Huddlestone is just not good enough

[jonnyp]

Huddlestone critics are a funny bunch hahaha....

 

[raf18]

though him and palacios were great!

having said that, cant help but think thudd is too knackered for a game like hull away. wouldnt mind seeing o'hara in the middle with thudd coming on as a sub with some creativity

 

[whl_yid1982]

Is this for real or wind up?

Fucking hell we just beat liverpool and beat them well because of a great team performance where no one played badly. For the first time huddlestone used his size, got stuck in winning a few good challanges mixed with his usual first class distribution. He also looked a lot more assured on the ball releasing balls quicker meaning he was not often caught in possession like he can tend to be at fault.

I thought he was excellent, we must have watched a different game if you even watched the game at all.

No wonder we get called fickle fans!! :bang::bang:

 

[kaz Hirai]

needs to work on his fitness levels i think, his lack of pace and mobility is also a problem, also there arent many bigger than him in football, should really be a strong as palacios

 

[brett.spurs]

My Gooner supporting mate even picked out Hudd yesterday and complimented him, so he must have done something right.

 

[Mr-T]

Hudd is not only our best passer, but possibly the best long range passer in the prem - did anyone see that 70-odd yard pass to Lennons feet early in the game yesterday?

He's also got a powerful shot on him, aerial presence, versatility in that he can also play CB and his tackling and running have both improved massively.

I felt perfectly happy with him playing there instead of JJ, he was getting stuck in and pulling strings. To say he aint good enough just beggars belief.

 

[lishiyo]

Hudd's fitness and inconsistency worry me, but I'm fine with starting him and then subbing if he gets tired or isn't having a good game.

 

[Spurger King]

Hudd is not only our best passer, but possibly the best long range passer in the prem - did anyone see that 70-odd yard pass to Lennons feet early in the game yesterday?

He's also got a powerful shot on him, aerial presence, versatility in that he can also play CB and his tackling and running have both improved massively.

I felt perfectly happy with him playing there instead of JJ, he was getting stuck in and pulling strings. To say he aint good enough just beggars belief.

yeah exactly. He might lack in some qualities, but makes up for it in others. Lennon's not the greatest crosser but few would say he's not a quality winger.

Hudd has some serious talent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-Ezcr8ba74

 

[SpurSince57]

Johnson is quicker. the issue on that was Huddlestone and BAE leaving it to each other to deal with at the vital moment. It was no more a mistake for hud as it was from Mascherano who Lennon beat for pace and Mascherano is no less a player because of it. The issue was how BAE came then stopped, then Hud stopped and Johnson went past them both.
As the player facing up, BAE should be the senior player and so i hold him far more responsible than hud. Having said that johnson was still forced wide enough for gomes to have stood up rather than rush in.

A very harsh critism of Huddlestone on that move.

Hudd could, of course, have attempted a tackle—in fact there was a moment when he appeared to be considering it and then checked himself, which was just as well because if it hadn't been absolute precision Johnson would have hit the deck 20 yards out or even in the area. As it was, Hudd did just enough to get him going in a direction where the best he could have done was chip the ball back across the face of the goal. The fault for the penalty was 100% with Gomes, who'd probably been half-asleep due to having very little to do for the preceding hour, thanks in no small part to the Hudd's work with Palacios.

And the first post is just plain absurd, if not on the same epic scale of idiocy as yesterday's thread about Keane's performance.

 

[Black]

Wow some **ts just cant be pleased

 

[FromTheLane]

Huddlestone's best performance for Spurs (in terms of general maturity) and we get an article like this? ridiculous. we still need another DM but Hudd is going to be an amazing talent if he can keep up his current level of application.

 

[hybridsoldier]

he played his most mature game ever, like they pointed out the dynamic of him and Palacios was fantastic. When one attacked the other sat. And he actually made some great challenges.

Its arguably the best PL performance I've seen from him...he did just as much as Jenas does, but he actually had a end product on his passes and has a fierce shot. His free-kicks were not so good.

The key is if he can kick on and do just as well at the KC Stadium and Upton PArk

 

[SpurSince57]

We'll have to see. No-one pretends he's the finished article, and I've got to confess I've changed my mind about him more frequently than I have any other player, but he and Palacios showed great understanding yesterday and you've got to indulge in some serious nit-picking to find fault in his performance. Yes, he tired a little over the last 15 minutes or so, but the fact that we got forced on to the back foot was hardly down to him—we were playing a side that's supposed to be challenging for the title, one which pissed all over Ramos' Real not so long ago, and no club side on the planet is going to dominate them for the full 90.

 

[robbiesavagehasbreasts]

What the fuck is this?

We just trashed Liverpool 2-1, bossed their midfield out of the park. They had like 2 chances, while we had like 15.

And this?

I could understand it if he had a stinker, but Huddlestone at the very least had a 6.5 game.

For me he was absolutely brilliant.

 

[jonnyrotten]

Wow, I thought Hud broke up play well, looked leaner and fitter, and tbh most of our players looked tired towards the end of the game, they had a right to be considering the opposition, the amazing pressing and closing down for 70 mins (first 20 mins was like a derby!) and the fact it was the 1st game of the season.

Distribution was excellent as always and most importantly there was a good balance and solidarity to our midfield.

 

[jambo]

Palacios got man of the match yesterday and by all accounts was superb throughout. Here is how his and Huddlestones stats compared:

Huddlestone had 3 blocked shots and one off target shot.
Palacios had 1 on target shot and one off target shot.

Huddlestone made 31 successful passes and 8 unsuccessful passes.
Palacios made 31 successful passes and 6 unsuccessful passes.
They both created 1 goalscoring opportunity.

Huddlestone made 1 interception, just outside our own area.
Palacios made 3 interceptions, 2 in the centre circle and on high on the left wing.

Huddlestone made 3 successful tackles and 1 unsuccessful tackle attempt.
Palacios made 5 successful tackles and 2 unsuccessful tackle attempts.

Huddlestone made 3 successful clearnaces and 3 unsuccessful clearances.
Palacios made 0 successful clearances and 1 unsuccessful clearance.

Huddlestone blocked 1 shot.
Palacios blocked 0 shots.

Huddlestone won 1 free kick on the edge of our area and conceded 2 in Liverpools half
Palacios won 1 free kick on the edge of Liverpools area and conceded 0.

Both players played a lot of passes had good passing stats then, around 80% completion rate each.

Palacios made more, but not conisderably more, interceptions and tackles, while Huddlestone blocked more shots and made more clearances, in the case of clearances considerably more.

Sounds quite an involved game from someone who wasn't involved enough and was only passing. Unless you are suggesting that Palacios wasn't that involved either, but I think that would be a crazy thing to suggest.

Spot on.

To the OP,
Glenn and Jamie in the studio must of been watching a different game then to?
They both thought that Huddlestone and Palacios linked up superbly and so do I.

I dont understand what people have against Huddlestone. Yes he is not the quickest etc, but some one show me a CM who is complete, wont cost the earth and more importantly, will want to come to Spurs?

We are not in europe, not top 4 and there are not many of them about.

I consider myself Spurs through and through but I dont wear rose tinted shades to the level where I think our team is the best thing since sliced bread and every fucker who is a top player will want to come to us.

We are at a certain level as a club, Levy runs it well as a business too which enables us to sign the players we have but we are not at a level where we are going to get the Torres', Villa's, Gerrards of this world.

At the moemnt we are a club that can unearth the next gem, possibly take players to that next level (ala Berbatov) who then get poached by the big boys.

I would love to have players like Messi etc at our club but lets face it, its not going to happen unless we are challengers for the league.

huddlestone offers us an option in the middle, played superbly with Palacios on Sunday and by god are we going to need him if JJ goes and Sissoko possibly comes in. Remember, Sissoko looks like its gonna cost us a fortune and even though he has the credentials to be a top top player he could flame out and have a piss poor start which means we will need all the experience we have, and lets be fair Hudd is experienced in the PL.

 

[camaj]

I thought huddlestone made some crucial errors yesterday. He should never ever shoot from a FK. He hit the twice yesterday, the second time was no where near clearing it. Luckily BAE turned it into a goal.

More worrying is his positioning, I've noticed it before, sometimes he will just move away from danger rather than towards it. With the Johnson chance yesterday, he should have been a lot closer to the goal than he was. Because he got too close to BAE it created space for Johnson to run into

Right at the end of the match he was blocking Beniyouns (sp?) path but moved out of the way allowing him a free run at goal. Luckily someone (corluka I think) managed to steer the ball wide and away from danger. Shortly after he made a good block that ended up on the other side of the pitch.

I wouldn't say Huddlestone is bad. At best he is like JJ, inconsistent. However he's prone to lapses in concentration or bad decision making, and sadly that can be more damaging than any of the positives are helpful.

 

[SpurSince57]

In other words, stress the negatives and play down the positives, even if there happen to be far more of them?

 

[jambo]

I thought huddlestone made some crucial errors yesterday. He should never ever shoot from a FK. He hit the twice yesterday, the second time was no where near clearing it. Luckily BAE turned it into a goal.

Oh yeah, like Ronaldo and other FK takers never hit the wall!!!!

More worrying is his positioning, I've noticed it before, sometimes he will just move away from danger rather than towards it. With the Johnson chance yesterday, he should have been a lot closer to the goal than he was. Because he got too close to BAE it created space for Johnson to run into

With the Johnson run through yeah he may have got to close to BAE but no-one got near Johnson full stop. Is Huddlestone entirely to blame for this? No, me thinks not.

Right at the end of the match he was blocking Beniyouns (sp?) path but moved out of the way allowing him a free run at goal. Luckily someone (corluka I think) managed to steer the ball wide and away from danger. Shortly after he made a good block that ended up on the other side of the pitch.

Yep, I thought so to. But then again, the top top CM's of this world never make a mistake do they!!!

I wouldn't say Huddlestone is bad. At best he is like JJ, inconsistent. However he's prone to lapses in concentration or bad decision making, and sadly that can be more damaging than any of the positives are helpful.

I would not say he was bad either, I thought overall he played very well on Sunday. Huddlestone is a good player, yes he has made mistakes but who hasn't? Positioning is something a player can naturally have, if not CAN come with time and experience. Huddlestone is still young and is still developing as a player. Im a big fan of Spanish football and I remeber the early days when Xavi was breaking into the Barcelona set-up, not the best but very promising. Now look at him, 28-29 an accomplished CM which most top sides in the world would be pleased to have in their squad. His positioning is mostly spot on, technically sound, and rarely puts his team under pressure with mistakes. I can assure you he was not this type of player when he was 21-22. He has become that good with experience, just like Gerrard, Lampard etc.
I just wish people would stop saying things like "hes had a few seasons in the top flight now" etc. Yes he has but he has never been a first choice. This season he could become a regular partner for Wilson and could blossom. I tell you one thing though, I would rather have Hudd than some expensive, unproven foreign player who could take just as long to adapt. this season Im sure Arry wants to provide the fans with a good run up the table and we are going to need the experience and players like Hudd to do this whether you think hes prone to making mistakes or not.

 

[Eric_s]

Hud can make a great 60 yard pass. But he pass it so deep in our own half, even though the ball reach lennon, theres nothing much lennon could do to threaten pool's defence as our players are stretch across the pitch and there defenders are all in position. hud's long pass seldom hurt the opposition.
I admit he had one of his best performance on sunday. But he is clearly not good enough to start for us. He is slow and immobile. Furthemore, his free kicks are so poor. I am of the opnion that he is mediocre with long shots.
Modric and Ekotto should from now on take free kicks.