Panathanaikos are currently second from bottom of the Greek super league. Which makes them, even by Greek standards, a poor team. A team we should have dispatched with relative ease. The fact that we didn't was due to lackadaisical play in the second half. We were then put under more pressure, and ended up holding on to the draw.
It doesn't at all, they are in the top division of Greek football. They are only ranked 21 places below us in the UEFA table and ahead of literally hundreds of other European teams, including Newcastle and West Brom for example, both of whom we have failed to beat. http://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/data/method4/trank2013.html No way can we expect to dispatch such a team with relative ease, as I say a draw was a very predictable result, given both our UEFA rankings and our previous record in Greece. People perennially underestimate the nature of our opposition in Europe, and it just means they give a mistaken analysis of the game. Pana have reached a European semi-final more recently than us, they are not some Blue Square side that you might draw in the FA Cup. You were wrong to say they had us under siege. I'm not even sure that we were particularly hanging on for the draw, I didn't see the Greeks busting a gut to win the game, both teams seemed to accept a draw at the end.
ONLY 21 places below us! Oh we'll, that's ok then!. They are just about hanging on to their place in the Greek league, at this moment. It was a game that we should have had in the bag. We were easily the better team. However, once again, we failed to finish off a poor side, when we had the chance. Then lazy, lackadaisical play allowed them to equalise. They then put us under some pressure to seek a winner. Maybe it wasn't a siege as such, however the point is that for the umpteenth time we failed to be ruthless enough, and paid for it.
Yep ONLY 21, the way you're talking as if it was 210. This is a team that is something like FORTY places above Newcastle, so it's no surprise they might give us a few problems on their own ground. Glad you recognise that we weren't under siege. The point is we drew away at a difficult place to visit, and it wasn't down to AVB that we didn't win. He picked a very strong team, and some of the players need to look at why they under-performed on the night, but in no sense was it a disaster night. We got a draw that was always like to be the outcome of a visit to Athens, indeed we scored for the FIRST time in our 3 Greek away games, none of which, obviously we've won. Ih the last SIX games, since AVB has got to grips with the team we've only thrown away a lead ONCE In fact in the last six games, for the umpteenth, umpteenth, umpteenth, umpteenth, umpteenth time we HAVEN'T thrown away a lead. Well done to AVB and the team for putting together such a tremendous run, shame some of our fans can't see how well we're doing.
What utter, blinkered, nonsense!! The FACTS are that Panathanaikos, whatever their history, are currently next to bottom of a comparatively poor Greek league. We had the game there for the taking, and yes, for the umpteenth time we failed to do so. AVB has had six games, and as I have said many times, I am prepared to give him his chance. However, this failure to capitalise on a lead, or dominance of a game, has been for some time, and still seems to be a Spurs trait. We simply must learn to be more ruthless. THAT is a fact!..
Adding to this, the fact is you cannot blame Villas-Boas for not killing the game off - he could be seen urging the team to push up a good ten minutes before the equalizer, so it cannot be said he wanted to sit on the lead (which, doubtless, several hack journos were content to say was the case), so the problem stems from the players' mentality. If we were going to sit back, we would've brought on Sandro to shut up shop instead of Sigurdsson or Townsend.
I can accept that, to some extent. However, somebody in management has to take responsibility for the collective attitude of the players. If they need a kick up the arse, then hopefully, it will be delivered. Until we learn the ruthlessness that's needed to kill off games like this, we will never have any hope of challenging the top clubs.
WELL I'VE DONE MY bEST TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND MY POINT OF VIEW- BUT i GIVE in TIME TO ADD TO my ignore list for the best of both of our blood pressures methinks
well said HBIC - but NSS wants to blame AVB for our current brilliant unbeaten run, so what can you do?
[SUB][/SUB] I really couldn't give a damn about your ignore list. Or your childish, petulant attitude. No, I do not agree with your viewpoint. if you care to read what i wrote correctly, I have not blamed AVB entirely for these errors - Merely pointed out that he has, so far, failed to correct them. It is an unfortunate trait that Spurs have suffered from for far too long.
They scored with about the only good attack they had, and the ball went in about the only part of the goal they could have scored. There will be other similar occasions where the striker doesn't receive exactly the right pass, make exactly the right run and hit the ball in exactly the right place. Without that our perceptions of the match would be vastly different. I'm not happy about it and agree with most of what has been said about the performance - yes even if we'd won 0-1 we should have got the second goal anyway - but I'm not going to go overboard just yet. In a "glass half full" way, the manager could use the game as a learning example of what could happen when you don't kill a team off, and we may benefit from it. As has been said, it doesn't look like AVB was encouraging us to sit back and hold on! Let's see if it happens again.
Having read back through this thread, as far as I can see, NowsufferinginSpain, myself and others have merely expressed a different interpreataion of last Thursday's events to you. This is what watching football is all about, differing opinions, and this forum is an ideal way of discussing and exchanging these views. As time has progressed, it does seem apparant that should anyone dare to question your viewpoint or your famous "agenda", tehy are immediately placed on your ever growing "ignore list", which rather begs the question why you are on here ?? I am beginning to have this vision of you standing on a soapbox everytime you write on here with a bloody great megaphone in your hand. I think what some of us struggle to come to terms with, is your varying views from one day to the next. This recent Europa game is a classic example where the game went from a "must win" game to a "not lose" game in the space of a few hours. We also recall your recent constant battering of Mr Defoe and then your next day praising of him and even go so far as to compare him with the great Jimmy Greaves !!! Goodness only knows what you'll be saying later today should we slip up against Aston Villa !! Mind you, you won't have a clue what the rest of us are saying as it seems to me, about half the posters on here are on your silly ignore list.
GHoddle,I was placed on our ignore list and if like me it didn't matter at all then it won't matter to anybody. It does not hurt anybody to be placed on the ignore list. I placed Luke on the ignore list as a replacement for wanting him barred because of his constant innuendo but it doesn't hurt him at all. I made a remark or two about the Pana match and you disagreed but I didn't cry about it. It's history. We had the chances to go two up but Defoe being Defoe well...........! AVB is presiding over an unbeaten 8 match run but on the day it's down to those on the pitch and especially the captain to marshall the right attitude to win the match if we go ahead. I don't think that we have a strong captain in the field. Now I've lost track of this argument but that's my input to this. You do seem to have a dictatorial style of posting as if "Agree with me or else." Let's all calm down,read each others posts and agree or disagree and move on. I'm looking forward to 3 pm,4pm here in Italy. COYS.
Well put. I did say some time ago that one day he would look at the spurs board and see a blank screen, except for his own comments. Which, as they seem to be the only thing that matters too him, won't bother him too much. He seems to believe that his famous ignore list is some kind of powerful weapon with which he can control others. I'm sure a psychologist would have a field day with him!. Not for the first time, all his toys have come flying out of his pram. Hence the capital letters, I suppose.
It's what this should all be about. You have your point of view, I have mine. Sometimes we agree, sometimes we don't. However, we both seem rational enough to keep our toys in the pram.
HI TMT, if my style of posting comes across as dictatorial, then I apologise. The idea that I'm posting in a way that is 'agree with me or else' is absolutely abhorrent to me, I certainly don't think that way, and if I come across like that, then I absolutely don't mean to. I don't aim to hurt people by putting them on ignore, as you say I'm sure it doesn't hurt anyone. If I actually thought it would hurt someone I wouldn't do it, I have no interest in hurting anyone, certainly not fellow Spurs fans. For me the ignore button serves a variety of purposes, one of the main ones is to AVOID hurt, what's the point of clashing with people. Let them have their say, I'll have mine, and we won't rile each other up. Once people start having a go at me, I've got two choices basically, have a go back, don't really like that option, or ignore them.
Oh look, for the umpteenth, umpteenth,umpteenth, umpteenth, umpteenth, umpteenth time we didn't let a lead slip. Love it Where was the Villa siege, oh look, it didn't happen. Well done Spurs, well done AVB.
I agree PNP. But then, I didn't start this!..as you will see on another thread, I have given up responding to this idiot's deliberately inflammatory comments.
