I have to agree with your point about Defoe getting into the box or anybody for that matter. We seem to be very lacking in that department. No ball should be zinging across the box without at least one Spurs player close to getting on the end of it. I hope Holtby does speed up the team because at times they look more like chess players than footballers.
Wasn't sure which post to reply with quote to! Yes YV there was one cross about halfway through the first half from Bale, (are we talking about the same one?) he'd gone a long way with it and got to the byline, sent one over toward the back post...no-one remotely near the 6yd box. As Bale who'd slid out of play turned round, the look on his face was a picture..."why do I bother!" written all over it.
A bit like our players not sure which post to go for. Answer: somewhere near either would be fine there are more than one of you!
I think we probably are talking about the same one. I wasn't even bothered when Defoe went off injured after that, it doesn't really matter whether Defoe's getting nowhere near the ball or whether Dempsey takes over the duties.
I'm still trying to work out Dempsey and where he fits in. On the left, he drifts too far inside meaning Benny has to push further forward. - against counter attacking opposition, that could leave us exposed at the back. When Dempsey is playing this role, we become compact, which results in nearly every dangerous attack having to come down the right hand side. It's too predictable. If it hadn't have been for bales solo effort, we would never have scored. How many shots did we have on target in the first half? The other area he's playing is the striker role, which is supposedly what he was brought in for. I don't quite know how to be honest?! I don't think I saw 1 of his attempts on target yesterday, which simply isn't good enough for any "striker", and certainly not something we can be allowing right now. His work rate has picked up massively and there's been an improvement in the last half a dozen games (until yesterday), but I'm just really confused as to what he really offers. I think the ways he's currently being used isn't helping the team to be honest. He goes missing and it feels like we have 10 men at times.
Spot on Roo but we need Dempsey now. He can score against the top teams as he proved against Utd. Maybe there weren't too many scoring attempts yesterday but the reports say we played a good patience sort of match. I have been critical of our performances and scores but yesterday's was good no matter how anybody looks at it. Again a two half performance from us.
Remember when we kept playing Ade and Defoe up top and Dempsey was coming off the bench? He looked really dangerous coming on against a more tired defence and now with Holtby ready and Ade back it means we can drop players again if they're doing poorly, Dempsey falls into that category and Dembele will too if he doesn't sort himself out soon.
whilst i agree with that TMT, unfortunately we looked better because they only had 10 men for an entire half. what i'd like to see is that "patience" football against 11 men. keeping the ball and going sideways or backwards can be frustrating to watch, but ultimately the opposition has to close us down to get the ball back. If we get the timing right, the gaps begin to open up and we can exploit the opposition more regularly. This maywell help us to get 3or 4 goals in a game so we can make progress on the goal difference issue! I think the problem this season, has been not having that person to be instrumental in this maneuver; that player that can find the pass when we need it. Hopefully Holtby is that player. It looks like he could be. Patience is such an underrated part of football, yet it can be so effective. As for Dempsey, no, I don't think he had many chances like you say, as he was playing out on the "left". However, that back post header should have hit the target, and the shot that foster parried for a corner was going well wide. - The difference I feel with dempsey, is you can't rely on him in that sort of situation. In fact, I almost expect him to let us down. To be honest YV, I don't mate. All I can remember is him being poor until a few games ago. However, his work rate has got so much better recently. I think it's just a case of finding what works best for him. it's very difficult, as he's not an out and out striker, he's doesn't work behind Defoe as he can't really hold the ball up, and he loses our shape when playing on the left. - He's just average-quite good at everything. - which is good for the squad, but unfortunately doesn't have enough impact when we need it. I am struggling to see what the problem is with Dembele to be honest. I kept an eye on him yesterday after seeing a few comments on here within the last week or so. Other than a couple of bad first touches at the start of the game, he did fine IMO. I don't think he's had a bad game for us. I just wish he'd shoot a bit more once he's done his "drop of the shoulder shimmy". He seems to open up some good space, but then passes it sideways into a congested area on the edge of the box. But I think that's a confidence thing. Just needs to hit one from 18 yards and find the net. We also need to remember that him and Parker have still only had a few games together and are probably still adjusting.
I don't, his shooting is woeful, its a loss of possession, he may aswell just pass it to the keeper!, so I'd much rather he lays it off, the fact that he looks to each time shows the confidence in his own ability. His goal record suggests its just not in his locker, and another thing is his age says he's had plenty of time to address it, but its not happened, he's not alone in this category though...Hudd!
That's just the thing though, Roo. The ****ers won't do it! Most teams have realised that running about chasing our players and coming out allows the likes of Bale, Lennon, Defoe and Dembele a load of space, so they've simply stopped doing it. They let us have the ball and let us have pot shots at goal, staying deep and compact, with the occasional foray into our half. Even Man Utd did it. With our lack of a really creative influence in the middle of the park, most sides simply aren't worried about that pinpoint ball being played through, which was always a problem in the past. Losing van der Vaart and Modric took that weapon out of our armoury, though I believe that Holtby may have restored it, somewhat.
Oh, i didn't realise it was that bad... yeah that's true actually. Surely the opposition will get bored of sitting back though, and actually try to get into the game? (providing they aren't winning) i like the patience approach, even if it doesn't always work. Eventually a great move comes about and defences can be split open. For me, it still relies on us staying wide, enabling the gap between each defender to lengthen, which allows us more space. - This is why, Like you PNP, I'm so keen to see Holtby and Ade start together. It could be the first time that we see this 4-5-1 formation work (or some variation of it).
Defoe's link up play has improved and complements the team as a whole. He is now droping deeper to recieve the ball earlier. He is less of a goal hanger these days and can't now always be expected to be in the 6 yard box waiting for a cross. There are others that should now be looking to run into scoring positions but are not doing so often enough.
Just what I've been thinking, though I'd spin it a little more positively. The good news is that we've been successful in making other teams react to the way we want to play, rather than play the way they want, even Man U. That's the good news. The bad news is that they've found a way to play that negates what we'd been doing well. The question is whether AVB needs to do a serious rethink or not,or whether the combination of Holtby, maybe Adebayor and maybe some small tweaks will be best. This game followed the pattern of the last three games, though overall we played better than against Norwich, which in turn was better than against Leeds. Once again we started off like crap, with defensive errors handing our opponents excellent chances. I thought around the 20 minute mark we started to play much better. Maybe Parker and Dembele got used to each other then. Even so, the moment Popov got sent off it had been about an even game. After that we showed good patience, and Holtby made a convincing audition for the VDV role of creative, dangerous central midfielder. He did an excellent job helping to set up Bale's goal. While it was against a ten man team whose determination has been questioned, I almost couldn't believe how well we killed the game off. Was this really the same team that couldn't hold a lead for half the season? Barring a couple of unnecessary free kicks, West Brom hardly saw the ball. I just love it when we slowly and patiently pass it from back to front, take a look or two round, think about shooting a couple of times, then say, Nah, pass it back and start again... Still, this is two weeks out of two where we scored one goal, each time courtesy of some Bale brilliance. Teams that sit back have exposed our lack of cutting edge, which is certainly a major concern. But: this was a big win. Given our schedule, I thought it was very important we get four points, or three at worst, out of the Norwich/West Brom away fixtures, and we did, just barely. We need to make adjustments, it seems, and we certainly need to decide which of the three of Dempsey, Ade and Holtby won't start next week.
at the moment, my one not to start would be Ade.an intresting fact in my football Manager game,it has Holtby as being able to play all across the midfield,and it also say's he's a competent player as a striker as well
Much needed win on Sunday against a good WBA team even if they are in a bad patch. Was surprised Holtby never started as his Norwich cameo was really impressive but that said, he had enough time after Defoe's unfortunate injury. Felt we were the better team even prior to Popov's read though we didn't test Foster as much as what we should've in my opinion. Not a massive fan of the Parker + Dembele combo though to be honest, although it's the best we have really. They don't have the same connection and understanding Moussa and Sandro had even though I'd have thought Parker would've slotted in well when replacing Sandro. Both have made some very sloppy passes over the past few games and Mosusa hasn't dominated the midfield like we saw earlier in the season. Bale was on top form again, the free role he's having seems to be giving him a licence to pretty much do what he wants, which I think works when you have a world class player like that. It does at times leave us a little short on the left but the past few games, Bale's saved our buts from his more central-free role. Walker still a bit concerning defensively for me but showed great desire to win the ball from Popov which eventually lead to the dirty twat's sending off, I think Andre made a great choice bringing Gallas on at RB (who looked pretty decent there to be honest) to add a bit of leadership and defensive steel at the back. All in all a good performance, not one of our greatest but it was enough to get a good 3 points away from home which is more than welcome.
Even though they were down to ten men it was still a good win because I've seen ten hold and even beat eleven. For once I cannot fault it. Let's just win on Saturday.
