Spurs head coach Andre Villas-Boas is quoted in the Evening Standard as claiming that Spurs are stronger now that they are playing with a lone striker up front. The side did this on occasions last season but it’s clear from AVB’s comments that an abundance of midfield personnel is unlikely to see him waver from a 4-2-3-1 during this campaign.
“Last year with two strikers, we left ourselves exposed a little bit,” Andre said.
“We have more consistency throughout and play better football. We are able to control the games.”
The Standard chooses to turn the story around and mention Gareth Bale in the headline, claiming that we are stronger without him. Having replaced him with a number of quality players that may be right but is it a little early to make that claim?
Christian Eriksen, Paulinho, Etienne Capoue and even Erik Lamela to an extent have proved how valuable they can be in this squad so is Spurs’ start to the season – seven wins and one goal conceded in eight overall games simply down to a switch in formation or are we a better side without a certain Welsh Winger?
At one point during the game the commentator stated Cardif did not know who to tightly mark as all players were a threat. As the season goes on and these players gain confidence this side will make last years team look like also rans. There is enough individual quality in the team now to get through opposition with very little practice. Once we have worked on strategies passing forward and through opposition teams we will be recording higher goal differences.
I could’t agree more, with the talent we have now we have the abilty to play multi formations making it differcult for teams to set up their game plans…we may
add a couple more players in Jan. making this perhaps the most balance and depth wise the best Spurs team ever!
Its not a switch in formation. We played that formation last season, the main difference is eriksen coming in for bale, other than that, its fundimentially the same with 2 deep midfielders, an attaching midfielder in the hole and 2 wingers!!
It’s because we no longer have to play Scott Parker.
this team only got together after we lost to arsenal so really they have had very little time to get to know each other. I expect it to be easier to judge this team in January but right now the potential is limitless. our best squad ever really. i think the chelsea game will give us more clues as to how this team will shape up to the best in the prem. Looking at how we play i wouldnt be surprised if we beat chelsea….2-1
WE MOER BETTER WITHOUT BALE—BUT WE FILL MOER ATTAKING TREAT—-TO COMPARE BALE—–HULK AND CONTRAO
I think it is time that Bale entering in Spurs conversations should come to an end….the team we have now is far superior then what we had last year…don’t get me wrong for I loved Bale but he disrepected the team and our reward for developing him was he flew the coop…I don’t think he will repeat his one year success and we got 3 times the money that he’s worth. Let’s talk about the high quality players currently with the team and they deserve the attention!
agree 100%
We are better without Bale but don’t be ridiculous, he gave us some of the best memories of what has been a great 5 year spell for the club, same with Modric, now they’ve moved to one of the biggest clubs in the world. That’s football, exactly the same as us pinching Lamela, Holtby, Eriksen, Sandro etc. Good luck to them both, hope they go on to great things, it reflects well on us!
Absolutely right Marcus. So small-minded to slag off players who leave the club. I like watching big Tom up at Hull – hope he makes the England squad. I liked him at Spurs but competition too fierce for him to get a regular start, though he did well at the end of last season. Can’t wait to see Bale start for RM again.
Who cares, we are winning. What we need to do, which is the same problem as last season is to score more goals and put teams away. Cardiff should have been dead and buried by half time. We have won 4 of 5 games and only scored 2 goals from open play. Our defence (With only one forced change) has reamined unchanged and been the main reason for our 4 wins. If they conceeded just 2 more goalks we would be 4 points worse off.
I agree….however hats off to our defence….I think we have one of the toughest and talent midfields in Europe,
strongest part of our team …the goals will come in time.
Before anyone gets ahead of themselves, we have only beaten Cardiff, Palace, Swansea and Norwich!! All of which finished 9th and below last season… 2 were not even in the EPL!!! The true test of being harder to beat is by playing teams that usually beat you…. We usually lose at Arsenal, and we did just that… I am not trying to be a killjoy….
…yes I note that only one goal conceded…which IS a sign of being harder to beat… But make this statement after City, Utd, Chelsea played at least once.
What you don’t take into account ,Tony, is the impressive home records of both Cardiff and Swansea over the past 2 seasons. Cardiff had a draw with Everton and beat Man City who just dismembered Man U 4-1! Swansea started this year with two games no-one expected them to win.
Both these teams should finish mid-table on what they’ve shown.
And your “usual” loss to Arsenal was 1-0 with 4 Gunners fullbacks on the field, not your “usual” 5-2.
So if you’re not a killjoy, maybe you’re a bit more of a “glass is half empty” kind of guy.
Me, I see it as half-full. Life’s happier that way.
12pts out of 15, with a team of players still trying to figure each other out and fine tune.
I expect to see more from Lamela and Salgado over the coming months as they bed in, really hope to see Sandro and Kaboul back to full strength and Paulinho and Eriksen will get better just from familiarity.
Let’s see how the new boy Vlad gets on and I liked what I saw from Cauope (he should be back this month).
If we are still top 3 after Christmas with minimal injuries then it’s on like donkey kong!!!
I’m not saying championship just yet but we are building someone special.
I think beating Swansea was our best result so far. They are a seriously good side. Yesterday was very encouraging because Cardiff are no mugs and we had to stand up and be counted. Lamela starting to find space and teammates – all very good. Would love to beat Chelsea, but they are a top, top side, so even if we lose plenty to be optimistic about.
a home game against chelsea coming up…..i am expecting spurs to win..