Tottenham vs Everton: Match Thread

[Adam]

Just had a look at the match ratings thread, and ill be extremely suprised if anyone who was at the game would give Kaboul and Gudjohnson the same rating.

Whilst the first obviously has creative deficiencies, i was impressed with Younes' discipline and was pleased with him winning challenges and headers and then distributing it simply.

Gudjohnson on the other hand was quite frankly a joke. I wasnt pleased when we signed him, but his laziness was embarrasing and could have cost us, none more so than when he was doing his best Messi impression in our own penalty area after we had defended a corner. Him coming on for Defoe and playing in the 'number 10' position really hindered us and forced us onto the back foot, which could have been disasterous

For me, if Huddlestone is out, its a no-brainer that Kaboul should be there as opposed to Eidur-at least he will give it his all and not leave us exposed through the middle, which the Ice-man undoubtedly would do.

 

[cjsimba]

Welcome aboard cjsimba :up:

Hopefully Tom won't be out for too long and it won't be a problem, but I guess Gudjohnsen is an option for central midfield. Not sure how much strength and closing down he'll bring though.

Cheers nicdic!! Im a long time reader but first time poster (something im not particularly proud of).

Yer hopefully it is just a sprain to Hudd's ankle as reported but Harry's post match comments dont sound too good :-| True that Gudjohnsen might not bring the strength etc. that Hudd brings (something Hudd has improved on greatly btw imo). But it was very clear that as soon as Hudd went off today we lacked the calmness and ability to play a simple yet creative pass from the back to get us out of danger. While Gudjohnsen isnt going to have the same presence of Hudd, he still wont be pushed around (like Modric might be playing in the middle). And I think Gudjohnsen's technical ability and vision would be more important than the extra strength and tackling ability that Kaboul would bring to the team, as hopefully Palacios can provide enough of this by himself.

4th spot here we come!! COYS!!!

 

[jimtheyid]

The problem was Wilson and Kaboul were playing so deep that Pav/Coruch and Eidur were miles away from our midfield.

 

[AJW]

The problem was Wilson and Kaboul were playing so deep that Pav/Coruch and Eidur were miles away from our midfield.

Yeh and I feel there was a clear change in mentality. Palacios, knowing he had a 'rookie' beside him, seemed to feel more contained to defensive duties. Where in the first half either Palacios or Huddlestone would join the attack we no longer really had that outlet

 

[Paxtonite]

Thought we were excellent first half whilst once again we did our best to throw a game away. We deserved the win in the end but there are a few things that are becoming apparent to me:

1. As someone has said Modric and Pav do link up very well indeed.
2. BAE was having a fantastic season before his injury, but it would appear that Bale has rediscovered the form that prompted us to buy him and he is almost unplayable atm.
3. Hudd has improved massively this season and we will be weakened without him if the injury is a bad one. Hope it isnt. He has lost a lot of weight it seems and has become far more mobile.
4. Wilson for all his excellent defensive work, is a poor passer of the ball. It has been frustration for me anyway at his seeming increasing capacity to not find a team mate.
5. Kaboul did well in midfield. He surprised me. Clearly not a long term solution as with him and Palacios there the middle became too defensive, but he did well.
6. In the short time that Crouch was on the pitch, you could tell the gulf in technical class between him and Pav. Balls up to him don't stick. He has no pace and positional sense is really bad for a premiership player imo.
7. Modric is different gravy.
8. Still don't understand the Gudjohnsen signing.

 

[jamesc0le]

wilson CAN pass the ball well but sometimes he doesn't. get over it

 

[milyid]

Thought we were excellent first half whilst once again we did our best to throw a game away. We deserved the win in the end but there are a few things that are becoming apparent to me:

1. As someone has said Modric and Pav do link up very well indeed.
2. BAE was having a fantastic season before his injury, but it would appear that Bale has rediscovered the form that prompted us to buy him and he is almost unplayable atm.
3. Hudd has improved massively this season and we will be weakened without him if the injury is a bad one. Hope it isnt. He has lost a lot of weight it seems and has become far more mobile.
4. Wilson for all his excellent defensive work, is a poor passer of the ball. It has been frustration for me anyway at his seeming increasing capacity to not find a team mate.
5. Kaboul did well in midfield. He surprised me. Clearly not a long term solution as with him and Palacios there the middle became too defensive, but he did well.
6. In the short time that Crouch was on the pitch, you could tell the gulf in technical class between him and Pav. Balls up to him don't stick. He has no pace and positional sense is really bad for a premiership player imo.
7. Modric is different gravy.
8. Still don't understand the Gudjohnsen signing.

Great post mate, especially as i agree with every word of it.

 

[ginol@14]

im still gutted the ref blew the final whistle just after palacios had lobbed the keeper from 40 yards to score a "3rd" !!!
we will never see wilson do that again !!!

 

[Wsussexspur]

Just got home from the game thought we were outstanding at times in the first half but then became very edgy in the 2nd half. I cannot understand how Phil Neville wasnt sent off for that late and badly timed lunge at Bale in first half was truely awful challange. Big worry about our central midfield problems unfortuntley this has been an accident waiting to happen all season as we have had so little cover there. Kaboul does not fill me with confidence at all. When he came on for Huddlestone Everton had there best spell of the game and were dominating the midfield.

Hope he proves me wrong but I just dont rate Kaboul as a player and it worrys me if we are going to use him in cm for rest of the season. Good to see Pav score again lets hope he keeps this form up between now and end of the season. Thought Niko was good today and Modric looked good again after having a few poor games recenelty and he linked up well with Pav. Bale was outstanding again as well! Shame he isnt English as with Cashleys injury im sure if he keeps this form up he would have been a shoe in for the world cup!

 

[StartingPrice]

Thought we were excellent first half whilst once again we did our best to throw a game away. We deserved the win in the end but there are a few things that are becoming apparent to me:

1. As someone has said Modric and Pav do link up very well indeed.
2. BAE was having a fantastic season before his injury, but it would appear that Bale has rediscovered the form that prompted us to buy him and he is almost unplayable atm.
3. Hudd has improved massively this season and we will be weakened without him if the injury is a bad one. Hope it isnt. He has lost a lot of weight it seems and has become far more mobile.
4. Wilson for all his excellent defensive work, is a poor passer of the ball. It has been frustration for me anyway at his seeming increasing capacity to not find a team mate.
5. Kaboul did well in midfield. He surprised me. Clearly not a long term solution as with him and Palacios there the middle became too defensive, but he did well.
6. In the short time that Crouch was on the pitch, you could tell the gulf in technical class between him and Pav. Balls up to him don't stick. He has no pace and positional sense is really bad for a premiership player imo.
7. Modric is different gravy.
8. Still don't understand the Gudjohnsen signing.

6. Slightly harsh on Big Pete, after having been written off at a young age based solely on his height he has carved acareer for himself out of sheer dtermination. His effort and, at times, ability, have been of great benefit to us this season. But he doesn't score enough, and, ultimately, Pav. certainly is a far more able player, and, it seems, far more able to score goals. With Crouch, when JD isn't firing, the strike rate suffers. With Pav., een if JD isn't firing, there is still goals in the team. So, not wholly inaccurate, but slightly harsh.

8. The Gudjohnsen signing is a serious 'Arry masterstroke. He linked up superbly with the midfield against Bolton when he came on, he didn't do much wrong today in the short time on the pitch, he oozes class, and the has experience of playing at a level not one of our other players has. He got us a free-kick quite close to the end today just by 'drawing' a foul, by not actually doing anything, right in front of the ref. that broke their play up when they were building up a head of steam, and he had no chance of actually winning the ball. He is still not match fit, and offers us a different option to any other player we have - as I said, he has a level of experience none of our other players have, and this is vital, for instance, in closing games down towards the end - something we have been lackng this season. Watch him closely.

Other than that, agree with you.

 

[eViL]

Much to my frustration I missed the first half, but the second half is probably the most running I've seen a Spurs team cover. Ever.

Everton are a good side in good form and this is a great result and a convincing performance.

 

[Paxtonite]

wilson CAN pass the ball well but sometimes he doesn't. get over it

WOOOO touchy!!

 

[alfiespurs]

I do get nervous when we storm ahead with 2 nil leads and I was convinced these scousers were going to get something from the game. a few observations, Luka,Pav and Nik are fantastic .. intelligence is what I see. Love wilson, but he does give away waywars passes ! Really worried about Tom and no way should Kamakaze Kaboul ( we will be doing a Chimbonda on him and sell him to Sunderland next season !) be allowed to play .. the guy scares me. With Fulham next week, I hope we have tome back ! Well done to Bale today !:grin:

 

[riversmonkey]

I think we were hampered by circumstances in the 2nd half. Defoe was quite clearly not 100% so it was obvious at some stage he would come off. Unfortunately our bench options were two strikers who lack pace and the ability to hound defenders quickly. Therefore we we going to be under pressure towards the end.

The positives - it was probably the best first half performance I've seen from us all season. Modric was awesome, what a great all round game he had. Defensively I thought Dawson had a fine game, some of those blocks were outstanding, but he still needs to avoid those lapses in concentration.

 

[PT]

Good to see a smile from you Alfie!! I honestly worry about you sometimes!!

 

[Byron]

i watched the game on the net up until kaboul came on then had to go out, i take it that he stayed in center mid? i presumed when he came on that he would go right back and corluka would go center mid, but i suppose you know what they say about presumsion. great 3 points though, well pleased!

 

[BringBack_leGin]

Can't complain today. I never expected the second half to mimic the first, Everton are a bloody good side and probably have the best levels of determination in the premiership. Their goal came from a corner that should have been a goal kick anyway, and thankfully they squandered their only golden chance when it fell to Donovan with an open goal.

I thought Modric had his best game for us. I've been saying that I've been waiting for him to make me go wow, and he did just that today. Superb. Amazing goal as well, both in build up and execution. I'm also delighted with the form of both Bale and Pavlyuchenko, while I don't understand the complaints about Wilson, the man was an absolute beast today and he took absolutely no prisoners with some awesome tackling today despite being one booking away from a suspension.

We played good football today, we used Crouch properly (i.e. as a plan B when we needed something different), Kranjcar showed us that he's a decent option on the right, all in all we should be very pleased with a win in a tough game, and our third in 7 days. I'm happy tonight.

 

[DC_Boy]

well we deserved to win because we played football while everton kept on kicking


just like at goodison we were the moral victors

school of science - more like the school of hard knocks i reckon
tremendous game and we deserved the 4 points we've taken off the Toffee Hammers this season :smile:

our 'playboys' have outperformed the 'men' of Everton for the past two decades

and guess what - first season of the new decade - we're in front of them again :smile:

 

[DC_Boy]

re kaboul - that was bad - frighteningly bad i suspect - did he do anything right

we're a bit strapped in the mid if hudd and jj are out -

i guess those who think luka is a prem CM have their wish now- I don't rate him there - but he is looking back to his best so maybe he can prove himself as a prem CM now - hope so -i assume he'll start there v fulham

 

[Legend10]

Great result!

Well done boys!