Is our pitch too small?

[ghetto_spur]

Dembele came out and said this on the standard about the size of our piitch;

“It’s not easy for us,” said the Belgium midfielder. “We know that some teams are going to come here and make a block, and we don’t have a big pitch so it’s even more difficult.

“A small pitch makes it harder. If we have more space, it’s easier for us but we have to find a way. The manager will speak to us as well, because we always have a bit of difficulty with these kinds of teams. We’ve spoken about it, and everyone was saying ‘wow, it’s unbelievable — everybody is playing like this against us’. But it’s not only us, because these kinds of sides do it against all the top teams.

“It’s maybe a bit easier for us when teams try to attack us. It was a similar situation last year in games like this. We hardly ever win them comfortably but we have a lot of quality in the squad, so there must be a way to find it and I think we will.”

White Hart Lane is 100 metres long and 67m wide and only Crystal Palace, Fulham and Stoke have smaller pitches. The majority in the Premier League are 105m long and 68m wide.

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/foo...ve-andre-villasboas-more-support-8908752.html

So my question is, do you guys think our narrower pitch is making it more difficult for AVB's way of playing? I.E. making it easier for teams coming to WHL to stifle us?

 

[jamesc0le]

wutang forever

 

[crokey]

I don't care what size the pitch is, as long as it's the size our players are most comfortable with. If the players want a bigger pitch, make it bigger

 

[WestBelfast Spurs]

it was fine the last load of years before Mousa brought it up plus 1/2 meter each side to make it wider would that make the difference, making it longer would just isolate RS more!!

 

[CowInAComa]

Dembele came out and said this on the standard about the size of our piitch;

“It’s not easy for us,” said the Belgium midfielder. “We know that some teams are going to come here and make a block, and we don’t have a big pitch so it’s even more difficult.

“A small pitch makes it harder. If we have more space, it’s easier for us but we have to find a way. The manager will speak to us as well, because we always have a bit of difficulty with these kinds of teams. We’ve spoken about it, and everyone was saying ‘wow, it’s unbelievable — everybody is playing like this against us’. But it’s not only us, because these kinds of sides do it against all the top teams.

“It’s maybe a bit easier for us when teams try to attack us. It was a similar situation last year in games like this. We hardly ever win them comfortably but we have a lot of quality in the squad, so there must be a way to find it and I think we will.”

White Hart Lane is 100 metres long and 67m wide and only Crystal Palace, Fulham and Stoke have smaller pitches. The majority in the Premier League are 105m long and 68m wide.
http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/foo...ve-andre-villasboas-more-support-8908752.html

So my question is, do you guys think our narrower pitch is making it more difficult for AVB's way of playing? I.E. making it easier for teams coming to WHL to stifle us?

No. Didnt stop Arsenal at Highbury.

 

[Aaron140]

Do they not realise movement equals space?

 

[Spurrific]

Yeah, it's too small. I'm surprised we manage to fit all the players and the officials on it.

 

[TaoistMonkey]

We need smaller players. Simple.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

I've just looked here, and according to this we have the smallest pitch in the league bar West Ham:

http://www.openplay.co.uk/blog/premiership-football-pitch-sizes-2012-2013/

 

[dagraham]

No, we are just making excuses, which successful teams don't do. As someone else said, Highbury was smaller and Wenger's team seemed to play on it just fine.

 

[absolute bobbins]

Does it make a difference? Yes - We're missing out on 440 square meters, no matter which way you slice it thats quite a bit of space

Is there anything done about it at the Lane? No - Otherwise it would already have been done

Can solutions be coached? Yes - I suspect that AVB is working on it but it's not a quick fix and it'll be hard getting half the first team squad to actually sit behind the ball in a simulated match

 

[absolute bobbins]

No, we are just making excuses, which successful teams don't do. As someone else said, Highbury was smaller and Wenger's team seemed to play on it just fine.

Different time, different mentality and an overly simplistic argument. The Scum success at Highbury was down to Wenger instilling professionalism (which the English have always had a problem with) and sports science, when everyone else caught up the current barren spell commenced. Pitch had nothing to do with it

 

[dagraham]

Different time, different mentality and an overly simplistic argument. The Scum success at Highbury was down to Wenger instilling professionalism (which the English have always had a problem with) and sports science, when everyone else caught up the current barren spell commenced. Pitch had nothing to do with it

That's exactly my point. If anything, they succeeded in tearing the opposition a new one, whilst playing entertaining football despite having the smallest pitch. So we can't now use our pitch size as an excuse.

 

[Geyzer Soze]

I'm told size doesn't matter anyway.

 

[CowInAComa]

That's exactly my point. If anything, they succeeded in tearing the opposition a new one, whilst playing entertaining football despite having the smallest pitch. So we can't now use our pitch size as an excuse.

Youre bang on the money. What a pathetic excuse, we seriously need to man up and stop looking for excuses away from the training pitch.

 

[TEESSIDE1]

Bale/Lennon and Ekotto/Walker never had a problem galloping up and down the wing when he used to to play a 4-4-2. It's only since we ditched playing 2 natural wingers or having 2 full backs capable of overlapping the winger/attacking midfielder that we've all of a sudden started having problems.

Lennon/Lamela and Townsend, supported by Rose and Walker = a higher tempo, stretching teams and creating space.

Sig and Townsend, supported by Naughton and Walker = no pace/width or creativity on the left, leaving us completely lopsided and if the opposition shutdown their left hand side, we've got to go through the middle, which gives the impression that the pitch is small (due to overcrowding) ... resulting in our current problems.

 

[JimmyG2]

Workman/ Tools.

 

[Spurs 1961]

Dembele is a genius! The change from small creative players like Modric to big beasts...like Dembele...who need oceans of space to move and run into has not taken into account our small pitch! Brilliant let's just buy smaller players in future and all our problems are solved!

 

[OmarsComing]

I thought that all pitches were the same size from this season or last?

 

[Ironskullll]

I think it's inhibited decades worth of Spurs teams. Have always thought it a factor.