The Moonlit Knight
Banned
Well having finally watched the first half (and second half again this time in HD) I have to admit, in the cold light of day we were VERY lucky. For once against Utd everything went our way, but I don't think we played well. In fact I've seen us play better than that against Utd and get hammered! But it's about bloody time we had some luck against them.
Really hated the way we sat back the last 30 minutes as well and we should have been punished for those quite frankly awful negative tactics. Fortunately RvP and Evra missed golden chances and the bar came to our rescue as well. I hope AVB drops this ridiculous stance of defending leads like this. It's cost us twice this season already and almost cost us again Saturday. The other thing that drove me nuts is that it is clear that he wants Friedel to launch the ball rather than roll it. A couple of times Friedel had it and looked amazed he had no short option to give it to. I am no fan of Ekotto but at least when he plays he offers himself as an option. It's made even more ridiculous by the fact that the person we were launching it too was Defoe although a long ball to the little man actually lead to goal number three!
Now for the positives, Sandro was utterly brilliant! AVB pretty much picked the strongest side he could (personally I'd have Dawson in front of both Gallas and Caulker but other than that it was the right team IMO) and I loved that the tactics seemed to be go and attack them at their place from the off. Yes we got lucky but Utd are one of the best three teams in the league and we were always going to face an onslaught from the second half onward. And now IMO we're only 1pt behind what we should really have this season in terms of the oppositon. Beating Utd at their place almost cancels out the awful home results against Norwich and WBA! Well done AVB and Spurs!
Friedel 7 : Safe hands, couldn't do anything about the goals. It's just a shame we didn't sign him 10 years ago.
Walker 4 : Appalling. Again. Naughton looked solid at left back, and when he returns to fitness I think it's time to give him a go at right back in place of Walker.
Gallas 6 : Not sure he should have been on the pitch in the second half as clearly struggling with a knock. He was made to look even worse by the wandering Caulker beside him and Walker's constant ball watching.
Caulker 5 : Genuinely felt he looked out of his depth, and his positioning was appalling. In his defence in the second half he faced RvP and Rooney, which would be enough to make even world class defenders struggle. And he played better than Rio Ferdinand.....
Verts 6 : Bit lucky with the goal (OK, VERY lucky!) but what a great positive drive from left back to even get the chance to score! Looked better going forward than defending. Lucky not to concede a nailed on penalty too.
Lennon 6 : Thought he looked positive but he needs to find consistency in his game. For 5 mins he'll be lively and a threat, and then he'll just disappear for 10 mins or be sloppy.
Sandro 9 : Our MoM. Absolute beast!
Dembele 7 : Game of two halves for me. First half, he was excellent. Second half, it bypassed him a bit.
Dempey 6 : Good to see him get off the mark, but he was a passenger for long periods of the game
Bale 8 : Our most dangerous attacking threat, scored a goal and played a big part in the other two.
Defoe 7 : Worked hard and in the second half especially had a thankless task. Superb play for goal number three.
AVB 7 : First half, absolutely excellent. Team selection, our positivity superb. Second half I thought it was really poor that we basically sat 9 men behind the ball and showed now adventure whatsoever. What made it worse was that for a so called tactical genius how did he not spot that Scholes was dropping deep and had way too much time? Surely push Dempsey on to him or take Dempsey off, put on Hudd and tell Dembele to do a man marking job on Scholes? Bizarre. But overall, first Spurs manager to win at OT since Venables. Well done that man!
Really hated the way we sat back the last 30 minutes as well and we should have been punished for those quite frankly awful negative tactics. Fortunately RvP and Evra missed golden chances and the bar came to our rescue as well. I hope AVB drops this ridiculous stance of defending leads like this. It's cost us twice this season already and almost cost us again Saturday. The other thing that drove me nuts is that it is clear that he wants Friedel to launch the ball rather than roll it. A couple of times Friedel had it and looked amazed he had no short option to give it to. I am no fan of Ekotto but at least when he plays he offers himself as an option. It's made even more ridiculous by the fact that the person we were launching it too was Defoe although a long ball to the little man actually lead to goal number three!
Now for the positives, Sandro was utterly brilliant! AVB pretty much picked the strongest side he could (personally I'd have Dawson in front of both Gallas and Caulker but other than that it was the right team IMO) and I loved that the tactics seemed to be go and attack them at their place from the off. Yes we got lucky but Utd are one of the best three teams in the league and we were always going to face an onslaught from the second half onward. And now IMO we're only 1pt behind what we should really have this season in terms of the oppositon. Beating Utd at their place almost cancels out the awful home results against Norwich and WBA! Well done AVB and Spurs!
Friedel 7 : Safe hands, couldn't do anything about the goals. It's just a shame we didn't sign him 10 years ago.
Walker 4 : Appalling. Again. Naughton looked solid at left back, and when he returns to fitness I think it's time to give him a go at right back in place of Walker.
Gallas 6 : Not sure he should have been on the pitch in the second half as clearly struggling with a knock. He was made to look even worse by the wandering Caulker beside him and Walker's constant ball watching.
Caulker 5 : Genuinely felt he looked out of his depth, and his positioning was appalling. In his defence in the second half he faced RvP and Rooney, which would be enough to make even world class defenders struggle. And he played better than Rio Ferdinand.....
Verts 6 : Bit lucky with the goal (OK, VERY lucky!) but what a great positive drive from left back to even get the chance to score! Looked better going forward than defending. Lucky not to concede a nailed on penalty too.
Lennon 6 : Thought he looked positive but he needs to find consistency in his game. For 5 mins he'll be lively and a threat, and then he'll just disappear for 10 mins or be sloppy.
Sandro 9 : Our MoM. Absolute beast!
Dembele 7 : Game of two halves for me. First half, he was excellent. Second half, it bypassed him a bit.
Dempey 6 : Good to see him get off the mark, but he was a passenger for long periods of the game
Bale 8 : Our most dangerous attacking threat, scored a goal and played a big part in the other two.
Defoe 7 : Worked hard and in the second half especially had a thankless task. Superb play for goal number three.
AVB 7 : First half, absolutely excellent. Team selection, our positivity superb. Second half I thought it was really poor that we basically sat 9 men behind the ball and showed now adventure whatsoever. What made it worse was that for a so called tactical genius how did he not spot that Scholes was dropping deep and had way too much time? Surely push Dempsey on to him or take Dempsey off, put on Hudd and tell Dembele to do a man marking job on Scholes? Bizarre. But overall, first Spurs manager to win at OT since Venables. Well done that man!
