Ratings v ****

[Luda2013]

I think Naughts had a very good game. Surprised his ratings aren't higher. Looked composed throughout. Can't say the same for Rose though

 

[harr1984]

LLORIS: 7 - one very good save and zero brainfarts equals a good overall performance

NAUGHTON: 7 - better defensively than his namesake, gets caught out of position on the odd occasion but is solid enough and did well today
KABOUL: 6 - his best performance in a while, but caught out once or twice and lacks discipline every now and then
VERTONGHEN: 5 - overall display was decent but he was partly to blame for their goal and also was criminally bad in the buildup to Ox-Chamberlain's chance. Also lucky not to give away a penalty for his thickness
ROSE: 5 - he was poor again. Overly dramatic too

SANDRO: 6 - did okay but his incompetence on the ball is infuriating at times
BENTALEB: 5 - game just passes him by. Still not sure what his purpose is

TOWNSEND: 6 - showed hunger for first time in a while and drove at them well enough but his end product is abysmal!
CHADLI: 5 - urgh, poor choice to play the number 10 role, not creative at all, does no linking up and he spurned a sitter
ERIKSEN: 5 - flitted in and out of the game, very peripheral. If he's not putting in good deliveries from set pieces then he's ineffective at the moment. Wasted on the left

ADEBAYOR: 8 - knew he would turn up today and he obliged. Such a shame his teammates were so poor and offered little support. He'll have a sore neck after the constant long balls up to him, but was a nuisance throughout and led the line as well as we could have hoped

PAULINHO: 4 - don't get me started...
SIGURDSSON: 4 - another one-trick pony. So average
SOLDADO: N/A - not enough time (to be bad)

SHERWOOD: 5 - when we bothered passing our approach play was good, but we resorted to long balls far too often against a giant in their defence and our insistence on employing the high line is a mad decision.

No way was Chadli a 5, he faded second half but at worst was a 6.5. Would like to see him given more game time centrally....

 

[SUIYHA]

Lloris - 7 - Not much to do, no real chance with the goal but also pulled off a good save from Mertesacker near the end

Naughton - 7 - Solid. Good performance.

Kaboul - 7 - Generally good, with a couple of shaky moments where he was out of position

Vertonghen - 5 - Mostly good, but games like this are defined by fine margins and he got skinned by Oxlade-Chamberlain and should have given away a penalty with a clumsy challenge.

Rose - 6 - Loses a mark for being out of position for the goal. But quite good otherwise, was dangerous on the overlap. Needs to sort out his crossing though.

Sandro - 8 - Bullied the Arsenal midfield, positionally he was very good. No idea why he was substituted.

Bentaleb - 6 - Don't really get the hate on here. We keep the ball so much better when he's on the pitch. I remember people ****ging off Carrick in his first season asking what he does. I think it's because people hate Sherwood and Bentaleb is seen as the personification of Sherwood's Tottenham, therefore he must be ****.

Eriksen - 5 - Didn't get into the game at all, wasted on the left-wing. Set-piece delivery really disappointing.

Chadli - 5 - First half hour or so was probably his best in a Spurs shirt. But as the game went on, his lack of technical ability really became apparent. How can you justify having a one-footed attacking midfielder in your side who can't shoot, pass, cross or beat a man? There seriously needs to be an inquest into our transfer/scouting team over how we actually spent money on him because he is no-where near good enough for the Premier League.

Townsend - 7 - Worked his **** off and looked lively. Final ball needs to improve though.

Adebayor - 8 - 10/10 for work rate. Technical ability let him down at times though.

Subs:

Paulinho - 3 - If Bentaleb is the new Carrick (what does he do?), Paulinho is the new Jenas. There's no outstanding qualities about his game. "Paulinho is really good at X" - I'm still trying to figure out what X is. Completely anonymous.

Sigurdsson - 4 - Ineffective

Soldado - N/A - No time for anything


Sherwood - 6 - AVB-esque high line and closing them down quickly off the ball worked really well. But, the decision to not play Lennon who is usually one of our better players in the NLD was bizarre. Substitutions were really poor today, should never have taken off Sandro and Eriksen.

The motivation was there today. The problem is a lack of technical quality in the final third. Positions our players are getting into should create chances if our attacking players had a better touch, better dribbling ability, better passing ability and better finishing ability. Yesterday's game was lost because of a moment of pure technical ability from Rosicky, he got outmuscled and outfought for most of the game, but who in our squad would you back to be able to score the goal he did? I can't think of many players. And until we sign those players, we will be behind our rivals, simple as that.

 

[Enter the Pitbull]

Sherwood's gilet was MOTM.

 

[Pirate55]

Lloris - 7- quick off his line a number of times, could do nothing about the goal.

Naughton - 7- played very well going forward, wasn't really tested defensively today though
Kaboul - 6.5 - looked decent, little rusty but he's coming back into it.
Vertonghen - 6- not sure I like his attitude, but he was decent.
Rose - 6.5- had an alright say, was caught forward once or twice but I think that's just the way he's told to play.

Defensive tactics - 3 a high Line? Against arsenal? How ****ing macaronic can you be. Especially considering the number of games it take to get use to the system.


Chadli - 6.5 decent in the first half, faded second, should have taken his clear chance though.
Erikson - 7 - looked good in the first half, also faded in the second though, didn't get involved as much.
Sandro - 7.5 - he just makes the whole team look better, needs to work a bit on his passing, bUt the interceptions and winning the second ball are just vital.
Bentelab - 5 - honestly can't remember him doing anything. Which is a bad sign for a midfielder.
Townsend - 7.5 - made good runs, created opportunities, linked very well with naughton. Lennon would be a massive step backwards.

Adebayor - 8 - made good runs, linked with everyone, put in the effort. This is the ade we need.


All in all? A 1-0 loss to arsenal with a performance like that is not a reason to hate on Sherwood. Were there things to improve? Yes, but it was a good performance. Need to get us starting from the kick off though.

Agree with these ratings and comments. After the first 10 minutes we settled down and played okay. The players unfortunately just aren't up to it. Either they are not good enough or just not confident enough remains to be seen, but not many ( if any ) in our team would get into any of the top four sides the way they are performing at the moment. Sad but true. A goal from one of our many corners could have changed things. Oh well, maybe one day.....

 

[AdamB]

Lloris 7

Rose 6
Vertonghen 7 - contrary to other people's views, I think he's one of the few players who appears to care. Make him captain
Kaboul 6 - looked slow. Needs pre-season to build himself up
Naughton 6 - not as bad as he usually is

Townsend 5 - thinks he's Bale, which he isnt. Get Ginola in to train him
Sandro 6
Bentaleb 4 - Anonymous. Again
Chadli 5 - would have been 6 or 7 had it not been for that chance which a 10 year old would scored
Eriksen 7 - Faded in the second half but our most creative threat throughout

Ade 8 - MOTM. Huge effort. Another good game