the goal.

Think Gomes should be given a go.

If I was a keeper I would not have been expecting to see that ball again - I'm sure no keeper would have.

Put yourself in his place; by all the laws of the universe, that was an unmissable chance and in a split second brad had the ball at his hands when every single person watching and on the field expected it to be in the net.

He must have been in absolute shock and just couldn't get his brain together to deal with it.

Totally understandable imo.
 

JimmyG2

SC Supporter
Dec 7, 2006
15,014
20,779
If I was a keeper I would not have been expecting to see that ball again - I'm sure no keeper would have.

Put yourself in his place; by all the laws of the universe, that was an unmissable chance and in a split second brad had the ball at his hands when every single person watching and on the field expected it to be in the net.

He must have been in absolute shock and just couldn't get his brain together to deal with it.

Totally understandable imo.
Not sure what you are on about.
All he needed to do was pick it up
unexpected or not.
'absolute shock': Couldn't get his brain together''
The lady doth protest too much methink.
 

jolsnogross

Well-Known Member
May 17, 2005
3,729
5,431
That's a great point, Krafty, about the most shots canard. I wouldn't criticise the players taking shots, becasue at least they're chossing to have a go rather than go sideways or back. But mostly those shots go high and wide or straight down the belly of the keeper. If AVB or anyone is using those as evidence of attacking prowess, then god help us. The lack of chances and meaningful penalty area action is just not good enough and we are over-performing points-wise when you consider how lackluster we've been going forward.

Winner: the opposition net, safe from impact
 
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Yakflange

Well-Known Member
Jul 30, 2004
852
1,032
I think Friedel was at fault for both Hull goals. OK, the first one was unlucky, but a keeper with faster reactions (i.e. Lloris) would have saved it.

He's a great keeper, but maybe a bit too far past his best to keep us in the latter stages of any competition?
 

Redfap

Active Member
Nov 8, 2011
557
791
I'd feel more confident with Gomes than Friedel in goal. I like Friedel but he's looking well past it these days, great keeper but he's 42.

That's bloody old
 

Spurnger

New Member
Dec 10, 2006
20
36
FFS. "the one Frenchman that is not a coward!".
Get a life.
I will, if you like. The original line about Frenchmen being cowards is an old and trusty joke. In this case I thought it was playfully inverted, if anything to play complement to our remarkable goalkeeper. Your review of this comment is bizarre. Either you're working on a level of irony that is way above me, or, quite frankly, you deserve a big fat 'DOH'!
 

TottenhamMattSpur

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
10,925
16,007
I will, if you like. The original line about Frenchmen being cowards is an old and trusty joke. In this case I thought it was playfully inverted, if anything to play complement to our remarkable goalkeeper. Your review of this comment is bizarre. Either you're working on a level of irony that is way above me, or, quite frankly, you deserve a big fat 'DOH'!

My guess is he's French.
 

S17PUR

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2006
1,313
3,829
Personally think you've been really harsh on Lamela. I thought it (the Hull CC game) was his best performance for us by some distance and that he really grew into the game. Must have done his match sharpness a world of good to play 120 minutes too. The only real downside was the penalty miss, but thankfully it didn't affect the outcome.
 

camaj

Posting too much
Aug 10, 2004
8,195
883
Keepers do not need to have ‘worldies’ against us anymore

Ah the old Redknapp excuse for when we used to shoot straight at the keeper? "Their keeper played a blinder" was the standard line when Crouch and Defoe used to hit it right at the poor bloke. It's easy to look good when your opponents are making it easy for you.
 

Yakflange

Well-Known Member
Jul 30, 2004
852
1,032
I'd feel more confident with Gomes than Friedel in goal. I like Friedel but he's looking well past it these days, great keeper but he's 42.

That's bloody old

You got a couple of "disagree" ratings for that, but it's a reasonable shout - to me it looks like Friedel's level has dropped a bit from last season. Is Gomes really a worse option than Friedel? When Gomes was at his best, he was fantastic - maybe it's time to give him another chance?

Would love to see Friedel stay on at the club as a coach after this season though.
 
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