Alright Gents.....haven't been on for a while, now seemed as good a time as ever! Been reading the comments since start of the game and some of the ones from before kick off Have to be honest, there won't of been many Hammers out there who thought we'd get anything, possibly a 0-0 at best, I think a lot of credit has to go to Sam, he's clearly worked all week on a way to stop you, then possibly nick it with the counter attacking and false nine......to me it seems like AVB has been caught out here, BIG time, possibly thought with our away form, the way Maiga has been playing that we could be an easy touch? Can't understand why he played so many that played on Thursday, baffling to me, you had a fantastic looking bench. I'm sure he'll learn from this, he's still a decent manager and I don't think any knee jerk reaction will do you lot any good, yes he's spent a lot of money, but sometimes it takes a little while for all that to settle. Glad it all went off pretty peacefully as well, there will always be a few idiots on both sides, I hear the one Spurs fan arrested has been let off but warned, little bit of common sense there, but he may have been used as an example during the game by the old bill. Only thing that I thought was a bit out of order was Dembelle interview, possibly something lost in translation, if not then he's looked like a right.......with his comments about "small" games. Anyway good luck for the rest of the season, pretty sure you're going to be up there challenging
Spurf, how is meeting before a game a petty rule?? its as basic a request for any footballer at any level to meet before the game where the club asks him to, he's not being terribly inconvenienced, or asked to do something unecessarily complicated, just meet before the ****in game, why is that simplest task/club requirement so hard to follow?...the answer is, its not, and any prick making it an issue deserves what they get.
andros townsend ‏@andros_townsend 8h Apologies to any fan that paid good money to watch that yesterday...... We will come back stronger for sure! From his Twitter account. Possibly the only player on our side that shouldn't have to apologise for his performance. Nice touch, though. He's still paying close attention to QPR's form and paying them complements, too.
He must be reading my posts too....put in a couple of 'right' footed crosses....shame no-one was expecting them!
Rose was 50/50 for the game, should be back after the international break so I would expect it wasnt even an option to recall Benny yet as hes only just went out on loan and Rose was only missing a couple of games. I always thought Benny had respect for Avb, he used to praise him often, so surprised at the disrespect shown to Avb.
Those 2 particular crosses were not a waste, one in particular across the 6yd box was brilliant, had JD been more alive he would have had an empty net to slide it into.
First of all, well done by West Ham. Second, of course, what a disaster from us. I knew not to watch this game. It's the first game bar one Europa that I haven't watched. I'd love to know why I didn't want to see it. I think it was that game in Russia, where I kept thinking of how you play down to the level of your opponent in tennis, and it's probably true in football also. I see we've started a discussion about AVB's tactical failings. I can certainly see the criticism. We never break, and so we throw away the best chances we would have at scoring. Given what we're doing, however, it's clear we need Soldado and Holtby, along with Eriksen, to unlock defenses that have had time to settle. So where do we go from here? Change the tactical approach? It could be changing horses in midstream. I saw the stats that back up AVB's approach the other day. Spurs were (before Sunday) second or third in Europe in both shots and least shots given. But I could also see the downside. If you never break, and your opponents always have a chance to, their shots are going to be much higher quality. I complained at the time about playing Dembele and Walker on Thursday. But while it's fair to criticize our tactical approach, and playing those two players, other teams manage to play two games a week without the wheels falling off. Why do we always get injured and/or run out of gas? Finally, every team has an awful effort or three in the course of the season. It's how they react to them that makes the difference.
There are alot of player's out there with more talent in their little finger than Benny,and they conform,what makes benny so special he thinks he shouldn't conform,if that's his price kick him out the door,which AVB has done!!
On the whole non-comformity debate I think the absolute best can get away with it. If Messi or Ronaldo wanted to do what Benny wanted to then allowances can probably be made. We all know the story about Bale going to AVB last season and saying he wasn't happy with his role in the team, and he got a change because he was the standout player at the club. But while Benny is a fine LB and arguably the best we have on contract he is not and will never be at that level. If the hotel thing was just the tip of the iceberg then its understandable why AVB might have flipped. I'm not saying players (or us in society for that matter, if we're taking things that far) should be homogenous robots but there are rules that are there for good reasons and you follow them like everyone else. Clearly Benny views himself as a bit different and is a bit of a free spirit but he still has to follow the rules. Surely there are better ways to express himself than being publicly difficult for the sake of it.
It's a very fine balance, I think, between shackling talent and letting the inmates run the asylum. Many have failed to find it.
Sorry I seem to have "disliked" this post by accident. Bloody phone. I don't even know how to dislike a post. So no offence intended. Just lot of little buttons and big fingers.
Pardon my rattling on... I liked Harry's approach because it was attractive, and because I thought I understood it as a simple Zen style (trust your body's reactions, not your mind's desire to control). The problem is that I can't remember a single win it got us against a top team. The win against Man City to get fourth and the wins in the CL were against teams roughly at Spurs' level. Not only did we not get wins against the best teams, we lost badly a number of times. AVB's style has been far less attractive, and no more successful, overall, but at least we beat both Mancs last year. I would say that its emphasis on winning the midfield battle has resulted in a team that's battled harder against the best teams. Harry's teams tended to wilt against the strongest opposition. The problem with AVB's style is that it's a poor way to score goals. There are three main ways of scoring: beating the defenders down the field, getting around the sides, and going through them. We don't try very often to beat the defenders down the field. The times I best remember that we did last year were against Man City, and relied on Huddlestone, who, of course, we've sold. So we're down to getting around or getting through. We have gotten through a few times. Soldado and Eriksen have both had a hand in, what, two or three goals each?, all the result of creative, skillful play. Walker has an assist, and I think had a hand in the buildup to another goal. Rose, in only a few games, had a hand in one or two, I think. Of our wide midfielders, Gylfi has scored three and may have had a hand in another, and Lamela had an assist in a cameo. But both are arguably more central then wide players, and used or benefitted from skillful creative play. Of our inside-footed wingers, while Townsend has looked lively, and Chadli can certainly cross and has talent, neither have been involved in the buildup to a single PL goal that I remember. It seems to me that without the option of beating the defenders down the field, unable to get around the back of the defense as inside-footed wingers, and without the creative skills of Eriksen and Soldado, they're left to try shots and crosses against packed defenses to no effect. Lennon on the right can both beat the defenders down the field and get around them. He should have more success than Walker in cutting the ball back to Soldado, and should also be able to give Soldado and Eriksen more gaps to get through by providing a more dangerous wide threat. In any case, I think AVB should get us trying to beat the defenders down the field more often. Having watched the US team in its better years (5 years ago or so), I'd love to see more of what they did. Lacking anything like Spurs' talent, and probably slower overall as well, they were brilliant at one thing, which was breaking at speed. When they got the ball they sprinted down the field and got a shot or a cross in at the first possible moment, when the defenders were in the greatest disarray. Surprisingly enough, they often scored that way.
2013.10.06 - Tottenham vs West Ham (720p).mkv (1.07 GB) https://mega.co.nz/#!DVEQUCSb!L99Un2jvnpKGAVGUiO6IqSZXbFNo6cvJ8BzXQJycDLQ
Oh yes they can. Most goals are scored from fast unexpected play. Unless you can produce such moments it's difficult to score. Passes into space, and therefore to 'no-one' can provide such moments. It's one of the reasons that I rate Paulinho because he is always looking to do the unexpected.
You never heard comments like 'thats a brilliant pass but no ones on the end of it'....happens often as a pass can be brilliant but there is only so much a passer can do, would be great if this was a computer game,where the ball is locked onto the receiver but often the receiver doesn't always read the brilliant pass in real life.
+1. I'm not currently a big fan of Townsend and i didn't see the game (phew) but i agree. Often i watch passes, most often weighted through balls (not necessarily for just Spurs) that dribble through to the keeper and i think "that was a great pass, what the hell was the centre forward/winger doing?". Thats where partnerships come in. Between your number 10 and your wingers, between your no10 and striker, between the wingers and the striker etc. You need that instinctive telepathic relationship where one will make a run and the other will find him without having to look up to make sure he's there. We don't have any of those partnerships, yet, which is why we aren't fluid. It will come, no need to panic.
