Spurs climbed above Arsenal and Everton and into fourth place in the Premiership yesterday but if you’d read some of the post-match comments on Social Media, you’d have thought we were in Southampton’s position.
Head Coach Andre Villas-Boas praised the team’s fighting spirit,
“The first half was all ours and we played extremely well,” said AVB. “We kept possession and kept control of the ball.
“We knew at half-time that only a third goal and 3-0 would put the game to bed.
“As soon as they scored, the nature of the game changed and we knew we’d be in for a fight. That’s what happened.
“The lads were fantastic to hold onto the lead again, showing the fighting spirit we also showed at Manchester United.”
It wasn’t the best of victories but it sparked a mixed reaction on the club’s Facebook feed. In fairness, most of the comments were positive but others criticised the performance.
Are you in the ‘a win’s a win’ camp or are there problems that may have been highlighted in this game?
[…] ‘Fighting Spirit’ or unconvincing win? jQuery(document).ready(function($) { postID = 778499; if (jQuery("#jockspin_carousel_"+postID).length > 0){ jQuery("#jockspin_carousel_"+postID).hide(); } }); Spurs climbed above Arsenal and Everton and into fourth place in the Premiership yesterday but if you’d read some of … […]
A win is a win for me.
I can’t tell you the amount of times over the years I’ve used the cliché – ‘good teams win when they play badly’.
Well that is what we’ve done yesterday. The 1st half was a good performance, but lets be honest, Southampton weren’t at the races were they. 2nd half we let them back in to it, but we hung on, and at the end of the day, that’s all that matters .
In truth, I am liking AVB more and more each week, and I believe the players are too. His ideas and tactics differ from those of ‘arry so much, that it was never going to be a case of them working straight away, but slowly & surely, I feel as though we are moving in the right direction.
People can bang on all they like about us being ‘poor’ so far this season, but we are in 4th, a position we all would have taken on Aug 1st, I honestly feel like we will continue to improve the longer the season goes on.
Massive game next weekend, HAVE to beat Wigan at the Lane, and then see what happens against City and Arsenal, I feel it MIGHT just be a good time to play them both.
COYS
Good win without being realy impressive. But 4. is not bad especially after the start we had.
I see one issue though. We need to get Ade playing.
Don’t get me wrong. Defoe has done a great job for us. But it is a bit like the friedel Lloris situation. Friedel has not done badly, but I feel that Lloris we be even better. Same thing with Ade.
We have 2 very big games coming up in City and arse.
Let’s give Ade a start against Wigan. And I think we will be better off come the bigger games.
In AVB and Levy we trust.
COYS
I share very much this positive attitude. I am also very hopeful for Spurs, but when we do criticize, it is out of love for our team and we do so constructively.
It was a bit of both, really. William Gallas and Sandro (the usual suspects) again epitomised what commitment, desire and ‘fighting spirit’ mean, often putting their bodies on the line to ensure we left the South Coast with all three points yesterday.
I continuously read rubbish online about the value of having Gallas at the heart of the Spurs defence, from people who either don’t watch the matches (PROPERLY) or who have very little understanding about the game itself. GALLAS WAS OUR BEST DEFENDER ONCE AGAIN TODAY but for some reason quite a few people seem to be looking for any excuse to have a pop at him.
Gallas is in the team because he is more mobile than Dawson, more aggressive and experienced than Caulker and because he is probably the only natural Leader in the team at the moment.
William was outstanding in defence yesterday, and has been for most of the season.
Steven Caulker wouldn’t be making half the noise he has been doing in the media if it was not for the Frenchman, who has bailed the youngster out this season on numerous occasions. CAULKER STILL HAS A LOT TO LEARN IF HE IS GOING TO PROGRESS INTO THE PLAYER WE ALL HOPE HE CAN BE, AND THERE IS NO BETTER PLAYER TO LEARN FROM , AS A DEFENDER, THAN THE FRENCH WAR-HORSE, WILLIAM GALLAS.
On the whole though it was a largely disappointing 2nd half display from the lads, given how excellent they were before the break. I put the blame down to nothing other than complacency. From the moment the lads kicked-off for the second half, too many players in black and grey were just jogging around, seemingly content with their days work up to that point and already weighing up their dinner plans for that evening.
Particularly underwhelming was the display of Gareth Bale, who after a week off, did little (apart from his goal) to suggest that he warrants all the praise being lavished (somewhat prematurely, in my opinion) on him. Indeed, I even heard comparisons being made with Ronaldo and Messi the other day!!!
For me, Bale is struggling to match the form of Aaron Lennon (let alone Messi) in a Spurs shirt, as the England winger seems to be brimming with both confidence and intent after a hugely impressive start to this campaign. Revelling in his license to roam, Lenny has been arguably Tottenhams biggest attacking threat this term, alongside the busy Defoe.
With questions about the teams displays likely to rumble on, what remains most important at this stage of the season is results and three points yesterday was a great way in which to bounce back from last weeks disappointment. The teams form has been excellent since the Reading match, and even more so impressive considering the busy nature of our recent schedule.
With the impending return to fitness of a number of key players, and the promise of new additions come January, there is every reason to be optimistic about the Clubs future.
I agree. We cannot let a top striker like Adebayor and a top class goalkeeper like Lloris sit on the bench all this time. Bring them in…
More than happy with the season so far.
We are 4th and still have a couple of gears to go through.
Looking forward to getting Ade in the team, that will change the way we play for the better.
I honestly don’t think that AVB will last the season. So often we are a team of inconsistency in any game. Against Man Utd we were up on the 1st half, and then in the 2nd half we lived by the skin of our teeth. Southampton was the same situation, look at how things went at Chelski.
AVB is so stubborn minded that rather than adapting his management style to suit the players at the club, he is trying to force all 25 players to adapt to his management style/tactics. It’s tiring living on a knives edge. We constantly have an ineffective player behind Defoe (Dempsey or Sigurdsson). I don’t understand why we keep playing Gallas who makes almost as many mistakes defensively as Walker does.
This said, at the moment we are in the top 4, so until the end of the season we’ll not know the outcome.
If you seriously believe that Dempsey has been ‘ineffective’, then you clearly don’t have an appreciation for the role he is playing.
While I’ll agree that Clint is yet to set the world on fire in the early stages of his Spurs career, he has slotted into the n10 position to good, if not dazzling effect.
He was never going to be a direct replacement for VDV in terms of style or even quality, but what he has offered the team (is):
1. Is excellent movement in advanced positions, often freeing up space for others, i.e. Defoe.
2.Additional aerial prowess in both boxes. This means put him in a team that consists of Adebayor, Vertonghen, Caulker, Gallas, Sandro and Bale (with either Lennon or Walker on set-piece delivery), and Spurs would have a distinct advantage over most teams in the prem, in terms of height and aerial ability. A tactic we should have deployed against a superior (technically) but short Chelsea side last week, in my opinion.
3.Plenty of bottle. What I have liked most about Clints performances thus far is that despite how things are going for him in the match, HE NEVER GOES MISSING OR ATTEMPTS TO HIDE. Instead, he demands or seeks the ball out and begins in trying to make an impact once again. Such an attributes ( as self-confidence and desire) should not be overlooked, and are vital components in any successful team. Clint has both in abundance.
4. A genuine goal threat, Dempsey is the type of player whose movement and instincts mean that he is always likely to pop up with a goal, be it a worldie in the top corner or the result of being in the right place at the right time. Unlike VDV in his last season at Spurs, Clint will ensure that he does his best work inside the 18 yard box.
5. The USA international is a lot more comfortable on the ball than many people give him credit for.While he is unlikely to unlock doors by threading a pass through the eye of a needle, his subtle yet effect link-up play means that Spurs maintain possession and shift it to the MORE dynamic/creative players while Dempsey assumes a new, and usually more threatening position.
We all know that Clint was probably a back-up/last minute solution to selling VDV and missing out on Moutinho. He IS NOT a playmaker, and he doesn’t pretend to be. What Dempsey does offer us at present though is bundles of endeavour, intelligent movement, a real goal threat, courage and no shortage of experience.
Although the signing of Dempsey is not one I would have made personally, I can see its logic seeing as he can play in a number of positions, whilst chipping in with a fair number of goals too. And I get the feeling that, at least in the short term, Clint is going to prove himself to be a very important player for the club. WATCH THIS SPACE!!!!!
Definitely in the “win’s a win” corner. How many times have you seen the so called big boys hang on by the skin of their teeth and get either a win or a draw. No one ever complained?
Manure, Cheatski or the Arse of yesteryear did it on a regular basis and still do. Lets all be thankful that we didnt lose.
We won. But why are we constantly giving away stupid goals from nothing? Then when we do, we go super defensive and try to hold on. We become so defensive that we defend practically into the stands and we stop posing any sort of threat to the oppo.
AVB, you have to sort this out. Attack,attack,attack.
JD is doing his usual thing of starting well then scoring one goal in every 10 good chances. He’ll be second string striker again before too long (and I like the guy but…).
If ever there was a game of two halves,
1st…we were confident, assertive, creative and determined to dominate.
2nd…we were sluggish, thought the game was in the bag, wasteful up front and unable to keep the ball, granted they came out like a different team and once they scored it was always going to be kitchen sink.
Am I wrong in thinking the last time we put two halves together was against Newcastle a long long time ago.
Not complaining, just thinking aloud.
4th just behind the big spenders and 2 points above Wilshire & Koschelny, I believe AVB has made a decent start.