*** PORTSMOUTH v SPURS *** Official Match Thread

[ChRiStOpHe]

[yt]nT1TVSTkAXg[/yt]

:-|

Nidgey baby, your use of the :| smiley is getting almost as bad as Carl.'s use of the :lol: smiley... *shakes head*

 

[ckafetz]

Zokora seems a better player when he is at centre back. Maybe we should keep him there

 

[don1]

sky sports said kaboul and zokora were rock solid at the back

 

[Dibby]

Yeah it like the irony of having a match thread to discuss what happened in the match.


I sometimes wonder why I bother :-|

seconded, gloves off :-|

Meh.

:shake:

 

[Bingy]

The Defence played well today....but, as has been said, we were a bit more 'direct' when clearing the ball. I am still at a loss as to WHY our, up to recently, solid CB combination has become less dependable than any in our CB history. Ledley may be a welcome addition to the 'fold' but I feel that we are, sadly, lacking in real defensive options. If I close my eyes and count to 10 maybe we will improve? lol.
COYS!

 

[don1]

plus nice price for the vcash

 

[PT]

Yeah. YEAH. Then we can get a new DM.

 

[Dibby]

Zokora, easily MOM for me. Defended swiftly and effectively, made instant decisions, played great passes, made surging runs with the ball etc. I can't think of one mistake.


Even the Zoko haters must agree he had a great game.

 

[nidge]

And threads merged. Man that felt good :dance:

 

[TheChosenOne]

I forgot to have a wager today, glad because I would havew gone for a draw !

Had a glance at the table, Fulham & Newcastle playing at the mo, a draw could be good for our cause.

Gotta run, off to pub soon, only for a couple or six back later szzzszzzzz

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

I agree. I just think it is ironic that we pay £8 million for a central midfielder yet his best games for us this season have been at centre back.

Yes I know what you are saying. Maybe him and Jenas don't really work together, neither seem to know what they are meant to be doing when they are together. I find it interesting that Zokora was most definately the senior partner in defence today and JJ was the senior partner in midfield today and they both stepped up and put in their best performances. Also Kaboul and Boateng probably played better as a result of having a more senior player next to them (not that it easy to judge in Boateng's case, but JJ was everywhere so I am sure Boateng looked better as a result)

 

[Bill_Oddie]

Jenas and Boateng controlled the midfield in a way that never happened with Zokora along side Jenas. Today JJ and KPB complemented each other nicely but, Jenas was for me the better of the two.

Couldn't agree more, mate. Spot on.

Chrissivad, it had all to do with the defenders. Kaboul and Zokora were excellent and everyone else gave 100% to help them too, particularly Jenas, who made around 3 last man tackles. And Robbo held on excellently to 2 fierce low shots, which on other occassion could've easily rebounded off him.

Again, spot on. And I hope BC is recording those 2 for his 'Robbo hasn't saved a shot from outside the box since 1997' file. :wink:

Seems like people are fighting over who was the best today, Jenas or Boateng. Now, I cant say anything about that, but when was the last time we argued over which of our CENTRAL MIDFIELDERS was man of the match? Back in the days of Carrick and Jenas, I reckon...

:lol: Good point. Like Nidge, I'd have to say JJ did outshine The Fresh Prince, who was lucky to get all the free-kick decisions that he did, but nonetheless, both were very good.

The most interesting thing for me, is that we've had a week to prepare for this match - the 1st time in Ramos' reign. And so he must have been practicing with JJ and Boateng all week. I wonder if that means that this is the side he sees as his best? Prob not as Zoko had to play at BC, but perhaps the Ghetto Kid isn't far off...

 

[Dannyspur]

I only saw the second half but we were playing to feet instead of long diagonal balls. Lennon put in a couple of superb balls, one for Berbs to score and another that Bent bottled when he should have put his head in. We didn't mess about when needed we got the ball away from the danger area. This was definately one of the best halves of football I thnk we've played ths season.

 

[keenu]

Best result of the season so far!

 

[yanno]

The most interesting thing for me, is that we've had a week to prepare for this match - the 1st time in Ramos' reign. And so he must have been practicing with JJ and Boateng all week.

Except Dawson presumably pulled out late with his illness. So we don't know if Zokora or Kaboul was meant to partner Dawson at CB. And whether the Prince or Zoko was meant to play CM with JJ.

Which frankly makes the good organisation of the team even more impressive.

What we also know is that Kaboul certainly seemed to enjoy playing at RCB in Dawson's absence.

 

[Juande_Ramos]

I only saw the second half but we were playing to feet instead of long diagonal balls. Lennon put in a couple of superb balls, one for Berbs to score and another that Bent bottled when he should have put his head in. We didn't mess about when needed we got the ball away from the danger area. This was definately one of the best halves of football I thnk we've played ths season.

Your signature should read (if you want to make Spanish):

Vamos espuelas,

and even better

Vamos Spurs!

Espuelas is to do with horses. It just doesn't sound right in Spanish for a football team.

 

[Mullers]

Very pleased to get the win today.Superb cross by Lennon for the goal. Zokora as an emergency center back is fine, but he isn't the tallest so I don't have much confidence in him defending set pieces successfully.

 

[alfiespurs]

Ramos the Master Tactician .... I thought Boatang played ok .... But Jenas was great along with no nonsense clearing from Zoko Pops !!!

 

[don1]

robbo said on ssn that the hole team defended well as a team and attacked as a team that they have been work hard in training long may ye work hard

 

[speccy_spur]

Credit to Zoko & Kaboul today. Good solid 90 mins. Noticeable that Robbo stayed nailed to his line and let them deal with all balls around the box (Eek) - obviously something worked at in training this week. Only time it did not work was when (the vastly overrated) Nugent got a header just over. Better closing on the edge of the 16-yard also. Slowly but surely Ramos' methods bearing fruit.

Scrappy game, but we easily deserved the win. Thought Lennon was weak holding the ball today, but did great to seize the opportunity to put a far post ball in for the lurking Berba. Reckon Bent would have missed that today. He was the big disappointment for me. JD to start against Citeh?

Boateng did well, but needs to be a bit quicker to lay off a pass. Caught on the ball too often, although he did always seem to win the free-kick. If only we had a fit player who was any good taking them....