Tottenham Hotspur FC 2013/14

[EJG1980]

Sounds like Mowbray too, anyone who plays one up front at home against weaker opposition should be ran out of town.

You can play one up front and still be a very attacking team though, it's more down to the intent of the team overall rather than simply how many strikers are on the pitch. If you spend most of the match sitting back with eleven men behind the ball, it doesn't make much difference whether you have one, two or three strikers on the pitch.

Spurs had one up front (Soldado) and Norwich had two strikers (Van Wolfswinkel and Elmander) when we played them a couple of weeks ago, but I nobody who watched that match would tell you Norwich were the more attacking side.

[vanpeebles]

It does depend on the formation but I think it's about showing a message of intent. If you have a poor team visiting who are playing three at back or are in real poor form. Then I like to see a proper 4-4-2 with men in the box and have at them attitude. Get the visiting team on the back foot straight away. Mowbray's style is more well I'll play one up front and try to pass it about which just gives the weaker visiting confidence. It gives the other side something to build on.

[EJG1980]

Funny incident in the Villa vs Spurs league cup game just now: Villa striker through on goal ahead of Vertonghen, who slips over, grabs the shorts of the striker as he falls and pulls them down Gonna be a load of animated gifs of that one!

As funny as it was, In all honesty though it really should have been a penalty to Villa. He had to try and take the shot with his shorts around his ankles, I can't see how it's not a foul on him. Just to rub it in, Spurs go 2-0 up about a minute later. Lovely goal in the first half too, awesome chip over the defence by Holtby for Defoe to head in.

4-0 in the end, two for Defoe and one each for Paulinho and Chadli.

NSFW
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[fallenangle]

Good result and shows Spurs can dispatch a mediocre team without too much trouble. Hope this mostly good start to the season continues.

[EJG1980]

Eight wins and eight clean sheets from nine matches thus far, very pleasing (and the clean sheets are most un-Spurs like). Big test of that record against Chelsea at the weekend though.

[fallenangle]

Touch wood, half time and it's going well so far. Listening to it on internet Radio 5 Live for the first time whilst posting this.

Edit:-

Boo! Chelsea have equalised and by the sound of it are dominating the second half.

1-1, could have been worse but a decent result against one of our main rivals for a top four place.

[EJG1980]

A draw was a fair result. We were the better side in the first half and deserved the lead. Chelsea bossed the second half and deserved to equalise.

With a bit more luck we could have gone in 2-0 up at the break, amazing tackle by Ivanovic to stop a tap in for Paulinho (iirc) and so close when Paulinho hit the post right at the death.

I thought we might nick it when Torres was sent off but couldn't quite break through. Defoe had a decent chance and Gylfi came so close with a long range effort.

Happy with the draw overall though, hopefully we can get a couple of wins before the international break.

[EJG1980]

Early kick off in Russia today, 5PM on ITV4. Anzhi aren't what they used to be so hopefully we can get a straight forward win and not pick up any injuries.

[EJG1980]

I know this isn't the most exciting match, but bloody hell, Alex McLeish's commentary... It could be a 4-4 thriller and he'd still send everyone to sleep.

[fallenangle]

Yes, he was about as interesting as listening to a haggis boil. Why did we have a Scot commentate/pundit on the match anyway? Does he have any connection with Spurs or the Russian side?

With the Swansea game later it should at least have been somebody Welsh. In fact the Swansea game was much more watchable than the second half of the Spurs match which I saw (missed the goals ).

Good professional job Spurs did though, Swansea too.

[EJG1980]

Well that was fun! It's days like today that really make you appreciate paying ?54 for a ticket

Average in the first half, neither side really troubling the other too much. Second half we started much the better, really having a good go at the for the opening 10-15 minutes and I thought we were going to make the breakthrough. Then we concede a poor goal from a corner and it was downhill from there.

After keeping so many clean sheets today it was really disappointing to concede all those goals. In the past ten years only Man Utd in 2007 and Man City in 2011 have won by a margin as good or better than that.

Oh well, gonna stuff some crayons up my nose an attempt to wipe out the memory of today! Just have to chalk it up to a bad day at the office, say well done to West Ham and go respond with a good run of results when we get back from the international break.

PS - bollocks

[bwi]

Well you wouldn't be a spurs fan unless you can deal with drama and disappointment

A day like this was bound to happen, I've seen it over the last few seasons. A match we should win but then play really below standard and lose.

Was it last year or the year before we were throwing games in the last minutes? or am i thinking of nearly every year

[EJG1980]

Aye, thankfully they've happened less frequently in the past seven or eight years, but you're always gonna get a WTF result every now and then

It was the beginning of last season where we let in a goal (or goals) in the last ten minutes of matches a lot. Credit to AVB and the players because they sorted it out and after that late loss away against Everton we barely let in any late goals for the rest of the season.

I remember Gallas giving an interview where he said AVB changed the order of training so that they did the stuff that needed most concentration at the end of the sessions instead of the beginning, and it translated into better concentration at the end of matches.

[fallenangle]

Dominated the first half, so it appeared on MotD, and had a few good chances. Then in the second half we give away three goals - if it wasn't Spurs that would be almost unbelieveable. Disappointing to find they can still do that.

[EJG1980]

Bloody annoying but It can happen to anyone, only a couple of years ago that Man Utd shipped 4 goals and lost at home against Steve Kean's terrible Blackburn side. Just gotta take it on the chin and move on.

Still a lot to work on but we're in decent shape, three points off the top of the league after seven matches, can't complain too much.