V Reading MOTM ratings/poll thingy

[Bus-Conductor]

Because of where the free kick was taken from-outside the D (where Dembele tangled with the Russian bloke) and not inside the D (where Naughton won the ball cleanly). It seems Webb was playing advantage, then pulled it back when the Russian bloke got nowhere.

I find it hard to believe Dembele's was worthy of a free kick either.

 

[PrettyColors]

I should think we've probably taken about 6 times more shots than anyone else, hardly surprising.

Very true. We cannot penetrate the box well and it limits us horribly.

 

[Thesoccershrink]

Sandro was MOTM for me, although Lennon was very good. But Sandro consistently breaks down attacks and sets us in motion again making it possible for Lennon et al do their thing.

 

[garyhopkins]

Wish we had a dead-ball specialist of the calibre of Harte (or Larsson in the last game). It makes such a difference. Otherwise a great performance considering it was our 4th game in ten days.

Lloris 6.5
Walker 6.5
Naughton 6.5
Dawson 6.5
Vertonghen 6
Dembele 7.5
Sandro 7.5
Lennon 8
Sigurdsson 6
Defoe 6
Adebayor 6.5

 

[Strikeb4ck]

Walker MOTM because without his last ditch block we would have drawn or even lost.

 

[Spurs_Bear]

I find it hard to believe Dembele's was worthy of a free kick either.

I don't think it was but it certainly looked like Webb pointed in the general direction of that incident rather than the tackle that was made.

Watching it again I would say it looks more a foul on Dembele rather than by him.

Howard Webb was just a generally terrible **** all day yesterday.

 

[Spurs_Bear]

Dawson, Naughton and Sandro made the BBC team of the week and yet some still claim Naughton is championship player despite him only playing one game in his correct position

I don't think comparing anything to the BBC team of the week which is probably chosen by Garth Crooks is really something anyone should admit.

 

[jonnyp]

Lloris - 6 A bit shakey today.

Walker - 7 Gets a 7 for a great saving tackle but still prone to stupid mistakes.
Dawson - 7 relatively untroubled, nice movement for the goal.
Vertonghen - 6.5 Troubled by their Russian tank.
Naughton - 7 Solid

Sandro - 8.5 My MoTM today. Just everywhere breaking up and tackling.
Dembele - 7.5 Solid. We lost a bit of momentum when he went off.

Lennon - 8.5 Brilliant in all phases of play today.
Sigurdsson - 6.5 Not suited to play on the wings at all.

Adebayor - 7 Great header, but looks frustrated at times with Defoe. Can't blame him.
Defoe - 6 Wasteful, poor shooting - needs to be more selfless.

 

[Gilzeanking]

As usual I don't seem to have much to add to the gen drift of remarks here , but taking a wider more overall look ,its looking good .

The tricky bit for AvB was always gonna be the early days after the Chelski disaster . Could he get the players on board ? .Looks like he's there now and we have a world class manager in tune with the very latest developments . Looks like he is a step ahead of the oppos these days . This may not last as systems for counteracting his methods may be developed , but at the mo things are looking great .

3 matches that underlined his effect on our team and been the basis for some of us here to really start believing 1. The match vs Arse we go in half time well behind with 10 players...and come out 2nd half rejigged and give them a scare for a bit . We saw AvB's craft in the raw 2. Swansea...the high line properly implemented ,the team pressing with unspurslike solidity .3 Reading...This new system and solidity appear once again..it is clearly no fluke .

We now don't know the limits of how far we can go with AvB...a very exciting time to be a Spurs supporter .

MoM Lennon , special mention for Sandro .

 

[Gilzeanking]

OK , wrong place I know...I don't know if this has reached your shores yet BUT.....NYE disaster for Rafa and Sylvie . They have now split up .Worse , Rafa hit Sylvie on NYE . The key quote for us as we continue to wrestle with his departure is that...The process of growing apart has been going for some time .
So mebbe the Sylvie factor in his move was overstated .

 

[Spurs_Bear]

I'm not hailing Villas-Boas as the almighty just yet but I am becoming more cautiously optimistic. Optimistic because we are playing better, cautious as barring the Stoke game we haven't played a team who have been anything other than shite for a few matches. I think this little run came at the right time though, I am still concerned slightly that the mistakes we are still making may make us come unstuck against a side that can punish us more than the ones we've played recently, but it's been good to get a nice little run where we can implement things and build some confidence.

I said I wont make a call on AVB until the end of the season which I still wont, but I think we have a lot of reasons to be positive.

 

[Ionman34]

I'm not hailing Villas-Boas as the almighty just yet but I am becoming more cautiously optimistic. Optimistic because we are playing better, cautious as barring the Stoke game we haven't played a team who have been anything other than shite for a few matches. I think this little run came at the right time though, I am still concerned slightly that the mistakes we are still making may make us come unstuck against a side that can punish us more than the ones we've played recently, but it's been good to get a nice little run where we can implement things and build some confidence.

I said I wont make a call on AVB until the end of the season which I still wont, but I think we have a lot of reasons to be positive.

I'm impressed by AVB but I share your caution SB. Not with respect to AVB himself, more at the position we find ourselves in with the personnel we have.

We can look at individual areas and see where the quality and the coaching are now coming together, but we're by no means yet the finished article, either in ability or temperament.

After the QPR game we have to face Utd and I have my concerns there, particularly after seeing how we almost caved in that 10, or so, minute spell where Reading almost scored. If we wobble like that against Utd we will most definitely get punished, and I'm pretty sure that they will put immense pressure on us over more than just 10 minutes or so.

Having said that, it's going to be all about the mindset of the players. I think they got rather complacent with Reading so that spell scared them somewhat, against Utd we will be expecting it so the mental fortitude may just be better. I hope so anyway.

I'm loving what I am seeing to date as there are more than just signs that we are moving in the right direction fairly rapidly, but there is still a long way to go with this project with the brand of Football, the mental strength and, as BC has said, the intelligence of the play.

But Rome wasn't built in a day, as they say, all of those things will come in time. The Utd game, I think, will give us a much better idea of just how far we really have progressed this season.

 

[JimmyG2]

Lloris.............7..... Does what it says on the tin.'Keeps goal'.
Walker..........6+1..Decent, switched off once but switched on to cover Dawson for extra point
Naughton.......7......Looking the part more with every game. Given the ball increasingly by defenders
Dawson..........6+1. For the goal, a vital part of our recovery. Possibly -1 for the lapse in awareness.
Vertonghen.....7.....A little erratic defending but basically a good footballer
Dembele.........8.....Good performance. A cruising shark just off the beach.
Sandro............8....Controlled the midfield with Dembele.Some good positive play
Lennon............8.....MOM. Constant threat, works his little legs off. Set up at least two good chances.
Sigurdsson.......6.5..Out of position but clever. Still looking for a role.
Defoe..............5.....When he's not scoring he's just a nuisance.
Adebayor........6.5...Fine goal and dangerous when he's around the box. The smile returns.

Parker.............7.....Returns with new energy. You have been warned. Couple of incisive passes.

 

[davidmatzdorf]

OK , wrong place I know...I don't know if this has reached your shores yet BUT.....NYE disaster for Rafa and Sylvie . They have now split up .Worse , Rafa hit Sylvie on NYE . The key quote for us as we continue to wrestle with his departure is that...The process of growing apart has been going for some time .
So mebbe the Sylvie factor in his move was overstated .

Or perhaps it explains why he was suddenly so keen to get back to Hamburg: to try to save his marriage.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

I'm not hailing Villas-Boas as the almighty just yet but I am becoming more cautiously optimistic. Optimistic because we are playing better, cautious as barring the Stoke game we haven't played a team who have been anything other than shite for a few matches. I think this little run came at the right time though, I am still concerned slightly that the mistakes we are still making may make us come unstuck against a side that can punish us more than the ones we've played recently, but it's been good to get a nice little run where we can implement things and build some confidence.

I said I wont make a call on AVB until the end of the season which I still wont, but I think we have a lot of reasons to be positive.

I agree with the general gist, but that's not quite right. Swansea had one defeat (an unlucky 3-4 against Norwich) in 9 games including beating Arse away, Liverpool, drawing with Chelsea etc. Sunderland had just won two on the spin for the first time this season including ManC in their last game, and Reading had just won their last game (only their second I believe).

The mistakes we are making have already been punished by ManC, Chelsea and Arsenal. What worries me is our inability to turn good possession into good chances sometimes. Last few games this improved, but yesterday we struggled again.

 

[Spurs_Bear]

I agree with the general gist, but that's not quite right. Swansea had one defeat (an unlucky 3-4 against Norwich) in 9 games including beating Arse away, Liverpool, drawing with Chelsea etc. Sunderland had just won two on the spin for the first time this season including ManC in their last game, and Reading had just won their last game (only their second I believe).

The mistakes we are making have already been punished by ManC, Chelsea and Arsenal. What worries me is our inability to turn good possession into good chances sometimes. Last few games this improved, but yesterday we struggled again.

I should maybe have been a bit clearer, I didn't mean they were generally 'shite' teams, I just meant they performed particularly poorly against us. I put a small amount of that down to us playing our game, but also a large amount to our opposition having an off day.

 

[jonathanhotspur]

I find it hard to believe Dembele's was worthy of a free kick either.

Nothing in it for me but it wasn't the only time he was penalised for the square root of fuck all.

Or perhaps it explains why he was suddenly so keen to get back to Hamburg: to try to save his marriage.

Took the words right out of my mouth.

The tricky bit for AvB was always gonna be the early days after the Chelski disaster . Could he get the players on board ?

He's certainly making a mockery of my theory that guys like Lennon couldn't be made to work harder.

 

[brasil_spur]

Defoe doing his usual for us. Goes on a sensational goal scoring spree and then goes on an equally unsensational non-goal scoring spree.

With Adebayor he offers so much more to a game than goals that you can forgive his lack of them. With Defoe it's all he has to offer.

Have rated Defoe highly so far this season but 1 goal in his last 6 premier league games is a shocking return for any PL striker at the level we're playing at IMO.

He also doesn't have the excuse of blaming rotation with Keane that he seemingly has relied upon in the past.

 

[Mr Pink]

only got back from the game today - Lennon and Sandro were fantastic, Azza MOM though...

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Ok here's some ratings, there's not much to explain about the game apart from we played pretty well and they weren't very good.

Lloris - 6 Didn't have that much to do but actually looked quite shaky with his distribution today. Still a class act.

Walker - 7.5 was calmer in attack than usual, couple of decent passes and an excellent saving tackle.
Dawson - 7 relatively untroubled, nice movement for the goal.
Vertonghen - 6.5 got done horribly in the second half but was decent apart from that without having much trouble.
Naughton - 7 indifferent first half where he constantly held onto the ball too long but much improved in the second and helped us camp higher up the pitch.

Sandro - 8 full beast mode today, best tackler in the league in my opinion.
Dembele - 7 good shift.

Lennon - 8.5 brilliant today. Both in an attacking sense and when tracking back.
Sigurdsson - 6.5 decent set piece delivery but wasted a lot of good positions, looks better in the centre than when on the left.

Adebayor - 7 wasn't great first half but better after the goal, hopefully the confidence boost he needs.
Defoe - 6 poor first half when he couldn't trap a dead rat in a phone box. Slightly improved second but overall quite disappointing, worked hard enough.

Subs did ok, Dempsey getting a bit of luck but love his passion in his celebration, Parker showed for the ball and played a couple of really nice incisive passes inside the full back for Walker, Livermore not on long enough to make a difference.

I find it odd (or maybe I don't) how Gallas got about 6 pages of criticism and a couple of threads for not clearing a ball quite far enough, and the term "schoolboy error" was being shouted from the SC rooftops, yet barely a mention is made of the moment when Dawson was caught, utterly befuddled, with his pants down and arm in the air, whilst there fella walked past him clean through on goal.

It was the worst blunder I've seen by any of our defenders this season. Even worse the Walker tripping the ball to Mata.