Some good points NJ. I thought the idea that playing in Europe had an effect on a team's league performance was a myth. But I'm beginning to believe it, sadly.
It seems that Spurs had a similar problem yesterday and the squad they have is much bigger than ours . Only difference is that they get things like penalties ans we get fook all ! I agree about the the Europa thing being bit of a myth , as PGF pointed out I was not too sure that was a problem but as of now I cant think of anything else that is making us look a bit half arsed and off the boil . Considering all this I think the majority on here did believe that euro football would bring its problems this season,we are a point better off this season than last and we are getting results by not playing great ,we perhaps need to look at this as a massive bonus ! Looking at our fixture list its hard graft all the way up to Xmas so unless we go back to a different way of playing we will probably need to accept that our mojo will be lost for a few months at least, hopefullt it wont damage us too much in the league!
Norway - Was just about to make the same point about Spurs. It is extremely difficult to create chances and score goals against teams who come and put 11 men behind the ball and clog the box up with bodies....even Spurs with all of their World class players (and very talented wingers) were frustrated and didn't create much. As you point out, there was 1 crucial difference...they were awarded a pen and we were not (for the exact same offence!!!). Even Laudrup is starting to get very frustrated by top flight officials. He mentioned it post match yesterday, the only other time he made reference to the performance of the officials was the West Brom incompetence. Didn't Arsenal get a penalty against us for an almost identical situation to the one we were denied yesterday? Re: tempo Yes, we weren't at our best but has everyone considered the opposition's role in this? West Ham picked 10 big strong athletes, put them all in their half and asked them to chase, harry, foul and generally pressure us....we had very nearly 70 % possession in that 1st half (most of it between the back and midfield as we were forced back from the attacking 3rd). It was difficult to get the tempo up, not impossible, just difficult. As they began to wilt from all that defending and closing down (around about the hour mark) so we managed to up the tempo and penetrate a lot more. Teams know what we are about now and come for the point (even some of the big teams). To win we either need to be right at the top of our game or be patient until they have ran out of puff...then ruthless in the last 20 minutes.
Good post mate. I feel I have considered the opposition and that is why my op about selection was made . Pablo was the ideal player for this game purely because he plays passes that even the most defensive team struggles with as we saw when he came on. Maybe Laudrup thought it might have been a bit too physical for a first game back which in fairness i can understand
Agreed. To be fair though, Pablo hasn't played for soo long, that bringing him on against a tiring West Ham, made perfect sense to me. He would have just had lumps kicked out of him if he'd started. The puzzle for me was why JonJo missing...JDG did quite well, but we needed someone to break the lines with a quick through ball and JDG isn't really that sort of player. I wouldn't mind seeing Michu rested for a game or two as well....never thought I'd say that, but he's looking quite the forlorn figure atm
But there is a small difference in that Spurs had a round trip to Moldova in mid-week and we didn't go anywhere. After we've been to Russia and back we have a home game against Stoke. Which, I suppose, is better than an away game against Stoke.
Yes that's true, but Spurs have far more quality than us and should be able to cope a bit better,the likes of siggy perhaps on the bench etc ,etc . Perhaps its not so much about the long trips or the short ones but the fact its another game,more mental preparation,mental tiredness and different team selections where its harder to work on those combinations and understanding . I don't know the stats (where's swanselona when you need him !) but I think we never seem to play two games with the same line up,add the fact we have quite a few players that need intergrating and you can see why we sometimes arnt as fluid as we perhaps should be. Interestingly enough Spurs also signed a lot of new players so there are plenty of parallels to be drawn,which considering we are not on that level is quite heartning to see that its not only us that is maybe going through some teething problems at home and in Europe . The more I blab on about it the happy I am that we are a point ahead of last season and are in 9th place...its good to talk init ! lol ...
