Would be interesting to see what people think about this, having only seen the highlights on MOTD it's difficult to grasp how the game played out and who were the standout performers. They were raving about the Modric Parker partnership on MOTD. Any other contenders?
Only caught on MOTD like yourself but from what I saw, I'd say Bale and Kyle Walker also contributed well.
I'm not a fan of Modric at CM, but he was pretty flawless yesterday. A missed pass very early on had me shouting at the screen, but then he pretty much controlled the game. Still sat too deep for my tastes, but still got forward for his goal. Parker is like a harder-working Palacios. Always close to the ball, and always quick to make a challenge. He was the main reason we had so much possession. But his passing is poor and he lets himself get closed down too often. It was a good partnership, but Modric was the great part, Parker the support role. He is a different player to Sandro, though, so who knows who is the best partner for Modric? What surprised me is how deep and wide Adebayor played. We almost never played on the break, because we didn't have anyone upfront. Instead we played a very patient, almost tippy-tap game, with loads of short passing triangles, but only a slow move forwards. Odd, but it suits Modric because it lets him work a way closer to their box. Bale kept it simple, beat his man frequently and got decent balls into the box. But his shooting and free kicks are pretty poor at the moment. Walker had a more difficult time. Whoever was playing on the left flank for 'pool were very good at pressing him tight onto the touchline. He still got past a few times, but basically they kept him quiet. BA-E, on the other hand, had one of his best games for a while. He has to be the most entertaining fullback in the business. He may get caught out now and again, but he retains so much possession for us with little flicks and backheels where any other player would hoof it into the stands or aimlessly upfield. But I'd think Kaboul was close to man of the match. I don't think Carroll won anything cleanly in the air all day. And 'pool used him as their main target all game. Kaboul was all over him.
Has anyone noticed that we haven't conceded a league goal in 3 matches- 2 for Friedel 1 for Cudicini. Does anyone know when was the last time it happened?
If I could, I would give it jointly to Modric & Parker, who took over, and controlled the middle of the park - and that's before that sack of ****e, Adam got sent off.
I think Modric will probably get most of the plaudits alongside Parker and Ade and don't get me wrong they fully deserve that, but for me, my MOTM was Kaboul. As I sit in Park Lane, I get a good view for 45 minutes of our defence and I was saying through out the game to my mate that baring in mind Liverpool paid £35m for a guy who seemed to bully defences in the air, Kaboul never gave him a sniff, Kaboul has been a major aerial asset for us recently and it showed massively yesterday, he also worked really well with Walker, while Walker was overlapping Niko/ VDV, Kaboul was covering excellently. For me the guys improving game-by-game and alongside Ledders seems to play so much better too.
Hard one to pick, as there were a lot of very good performances. King and Kaboul had Suarez and Carroll under their control for the whole game and our midfield were utterly dominant. To say that Henderson and Downing were quiet is an understatement and both Defoe and Adebayor were very busy, constantly moving and causing trouble. Friedel was the only player that put in an average performance and that was because he had nothing to do. I'd give it to Modric, I guess. Great opening goal and he ran the midfield.
I think it would be hard to pick out a stand out performance the defence was solid as everyone was saying Kaboul was outstanding while king was his normal self (good to see him playing) Benny & Walker were also good attacking and defending (Benny ball to Ade was each inch perfect for his 2nd goal). In midfield Modric and Parker looked like they had been playing together for years and Modrics goal was pure quality! I think Niko has a very good half shame he got injured and had to come off good to see him starting. Bale was his normal self beating players with ease and i had a feeling Sklert (or however u spell it) would get sent off but as someone said his crossing and free kicks were terrible. Defoe & Ade up front were excellent if one dropped off to collect the ball the other was instictly on the last defender wanting the ball and both took their goals well good to see our strikers actually scoring this season! Overall i couldn't pick a MOTM performance but Sky gave it to Ade i will stick with that!
Adebayor was the offical MOTM, and I can see why. He held the ball up, came back to defend and scored a brace. All of the back 4 were phenomenal, though. I don't think King or Kaboul lost a 50/50 ball and even Walker was outheading Carroll on a couple of occasions. BAE constantly put Bale through on goal time and time again. If Friedel decided to give up and go on strike for the entire game, they would have only scored 1 as that is how many attempts they had on target. But for me, our MOTM was Parker. There was a reason that only 13% of the entire game was played in out fianl 3rd: Because Parker wouldn't let anyone get the ball there. He was constantly charging down the opposition and intercepting passes. It almost looked like there were 2 Parkers on the field. Absolutely brilliant game by him.
For those at the game, was Ledley injured when he went off, or was it just to protect him with the game won?
Cheers, West Ham! I think that Redknapp just took him off because the game was over as a competition and he didn't want to risk him getting injured.
Parker all day long. With Modric just behind him. Where does that leave Hudd, VDV, Lennon, Sandro, Livermore...?!? Happy, happy days.
Didn't look it mate, think it was just a precaution, game was won and the defence weren't being troubled. I couldn't see a physio standing on the touchline when he went off either.
I think Lennon and VDV will compete for the right side of Midfield and Sandro and Parker could be rotated in the centre. For some tough away games, we could play both and rest JD or Ade. Hudd will be able to give Modric a rest now and again.
Adebayor was great but he should've scored his first chance although his first touch pass at the start of the second was excellent, just a shame JD fluffed it. For me it's Parker or Modric, I call it a draw, they were both excellent.
I'm surprised how good Manny ByeBye is with his feet. He turns defenders with that same dummy/stepover that Modric uses, it's like having a big tall lanky Modric, brilliant. Speaking of the Croatian one, Modric and Parker ruled the midfield which despite working better with Krancjar than VdV, seeing Spurs control the middle of the park put a smile on my face. BAE is the best full back in the Prem full stop and possibly in Europe, he had a surpurb game. Great partnership with Bale. Walker still has a bit to learn, but the back four of BAE, King(Bassong), Kaboul, Walker only allowed Loserpool one shot on target all match so overall it wasn't much of a problem. We had a well drilled defense stepping up timely to catch the Loserpool forwards offside. It's difficult to judge Friedel, he probably will feel guilty picking up his wages this week, he had so little to do. As for MOTM, Byebye missed one easy chance otherwise he would have got 10/10, so only a brilliant 9/10. As did JD, shame, that would have been a great goal just after half time. JD and Manny ByeBye do look good together, 25+ goals each this season? . Modric missed one that should have been on target so again 9/10. Parker was brilliant but gave the ball away once or twice so only 9/10. Ledley was Ledley, made it all look so easy so 9/10. Bale, despite destroying Skirtel, wasted a few free kicks so probably only 9/10. For MOTM I'd say it's between Kaboul or BAE. They were probably both as near to 10/10 as you can get. Call it a draw.
King looked ok (well as much as he'll ever be fit) when he went off. A definite contender for MOTM, partly because of his calming presence. So many outstanding performances in a brilliant display of football that made a much hyped Pool team look average. I'd give it to Modric because the opening goal was vital and what a beauty, at last he puts a top shot in for us from long range - more please Luka. His all round game was brilliant too.
Well i'm going for the easy route and give MOTM to Spurs coz i don't think i've seen us play as well as this for along time.Everyone did there bit except Friedel,who to be honest could have had the day off,but that's not his fault.So whoever thought we had a bad TDD i think our new signings have started as well as possible.Oh i'll give it to Parker who apart from looking a perfect partner to Modric ran his socks off and never stopped tackling.
