What do you think of our defensive attitude away from home?

[Maske2g]

Spurs fans take great pride in our time honoured tradition of trying to play football the "right way".

We often quote Bill Nicholson, “It is better to fail aiming high than to succeed aiming low. And we of Spurs have set our sights very high... so high, in fact, that even failure will have in it an echo of glory!”

We moan for day's, when teams in the bottom half of the table park the bus at the lane, and we only get a point.

Yet last night, not for the first time in the last couple of years, we played like one of those teams.

We didn't try to win the game, when we got the ball wide, there was zero effort to get more than one man in the box.

Two of our central midfielders had no interest in passing the ball forwards or getting forward themselves.

There was one particular occasion in the about the 78th minute when we had a free kick midway into their half and we put two men in the box and lumped it up. Liverpool had 8 men back. Your not going to score like that.

Yet just like the other week, had Gareth Bale been more clinical with the best chance of the game (and yes that pass the other week was awful), we could have taken all 3 points having not deserved to.

I personally have often thought we should be more ruthless and win by any means nessasary....but that thought does include the word win, which you do need to attack to do....

We see Man Utd and Man city and they press high and try to win the game from the off. We try to do this in spells.....but when you aim to start on the back foot, it's very difficult to flip the momentum against a team that are playing well. And make no mistake, Liverpool did play well up until the final third when they were clueless.

In any year in my life I would have been happy with a point at Anfield, but I couldn't help feeling disappointed with the attitude last night that a point is really what we were aiming for, like some mid to lower table team. We're NOT that team anymore, we're too good for that.

So, being third in the table, would you rather we go for broke in our difficult upcoming difficult run of fixtures, TO DO IS TO DARE, the Billy Nick way, or would you rather we play this boring anti football, trying to scrape a win when the opportunity arises?

Better to fail aiming high? ALL DAY LONG!

 

[Ironskullll]

Spurs fans take great pride in our time honoured tradition of trying to play football the "right way".

We often quote Bill Nicholson, “It is better to fail aiming high than to succeed aiming low. And we of Spurs have set our sights very high... so high, in fact, that even failure will have in it an echo of glory!”

We moan for day's, when teams in the bottom half of the table park the bus at the lane, and we only get a point.

Yet last night, not for the first time in the last couple of years, we played like one of those teams.

We didn't try to win the game, when we got the ball wide, there was zero effort to get more than one man in the box.

Two of our central midfielders had no interest in passing the ball forwards or getting forward themselves.

There was one particular occasion in the about the 78th minute when we had a free kick midway into their half and we put two men in the box and lumped it up. Liverpool had 8 men back. Your not going to score like that.

Yet just like the other week, had Gareth Bale been more clinical with the best chance of the game (and yes that pass the other week was awful), we could have taken all 3 points having not deserved to.

I personally have often thought we should be more ruthless and win by any means nessasary....but that thought does include the word win, which you do need to attack to do....

We see Man Utd and Man city and they press high and try to win the game from the off. We try to do this in spells.....but when you aim to start on the back foot, it's very difficult to flip the momentum against a team that are playing well. And make no mistake, Liverpool did play well up until the final third when they were clueless.

In any year in my life I would have been happy with a point at Anfield, but I couldn't help feeling disappointed with the attitude last night that a point is really what we were aiming for, like some mid to lower table team. We're NOT that team anymore, we're too good for that.

So, being third in the table, would you rather we go for broke in our difficult upcoming difficult run of fixtures, TO DO IS TO DARE, the Billy Nick way, or would you rather we play this boring anti football, trying to scrape a win when the opportunity arises?

Better to fail aiming high? ALL DAY LONG!

Recalling Billy Nick's teams of the 60s and early 70s, where every season Pat Jennings would perform heroics and we'd come away with a 0-0 draw, I have to say I'm perfectly happy with this 0-0 too. Especially the way the team plays with so much composure and grit, without ever resorting to hoofball or anything remotely approaching brutality. I think Billy Nick would have been proud of that performance.

 

[Welshiespursboyo]

For all the attacking flair that we have, I have to say that it's great to see that, when need arises, we can be a very strong defensive unit too.

 

[Donki]

I think if we had Lennon and VdV last night and Harry you would have seen a very different game. Look as us away to City, we hardly parked the bus there.

Times have moved of from the times of Bill Nick for better or worse, football is a business and money orrientated unfortunately. Also do you really think if we would have went for it last night with the team we had and lost us fans wouldnt have been saying how tactically stupid we were to try for a win away at Anfield with a weakened squad? Us fans can't have it both ways, we either want success or we want to be seen as playing all attacking football all the time. Yes it is possible to have both but a compromise has to be made, games like last night are the compromise.

 

[Maske2g]

Recalling Billy Nick's teams of the 60s and early 70s, where every season Pat Jennings would perform heroics and we'd come away with a 0-0 draw, I have to say I'm perfectly happy with this 0-0 too. Especially the way the team plays with so much composure and grit, without ever resorting to hoofball or anything remotely approaching brutality. I think Billy Nick would have been proud of that performance.

Billy Nick also won 4 trophies in 6 years from 67 to 73, and you can bet your life we had Chivers and Gilzean were in the box when the ball was out wide.

I am proud of the grit and determination to hang on to what we have.....but I'd rather see us outplay a team and not need 7-8 heart pulpitating last ditch tackles!!!

 

[Donki]

Also with your reference to United and City, they dont always play beautiful attacking football, Man Utd especially can play some dogged horrible games of football and the majority of the time they get the result, thats what it takes to be Champions.

 

[Maske2g]

Look as us away to City, we hardly parked the bus there.

You are joking? That's just not true. We let them have the ball deep, and we didn't get forward in numbers when the chance arose until we were 2-0 down. Even then both goals were not with us attacking in hordes, but a long ball and a long shot.

Then when we were on the up, Redknapp was actually seen shouting at Livermore for daring to step beyond the centre circle.

 

[Donki]

Billy Nick also won 4 trophies in 6 years from 67 to 73, and you can bet your life we had Chivers and Gilzean were in the box when the ball was out wide.

I am proud of the grit and determination to hang on to what we have.....but I'd rather see us outplay a team and not need 7-8 heart pulpitating last ditch tackles!!!

You say that like you think we can outplay everyone all of the time we dont have the squad that can do that, no one does.

 

[Maske2g]

Also with your reference to United and City, they dont always play beautiful attacking football, Man Utd especially can play some dogged horrible games of football and the majority of the time they get the result, thats what it takes to be Champions.

Don't confuse the two things.

Trying to attack, and playing well are two very different things.

Last night, we didn't try to attack, we played well defensively.

Sunday, Man U tried to attack from the start, didn't play well first half once in the final third, and defended horrifically, but still deserved to win based on what they created.

Away at City the other week in the cup, again they went for it...they DID play well, and they thundered into a 3-0 lead.

Either way, they still went all out to win the game.

 

[raf18]

Its frustrating that when we play away from home, especially against the other top teams, we hardly have any attacks. Chelsea had a load against us and United create many away at Liverpool, Chelsea and City. The quality of defending was pleasing though.

Im really looking forward to the game against the scum because we have such a good team with so much attacking threat. It's especially mouthwatering when you look at the gaps in their defence. I really hope we dont spend most of the game defending, when really we should be taking the game to them.

 

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

This post is kneejerk.

If we had our full team out yesterday then i'm sure I attitude wouldn't have been defensive. As it is I don't think we went there for a point just that key attacking players like Lennon and VDV weren't available so we struggled to take the game to them.

 

[Maske2g]

You say that like you think we can outplay everyone all of the time we dont have the squad that can do that, no one does.

No not at all....but that doesn't mean we shouldn't give it a go from kick off and then adapt to the game accordingly.

We could catch a team on an off day, and take an early lead, but we won't know if we start on the back foot and let a team develop rhythm.

 

[gilzeantheking]

I'm pleased that we have developed a more defensive side to our game. Only a couple of years ago we would have bowed to the pressure we were under last night and shipped at least two goals. It's not pretty but it has it's own rewards. Offensively we came up short last night and never paid the price for it as we have done in the past.

 

[tototoner]

Previous Tottenham teams would have lost that game last night

Nice to have a backbone for a change

 

[Maske2g]

This post is kneejerk.

If we had our full team out yesterday then i'm sure I attitude wouldn't have been defensive. As it is I don't think we went there for a point just that key attacking players like Lennon and VDV weren't available so we struggled to take the game to them.

Knee jerk? It's a balanced question with positives and negatives.....and it's not a reaction straight after the event.

This post is both knee jerk and suggestive that you cherry picked the first and last lines....

 

[Wheeler Dealer]

For all the attacking flair that we have, I have to say that it's great to see that, when need arises, we can be a very strong defensive unit too.

But we were playing against a mid table team with no imagination. Yes, when we're up against the good teams, we can look to dig in, but Liverpool were there to beaten.

 

[Donki]

No not at all....but that doesn't mean we shouldn't give it a go from kick off and then adapt to the game accordingly.

We could catch a team on an off day, and take an early lead, but we won't know if we start on the back foot and let a team develop rhythm.

I agree that we shouldn't go out for a draw and we should try to win but last night I dont think we did go out looking for a point we simply didnt click and we had very little on the bench to try and change anything. Bale was frustrated and Walker couldn't get past Johnson for the life of him and Ade was poor, all in all it was a bit of a clusterfuck of a game. It will be intresting to see how we go out againt the Scum and the Chavs with a full strength team.

To answer I would have been more pissed off if we had of lost last night playing attacking football than I am that we played well in defence and got the point.

 

[Maske2g]

Nobody has really answered the question....

It's nice to have a back bone when needed....

It's nice to grind out a result when you play badly....

The point is, we made a rod for our own back by going all out defence/counter attack, and the large amount of pressure is invited onto us this way.

We are good enough, to be more positive from the start, and to go for the jugular, and then show our grit and determination if needed.....not the other way around.

So again, would you rather we go for a win from the start and adapt accordingly? Or are you happy to sit back and park the bus, and nick one on the break.

 

[Maske2g]

I agree that we shouldn't go out for a draw and we should try to win but last night I dont think we did go out looking for a point we simply didnt click and we had very little on the bench to try and change anything. Bale was frustrated and Walker couldn't get past Johnson for the life of him and Ade was poor, all in all it was a bit of a clusterfuck of a game. It will be intresting to see how we go out againt the Scum and the Chavs with a full strength team.

To answer I would have been more pissed off if we had of lost last night playing attacking football than I am that we played well in defence and got the point.

Good points. I understand their frustration, because everytime they got the ball there were hordes of red shirts around them, and not a white one in site.

How many times did they HAVE to beat 1,2, or even 3 players and then lose it with no help? Too many is the answer...

 

[donny1013]

We used to be such a soft touch away from home I think it's refreshing now to go away and expect us to get a result. With the players we had available I'm happy with how we did last night, away at City we could have won but we had Lennon, VdV and Defoe but they were missing last night which tied our hands really.