Well done Harry...

[Hitch]

I simply think Harry wanted to rotate the squad and thought we had good enough players to beat Norwich in a 4-4-2. Kind of the same attitude he has in some cup matches. Where he just cobbles a team together and expects them to win with what seems like no tactical instructions.

This is it. To simplify it even further, I think he played 442 merely in order to give Defoe a game, as he couldn't think of any other way to shoehorn him in.

Harry has his favourites and he's always seemed too afraid of upsetting them. Defoe may have been unhappy about not starting yesterday, but that's just tough shit. Got to think about the team here.

 

[mpickard2087]

This is it. To simplify it even further, I think he played 442 merely in order to give Defoe a game, as he couldn't think of any other way to shoehorn him in.

Harry has his favourites and he's always seemed too afraid of upsetting them. Defoe may have been unhappy about not starting yesterday, but that's just tough shit. Got to think about the team here.

I have been wondering this myself, if its all about trying to fit Defoe in if possible. On other occasions when we have switched back to 4-4-2 its been around the time Defoe or his agent have been having a whinge to the press about not getting enough gametime.

 

[Dare!]

 

[adiepf]

any manager that says we play better in a 433 & then changes to 442 whilst saying you cant underestimate any team but at the same time makes 5 changes & reverts to a 442 which he says he doesnt like cos its too open, (clearlynunderestimating the team).....but he played it cos other people think we are better in a 442 even though he knows we dont have the forwards to play that way & then didnt change to 433 as soon as he could see we were getting "bullied" by mighty norwich is a fuckin fruit loop!!!!......its almost funny if you forget u support spurs!

that interview says everything better than i ever could.... he hasnt a fuckin scooby doo, he simply cant be defend

 

[StartingPrice]

ROFL - something I didn't think possible, in relation to Wobbly Chops, this morning.

 

[DEFchenkOE]

This is it. To simplify it even further, I think he played 442 merely in order to give Defoe a game, as he couldn't think of any other way to shoehorn him in.

Harry has his favourites and he's always seemed too afraid of upsetting them. Defoe may have been unhappy about not starting yesterday, but that's just tough shit. Got to think about the team here.

I genuinely believe this is the case. Defoe can't get a look-in unless we play 4-4-2, he's probably be moaning behind the scenes about not getting any game-time. Harry prob said "don't worry J, you'll get a game on Monday v Norwich". Defoe can't play up top on his own, so Harry has to change the system to fit him in.

We know Harry loves JD, fair enough he scores some important goals now and then. But we can't play 4-4-2 unless we have at least 2 cm work horses. Not to mention another striker with high workrate.

People can mention Man u playing 4-4-2 all they want but it's usually Rooney plus one and hardly ever Welbeck + Hernandez at the same time. And even those 2 have much better work rate than Defoe anyway. Not to mention their midfield being a well-drilled machine.

Pardew played 4-4-2 against us and has hardly played it since, he hasn't been scared to push there top scorer to the wing. And now they are looking very good with Gutierrez-Tiote-Cabaye in the middle. Seems like he's adapted a 4-3-3 and hasn't looked back.

He LEARNED from his mistake against us.

 

[cookiemonster]

The difference when Newcastle play 4-4-2 is their wideman are generally quite defensive and get through a large amout of graft i.e Ryan Taylor and Guiterrez at the beginning of the season....hence Ben Arfa couldn't get a look him

Our wingers however are much too offensive,doesn't track back and you have Parker basically covering 3 positions
,hence we are too open

Now they have change to 4-3-3 to accomodate Ben Arfa and have shafted Ba to a left-side forward position and are looking much more dangerous

Jermain Defoe however can only play in one formation.and to paly 4-4-2 just to suit him is utterly ridiculous

He is a player that might get you a goal but will lose you a game. We should really get shot of him this summer

 

[Super Tottenham]

 

[sloth]

I haven't spoken about Saturday's match against Sunderland and I didn't watch the match yesterday, but I have a couple of questions/comments to make.

I think we saw the limitations of a one-size-fits-all 4-3-3 against Sunderland. In that game we didn't have enough craft to penetrate their deep ranks of defenders. Yes we had a lot of the ball, but that was because they often weren't really bothered that we had it. They focussed on not letting us play the dangerous forward ball, and we often had a surfeit of midfielders playing lateral or backwards passes to each other.

One training ground and two in-game solutions spring to mind.

In-game we can switch to a different formation, for instance by doing as we did and bringing on Lennon, moving VdV to the second striker position, and getting at them, alternatively we can stick to the same set-up but change the personnel, for instance take off Sandro, ask Modric to drop into a deeper lying CM role alongside Parker, bring Lennon on and put VdV in the more advanced CM role, or, simply swap Sandro for Livermore, a more progressive passer of the ball for a better ball-winner. Whatever is decided, in a match like the one against Sunderland, where the issue is clear, do it early, don't wait until you reach the final quarter of the match.

On the training ground however we need to work drills which focus on movement off the ball. I think we play with great improvisation at times, but when we're uninspired the lack of structure in how we're taught to play, I believe, shows through. Yes it is about great players, but they can be made even better by a great trainer with a coherent vision.

I didn't see us against Norwich, but I was dismayed to see the team we began with. Given I thought Harry had settled on his new philosophy, I couldn't see how Monday's team fit into it. I can understand the desire to rest players, but I think it's dangerous to make wholesale changes as we did - far better to rotate during the year, so they're fitter now, and used to playing with each other in a variety of ways, than to radically overhaul when there are only six games left. But it wasn't only the fact he made so many changes, but the thinking behind going 4-4-2; why????? It implies that he thinks that 4-4-2 against weaker opposition at home is a stronger formation, likely to get more goals and concede fewer than 4-3-3. We're back to the tired thinking that doesn't join up defending and attacking, but sees them as separate and distinct. Worst of all, the away performance against them, when we went 4-2-3-1/4-1-2-2-1, was one of our best of the season, we mullered them, so why do something different??

Anyway, it looks like we got our comeuppance - gutted.

 

[Mr Pink]

So in short when push comes to shove and the pressure is on with a must win game he doesn't even trust his own judgement or instincts.

That's enough for me to say Harry's time is coming to an end this summer regardless.

 

[stemark44]

any manager that says we play better in a 433 & then changes to 442 whilst saying you cant underestimate any team but at the same time makes 5 changes & reverts to a 442 which he says he doesnt like cos its too open, (clearlynunderestimating the team).....but he played it cos other people think we are better in a 442 even though he knows we dont have the forwards to play that way & then didnt change to 433 as soon as he could see we were getting "bullied" by mighty norwich is a fuckin fruit loop!!!!......its almost funny if you forget u support spurs!

that interview says everything better than i ever could.... he hasnt a fuckin scooby doo, he simply cant be defend

That's it in a nutshell,he doesn't have a scooby doo.

I have watched him sitting on the bench shaking his head many times now,this is not the body language of a man who is in total control and knows precisely what he is doing.
To come out with that load of garbage on MOTD simply defies belief.
I seriously hope that either the coaching staff or Levy now relieve him of any control and they pick the team and system for the rest of the season.
Let him leave gracefully at the end of the season.

 

[sasa_moto]

Too bad Harry wont't manage England. To get money for him from FA, and to have new modern, hard working manager, that would be something.

 

[jackson]

Unbelievable. He's the manager FFS!

I don't know which 'people' he's talking about but he shouldn't be listening to any of them if he's the manager. Maybe he's talking about the obsession in the press with us having 'width' but even that doesn't explain the 4-4-2.

You are the manager Harry. You make the decisions. Get back to the setup that you yourself said worked well not more than 1 week ago and stop pandering to the press/fans/FA.

 

[nedley]

I'm so angry with Harry that I want him gone now. I am so angry that he has undone some good work over the last few years.

I, like some on here, have had serious issues with Harry from the very start - things that are so, so evident now. Some fans were really getting wrapped up with the 'Harry-love-in' - How can you be against the best manager we've had in years?

It's really not looking good at the moment, but he's not going to be sacked thats for sure - it also makes no sense to sack him now. We really just need to make the best of the situation and see if we can get this 4th spot. My head says we wont.

Come the end of the season I want a change of manager - irrelevent of Harry/England.

Harry has done some great work with Spurs - but he is not the messiah that many, many Spurs fans think he is.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

It seems like the penny has finally dropped with Harry and fair to play him for sticking with this formation. I know this has been discussed at length in various threads but I thought these latest comments deserve positive recognition.

“I thought it [the formation] suited us at Chelsea especially,” said the manager. “You get outnumbered in the middle if you play with two central midfield players, so we matched them up in the middle of the park. It gives you a lot of control of the game playing that way.

“It’s hard to play 4-4-2 these days. You can get away with it sometimes, when you are on top of games. But against better teams, when they play three in there, it can make it very difficult.

“With this system, you have an extra player in there and you can get more control of the ball, and more control of the game really.

“Ade [Adebayor] has done well up there on his own in the last few games – I thought he was excellent against Chelsea. So it’s a system I like.”


Read a bit more here;

http://www.london24.com/sport/tottenham/spurs_boss_hints_at_permanent_change_in_tactics_1_1338574?

I was looking for something else and came across this thread. This really sums up how we fucked away CL football and an FA Cup Semi-final.

After saying all that we reverted back to the chocolate teapot midfield had the "but they tell me we're better with 4 in midfield" bollocks, including against Chelsea at Wembley.

I know it's over and he's gone, but it just reminded me that I'm glad. Whatever happens next, this kind of Dave Basset school of management was never going to get us much further, especially once Modric and VdV left.

 

[StartingPrice]

View attachment 1600

Those inclined to nostalgia after the last couple of results need to have a good study of these

 

[Kingstheman]

I was looking for something else and came across this thread. This really sums up how we fucked away CL football and an FA Cup Semi-final.

After saying all that we reverted back to the chocolate teapot midfield had the "but they tell me we're better with 4 in midfield" bollocks, including against Chelsea at Wembley.

I know it's over and he's gone, but it just reminded me that I'm glad. Whatever happens next, this kind of Dave Basset school of management was never going to get us much further, especially once Modric and VdV left.

I'm with you Bus Conductor.

No club with long term top four aspirations is run the way Redknapp ran Tottenham.

 

[Donki]

I was looking for something else and came across this thread. This really sums up how we fucked away CL football and an FA Cup Semi-final.

After saying all that we reverted back to the chocolate teapot midfield had the "but they tell me we're better with 4 in midfield" bollocks, including against Chelsea at Wembley.

I know it's over and he's gone, but it just reminded me that I'm glad. Whatever happens next, this kind of Dave Basset school of management was never going to get us much further, especially once Modric and VdV left.

Fuk me BC, I really thought you would have a little more class than that, why? We have a new manager, the technical, tactical young manager you wanted, get behing him in a positive manner.

 

[mpickard2087]

Ahhh a reminder of the good old days...

 

[SpurSince57]

I'm with you Bus Conductor.

No club with long term top four aspirations is run the way Redknapp ran Tottenham.

Funny. I thought Levy was running the club.