Ratings vs Everton

[Spurs_Bear]

I actually don't think fatigue was the issue SS. I think we were pretty good energy wise, mentally and physically and Caulker, Walker and Dawson had played no/only some football in the week so no reason why they would be the worst culprits. Their mistakes were just usual traits coming through IMO. I thought all facets of our mental and physical effort were as good as any we've seen, just a general underlying lack of top level guile was lacking.

The problem of no Lennon (who has crated very little of late anyway) should have been mitigated by Walker if Walker was the player many believe him to be - an attacking full back - but he contributes so little of quality and is evidence that pace is not everything, unless you have the wherewithal to combine it with intelligence or skill. So many times he received the ball in a bit of space, often with just one man in front but virtually the whole game managed nothing of note. Sometimes worse, conceding the ball cheaply.

And I don't think Hudd for Dembele was right in either direction. For me Dembele is just about tenacious enough to leave on knowing you aren't going to sacrifice defensively, especially if you bring on the more mobile and dynamic Carroll who actually would have got through at least as much ball as Hudd, spreads play just as well and is actually more likely to thread a clever little through ball than Hudd. Leaving Dembele on at least would have left on the pitch the only player capable of carrying the ball past his marker and it was one instance of this that nearly equalised for us almost straight after they scored.

For me the subs should have Carroll for Parker, Cabellos for Dempsey (preferably made in the 2nd minute).

You would have given him that long?

 

[Bus-Conductor]

From what i recall he nibbled and then pulled out so as not to foul!

Scott's an experienced player, he knows that he has to foul him there, I'm sure he would have been really disappointed with himself!

There were so many mistakes in that goal it was untrue, it's no one players fault but we just don't look anywhere near as solid without Sandro. Ultimately if any one injury costs us a CL place this season it will have been that one.

Personally, I don't think the high line suits players like Dawson and Caulker. They are both slow on the turn.

I need to see it again, but I was above that goal and I was sure Parker tries to tap his ankle and doesn't make a firm enough contact.

I have to say though, in all honesty, it was a clusterfuck for us defensively, but I thought Moreilles did really well on that goal. I like him as a player. There was also two bits of fortune, it seemed to go through Caulkers legs and then skip of the turf over Lloris's arm.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

You would have given him that long?

Got to give Cabellos chance to warm up Bear.

 

[ShelfSide18]

Cabellos for Dempsey (preferably made in the 2nd minute).

Why so late? I've seen Ceballos play once and was infinitely more enjoyable to watch than Dempsey.

I think fatigue does play a part whether it's completely obvious (as in a tired display against Fulham) or not entirely obvious, it may be that tiny difference that is needed to push you over the fine lines you need to win games of football - it's difficult to pick out hypothetical moments that may have been different had we not played on Thurs, but it can just be the difference between reaching a loose ball or not. There is clear evidence to show that you are statistically 40% less likely to win after only 2 days rest time - although I agree that the performance we put in was more than enough to have won the game and it did surprise me how well we played considering.

Agree that Carroll would have been my choice, but I see the logic in the switch although thinking about it I would have put Dembele on the right side (a la Liverpool) and hauled Dempsey off for Carroll/Huddletron. It wasn;t as bad a switch as some have made out to be though, it made sense that we needed to use the wings better and Hudd did switch the play and Walker became more and more involved late on and we got our equaliser that way.

The thing that makes me laugh is that a 20 minute stroll when he was allowed his own time-zone people are asking Hudd to start against Basel, this being the side that has pressed us better than most this season. It would be a recipe for disaster.

 

[ShelfSide18]

Got to give Cabellos chance to warm up Bear.

Does Cabellos play in the same youth side as Dean Perratt?

 

[dynamoSpurs]

I want to slap Adebayor and ask him why the fuck he doesn't play like that every game? He wasn't perfect but the difference between today and the rest of the season is too big to justify.

He was the star player for us on the day, but perfect? His movement and chasing was good, but his first touch is still abysmal IMO..

 

[Luka Van der Bale]

He was the star player for us on the day, but perfect? His movement and chasing was good, but his first touch is still abysmal IMO..

'He wasn't perfect.' Exact quote

 

[davidmatzdorf]

Surely sarcasm? If not, I'll correct your mistakes:

Dempsey minus 6 - quietly incompetent, without being distinguished - another inept performance.

Unlike many here, I watch what Dempsey actually does, without thinking "it's Dempsey, so I'll mark him down 5 points based on my rage/hate issues".

When he's dreadful, I say so. yesterday, he was OK - just. Played his part in midfield, didn't fuck up much, created nothing of note.

 

[Legend10]

Personally, I don't think the high line suits players like Dawson and Caulker. They are both slow on the turn.

I need to see it again, but I was above that goal and I was sure Parker tries to tap his ankle and doesn't make a firm enough contact.

I have to say though, in all honesty, it was a clusterfuck for us defensively, but I thought Moreilles did really well on that goal. I like him as a player. There was also two bits of fortune, it seemed to go through Caulkers legs and then skip of the turf over Lloris's arm.

Of course the high line doesn't suit the likes of Dawson and Caulker, the less you give them to think about the better as they are in your face defenders (Caulker less so), but it has little relevance on this goal as it was a catalogue of individual errors. Miralles did do well on the goal but I don't buy the last bit about the fortune, you allow a player to drive into the area against a squared up centre back you're in trouble. You have to stop it earlier as how often does a ball go between a defenders legs or skip over a keepers hand? Pretty often.

I'm going to talk about Parker, and this isn't a slating, it's how I see it. He's causing us a lot of problems at the moment because he has no discipline to his play, I think AVB or even one of the central defenders needs to grab him by the scruff of the neck and tell him to calm the fuck down! He's all over the place, he's everywhere and at the same time nowhere you need him to be and it's leaving holes in some parts of the pitch and closing space for oor own players in other parts of the pitch. Parker isn't blessed with a great deal of footballing ability and he's a classic case of a player where less is more, the less you get him to do but doing it in the right areas the more effective he is!

I'm not sure what he's trying to do at the moment, but he just looks headless and in a constant state of panic! I'd like to see the players behind him telling him to be disciplined and sit there, keep his head and when the ball comes into the right area go and hunt it down with the tenacity he has! But he's charging all over the place and even when we're pushing our FB's on like we need to he's gone off chasing the ball somewhere when he shouldn't be, he should be thinking about defending, shape and covering at all times, filling holes, putting out fires. When we're in possesion we dont want Parker on the ball, people can say as they like but he's pretty poor on the ball, his passing is of a low standard and he is slow to distibute, of our 10 outfield players whoever they are Scott will always be the worst on the ball, although I have to say Dempsey has been really poor in this regard.

If we could get him to calm down, play with more discipline and authority I think we would improve quite a lot as a unit going both ways just by doing that one thing!

 

[TEESSIDE1]

Unlike many here, I watch what Dempsey actually does, without thinking "it's Dempsey, so I'll mark him down 5 points based on my rage/hate issues".

When he's dreadful, I say so. yesterday, he was OK - just. Played his part in midfield, didn't fuck up much, created nothing of note.

I watched the game too ... other than the step over for the goal, he was sloppy in possession, anonymous for huge chunks of time and damn right wasteful with his woeful efforts on goal.

 

[Syn_13]

Unlike many here, I watch what Dempsey actually does, without thinking "it's Dempsey, so I'll mark him down 5 points based on my rage/hate issues".

When he's dreadful, I say so. yesterday, he was OK - just. Played his part in midfield, didn't fuck up much, created nothing of note.

I agree about people being too harsh and automatically rating him down just by seeing his name on the teamsheet but against Everton he really was fairly poor. His long range efforts were woeful and wasteful, in possession he was unimaginative, drifted out of the game way too much and the only real contribution was the dummy for the goal as TEESSIDE1 has just mentioned. No he wasn't ridiculously bad, as some would have it, but he was below par.

I don't dislike him, just don't think he's a Spurs player. I'll give him his due if he plays well though.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Of course the high line doesn't suit the likes of Dawson and Caulker, the less you give them to think about the better as they are in your face defenders (Caulker less so), but it has little relevance on this goal as it was a catalogue of individual errors. Miralles did do well on the goal but I don't buy the last bit about the fortune, you allow a player to drive into the area against a squared up centre back you're in trouble. You have to stop it earlier as how often does a ball go between a defenders legs or skip over a keepers hand? Pretty often.

I'm going to talk about Parker, and this isn't a slating, it's how I see it. He's causing us a lot of problems at the moment because he has no discipline to his play, I think AVB or even one of the central defenders needs to grab him by the scruff of the neck and tell him to calm the fuck down! He's all over the place, he's everywhere and at the same time nowhere you need him to be and it's leaving holes in some parts of the pitch and closing space for oor own players in other parts of the pitch. Parker isn't blessed with a great deal of footballing ability and he's a classic case of a player where less is more, the less you get him to do but doing it in the right areas the more effective he is!

I'm not sure what he's trying to do at the moment, but he just looks headless and in a constant state of panic! I'd like to see the players behind him telling him to be disciplined and sit there, keep his head and when the ball comes into the right area go and hunt it down with the tenacity he has! But he's charging all over the place and even when we're pushing our FB's on like we need to he's gone off chasing the ball somewhere when he shouldn't be, he should be thinking about defending, shape and covering at all times, filling holes, putting out fires. When we're in possesion we dont want Parker on the ball, people can say as they like but he's pretty poor on the ball, his passing is of a low standard and he is slow to distibute, of our 10 outfield players whoever they are Scott will always be the worst on the ball, although I have to say Dempsey has been really poor in this regard.

If we could get him to calm down, play with more discipline and authority I think we would improve quite a lot as a unit going both ways just by doing that one thing!

No surprise but I disagree with the extent of you Parker criticisms. I think he lacks finesse, and he's not the smartest, lacks real vision but I like a lot of what he does and how he does it. Sandro is more disciplined and I like that too, it has it's place but there are things Parker does that Sandro doesn't. Parker sees more ball, gets more involved in retention, giving going and showing for people who need an outlet, and he carries the ball forward more. His passing is no less visionary than Sandro's that's for sure. Against some teams I would choose Sandro over Parker some games I would genuinely prefer Parker.

To say he's the worst passer in any 10 is ridiculous. Walker for a start. Dawson, Caulker, Defoe, Dempsey, Sandro are all players who lack vision and most of those see a lot less ball than Parker.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Does Cabellos play in the same youth side as Dean Perratt?

Derr, Perratt plays for Swindon.

 

[double0]

Parker sees much of the ball and offers an outlet there's no dispute about that he is positionally aware but the big question is, seeing that he has much possession what the hell does he do with it...nothing. Parker is a jack of trades and a master of none but given instructions to be that water carrier type player would better suit the team. I believe Parker has the tenacity to win the ball what I cant stand is Parker dwelling on the ball.

Sandro has a more defined role, he'll win the ball within seconds were lunching counter attacks because of the swiftness of transition.
There is a time for a SP but personally with a player of Dembeles assets who mind you wins as much ball is much more fluid with either a Sandro type or Carroll.

 

[Spurs 1961]

Nice to see Hudd and Carrol on. Forgot what it was like to have good passers in the team and Hudd gives us something different when needed

 

[Syn_13]

Nice to see Hudd and Carrol on. Forgot what it was like to have good passers in the team and Hudd gives us something different when needed

Huddlestone being a great passer is a myth. He's great at picking out a long ball to a running winger but rarely have I ever seen him make a defence splitting through ball. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying he's shit but I don't think he's as good as a passer as some people claim.

 

[shaqTHFC]

Imo Parker's passing isn't as bad as people are saying. He's certainly capable of playing quality forward passes although he does sometimes keep the ball for too long. The ball for Lennon's goal in the derby was very incisive and I don't think Sandro would have seen and played that pass.

Also, I do like his drives forward and perhaps more effective movement in the final third would see more come of these. Overall, I think Sandro is certainly the better defensive midfielder and is better for the role in our team as his partnership with Dembele was extremely good (did we even lose a game with that midfield base?).

Parker is still a very good player who I personally wouldn't actively look to move on in the summer. If a team does make a good offer I could understand Levy accepting it but I'd like him to stay.

 

[Flashspur]

Defence was poor except for Kyle Walker who played his heart out. MF was turgid but Parker and Dembele struggled against a smothering Everton MF. Moyes set his team up well. AVB on the other hand is trying to play central players out wide and its a joke that Townsend and Pritchard arent here to be blooded. Same fiasco as last season when we had good players sent out on loan and brought in Saha and Nelsen. Ade had a great game and Hudd really played well when he came on. The rest were average although I give Holtby and Siggy marks for trying. Ade my MOM shading KW and Hudd.

 

[steve]

Shelfies right on this one.

I thought our midfield was generally good, Parker, Dembele, Sig and Holtby all wanted the ball, didn't hide and had good games against their opposite numbers. The problem comes because none of them are wide players and against a back 4 that defended narrowly we had no one who was able to stay wide, stretch out their back 4 and get around the back. It's no surprise that both our goals came from crosses from the full backs.

I would've taken Dempsey off (as he's just a terribly average player who offered nothing apart from lessening the pressure we build up by shooting from miles out and dribbling the ball wide of the posts in the process) and moved Dembele wide. He's the one player who can drift past a player at ease, and isolated against a fullback he could've done real damage in a key area and provided more space for his teammates.

Adebayor was back to last season's form and will be key for the run in. Anichebe (big, bullying, can't finish - think Heskey) bullied Daws who I thought had a poor game as he often does against those types of players. Thankfully Bale should be back soon and the Chelsea game has been put back.

I think we'll see a new LB next season - if it ain't Rose it'll be someone else because a genuine attacking LB (who overlaps and hits the goal line) may have made the difference yesterday.

I think we're fighting for 4th with Chelsea sadly.

 

[sloth]

I wish the moronic section of our support would get this, once again WHL wasn't a particularly pleasant place to be at times yesterday and with renewals looming it is going to be harder decision than it has been in the past. Some of the brightest times Spurs have had for many a long year and I'm considering whether to renew my ticket next year because a bunch of dickheads ruining going to WHL, it just doesn't begin to stack up.

True 'dat.

Think of it like this, hopefully it will be the whingy fucks that give up there STs and the place will start to get a bit of its atmosphere back.