2 Defensive headers he failed to make and 2 goals conceeded.Maybe rangel was at fault for the 2nd too but Monk looked so slow and error prone in this game it was painful to watch! That said it was A very good 2nd half performance from us despite our defensive frailty, we can be proud of the boys,they made an effort they were just up against better players in certain positions.my thoughts on some of the others. Scott sinclair is fast turning into an enigma !! dont know what to make of his game today, some decent stuff some really poor stuff, tends to jump out of 50/50 tackles a bit too often and sometimes doesnt hold onto the ball for being afraid of getting whacked from behind. Danny Graham, is that 0-6 games in terms of goals for him ? works hard but isnt working as hard as he has been, his hold up play has been quite poor in the last few games and he maybe needs a rest to re focus. Luke Moore should be given a chance to start next game. Rangel was totally owned by bale 1st half,it started to get quite embarassing but in fairness to Angel he stuck to his guns and got better as the game went on, there is no shame in coming off 2nd best to bale,most full backs do. On to Newcastle, i shall be there to witness what im sure will be a fantastic game, i have a good feeling about the Newcastle game, the performance today particularly 2nd half was very encouraging and i beleive we will make ourselves safe in this game, if caulker had played today i beleive we would have got a draw out of this game, thats a bit harsh on Monk but i feel its true Thoughts ?
Monk - next season will be a Championship player...may as well see if we can cash in on him. If not see if he wants to join the backroom staff
Thoughts: Easy to be critical but we have to bear in mind that this is a very classy Spurs side. That said, Monk was absolutely awful and god help us if we have to rely on him next season. It's relegation time imo and I'm being serious. Well out of his depth. The commentary said something like "Harry has identified Monk as the weak link" and he wasn't wrong was he? Poorest game I've seen Rangel have for ages but Bale was unplayable at times to be fair. Don't think we can be too harsh on the rest of our players to be honest. Everyone worked ever so hard. On the Toon game, I think we can get a result. They played well today v Liverpool but they won't fancy coming down here. It's a long trip and the crowd will be up for it.
Norway, thought Monk was a little bit unlucky. The first goal he had to get his foot to the ball otherwise it would have gone straight through to one of there lads and it would have been an easy finish, then again Van De Vart was very cool with his finish, but where was the midfield tracking back with him. There second yes I think Monk was to blame, but Taylor was marking Adebayor at the time. Third goal Rangel should have at least been goal side and had his back to Adebayor. We only got done by two crosses, which is our achilles heal. I'm getting rather frustrated with Sinclair at present I don't think he offers us anything, I'm sorry for being so blunt, but I think his confidence is very low. Where's he used to take a player on and go past them, last couple of weeks he just can't do it. I feel for Graham, just not getting the ball into him. Works his socks off, but I do think it may be a time for Moore to prove what he can do. Not sure if people will agree but I think our passing is off a bit of late, it was the same against Everton as well. Onwards to Newcastle, where I think we will get a result. Not too disappointed would have loved us to get a point. One last thing young Bale, is some player, scared the crap out of Rangel with his blistering pace.
Very charitable. If Taylor was marking Adebayor then Rodgers needs shooting. 5'8 v 6'4? Monk's job all the way. Unlucky? Come on.
Probably my rose tinted glasses Knackered. Always like Monk and he does give his all. I've watched the goals again, and yes we had Taylor and Monk on Adebayor and he should have been taking control over the situation when he jumped never got more that 2' off the ground, and when you have a 6' 5" player you need to get up in the air. Centre half we certainly need but I think we probably need two as we need a partner for Ash plus a back up player. Can't see Monk or Tate getting games.
Monk is the guy that should be challanging for the headers, size should not be the only factor, monk can use his body to lever the player out of position,in fact he should just be doing that if he is giving away too much height, he can move the other player off the ball but just standing there and jumping and not feeling your man is very bad play IMO. Respect should be given to spurs who were very good and the result was fair, but we sometimes make things hard for ourselves defensively, we need a centre half in the summer, at least 2 actually. Relegation is a very real threat KJ, ive not been convinced the last few games and when you look at our fixtures they are actually very hard, every team has something to play for with the exception of maybe Liverpool who are a massive club full of expensive players. The performance in the second half today was good and that fills me with hope for the Newcastle game, but they are full of confidence and it wont be easy
I knew Monk would get left holding the bag because of a poor defensive team performance . The right side with Rangel & Routledge's lack of pace was more responsible for our loss today than anything & was exploited by the Spurs perfectly . I'd play Routledge with Jazz & Dyer with Rangel so we have a bit of pace no matter which combo but Rangel & Routledge is to stagnate against guys like Bale .
Deja vu wasn't it? Monk did well against Fulham but he was protected by our overwhelming possession in that game. The minute quality crosses appear, however, Monk goes missing. To be honest it was criminal, particularly from the corner, how Adebayor was allowed a clean jump to head the ball. And who was back up man to Monk? Why none other than Taylor, the shortest member of our back four. Good organisation, boys! Look, before anyone starts clamouring about a 6ft 5" striker getting in a header, there are ways to deal with this - and we rarely seem to do it. Our tallest, strongest guys should have been challenging for that ball, not to win it, but to give Adebayor a good (legal) buffeting. If he still scores then fair enough but at least it's been made as difficult as possible. That didn't happen. All in all, a fair result and no disgrace to lose to a quality side. However, there are issues to address and a TALL, strong quality centre back is a must for next season. A physical midfielder would be useful to win us the right to play as well as Siggy, if he signs. Roll on, Newcastle. They are looking good but I still fancy us to make the 40 point mark - so long as Monk isn't out there facing Ba and Cisse!! (Sorry, Garry, you've been a true servant but this level is beyond you).
Ivor - Exactly right, cannavaro the italy centre half was a master of this, a small player for that position he knew exactly how to move the attacking player off the header by using his body strength , if you do this well you dont need to jump for the ball ! monk failed to do this and always fails to do this, ash does it quite often though. I know rangel had a hard time today but bale has done the same to the best in the world so no shame there. A big minus though is DG last few games, he seems a little of the pace and his hold up play and first touch and passing has been woeful lately, when Luke moore came on he was dropping off and demanding the ball to feet and making it stick, its so important to have a player that can hold on to it when we play away, it gives the defence a chance to organise .
Norway, there are quite a few minuses to be honest and they became apparent against Everton continuing, not so badly, with today. There is a distinct lack of confidence about our play. Normally, we play tight triangles which relies on close support and movement. It is usually effective and, at its best, irrepressible. Latterly, however, the support and movement has gone missing. Where players showed for the ball before, now they are standing off, the triangles are getting bigger and the longer passes, which then have to be played, are being picked off. I'll bet that our recent passing stats, in terms of accuracy, have gone to pot. Whether this is a tiredness or confidence issue, I don't know, but we are certainly lacking fluency right now. Have the other teams worked us out? Maybe but they have had long enough to do this, so why is it happening now? We are probably safe - not guaranteed - but our current form indicates that we will limp over the line rather than fly over it, which gives me grave concerns for next season. You mention DG. It seems to me that he is suffering from "Pintado Syndrome" in that Buck is working him like a plough horse. The service to him is abysmal (including Siggy in that recently) and he looks to be getting more and more dispirited by the game. For all that, the guy tries his heart out and deserves something resembling a scoring pass to get back on track. Leon and Joe - doing a lot of harrying and chasing but less supporting of the man in possession. Also, I would like to see them winning more 50/50 balls, consistently, because we are back to the old problem of being out-muscled in midfield. Rangel - beginning to worry me and I'm not basing this on the chasing Bale gave him as Bale does this to most full backs. I'm starting to think that he just lacks pace. He's good going forward but when we lose it you need a calendar rather than a stop watch to time his runs back - an exaggeration but you know what I mean. And at 6ft 2" he's pretty poor in the air. Sincs - the great enigma. The exciting runs have all but disappeared and he seems unable to beat his man these days, either with trickery or pace. As has been mentioned he seems content to lay it off, so we have lost an essential ingredient of one of our players taking opposition defenders out of the game to create space for us - another reason why DG is suffering. Routledge blows hot and cold which we don't want from any of our players. However, he can be quite tricky and, when (if) we are safe, I wouldn't mind seeing him play an advanced role through the middle. He has a sharp turn of pace, better control than DG and central defenders hate players like that running at them. Just a thought.
Not sure if should be saying this, but I'll be quite glad when this season ends. Starting to feel drained (and a little worried again). And I don't like it when the bottom teams keep winning.
Dont disagree with any of that Ivor, what i will say is that we are playing top sides at the buisness end of the season and the difference is apparent, i beleive we are now seeing for the first time the real quality in the prem league, teams that we thought were dead and buried are now showing a different level of performance while our level of performance has pretty much stayed the same. DG has not had the service he would have liked but i do think that he has also dropped off in terms of performance, i touched on the point a few months back that too much running makes him a yard slower when it matters in and around goal, he now looks to be 2 yards slower that could well be down to a lack of confidence coupled with a lack of support. Without Gylfi in the team we could argue we would right in the middle of a relegation fight, his service to DG may not be as plentiful but his own goals have more than made up for that. Newcastle will be the acid test of our ethos and playing ability under pressure, it will be a game we MUST get something from as i dont fancy our chances against the strong form of the relegation teams. Intresting how you mention our passing, i beleive we are being pressed very hard and gary monks insistance on playing 30yrd telegraphed passes into the feet of our players didnt help our confidence or game plan, there also seemed to be a lack of responsibility in taking on opposing players and trying to turn them,far too often in the last few games we just knock the ball straight back when holding it or passing square or forward seemed the easier option. Difficult to assess our play against the top teams but i do think there is a slight confidence problem,we are getting a bit twitchy with the finish line getting so near yet so far !! for me everything points to Newcastle at home, it will give us all the answers we need with regards to where we are with the team and manager. Caulker was a big loss today, i thought Joe Allen tried to get a feew tackles in so did Gylfi but i thought in general we were slow moving the ball around and it didnt strech spurs enough for us to make any inroads into their final 3rd. Im dissapointed that Buck flatly refuses to sub or drop sinclair, sometimes a player needs to be put on the bench just so they can re focus their game !! his constant comments about having a manager that "beleives in me" and "playing games every week" may end up having a negative effect ,especially as Wayne routledge while looking less spectacular than Dyer/sinclair is creating assist after assist and doing his job supplying the forwards with ammo for goals. We are no where near safe and i think too many of our players may be beleiving the media hype, im getting sick of the media love in now because its not really warrented at the moment. I listened to some of the commentry on SKY today and the guy was saying things like"never write off Brendan rodgers Swansea " WTF ?? really ? we tend to get beaten when we go behind away from home dont we!! alot of the stuff people are saying about us is just rubbish but i think its starting to write the oppositions team talks for them and give them an extra slice of motivation, not that they need it this time of the season!!
aswan- I know exactly what you mean, i said something similar a few weeks ago, ive not enjoyed the games the same way this year as there is so much pressure on every single game ! and as you say the bottom teams keep winning against teams that you would have thought they would have no chance against !! Welcome to the prem league i guess Maybe some of the players are feeling the same way?? they just want to be on the beach knowing they are prem league next season, 6 teams below them have the experience to know it aint over until the Maths say it is !!
Good points by all. While I do think were safe, I'd hate us just play out the season and lip over the line. While the tread is about Monk, I am concerned about Rangel, I know Bale has got some pace, but he does need a back up player to assist namely Routledge or Dyer.
Norway entirely agree I think Sinclair needs a bit of bench time and I was shouting at the tv for him to stick his foot in to a few tackles, he went missing today as he did against Everton. Missed Caulker big time today, Gary has been a big servant in the past but didn't cut it today, and a few times previously, as well. I personally would like to see Dyer and Routledge start with them wide and causing problems, this would take the pressure off the midfield and thus our back line. I don't think we've seen the best of DG yet as he hasn't had the sort of service you would expect to a striker. Buck a bit slow with the changes again for me . We need to steady the ship against Newcastle, and I for one would be happy wih a point against them.
I agree with some of the stuff with has been saaid on here.... I won't really comment on them, but say it is a lot easier to pick out the negatives when we lose a game, than when we win. The performance could be almost exactly the same, just the ball goes instead of hitting the post. It's the small difference, but a big difference in terms of us talking about everyones form, are they playing bad, media coverage, brendan being a god etc... So all I'm saying is keep the faith. We are still in a great position, and have a great game coming up against Newcastle
Well we can keep the faith and not comment on anything but it would mean a pretty empty fans forum !! Of course we keep the faith but there is nothing wrong with discusing moments of the game and debating them on here, it doesnt mean people are being negative,just that maybe they feel a need to express their views on the team and manager and air their own views on what they saw, its just like you do at the pub after a game,only difference is that there is no beer being drunk so the debate is generally more sensible
If things are going well and we are winning everything in sight, there's little to debate. It's when things are not quite right that we all start asking questions and offering solutions; the how, why and wherefores of the situation. We all have our different ideas about this, which is when the debate gets interesting. For me, Spurs way of playing is where we aspire to be. Of course I am mindful of the fact that they are a team loaded with stars and we are not - which is why the position we find ourselves in is fantastic. The main thing that I would alter about our game would be to speed it up; generally inject pace into our moves and be more incisive. All too often we look for a sideways or backwards pass that gives the opposition time to get back and get organised. Then we have to play through them again. This will come with experience at this level and with the addition of two or three quality players for next season. We have done ourselves proud so far and it would be an even greater achievement if we could kick on and finish in the top half. This is still possible but we need to rediscover our best form and the game against Toon would be a good place to start.
Everything has been well covered with good points on Monk, Rangel, Sincs etc. so I will just add two things. First, if not for Sig, our goal output has dropped to zero. The only exception in the last month coming from Moore and Allen, one a piece. This is not a good place to be. Injury or a drop in form or a smart team stepping on Sig and we are deep in a hole - worst part he's not our player and is very likely to disappear at the end of the season. Time for the likes of everybody else to get their **** together and looking like being a threat. Rangel has no pace. Never really has. He plays smart and positions well, but when beaten up field recovers like a goat. This is not going to change. Time for this Obeng kid to get ready or for Jazz to assume that role. Today, if Friedel had not made that save from Sig, it would have been a different result. We played well, but not our best; although much better than against Everton.
