I've been trawling through old articles on 606 and I came across this. Kind of appropriate for now, and saves writing another one. The LOW POINT!! Premier League Tottenham Hotspur by Spurf (U13084015) 14 December 2009 There is always a low point in the season. Last year it was at the beginning of the season this time in the middle. The season before that it was at the end. So, if we are going to have a low point, and we certainly are, the middle is the best time to have it. Good start, iffy middle, great finish. Harry has it all worked out. This is the low point, bring on the great finish!
i like the attitude...i just watched the interview and he was hurting..nice to see..his head was ready to pop...but bottom line is if he doent know why we lost then who does?? like i said yesterday..i believe we will still clinch third...and 3 more games to potentially win the FA cup....could be a great season
I must admit, it bothered me too that Redknapp didn't seem to understand why we lost, Dona. Hopefully we'll have Lennon and van der Vaart back to full fitness for the run-in, so it won't be a problem.
I like the idea too, Spurf. TBH, I've never rated Harry as a great tactician - great man manager, yes. I doubt there's many better. But some of his team selections, and tactics, especially in these last three games, have been nothing short of bizarre.
I guess we have to understand, managers have their own beliefs and ways of achieving things, so even tho we all sit at home and say "this line up works" "this doesn't" Arry has his own system and way of managing, which he has used for over 20 years so while it may be simple for us to pick holes in the formation, we have to just accept arry has his ways and when they work, they are great but when they don't we suffer. He isn't perfect and the only reason our expectations are so high are because of arrys management so yes im as guilty as anyone for being frustrated at his line up when players are missing but i know he takes pride in his work and will be gutted if we fail to finish 3rd and while many say arry is just after money, i know he wants to make sure we finish 3rd, mainly for the fans and the club. Yes im concerned at the fact the players seem to have lost some belief but the players will be hurting and i expect some sort of backlash and i just hope they can prove me and others wrong and show us fans they do have some bollocks and they arent going to just let the season fall apart.
Of course nobody's perfect TB, but sometimes I think managers are too close to the wood to see the trees. They obviously see far more of the players than we do and know who's training well and playing well in practice games, plus who's got the right attitude for each game. Repeated failures with the same systems should be a warning sign to anyone, though. Let's hope that we have everyone available for the next match and we can knock Bolton out of the cup.
And also, this is a quote from moyes "Moyes said: "In the second half they put us under big pressure and we carried a wee bit of luck but sometimes you need that. "It's never easy to come and play at Goodison and I hope none of the Everton teams I put out are easy to play against. "They have a terrific team and played really well. Maybe [they are] the best team we've played at Goodison so far. That tells you what our players had to do to get a result." " Lets be real here, we did try and win the game and we did put them under pressure, we're just not getting results. The end product is missing and maybe, just maybe the players will go on a great run and save our season from being one of the biggest letdowns in our memory.
Its a fair point as say here on a forum we saying "pick this lad" but during the week he is acting like a muppet, training like a schoolboy, then what manager is just going to trust him to perform on the day? of course thats just a possible scenario but clearly arry doesn't trust certain players as otherwise he would put them in the team. We don't have any real replacement for bale or lennon, as in we have players that could play on the wing but they are such a big step down that arry doesn't see them as worthy replacement so in his mind he looks at the players he trusts, decides on the best formation to fit them into the team and we all sit on forums screaming "what the fuk are you doing arry" while knowing were not going to get a result! its frustrating as hell but im just hoping in the end arry gets us to 3rd and the FA Cup as its still there for us, we just need to get some belief back and the players from injury.
Nobody said he didnt take pride in his work..and nobody questioned where we were when he joined and where we are now..but we cant live off that forever...i think fans are entitled to and quite right in questioning wether HR has the tactical nouse to take us to the next level...that is what we want is it not? He has created instability just as much as Modric did earlier....by not coming out and saying something to give the players hope i think....you know like Rodgers did when he said he is commited to his Swansea project and would not want to ruin his career by joining Chelsea...players love to bust a gut for such managers...im not saying our players dont bust a gut ..but im saying when we are all heading the same way then we all find it easier to fight for one another.
sometimes when you try to get too clever as a team..establishment etc then you forget the basics..we forget the basics at times..but for that i blame the players not Harry.
Swansea are a good side. They play good football, too. I expected City to beat them, but it's not an embarrassment to lose to them, by any means.
Redknapp making comments like this isn't helping my confidence in him: "Gareth can play there. People don’t understand the game. People switch wingers now. Lots left footed wingers play on the opposite side. It happens all the time. Bale likes playing there. Bale's far less effective on the right, people do understand the bloody game and we're well aware that wrong-footed wingers exist, thanks. I hate it when managers think that they're immune to criticism from non-managers. Bar Warnock, I don't think that any of them are referees, yet they think they're in a position to criticise match officials. It's utter hypocrisy.
Bale is still learning. I think the root of the problem is that he's been moved around so much recently that he doesn't know where he'll be expected to play next. And so he isn't being allowed to settle anywhere. Harry seems to see him as some sort of ace card that he can play wherever, and whenever, he likes. He's not a ****ing chess piece, he's a young, talented player who is still learning his craft.
This sums up so much, and I agree with the first part. Not the second. Harry is responsible too imho. When we get the basics right, we beat teams. This is one of the first things Harry worked on. Playing players in the right, and their strongest, positions. Defending set pieces. Defending, or closing out teams, especially at the end of games. Playing our game, with OUR system. Basics. We even improved our set pieces. The priority seems to have changed to "protecting" Bale. trying something different when he may be targeted in a match. We lose shape, we lose matches. Harry has said it's a simple game, recently we've complicated it in a style that is almost reminiscent of the Ramos era. I trust that Harry can turn it around. Let's hope we see him actually do it.
Absolutely agree that he is still learning his craft; but unfortunately we are in the middle of a season and at a point where stability and consistently are needed and not experimentation (where possible). As PnP says, Bale is effective on the left wing but not so much on the right. He can still learn to play the cutting inside role, but whilst switching wings and not being primarily deployed there. What I would like to know is who would have played had Lennon been fit. Would he have been on the bench and we started the same as we did Saturday or would he have been in, Luka back in the middle and Sandro dropped to the bench? In other words did we set up as we did to counter Everton or because we had "no other choice"? If the latter then I think the team selection doesn't reflect the desired tactics i.e. pace on both wings. For me a better selection would have been playing on Danny Rose on the right because it would have added pace, kept players in their best positions and retained the desired tactical emphasis.
"Harry Redknapp was delighted to learn music veterans, and well-known Spurs fans, Chas and Dave have recorded a song urging him to snub England and stay at White Hart Lane." (Source: The Metro) Believe me, lads, it doesn't get any lower than this.
I'm happy to see Bale trying to cut inside from the left and add variety to his game, but it needs to become part of his armoury and not dominate it, as it has recently. In the early part of the season we were destroying some sides due to Bale's normal wing play, with the opposition right-back going into the book early on and then being terrified to tackle him. When they started to double up, then Lennon stayed well wide on the right, Walker offered the overlap and the rest of of opponent's side was stretched to breaking point trying to cover the middle. Redknapp seems to have forgotten that some of our players don't actually need to be effective to inflict damage, they merely need to present a threat that has to be dealt with. If we play our normal game, then teams either add cover to their wings and suffer through the middle or they stick with a normal system and get hurt down the wings. Either way, we create a lot of chances, force a lot of errors and put a lot of pressure on sides, which normally resulted in a win. In Liverpool's case it resulted in a win, a couple of bans and a humbling of a team seen as a rival for places. We need to get back to doing what we're best at and stop trying to stifle games. It only stifles us.
When both Bale & Lennon play, it's the speed of the attack that catches opponents out as much as anything. As PNP says, the defence can't be everywhere, but virtually any defence is susceptible to pace. It gives them no time to get back into position, or to cover effectively. I'm not saying Rose is a replacement for Bale - he's not. But he would have been a far better option IMO.
