FA Cup Shambles

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stjohnspur

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Jul 17, 2012
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What the hell was that about?

No defence, no striking options, no commitment = inevitable defeat to plucky Championship side.

Just hope Caulker had an off-day. And as for Vertonghen - wasn't he supposed to be our slick new centre-back option? Have to say, looked like we sorely needed Dawson in there - for his grit and guts as much as his experience. As it is, our central defence looked like they had no idea how to defend. Worse still, Naughton I feel is just too flimsy and constantly loses the ball. Not too good at getting forward either.
Sell him in the summer.

No need for me to go on about our increasingly incomprehensible lack of firepower upfront. Only 1 recognised striker with no viable options on the bench? As a result we had almost no-one to pass the ball to at the end of any attack. Dempsey worked hard, but once again missed some sitters. And Obika? Should a team with Champions League aspirations really be depending upon someone who has only had 4 starts for the the first team to save the match? All too predictable that he would miss the golden opportunity we had to level the score
Every Spurs fan knows that Levy has got to sort this out. Should have been done in the summer of course as it is extremely unlikely we will get anyone any good who is affordable within the next week.
Oh - and it was hardly news that the African nations Cup was on this season and that we would lose Adebayor for up to 5 matches (ie nearly a quarter of a season)

Result? Likely to be another season where we come close, but fail to win anything or to qualify for the Camps League.

False economy Mr Levy! Saving money that will only serve to lose us money in the long run.

Very, very disappointing all in all.
 
I'd been hoping Dempsey would do alright as a striker but he missed some great chances and I do finally agree with everyone saying we need another striker. Anyone know what the deal with Defoe is, was he rested or injured?

Norwich, who also suffered at the hands of the weekend cupsets, should be a good opportunity for our players to put the game behind us but we've got to be a lot better than we were yesterday.
 
stjohnspur said:
Oh - and it was hardly news that the African nations Cup was on this season and that we would lose Adebayor for up to 5 matches (ie nearly a quarter of a season)
Click to expand...

I wish 5 games was a quarter of the season, then we'd be in the CL <diva>
 
The FA cup is a wonderful competition where lower league sides get to meet the "big boys" and compete for something with a lot of tradition. Every year there are upsets and yesterday we were one of them. Congratulations to Leeds and best of luck to them against city.

It was a bad performance from us, but this also happens every now and again. - That's football.
Vertonghen made a mistake didn't he? well who cares? it's the only one he's made all season so he can be let off.
Caulker is still young, but he's also been fantastic for us, so if hes had a bad day, he can be let off too.

There are however, 3 major problems. and I'm now writing this on thread No4 i think!

1. We need a striker.
2. we need another dembele type of player
3. the firstXI quality is in a different league to the "bench".

1) Don't even need to go into it. we need a proper number 9, end of.

2) When we don't have Dembele, we have nothing in midfield. it's like our heart is ripped out. Yes, we've got scott, who always does a great job and works his arse off, but he doesn't count. I'm talking about after scott has done his job. When it comes to starting an attack and we don't have dembele playing, we lack intelligence, ideas, creativity, desire... you name it. Getting the ball to the strikers involves the midfield executing a passage of play where we finally break through. we're fine on the wings, but the middle of the park is lifeless.
We cannot leave ourselves in this position. If dembele gets a hip problem, the bench options have shown they can't step up. - they've had 6 months. just look at the EL group stages for the evidence.

3) Other than Scott parker, the rest of the "bench" quality is so far below the first XI or so, it's worrying. Now, it could be argued that scott is too good to be on the bench, and rightly so. but there's 3 others. (no names) who just can't offer us anything, I'm afraid. I'm beginning to get sick of them playing. It's pissing me off that there's other youngsters who deserve a chance, but we persist with the same subs <doh>


it's a real concern as and when the injuries come, because they will. they always do. we'll be witnessing more performances just like yesterday, on a regular basis.
 
Yep, **** performance, deservedly got beat.

Luckily we won't need to rely on Hudd and Sig much anymore and so providing we get no injuries, we SHOULD be ok until the summer with the exception of (hopefully) bringing in a striker NOW! Then when summer comes, a major clear out is needed with some proper talent coming in to challenge for places.
 
stjohnspur said:
What the hell was that about?

No defence, no striking options, no commitment = inevitable defeat to plucky Championship side.

Just hope Caulker had an off-day. And as for Vertonghen - wasn't he supposed to be our slick new centre-back option? Have to say, looked like we sorely needed Dawson in there - for his grit and guts as much as his experience. As it is, our central defence looked like they had no idea how to defend. Worse still, Naughton I feel is just too flimsy and constantly loses the ball. Not too good at getting forward either.
Sell him in the summer.

No need for me to go on about our increasingly incomprehensible lack of firepower upfront. Only 1 recognised striker with no viable options on the bench? As a result we had almost no-one to pass the ball to at the end of any attack. Dempsey worked hard, but once again missed some sitters. And Obika? Should a team with Champions League aspirations really be depending upon someone who has only had 4 starts for the the first team to save the match? All too predictable that he would miss the golden opportunity we had to level the score
Every Spurs fan knows that Levy has got to sort this out. Should have been done in the summer of course as it is extremely unlikely we will get anyone any good who is affordable within the next week.
Oh - and it was hardly news that the African nations Cup was on this season and that we would lose Adebayor for up to 5 matches (ie nearly a quarter of a season)

Result? Likely to be another season where we come close, but fail to win anything or to qualify for the Camps League.

False economy Mr Levy! Saving money that will only serve to lose us money in the long run.

Very, very disappointing all in all.
Click to expand...

Welcome StJohnSpur

I share your disappointment but we just don't have the cash to sign everyone we need. To get a striker who is actually clearly better than Dempsey would cost £15m plus £5m a year and since he won't play all the time it increases the chance of a trophy/champions league qualification by a few per cent at most. It only makes sense if we have an Abramovich type benefactor who is prepared to lose the lot. Another way of looking at it is that there about 50,000 Spurs fans who are members (my guess may be a lot out). It would cost us £400 each to fund a new striker plus a year's wages. I doubt you'd get many agreeing to put the money up so why should our owner?
 
Roo said:
The FA cup is a wonderful competition where lower league sides get to meet the "big boys" and compete for something with a lot of tradition. Every year there are upsets and yesterday we were one of them. Congratulations to Leeds and best of luck to them against city.

It was a bad performance from us, but this also happens every now and again. - That's football.
Vertonghen made a mistake didn't he? well who cares? it's the only one he's made all season so he can be let off.
Caulker is still young, but he's also been fantastic for us, so if hes had a bad day, he can be let off too.

There are however, 3 major problems. and I'm now writing this on thread No4 i think!

1. We need a striker.
2. we need another dembele type of player
3. the firstXI quality is in a different league to the "bench".

1) Don't even need to go into it. we need a proper number 9, end of.

2) When we don't have Dembele, we have nothing in midfield. it's like our heart is ripped out. Yes, we've got scott, who always does a great job and works his arse off, but he doesn't count. I'm talking about after scott has done his job. When it comes to starting an attack and we don't have dembele playing, we lack intelligence, ideas, creativity, desire... you name it. Getting the ball to the strikers involves the midfield executing a passage of play where we finally break through. we're fine on the wings, but the middle of the park is lifeless.
We cannot leave ourselves in this position. If dembele gets a hip problem, the bench options have shown they can't step up. - they've had 6 months. just look at the EL group stages for the evidence.

3) Other than Scott parker, the rest of the "bench" quality is so far below the first XI or so, it's worrying. Now, it could be argued that scott is too good to be on the bench, and rightly so. but there's 3 others. (no names) who just can't offer us anything, I'm afraid. I'm beginning to get sick of them playing. It's pissing me off that there's other youngsters who deserve a chance, but we persist with the same subs <doh>


it's a real concern as and when the injuries come, because they will. they always do. we'll be witnessing more performances just like yesterday, on a regular basis.
Click to expand...

Roo - I agree we are short on the bench but if our best team is: LLoris, Walker, Kaboul, Vertonghen, BAE, Parker, Sandro, Lennon, Dembele, Bale, Adebayor then the main absence of cover is at LB, DM and all three of the attacking midfield - not striker where Defoe/Dempsey are at least adequate. Hopefully Holtby will cover Dembele, Sig will return to form and Livermore/Thudd could still step up. But cover for Bale and Lennon is where I would go for more strength and this is true even if we play 442
 
PowerSpurs said:
Roo - I agree we are short on the bench but if our best team is: LLoris, Walker, Kaboul, Vertonghen, BAE, Parker, Sandro, Lennon, Dembele, Bale, Adebayor then the main absence of cover is at LB, DM and all three of the attacking midfield - not striker where Defoe/Dempsey are at least adequate. Hopefully Holtby will cover Dembele, Sig will return to form and Livermore/Thudd could still step up. But cover for Bale and Lennon is where I would go for more strength and this is true even if we play 442
Click to expand...

Hi PS.

I dont see parker and sandro starting in the same game. so therefore the former is likely to be on the bench. - IMO, we don't then need another DM.
I disagree Re dempsey too. He's not a striker, if anything he'll be as cover for Bale. then there's townsend who never gets a chance. so therefor IMO we don't need another LM
Sig has clearly not done enough in training, and certainly hasn't impressed on the pitch in 6 months. Livermore isn't good enough and Hudd's not the player he was. they've all had long enough now and Dempsey is the only one who's started to turn it round.
I don't see Holtby as direct cover for Dembele, I think they'll compliment each other.
Naughton hasn't been ideal, I agree. but we're not short of a LB now benny's back and Verts could always cover.

We're fine for a GK, fine defensively, fine on the left of midfield, and fine in defensive midfield. It's The middle of the park where i have lost confidence in so many of our players and the striking situation is dia. Forget Ade being at the ACON's, he's lost interest IMO. - only time will tell.

the other position that's slightly worrying for me, is RM. lennon gets injured, then what? who do we really have who'll be able to do a decent job for us?
 
I think this game exposed Spurs weakness in the depth through the squad. Last season, you seemed to have equally as good replacements throughout the team, but this season you look a bit short when one or two key players are out.
 
PISKIE said:
I think this game exposed Spurs weakness in the depth through the squad. Last season, you seemed to have equally as good replacements throughout the team, but this season you look a bit short when one or two key players are out.
Click to expand...

No moreso than with you guys on the weekend.

Last season we didn't have good cover for Modric and VDV, or on the wings for that matter so I wouldn't say we had a stronger squad then either. We've all known about our weakness when Dembele's not playing for awhile and when we're missing our 2 out and out strikers we will struggle but apart from United and maybe City, who else wouldn't?
 
PISKIE said:
I think this game exposed Spurs weakness in the depth through the squad. Last season, you seemed to have equally as good replacements throughout the team, but this season you look a bit short when one or two key players are out.
Click to expand...

One or two? Lloris, Walker, Dawson/Kaboul/Gallas, Sandro, Dembele, Adebayor and Defoe were all missing from the starting line up. Most of them would be chosen, if available.
Our depth is lacking in a number of areas, but let's not exaggerate, eh?
 
stjohnspur said:
And Obika? Should a team with Champions League aspirations really be depending upon someone who has only had 4 starts for the the first team to save the match? All too predictable that he would miss the golden opportunity we had to level the score
Click to expand...

I saw him play twice for Swindon. Never scored or even looked like scoring. Yesterday was no different. I can't see why his praises have been sung during the past week. He'll never amount to anything, in any team.

But, I'm over yesterday. I never thought we'd win the FA Cup just because one of the Manchester sides will.
 
Inda said:
I saw him play twice for Swindon. Never scored or even looked like scoring. Yesterday was no different. I can't see why his praises have been sung during the past week. He'll never amount to anything, in any team.
Click to expand...

that's "signature" material that one day comes to bite you in the arse! <laugh>
 
Dempsey is a number 10 at best and just doesn't have the skill set to lead the line. Surely it would be better give a young striker a chance than slog away like we did yesterday? They may not have the experience, but at least they would be a dedicated striker.

As for Hudd, save the one long range shot, (what is his strike rate anyway?) many more performances like that and he will be exhibiting his "wide range of passing" playing for Stoke or Sunderland next year...

Poor all round. We seem to get it oh so right or tragically wrong. No half measures for us.
 
Chirpy rides again said:
Dempsey is a number 10 at best and just doesn't have the skill set to lead the line. Surely it would be better give a young striker a chance than slog away like we did yesterday? They may not have the experience, but at least they would be a dedicated striker.

As for Hudd, save the one long range shot, (what is his strike rate anyway?) many more performances like that and he will be exhibiting his "wide range of passing" playing for Stoke or Sunderland next year...

Poor all round. We seem to get it oh so right or tragically wrong. No half measures for us.
Click to expand...

He should be so lucky!

His form is of a mid-table Championship player at the moment.
 
Roo said:
that's "signature" material that one day comes to bite you in the arse! <laugh>
Click to expand...

Good job I have those wastes of spaces turned off then!

I can add to it if you like?


He's needs to go back to Yeovil where he can play a big part in a small team. He'll gain legend status among those bunch of backward apple farmers. Although, to be fair to him, if he ups his game, he may end up at a better club like Portsmouth, Bournemouth or maybe even Havant and Waterlooville.
 
PowerSpurs said:
Welcome StJohnSpur

I share your disappointment but we just don't have the cash to sign everyone we need. To get a striker who is actually clearly better than Dempsey would cost £15m plus £5m a year and since he won't play all the time it increases the chance of a trophy/champions league qualification by a few per cent at most. It only makes sense if we have an Abramovich type benefactor who is prepared to lose the lot. Another way of looking at it is that there about 50,000 Spurs fans who are members (my guess may be a lot out). It would cost us £400 each to fund a new striker plus a year's wages. I doubt you'd get many agreeing to put the money up so why should our owner?
Click to expand...

We've been paying the best part of 90k/wk to Jenas and Bentley for....I'll let you count the transfer windows!
 
Inda said:
Good job I have those wastes of spaces turned off then!

I can add to it if you like?


He's needs to go back to Yeovil where he can play a big part in a small team. He'll gain legend status among those bunch of backward apple farmers. Although, to be fair to him, if he ups his game, he may end up at a better club like Portsmouth, Bournemouth or maybe even Havant and Waterlooville.
Click to expand...

best insults i've seen in ages Inda. "He'll never amount to anything, in any team". <laugh> don't beat about the bush! <laugh>
 
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