I was a little dissapointed with the result and honestly thought Spurs were flapping like **** in the last 10mins but overall we did not threaten enough to lay claim to any points, if we had got a draw it would have been a real hard fought 1pt it was a shame they had that slice of luck at the free kick with the ball skimming off davies head past ash straight into the path of the spurs player, that was unlucky as we dealt well with the set peice today. considering the shots on target from them one of them was bound to go in! i would say draw fair result if we created more but we didnt. We looked a spent force on 70 mins tbh, the tired legs started to show a bit, but having said all that for all spurs huff and puff they didnt impress me much, dembele is the one of the few that id like to see in our team, the rest of them flattered to deceive for long periods. So we got beat and it was to be expected,no shame in a loss to spurs at the lane, they were getting worried the longer the game went on and we got a second wind as soon as Moore came on . A fully fit swans team would have taken something from this game but i guess spurs can also argue they have a few key players out too. Some things of note for me today in our own team performance. Chico- Really needs to cut out his bull**** diving and rolling around,its starting to piss me off ! the Swans has a wonderful reputation for playing the game the right way and playing within the rules someone needs to tell the ****er to pipe down with his antics ! Dyer- Dyer by name dire by nature lately! what has happened to him ? he has been poor by his standards for most of the season,losing the ball and taking the wrong option time and time again, i know he works well with rangel but he needs to develop his game not stand still, im afraid to say that he is looking a bit one dimensional at the moment,his first touch is letting him down too,not like him i must say.The arrival of Pablo has put pressure on and he has not responded well to that, 3rd choice for a reason right now. Ki- Yet again looks lazy in body and soul! sloppy passes almost cost us 2 goals this time!! is becoming a bit of an enigma for me, does some good things but looks like a player plucked from a lower level and dropped into a level he cant fully get to grips with. has the appearence of being the experienced player but very often seems to shy away from the hard option. his tracking of players isnt improving much either,runs like he got lead in his boots sometimes. Tiendalli- Does what it says on the tin "back up player" considering we got him for free we cant complain too much, i would have liked Laudrup to feed him in slowly into prem league football but another that has been dropped in the deep end and is learning to swim fast ! did ok if positionally wonky! Ben davies - Probably his hardest game at this level,got his pants pulled down a few times but battled through that and can take immense credit for his game today. He must learn to cut out sloppy passes and "hospital "passes though ! its killing routs and JDG. He is learning and can be forgiven his mistake count until today had been going down, a blip is acceptable ! Michu - Lets not play him up front isit ! we are wasting him up top, sure he will cause problems but he will cause more coming from deep, id rather see Ki dropped to the bench and DG or moore started instead. We spunked away good chances today,dyer springs to mind a few times, we were also very unlucky with a couple of final passes made by routs on another day things might have been different, an improved performance but for me the return of Rangel, Pablo,Taylor and Vorm cant come quick enough, the squad is creaking and needs an injection of fresh blood in January, defence ,midfield and attack needs work. I feel some of the boys that were our main threats last season are way short of making an impact this season so we need to bring in players that will perform when called upon. One or two fresh faces should perk everyone up, the players look a bit tired to me and only seem to stutter through games these days. It was Spurs away so not bothered about getting beat but its clear to see a few improvements could make us comfortable in this division.
trust me you think that was flapping? that was alot better from us in the last 10 than usual..but maybe that just proves your point that Swansea werent really asking any questions today. 24 shot we had with 16 on target...thats intent....i think your gaffer was happy to draw today. best of luck to your team....i like em.
No complants from me either. Just didn't think we were at the races today, some good solid defending and if were honest Spurs never really threatened us, Tremmel only had to make a couple of saves and none really troubled him other than the one in the first half that hit him. Disappointed with our lack of attacking. Michu tries but he's no CF he has to play in the hole. What had happened to Dyer and Routledge both to me were very poor. Ki phew!!!, needs to sort himself out or Kemy will get his slot soon. Agree about Chico it's bloody annoying with his antics.
Yeah i can agree with those comments Spurlock, we wernt fluid enough today and i thought Ki and Britton both get in each others way too much, it some times takes too many passes to move us into the final 3rd with these two in the team. Michu should not play up front either he would have caused alot more problems playing deeper, having said that Dyer wasnt firing properly today so our normal game was never going to happen,too many players not quite right and key injuries to Pablo and rangel . Maybe Laudrup wanted to compress the game into the last 20mins today im not sure. Its not beyond the realms of possibility. I have no complaints about the result,Spurs created more and looked far more dangerous than us, i do feel our mid week game had a bearing on matters but we should be fit enough to cope . Spurs look very vulnerable to me and if we had been a long ball team we probably would have had some joy against your defence, when we tossed it in to the box it was indeed panic stations,lucky for you the Swans cant really play that way..though we are getting better at it with Michu to aim for Good luck for the season,hope we beat you next but hope you get Champions league, good club Spurs are
I thought Routledge was far more creative than Dyer today,at least routs was playing the right pass at the right time,ok it didnt always come off but his game was better in my opinion. Something that id never thought is see Dyer do today. He gets hit with a quick pass out from defence,a classic break away his first touch is decent,his second just kills all momentum and he loses the ball,he then just stands there and jumps up and down like a spoilt child while Michu sprints passed him as if to say "what the **** dude!" and starts chasing the keeper down and tries to win the ball back! that is not like Dyer ,his frustration is really starting to show,thats the worst thing you show the opposition they know they got you beat when your doing that kind of thing !!
Good post Norway. Pretty much in agreement. Ki was just plain sloppy today as were a few others. We were not really beaten in midfield, too often we gifted them possession when not under pressure. Dyer was weak. I though it was tough to take off JDG. Ki would have been my preference because he was starting to dog it. With the speed on the right wing in Lennon and Walker, Davies did pretty well. BTW. It's a good job Tremmel is too slow to react because Walker's cannon in the first half hit him - if he'd reacted he might have moved out of the way.
yankee i thought jdg did ok today too, him and leon had their hands full constantly. on the slow motion it looked like tremmel knew nothing about it until it bounced off his chest.. im sure he had it covered,he was solid today i was worried about davies today but he done good, gaining in every game
Norway, good summary but here's my take. Firstly, support and movement off the ball, two things which must vastly improve. We play too tight and the recipient of the pass usually gets it with a marker up his arse. There were many times today when Spurs players received the ball in acres of open space. We didn't enjoy that luxury until late on when the game had opened up. Also, we are guilty of under-hitting the pass too often, which gives the marker time to get a tackle in. This not training, neither are our players up to Barca standard - they get away with this because they are more skilful but we do not. There must be a lot more snap and fizz with our passing. And there must be a LOT more movement to help the man on the ball. When we are defending, we are too deep. There is a distinct lack of bite in midfield, which I have been commenting on for a long time. We just cover, fall back then cover again, inviting the opposition into dangerous areas. Sooner or later this results in conceding a goal. I suppose we have to do this because we don't have a Scott Parker type but we desperately need one. Skill alone is not enough at this level. There has to be some bite and attitude to go with it. Our tackling, quite frankly, is disgraceful. I suggest people look in future to see just how many balls we win in the actual tackle situation, particularly in midfield; the percentage is low and we usually lose possession. In this context, I have to criticise Routledge. His tracking back can best be described as "token". He is costing us goals and he did again today by conceding a pointless foul in a bad area for us. He's using the old trick of fouling his man instead of continuing to compete and fight for the ball. It's far easier to do this than keep challenging. The game stops he gets a breather and people have the impression that he's getting involved. Those who have played the game are not fooled (I did this often when I was knackered but WR is a professional) and his team mates certainly aren't. I would guess he got a mouthful from them in the dressing room and I guess Michael Laudrup wasn't impressed either. Nothing to add about Dyer. He's off form and showing it. His pace is not being utilised properly and he needs to up his game considerably. At least, though, his covering game is far better than Routledges's but we will be even more vulnerable in this area when Pablo returns because he just doesn't do any. But at least Pablo more than compensates for this with other aspects of his game. As for Ki, this guy is really beginning to disappoint. He's slow, sloppy and doesn't tackle. Like you, for me he blows hot and cold. He has obvious ability but makes bad gaffs in almost every game. But think on. He's been playing in the SPL for a totally dominant team against inferior opposition. We are not a dominant team at this level and now he has to face the likes of the Manchesters, Chelsea, Spurs etc etc etc. This is a far cry from teams such as Inverness, Falkirk and Motherwell!!! Based on his overall performances for us, I am looking at a £2 million player, not one that cost us over £5 million. Imagine what Laudrup might have got had he spent that in La Liga!! I'm sure that there's a lot more to come from him, however, because ML doesn't buy duds. I'd just like to see it blossom sooner rather than later. Not much to say about Tiendalli other than the guy obviously lacks games and match fitness. When he gets both I can see him coming good and I hope we keep him. My opinion is that in January, we need a striker (Villa?) and an abrasive midfielder with a bit of skill. As for the game, no complaints about the result. I don't think we attacked them enough and our soft midfield underbelly was all too apparent. It needs sorting.
You can't complain at the result the right team won. Ash was terrific but I have no idea what Dyer and Routledge were trying to do. Midfield gave the ball away cheaply and too often. We looked reasonably comfortable but defended poorly for the goal and that was that. Id like to see Moore be given a start and Michu back in midfield All in a a fair assessment Norway can't really argue with anything you say
Ivor -there seems to be times when we flick a switch and revert to Brendens more measured apprach and i dont think its by design!! i think its what some of the players are comfortable with. Moving the ball faster with less touches is the way ML wants to go,we see it in patches and its very impressive, underhitting passes IMO comes with us playing on such a smooth liberty surface, but today there was alot of it going on, maybe teams dont water the pitches when we roll into town?? Dilligaf may have te answer for this ! I cant disagree with much of what you say Ivor, routladge can be patchy with covering but if you looked at the game earlier routs was playing like a full back in our defensive 3rd, davies was pushed inside and routs was picking up his man which in fairness he did quite well for the whole game,he needed disipline in that area and he had it. Considering the pace spurs had on the wings we contained them pretty well,there is less structure in this team than last year and that will always make us a bit ragged defencively when teams counter us, the benifits have out weighed the negatives of this style, im sure as players grow into the system they will become better at it. I must also point out that injuries may have an effect due to the way we are playing, there is far more intensive running with this system and players are sprinting in short bursts alot more than they did under rodgers, it is taking its toll of soft muscle injury as a result IMO, this also shows the shift in the speed of our play under Laudrup,while we are still working at it (and some may never actually crack it) there will be areas that look more exposed than others, the full back position is one of them and as Ivor correctly says,pablo wont be a tracking midfielder by nature either! When we dont ask enough questions in the final 3rd we will see games like this,we never kept their defence honest today and that gave them licence to push on us
Norway, I got in the ground about 1pm and I didn't see any watering of the pitch going on, none at halftime either. I hadn't really given it any thought before but to be fair the pitch looked ok to me and it was the same for both teams
Hmm intresting that Dilli, of course spurs are a passing team but i dont think they trust th ball quite like we do, it is a thought as to what teams like a slick pitch, im guessing we do im guessing most others dont, just throwing it out there
Hopefully i will be going to reading myself, Villa is sorted,man utd will be a last minute drop out situation though.
I was a little dissapointed with the result and honestly thought Spurs were flapping like **** in the last 10mins but overall we did not threaten enough we did not threaten once let alone enough..
