Lots of comments about the away "formula", and that is not something I am disagreeing with, but let's do an Ipswich and go back 20 years - what did Mike Walker do/say that made NCFC such a force "on the road"? Or was it that it was the right "team" at the right time?
It's not this kind of game that is going to decide our future - it's games like away to Hull. I don't think CH can be blamed for being outplayed by a much better team. What I think he has to show (and he hasn't yet) is that he can turn out a side to beat the other teams down there with us. I'm not depressed by that performance - although Snodgrass worries me - but the next home game is now crucial.
Why can't our players pass a ball, that seems to be the only downfall at the moment. Every single game has been like it! If
^^ This I feared this would happen today, but I actually thought they might stick four or five past us so you won't hear me moaning too much.Didn't get to watch or listen to it today (our little girl's first birthday party rather got in the way) but it sounds like Spurs put in comfortably their best performance of the season and as Rob says when that happens we've got next to no chance of getting anything. On to next week we go, massive game, lets have three points out of that and kick on from there
I know it is Beefy, but the question then perhaps ought to be, are we really that far behind the top teams? I think we are, along with another 11 teams in the PL.
Could be worse lads, the second greatest team in the universe (after Swansea) Aston Villa managed by the greatest manager ever to grace the planet lost today at home against Newcastle. A team that i'm surprised didn't enter the pitch on unicycles or all get out of a really small car. Now that would have REALLY pissed me off.
Well why stop at Walker lets get some inside forwards and a sweeper on. Looking back is never the way.
I know some may disagree, but i think we needed wes today, gets in positions where he can get the ball and we needed that today just to be able to keep it that bit longer. He may give it away now and then but he can hold onto it surprisingly well as well and we just couldn't string any passes together.
I really son't think it would have made any difference today tbh. I think even he would have had trouble keeping the ball
The team that started today was exactly the same as the one that started against Southampton. Are people now griping because Hughton put out too offensive a line-up? The second goal was gifted to them by Ruddy, and had that not happened who knows what the outcome might have been. Fact is the midfield today just couldn't pass to a yellow shirt in the first half, Fer and Redmond being the chief culprits, and Snoddy is badly out of form at the moment. I agree with Canary Rob, we were outplayed and several of the team were well below their best, including Ruddy.
There's no reason this team couldn't have performed today, it's not rocket science to see what went wrong, we couldn't pass the ball.
Actually, yes. We knew we'd be playing a team who'd dominate possession, and our best chances would likely come on the break. Playing two strikers seemed the wrong way to go to me. I'd expect us to have a lot of men behind the ball closing down and making tackles, so it makes sense to me to play someone more accustomed to that, than ask a striker to work hard and track back. Replacing Ricky or Elmander with Howson or Tettey would have helped us to win back some control of the midfield, and use the pace of Redmond or Snodgrass to counter, with Fer joining the attack when he can. Granted players were off-form today anyway, but I don't see the fact that the team won the last time out as a justification for playing the same personnel.
Too offensive a line-up? Did you see how deep you were defending today? Not having a midfield didn't help your cause, I'd grant you!
I don't thinks it's a case of the team line up being too offensive or defensive, more how they are being asked/told to play. It is no secret that CH is far more cautious for away games (as most managers are). CH could start with the German national team against Aldershot, but they would be no good if they went out with the aim to defend for most of the game in an attempt to do little more than stop the opposition.
Sorry Thai but I think that is a load of twaddle. He put the same team out to play as they did against Southampton. What reason do you have to say they went out to do little more than stop Spurs? None at all IMO. What they found was they were up against it from the start, and weren't able to get going at all in midfield. That was entirely down to Spurs and poor midfield possessional play, nothing at all to do with instructions. You say it is no secret that CH is far more cautious for away games, but if he'd wanted to be more cautious he would have picked a different team.
