Zokora at Right Back - Inspired?

[SpurSince57]

Corluka got roasted by Young at the Lane and recently Zokora has been solid at right back in our mini revival. The right thing to do was to put a pacey player who can play at right back up against Young. That rules our Corluka, although Corluka is the better defensive right back.

If Zokora hadn't picked up an early yellow because he was being targetted, make no mistake, he would have gone on until being subbed in the second half through exhaustion.

Not sure about that, PT. He was well worth a shout at RB today and it's easy to see and agree with Aitch's reasoning, but the fact is it's a fill-in position for Zoko and whilst he has the pace to deal with Young it was his positioning and reading of the game that let him down. The yellow was obviously a factor but, let's face it, it was a pretty terrible day at the office. Charlie may lack the pace, and, true, he had a pretty torrid time himself against Young at the Lane, but once he came on Young got a lot less joy.

But really, Zokora has one awful game therefore he is shit, as some seem to be suggesting? Right…

 

[jrio]

You are an absolute numpty.

On the fifth of March you slate Zokora. You get an immense about of abuse back due to your pathetic posts (including calling him the worst international player ever to play for Spurs and wanting Mabizela ahead of him due to one goal against Leicester) and you go completely quiet.

He has a poor 35 minutes today and here you are again, popping up with the negativity.

Why do you bother?

Do you get enjoyment out of Zokora playing badly?

Why do you do it? Why do you support Spurs?

You're a an eejit. Pure and simple.

You have little to offer other than playground insults. About 3 members negged me, all as inconsequential as yourself. I missed most of the comments on the thread as I have a life outside of the web, and do not need to read every response.

Zokora's a poor footballer and nothing will change that. Do Liverpool fans get enjoyment from Lucas playing badly? He seems to be even more poorly regarded than Zokora is.

Cheap insults are beneath me, as is questioning the support of any fan.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

I pointed this out after Boro. Then again when Chimbonda was played at LB against Sunderland. The mistake was Redknapp's, pure and simple. And Zokora didn't play that badly today, for 35 minutes Young was just plain fantastic. A quick, skillfull player who was going at it. Just like Evra is still one of the best LB's in the EPL despite Lennon giving him a torrid time at Wembley.

And Jrio, your opinion of Zokora embaresses you. Apart from having excellent technique, superb passing stats, the ability to drop a shoulder and run past an opponent, tackle he also usually does all those things for 90 minutes. When Palacios arrived and most were saying he would replace Jenas, I said it was more likely that his qualities would make him a better replacement for Zokora's defensive but anyone that thinks that Zokora is shit doesn't understand football (as Zokora proved at Wembley where he was once again outstanding)

 

[ginol@14]

zok is a very important squad player ,always gives 100% and plays in numerous positions when needed
harry did the right thing taking him off today , the ref booked him for a nothing challenge and you could see that diving git young was going to try to get him sent off
charlie came on and had young in his pocket and we got 3 points ..... job done

 

[$hoguN]

Not a right back and being put up against Young who has been fantastic the majority of the season was a big gamble... Hats off to Redknapp for making the change as Charlie showed what a good right back he is

 

[RussellYid]

You have little to offer other than playground insults. About 3 members negged me, all as inconsequential as yourself. I missed most of the comments on the thread as I have a life outside of the web, and do not need to read every response.

Zokora's a poor footballer and nothing will change that. Do Liverpool fans get enjoyment from Lucas playing badly? He seems to be even more poorly regarded than Zokora is.

Cheap insults are beneath me, as is questioning the support of any fan.

Very big of you. Thanks so much for the reply.

But "Zokora's a poor footballer and nothing will change that" is as intelligent an argument that you can give. Enjoy your super-dooper life outside of the web.

 

[PT]

Expect to see Zokora put a shift in there again. Redknapp has been called on that substitution during an interview and cited two exceptional performances from Zokora as the reason he started against Young in as RB.

As other people have said, Young was exceptional in the first thirty minutes and Zokora struggled to cope. My own opinion is that we wanted to go offensive on the right flank with Zokora backing up Lennon but it didn't pan out that way so Redknapp put the brakes on and ensured Corluka did a job on Young before venturing up the park.

The bottom line is that the call was right in hindsight and stabilised a rocky defence. On the other flank it was great to see Ekotto getting plaudits for another outstanding defensive performance. He is fast tracking towards being one of the beter LBs in the league.

 

[jrio]

I pointed this out after Boro. Then again when Chimbonda was played at LB against Sunderland. The mistake was Redknapp's, pure and simple. And Zokora didn't play that badly today, for 35 minutes Young was just plain fantastic. A quick, skillfull player who was going at it. Just like Evra is still one of the best LB's in the EPL despite Lennon giving him a torrid time at Wembley.

And Jrio, your opinion of Zokora embaresses you. Apart from having excellent technique, superb passing stats, the ability to drop a shoulder and run past an opponent, tackle he also usually does all those things for 90 minutes. When Palacios arrived and most were saying he would replace Jenas, I said it was more likely that his qualities would make him a better replacement for Zokora's defensive but anyone that thinks that Zokora is shit doesn't understand football (as Zokora proved at Wembley where he was once again outstanding)

What technique are you referring to? Detailed stats mean next to nothing in football and I pay them no heed. I leave the likes of "assists" for fans playing fantasy football. You can have superb passing stats by making a lot of 5 yard passes under no pressure and the raw figures tell you nothing. You'd be under the illusion that Modric is a far worse passer of the ball.

I always thought Palacios would replace Zokora, being a player that has the discipline, intelligence and technique to perform that role. Palacios also has another element to his game - if he hits a shot at goal, invariably, as we saw yesterday, it's on target. He does need to be more judicious in his challenges around our box.

I can't fault Zokora's effort and application, but technically he is appalling. I've never seen a player strike a ball so poorly. His passing is renowned as sub-standard. His most obvious attribute is those 40 yards runs to nowhere, runs that often lead to a shot 10 yards wide of the goal, or to losing the ball easily and then seeing a devastating counter-attack launched against us(sometimes he can negate the latter by conning the ref that he's been fouled. At least he's removed the blatant diving from his game).

My judgement of Zokora is echoed by many fans on the same points. Using that hackneyed line about "anyone who thinks.....doesn't understand football" should embarrass you.

 

[Hoowl]

Zokora at Right Back - Insipid?

 

[KitKat]

Love Zokora but he indeed got absoulutley roasted yesterday, for me corluka is up there with the best RB's in the Prem, an absolutley brilliant footballer in every sense of the word too, he only lacks a bit of pace but he makes up for that in positional play. He's had one bad game for us this season and that was his first game for us when he'd probably only trained twice with us and they all looked like complete strangers that night.

 

[stemark44]

I picked him in my team before the game.

The reason was simply because he is quick, his man marking is usually excellent and he has had Ronaldo among others in his pocket when he's played RB before.

Today was simply a bad day for Zokora and we should give Redknapp kudos for having the bollocks to bring him off early.

Agree totally,I hold my hands up and say that I too had Zokora at RB but for whatever reason he met his nemesis in Young and Harry was brave to sub him so early.
I still think he is a more than capable player at right back and will prove it on numerous occasions for us.

 

[tRiKS]

Different game didfferent playing situtations. Zokora's poor game against young doesn't devalue how suitable a pick he was agsaint Middlesborough and above all else Corluka needed some bench time to snap him out of his malaise. It worked because that was a sharp display from Charlie when he came on.

 

[dannythomas]

It was an almost comically bad cameo from Zokora . Not his fault playing out of position , any more than Chimbonda's performance at LB was his fault at Sunderland . Does make you wonder again though why we signed Chimbonda if the pecking order at RB is Corluka- Hutton- Zokora- Chimbonda. Plus Gunter. It can only be that Harry really did think he could cover LB.

 

[RussellYid]

It was an almost comically bad cameo from Zokora . Not his fault playing out of position , any more than Chimbonda's performance at LB was his fault at Sunderland . Does make you wonder again though why we signed Chimbonda if the pecking order at RB is Corluka- Hutton- Zokora- Chimbonda. Plus Gunter. It can only be that Harry really did think he could cover LB.

And maybe CB? But even then, the pecking order would go King, Woodgate, Dawson, Corluka... Methinks.

 

[Spursking]

Zokora is really talented - He can play in any position across midfield and in defence.

It is great to have a player like that in the squad, and I would say that Zokora is one of the best signings Tottenham have done. Any Club want a player like that, and we are really lucky to have him at Spurs.

 

[RussellYid]

Zokora is really talented - He can play in any position across midfield and in defence.

It is great to have a player like that in the squad, and I would say that Zokora is one of the best signings Tottenham have done. Any Club want a player like that, and we are really lucky to have him at Spurs.

Yeah, you tell them SpursKing! :grin:

 

[jrio]

Spursking must be on drugs or he has had a lobotomy. We take it for granted that RussellYid is a tool of the highest order.

Zokora cannot play in any midfield position nor in defence. He can fill in at RB when Spurs chase a game and he can play at CB in a limited capacity. In midfield he is mainly limited by his lack of any footballing ability, which constitutes passing, movement, ball control and tackling.

Apart from that he is unlimited.

 

[RussellYid]

Spursking must be on drugs or he has had a lobotomy. We take it for granted that RussellYid is a tool of the highest order.

Zokora cannot play in any midfield position nor in defence. He can fill in at RB when Spurs chase a game and he can play at CB in a limited capacity. In midfield he is mainly limited by his lack of any footballing ability, which constitutes passing, movement, ball control and tackling.

Apart from that he is unlimited.

Yeah, you tell them jrio! :grin: