I don't think we'd need a playmaker if we kept Bale, he's the one who would give us the extra dimension. But if he goes we need some extra forward quality, could be a playmaker, could be a striker, whatever. We're already creating chances with the players, despite being on the verge of exhaustion and barely knowing each other, more creativity should come with some rest and training before the Arsenal game.
I wonder how soldado would feel about your comments? I heard he was saying "hello... Is anybody out there" on Sunday.
We are creating chances, of course we are, but these are more like those you get from a National side rather than a club side. The real understanding that develops between players playing together week after week is yet to come with the NEW Spurs team, but if this was a National team you would be looking for a midfield creator to orchestrate the thing.Will Paulinho develop into the conducter as he begins to understand his team mates?
He reminds me of lampard. I don't see lampard as a creative type; just a talented individual who can pull something out of the bag.
I read a stat somewhere that we're not only creating chances, but that we're creating more than anyone else, bizarrely. Rather misleading stat, in my opinion. EPL Stat Man ‏@EPLStatman 8h Tottenham have created the joint most chances so far this season (31) but have failed to score from open play #THFC (stats from @Squawka) EPL Stat Man ‏@EPLStatman 25 Aug Nacer Chadli has created 9 of Tottenham's 31 chances this season and 5 more than any other Spurs player (Stats from @Squawka) #THFC EPL Stat Man ‏@EPLStatman 25 Aug Etienne Capoue vs Swansea Passes: 63 Accurate: 90% Forwards: 46% Tackles: 6/7 Interceptions: 2 Clearances: 5 EPL Stat Man ‏@EPLStatman 25 Aug Nacer Chadli created 6 chances against Swansea - twice as many as any other player and 1 more than Swansea #THFC #Spurs EPL Stat Man ‏@EPLStatman 25 Aug Mousa Dembele completed 97% of his 25 passes in the first half with 36% going forwards #THFC #Spurs EPL Stat Man ‏@EPLStatman 44m Fewest Shots Conceded 13/14 Tottenham 12 Chelsea 14 Everton 15 Man City 15 Southampton 19 Sunderland 22
Interesting comparison. I have noticed a resemblance to Chelsea in some of our play recently, the Chelsea of a few seasons ago rather than the current one.
I never like these stats, as they never tell the complete picture. Either Soldado was taking up the wrong positions or the chances created involved everyone else but him. I still dislike the way we play football, its too much about pace and power. I much prefer the relaxed expansive type of football, where teams actually create chances for their strikers, wingers score and midfielders make late runs. Maybe as the season progresses I'll enjoy the football more if it becomes a success, but if we was to actually look at these stats, and then re-watch the game in full, we would realise they don't tell the entire story.
soldado had several chances against palace. he had nothing yesterday though; he worked hard but was so isolated it was ridiculous, plus too much shooting from outside the box.
I never thought we Spurs fans would ever be able to consider a Spurs side as such. It's a breath of fresh air to not see us get steam rolled over and outmuscled, what I very much like is the fact that while we are turning into a powerhouse sort of team, we've been able to keep hold of the flair and joyful attacking play which you don't usually see associated with a team labelled powerhouse. Have to say, AVB is really winning me over now. His tactics so far have been spot on and I've actually agreed with his substitutions too, something last season I thought cost us games. It's fair to see though our best "signing" of the Summer is Baldini, and Levy deserves a huge amount of credit for hiring the man. Along with AVB they've identified perfect players to join us. I've not been disappointed with one signing yet and all have impressed in their own right on the pitch. Capoue for me, despite the least well known of the four, has actually settled in the best. His cameo at Palace was impressive, Tbilisi he partnered Paulinho/ Dembele well and then Swansea he was MOTM. Very exciting times for us I think and this isn't even considering whether Bale stays or not. I never thought I'd be saying that.
I have to say that it's fairly interesting to see a lot of Swansea fans noting that they didn't play well, but none of them seems to have mentioned our set up as a reason why it happened. Palace and Tblisi struggled badly and lost the ball a lot too, as the high defensive line and aggressive, combative midfield squeezes things badly and leaves the opposition with no time. We haven't used it against anyone of real quality that's firing on all cylinders yet, with no disrespect to the Swans as they lost their first game and played in Europe midweek. It'll be interesting to see how it works against the Goons. I hope that they can't make too many changes for tomorrow and that we leave out all of our starters on Thursday. Fitness and stamina could be very important.
Yeah Soldado was really isolated yesterday but I think Swansea deserve credit for that. Williams and Flores are one of the leagues best CB pairings in my opinion so it was always going to be difficult. Luckily he had one sniff at goal (the pen) and he made no mistake and made it look easy too where most would've crumbled. I think given time, the team - especially new lads - will adapt better to the style AVB is implementing and we'll then get to see just what we're made of. We're already looking good in my opinion, especially from defence to midfield, we just need to work on the midfield to forwards a bit better and then things will get exciting I feel. 3 clean sheets in 3. A striker with 4 goals in those 3 games. All new signings looking promising. Expected addition(s) of more top talent. Most deadwood being shifted. Blimey Spurs... You're making it hard for us to have a moan at the moment!
Soldado showed at Tbilisi that his movement and positioning is sound. The flank players know in the PL they will have less time so must be fast and precise with their crossing.
Thats going to be the true test, as I remember last year when we went to Man Utd away, you remember we was Awesome (for the 1st half), everyone was hailing Dembele as this beast who will fire us to the promised land. This Year Capoue is the new beast. Dembele is so last year LOL But, the main point is, until we see us be a powerhouse and create chances agaisnt top quality teams, then I can't share the same excitement and we have to perform over 90 minutes, not just for one half.
Come on Boss I know you have an image to keep up, but you must have noticed the potential of this team and the quality of Soldado, Paulinho and Capoue in particular. That is exciting surely?
Image LOL No am not denying these look talented, just saying last year Dembele was the great hope, this year it's someone else. I got bored of our football last year and just want to see us perform against top teams before I jump on the bandwagon.
Yeah, the stats don't tell the whole story, but I was going to say that despite the fact we've had fair to poor play from our CMs, you can't call us short on good chances. We've created more than our share of chances through good play from the wings plus the law of averages aiding the team that keeps the other team penned up in their own half. What we've had, though. is a combination of poor finishing and brilliant keeping from the other side (and our own, too, for that matter.)
No idea on his feelings, but I'm sure he's very happy with scoring 4 goals in 3 games in a newly assembled team. I heard he was saying - 'the winner takes it all'
