*** Tottenham Hotspur vs Besiktas OMT ***

[Millsy_Yiddo]

What did Sherwood say last night,20 unenforced errors from last season.....we must be up to 6 or 7 already for this season.....

Sunday be the test for us,funny it was the same last season,a must win game against the Saints.

Don't forget though, last years unforced errors were all Sherwood's fault.

 

[indianspur]

Regarding Soldado, i thought it was painful to watch Demba Ba show how a lone striker should operate. He was a nuisance all night to us, holding the ball up and getting in the box whilst working hard. I Could not help watch him and think that we missed a trick not getting him in. He helped link up all their nice midfield play, and he always fought for the ball.

Soldado has some nice little touches in him, he held it up nicely once. But thats it. More often than not he is not firs to the ball or loses out. He needs to play alongside another striker, he likes close link up play. And Big Ade gets knocked off the ball by everyone at the moment.

the difference is that Besiktas players were always looking for Ba.....we dont do that. Soldado had absolutely nothing to work off. Its like we bought a striker but dont want to give him any service. Just makes no sense.

 

[indianspur]

Agreed. As the commentators were saying, they tested Arsenal in the CL qualifier and they're probably the best Turkish side in Europe at the moment.

Credit to Poch for trusting in our squad and developing players and keeping the right focus on the league for now. People were having a go at AVB for playing too many first choice players, Poch does the opposite and no surprise the team isn't tearing teams apart and people are still not happy.

Almost all our team yesterday was younger players or players still settling in at the club. We were up against what the commentators described as the best team we've played in a group stage European game since being in the CL.

Disappointing to not win after being ahead again. Disappointed with some individuals. Some good positives to take from the game though! Much better from Ben Davies, Fazio looked good again, Bentaleb was better against too I thought and the biggest positive obviously Harry Kane.

yeah agree with all that. Besiktas definitely have more about them than Galatasaray and yes they pushed Arsanal all the way back in the qualifying stage. Their style of football was very pleasing on the eye but also very effective. It was actually a joy to watch them at times and they are far better than a lot of teams i saw in the CL games this week. We did our best I felt, we had our own moments of quality that were unfortunately rare but for example that Davies pull back to Kane in the second half could easily have resulted in a second goal and then i think we would have hung on to an undeserved win. It would have been a fantastic goal imo. It was a great test for our players and a draw was a fair result. No way did Besiktas deserve to walk away empty handed

 

[diego_maradona]

Positives.

Lloris confirms he is world class.
Dier looks assured against good opposition.
Game time for Fazio and Stambouli who could potentially force their way into the first team.
Games for Bentaleb, Townsend, Kane, Davies against a good level in Besiktas and will keep improving because of it.

 

[F10]

Agree with the above, but i think Soldado was positive also. When he gets on the ball, he shows both agility and skill. The run from midfield was really good.

But we seem to get to deep in many games, were having a hard time forcing pressure on our opponents.

Anyway, id rather we played Bobby until he bursts the bubble. Im fed up with adebayors constant swing in effort and perfomances. We have a top european finisher on the bench, that also can feed others. But we use a big targetman that cant head, dont work, cant control a ball and falls over when shooting.

And to those who think last season is a measurement for Soldados finishing skills, remember finishing is an art fed by confidence. In Valencia he would never have missed all those sitters last season.

 

[diego_maradona]

Agree with the above, but i think Soldado was positive also. When he gets on the ball, he shows both agility and skill. The run from midfield was really good.

But we seem to get to deep in many games, were having a hard time forcing pressure on our opponents.

Anyway, id rather we played Bobby until he bursts the bubble. Im fed up with adebayors constant swing in effort and perfomances. We have a top european finisher on the bench, that also can feed others. But we use a big targetman that cant head, dont work, cant control a ball and falls over when shooting.

And to those who think last season is a measurement for Soldados finishing skills, remember finishing is an art fed by confidence. In Valencia he would never have missed all those sitters last season.

I think Soldado is a good player. He is not suited to us unfortunately. We almost need a striker to create his own chances because we are dreadful at it. This guy was used to Mata and David Silva feeding him ammunition ffs. Now he's got Andros. Its dreadful.

I think most people look at him and know that unfortunately it doesn't look like this signing will work out for us.

I would like for him just to have one solid spell in the side again but I just can't see it happening. Kane the supposedly 3rd choice is probably the most in form striker we have.

 

[Rorschach]

I think Soldado is a good player. He is not suited to us unfortunately. We almost need a striker to create his own chances because we are dreadful at it. This guy was used to Mata and David Silva feeding him ammunition ffs. Now he's got Andros. Its dreadful.

I think most people look at him and know that unfortunately it doesn't look like this signing will work out for us.

I would like for him just to have one solid spell in the side again but I just can't see it happening. Kane the supposedly 3rd choice is probably the most in form striker we have.

That's it in a nutshell. I don't think Bobby is going to make it at Spurs unfortunately, but I also think we are criminally misusing him. Field some ball players behind him who are willing to slide a ball into him for his runs off the shoulder of the defender and then we will see the best of him (or maybe not, who knows?). I like Andros' gumption but he still has a lot to learn and his decision making just seems to have gone to pot. He is not the player Soldado needs to be playing with. Ditto for Paulinho.

 

[K.D.D.D.D.Soc]

I thought is was a good result for our shadow team against a good side, considering we were playing with 8 men. Obviously Chiriches was terrible but Paulhino and Soldado are experienced internationals and gave us nothing. It's hard for Bentaleb to play in that team and could hurt his development, I thought apart from the goal his passing and choices were poor. Lloris must be gutted. To often a lot of people think we can beat any of the teams in Europe, but have no knowledge of the clubs, Besiktas are a decent side and gave Woolwich two tight games, but a lot of people assume we can put a weak team out and stroll through, wake up smell the coffee!

 

[NWND]

That's it in a nutshell. I don't think Bobby is going to make it at Spurs unfortunately, but I also think we are criminally misusing him. Field some ball players behind him who are willing to slide a ball into him for his runs off the shoulder of the defender and then we will see the best of him (or maybe not, who knows?). I like Andros' gumption but he still has a lot to learn and his decision making just seems to have gone to pot. He is not the player Soldado needs to be playing with. Ditto for Paulinho.

I'm fed up of the need to justify the ability of our star striker signing meaning we have to put down youth players who have come through the ranks at Spurs and are still learning their career.

Harry Kane does fine with service provided, without 'having to create his own chances'. Why wasn't Soldado making the runs that ended up with Kane having about 4-5 chances last night?

The goal, which was a fine piece of play from Bentaleb to set him up.
The cute reverse ball from Townsend allowing him to run onto it and shoot after Besikta's defence was taken out the game?
The fine driven cross from Davies that Kane got his head to?
The nice reverse ball from Davies that allowed Kane the space to set himself and volley at the keeper who made a great save?

Soldado didn't have one shot all night did he?

All last season it seemed that Soldado was never getting any chances. Suddenly Ade is in the team and we're creating chances for him? Suddenly Kane is in the team and the ball just magically seems to find him in threatening positions?

No, its not magic, its intelligent movement.

9/10 the run makes the ball, not the other way round. After watching last night i'm again of the opinion that Soldado does not make good or intelligent runs and that is why he is never found in dangerous positions.

Positives for me from the game is we look a well-drilled outfit. With that team, i think we had inferior quality to Besiktas on the pitch in many areas, but we ran them close in terms of play and could have sneaked the (undeserved) win.

Lloris was world-class but we knew that before the game.
I thought Kane was excellent and is surely pushing for a starting birth in the first team.
Dier was composed and looks good in defence and on the ball.
Davies was solid and most of the time was good with his crossing and final ball when he had the opportunity.
Stambouli started to come out of his shell a bit more and had some nice touches and some driving runs forward.
Fazio looked composed and strong and saved Chiriches from more embarrassment on a couple of occasions.
Townsend did well.

Negatives were that Chiriches looks a complete liability at this moment in time and Paulinho and Soldado don't look like salvaging their Spurs reputations any time soon.

 

[wiziwig]

Chiriches , Paulihno , Soldado in the same team, and offering what they offered last night, is a handicap even for a great team with 8 other superstars .

Besiktas had 25 attempts on our goal and if it wasn't for the great Hugo, we'd have been on the end of hiding similar to what was happening to us last season .

This can't go on .

 

[NWND]

Chiriches , Paulihno , Soldado in the same team, and offering what they offered last night, is a handicap even for a great team with 8 other superstars .

Besiktas had 25 attempts on our goal and if it wasn't for the great Hugo, we'd have been on the end of hiding similar to what was happening to us last season .

This can't go on .

It's true. I can't remember Paulinho doing anything worthwhile and Soldado made one decent run and lay-off to Bentaleb all night. They were on the ball so little and mentioned so little you could have forgiven for thinking they weren't playing.

As much as I dislike Sherwood, he did point out one thing you can say about our young players like Kane, Townsend & Bentaleb. They were all on the ball a lot, they were all trying to make things happen. It might not have come off all the time, but it's better than hiding like Paulinho and Soldado do very well.

So Soldado & Paulinho in the team is like playing with 9 men and then you have Chiriches who was positively trying to gift the opposition a goal all game and finally successfully threw away a very hard-earned win by miscontrolling an aimless punt and then bizarrelly trying to control the ball with his hand like a basketball player.

Most of Besikta's best chances came from Chiriches either being out of position, miscontrolling clearances or just plain passing the ball to the opposition in front of our goal.

The good thing is that Vlad has been relegated from the league teams into the cup team and if anyone is going to be pushing on the door of a first-team centre-back slot, it will be Fazio or Dier for me.

 

[Jordinho]

I'm fed up of the need to justify the ability of our star striker signing meaning we have to put down youth players who have come through the ranks at Spurs and are still learning their career.

Harry Kane does fine with service provided, without 'having to create his own chances'. Why wasn't Soldado making the runs that ended up with Kane having about 4-5 chances last night?

The goal, which was a fine piece of play from Bentaleb to set him up.
The cute reverse ball from Townsend allowing him to run onto it and shoot after Besikta's defence was taken out the game?
The fine driven cross from Davies that Kane got his head to?
The nice reverse ball from Davies that allowed Kane the space to set himself and volley at the keeper who made a great save?

Soldado didn't have one shot all night did he?

All last season it seemed that Soldado was never getting any chances. Suddenly Ade is in the team and we're creating chances for him? Suddenly Kane is in the team and the ball just magically seems to find him in threatening positions?

No, its not magic, its intelligent movement.

9/10 the run makes the ball, not the other way round. After watching last night i'm again of the opinion that Soldado does not make good or intelligent runs and that is why he is never found in dangerous positions.

Positives for me from the game is we look a well-drilled outfit. With that team, i think we had inferior quality to Besiktas on the pitch in many areas, but we ran them close in terms of play and could have sneaked the (undeserved) win.

Lloris was world-class but we knew that before the game.
I thought Kane was excellent and is surely pushing for a starting birth in the first team.
Dier was composed and looks good in defence and on the ball.
Davies was solid and most of the time was good with his crossing and final ball when he had the opportunity.
Stambouli started to come out of his shell a bit more and had some nice touches and some driving runs forward.
Fazio looked composed and strong and saved Chiriches from more embarrassment on a couple of occasions.
Townsend did well.

Negatives were that Chiriches looks a complete liability at this moment in time and Paulinho and Soldado don't look like salvaging their Spurs reputations any time soon.

*******s.

Without his off the ball run there would have been an opportunity for Kane to score.

Why aren't our midfielders passing to him when he is in space is far more pertinent question.

 

[K.D.D.D.D.Soc]

It appears there is a simple solution to the Soldado situation, we should build our team to service him, just a question of finding the 100m for the transfers and then the wages plus trying to get players to sign for a none CL team. Simples.

 

[Shelfie]

Well, I think we now need to take at least 4 points off Asteras. Any less and I can easily see us failing to qualify.

 

[NWND]

*******s.

Without his off the ball run there would have been an opportunity for Kane to score.

Why aren't our midfielders passing to him when he is in space is far more pertinent question.

Omg stop making excuses for him it's not the midfielders passing to him.


GHod it's like it's a big conspiracy. Our midfielders aren't passing to him in space!

How come Kane receives the ball in space all the time? How come Chadli and Ade do? Soldado doesn't move enough and the space he finds isn't in threatening areas

 

[Gazza Dazzla]

I'm fed up of the need to justify the ability of our star striker signing meaning we have to put down youth players who have come through the ranks at Spurs and are still learning their career.

Harry Kane does fine with service provided, without 'having to create his own chances'. Why wasn't Soldado making the runs that ended up with Kane having about 4-5 chances last night?

The goal, which was a fine piece of play from Bentaleb to set him up.
The cute reverse ball from Townsend allowing him to run onto it and shoot after Besikta's defence was taken out the game?
The fine driven cross from Davies that Kane got his head to?
The nice reverse ball from Davies that allowed Kane the space to set himself and volley at the keeper who made a great save?

Soldado didn't have one shot all night did he?

All last season it seemed that Soldado was never getting any chances. Suddenly Ade is in the team and we're creating chances for him? Suddenly Kane is in the team and the ball just magically seems to find him in threatening positions?

No, its not magic, its intelligent movement.

9/10 the run makes the ball, not the other way round. After watching last night i'm again of the opinion that Soldado does not make good or intelligent runs and that is why he is never found in dangerous positions.

Positives for me from the game is we look a well-drilled outfit. With that team, i think we had inferior quality to Besiktas on the pitch in many areas, but we ran them close in terms of play and could have sneaked the (undeserved) win.

Lloris was world-class but we knew that before the game.
I thought Kane was excellent and is surely pushing for a starting birth in the first team.
Dier was composed and looks good in defence and on the ball.
Davies was solid and most of the time was good with his crossing and final ball when he had the opportunity.
Stambouli started to come out of his shell a bit more and had some nice touches and some driving runs forward.
Fazio looked composed and strong and saved Chiriches from more embarrassment on a couple of occasions.
Townsend did well.

Negatives were that Chiriches looks a complete liability at this moment in time and Paulinho and Soldado don't look like salvaging their Spurs reputations any time soon.

Ah, now the posts in the adebayor thread make sense.

 

[Spurs7891]

This was another unconvincing performance and a disappointing result. We used to win our home matches in Europe so convincingly. But we seem to struggle in all the Cup matches nowadays.

Our lack of goals and clean sheets seem to be our main problem now. Kane did well to score the goal but we just didn't do enough to get the all important second goal. It was really annoying the way we conceded the late goal. It was really stupid of Chriches to give away the penalty like that. Have never been convinced of Chriches as he is too error-prone. And he has made another stupid and costly error.