Team ratings ( vs Man City )

[Bus-Conductor]

Haleluyah. We actually won a scrap. First time this season that we did. This was a tough game, city coming with a game plan (451) and were well organised and lively on the break. At times we were our frustrating selves, giving possession away needlessly (especially in the final 3rd) which was summed up perfectly by Jenas in the last couple of minutes having a choice of a player each side, or running on himself or even taking it to a corner and deciding instead to kick it straight to Dunne. Until Dawson (and Robinson) is replaced we will always live in fear. Once again we concede 1 shot on target and it equates to a goal. We are very frugal when it comes to allowing the opposition shots on target but those rare shots nearly always end up in our net. Before everyone goes overboard on Kaboul I would mitigate with the fact that he is playing on his uncomfortable side. Dawson gives away possession plenty with his good foot, try putting Dawson (after all he is Kaboul's senior by 3/4 years) on the left and see what it does to his game.
I don't know whether Kabouls will shape up ultimately but he is a better footballer than Dawson and should be given a chance to play his natural side, with a decent CB next to him (how else is he going to learn). Ratings:

Robinson 5 - 1 shot to save. Didn't. Not his fault but his kicking was also shit today.

Chimbonda 6 - ok.

Dawson 6 - ok. I will never fault his endevour or commitment. But he will never have the intelligence to be a quality player. he reacts slowly. He doesn't read. His distribution was poor.

Kaboul 6 - ok. clumped a couple of silly balls but forced to do so with his weaker foot and better that than straight at an onrushing attacker eh ? Also once he looked up for an out ball and everybody was stood static. The fact that he is very comfortable on the ball is in his favour. If we can get him next to a quality defender then we could have a "King" type. Big if.

Lee 6.5 - Busy.

Lennon 6 - did ok ish. Needs to track his runner and again this was a little bit of old lennon today. Needs an on pitch leader to kick his arse sometimes maybe.

Jenas 7.5 - Worked hard.

Zokora 6.5 - Bit quiet today.

Malbranque 7.5 - worked hard for the team. technically such a good little player. occasionally makes a silly choice of pass.

Berbatov 7 - worked hard at times. made a couple of chances for bent. wasted a couple of good positions as well.

Bent 4 - keeps missing the chances he was supposedly bought to bury. Offers one dimension. Today was his chance to shine and he showed he has no finesse. Doesn't even hold the ball up very well.

Defoe 6 - took his chance well. Hope he gets a game with Berb in the next couple.


Footnote/Ramos

Liked the subs today. Resisted the temptation to go 433 (which would have cost us IMO) and did the thing I criticised Jol for not ever doing. 2-1 up with minutes to go, took off a striker and put on a midfielder.

 

[bomberH]

Bent was always rubbish he never scored strikers goals at Charlton all his goals was scrappy defensive mistakes. yeah he got 16 goals at Charlton only because he was there only striker

You obviously never saw him play for Charlton then. That sentence is complete rubbish. In fact, he scored bundles and bundles of 'typical' strikers goals, mainly via through balls.

Bent was poor today and hasn't been too much of a success so far, but he was massively overpriced so far too much is expected of him. He'll never be first choice while Berby and Keane are there so he'll never get a rhythm going like strikers need. He's definitely got the ability. Unfortunately, i don't think Spurs play the system that suits his best game.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

You obviously never saw him play for Charlton then. That sentence is complete rubbish. In fact, he scored bundles and bundles of 'typical' strikers goals, mainly via through balls.

Bent was poor today and hasn't been too much of a success so far, but he was massively overpriced so far too much is expected of him. He'll never be first choice while Berby and Keane are there so he'll never get a rhythm going like strikers need. He's definitely got the ability. Unfortunately, i don't think Spurs play the system that suits his best game.

This is why I was mistified we paid 16 mil for him. He has ability, but only to run fast and whack the ball with one foot.

 

[lukespurs7]

Wigan WOW Derby WOW

both these teams have something in common there both shit

you're shit

 

[lukespurs7]

Robbo-6-No chance with goal, otherwise average

Chimbonda-6.5-defended and got forward well
Dawson-6.5-Won header after header under pressure and generally defended pretty well.
Kaboul-5.5-Didn't play too badly, gave the ball away a bit easily but not too bad.
Lee.Y.P-6-Did a job

Lennon-5.5-Fairly quiet tbh.
Jenas-6-Good energy, neat passing and tackling.
Zokora-6.5-Worked very hard, broke forward a bit and did well.
Malbranque-7.5-Created the 2nd goal, won tackle after tackle and was generally solid,worked so hard and did well.

Bent-4.5-Not that many oppertunities but fairly low on confidence, he'll be fine in the future, but at the moment he's well off the pace and behind Berby,Keane and JD
Berbatov-7.5)MOTM-some classy touches, held it up well, won free-kicks and posed a goal threat last seasons berby is coming back

SUBS:
Boetang-6- Did quite well, kept ball and did what was required of him
Defoe-8-Winning goal, great work-rate and a real livewire! Deserves a start at home!
Tainio-/- too little time.

Ramos-7-Got us up for the fight and again a sub provides a winning impact. Very slowly turning the corner.

So... all in all a great result and a decent performance, could do with a creative midfielder either RM as i believe lennon is too inconsistant, or a CM and also one/two solid experienced defenders who are leaders on the pitch. Otherwise we have a quality squad, if we can get a string of results and some clean sheets and gradually climb we may be able to achieve a top-half finish come season end you never know. But for now gradual improvement based on next season is required and focus on the cups.

 

[SpurSince57]

This is why I was mistified we paid 16 mil for him. He has ability, but only to run fast and whack the ball with one foot.

And put away his chances. At the moment he has the best conversion ratio of any of our strikers, marginally better than Keane and significantly better than Berbatov and Defoe. His passing has also been pretty much on a par with Berbatov and Keane's, and a lot better than Defoe's.

 

[Gazza123]

robbo 7
Lee 6.5
dawson 7
kaboul 6
chimbonda 7
jenas 6
zokora 7
lennon 6
malbranque 6
berbatov 7
bent 6

defoe 7
boateng 6
tanio 6

 

[davros]

We played well last night (midnight kick-off here), and deserved the 3 points.
I'm not much of a boxing fan, but after watching Hatton go down in what looked like Man City colours I had a feeling we would win.
Anyway, all in all the defence looked ok - giving away 1 shot on target is ok if we score twice. Kaboul kept his head and, despite some poor passing, had a good game. Same for Robbo.
Malbranque had another good game - one tackle in the second half was very important as they could have had a break on. Zokora also deserves a mention.
Berbatov had some great touches, but clearly there is no chemistry betwen him and Bent. I have a feeling Defoe will start the next game. Took his goal well and seems to read Berbatov's intentions a bit better.

So for the ratings ratings, some sevens, one or two eights, a six.
Nobody lower than that. The worst mistakes were misplaced passes and wasteful finishing. Barring a wonder goal they never looked like scoring a second, whereas we had a few very good chances.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

And put away his chances. At the moment he has the best conversion ratio of any of our strikers, marginally better than Keane and significantly better than Berbatov and Defoe. His passing has also been pretty much on a par with Berbatov and Keane's, and a lot better than Defoe's.

SS, we are going to go back to the Mido argument. You know you and I look for different qualities in strikers. I don't care if they are prolific scorers, just that they help create chances collectively for the team and are condusive to better football and more creativity. Bent's chances tend be 1 v 1's and his conversion rate considering this I don't think is great and he has missed a couple of vital ones. The gooners at home stands out.

Don't misunderstand me, I have gripes with all our strikers, but he cost more than all of them and seems to be the least technically gifted. Like I said, I think he is a one dimensional player (Defoe isn't much more to be honest, but didn't cost 16mil and can create a goal out of fuck all)

 

[SpurSince57]

But it was you who said he keeps missing the chances he was supposedly bought to bury.

Yes, he's hardly pulled up trees, but it's hardly his fault he came with such a whopping price tag, and he hasn't done nearly as badly as some suggest considering that he's had relatively limited opportunities and that we aren't really playing to his strengths. The way some people go on you'd think he was the new Rasiak.

 

[Berbati]

Berbatov is two months away from playing the best football in his career.

 

[liewser]

Malbranque was by far the best player on the pitch imo going both ways. jenas and berbatov had a good game too.

Lennon started brightly but faded and didnt really do much 2nd half bar the one run he made just before getting subbed.

zokora did well but he is still prone to skewing the simplest of passes way off its intended target.

Lee struggled to deal with etuhu when he got the ball, dawson and kaboul have very poor distribution and should stop tryin to play 50/60 yard long balls because for the most part they just result in a loss of possession or a scrap for the strikers.

Bent didnt look good up front - poor compsure in front of goal and not much of a contribution made elsewhere bar arial challenges.

 

[yiddotilidie]

Bent was always rubbish he never scored strikers goals at Charlton all his goals was scrappy defensive mistakes. yeah he got 16 goals at Charlton only because he was there only striker

Congratulations, I think you have taken the honour of SC's latest 'Laughing Stock'.

Your comments about JJ and Bent are laughable.
Its JJ that needs a central midfield partner not Zokora. JJ was an ever present in the two seasons we hit 5th, Zokora on the other hand wasn't. JJ was quality again yesterday, Zokora wasn't.

And as for Bent only scoring tap ins from mistakes........just watch some videos of last season you muppet.

 

[yiddotilidie]

Berbatov is two months away from playing the best football in his career.

and hopefully we on this site are 2 months away of getting rid of a BERBATOV fan and not a SPURS fan.

 

[Flatters]

Oh, and everyone who cheered ironically when Bent's number was held up, you're a ****. And no doubt it was the same people who groaned aggressively like we were losing 6-0, every time Kaboul wasted a pass. That'll do his confidence bundles of good won't it.

:clap:

I hate most of our fans. I really do.

 

[Flatters]

Don't misunderstand me, I have gripes with all our strikers, but he cost more than all of them and seems to be the least technically gifted. Like I said, I think he is a one dimensional player (Defoe isn't much more to be honest, but didn't cost 16mil and can create a goal out of fuck all)

Defoe isn't any more. Defoe's less.

Bent should have put his chances away yesterday, but we shouldn't overlook the fact that he makes those runs and get himself into those positions. I still feel that he and Berbatov will become a great partnership.

 

[WhiteHart4Ever]

Defensive: Robbo didnt have much to do, couldnt do anything with the goal. seems solid, more confident than before.
Dawson was by far the best defender, followed by Lee. Chimbo let Petrov make too many crosses, Kaboul was decent defensively.

Zokora and Jenas did not work good together, and especially in the first half their was an enormous gap in the middle. Zoko keeps making wrong choices about which balls to chase, and is actually very slow at running home from time to time.

Malbranque shows great character and made a lot of tackles and interceptions. Think the main reason for us attacking twice as much on the left side is that Malbranque and Lee make a lot more interceptions and tackles than Lennon/Chimbo.

Offensively: dreadful first half. Kaboul's passing awful.
But the worst thing was the movement. Now, I watch it on the telly, so anyone that was there feel free to correct me, but I saw literally no movement at all in the first half. And when Jenas and Zoko are sitting deep we really struggle with creating chances.

Malbranque was good, very solid display. Gets good support by Lee, who then spoils everything cos hes got no offensive abilities. Lennon looked a threath all night. berba was looking sharp, Bent has no confidence at all, but at least he made some good runs (until he fell over..)

Defoe and Boateng both played really good after they came on - especially Boateng. Many of the players looked off the pace and low on confidence, but he really seems to have the right attitude. Looked very, very promising - will be a hit in the premiership!

Ramos: was shocked when he took of Lennon, but it really paid off!

 

[yiddotilidie]

and yea, the booing of Bent was a disgrace. Our fans are as much a let down as Damian Commoli.

 

[WhiteHart4Ever]

and yea, the booing of Bent was a disgrace. Our fans are as much a let down as Damian Commoli.

:evil: Didnt get that on tv, what a f*cking disgrace. whats the point? We've got a supertalented striker whos only problem at the mo is low confidence! Oh yeah, lets boo him - that will do! Bloody idiots! :bang:

 

[DC_Boy]

I missed the booing of Bent - but if it happened it's a disgrace - also if people were geting on Kaboul's back - that's disgraceful too -

I thought most of our fans on sunday were disappointing -

I nearly went to yesterday's game - in a way I'm sad I missed it - but I just know if I'd have been stuck next to any of our 'moaning minnies' putting the boot in Kabol Bent JJ Lee or whoever else they hate at the moment it would have just ruined it for me

how about supporting the team - there's a novelty (for at least half our 'supporters')