***Match Ratings v Norwich***

[Spurs_Bear]

Aaaaarrgghhhhhhh!!!!!! Can we please stop talking about the fucking FBs!?! The whole team played well and turn this into a debate about the FB's is fucking dull!

Anyway, first thing, all hail Harry :bowdown::bowdown: !!! Ok his hand was forced somewhat by who he had available, but M&S style, he didn't just play 4-2-3-1 he played the right kind of 4-2-3-1!

I read post after post pre-match going on about balance when what they meant was a dull kind of symmetry. Even 4-4-2 doesn't have to be symmetrical; see the way we used to play with Lennon on the right, backed by sitting FB and Modric on the left over-lapped by Bale. In fact asymmetry can be a wonderful, even balanced, thing. Symmetry gave you the First World War, asymmetry is what won the reputations of everyone from Scipio Africanus, to Napoleon Bonapart.

Balance on the other hand is about having a team who can play well with and without the ball, it's about being able to go wide or or through the centre, long or short.

Yesterday we had the best balance I've seen this season between the team on the ball and the team off the ball, and I'm glad to say that it was in a good way and not a bad one.

Ok, it wasn't perfect, at times in the first half we looked a bit anxious, like we we trying to make things happen rather than do the simple thing and let things happen as they inevitably would. I also thought our FBs were a bit wasteful in attacking situations, and we were a bit too congested in the centre at times, where our licence to be fluid resulted in everyone wanting to get on the ball in the same areas. But let's give it time, this is a new way of playing for most and as the game progressed there were signs of them starting to not only get to grips, but to really flow with it.

One thing to emphasise, just as sometimes when we go away from home and don't do well in a 4-4-2 and people are wrong to say "Oh well, it's just the players didn't perform well enough; nothing to do with the formation!", so people are wrong to think our formation yesterday had nothing to do with inducing a poor performance out of Norwich.

For most of the match yesterday they literally had no where to breath. Every long ball heaved forward had a Kaboul/Sandro sandwich on their lumps of strikers, with Gallas sweeping up the pieces.

Not once were we caught on the break, we always had the spare man.

How man times did Sandro make his opposite man pause only for a Parker or Modric to come back and nip the ball off his toes? How often were we exposed on right or left channel despite our FBs spending so much time in the opposition half? Not often, I wonder why?

As dozens of us have been banging on for a season it seems, playing two CMs who can tackle means you have more possession further up the field.

All of which is not to say we must always play 4-2-3-1 in every situation from now on. It's another string to our bow, we have a squad of capable players all of whom need game-time, and different line-ups and formations will better suit different opponents and circumstances. When Lennon and Defoe are back fit it really will be a case of horses for courses.

Finally, here's a short bit from the Telegraph interviewing Redknapp after the match:

"...Bale, swiftly moving in from the left, became ever more influential, marauding through the middle and finishing the game on the right flank. “I played him in a fluid three tonight rather than stick him out on the wing,’’ added Redknapp.
“Sometimes he can be stood out on the wing and people get tight to him and it’s difficult to get him in the game. In the middle, he can be difficult to pick up. When he turns and runs like he did, he’s unstoppable. He’s unplayable. Even against Chelsea I freed him up more late in the game and he slotted in Ade.”

And BC also reports Harry said something along the lines of:

"Q: How many positions did Gareth Bale play tonight ?

HR: Yeah...I basically gave Gareth and Rafa free roles tonight, and said whoever's nearest to defend that channel and if they couldn't get over there one of the others (Modric, Parker, Sandro) will shuffle across.
"

I said before the match:

:bow:

 

[gp13tot]

Didn't watch the match as i was witnessing the birth of my beautiful baby daughter Eva, our first child.

But given that her indoctrination started a long time ago and she knows what fun it is when Tottenham win away, she awards everyone 10! Well done lads!

I thought these two away games could be banana skins as Norwich have pulled up a few trees this season and had some excellent results/performances. Sounds like we played really well and put a weak/promoted/both side to bed, something Spurs have had issues with previously

Lets hope we give Swansea the same treatment! COYS!

 

[Chimbo!]

Bale was motm and that requires no explanation.

I think special mentions should go to Kaboul who was imperious and Sandro who snuffed out anything Norwich had to offer along with the consistent Parker.

P.S. Did anyone remember that ridiculous 60 yard pass by VDV? Adebayor scuffed the 2nd touch but that was a sensational bit of football from the Dutchman.

 

[StartingPrice]

Friedel - 7, not a lot to do but really good distribution
Walker - 9, really has improved defensively.
Kaboul - 8 dominant
Gallas - 7
BAE - 6.5 still not his best imo, not very good crossing

VDV - 6.5, not his best.
Modric - 8, runs the show.
Sandro - 9, he's a beast, amazing player
Parker - 7
Bale - 9 world class player

Ade - 7, good assist for the first goal and worked hard.

Boris...Boris, is that you mg:
Bang your head during your abscence :rofl:

Perhaps those ratings are a bit OTT for a 2-0 win over Norwich, but that was the performance top teams make a habit of. Norwich to their great credit worked hard and never gave up, but they were thoroughly outclassed all over the pitch.

I think this needs highlighted, as certain posters are kinda missing this point/painting Norwich as being dreadful rather than accepting how well we played.

1) I remember Walker making two or three tackles where he used his pace. That's good, but isn't that the least we should expect ? 2) I mean he wasn't quite so efficient defensively last week when he was up against better players was he ?

3) It's good putting in a couple of dangerous looking crosses but again, he did have acres of space to do it and I repeat, 4) he didn't actually make a single one count all night. Period. 5) And he did also give the ball away a frighteningly high amount of times. I'm not saying he was poor or bad, just not spectacular.

1) That is what he is in the team for...does that mean we shouldn't applaud him for fulfilling his function very well (makes mental note to never again praise Modric for knitting midfield together).

2) No (well, debatable), but this is the thread for marking him tonight, not for you to reconvene your previous (partially imagined) gripes.

3) Eek I kinda thought that he made that space and against a dogged and hard-working norwich team.

4) Well, no, because his job is putting dangerous crosses in and in order to do that he can't be in the box at the same time making them count. Last season it was Crouch's fault for not capitalising on the dangerous crosses put into the box, this season it is Walker's fault because no-one is capitalising.

5) He got rid of the ball in positions where you would be criticising BAE for trying to be fancy with it.

I belong to the camp that thinks the stunned Walker fans seeing Roberto Carlos are way over excited . He did OK but MoM is plain silly Walker 6.5

Walker 6.5 :rofl:

I made him MOM and I think your assessment is plain silly.

Didn't watch the match as i was witnessing the birth of my beautiful baby daughter Eva, our first child.

But given that her indoctrination started a long time ago and she knows what fun it is when Tottenham win away, she awards everyone 10! Well done lads!

I thought these two away games could be banana skins as Norwich have pulled up a few trees this season and had some excellent results/performances. Sounds like we played really well and put a weak/promoted/both side to bed, something Spurs have had issues with previously

Lets hope we give Swansea the same treatment! COYS!

:clap: Congrats...hope you have been playing her Whale songs, rhthmicall chanting "Support the Yids, hate the Goons, support the Yids, hate the Goons" in the womb :grin:

 

[MrWoolley]

4) Well, no, because his job is putting dangerous crosses in and in order to do that he can't be in the box at the same time making them count. Last season it was Crouch's fault for not capitalising on the dangerous crosses put into the box, this season it is Walker's fault because no-one is capitalising.

:lol:

Agree with nearly everything you put SP.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Aaaaarrgghhhhhhh!!!!!! Can we please stop talking about the fucking FBs!?! The whole team played well and turn this into a debate about the FB's is fucking dull!

Anyway, first thing, all hail Harry :bowdown::bowdown: !!! Ok his hand was forced somewhat by who he had available, but M&S style, he didn't just play 4-2-3-1 he played the right kind of 4-2-3-1!

I read post after post pre-match going on about balance when what they meant was a dull kind of symmetry. Even 4-4-2 doesn't have to be symmetrical; see the way we used to play with Lennon on the right, backed by sitting FB and Modric on the left over-lapped by Bale. In fact asymmetry can be a wonderful, even balanced, thing. Symmetry gave you the First World War, asymmetry is what won the reputations of everyone from Scipio Africanus, to Napoleon Bonapart.

Balance on the other hand is about having a team who can play well with and without the ball, it's about being able to go wide or or through the centre, long or short.

Yesterday we had the best balance I've seen this season between the team on the ball and the team off the ball, and I'm glad to say that it was in a good way and not a bad one.

Ok, it wasn't perfect, at times in the first half we looked a bit anxious, like we we trying to make things happen rather than do the simple thing and let things happen as they inevitably would. I also thought our FBs were a bit wasteful in attacking situations, and we were a bit too congested in the centre at times, where our licence to be fluid resulted in everyone wanting to get on the ball in the same areas. But let's give it time, this is a new way of playing for most and as the game progressed there were signs of them starting to not only get to grips, but to really flow with it.

One thing to emphasise, just as sometimes when we go away from home and don't do well in a 4-4-2 and people are wrong to say "Oh well, it's just the players didn't perform well enough; nothing to do with the formation!", so people are wrong to think our formation yesterday had nothing to do with inducing a poor performance out of Norwich.

For most of the match yesterday they literally had no where to breath. Every long ball heaved forward had a Kaboul/Sandro sandwich on their lumps of strikers, with Gallas sweeping up the pieces.

Not once were we caught on the break, we always had the spare man.

How man times did Sandro make his opposite man pause only for a Parker or Modric to come back and nip the ball off his toes? How often were we exposed on right or left channel despite our FBs spending so much time in the opposition half? Not often, I wonder why?

As dozens of us have been banging on for a season it seems, playing two CMs who can tackle means you have more possession further up the field.

All of which is not to say we must always play 4-2-3-1 in every situation from now on. It's another string to our bow, we have a squad of capable players all of whom need game-time, and different line-ups and formations will better suit different opponents and circumstances. When Lennon and Defoe are back fit it really will be a case of horses for courses.

Finally, here's a short bit from the Telegraph interviewing Redknapp after the match:

"...Bale, swiftly moving in from the left, became ever more influential, marauding through the middle and finishing the game on the right flank. “I played him in a fluid three tonight rather than stick him out on the wing,’’ added Redknapp.
“Sometimes he can be stood out on the wing and people get tight to him and it’s difficult to get him in the game. In the middle, he can be difficult to pick up. When he turns and runs like he did, he’s unstoppable. He’s unplayable. Even against Chelsea I freed him up more late in the game and he slotted in Ade.”

And BC also reports Harry said something along the lines of:

"Q: How many positions did Gareth Bale play tonight ?

HR: Yeah...I basically gave Gareth and Rafa free roles tonight, and said whoever's nearest to defend that channel and if they couldn't get over there one of the others (Modric, Parker, Sandro) will shuffle across.
"

I said before the match:

I realise with the amount of freedom everyone had it wasn't always easy to decipher, but I'm pretty sure that what we actually played last night was a 433. Now, I know, at times it was 4231, 424, 42121, 415 even, but I'm pretty sure it's default was 433.

Just saying.

 

[saintlyspur]

I watched the game with two liverpool season ticket holders and one everton season ticket holder and they thought we were fantastic to watch and genuine title contenders and we all agreed that bale was MOM

 

[gp13tot]

:clap: Congrats...hope you have been playing her Whale songs, rhthmicall chanting "Support the Yids, hate the Goons, support the Yids, hate the Goons" in the womb :grin:[/quote]

Cheers SP

As for Whale songs, i could only think of 'Hobo Humpin Slobo Babe' Eek

Yes, she's been subject to plenty of pro-yid praise, anti-goon vitriol pre-arrival.

I'm sure it'll work, that succeeded with her mother, who was a casual Spurs fan before we met, now hates the goons as much as the rest of us!

 

[StartingPrice]

:clap: Congrats...hope you have been playing her Whale songs, rhthmicall chanting "Support the Yids, hate the Goons, support the Yids, hate the Goons" in the womb :grin:

Cheers SP

As for Whale songs, i could only think of 'Hobo Humpin Slobo Babe' Eek

Yes, she's been subject to plenty of pro-yid praise, anti-goon vitriol pre-arrival.

I'm sure it'll work, that succeeded with her mother, who was a casual Spurs fan before we met, now hates the goons as much as the rest of us![/quote]

:up:

 

[Mr Pink]

BC, 22 mins in...watch Walker's cross, you're telling me that he didn't do anything of note in terms of delivery, honestly?

 

[Pinto]

dont get the love for walker - he had a little defending to do, but thats sort of his job. most of his touches were on attack, and it wasnt impressive. he either pulled up outside the box and made a poor cross or went outside and didnt even get it in.

Totally agree, halfway through the match I thought Walker is wide open constantly with good passing from Modric and VDV to give him space and his crossing was horrible for long stretches. If Bale doesn't score I would have bemoaned his crossing and how much we miss Lennon on the wide right of the team.

Don't get me wrong though he is good solid player with pace and is getting better in defense but I just don't see the lovefest everyone is having either.

 

[BringBack_leGin]

Last night wasn't 4231, it was 433. Modric was a left leaning central midfielder who went as deep as he always does and as attacking as he always does, not an attacking central midfielder. We didn't play an attacking central midfielder, we instead had two players cutting in from wide to offer Adebayor complete support. 433 all the way.

Anyway, I don't give much of a shit about that, I care more that I just witnessed some truly special football. No team in the premier league is as capable with the ball as we were last night (and have been in other games this season). At our best we are the classiest and most exciting side in the country without questions.

Friedel had a few early things to deal with, and did, but that aside he was just there and steady. One cross which he dived on made me think (Petr Cech should take notes).

Walker is an absolute dynamo. He gets caught out on occasion but is improving (and let's not forget how little protection VDV offers him) but his pace, energy and work rate are amazing. His crossing is good more often than not and he's an integral part of the way we play.

Gallas was generally very good. He fucked up once with a rash, unnecessary tackle when Kaboul was already covering, but that aside I have no complaints.

Kaboul is a monster. He also has only 2 years remaining come the end of the season, we must tie him down. The last 3 games (two with him, one without) demonstrate why he must be the first centre back on the team sheet every week!

Ekotto has had a little dip in form but he played very well in my opinion, and some of his passes forward are so vital to how we attack. Positionally excellent with his interceptions too.

VDV played well. He's taking a bit of a back seat at the moment in our slight formation change while Lennon's out, but he has been key to our ball retention and the nice link ups we've been witnessing. He won't get in the box as much like this but it's definitely working.

Parker put in the same performance he always put in, he's so consistent. He just gets to balls that he has no right to get to, despite not being a strong or fast human being. Definitely a leader in the middle.

Sandro will be the best defensive midfielder on the planet. I'd already put him in the top 10. The guy has everything and he continues to display it. Absolutely love the vigour and aggression he has, and how he combines it with some lovely ability and intelligence. Simply superb again.

Modric is a magician. None of this flank bullshit, he's a central midfielder and some of his passing last night had me salivating, including for our second goal. I don't ever think he was fully fit, in the first half at least he was pushed off the ball a few times which is strange for him, but the way he had us ticking and moving forward is beyond any words I possess.

Bale had a complete performance, his best since taxi for Maicon in my opinion. You think he's about pace and power, then he dribbles intricately to get out of tight spaces. You think he's a creator, then he ends up having most of our chances. You think he's about getting to the byline and crossing, then he hits a perfect cross field pass. The kid is truly special, world class, and we are lucky to be witnessing his wizardry.

Adebayor was great. He fights so much, I had no idea he was such a great worker. His skill on the ball is lovely, he is a clever passer and dribbler and he's strong as fuck. He's key to how we play and my heart was in my arse when he went down injured.

 

[Mr Pink]

Enjoyed reading your summary BBLG, and agree wholeheartedly :up:

 

[saintlyspur]

Last night wasn't 4231, it was 433. Modric was a left leaning central midfielder who went as deep as he always does and as attacking as he always does, not an attacking central midfielder. We didn't play an attacking central midfielder, we instead had two players cutting in from wide to offer Adebayor complete support. 433 all the way.

Anyway, I don't give much of a shit about that, I care more that I just witnessed some truly special football. No team in the premier league is as capable with the ball as we were last night (and have been in other games this season). At our best we are the classiest and most exciting side in the country without questions.

Friedel had a few early things to deal with, and did, but that aside he was just there and steady. One cross which he dived on made me think (Petr Cech should take notes).

Walker is an absolute dynamo. He gets caught out on occasion but is improving (and let's not forget how little protection VDV offers him) but his pace, energy and work rate are amazing. His crossing is good more often than not and he's an integral part of the way we play.

Gallas was generally very good. He fucked up once with a rash, unnecessary tackle when Kaboul was already covering, but that aside I have no complaints.

Kaboul is a monster. He also has only 2 years remaining come the end of the season, we must tie him down. The last 3 games (two with him, one without) demonstrate why he must be the first centre back on the team sheet every week!

Ekotto has had a little dip in form but he played very well in my opinion, and some of his passes forward are so vital to how we attack. Positionally excellent with his interceptions too.

VDV played well. He's taking a bit of a back seat at the moment in our slight formation change while Lennon's out, but he has been key to our ball retention and the nice link ups we've been witnessing. He won't get in the box as much like this but it's definitely working.

Parker put in the same performance he always put in, he's so consistent. He just gets to balls that he has no right to get to, despite not being a strong or fast human being. Definitely a leader in the middle.

Sandro will be the best defensive midfielder on the planet. I'd already put him in the top 10. The guy has everything and he continues to display it. Absolutely love the vigour and aggression he has, and how he combines it with some lovely ability and intelligence. Simply superb again.

Modric is a magician. None of this flank bullshit, he's a central midfielder and some of his passing last night had me salivating, including for our second goal. I don't ever think he was fully fit, in the first half at least he was pushed off the ball a few times which is strange for him, but the way he had us ticking and moving forward is beyond any words I possess.

Bale had a complete performance, his best since taxi for Maicon in my opinion. You think he's about pace and power, then he dribbles intricately to get out of tight spaces. You think he's a creator, then he ends up having most of our chances. You think he's about getting to the byline and crossing, then he hits a perfect cross field pass. The kid is truly special, world class, and we are lucky to be witnessing his wizardry.

Adebayor was great. He fights so much, I had no idea he was such a great worker. His skill on the ball is lovely, he is a clever passer and dribbler and he's strong as fuck. He's key to how we play and my heart was in my arse when he went down injured.

well said:clap:

 

[kishman]

Pretty much agree with the ratings in the OP.

Great game of football yesterday.

 

[double0]

Eek

mg::grin: