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* Official Pre-Season Games Thread *

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Funny looking at the way Gomes is celebrating.:lol:
 
Just got back in from the game, my observations

- Good attendance at ground, not quite full. Yid presence high, NY Spurs corner did us proud, kepp the noise levels up for most of the game. Red Bulls have their own loud section, but they really need another alternative to just signing "lets go RedBulls" all game long.
- Ref was a complete homer, every decision went Red Bulls way, including soft penalty to them, pretty good shout for us turned down in 2nd half.

Re the game itself

- African must be happy, Bale played as a striker in 1st half, interestingly being fed arially, had a couple of opportunities with his head, including obviously the goal.
- Gomes got the full 90 minutes, Gomes/Brad/Parks were working drills pre game, very specifically to deal with balls floated in (Parks has a decent corner on him btw), quite interesting as Gomes came out a couple of times to catch in the game (not punch).
- Easily the best we have played in the 3 preseason games, kept a lot of posession, seemed comfortable with the ball, seemed much more up for it once we went behind.

Tactics

- MLS sides play a much more direct style of football, noticable vs our posession/passing game
- Our wide players play wide, the amount of times we did passes out wide and the wide player (Bentley/Lennon/Townsend/even Bassong) recieved it literally on the line, obvious the tactic was to use full pitch.
- Gomes rolled out the ball most times for a build from the back approach.
- We actually look dangerous from set pieces, I'm confused
- AVB doesn't seem worried about playing lightweight, Carroll, Smith, Townsend all on at same time towards end.

On players

- Bale as a striker was interesting, especially since the intention was to have him attack the ball in the air. We ran the corner set piece where he attacks the ball near post with glancing header as well.
- Sig definetely makes our set pieces more interesting, and his goal was a carbon copy of a drill I saw practiced in yesterdays session.
- Lennon/Bale still make the most impact, both got significant time on field.
- Walker had a bit of a mare today (still nursing injury?)
- Kane, works really hard, got great strength on ball, hold off strength, strange to say, but needs to be greedy, couple of times he was looking to link with teamate where he might have been better served just going for it himself. Got to back himself to shoot when in range.
- Dawson, almost forgot, whatever complaints people have re Daws, he's a f$%king monster in the air, Red Bulls front line won nothing against him, one towards the end, high ball, 3 Red Bulls player and Dawson still beats them all.
- Gallas still looks good, fits well with the passing team.
- Jenas/Bentley, ok games, not impactful enough, both a bit guilty of the sideways ball too often

Good game in all, good to see us close US tour with a win, some photos to come
 
Match Ratings vs NY Red Bulls:

Gomes: N/A - apart from the PK he didn't have much to do

Walker: 6 - gave the ball away in a few dangerous positions. for me it was just down to complacency with this being a friendly.
Dawson: 7 - strong defensively. looks like he's about to poop himself when he's got the ball at his feet.
Vertonghen: 6.5 - seemed to be at fault for the goal, fell asleep and looked a bit slow recovering.
Benoit: 7 - just about an average night for Benny. did his job getting forward and defending. needs to work on his crosses.

Huddlestone: 5.5 - slow. fat. big hair. not his best passing display. not his best defensive display. not sure of his place in AVB's squad.
Livermore: 5 - chasing shadows for much of his time on. gave the ball away in bunches. not his best technical performance.

Lennon: 7 - an average night overall. starting to notice his frustration when he doesn't feel involved in the play.
Siggurdson: 8.5 - great corner to set up Bale and a magnificent piece of individual skill for the 2nd.
Bentley: 7 - not a brilliant display, but not a terrible one either. kept it simple and showed some nice technique at times.

Bale: 8 - excellent header for the 1st. better hold up play than Defoe. looked frightening coming through the middle at pace.

SUBS:

Naughton: N/A
Gallas: 7.5 - looks like our best prepared defender at the moment. would be tempted to start him against Saudi Sportswashing Machine.
Bassong: N/A

Jenas: 6 - seriously... what does he do? honestly don't remember his name being called all night.
Carroll: 7.5 - the boy's talented. was immediately the difference in midfield, linking defence to offence when he came on.
Smith: N/A
Kaboul: 9.5 - AVB gave him a little cameo at CDM and the big man showed a nice bit of skill in the few minutes he was on.
Townsend: N/A

Kane: 7 - a better performance than what he showed in Baltimore. needs a goal to get his confidence up

AVB: 8 - Did an excellent job coping with not having a true CF. Had them playing with good spacing, and we never really got cluttered in midfield like we did all last year with Harry. Gave us a 4-3-3ish shape that really allowed us to press with the forwards and let Bale, Lennon, Sigg, and Bentley to get into dangerous positions going forward. At the beginning it was fluid and at times Lennon was playing as CF. Thought it was beautiful. Even with the fluidity, spacing was still kept. Only concerns for me were the error with the high-line for their goal and I would've like for us to play Carroll more. Just think he's one of our best CMs and makes us so much better as a team. Age doesn't matter to me. He's extremely comfortable on the ball and constantly calling for it when he doesn't have it. Also has outstanding vision. He's the anti-Dawson. Would like us to either give him a real chance, or loan him out to a club that plays it on the floor as much as possible, possibly Swansea if Allen goes to Pool.
 
Sigurdsson is Bergkamp-esque with some of what he produces.....we have a player on our hands
 
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UA Spurs Shop on Wheels, display only, kits/boots/etc, stuff on sale in "Bull Shop" (I kid you not) inside

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Team doing warm ups prior to game

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Gomes practicing catching high balls from Parks

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Goal Celebration
 

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happy to see Gallas doing well, we'll need him to teach our younger CBs and verts... what's with verts... doesn't sound as impressive as PSV's captain and player of the year...

I've always fancied Bale as striker too; he has all the attributes, but he needs a team that looks up and put the ball in front of him so that he can use his full power (head or feet) to strike the ball...

gomes back in the frame? I think the pressing game with high line suits gomes better, he seems to have a fear of crowds.
 
Decent performance by Spurs.

But were they Blackburn in disguise, bar the penalty did they have a shot on goal in the whole game?
 
How did we play formation wise before Kane came on?

4-2-3-1 Bale as lone striker, Bentley on the left, Lennon right, Sigurdsson as attacking midfielder.
Lennon pure winger, Bentley naturally turned inwards a lot due to his right foot, Bale at times had to drop down to get the ball.
Bale obviously a threat both in the back room as well as in the air, question is whether we manage to hold the ball up when he's the only striker - or if the ball will just come straight back at us everytime it's played forward.
 
Just saw the highlights from the game!

What an absolutely stunner from Gylfi! High hopes growing for him for the season :D
 
Just saw the highlights from the game!

What an absolutely stunner from Gylfi! High hopes growing for him for the season :D

I'm still pinching myself at how many corners got beyond the first man, it's just not like us. :)
 
Just a few things I noticed.

Sig hardly touched the ball in the first half. He doesn't drop deep to receive the ball like VdV (which is good), however he didn't seem great at finding space. A bit better in the second half, and his goal was class.

Walker was awful. Poor passing and poor control, provided Lennon with nothing.

At the moment Gallas has to play, as he's our best defender by some stretch at the moment with Ledley gone. Which is slightly worrying given he's 34. Jury is still out on Vertonghen for me - especially if we're going to play a high line.
 
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