Having held and matched Manchester United for an hour last night, manager Harry Redknapp believes that the first goal was pivotal. Had Spurs managed to sneak the opener after just shading possession in the first half it may have been different but after Danny Wellbeck struck, the proverbial flood gates opened.
“I felt we were right in the game and certainly at half-time, I thought it was a game that we had as much chance of winning as they did,” said Harry on the club’s website.
“We were going well in the second half, no real problems, but we conceded a goal and then we opened up. That goal changed the game and gave them confidence.”
Having brought on Pavlyuchenko for Kranjcar in the hope of an equaliser, Spurs were vulnerable at the back and with the game more open, two further strikes sealed the win,
“We were looking for an equaliser but we became too open and it was a problem,” Harry continued.
“I took a chance, looking for a goal. Rafa might score, Pav might score, Defoe might score, we still had two wingers on. We were very open but at 1-0 down it was a case of trying to get an equaliser.”
It was a disappointing result after the feeling was that we could at least sneak a draw, but we must now host Manchester City on Sunday and attempt to take our first points of the season.
With a strikeforce riddled with incompetence we will never be able to make it to the top 4, last nights performance proved that.
We created plenty of chances, got clear on goal, but time and time again we wasted opportunities.
As I see it there is nothing stopping Man City replicating what Man United managed to do last night.
very dissapointed to lose in the manner we did, I thought the right change was to take Van der Vart off as he had waisted possesion all night. Harry should have played last 30 mins with Livermore and Hudd in CM and Pav and Defoe up top. You cannot contain Utd with a CM of Hudd and Rafa. Another tactical error IMO. I was happy with Friedel’s performance though
Watching the game last night I realised how much we rely upon Modric.
Then this morning, seeing an article on Ricardo Montolivo I realised we can have it both ways. Sell Modric, buy Montolivo. As a Nasri-style contract rebel he is going to be cheapist. He is 26. He is a deep-lying attacking midfielder who scores about one goal a season. Familiar? Oh and he has long hair and looks a bit rodent-like.
wasnt Alberto Aquilani supposed to do the same for Liverpool? dont know any italians that have taken to the pace of prem, would it not be best to go all out for Diarra, and maybe look at Pjanic from Lyon or maybe try and keep faith with what we have? Kranjcar,Huddlestone,Jenas,Giovanni,Townsend,Bale,Van der Vart, Bale,Lennon,Bentley. none of these are Modric but surely they must be used if they are not sold? maybe Bostock could be blooded, as Livermore has been? COYS
Im not worried, we were beaten by a far better side but come sunday, we bounce back over those pretenders to the title- mickeymouse city.
Harry is a good guy, a top manager and once we get in lass by the weekend, city will c*** themselves with fear, an very over-rated side in the blue half of manchester will get a big wake up call, the perfect game for spurs to prove its still a threat to the top 4.
vdvaart, bale, defoe, city have nothing in the league of these three players, and with lennon we will run circles around the anti-football mob.
Well hear we go again its our attack it this that and the other Explain this to me QPR 0 Bolton 4 Everton 0 OPR 1 solve that one and you have the answer. Harry was confident at half time well i switched the match off and waited for the man Utd fans in my town to Text gloating you see the second half has now become the main part of games this may sound a stupid statement but non the less true. Last season was full of shocks Chelsea 0 Sunderland 3 and if you watched both last nights games you will see the same high tempo that blew Chelsea away you will also see Henderson Wallwark all running on high octane energey. The manager ex Utd Captain Bruce Wigan conceded 11 goals we thought another drubbing we lost 1-0 Clevely played Utd Peterbourough 2-0 down came back second half 2-2 Peterbourough 7 Ipswich 1 the manager Fergusons son and in all these games i seen evidence of the same Tempo that had Harry baffled and me waiting for the text to say we got hammered. We never lost with tactics Utd won it with increased Tempo from backroom staff and player who where yards more energized than Spurs all 17. Neville said at half time we need to pass quicker he meat up the work ratethe same work rate that got Toure banned and Paddy Kenny four goals one week a clean sheet the next just like Dega. What you should do is watch the match again and you will see the evidence in front of you stop the game when Utd Attack and you will see about six players in the box then when we break watch those six players be at the other end protecting the back four and the goalkeeper. This happened last year four teams stopped us scoring Wigan West Ham Man U, one got banned for energy drugs and masking agents Toure the reason the stupid idiot never played and was full of the stuff this is why Uk sport the now newly called Ukad but he same inept people run it the same ones who told me its rife but there not enough to catch them all the drinks and masking drugs are tampering with the tests Toure was not announced by the FA it was leaked to Sky Sport and they later backtracked and said he has taken a known substance his wifes slimming aidsthis got him off with a light sentence and te media from looking at Citys very good high Tempo run in now look at the new slimmer Dzecko Barry and co running riot in the second half Swansea half time -0-0 second half 4-0 Chelsea second half Utd Liverpool all won with improved tempo we need to get fitter and we will be okay if we dont we will be sucked into a long relegation battle off energy like liverpool last year they saked the manager brought a king back he sacked his medical staff installed a new one and they stormed up the league along with Everton who beat us in the second half. Harry wise up M8
So…we lost at Man United because our players aren’t on energy drugs and therefore aren’t fit enough?
There are numerous reasons why we lost last night, spurned chances, not great defending, poor final third etc. But one of the main reasons is that we gave the ball away far too many times in the second half and Man U punished us. If you look at the first half, our passing and movement was slicker and most importantly we kept possesion – hence the 51% to Man U’s 49%. Then what happens in the 2nd half, we start giving the ball away in crucial areas and Man Utd thought it was christmas. Yes we need a striker badly, and we desperately need Sandro fit again as I honestly believe it would’ve been a different story if he was playing last night. But that doesn’t excuse the fact that for the last 30 minutes we stupidly lost the ball time and time again. If you keep the ball, the other team can’t score can they? You watch the top teams like Man Utd and count how many times they give the ball away in a game, it’s very low compared to us.
I am a bit worried about the Man City game, although we are a different team at home than we are away, and I’ll be there losing my voice as always.
I just hope we sort out our possession or it’ll be another frustrating afternoon at the lane.
COYS
How was Bale and Lennon left on the field???Midfield did very well against Anderson,Cleverley then change ,bang game over.Redknapp very poor .Last year he said Spurs could win title and then when reality hit him he said we cannot compete???Spurs are in decline and will not make top six.