Some good points, Ivor. NJ: " is it by the £60m worth of talent they had on the bench or the £200m worth of talent on the field" So what about this comment from you after the Man U game: "its not about who the opposition are its about how WE also perform right ?" ...as well as making the point repeatedly that the value of players is 'irrelevant'. Or does that only apply to home games? Just asking... :/ We play Man U and the value of their players is "irrelevant" yet we play Spurs and they should beat us because of the value of their players. Need to make your mind up, pal.
Just got home from the game (survived my meeting with Dilli). It was a disappointing result. We were bullied off the ball in the 1st half and with no help from the ref that seemed to set the tempo for the game. Spurs now have a physical midfield who can compete for the ball and they will be a hard nut to crack at home this season. Defensively Vorm and Chico had good games but Ben had one his worst defensive performances. Midfield I thought Pablo did well but agree the earlier comments re JJ - he looks very good against the weaker teams when he has time but struggles against the big boys. Poz looked really good when he came on and we looked much more of a threat. Bony did well and started to cause the Spurs central two some problems and Michu had his usual "worked his bollocks off" game. I would be tempted to start the WBA game with Michu, Bony and Poz. I think it was a fair result although as last season with a bit of luck we could have come away with a point. Our season now starts next Sunday
" Our season now starts next Sunday " Tend to agree with that. Just expected a performance today, even though we were always going to lose imo.
Scoring points over each other is irrelevant lads, being able to disagree without being so disagreeable knackered is something you have yet to fathom out. I do not think it was a great game, both teams had many new players to gel in they're formations, and both teams were giving the ball away in equal measures, that's why the stats are pretty even, though we all agree (hopefully) that the result was not a surprise to any of us. The fact is we have been without our clinical finishing since the Cup final of last season, and it looks to me it's going to be at least another 3 or 4 games before we find our feet again. Some are complaining at Laudrups selection, but I have only 2 complaints on that front, and that is De Guzman, he really does go missing, fails to do the dirty work, and is one that I would not have in my team. Bony some on here think he should have started, why? he's not up to premiership standard yet, he'll need some time, so it would seem the correct move for Laudrup to bring him off the bench, and that's what he's doing. I'm still undecided on Shelvey, though we need a few more games to get a better picture of him, I do think though we are missing Dyer, and my second complaint on selection is, why was Britton on the bench? Anyway we all know Laudrup favours squad rotation, so you could put it down to that, but we definitely didn't play our strongest team today!....................
And you sir need to stop taking comments completely out of context ! The man utd game . they scored two goals that were poor defensive efforts from us ,it was irrelevant that £30-40m quids worth of strikers were playing as we gifted them those goals they didn't created them with their talent . The spurs game we competed well against a good team for 90 mins and also the referee, the fact it took an iffy penalty to defeat us with a team worth over £200m and £60 m on the bench proves that it aint as bad as you think ! and it certainly isn't the "WORST PERFORMANCE IN THE LAST 3 YRS" I guess its you that needs to make up your mind, which is a rich thing to say from somebody "that doesn't post on here anymore " ...
That's it - revert to type. Sarcastic, biting comments when someone disagrees with you. Get over it. No need to mock others or put up threads whan someone makes a comment you find 'offensive' to your sensibilities. IT'S ALL ABOUT OPINIONS!!!
Come on lads give over, lets look at the table, and see where Cardiff our capital is!........................
your missing the point project, Losing the match is not the issue here its the team selection and tactics that our players were instructed to play. It was all wrong and spurs did not have to do much to beat us. With bony rested for europe is plain stupid and a waste of £13 million sitting on the bench. players were out of position and that meant passes went short and not to their target.....we should be competing with spurs now not handing them a win on a plate....If we had played our strongest side and the players were in their correct positions we could have won this game today......
KJ ive been trying to tell you its about opinions for the last 3 yrs !! .. We will agree to disagree as you said, im sure there will be loads of things we will absolutely totally agree on in this coming season as long as we stay away from the following topics Dobbie Kemy Man utd home Spurs away
Do any of you moaning that we played badly actually realise we have a Midfield 3 that have never really played with each other before? Not helped by JDG and his lazy arsed attitude to games. A bit of perspective is needed at times, were we poor, not really, were we good, not really either, we were ok, nothing great, nothing bad. Defence worked better than against United, but still not perfect. Rangel was wasteful, and putting us under pressure with some of his cross field passes to Williams, he is not that sort of player and needs to keep it simple, stop trying to be something he is not. Stick to what he is good at, and remember, first and foremost that he is a defender. Really wanted to see him taken off against United, and had the same feelings today, feel Taylor needs to start at RB against West Brom to make Rangel realise he needs to up his game or lose his spot. I thought tactically ML got it right, but......choice of starting players wrong, this was not a game JDG should have started, Canas and Leon should have started, with Shelvey ahead of them, after all, if your playing deep, then get your best DM on the pitch. But at the same time, we cannot rely on Leon playing every game, but sorry JDG is not the answer, neither is Shelvey in that role it seems, works great when on the offensive, but defensively not good enough. But saying that, we have just played Man Utd and Spurs. I mean reality check here, we are Swansea City right?
Well said swanselona! can you come on here and sort the children out more often, I'm getting too old to do it myself all the time!..............
how can you say laudrup got the tactics right when he leaves our no1 striker on the bench and plays a midfield bunch that as you say never played together much. ..This was spurs away we were playing not palace at home. Spurs were not that good today but we handed them the chance by not playing our best team that could have won yesterday. we can't ignore basic management errors like that to go unnoticed and not be angry about it and not comment on it....Praise when praise is warranted but no excuses please....we have a very tough season ahead a lot tougher than what we all thought....
I am sure Sir Michael Laudrup will have his reasons for not playing £12 million striker Wilfred Bony from the start Dai Unfortunately, none of us will be privy to them - but you can be guaranteed that a player/manager who has sat in the top dressing rooms in the world, played at the top stadiums in the world and the biggest competitions in the world, as well as listening to some of the finest managers on this planet will have a reasonable answer to your moans
Bony was suffering with a groin strain - that is why he wasn't in the starting line up! And basic management errors Dai? What was the last team you managed? Not a great performance from either team today but we competed to the end - the ref didn't help us, but Spurs deserved the win regardless. But can't understand some of the negativity - we have had a very easy pre-season and beaten a couple of poor European teams - some seemed to think that that meant we would brush aside the likes of Man U and Spurs! Think we have been slightly guilty of believing our own press - we still have to play above ourselves to be successful in this league and I think this season will be the toughest so far! But we are easily better than many teams in our 'mini-league' - does that mean we will finish above them? Not necessarily! Every game will be a battle with absolutely no guarantees - am hoping that today will be a reality check and that we will learn from it! If we don't we will be in for a very long season!
I count myself as one of Laudrup's staunchest supporters but have always made the point that he is not infallible. PGF, you are right in what you say about him but..... and it is a big BUT. ML never plied his trade at the top level in England. The majority of his success and experience was in Spain where the game is markedly different to ours. He is still learning the British game and I think that one of the things he is finding it difficult to take on board is the necessity to have physical strength in the team, particularly in midfield. Generally you don't see the same level of physicality in Spain although we know there are some tough players in La Liga. The accent there is to play football and most teams are set up to do that. When ML did play he was part of an elite team(s) loaded with talented players. They were good enough to overcome what "cloggers" there were by playing their football. Our squad has nothing like that ability and they are NOT good enough to win games against top teams by playing pure football. As I have said elsewhere, we need a hard tackling athlete(s) in there to rough up the opposition and win the ball for the more skilful players to use. I know we have Canas but we also need someone further up the park causing disruption there. Pains me to say it but I believe Cardiff signed such a player in Medel and we could do with someone like him. As for Bony not playing, I confess I find that puzzling. We needed someone to get at their defence, pressure them and get a bit of dig going. When he did come on, the Spurs' defence looked far more unsettled although Pozuelo certainly contributed to that as well. As for the referee, I thought he was a homer and a downright disgrace to his profession. I won't call him a cheat on a public forum but I have nothing but contempt for him and, what was in my opinion, his truly awful display. He knows what he did and he will be allowed to get away with it by his pathetic Association.... more's the pity. As for the penalties, I agree with what Michael Laudrup said, in that there is no law of compensation in the rules of football. Respect? Never, so long as I have a breath in my body for the likes of that official. Now on to WBA and I hope that Laudrup sends de Guzman on a nice long holiday before the game. In fact before all our future games. Waste of space as a player and Ki must be wondering, "What the hell??????????????"
Hang on, are we saying that playing Michu was the wrong choice? And that Bony should have played that role? Are you having a ****ing laugh or what, Michu played that role all last season, is he all of a sudden not good enough? We finished where? We beat who? It worked then, so why wouldn't Laudrup do it again. I tell you what, some say they are not doom mongers, but some comments beggar belief at times. And Dai, tactics were right, team choice on the other hand was not quite right. Learn the difference.
