Wasn't at the game; didn't have a stream, had to listen to FiveLive commentary (Claridge!). Their verdict: (1) City played off the park from start until last few minutes (2) Morison a huge disappointment; bad body language; looked disinterested (3) Simeon Jackson should have been brought on at half time (4) Ruddy should have saved the first goal (5) Overall, City never gave it a go This morning I read Henry Winter in the Telegraph and it's a different story. Now that the dust has settled, can those who were there please tell me what really happened? PS Henry Winter mentions some unpleasant Canary chanting against Gareth Bale. Surely we can rise above that and respect genuine talent? Also, Welsh players have contributed a lot to City success over the years, and Morison and Crofts are international colleagues of GB. I know that Spurs were applauded off the park at the end but why pick on Bale like that?
We were pretty much played off the park - midfield never really got going and I didn't like the diamond formation vs. Spurs we didn't create any chances. Morison was awful IMO, never pushing to get into the area, Grolt had a go at him a few times as he just stood on the 6 yard box instead of challenging for crosses and wasn't his usual self chasing people down. Not sure Jackson is the answer - think the lacks the quality for the Prem - Maynard please. Ruddy definitely should have saved the first goal but then the defence shouldn't of even allowed Adebayor to pass to Bale I think its harsh to say we didn't give it a go - we were just up against a much better team on form. Possibly the best I've seen us come up against this season IMO.
I watched it on a stream and from what I could see City played off the park from start until last few minutes Pretty much accurate but more like perhaps 15 minutes at the end when Pilks & Bennett came on. Morison a huge disappointment; bad body language; looked disinterested Not his best game then the Spurs team as a whole stopped us playing. Maybe just fed up with not seeing much of the ball. Simeon Jackson should have been brought on at half time Probably would have made little or no difference but we will never know for certain. Ruddy should have saved the first goal Not really. You can say that about any shot that isn't 100% peach. Ruddy not at fault but the defence maybe, although that may be harsh on them too. Overall, City never gave it a go The truth is Spurs simply stopped us playing the way we wanted to, they pretty much dictated the game from the first whistle. Once they went 2 up and the late subs came on we gave a much better account of ourselves. Whilst not really wishing to be critical of PL I think his starting XI wasn't the best and that was perhaps his only real 'mistake' this season, having said that we only lose 2-0 to the team i 2rd place in the PL - no disgrace.
Ruddy should have saved the first goal - There were a few errors in the build up to the first goal. Firstly, Adebayor had an eternity in the box with the ball at his feet, at least one of the three players around him should have got a foot in. Secondly, when the ball fell to Bale, he was unmarked - AN UNMARKED PLAYER IN OUR OWN BOX!!!! He was probably unmarked because we had too many players fussing over Adebayor but not actually daring to tackle him. Thirdly, Ruddy may have been slightly at fault, the ball went under his wrist, put simply, he didn't get down quickly enough. He wasn't helped by the fact he was playing beach football, such was the quantity of sand in his goal mouth. Overall, Hot Spurtz were much the better team, but without Bale they wouldn't have been half as impressive. He was their main creator, and giving him the free role was a stroke of genius by 'arry, we simply couldn't counter him. Always gutting to lose, but we didn't expect anything from it at the start. The big matches are the ones coming up over the next few weeks (other than Chelsea @ The DeliaDome).
The first goal was down to Whitbread, he was marking Bale and ran over to help the other two with Adebayor. Ruddy got a hand but it wasn't enough. The ball wasn't travelling fast enough to deflect off his hand and it crept under. BOTH strikers were played off the park by dfenders who stood their ground and won the aerial battle, apparently our strongpoint, quite easily. Jackson wouldn't have seen any ball as our midfield couldn't hold onto it long enough to set the passes up. We tried our limited best. This game above all should our limitations against teams who can turn down £25M for their players. Gareth Bale is one of the top talents around and his pace and determination was there to see with the second goal. We do need to bounce back from this defeat. We weren't at our best but that was down to the opposition. We couldn't ask for a better game to redeem ourselves than Fulham. Dour, unexciting and methodical. We can upset teams like that. 3 points would probably leave us needing no more than 15 for the rest of the season. And we could possibly be 10 points clear or 3rd bottom. I have no doubt there will be changes. Back to one up front I would imagine and hopefully Pilks and Bennet back in what was arguably our best line up (Holt worshippers excepted although he could be the one on his own). I think Johnson has a bit more about him than Crofts as well.
Thanks guys. Listening to the 5Live commentary it seemed to me that Walker had so little to do defensively he was able to run at Drury pretty much whenever he wanted. Drury played well but, unlike Tierney, provided little in the attacking third all night. My overall impression remains that PL was too slow to adjust to how Spurs were playing. They had Parker and Sandro in central midfield, two very competent CBs in Gallas and Kaboul, and two quick full backs raiding forward. What were Holt and Morison supposed to do, and who was Fox supposed to pick out? IMO from early on it cried out for Pilkington and/or Bennett. Maybe it was a case of PL thinking about Saturday and going for damage limitation against Spurs. But if so, why not give Morison a rest and play Simeon Jackson (whose pace would have been helpful) and Bradley Johnson to shore up the midfield? Just don't understand it.
Completely agree with first three points. Also, I felt Holt didn't have a good game either. But both put in a lot of effort when both covered at left back when Drury was out of position.
Let's move on from this, we have shown reaction to games this season we have lost by a big performance the next game, like Newcastle after man city Fulham are poor away from home, however they have picked up of late generally and drew at Chelsea (the London derby factor could be important there though) The next three games could define how easy a job we have to stay up - fulham, qpr and west brom. 4 or 5 points would be very pleasing imo
It is simple, we were played off the park from the start. I feel this just shows the gulf in ability between us and the top teams. I know people will talk about the Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool games but this was very different, here we did'nt get a look in. After the Wolves game where we played with confidence, flair and skill it was a little disappointing. i don't think you can blame individuals, it was generally a poor performance all round. The exception being Ruddy, we could have lost by 4 or 5. This game was always going to be a difficult one, so we have to move on. Fulham won't be easy but i would say a much better chance of the right result. I just hope PL pulls some rabbits out of the hat in January, we need it. I think it is clear now where we need help.
•Secondly, when the ball fell to Bale, he was unmarked - AN UNMARKED PLAYER IN OUR OWN BOX!!!! He was probably unmarked because we had too many players fussing over Adebayor but not actually daring to tackle him. IMO, The first goal was down to Whitbread leaving Bale to go and try to get the ball off Adebayor. Adebayor had 2 on him already and although they were not putting in a challenge for fear of giving away a pen, they did have any move he might make pretty well covered. Whitbread got sucked accross to try and take the ball and that left Bale on his own. A good piece of skill by Adebayor and a square pass to Bale and the rest is history. Had Whitbread stayed with Bale, Adebayor would have had nowhere to go and would probably have attempted to get a shot away which I think the defenders may well have blocked.
It really didn't matter who was to blame for the first goal or which 11 we had on the pitch - they were so much better than us and would still have won at a canter. Had we not given it 100% effort we would have been hammered so it is wrong to sugget there was a lack of effort. We didn't play because they wouldn't let us have the ball and when we got it they closed us down so quickly that we made mistakes and gave it away. We have to accept that we are not in the same league as the top 6 and if we play them when they are buzzing it is an achievement to avoid a thumping. Move on, concentrate on getting results against the rest and hope that when we play one of the top 6 again they have an off day.
Absolutely, I really wasn't trying to lay blame as such. So much of the game is played in the head, players make decisions. Top players make the right ones more often than not. Whitbread did what he though was right and unfortunately it turned out badly for him. Ultimately I think we would have lost anyway. No point in over analysing a defeat that those honest enough among us saw coming anyway.
Aside from that mistake, I thought Whitbread was solid yesterday. His positioning is great and he makes a good number of clearances
I can't believe nobody has mentioned how good Modric was last night, he was the main architect of all their play and we just couldn't get anywhere near him from start to finish. That said he is one of the best footballers on the planet in my opinion, an absolute genius so no real disgrace there At the match I actually thought we played really well, and at half-time everyone around me was buzzing as we were right in the game. I honestly thought everyone did ok (possibly Morison excluded) and de Laet and Drury had their best games in ages. I thought Fox did well and looked good on the ball, as did Zak and Surman. Wes was lively throughout, Holt did show some excellent touches and nobody really let themselves down at all with their performances. Unfortunately we ran into a top, top quality team bang in form so it was always going to be tough, and to be honest only losing by two goals against that lot is certainly not a disaster and there are plenty of positives to take into the Fulham game on Saturday. The one massive negative for me (and again I can't believe nobody has mentioned it) was the Snakepit chanting "he looks like a chimp, he looks like a chimp, he's Adebayor, he looks like a chimp" at various stages of the game. Unless my ears deceived me from the Jarrold that was one of the mot disgusting things I've heard at Carra Rud and I hope I never, ever hear it again!
Let's face it Spurs are genuine contenders.So 2-0 isn't a disaster.I watched Swansea-QPR immediately before the game and neither of them IMHO showed anything like the quality that City have shown throughout the season.It is these lower/mid table teams we need to beat and generally we have.I see nothing to be concerned about and think we will finish outside the bottom six.
Thanks Sid. So it was more Henry Winter than R5Live/Claridge. Agree entirely about the chanting; we can do without that (and the stuff directed at Bale as well). Cruyff, R5L coverage was so negative about the performance on the night it would have been alarming if it was true. Clearly they weren't giving an accurate picture, which is what I wanted to know when I started this thread.
Hi All Not been here in a while. My thoughts echo most said above. I thought Spurs were very good, especailly in midfield where they dominated and always had an option. Our back 4 did OK for me, especially as Drury and De Laet are not really match fit.Russell Martin is player of teh season so far for me. Formation was wrong for me and gave too much space for Spurs but again not sure if anything else would have made much of a difference. Ruddy should have saved the first goal, but did OK. I personally still feel we can do better here but that is my view. Morison was poor, Holt grafted but again Kaboul and Gallas marshalled them well. The bottom line is who thought two years ago we would be watching class like that at CR? We move on to Fulham!
simple really. we played pretty well first half, managed to contain spurs to a degree but never threatened them and were perhaps a tad fortunate to be level at half time. they kept the ball so well and were quick to press high up the pitch so we could never settle into any kind of rhythm. 2nd half, the visitors went up two or three gears and we couldn't get near them. top, top side and hardly a surprising outcome to be honest. i was pleased their finishing was quite wasteful as the scoreline could have been worse but we won't play many better teams all season. solid at the back, measured and controlled in midfield and inspiring going forward. i applauded tottenham off the pitch.
Surgeryman, Welcome back! In your absence we've all felt the lack Of your clinical view And carrabuh's too Not just me but the whole of the pack! PS: We are better behaved on here. We have to be, or the wrath of Dave descends upon us .......
I've been away in Winchester over Xmas so I watched the game on my PC at my sons (I have SKY3D at home and despite the result I will be watching the recording on Sky, I wonder how big Holts chest will look in 3D?) and have been out of touch. If we are stooping to making stupid chants like that at players then we might as well kick them out of the ground for good. How will Barnett, Korey etc feel when they run out on the pitch knowing half the ****ers in their own crowd obviously hate them. No messing, ban them for life. My Father in Law is coloured and I would hate to think he would get chanted at by anyone at a Norwich game.
