Spot on PNP, I think that Sig is an excellent prospect at 23 and will come good. Great pass for Lennon before the first goal and looks to he a good shooter and passer of the ball, as well as having some nifty footwork to boot. Also seems to win the odd header as well which can't hurt, offensively or defensively. Regarding his goals, his scoring record at previous clubs is there for all to see and is frankly excellent. However to expect him to come in to a new team with a new manager and philosophy and to start banging them in straight away is a little unrealistic. Don't forget that before Swansea he had worked with Rodgers before I believe. Perhaps he should have done better when his shot was cleared off the line, but then again maybe if Defoe had laid it back to him instead of shooting following Bale's run down the left then we would be celebrating his first goal for the club. Once he scores one for us I think he will start to show more of the form which lead us to buy him. On another note, Dembele looks sheer and utter class, could well be our signing of the season if he keeps this up.
Dembele, Vertonghen and Sigurdsson for the money gained from Modric is looking to be a master stroke, it really is! Dembele looks like the missing link, Vertonghen is a class act, and plays in the "Spurs way".
I have to concede Dembele played very well in that deeper position, something suggested recently that I didn't think would work too well, I have to say I didn't see a Modric/Moutinho size hole anywhere today. MD kept the ball, used it well, got forward like Modric, and covered Sandro.
I remember saying something about there being more than one way to cook an egg Modric bridged defence and attack with his passing and the occasoinal run, Dembele bridges the gap with perhaps more runs than passes but the end product is the same with us moving the ball quickly from one end to the other, whilst controlling the ball and not just hoofing it.
To be fair to YV (the smug git) he has been bigging up Dembele for sometime now and suggested he would be the ideal replacement for Modric.
I have also been a long time admirer of Dembele. I thought the guy looked pure class, yesterday. Could well be the best £15mil we've spent in a very long time. Love the way he uses his power, pace, and control to seemingly just glide past defenders.
The team seem to starting to get used to the system now,which was alway's going to take a few games,the midfield are starting to look good with Dembele and Sandro having a good partnership.o.k Reading are'nt a top team but the way they played in the Second half showed they are no mugs either.A good performance and the first of many i hope.
Very surprised about the criticism towards Sig. I thought he had a decent game, his pass to Lennon for the first goal was first class and was unlucky not to score when Defoe set him up, was a great block from the Reading defender. Made some neat passes in the game and I thought for the first time he looked settled in the team. For me, the three most disappointing players today were Walker, Bale and Gallas. Walker made some good runs but defensively was suspect and lucky not to give away a pen in the first half (though I'm still undecided if he was pushed or not which caused the arm to rise). Bale was just out of the game until the goal. Gallas too was lucky not give a way a pen in the 92nd minute, made a good block in the second half but I'm still not convinced he should be starting above Dawson. We need a more aerially dominant CB.
Bale usually has a **** game when he comes back from international duty cos Wales knacker him out as he spends the whole time running around trying get the team going. Yesterday he was less involved probably because of this but he the things he did do, he did well. Whipped in a good freekick for Sig to head, drew defenders away for Defoe's second, had a few good runs, scored, had another good shot that went a yard wide. He could've done with tracking back a bit more at times but when you compare his performance to some of the ones he had after international breaks last year, he was much better.
Somehow none of the papers have mentioned this fact today... Last season they told Ashley Young to hold off until March before they got desperate in trying to stay in the title race...
In depth post-match interview with Naughton on his Premier League debut for us: [video=youtube;Wq4q8KG69S4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq4q8KG69S4[/video]
I have to say notso, but I was one of those. There were a few others saying the same thing. as I mentioned on another thread earlier, we were a different side in midfield yesterday. I think playing Dembele deeper is great, although it may restrict him getting forwards as much as we'd like. But if he can play as well as that, never give the ball away and provide us with that creativity and calmness... then who cares! Very bemused about the Sig comments... I thought he was quality yesterday. cool, calm and collected. helped us play the ball around well in the final 3rd to break Reading down and looked for that clever pass when ever he could. I thought it was an encouraging performance from someone who's only just signed and is feeling his way into the team. - what was so negative about him?! Good performance yesterday from us. Yes reading were poor defensively, but we were by far the better side through but the entire game. A couple of threatening free kicks, but that was as close as they really got to breaking us down. As I'm sure we all saw, they didn't register a shot on target until the 86th min, was it? Not enough for a side at home. over all, couldn't really have gone much better yesterday, other than defoe scoring that goal and not conceding.
Massive, massive win, Absolutely delighted with the win and the performance. I was happy with Siggy's contribution, and astounded by the brilliance of JD. I never thought he had a game like that in him as a lone striker, and was proved most emphatically wrong by him. Adebayor must be a bit concerned as to the situation now, but I expect him to start v Lazio, and I guess we'll take if from there. All praise to AVB too, I didn't like his line up, but it worked brilliantly. so happy with the team yesterday, and watched MOTD for the first time this season last night. For me the season started yesterday, we've probably blown too many points to make top 4, but we should get top 6 on this performance.
A few actually slated me when I suggested Dembele could play deeper (I'll be kind and not mention the names ), in his days at Fulham he was always bursting forward from the centre circle so I'm pretty sure he was going to be more than capable from doing a further 15/ 20 yeards back, has a great engine which not many (myself included) has picked up on.
Nerdy stat of the day: We had to wait 18 weeks between our last pair of away wins (Norwich in December, Bolton in May), whilst we had to wait 20 between our next pair (Bolton and Reading) - the difference being we played ten away games between the former, and two between the latter.
Yes, we deserve a measured pat on the back. Best of all was the team looking sharp and intelligent fitted into AVB's scheme. Not many poor decisions, and a lot of good ones. Safe passes at the right times. Long/wide passes at the right times--mostly. I was particularly encouraged by the fact that we got our best threats from Bale and Lennon wide. They'd been too narrow the last two games, I thought, and I was afraid AVB would sacrifice our best asset. I actually found myself giving out a bunch of mental sevens to the players. Most played quite well, I thought, nobody outstanding. The second best development for me was Gylfi's performance. I've been watching him closely. In the first couple of preseason games it looked like he might score 15 or twenty and set as many up. Then he looked poor in the last few games. Yesterday he looked good. The pass to Lennon that set up the first goal was brilliant, and I liked a couple of the passes he made that didn't come off, since in at least one case the problem was that no one expected him to put in a dangerous pass from where he was. Dembele and Sandro were very good. As good as Dembele looked in the deeper role, a part of me wondered what he'd be like further forward--either replacing Gylfi or playing alongside him. Defoe is clearly a player that suits AVB and his 4-3-3-ish formation. If you want to pass the ball into the net, you need a fast, predatory last passer, and Defoe fits the bill. Truth is he wasted a bunch of chances, but, two goals is a good game for anyone. So: good game, but we'll have to see if the team can look this solid against Lazio, QPR and Man U. Cheers, Daibo. I would have been disappointed as a Reading fan as well. The worst thing is when it seems your players aren't trying hard enough, and your manager said that, more or less. The only Reading player I thought distinguished himself was Prg... He looked dangerous, able to beat defenders. What it seemed to me you lacked was a creative midfielder. For all Spurs control of the game, Reading had the ball for extended periods, but seemed to lack the ability to do anything dangerous with it. The other thing which would have helped was a good crosser, considering the amount of free kicks you had. Best of luck. Hopefully the team will learn from this and give the fans a better effort, at the least enough to stay up.
Fair comment SOS, but I'm afraid I can't see us finishing above the 'new big 3'. Arsenal looks like our best hope but they look to have the edge already. IF we beat QPR and don't lose to Utd, i'll start getting the optimistic goggles on
