The general feeling is whether this marks the start of "that time" of the season. Given yesterday was thrown away due to sloppiness, not the demoralising defeats of old. Also thought the game was food for thought for the divers. They probably could have more penalties than they got, if not for the Tom Daleys from Sturridge etc. And apart from his goal, the Spurs defence once again sorted out Suarez and saw him turn to his book of antics (WTF was he trying on with Dembele ?? ) .
For anyone wanting to ditch Benny then they had better come up with a damn good - and viable - replacement for one of the best and most consistent LB's in PL. How many pens has he given away? In 6 seasons not very many and certainly no more than any other defender. Bit like all the 'crazy mistakes leading to goals' argument - best guess is that people can come up with 3/4 over the years and most of those indirectly (2nd/3rd phase of play) Always seems to be the whipping boy for some when things go awry and yet most on here wouldn't change him I believe. If there is an inquest about a FB after yesterday it is the opposite flank we need to focus on, as that will reveal a season-long concern.
I agree, you could ask what Walker was doing for the first if you look again, after getting done by Coutinho's back heel he then just stopped, watched Enrique do a one two with Coutinho to set Suarez away.
100% agree with you Relayer. It's because if Benny makes a mistake it always seems to get highlighted big time on programmes like MOTD. I would say Walker has made more mistakes this season than Benny has over the course of the last 6. Benny takes risks. I know you can be a bit on the edge of your seat watching him but I do not agree that he dithers on the ball. His passing into feet is superb and he doesn't just lump the ball up field. Considering he plays without a typical left winger in front of him now maybe that's why he can't get the ball out to Bale quickly anymore as Bale doesn't really hug the touch line like he used to so there is no quick outlet ball. Who is better than him? Baines is always the chosen candidate but I personally wouldn't swap him for Benny. I watched the Everton v Wigan FA cup match and Baines made a lot of mistakes in that match.
Christ, the papers don't like us being in the top four, do they? All the match reports spend at least one paragraph banging on about our six points from nine games last season instead of, say, reporting on the match.
I don't think the pundits are terribly keen on BAE either, to be honest. I think their comments rub off on some of our fans. He's a great left back. He's got his faults just like any other player, but for every mistake benny makes, he has made countless tackles and blocks to help the team. I feel sorry for KW though. I think he's become a scape goat this season. He's not been up to his usual standard, but everyone seems to highlight his faults constantly. Yet, at the same time, he and Lennon have been very instrumental in our results since Bale went central. A lot of our dangerous attacks are down that right hand side which comes from a very good partnership they have developed together. This also applies defensively, where Lennon helps out Walker too. Walker has been much better recently, IMO, and i think yesterdays performance was down to his sidekick not being available. It hurt his game and he looked a little lost at times, as Lennon wasn't there hugging the touch line. If the plan is for Bale to play central, we need a left winger. we need balancing out or otherwise we're going to be too predictable.
That is one way of looking at it Roo, the other is why does Lennon have to mop up Walkers repeated positional errors, his absence has highlighted Walkers failure to improve in this area, Walkers pace is saving him from being average atm, ultimately though, that is not enough at the level we're at. I'm unsure at this stage whether KW's form that led to the odd England call up was a purple patch (before others start going down that road) and what we're seeing now is the norm.
I think Lennon has to mop up because KW is forward so often helping him out. - Lennon returns the favour. KW's made some mistakes, but he's getting better overall, IMO. Yesterday could have been down to fatigue. We've played a lot of football recently and some players haven't had a rest. Not trying to make excuses or anything.
No, no, not excuses, jut debating. Found this on the Vital Spurs site... Despite the individual errors, can we also question AVB's selection or was it a sign of things to come? No manager can legislate for individual mistakes, and you assume they alone were the main reason why Tottenham didn't pick up the points at Anfield yesterday and based on that, no blame can be directed at our manager, who aside from the scoreline, will surely have been quite pleased with the general performance, even though one or two individuals didn't exactly shine, whilst we also know he was without a few good players and also options from the bench to really make a tactical difference. Upon seeing the Spurs side, it looked a little devoid of creativity in the middle and built more to counter Liverpool. as opposed to looking to take the game to them. After Suarez scored his excellently taken goal, it appeared that I was right and I was talking of an early substitution to put right the first half deficiencies. Before the game, I assumed that Lewis Holtby would have been the man to replace the injured Lennon in the starting XI, however I was also slightly worried that he hadn't quite looked his self in the last game or two, and perhaps was lacking that early zip or a bit of confidence. Without Clint Dempsey or even Emmanuel Adebayor, playing safe, with Parker, Livermore and Dembele, might have been his best and safest option, and with the equaliser on the stroke of half time, and then going into a 2-1 lead, could anyone argue that AVB had got his selection wrong? For some time, it has crossed my mind, that the quality and form of Bale and Lennon, has to a degree forced AVB's hand in going with a 4-2-3-1, as opposed to 4-3-3, something that many people assumed would have been our default setting. Though we have been 'quite' successful in adapting Gareth Bale into a more central and more versatile player, Lennon probably still struggles to be anything more than a very good winger, whether played on the right or left. To his credit, his form and work-rate make him a vital member of the team, but is it his rigidity and lack of ability to strike fear into opposing keepers, that make us stick with a compromise formation, as well as perhaps not yet securing that lock picking play-maker, such as Moutinho or similar? The fact that we are clearly developing nicely and doing very well in the Prem and Europa league, means that we have ignored the formation issue, because everything is running smoothly, but was yesterdays selection, a small hint at where AVB's medium - long term intentions lie? I don't really like getting too carried away with formations, because we all know that one player playing higher or lower, can alter a perceived team shape, but yesterday, I again wondered, if the selection was a toe in the water attempt at moving towards his long term plan and having his cannot drop wide man injured, made for an ideal opportunity, even if the players at his disposal where not quite his dream central three? Perhaps in time, Holtby or even Tom Carroll, who again impressed me in his few minutes cameo, could be a very good option to work alongside, Parker/Sandro and Dembele, though there remains for me a feeling that we might need to bring in that play-making CM, over already having him at the club. Holtby, certainly has the bite and energy to play deeper and I wonder if that is where AVB and even the player himself, see his future, once he has bedded into the side. Once again we read that Christian Eriksen is a summer target and he might be well suited to the more offensive role, with would allow Holtby to play deeper, though with the uncertainty over Bale's future, can we take too much for granted? Yesterday, may well have been a case of countering the opposition with limited resources, but I do question whether we will soon see the next stage in our development implemented in the summer. Some will suggest that Dembele was deployed on the right, but does anyone really see his place as being anything other than being one of a centrally based two or three in the future. Sandro and Dembele, make for a very useful pairing and also a great basis for a three, should that be something on AVB's mind. If that is his longer term aim, I do worry slightly for Lennon as a starter in the future. Sure he is a very good and influential player, but is his a case of adapt or die in the future of Spurs? This season he has been a Europa captain and you feel that AVB likes him for what he brings to the team, and perhaps that is why he is still playing and we are still evolving the system, but I do feel that we are still some way to go with the Villas-Boas revolution, and perhaps we got a small glimpse of his intentions yesterday. Read more: http://www.spurs.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=7514698#ixzz2NEZILxF4 I agree KW could be tired and it was a bad day at the office an all that, but its not the first time we've all pointed Walkers patchy form, and that can't continue.
Walker has been improving slowly throughout the season and was having a decent game until that pass. He's still a weak link though and there's no excusing that pass, it was a bad idea, awfully executed.
Not too sure there, we'd already had warning signs down that flank from Coutinho and Enrique I thought. I think he's been one error away from disaster all season myself. Lack of competition for the place can have something to do with it, he's been unchallenged for a while now.
The Defoe one was worse as it was unrecoverable from that position, left BAE with no choice but to foul Suarez, at least with Walker's there was time to recover, they should never have been allowed to score from that position. At 1-2, there was only going to be one winner but you self destructed.
Couldn't agrred more. Beeny is probably the best FB in the prem. Every one is entitled to the odd mistake but if they let you down every week something has to change. Walker perhaps needs to be played on the wing in Lennons absence. He also needs to learn how to cross a ball first time and not take a couple of touches to fiqure out where everyone is. He also need to vary it a bit, a couple of those low hard crosses just in front of the keeper wouldn't go amiss. However, yesterday too many people made mistakes. The Manager by playing too high and too narrow, Walker, by not tracking back with Suarez for the first and with the awful back pass for the second. JD with the backpass for the third, JV got away with a dodgy tackle in the box, Lloris was unlucky with the second. Benny just pushed his luck a little too far, that was a penalty 3 or 4 times out of 10, he picked on the wrong ref to do that. When Kaboul returns it will be worth Kaboul taking the RB slot and Walker covering for Lennon on the wing. The were positives yesterday, JV, Dembele and Siggy all had good games, plus no one got injured, roll on Inter, COYS!!!!
I previously picked Carroll to start against Inter. I agree he's come through with flying colors every time, and Inter is the perfect game to give him a start. The mark against him, I'd say, isn't just his size, but the fact he looks about 16. I hope Livermore continues to progress enough to deserve a DM start, but I was never for starting him alongside Parker, nor, I think was anyone else. Having said that, if Walker doesn't make a crazy backpass and we end up winning, it would have looked like a much better choice.
2013.03.10 - Liverpool vs Tottenham (720p).mkv (4.11 GB) https://mega.co.nz/#!PAcEzD6J!Oix6mDyfhEjt2ZoZEAzGvDpZ2VV13-FU7OEUDTK-IVU Maybe not though...
