Spurs vs. Aston Villa - ratings..

[colin fishwick]

But when did someone suggest that someone is not a fan because they're critical? You tried saying that it was me that said that first, whose your next suspect in this pointless charade?

Well, he's not an Arsenal fan and, if you support the side then success is immaterial. Sure, we want to be successful as a club BUT our support of the club doesn't waiver if we're losing 3-0 every week. Why? Because when you support a team, you do that irrespective of anything else. You get behind the team through both the good times and the bad times and you're part of a collective group for that club.

So I'm thinking that he's a true fan, that's what he is.

As for whether top 5 can be considered a success. In terms of reaching the very top, no, but it is the highest that we've been as a club for some time. So the success achieved is relative, we are enjoying high finishes and trying to move on to that next level up.

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If you read your first sentence " he is not an Arsenal fan and IF you support your club " the inference is clearly there .

Agree about the pointless charade though .

 

[Raoul Duke]

How did Dawson and Chirches get on vs Benteke when he came on? I know we kept a clean sheet, just wondering if there were any pointers as to how we (especially Chriches) could/would cope against the likes of Negredo, Lambert, Lukaku etc.

Benteke got first to few headers at goal, but nothing really dangerous. Was pretty impressed with Vlad throughout.

 

[onlyme]

Benteke was a great threat.
But he did not score. I hope Chiriches keeps up the good games before we sell him to Chelsea like his agent wants.

 

[Spur of the moment]

Shaky first 30 mins when Villa made it very difficult but once again it was Townsend's enterprise that proved the key to victory.

Lloris 6 - one decent save, not much to do otherwise
Walker 7 - excellent, especially defensively; this time his booking owed more to the ref's silliness than his own
Dawson 6 - several key interventions plus the odd minor error
Chiiches 6 - still finding his way
Verthonghen 7 - caught out of position once or twice - he's no LB - but the man is quality
Paulinho 7 - poor start but his influence increased as the game wore on, excellent assist for Soldado's goal
Sandro 7 - such a reassuring presence in front of the back four despite predictable signs of rust
Townsend 8 MOTM - struggled to get going until that flukey goal but totally owned the right flank thereafter and put in many tasty crosses.
Siggy 6 - good work but lacked that extra touch
Holtby 7 - intelligent passing in the build up to both goals plus that wicked little dummy to fox Guzan for Townsend's goal, ran about a lot too
Soldado 7 - another who grew steadily into the match, well taken goal

Subs

Lennon 6 - so good to see him back! Ran about a bit
Dembele 6
Defoe 5

AVB 8 - after a shaky start the selection of Chiriches, Sandro, Holtby and Soldado over Naughton, Dembele, Eriksen and Defoe proved brave but shrewd; got all substituions spot on too.

 

[metalgear]

outstanding 8 for townsend clearly heads and shoulders above the rest in drive, spirit and a sense of adventure.

7 lloris - perfect sweeper keeper display
7 verts - forced to play in his second best position, but displayed such intelligence and very elaboarate skills down the touchland to hold possession and get others into play
7 paulinho - i thought he was aimless and lost possession a lot for the early part the game but his tenacity wore on as others tired and salvaged his performance with a brilliant assist
7 sandro - perfect reintroduction to the game - had one critical crunching tackles stopping a west ham player on the verge of a break
7 soldado - hardest working striker in the epl...and when he was through, you could see he was in his element and the goal was inevitable - pure class there

7 dembele - great sub and imposed himself immediately to prevent a late game collapse; we kept the ball coolly right to the end; dembele the better of
7 lennon - just for that yellow he took late in the game for dishing out a big-brother revenge tackle after townsend got barged to the ground.

the rest 6, AVB did no wrong today.

 

[glorygloryeze]

outstanding 8 for townsend clearly heads and shoulders above the rest in drive, spirit and a sense of adventure.

7 lloris - perfect sweeper keeper display
7 verts - forced to play in his second best position, but displayed such intelligence and very elaboarate skills down the touchland to hold possession and get others into play
7 paulinho - i thought he was aimless and lost possession a lot for the early part the game but his tenacity wore on as others tired and salvaged his performance with a brilliant assist
7 sandro - perfect reintroduction to the game - had one critical crunching tackles stopping a west ham player on the verge of a break
7 soldado - hardest working striker in the epl...and when he was through, you could see he was in his element and the goal was inevitable - pure class there

7 dembele - great sub and imposed himself immediately to prevent a late game collapse; we kept the ball coolly right to the end; dembele the better of
7 lennon - just for that yellow he took late in the game for dishing out a big-brother revenge tackle after townsend got barged to the ground.

the rest 6, AVB did no wrong today.

 

[Spur of the moment]

Holtby didn't stand out today but people giving him low marks should maybe go back and check his intelligent contributions for each of Spurs goals. For the first he found Soldado in space on the edge of the area, then got in front of the goal and cleverly ducked under Townsend's cross to dummy the goalie. For the second it was he who tussled for and won possession from Lloris's long goal-kick to the edge of the box and laid it out to Soldado in space before the striker picked up the return from Paulinho to score.

With the likes of him, Paulinho and Eriksen the days when our central midfielders interminably passed backwards, sideways or straight to the opposition are gradually being consigned to memory (Parker anyone?). Hence I insist the lad's less conspicuous but nonetheless critical contributions today deserve more credit than they've being given.

 

[IulianSteaua]

Even though Spurs won, and a deserved win it was, the first half at least was no great, let's put it like that. Lloris and the defence looked very good, but the midfield looked bad. Only Soldado bothering the opposition defence is not enough, we need another guy there who can cause trouble, and i don't mean assist kind of trouble, i mean goal scoring kind of trouble. Behind Soldado we need that guy that can score goals often, not an AM but a CF like. Holtby and Eriksen are assist kind of guys, which only leaves Soldado to take care of the goals and if lucky, maybe one of the wingers in a good day. That's what's wrong with this line up, everybody else is doing a great job...

 

[clevelandspur]

This thread is depressing ****ging off Townsend? Unreal

Lloris 7
Walker 7.5 not a foot wrong
Dawson 6.5
Chiriches 7 looked assured
Vertonghen 7
Paulinho 7 great second half
Sandro 8 beast
Holtby 7 worked hard contributed to both goals
Townsend 8.5 relentless superstar in the making
Siggy 5.5 quiet but tried
Soldado 7 great finish

 

[IulianSteaua]

Holtby didn't stand out today but people giving him low marks should maybe go back and check his intelligent contributions for each of Spurs goals. For the first he found Soldado in space on the edge of the area, then got in front of the goal and cleverly ducked under Townsend's cross to dummy the goalie. For the second it was he who tussled for and won possession from Lloris's long goal-kick to the edge of the box and laid it out to Soldado in space before the striker picked up the return from Paulinho to score.

With the likes of him, Paulinho and Eriksen the days when our central midfielders interminably passed backwards, sideways or straight to the opposition are gradually being consigned to memory (Parker anyone?). Hence I insist the lad's less conspicuous but nonetheless critical contributions today deserve more credit than they've being given.

Don't be alarmed, It's the sign of Spurs becoming a big team, fans want more, coach wants more, the boss wants more, WELCOME TO THE BIG LEAGUE ! PRESSURE PRESSURE AND MORE PRESSURE ! Like Mourinho had in his 1st Real Madrid game finished a draw away at Mallorca, everybody asking him how did this happen and he was shocked, what we drew away from home what is the problem? Later he found out that a run of at least 10 wins in a row with 2 goals margin is required before getting a draw at a big club !

 

[thfcsteff]

Even though Spurs won, and a deserved win it was, the first half at least was no great, let's put it like that. Lloris and the defence looked very good, but the midfield looked bad. Only Soldado bothering the opposition defence is not enough, we need another guy there who can cause trouble, and i don't mean assist kind of trouble, i mean goal scoring kind of trouble. Behind Soldado we need that guy that can score goals often, not an AM but a CF like. Holtby and Eriksen are assist kind of guys, which only leaves Soldado to take care of the goals and if lucky, maybe one of the wingers in a good day. That's what's wrong with this line up, everybody else is doing a great job...

But Villa did nothing except

a) make sure Soldado was isolated from supporting midfield runners as much as possible and
b) crunch the space between the halfway line and edge of their own box, forcing us to use players like Dawson as a quick back-to-front outlet, which is never ever going to work.

It required patience and concentration today, for players to keep working hard until a crack appeared. It did. We made it happen. Sides such as Emirates Marketing Project are not going to play like this. I am delighted we have found a way to beat sides who do this to us (forgetting the abberition which was WHU at home)...

 

[thfcsteff]

We have Holtby and Eriksen who can play behind the striker .

We have 4 players contending for the wide positions. Neither of our flair/creative players started today . I don't think that is sustainable .

Mate.

Your arguments and logic are based in nothing other than conjecture IMO.

Let me ask, did you SEE what Villa did in the first-half (with regards to the space/marking they deployed)? It is the sort of thing which (in the end) ****ed Emirates Marketing Project over.

One of our flair players DID start today, the problem is you have decided to write him off because he does not fit your model. In fact, said-player scored the first goal, served up several great chances and had a highly effective match. Whether you choose to have seen it or not, it happened. That, my friend, is a fact. On that basis alone, your theory of unsustainability is rendered broken. In fact, if such line-ups continue to produce 2-0 victories away from home, then call me a mediocre fan but I will actually be happy. Obviously the context of our future games/situations means that not only will it not be a regular occurrence, but that the manager will shuffle his squad a fair few times to take care of various situations. And again, whether you like it or not, today we had control of the game, won and had another clean sheet. Leaving us 3 points off the pace.

I think it's really really important to gauge what's happening right now at our club as opposed to what has happened. Unless you like to write off life against history, in which case I suppose the pessimistic path will be impossible to avoid.

 

[Kenyan Spur]

Starting lineup:

Walker, Dawson & Sigurdsson - 6.5
Lloris, Chiriches, Vertonghen & Holtby - 7.0
Soldado & Paulinho 7.5
Townsend 8.0
Sandro 8.5 (MotM)

Subs:

Defoe 6.0
Lennon & Dembele 6.5

AVB 7.5

Fans 7.5 (-0.5 for the flare!)

I will go with this.

 

[Yiddo]

Fine he supports and the club so do you. You don't mind where we come, you don't mind that we don't win anything anymore, you don't mind that Arsenal always finish above us, no matter how much we spend compared to them.

Not really sure what that proves. You are easily pleased , the bar is low is low for you. Aim high is supposed to be our motto. The real fans do.

Are you 12?

 

[milo]

In summary - it is silly to suggest someone is not a fan if they are critical or even ultra critical. I responded to that. That is how the chronologically of the posts went

There is a difference between being critical and never having anything positive to say. All you do is come on here and **** off our players.

I get it that you don't rate Townsend, you've kind of done that one to death. Why not avoid that subject for a while and post about a player that excites you?

 

[Kenyan Spur]

Holtby didn't stand out today but people giving him low marks should maybe go back and check his intelligent contributions for each of Spurs goals. For the first he found Soldado in space on the edge of the area, then got in front of the goal and cleverly ducked under Townsend's cross to dummy the goalie. For the second it was he who tussled for and won possession from Lloris's long goal-kick to the edge of the box and laid it out to Soldado in space before the striker picked up the return from Paulinho to score.

With the likes of him, Paulinho and Eriksen the days when our central midfielders interminably passed backwards, sideways or straight to the opposition are gradually being consigned to memory (Parker anyone?). Hence I insist the lad's less conspicuous but nonetheless critical contributions today deserve more credit than they've being given.

In total agreement with this

 

[Huddy]

So first half Villa suffocated us really well and honestly for a bunch of well paid professionals at the top of their game we looked clueless on how to open them up and is a worrying trend this season and an obvious ploy against us home or away. The lucky goal changed the game for us and forced Villa to press higher up the pitch creating gaps between their lines and allowed players like Townsend and Paulinho to move forward and find space, at which point we started to dominate and got the second goal (lovely finish).

Lloris 6.5. Did what was necessary, distribution was poor.

Walker 7. Solid allround. Needless booking.
Dawson 6.5. Never looked fully comfortable alongside Chiriches. Distribution was wasteful at times.
Chiriches 6.5. Caught out of position and struggled for pace at times. Some nice passing showed he has a good range.
Vertonghten 6.5. Hate seeing him as left back, sure he can play it but hes wasted.

Townsend 8. Quiet first half double marked but managed to score. Much more space to exploit in the second was our best player.
Sandro 7.5. Did ok in the first half and looked stronger as the game went on, especially after being moved deeper after Dembele's introduction.
Paulinho 7.5. Really didn't arrive in the game until Villa players got tired, then showed his great engine and touch, lovely assist for the second goal.
Siggy 5.5. May as well have not been on the pitch failed to impose himself on the game, looked slow and was easily marshaled.

Holtby 6.5. Really struggled to find space between Villa's defense and midfield, dropped too deep to claim the ball and left Soldado even more isolated.
Soldado 7.0 Lovely finish and movement for the goal, but the guy really found it hard to make an impact up on his own against Villa's two central defenders.

Defoe 6. Ran around, fluffed a through ball.
Lennon 6. Didn't have much impact but worked hard.
Dembele 6.5 Just when we needed to keep hold of the ball to run the clock down he obliged.

 

[Jimmy-g]

I thought that Villa were niggly and cheating all the way through the game, every 50/50 they pushed or nudged our player and got away with it, also Paulie was pushed when he went for Townsends cross when the goal was open and that should have been a pen, the tackle on Holtby should have been a straight red.

Siggy 6
Townsend 8
All others 7

Great result.

 

[Spursalot]

Lloris - 7 - not much to do, but did it without and particular fuss.

Walker - 7 - another good game from him, he is coming on well this season.
Dawson - 6.5 - wasn't really tested until benteke came on, and struggled to cope with him a couple of times.
Chirches - 6.5 - same as above.
Verts - 7 - better than naughton on the left, for obvious reasons, however would much rather see him in the center of defence.

Sandro - 7.5 - beastly. Keeps it simple. Glad to see him being reintroduced to the starting line up.
Paulinho - 7.5 - intricate play at times, did well, played well. Good assist.

Townsend - 8.5 - dangerous on the inside and the outside. Two footed, players need to start making the runs to get on the end of his deliveries.
Holtby - 7 - got involved, but not really that sensational today. Did his part though.
Siggy - 7 - the left side never really got going offensively.

Soldado - 7 - good goal, didn't get involved too much apart from it, was out wide far too often when we had nobody in the box.

 

[colin fishwick]

Mate.

Your arguments and logic are based in nothing other than conjecture IMO.

Let me ask, did you SEE what Villa did in the first-half (with regards to the space/marking they deployed)? It is the sort of thing which (in the end) ****ed Emirates Marketing Project over.

One of our flair players DID start today, the problem is you have decided to write him off because he does not fit your model. In fact, said-player scored the first goal, served up several great chances and had a highly effective match. Whether you choose to have seen it or not, it happened. That, my friend, is a fact. On that basis alone, your theory of unsustainability is rendered broken. In fact, if such line-ups continue to produce 2-0 victories away from home, then call me a mediocre fan but I will actually be happy. Obviously the context of our future games/situations means that not only will it not be a regular occurrence, but that the manager will shuffle his squad a fair few times to take care of various situations. And again, whether you like it or not, today we had control of the game, won and had another clean sheet. Leaving us 3 points off the pace.

I think it's really really important to gauge what's happening right now at our club as opposed to what has happened. Unless you like to write off life against history, in which case I suppose the pessimistic path will be impossible to avoid.

Ok last post by me on Townsend for a while.

Yes Townsend had a decent game, not MOTM for me, but one of our better players with Paul and Sandro. If you are talking about the present and not conjecture for the future, Townsend is nowhere near good enough, one luckish goal in 7 games is a long way short. So most who are optimistic about him are basing it on conjecture that he will vastly improve in the future.

If he puts in performances [ 2nd half ] like yesterdays every week and we win 2 nil away , then of course that will be brilliant .

Not going to go over the same points again, but in summary, the hype about him could prove detrimental to us .

Hopefully I am wrong and he continues to improve. He has done better than I thought he would .