Definitely a dive for the second in my view. Then again I think lots that are given as fouls and penalties are dives, the pundits will usually claim that they have a right to go down or some bullshit so I think we can expect the same here. Thought we deserved to win but the lack of goals from open play so far is concerning. Then again we've kept to cleansheets in the league already and we've had 2 penalties in a row! I've spent the evening reinforcing my roof incase any of the flying pigs land on it.
To bring you back down to earth then YD, I noted the following concerns about today's game : 1. Walker and Townsend's understanding was very poor. In the first half they seemed to be occupying the same space (although this was rectified at half time). 2. Walker's passing was generally very poor. He seemed to insist on passing to where he thought townsend should be, not where he was, and consequently kept giving the ball away. He seemed to be using the first half to try to train townsend. 3. Capoue was excellent in the first half, but my concern was that he seemed to switch off a bit in the second half and did not seem to be putting in quite the same effort. 4. Paulinho had a number of good moments in the game, but his first touch let him down two or three times leading to a loss of possession. 5. Soldado was very isolated for much of the game. 6. We were very short of penetration in the first half, and didn't get many passing sequences going. 7. Townsend was a little bit of a headless chicken, but I think he showed promis and am sure he will improve at this level for each game. Saying that, there were a lot of positives as well, and it was obviously a good result
Two wins is two wins. You won't see Man U worrying about how they get their wins - that's why they are Champions and that's what Spurs have got to learn
It's early days. You beat Swansea 1-0 with a very late goal last season. So not much change. 100% after 2 games is no indication of where you'll finish in May, but it doesn't get any better in August!
Exactly pgf, exactly. Prettiness and big scores don't matter at this stage, we've undoubtedly got more changes to the squad too. Our defence was ravaged preseason so 2 clean sheets is massive. 1-0 next week with a pen will do me too. This was our first opening day win since 2009', anyone know when we last won first 2? Let utd/Chelsea/arse call us lucky. Good, an even field then.
2005/2006 season was when we last won our opening 2 fixtures. We won at Portsmouth and then beat Middlesbrough at the Lane.
I thought it was a fantastic win, and it's been a fantastic start to the season. Townsend played Monday Thursday Sunday. Daws has played Sun Thurs Sun, etc The Thursday was a a massive trip to Georgia, which is about a five hour flight I believe. We've shown amazing resilience to win all three games without our best player and with new players settling in. I'm absolutely delighted with our start and even if Bale leaves, provided we bring in some quality to replace him, we're looking strong. We're still over-reliant on Hugo though, I think a back up to him along with a Bale 'replacement' and Vlad is vital. We should be able to rest some of our players this Thursday, and should be far fresher when we play Arsenal than we were yesterday. Hopefully Capoue Paulinho Townsend can be replaced by the likes of Carroll Siggy Holtby v DT.
The whole game, minus all the pre-game, post-game, and mid-game adverts and bullshit. 2013.08.25 - Tottenham vs Swansea (720p).mkv (2.33 GB) https://mega.co.nz/#!qMlyyabZ!fbK5WAg58R62YFJJrlhwphiMRnZthiN0oF3xuul3UNo Props to the capper (video capturer).
Cheers again, Inda. I missed the game yesterday as I was at a wedding, so I'll definitely be watching it.
"We've shown amazing resilience to win all three games without our best player and with new players settling in." And the kids who played in the U21s on monday and travelled to Tbilisi. And then stepped off the plane to play the U21 game against West Hoof the next day.
Thought it was a very efficient performance yesterday. Capoue was immense and definitely MOTM for me. Paulinho too looks the real deal, very determined and a fantastic box-to-box player, reminds me of Yaya Toure - who is arguably the best box-to-box player in Europe on his day. Defense was solid at the back and if it weren't for Vorm, we'd have had 3 or 4 before the final whistle. Amazed that the first pen wasn't given, it was near enough right infront of me and the line-o had a clear line of sight. As for the second, I honestly couldn't see (sound like Wenger!), sitting in Park Lane, my line of view was blocked by about 6 players, all I could see was Townsend round a couple then fall. I saw a replay on the net and it's a tough one, he definitely went down easy no doubt about that but I haven't seen a good enough angle to tell whether there was or wasn't contact. Ratings overall: Lloris - 7 - not much to do but made a decent save from Flores. Walker - 7 - Looking better. Dawson - 7 - solid as usual. Vertonghen - 7 - same as Daws. Rose - 7 - admittedly he's impressed me so far, still gonna wait a good few more games to determine if I think he's better than Benny/ good enough for LB permanently. Walcott will be a huge test for him Sunday. Chadli - 7 - put in a well worked performance, corners were poor but held the ball nicely and passed the ball around well. Capoue - 9 - Beastly performance, the French Sandro Paulinho - 8 - I'm nicknaming him the Engine from now on. Dembele - 6.5 - being subbed fairly early on, is he lacking fitness? Looked ok, nothing spectacular, was unlucky not to score. Townsend - 8.5 - gave their LB and Shelvey a horrible afternoon. There's been a few odd calls and whispers for him to start over Lennon now and yesterdays performance justified the early claims. Deserved his standing ovation. Soldado - 6.5 - took the penalty with ease but rarely touched the ball during the match, not his fault by any means as we didn't get the ball to him in good positions. Still looks a little short of match fitness which'll soon come. That said, 4 goals in 3 games, early doors I know but I really think we MAY have finally found a Berbatov replacement in terms of somone suitable enough to wear the number 9 shirt. Subs: Sigurdsson - 6 - didn't impact the game. Defoe - 6 - 10 minutes isn't enough to judge much on though made a lovely bit of control to lay onto another player. Overall team score - 7.5. By far the better team, just a shame we couldn't finish off some chances. Hopefully Andre will rest all first teamers for Tbilisi, 5-0 should really be enough to hold onto with a reserve side especially at home. We can't risk any injuries for the big'un against that lot Sunday.
"He cried with joy," says Mrs. RWAEB on reading your comment. Magical. So many things I've looked forward to have been let downs, a few have matched expectations, and this was one of the few that was far better than I hoped. I realize this was a very average match, but I can't explain the thrill of the atmosphere, the songs, and the bits of great play setting off the crowd as seen from a catbird seat (ideal location horizontally, one row from the top vertically.) Last week I said I couldn't see what the fuss was about with Paulinho. Well, I could see what all the fuss was about. He just kept winning balls and dribbling past Swansea players (though the long shots, were, erm...) Capoue was fantastic as well. Dembele's year was summed up by the time he dribbled beautifully past about seven Swansea players while going the WIDTH of the field. He was even less of an answer at CM than Gylfi. So: two medium-sized problems: we need a CAM/playmaker (though Holtby looked great in the U-21s, and for that matter we do have someone whose precise passes and decision making look like what we need: unfortunately his name is Soldado), and our squad hardly knows each other yet. (But keep that in mind: those key passes are the tightest and most demanding ones, and probably will be the last ones to come as the squad gets used to itself. Walker was absolutely putrid in the first half (though, interestingly, very good in the second) probably because he wasn't passing to his mate Lennon, but to a total stranger.) But we look like one tough squad. Swansea looked like they'd given up winning balls about a half hour in, Paulinho and Capoue and Dembele are so tough: all of them are very good at outhustling and outmuscling. We also look very talented, though we showed it mostly in bits of skill from Paulinho, Townsend, Soldado, Vertonghen and Chadli. Six points are great. That we deserved them with a brand new team is better. No goals form open play is a problem, but give us time, and, hopefully, one more player. Finally, I thought the ref was biased in our favor. Expect card trouble against Arsenal, who'll be thoroughly prepared to moan about our hard nosed though fundamentally clean style. He came from Sunny Spain, to play at White Hart Lane.... Hugo! Hugo! Hugo!
Two interesting posts SoS and RWAEB both commenting on our strength in midfield and solid defence. What is obvious is the need to link up the midfield with the attack. Townsend made an impact for sure but I would still question some of his decision making although I do appreciate his desire to make something happen. With the little time this team has had together it's unreasonable to expect much more than we have seen. We certainly have nearly all the parts with obvious exception of the fabled 'playmaker' Carrol and Holtby both not quite the finished article yet. The NLD comes early, which is a shame, but I think our midfield will make things difficult for them as they will for everybody else. Suddenly we are a powerhouse of a team.
I hope we can bring in a playmaker before Sunday. That's all we're missing. People seem to be mocking arsenal just because they haven't signed anyone. But whatever you say, they will create chances. It's a bloody good job we've got these "enforcers" to prevent that. Eriksen rumours are about again today. Please levy, please just sign the kid. Edit: eriksen has already scored 2 free kicks this season.. Something we need to consider with bale leaving.
