Ratings v Fulham

[robbiesavagehasbreasts]

Oh yes sorry he did say "Huddlestone played two sweet passes" mentions fuck all about his goal, he can't say enough about Huddlestone when feels he has, in his opinion, played poorly.

easy, I know how BC usually is about Hudd. But he wasn't gunning for him in this thread like you suggested he probably would.

 

[Damian99]

easy, I know how BC usually is about Hudd. But he wasn't gunning for him in this thread like you suggested he probably would.

Aye i suppose it's only cos Dawsons injured :wink:

 

[spurs_viola]

Crouch came on and gave away free-kicks elevating the pressure, the fact that he then helped clear those free-kicks is counter productive to say the least.

he also gave the ball away more times than he kept it.

Good team performance today, Modric moving centrally helped us no end, he should not play on the right again, on the left he can at least keep the defenders guessing if he is going to go down the line or cut inside and with Bale overlapping this also creates space as he then has options either side.

On the right he does not have the pace or power to go down the line, and cutting inside onto his weaker foot is not ideal (see Kranjcar, Andy Sinton, Oyvind Leonhardsen for players who were far worse on the side of their natural foot)

Agree with these points. It seems Harry is really trying to accommodate Modric and VDV in the starting line-up while still having a ball-winner next to Huddlestone. Which means no Lennon - and this unbalances the team, while also reducing Modric's effectiveness when he is asked to cover the right side.

The introduction of Lennon usually improves team balance in the 2nd half and other players start playing better too as a result. This was the case v Arsenal, Villa and now v Fulham. In this respect, it's a bit like Crouch giving the ball and free kicks away and then helping in defence; both situations are self-inflicted but make the culprit look better in the end.

But the team got the good result and that is what is most important short-term.

BTW, Murphy's departure in the 2nd half greatly helped us gain much more control in midfield too.

 

[robbiesavagehasbreasts]

Aye i suppose it's only cos Dawsons injured :wink:

or because JJ was an unused sub :wink:

 

[ravo]

I know this should not be here, but I think Dembele was class. Held the ball well, some very good touches as well. Reminds me of Kanoute.

A cheap option in January to replace Keane.

True, he played well, but not a cheap option.

 

[kcmei]

If there is fault it goes to Gallas but I wont be losing any sleep over it, as it was incredibly lucky to go through the legs of two sets of players to find Kamara. You see goals every Saturday that involve a lot less concentration when a defence concede.

You should always be concentrating and expecting but I hardly think it warrants too much criticism in this instance. It was flipping lucky.

im actually more angry at gallas for attempting to stick his foot out for hudd's goal

 

[HertfordSpur]

Was at the game yesterday, only just got round to writing up my thoughts....

Gomes 7 - a couple of good saves, but not much to do
BAE 9 - MOM - always mobile, great cover and use of the ball
King 7 - shame he went off, always looked imperious
Gallas 8 - a very cool head and, despite his history, a very useful player for us
Hutton 7 - got forward, could have scored
Bale 7 - double marked so had little space to get behind the defence
Hudd 9 - excellent performance from Tom, great distribution
Sandro 6 - yes, he looks classy, but for me, not enough drive to get forward
Modric 7 - an average of both halves (5/8), was anonymous in the first half but once in the centre was himself again
VDV 8.5 - this guy gets everywhere, great assist
Pav 7 - did quite well

SUBS:
Bassong 7 - solid
Lennon 8 - got forward well, stretched the game
Crouch n/a

In all, a very good away performance. We were helped greatly by two things. Firstly, had Fulham had a decent strikeforce, we could have lost this game as Kamara / Salcido missed two sitters. Secondly, when Murphy went off (by far their best player) we RULED the midfield.

Changing the formation at half-time was a masterstroke by Harry. Modric does not work on the right. In fact, I do worry about fitting both him and VDV in the team if we play 442. Once Defoe is back, it'll be interesting to see what Harry does with our two world class attacking midfielders.

 

[spurs_viola]

Was at the game yesterday, only just got round to writing up my thoughts....

Gomes 7 - a couple of good saves, but not much to do
BAE 9 - MOM - always mobile, great cover and use of the ball
King 7 - shame he went off, always looked imperious
Gallas 8 - a very cool head and, despite his history, a very useful player for us
Hutton 7 - got forward, could have scored
Bale 7 - double marked so had little space to get behind the defence
Hudd 9 - excellent performance from Tom, great distribution
Sandro 6 - yes, he looks classy, but for me, not enough drive to get forward
Modric 7 - an average of both halves (5/8), was anonymous in the first half but once in the centre was himself again
VDV 8.5 - this guy gets everywhere, great assist
Pav 7 - did quite well

SUBS:
Bassong 7 - solid
Lennon 8 - got forward well, stretched the game
Crouch n/a

In all, a very good away performance. We were helped greatly by two things. Firstly, had Fulham had a decent strikeforce, we could have lost this game as Kamara / Salcido missed two sitters. Secondly, when Murphy went off (by far their best player) we RULED the midfield.

Changing the formation at half-time was a masterstroke by Harry. Modric does not work on the right. In fact, I do worry about fitting both him and VDV in the team if we play 442. Once Defoe is back, it'll be interesting to see what Harry does with our two world class attacking midfielders.

Agree with most of your points and ratings. But, as I said in my post above, you cannot call filling the obvious gap to fix the obvious error of judgement a masterstoke: as you said, Modric does not work on the right - and most people would have said that even before this match. So why put him there again? Sending Lennon on was a pretty obvious step to bring more balance to the team. Good, if obvious decision - but hardly a masterstroke, imo.

 

[steve]

A triffic win in a game we rode our luck in at times, whilst at other times we showed our skill and played some lovely football. As with Villa, against a hardworking, organised and decent side who play football, it was our extra class that got us through in a tight game. VDV's contribution to this, even in a relatively quiet game for him, cannot be underestimated.

After coming out of the blocks quickly and looking superior in every department, we sat off Fulham and let them back into the game. There was a distinct lack of pressing in the first half which coincided with Fulham's best spell of play, obviously not a coincidence. I don't go with the Modric was poor first half but Huddlestone wasn't. I watched them both give the ball away in quick succession in the first half, Huddlestone twice (both short passes) and Modric three times. In the 2nd half they both improved considerably, and were two of our best players.

I understood the rationale behind HR's initial formation, with Sandro and Huddlestone the protectors, it gives the front 4 the freedom to get forward and with Modric naturally coming inside it allows Hutton to overlap and add to the attack. It didn't quite work, with Modric not seeing much of the ball and Sandro and Huddlestone losing their grip on the midfield after the first 10 minutes.
Sandro looks a very good player. His touch, passing and athleticism were all excellent, but as others have said he's still settling into a new team and country and the pace of the game will take him some time to get used to. Long term he'll be a big player for us I think.

Defensively, especially from set pieces, we are all over the place at times. The Camara free header in the first half was absolutely shocking from our point of view. I've watched it 5 times now, and still can't decide who was to blame because NO-ONE was picking him up. He just stood in the 6 yard box unmarked with no one near him and a better player would've scored. Second half a Fulham free kick saw a Spurs player picking up 2 Fulham players at the far post (not to mention another free header from a corner that Gomes tipped over) - I just don't understand how this is allowed to happen. It happened against Twente (when they scored) and we seem to lack someone who can very quickly organise the defence at set pieces. I hope the coaches are onto this and sort it out.

I don't hold with the view that many do on here regarding Hutton. I think his positioning and covering are fine, the only reason they may not be at times is because he's an attacking fullback, but when we're defending as a team he's good. He made one crucial interception in the 2nd half when he read the intended pass and covered round, and even for the goal he covered across with Dempsey before he got picked up by King. The ball going through the legs of both was freaky - Gallas was guilty of ball watching a bit but generally was ok I thought.

BAE generally played very well and is a very good footballer. The problem is mental with him sometimes. 2nd half running back towards his own goal, closely pursued, he attempts to cut inside towards goal (instead of the safe option of touch, away from goal) luckily stands on the ball and comes away with it, only to shank the clearance straight back to Fulham who, after some neat play, create a great chance for Camara to miss. It's these little idiosyncracies that let him down at times. Generally he was excellent though.

Lennon made a big difference, probably the best he's played since the injury, and Bale was a constant threat who still needs to work harder defensively.

VDV for the goal was sublime and is obviously a class act and I thought Pav and Crouch were fine.

Despite our stuttering start to the season I think we're a better team than last year without doubt. The regular addition of Bale aside, our extra options at CB make us stronger, the re-emergence of Hutton adds tenacity and dynamism and VDV moves us to a whole new level.

I cant believe that we will go to Arsenal, Man Yoo, Chelsea and Liverpool and get nothing this season. When you consider at Arsenal away last time we played Crouch up top with Keane left and Bentley right, and with a midfield 3 of Palacios, Huddlestone and Jenas then our improvements are clear. Throw in Lennon, VDV, Modric and Bale and we're so much better and far more dangerous and even with the CL I still think we'll finish on a similar or better points total than last season. I hope we win Wednesday but if I had to choose I'd prefer the points next Saturday...

 

[BorisTM]

Crouch came on and gave away free-kicks elevating the pressure, the fact that he then helped clear those free-kicks is counter productive to say the least.

he also gave the ball away more times than he kept it.

Good team performance today, Modric moving centrally helped us no end, he should not play on the right again, on the left he can at least keep the defenders guessing if he is going to go down the line or cut inside and with Bale overlapping this also creates space as he then has options either side.

On the right he does not have the pace or power to go down the line, and cutting inside onto his weaker foot is not ideal (see Kranjcar, Andy Sinton, Oyvind Leonhardsen for players who were far worse on the side of their natural foot)

Why are you defending Modric? Why are you defending a player who has options to pass the ball, which means he has players open to him, yet he hesitates, prefers to dribble and eventually loses the ball and he did that over and over and most of it happened in the middle of the park. How about his abysmal clearance that almost resulted in a goal for Fulham? How about his sorry attempts for through balls and one on ones? Why do we always have to accommodate Modric - he is right footed but he can't play on the right because he does not have pace and power (wtf else does he have anyway?), so lets play him on the left where he can cut inside to make space for Bale, that's ALL? that is his entire expected contribution in the game? making space for Bale? when was the last time he scored a goal after cutting inside? when was the last time he had a go at the goal after cutting inside from the left? how is he gonna score from there if he does not have POWER as you said? Why are people pulling crap outta their arses to excuse a player who is way over his head?

 

[Mr Pink]

Good report Steve, agree with most of that and particluarly with the bit that we are a better team than last season and I believe that we will elcipse that points tally. It will be tough but I see us getting stronger as the season goes on.

 

[Midostouch]

It is hard to choose a man of the match because the whole team played so well and were really effective (albeit Fulham's attack was rubbish). I gave it to Benny because he really looked comfortable and creative. But it could have been Tom or Rafa quite easily.

As I said to my mate after the game - we suddenly find ourselves supporting a very good team. Let's enjoy it!

 

[walworthyid]

Why are you defending Modric? Why are you defending a player who has options to pass the ball, which means he has players open to him, yet he hesitates, prefers to dribble and eventually loses the ball and he did that over and over and most of it happened in the middle of the park. How about his abysmal clearance that almost resulted in a goal for Fulham? How about his sorry attempts for through balls and one on ones? Why do we always have to accommodate Modric - he is right footed but he can't play on the right because he does not have pace and power (wtf else does he have anyway?), so lets play him on the left where he can cut inside to make space for Bale, that's ALL? that is his entire expected contribution in the game? making space for Bale? when was the last time he scored a goal after cutting inside? when was the last time he had a go at the goal after cutting inside from the left? how is he gonna score from there if he does not have POWER as you said? Why are people pulling crap outta their arses to excuse a player who is way over his head?

What a load of crap!

Have you ever watched a game of football before?

I'm not saying he would start, but Modric could play in ANY team in the world and not look out of place. Madrid, Barca, Chelsea, Inter, Man U, the scum, any team, anywhere and in any league. He is absolute class. When he doesn't play we are not as good.

 

[BorisTM]

What a load of crap!

Have you ever watched a game of football before?

Yes, I have the last one being the game against Fulham, HAVE YOU?

 

[jonathanhotspur]

Boris is exaggerating a little but he has made a number of valid points. Good man, Boris.

 

[walworthyid]

Yes, I have the last one being the game against Fulham, HAVE YOU?

Yes I have and Modric has been a brilliant in loads of them!

 

[theShiznit]

Strange that i should "stick up for someone" who has the best ability on the ball i have seen at the club since Berba?

lets play Huddlestone on the right, lets play Sandro, palacios there, they would do a lot worse than Modric trust me.

creative Players like Modric need the pitch open to them on both sides to fulfil their potential, it is less limited on the left for the reasons stated, but on the right is much more limited, he would be more effective at Left back than Right midfield.

Arsenal have a host of these players that are not great on ths side of their natural foot; Nasri, Rosicky, Wilshere, Arshavin, even past players like Pires, but with a fluid system they are not limited to one side.

I see you have a problem with Modric but it's time to move on...

 

[Niko]

"centre midfielder isn't as effective on the right wing shocker"

 

[ShelfSide18]

Why are you defending Modric? Why are you defending a player who has options to pass the ball, which means he has players open to him, yet he hesitates, prefers to dribble and eventually loses the ball and he did that over and over and most of it happened in the middle of the park. How about his abysmal clearance that almost resulted in a goal for Fulham? How about his sorry attempts for through balls and one on ones? Why do we always have to accommodate Modric - he is right footed but he can't play on the right because he does not have pace and power (wtf else does he have anyway?), so lets play him on the left where he can cut inside to make space for Bale, that's ALL? that is his entire expected contribution in the game? making space for Bale? when was the last time he scored a goal after cutting inside? when was the last time he had a go at the goal after cutting inside from the left? how is he gonna score from there if he does not have POWER as you said? Why are people pulling crap outta their arses to excuse a player who is way over his head?

You really haven't the first shade of a clue as to why Modric is such a brilliant footballer, this post shows so much misunderstanding I'm at a loss where to start.

 

[theShiznit]

i know right...

I remember one of the few games Sherwood played for England, and he was played Left Midfield.

"well maybe he's not international class" came the cries in the press after a poor performance from a key central midfielder at club level.