"I'm so glad that teams like Hull get no points when they come by and park the bus" That would be Nemesis indeed. Is the warning to PL clubs : play this way and you will be punished by a harsh penalty decision.
The key word has been "patience" with the result factor offsetting the worry over performances, with the general hope being the performances will improve. I think now what we're seeing is everyone, and i mean everyone realising that no matter what team Avb puts out, overall we're going to play in a dull and uninspiring manner. Some don't mind, aslong as we get the odd decent performance and eventually win a trophy or get top four, yet what happens if none of this happens? Avb has not just been trusted to improve on what Redknapp done, he is also in charge of some of Europe's most highly rated creative talent. creative talent he doesn't deserve to be in charge of judging by his style of management.
"In any case, we've got a run of stronger teams coming up, and it will be interesting to see how we do." Away, they will play to win and AVB sets his teams well for them. At home, we don't have worry about such opponents bus parking (on paper) .
I guess its all a matter of how much patience one is prepared to have with AVB, and whether you believe that things will eventually get better under him or if we're stuck with this dross for the foreseeable future. Some of our performances, like today, are worrying me a bit but at least we're taking points and getting clean sheets still. Its a bit more difficult for us here as well because a big part of Spurs is playing the 'Tottenham Way', I know I'm not alone when I say that I took a huge amount of pride a couple of years ago when we were labelled as easily one of the best teams to watch in the league because we played exciting, fast-paced football under Redknapp that might have been heart-in-mouth at times for us fans but was hugely entertaining for the neutrals. Whereas now we're getting results reasonably consistently, by hook or by crook, but with the drab performances it feels wrong. Not just because its not all that good to watch a lot of the time but because it doesn't feel like Spurs sometimes to me. This is an issue. I for one hope and expect that this is just a phase for us, that soon something will 'click' and the football won't be 'Redknapp-esque' but will be good to watch in a different way. We saw flashes today of what AVB is trying to move towards, for example with the quick sustained interchanges around the Hull box, but that particular period of the game ended with nothing for us because we overplayed it and wouldn't pull the trigger. There were one or two other flashes as well but nothing as sustained as that 5 minute or so period. The players can clearly do it, thats whats so frustrating in a way when they don't. I guess on another day some more of the linkup play comes off and we score 2 or 3, and on yet another day we don't get the pen and Hud lashes in the last-minute free kick but thats football.
Another boring display which needed a pen to bail us out. Hull in fairness did park the bus and had Harper wasting as much time as possible but with the players and talent we have, we shouldn't have relied on needing a penalty at home to win a match. No Spurs player stood out for me today, Chiriches was probably our most attack-minded player which pretty much says it all. Happy with the 3 points but AVB has got to get us to perform better up top, especially against stronger sides, defensively we look great but we're finding it so hard to score most of the time and with the players we have I don't see why that's the case. Also heard that AVB's moaned at the fans for being negative... Is he honestly surprised? Negative performances wear off on people, he needs to remember we've paid good money to see Spurs and while we're picking up points we're not doing it the "Spurs way" and a good few of the points have been won quite luckily (3 pens). I can understand sacrificing a bit of style for substance but we've pretty much sacrificed all our style. I hate moaning when we win games but I can't help but feel disappointed at the way we're playing at the moment.
Apart from the "inverted winger" nonsense when the bus parking is set up, my anger today has been with the players failing to do the MOST BASIC things, when they are paid 10s of 1000s per week to do so. My anger with AVB will come if against the likes of Hull at WHL, I continually see the play of today and not that of the Cardiff game (which means he is not acting as a manager should be to rectify the problem) .
Moaning about the fans is a stupid thing to do. Picking players for back-to-back games when they've just returned from injury isn't too bright, either.
I understand the concern about AVB, but under Harry we struggled to break down resolute defences week after week. Okay, the football was easier on the eye, but we were much more fragile. If Bale or VDV were not on their game then we simply could not score most of the time. This is not a new development. To be honest,we have not really had a decent strike force since Keene and Berbatov. It's horses for courses really. Do we want to be a counter attacking team, with the risks that come along with it, or do we want to control football matches? From my point of view, I think our "next level" is to get players making more penetrating runs into the box. With a firm base of lots of possession we should then see the kind of football we are used to, maybe even better.
"Do we want to be a counter attacking team" Well, given the near guaranteed bus parking nowadays at WHL, IMHO AVB needs a formation capable of doing the blitzkriegs of Arrys' reign. The difference being that once 2-0 up at HT, AVB has the ability to choke these opponents rather than the 2nd half rollercoaster rides that we always got with Arry. Away from home, no need to change anything. AVB has the setup correct.
So would the blitzkrieg be a 4-4-2 with Defoe and Soldado up top, Lennon on the right, Townsend on the left and Sandro and Paulinho in the middle?
On the way home from the Lane, haven't read the thread through yet but my take on the game was we were very poor and very fortunate to win. Not many players can hold their head up and honestly say they put in a good shift today. Loris made 2 good saves, 7/10 Walker, looked lost when Lennon was on the right, ok defensively 6 Daws, as much as I like him, he's not a leader on the pitch. 6 Vlad, I thought was by far our best player, looked ok at the back and looked good whenever he went forward. 8 Verts, looked frustrated and angry throughout. Not much in front of him as an outlet 6 Pauliniho, plenty of effort as usual but not much else 6 Sandro, poor game. I know some on here have a hard on for him but today he was shocking. 3 Holtby, again plenty if effort but nothing else 6 Lennon, very poor and didn't seem to want to be there today 4 Townsend, looked lively and as if he wanted to be there. 6 Soldado, again no service. Play to his strengths and he'll score goals. Took his pen well 6 Subs Eriksen, got involved but no end product 5 Dembele, looked in control when he came on. 6 Defoe, hardly touched the ball 5 I know that a lot will disagree with my opinion, especially over Sandro, but this was my view of the game. The game was one of the worst I have seen at the Lane, the atmosphere was poor as a result. All well and good saying that the crowd lift the players etc, but if the players are that poor......
RBD, Huddlefro, Chirpy and PNP have covered everything I wanted to say, and been a little more chipper about it to boot, for the most part. I understand why many if not most fans feel frustrated at this point, but I feel a little negative about how many seem to feel so negative. There have been things to enjoy: the clean sheets, Soldado's cool as a block of ice pens, just to name two. 13-1-2. That's another one.
Problem with Harry's blitzkrieg approach is reflected on our previous home game against Hull - 16 shots on target, yet the final scoreline was 0-0. When it worked it worked, when it didn't he was equally guilty of not having a back-up plan. The one thing AVB has given the side that we have needed for a long time is the sheer bloody mindedness to get the win. The teams Harry or BMJ put out could sweep aside opponents by two or three goals one week, but if they parked the bus they'd get a point or, as this is Spurs we're talking back, win with a late goal from a set piece.
"So would the blitzkrieg be a 4-4-2 with Defoe and Soldado up top, Lennon on the right, Townsend on the left and Sandro and Paulinho in the middle?" I was expecting to see something vaguely blitzkrieg today with the 4-2-3-1 formation today. Even with expected bus parking. But AVB got it wrong yet again with this "inverted winger" nonsense. And the PLAYERS were shocking. Embarrassing in all aspects. From slow passing from defence to attack, to sloppy passes / poor ball control when not under pressure. Players and manager IMHO need to revisit the Cardiff game to remember everything they did correctly when faced with the bus.
AVB is walking a very dangerous road by criticising our fans. I still haven't heard an apology from him for the West Ham disaster. Does he not realise that we pay good money to watch Spurs entertain us, not send us to sleep. I wasn't at the game today, but it's the fourth time in a row that I've chosen to nod off instead of watch the game.
Yeah don't agree mate, thought he was a 2. Worst performance he's put in a Spurs shirt. Still a great, great player though and one that I love but today he was just woeful. Agree with most of your ratings, Vlad MOTM though think a 7 is more appropriate, really coming on now after a shaky start. Still a little questionable defensively in the air but he seems to be adapting quickly. Funny that most of our "less profile" signings have adapted better. Capoue, Chriches and Eriksen (Eriksen perhaps not less profile but certainly less expensive compared to others) have all shown signs that they're settling in well. Paulinho has settled in well but has gone missing in all the big games (Arse, Chels, WHam). Soldado does need better service but for £26m you still expect a bit more somehow. Chadli's got unfair stick in my opinion but can understand why some have been frustrated with him. Lamela looks like he's going to need the full season to adapt and come next year, we'll see what he's made of (hopefully), definitely needs to hit the gym though, a few sessions with Sandro/ Kaboul/ Dembele should help!
We are not playing well at the moment but we are still picking up points and are only 3 off the top having not hit our best form which is a good sign, Arsenal and Liverpool for example are currently in their purple patch and are playing near their best, they will have a spell when their form dips (like Spurs are experiencing at the moment). So the signs are good, we will only get better and the best teams always find a way of getting results when not at their best.
Thing is that I reckon that even when Townsend played on the left and Lennon on the right as they did for a while, they still didn't get much into the box. Townsend came inside a bit onto his right and popped up in the middle a few times and Lennon didn't manage to seriously get the beating of their LB and drifted around the pitch a bit as well. If we're going to play wingers the right way round lets have them hugging the touchline to cross balls in and making space for Holtby/Paulinho to feed Soldado down the middle as the other option. On a side note Benny was at the game today. He seems to care, which is nice. Even if he can't turn up to a hotel or whatever. https://twitter.com/AssouEkotto "At home today✌️ was hard but we did it lol #COYS pic.twitter.com/lY6eR9isLw"
Just back from one of the most tedious afternoons I have experienced at WHL for some considerable time. I nearly crashed my car on the M25 when I heard AVB's criticism of the fans, that was a cheap shot from him. In fairness, Hull also contributed to the boredom today. Their keeper wasted time at every opportunity and several of their players went down and stayed down very cheaply. It was clear what Steve Bruce had said to his players at halftime as I doubt Tommy went into our half until we had scored. I like to be entertained on a matchday. Yet again, I wasn't today and I am feeling very grizzly about watching this insipid style and laborious buildup. On a more positive note, a decent welcome back reception was given to Huddlestone and it looked as if he appreciated it.
You may not have been at the game WY, but you just about summed up my feelings - and I was there!! The performance today was dire, lacking any inspiration and for the most part we were outthought by a capable but limited Hull side missing 5/6 of their regular first teamers!! AVB has no right to criticise the fans after today's woeful effort and this will be of no benefit to the outcome of our season. We scraped a lucky 1-0 win, but with a ponderous and nervous performance. Now 10 PL games into the season and their should be more cohesion between the players. And a major concern should be that our most expensive signing ever cannot even get a look-in for 10-15 minutes. I am shifting from positive into a strong 'neutral' as far as AVB is concerned especially with the depth of alleged talent that he has available to him. It cannot all be blamed on the Europa Cup excursions........
