Defoe will always rock up with a fair few goals to contribute, and it's fine if you're a club looking to finish top 6 or 7. But there's a massive difference between that and top 4. Defoe is fine to have, but in addition we have desperately needed a 20 goal man for so so long. I don't see the point in blaming AVB. Yes he's getting things wrong, but so did redknapp. Its the fact that the depth isn't there and there's certainly not the quality within what we do have on the bench, to compete for an entire season. At the end of the season squads have fatigue setting in, but we don't have a top 4 squad to deal with it. Levy is to blame for that. Once again we could face another Europa campaign again next season, with levy trying to get CL on a budget. Which again, won't happen. It's just Groundhog Day. But next season, we won't have bale.
When you're into the 8th month of the season and playing twice per week, the need to have a big squad so that players can be rotated and rested is obvious. Spurs have a big squad, but lack cover for the forwards and wide players- a weakness which was apparent at this stage last season. The balance of the team seems to go awry when one of the wide players is absent. Although Bale has played a free role of late, the presence of two speedy wingers has stretched teams on either or both flanks or through the middle on the counterattack and has been Spurs main attacking threat both this season and last. So why no cover? It's absurd to say your top four chances are in tatters, but a shrewd manager would have a plan B and execute it immediately. To be fair to Wenger, he has managed to make Arsenal hard to beat recently and they have ground out some away wins by keeping clean sheets. Spurs were doing the same up to 3 or 4 games ago. AVB needs to focus on returning to that level of defensive solidity.
Am I the only one that's actually happy about the international break? Ok, so I'm assuming that a host of our players will pull out and have time to recover from their various knocks, but it looks pretty likely given today's game. Dawson, Lennon, Bale and Vertonghen should all be missing from their national team's squads, for a start.
Yeah - I guess if those players don't go it makes a big difference. Just worried about injuries. And just don't want to wait so long for the next game, stewing in the memory of that putrid performance.
Flying dehydrates people, that's the problem IMO not the so much the extra football, although we didn't play much today. The usual kneejerks about the manager after a bad run, emotions speak louder than words.
Knee jerk?? 442 away...lose. 3 at the back at home against that hive of activity Berbatov...lose. I think thats more observational rather than emotional.
No kneejerk from me Spurf, but that was dire!! Not helped by an almost total lack of atmosphere - never in my life have I been at a game where we have been out sung by Fulham!!! If it just been legginess from those that played on Thursday then it would have been (partly) acceptable, but there was a total lack of cohesion - we were completely outfought and outthought by Fulham. With the possible exception of Carroll when he came on, there was a lack of creativity from back to front. Bale looked listless and out of sorts even before he pulled up at the end of the first half. Dempsey offers us absolutely nothing Naughton is not an adequate cover at RB or anywhere else come to that. Ade again worked hard, but another game passed without so much as a shot on target. Sigs was totally anonymous Benny wasnt the worst, but should never have started at LW and was caught out of position for their goal (not as culpable as Naughton who let Berbatov out pace him FFS!!!) Parker and Dembele offered little or nothing I am seriously concerned about the psychological effect of that game on the team for the remaining games. AVB and his team will have to earn their money in the next couple of weeks or our easy will go into terminal decline. Very, very disappointing!!
The difference between this season's Parker and last season's is almost night and day. His touch and pace have gone out of the window. He still puts in a huge effort each match, but, providing we can get decent cover, I wouldn't be too sad if we moved him on this Summer.
Not really my decision. Air your views we're told...as long as they're pro manager must have been the bit I missed...oh well.
