Ratings v Fulham

[Marcus_spur]

9 - Lloris
8 - Eriksen, Kane
7 - Paulinho
6 - Kaboul, Lennon, Naughton
5 - Fryers, Rose, Chadli
3 - Dembele (though, tbf, just got back)

? - Bob, Townsend

 

[fortworthspur]

I watched a different game then some.

To begin with, I like Chadli/Paulinho in the middle. I dont care if neither of them is defensive minded - the last little spell has been our most consistently creative run of the season. Sure a good team could take us apart, but they were doing that already with a different midfield. So I give Tim some credit for trying something different to at least give us an offensive spark. We are brittle at the back, but that is down to personnel and injuries. I enjoyed the game today.

Lloris - 9 no chance on the goal and some fantastic saves

Rose - 6 worked a little harder but just not very bright

Fryers - 6.5 didnt have to do much, tbh, and obliged

Kaboul - 7 I can forgive his occasional mis-step as he is returning to fitness. Definitely a presence on the pitch

Naughton - 7 did alright

Ericksen - 7.5 basically scored two and btw tracks back very well. in the middle of everything

Paulinho - 7.25 one day he will be appreciated

Chadli - 6.75 has a difficult assignment as basically the DM

Lennon - 6.5 still not enough effort

Ade - 6 meh

Kane - 7 nice goal.

 

[Qualsonic]

I think Naughton was our best defender out there today.

Actually I think he was second best to Rose, who had a good game today.

 

[Marty]

As has been mentioned above, it wasn't the most entertaning of 3-1 wins, but there were positives on show. Lloris at his very best, Kane bagging another goal, Eriksen's set pieces of pure sex. But it was certainly more the brilliance of individuals that won it for us than cohesive team play.

Lloris - 8 - Stunning save from Rodallega just after 2-1. Guessed right and stopped a frankly awful penalty. Very good game.

Naughton - 7 - Our best defender today, and you have to credit him for the way he's responded to the critics in this run of games.
Kaboul - 6.5 - Half a mark up for the goal but he's still certainly not at his pre-injury best.
Fryers - 6 - Gets turned too easily and his poke straight back to Sidwell was stupid. Didn't have as much to do second half and as a result grew into the game.
Rose - 7 - He's still too lazy after losing the ball, but had a mostly good game.

Lennon - 7 - Showed for the ball and was willing to run at people occasionally, which is a major improvement. Good cross for Kane.
Paulinho - 7.5 - Good game, right place for the goal and for the most part a good all-round CM performance.
Chadli - 6.5 - I still don't really like seeing him in the middle.
Eriksen - 8 - Two magical set pieces and good all-round play. His reaction when he handballed was classic, he knew what he'd done, thankfully Sidwell struck awfully and Lloris made sure it wasn't punished.

Adebayor - 5 - Our worst performer today by a country mile. Looks like he thinks he's done enough for the season. Give the Soldado/Kane pairing a chance next game.
Kane - 7 - Good goal, showed great strength. A definite starter for the rest of the season.

...

Won't rate the subs but I was quite disappointed with Dembele's cameo, did some really silly things. But he has just come back from injury.

 

[only1waddle]

Am i missing something with the high marks for Paulinho, his work rate was much better than usual, showed more for the ball but he got caught dawdling in possession 5/6 times, 6.5 at best today.

 

[Mr-T]

Can't believe the amount of people giving Paulinho a higher rating than Lennon.

Paulinho - apart from his tap-in - got caught in possession frequently, only seemed to pass sideways or backwards and was pretty anonymous.

Lennon was unlucky not to score, ran his socks off for the team, looked to go forward, dispossessed Rodalega in the box and for once put in a beauty of a cross for his assist.

I know Lennon has been going through a shit spell and arguably shouldn't have been starting of late but FFS, give some credit where it's due...

 

[mpickard2087]

We plugged away, and made the most of set pieces/crosses which isn't always the case, but that was hard work for long parts.

I still am not quite sure what formation Fulham were employing, whether it was a 5-4-1 or a 3-6-1, but either way for large parts of the game it worked against us and we weren't able to play our way through a packed defence. They had a spare centre back to deal with our two strikers, and extra men in midfield to shield and then when the chance presented itself to break forward.

Our players continue to make some stupid decisions, today on many occasions counter attacks came about because of players diving in wrong side or just choosing to close down from the wrong side and getting mugged off completely as the attacker then heads off up field. How hard is it? Get goal side, stand your ground, don't let your man past. Beyond many of our players, even the brightest (Eriksen) it seems. This isn't something that has just happened under Sherwood, but he is responsible currently and is just another in a long line of managers who just isn't shaping up and getting improvement from the team in all the little things such as this. Roll on the summer though, maybe the next one will...

I cant really remember us creating any really decent opportunities, Lennon's bobbly shot helped onto the post I guess being the stand out. Fortunately we had enough moments of quality (two set pieces, one cross and subsequent header) to shade the result. Another win, hopefully a few more by the end of the season, but long term lets hope it is better than this.

Ratings:

Lloris - Class act and had some really good moments. Thanks for the two years of service, we don't deserve a third from you but if you would...

Naughton - Some people saying he was our best defender... Nah. Every time Dejagah got the ball he chose to cut inside, every time Naughton fell for it. Comfortable enough with the ball at his feet but his lack of confidence to drive forward with the ball is a real killer of momentum and some half-decent opportunities.

Kaboul - He improved a little bit in the second half but I have real issues with the guy at the moment, a shadow of his former self. Lets start with his work with the ball, worse than Dawson when it comes to aimless punts upfield, at least Dawson is most of the time looking as if he is trying to pick someone out with the switch of play. He dawdles on the ball runs into traffic, or gives a sloppy pass that puts a team mate under pressure. When it comes to defending he doesn't at any point try to cover his partner and is found miles ahead of him, and as I said in the match thread he has developed the habit of getting attracted to and chasing after the ball as if he is a little kid just playing football for the first time. The goal, although unlucky, being an example of this. Must improve.

Fryers - Some ropey moments, just about ok. I thought it was a bit unlucky for the goal but he could do with being more assertive and commanding, which may come with games played and added confidence. Didn't help playing alongside Kaboul during that first half.

Rose - For him, not a terrible bad performance.

Lennon - Would still like to see more from him with the ball, but I'll give him his dues it was a very good cross with his weaker foot for the goal and he did work hard today.

Paulinho - Uh, what to make of this... I'll start off with the positives, he put himself about much more today as if he had finally woken out of his stupor. Chased/hassled and won the ball back well a few times. Not perfect but much better and needs to keep the effort up. With the ball continues to annoy me, I think he makes poor decisions, picks it up in the wrong areas, struggles to turn with the ball and open up the pitch and can dawdle with it. I'd rather he was further up the pitch and not acting as some deep lying supremo orchestrating the play.

Chadli - I cant really remember an awful lot about him today. Was kind of there, floating about in the middle of the pitch without really contributing anything of great purpose.

Eriksen - Not his best 90 mins in open play, but some great delivery with his set pieces. Worked pretty hard.

Adebayor - Pretty disappointing display. Not convinced he is fully fit, since his comeback has been subdued in the last three games.

Kane - Didn't have a great deal of service today but keeps plugging away, chasing things down, showing for the ball and taking up positions in the box and was rewarded with another goal from a smart header. Keep it going lad.

Subs:

Dembele - Pretty average when he came on, in my opinion.

Soldado + Townsend - Too late into the game really to critique.

 

[Mr Pink]

I thought Paulinho was very poor today. Was really watching him closely and in the first half in particular he made mistake after mistake and just coasted about, he's very casual in terms of defensive work and getting back.

Lost count of the amount of times he lost possession to.

Not impressed at all to be honest and was a big part of why Fulham looked so comfortable in midfield in the first half.

 

[THFCSPURS19]

I thought Paulinho was very poor today. Was really watching him closely and in the first half in particular he made mistake after mistake and just coasted about, he's very casual in terms of defensive work and getting back.

Not impressed at all to be honest and was a big part of why Fulham looked so comfortable in midfield in the first half.

Huh? He was by no means perfect but saying he was very poor is quite a bit over the top- I thought he was good (well, at least much better than his previous performances)

 

[Mr Pink]

Huh? He was by no means perfect but saying he was very poor is quite a bit over the top- I thought he was good (well, at least much better than his previous performances)

Well I certainly don;t think he was good. I'm just going by what I was watching, he lost possession several times in the first half and made no attempt to retrieve it.

Right place for the goal, but he was completely unmarked - never seen anybody have as much space as that at a set piece before, he didn't even need to move. Obviously credit for sticking it away.

I'm a Pualinho fan by the way but I really did watch him closely today. Don't forget, we were getting out played in the first half and it hadn't been for the delivery of Eriksen we probably wouldn't of won that game.

Perhaps very poor was an exaggeration, but I definitely wasn't convinced by him today.

 

[Jimbolio]

I don't ever recall in 40 years of supporting Spurs being so bored whilst watching us win 3-1.....

I agree. I think it's been pretty dull for the past two seasons to be honest. it's due to this high line nonsense IMO. teams just sit back and we don't have the creativity to break them down (except via set pieces). I think the players are a good standard individually but don't like the system

 

[davidmatzdorf]

Lloris - 8.5 - superb throughout, MotM

Naughton - 6 - reliable, but not quite up to the level he has achieved recently when playing RB

Kaboul - 6 - seemed lackadaisical until he scored and then played like a man possessed - odd

Fryers - 6 - unfortunate and clumsy for the Fulham goal, but solid thereafter

Rose - 6 - a pretty good game for Rose, better than he has been recently and closer to his pre-injury form

Lennon - 7 - the best from Lennon for quite awhile - got an assist with a fine cross, made 2 or 3 crucial defensive interventions, passed and ran effectively and would have scored if not for a fine save from Stockdale

Paulinho - 6.5 - playing in a 2 man central midfield had, slightly surprisingly, improved his performances, because he can't hide and can't drift out of games - the more Paulinho is on the ball and in the middle of things, the better he seems to play - and of course his movement for the first goal was very canny

Chadli - 6 - workmanlike

Eriksen - 7.5 - as well as the set-pieces, there were also several attacking passes and some good interplay with the strikers - loses a half-point for the penalty, which wasn't as unfortunate as it looks, because he could have cleared the ball before the flick-up his arm

Kane - 7 - as well as his goals, I like his positioning and choice of runs - he also carried the ball well, although he'll have to learn not to try to beat one too many men

Adebayor - 6 - dropped back into midfield for much of the game, letting Kane be the main target - did well when on the ball and showed for it frequently, but too far from the goal action

Dembele - 6 - in the absence of a fit and in-form Sandro, he was the best choice as a defensive midfielder and he did what was needed, against a subdued Fulham, without any fuss

Soldado - 6 - passed and ran well, but only had one chance, when Adebayor should have had a shot himself, but passed badly to Soldado instead, giving him little to work with

Townsend - 6 - showing signs of getting his pace back


A lot of players on 6 - it was that kind of a game, with no one sub-par, but only Lloris, Eriksen, Lennon and Kane showing any real quality.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

MeinkampfTim and the Billy Bremner syndrome.

AVB clearly couldn't hold a candle to Sherwood. I'm not talking PPG, GPG or possession stats here. Whilst AVB could only manage to upset the crown prince of Togo and the Germanic court jester, Sherwood has managed to fuck off Levy, Baldini, most of the players signed last summer, Sandro, Vertonghen, a huge section of fans and anyone with any sartorial taste.

I think he may have surpassed Redknapp in the "how fucking stupid and self serving can I sound at the same time" stakes, he's certainly learned from the master.

That early confident cheeky chappie has given way to to a flouncy bitter queen determined to take down as many as he can as he drowns in the quicksand of his own effluence.

What he said about Sandro post match today was so unnecessary. I read the Sandro tweet. It basically said "I'm not injured, just not picked, hope the team win though". Was it really necessary to say "he's not good enough for my squad" to the nation ?

I wouldn't always pick Sandro for every game, but then, I wouldn't pick an auxiliary striker (who was again so ineffective in the role he had to be subbed) to play CM2 either. And there's no need to slag him off publicly either, common sense says you may need him one day ?

I don't like the 442, I don't like Chadli as a CM, I don't like Chadli and Paulinho as a CM2, I don't like Eriksen as a LM in a 442, I don't want Fryers playing ahead of Chiriches at this juncture, I don't think Kane and Adebayor are a good match, I don't like the way we hump the ball like a long ball team so often and I don't really want to see Lennon ever again.

We are tactically a fucking shambles. We are just lucky to have a couple of quality individuals and the remnants of a (fairly sterile) passing game.

The first half was't great but at least we didn't come out as comatose as we have the last dozen or so games (apparently we have gone behind in our previous 8 games) although we still had the outstanding Lloris to thank for not going behind again. Fulham were well organised, diligent defensively and on chances created can probably count themselves a bit unlucky to lose 1-3 as Lloris made 3 or 4 world class saves and two of ours came from set pieces and we really didn't create anything clever other than those and Lennon's cross into the box for Kane.

It wasn't all dire, there was some ok approach play at times, plenty of possession and some huffing and puffing. But the usual lack of wit and verve, and some of our movement is shocking. Lennon being the worst culprit on show. We were watching him (my mate who was sitting next me) and we lost count of the times people were in possession looking for an outlet and he had managed to actively position himself (and we watched him seek them out) behind opponents and point to nowhere to receive the ball. Countless times Naughton or Paulinho or Chadli had the ball and he just hid. He was fucking lucky that the only decent attacking contribution he made resulted in a goal. He's a fucking waste of footballing oxygen and it is a travesty of epic dimensions that he's still breathing ours. As people like Kane & Bentaleb have proved, we have kids knocking on the door desperately trying to break in who could surely beat a couple of assists and a goal over 25 games, and wouldn't play hide and seek the rest of the time.

But generally our movement offensively and defensively lacks urgency and wit.

Chadli was poor again, Paulinho (68/75 - 91%) by far the harder working, seeing nearly 50% more of the ball and more than everyone bar Kaboul, and made more tackles than anyone as well as tapping in a goal.

If we played a proper CM next to Paulinho or even better a 3 man midfield, Paulinho might even be able to get forward a bit more.

Eriksen beside the two superb free kicks was pretty ordinary, lets qualify that, his ordinary is still a far more tangible thing than the likes of Lennon, but by his standards he wasn't great and also gave away a daft penalty.

Adebayor has been having those type of games lately we saw all last season under AVB. Lots of huff and puff but not a lot is coming off. He actually saw a fuck of a lot of ball today (receiving it 61 times, 49/57 passes) that's double Kane's (34 - 19/21) contribution for example.

Kane didn't actually see a lot of ball but continues to show that he's well worth his squad place. I like plenty about the kid, his movement is pretty good, his technique very adequate for a hold up striker and he works.

I just don't think these two belong together, Adebayor is obviously vastly superior but they are both the same species, hold up / link guys who's instincts and skill sets are too similar, better playing solo fulcrum or with a small poacher feeding off them maybe.

We have scored 11 goals in our last three games, but there has been a good deal of shambolic shit interspersed in those games. Our movement is often poor and lazy, we lack discipline and organisation and are tactically devoid.

I didn't enjoy it under Redknapp and I'm not enjoying it now.

Individual stuff:

Lloris - MOTM today. Some outstanding stops.

Naughton - I actually thought he was pretty poor.

Kaboul - Humped the ball way too much, was defensively pretty OK but nearly got caught on the ball a couple of times.

Fryers - Hot potato footballer who looked no more reliable that Chiriches. Don't know what he was doing for the goal either.

Rose - His usual witless contribution offensively, but defensively was pretty OK.

Paulinho - Again, I thought he was pretty OK. Saw more ball than all the other players ahead of the defence, made more tackles and scored a goal. Can't be easy playing midfield on your own in the EPL either.

Chadli - I get the impression Ferdinand Sherwood hasn't abandoned this stupid experiment - which isn't making us any more creative or incisive in itself - because he now needs to prove a point, and (if allowed) would play Chadli in CM for another 27 games until he played a through ball and would then post match how "the boys got that in his locker, that's why we play him there".

Lennon - Decent cross for Kane's goal. Scuffed shot. Lots of hiding and pointing and fuck all.

Eriksen - Great set pieces, didn't really break above OK by his standards apart from them, stupid hand ball.

Adebayor - Lots of movement and effort, with Kane given the more forward role, less influence in the box.

Kane - A good knock from the kid, good movement, he's bright eyed and bushy tailed and took his goal well.

 

[Twizzle]

Sandro MOM

 

[Strikeb4ck]

Well I certainly don;t think he was good. I'm just going by what I was watching, he lost possession several times in the first half and made no attempt to retrieve it.

Right place for the goal, but he was completely unmarked - never seen anybody have as much space as that at a set piece before, he didn't even need to move. Obviously credit for sticking it away.

I'm a Pualinho fan by the way but I really did watch him closely today. Don't forget, we were getting out played in the first half and it hadn't been for the delivery of Eriksen we probably wouldn't of won that game.

Perhaps very poor was an exaggeration, but I definitely wasn't convinced by him today.

We were getting outplayed? What game were you watching mate?

 

[Tit&Ham]

....the shambles in our lack of tactics/game plan are something to behold - at least the team had a semblance of structure under AVB, now we look like a pack of headless chickens chasing the ball for 90 minutes.

Lloris man of the match for me. Did more to win us the game then Eriksen's contribution.

9 - Lloris
8 - Eriksen
7 - Paulinho, Kane, Naughton, Lennon
6 - Fryers, Kaboul, Rose, Chadli
5 - Ade

7 - Dembele
6 - Soldado
5 - Townsend

It's what I wished AVB would do... It seems that easy: close the back at good teams, gung-ho against poor teams...

 

[Tit&Ham]

Nice to see Lennon and Rose performing above average again! But have still given up on both...

Eriksen is so class, but except the assist he was mediocre... It's just that he is mediocre because no one is doing the runs! You can see he is looking for the good choices every time, but there aren't any...

Our defence is chaos.

Adebayor is really a midfielder

 

[CJMurray]

I wonder how people are going to defend Paulinho's bottled tackles next season once the world cup is done with. He's not going to turn into some battler that gets stuck in. He is what he is, it's natural instinct. You've either got the desire to fight and get stuck in or you don't.

 

[scat1620]

[EDIT - redacted BC's post for quoting purposes as the original was longer than Bobby Soldado's nose. But no need for actual quotes, it's a Bus Conductor ratings post: you all know exactly how it will read no matter the score nor the performance.]

Agree with a fair chunk of your assessment, BC, but I think you've been far too kind with Kaboul and Adebayor, and a tad too harsh with Lennon. For a change. Ahem.

The "anyone with any sartorial taste" line was very funny though.

 

[fortworthspur]

I wonder how people are going to defend Paulinho's bottled tackles next season once the world cup is done with. He's not going to turn into some battler that gets stuck in. He is what he is, it's natural instinct. You've either got the desire to fight and get stuck in or you don't.

what needs defending? He is second only to Dembele in successful tackles (83 to 75) and has 7 fewer appearances than Dembele. He is our best tackler in tackles per appearance.