Could've played all week and I don't think we'd have scored. Thought he had a good game overall, with only his timekeeping and their timewasting slightly mishandled. Can't remember him making any glaring mistakes.
Yeah should have been an extra 30 seconds, probably wouldn't have mattered, we didn't even have it at the right end of the pitch.
No, I didn't think we'd score either, but you can be sure that the time would have been added if it were at OT!
The problem isn't AVB HIAG. It's not even that we don't have good players; we do. The real problem is we don't have ENOUGH good players. Anything other than our best 11 is simply not good enough to maintain 3rd or 4th place and stage a Europa Cup campaign.
I said this when Defoe, Pav, and Crouch scored about 5 league goals between them, all season. We all pretyy much agreed that Pav and Crouch had to go, but when I dared to say that Defoe was way past his sell-by date and should be sold as soon as, many of you jumped on me. But, apart from a lively start to the season, Defoe has been pretty dire for the best part of it. And don't go on about his injury, because that simply does not wash with me; if he takes to the field and plays kak, there are no excuses. If he's not fit to play, don't play him. I'm sorry to say, but my worst fears about AVB are beginning to resurface, and I am again doubting that he has it in him to last the distance in the EPL. I'm also beginning to get very disgruntled with Levy (or those behind him pulling his strings) that we still lack even a half-decent striker (because those we have simply are not top 4 material). Also, something dreadful seems to have happened to our defence, just lately. With so many players screwing up, all at once, it has to be down to coaching and training. So very disappointed, today.
Thx Colin. Though to be fair to your own team, I think a lot of your guys were either feeling tired or carrying knocks - having said that I think we wanted it more.
This - the only areas where we have just about enough cover are in goal, central defence and central midfield. Full backs, wingers and strikers - once you go past the first choice people (and for strikers, you don't even have to go that far), the cover is appalling
the ref could have let play go on all night ... we wouldn't have scored... their keeper made just 2 saves in the second half...very bad performance by every one bar carroll, defoe and possibly adebayor. We were second best all over the park. The only plus side I can see is maybe lennon, dawson and bale won't be on international duty so will be rested and fully fit but I think we've blown the top 4 chance. We are totally dependent on others screwing up
Villas-Boas deserves credit for where we are in the league at the moment and that we're still in the Europa, but he also deserves some criticism for his recent mistakes, too. If our main areas of attack are through our wide men and their main asset is pace, then we need cover for those players, especially when you move one of them inside. Sending Townsend out on loan to QPR is looking like a massive balls up right now, as we simply don't have anyone that can play effectively down the right when Lennon's out. Bizarre oversight.
I've always doubted him, PNP, as you well know. Being fair-minded, however, I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt, and to prove me wrong over time. Yes, we had a very good run, but, as many have already said, most of that has been down to Bale (although, I would say that Lennon, together with Bale, has been the difference in our performances), and without him and his skin-of-the-teeth wonder-goals, we'd have lost/drawn a fair few matches and would certainly be below 'Pool in the table. How many of you, then, would be singing AVB's praises? Not many, I bet. Even when we played absolutely 5hite against Inter, I didn't jump on AVB's back, but waited to see how he responded in this match, how he lifted the players and laid out his tactics. Well, he's answered those questions, and the results are far from encouraging. How much longer do you want me to keep hoping that everything will turn out okay, PNP?
That was so, so poor. Yep - the amazing thing is that it's the same problem we've had for years - lack of striker cover. Our best performances have always been about playing with pace down the wings. With strikers offering us **** all, Bale's gone inside and now, without Lennon, we have no width or pace. We were never any good at breaking teams down even when we had VDV and Modric. Now it's worse. Just so little creativity. A while ago I said that we'd look like a mid-table team without Bale. Maybe I should have added "Or if Bale's played on the right and injured". I just never want to see him spend that long in the right wing position ever again. Why did we have all our subs on with 20 mins to go and Bale clearly struggling? Why can't anyone pass? We're they tired? It was one of those games where players looked like they were going through the motions of their job. Crosses were half-heartedly hit into defenders looking for corners rather than trying to make something happen. Passing was toothless and often wayward. Adebayor looks as far away from his next goal as ever. Maybe Tom Carroll's the new Modric. I'm now basically hoping that Tom Carroll's the new Modric. Oh - and now an international break. Bloody brilliant. (Hands up - I got all excited by it all and with AVB about a week and a half ago. Nothing does "cold, hard reality" like supporting Spurs).
Does he? our position is because of about half a dozen get out of jail goals from Bale, the performances in those games very similar to this, lacklustre and lack everything else!, but glossed over because of the result. Not getting into this now though, very angry.
Bad luck today, obviously a bit of a hangover from your game midweek. I do think you lot look the real deal this season, if you had another 20+ goal a season striker (and a fit and in form Defoe) you'd be in with a shout for the title. Best of luck for the rest of the season, hope you finish above Arsenal!
So? What does any of that prove? That, like a lot of Spurs fans, I desperately wanted AVB to be "the man"? Why don't you post a link to the comments I made when we appointed him? Why don't you post a link to the comments I made when, after being shouted down by the AVB-lovers, I said I'd give him a chance to prove us nay-sayers wrong? All fans get carried away in the euphoria of winning. Yes, there was a point at which I made myself believe that I had been wrong and that AVB was the messiah we had all be searching for, but (as I said above) my doubts about him have resurfaced, not merely as a result of today's utterly dreadful performance from the entire team, but from our humiliation at the hands of both Inter and 'Pool. We're not just losing, PNP, we're losing badly; and AVB doesn't appear to know how to stem the tide.
Hardly. Plenty of points still to play for and we have to play Chelski and Everton (and ManC)... so I would argue that our destiny is very much in our hands.
vim, can you really see us winning any of those games, on the evidence you've seen in our last three games?