Pretty disasterous so far; Injuries = VdV (Groin) and Walker (ankle, reoccurance of injury that kept him out of the Euros?) Bassong is not a left full back. Defensive high line needs some work, anyone faster than Keane and we might have been 3 down at half time. Hopefully Kaboul and Lennon were just jetlagged. Missed a defensive mid. Let's hope Sandro survives the Olympics. Plus points: Sigurssons delivery looks good, Hudd hasn't forgotten how to pass(but has nicked Benny's hair). Roll on Loserpool
Deedub are the injuries serious? Guess AVB didn't have too many options at LB and it is pre season, generally results don't mean a lot. Have recorded it will watch when I get home.
[video=dailymotion;xsdsse]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xsdsse_los-angeles-galaxy-vs-tottenham-fulltime-highlights_sport[/video] Watched it live and I'll take it as a learning experience for both our players and our manager. Seemed quite experimental, yet still stuck largely with the system that Redknapp used, though the defence was using Villas-Boas' trademark high line. As ESPN didn't seem to have a camera on the sideline, I wasn't sure how well the back four adapted, as the opposition went through on goal several times in the first half, but there was a lot of gesturing at the linesman. It seemed like there was a lack of leadership in there though, which is a little worrying, given the departure of King. Needs work and someone to take charge, no matter who it is. The coach will have learned several things that most of us probably already know. 1st half? Bassong's not a left-back, we need a playmaker in the middle of the park for our system to work, Townsend can't play on the right wing, Defoe's not a lone striker and Jenas is largely anonymous. 2nd half? Bentley can't play on the left, Kane can't play up top on his own either, Assou-Ekotto takes the piss out of opponents and both Huddlestone and Carroll can hit a pass. Started the game with no playmaker and finished it with two. One in each half for Saturday, please. Walker and van der Vaart both looked in a bit of distress, but both walked away unaided, so I'm hoping that they won't be out for too long. We need to give them time to recover now and not risk rushing them back. As good as they are, we've got plenty of able cover for them. Struggled with the heat and the pitch, by all accounts. Neither looked that bad on the screen, but both were mentioned, so I'll assume that they were a slight factor in the display. What haven't I mentioned? Cudicini looked like he was struggling with his instructions. Didn't look comfortable with the short distribution or having to come out, so he abandoned both, basically. Bale showed flashes of excellence and we had enough chances in the 2nd half to put the game to bed, but we didn't take them. The shape looked extremely poor at the end of the first half, after Jenas replaced van der Vaart, but a lot better for the 2nd half, especially after Huddlestone came on. The commentators didn't seem to agree with this, for some reason, but they were a bit clueless, so I'll assume that I wasn't seeing things. All in all, it was an interesting workout. I'd like to see the following start against Liverpool, assuming both of our injured players don't return for Saturday: Gomes; Naugton, Kaboul, Vertonghen, Assou-Ekotto; Lennon, Huddlestone, Sigursson, Bale; Kane; Defoe. 2nd half subs: Smith, Dawson, Bassong, Naughton to left-back; Bentley, Carroll, Livermore, Townsend; Jenas because we don't have anyone else...?
Villas-Boas has said that both Walker and van der Vaart picked up hopefully minor injuries, the former twisting his ankle, the latter feeling tightness in his abductor, and both should be back in 3 or 4 days.
This was the line up: Spurs (4-2-3-1): Cudicini; Walker (Naughton, 65), Kaboul (Dawson, 65), Vertonghen, Bassong (Assou-Ekotto, 46); Livermore (Huddlestone, 74), Sigurdsson (Carroll, 76); Townsend (Lennon, 46), van der Vaart (Jenas, 36), Bale (Bentley, 74); Defoe (Kane, 65). Vertonghen didn't do much wrong individually, but the whole defence got caught out on several occasions, attempting to play offsides which weren't given, including for the goal. I've no idea how many calls were made correctly or incorrectly, as ESPN didn't seem to have a camera at pitchside, for some reason. I think they only flagged once or twice in the whole 90 minutes, though. First half was very shaky, with Bassong looking exactly what he was, a centre-half playing at left-back, but it looked far better after Assou-Ekotto came on.
Sorry I didn't reply to wquestions earlier, I went back to bed. Vertonghen looked to have plenty of tine on the ball when in possession so excellent from that point. However, him and Kaboul together had zero understanding and we looked extremely vunerable. We were run ragged be an aging Robbie Keane. In the second half Dawson came on for Kaboul and we looked much better. However, LA made 7 substitutions at half time so we we playing many kids. We could not hold on to the ball and struggled to win it back when we lost it.
We could not hold on to the ball and struggled to win it back when we lost it No Parker no Sandro and no Modric, so not surprising.
Yeah I know, he was just saying if the Galaxy had someone faster than Keane they'd have been up by 3 goals. Donavon got pushed up top due to injuries and Keane being at the Euros. When Keane got back, they kept Donavon up top and they've been the best striker force in MLS for the past two months.
This high line doesn't fill me with much confidence, especially with a brand new centre back pairing.
JV is still finding his feet amongst team-mates aswell as on the pitch I expect, how can the centre back captain of Ajax not organise a defence??, AVB needs to sort this out, I'll bet Younes took charge with the I'm senior approach...plus he's bigger than him!
I don't care about about pre season results or performances. what I do care about is not solving the areas of the team we know need strengthening. I know I should be patient but I can't it's the same every year. If we don't get Adebayor and another striker sorted out before the season starts I will bet anyone we will be outside the top 6 next season and that's not good enough. I'm not a fair weather fan I've been supporting over 20 years and go to a lot of games. This current squad is one of the best spurs squads I have ever seen in my lifetime. We need to push on now. Come on Levy sign Adebayor up and another striker and get Modric sold and a replacement. I know easier said than done but the season is 4 weeks away.
Thats very true, pre season isn't a reflection or a way to guage how a team will perform come the start of the season so performances and results don't concern me. The two things which do concern me slightly, without panicking are the lack of strikers but that could be solved within days or a week and this defensive high line. This high line AVB loves to play imo is going to cause major problems at the back, I prefer it when teams sit fairly deep and attack on the counter as hitting on the counter is were all the space is. If we (which it looks like we will) go with this high line then it means we're open to the counter and teams with pace will have a field day.
Even with outstanding pace the defender isn't going to catch a pacey striker that already has a head start, or even if he does we won't be so lucky the next time. I understand the concept behind playing a highline as it takes away being pinned in your own half and allows you to apply pressure and create chances yet it leaves us open to cheap goals, one on ones and we could be battering teams and all they need to do is a ball over the top and they are in!
Sitting deep and playing on the counter all the time is a fairly cheap tactic and won't work for us because teams are happy to sit back against us. The amount of times we passed it around the back against teams like Sunderland(who like a counter attack) and failed to draw them out wasted time for us and ultimately cost us points. High lines take time to adjust to and a lot concentration, one CB needs to be constantly on the striker that's pushed up. When you mark tightly with one he has several ways of slowing the striker's run for a ball over the top on the counter or whichever other way they try to attack and the second is able to sweep as well as keep his head up longer to see where the threats are coming from. Get that mastered plus an effective offside trap, which is only really worth using when you're being attacked in numbers to take the furthest forward out of the game, especially since linesmen are rubbish in the PL.
I think AVB subscribes to the Barca/spain mentality of building from the front. Mourninho builds from the back in a far more stable (dare I say English) fashion. Between them they have been clearing up at domestic and internationl level, so who is to say which is better?