** Tottenham Hotspur vs Fussball Club Basel 1893 OMT **

[a spur from swansea]

Can we say now gallas has played his last game for us now,i liked him at the start but everytime he plays for us now he gets injured he's getting a bit of a liability,how many times does he go down in the first twenty times and then hobbles around for the rest of a game,we've got a 21 year old on the bench crying out for experience,i saw caulker a few times last year for swansea and he saved williams a few times in his defending.....down to 9 men is just so laughable and it happens quite often especially with gallas being on the pitch.

At the moment we've got no balance,dembele,siggy,dempsey are all the same type of player,if lennon and bale or both are out who we've got to replace them no one,get the same feeling when santini was in charge we play like headless chickens,sometimes. Their was instance last night when basle was attacking every single spurs player was on one side of the pitch and their left winger was crying out for the ball to be played to him outside our box for at least 20/30 seconds because no one was marking him, lucky the ball broke to us but they had so many clear cut chances last night it was embarrising.

We get back in the game at 2-2 what does AVB do,take holby off who was creating some sort of impression on the right, bring siggy over instead of him and put him on his weaker foot and tell dempsey to go where ever,so totally imbalancing the side, after that nothing we didn't create one chance after those changes,crazy.

We're only so far up the table because of brilliant individual performances..... thats it. No bale,lennon,defoe for the next two games,a centre forward currently in reverse,i just hope certain players ,dembele especially step up to the table,if we need him to play like he did for fulham its now and dempsey if he can decide to pass the ball instead of trying 35 yard shots into row x all the time we may hang in there till everyone is back.

 

[paxtonwolf]

Big respect to Basel. One of the best footballing teams I have seen at the Lane in recent seasons and they should feel disappointed they did not win.
I hoped that when we got back to 2-2 they might try and hold on for the draw, but credit to them, they just carried on the same way.

Massively worried about Sunday, and just cant see us winning over in Switzerland, although 3-3 will do I suppose..

I was really looking forward to last night and Sunday, on the whole it was an entertaining game,but not quite in the way I had hoped. While for Sunday I have the ominous feeling even without Fellaini and Pienaar, our losses will outweigh theirs.

 

[billyiddo]

No. We are 3rd for a variety of reasons. Bale is one, Bale is a big one. Take him away and we are 5th, or 8th, or 15th. But take away all the other contributing factors - Lloris, Dembele, AVB, Lennon and more - and leave us with Bale and a mediocre side, and we are below QPR.

We are third, we can win and lose that position and maybe even second from here. Get behind the team, it really isn't that bad a situation to be in. COYS!

Great post.

It's funny - people spent the last few years saying we lack that 'star quality' and now that we have it they see it as a negative - couldn't make it up.

Bales been on a fantastic run of form - of course he will have played a big part in our results

 

[chicken_badge]

Agree with that, best performance i have seen at the Lane in quite a while.

On the plus side, they completely dominated and only scored 2, whereas we only had a couple of half-decent spells and scored 2. They can be got at, tie is not over.

+1 for me too. If they weren't playing Spurs Im sure I would have found it quite satisfying to watch the way they ran at the defence.

One of the reasons they did well was this though was the fact our midfield was almost like a valve at times such was the one-way flow, and that our defence were just on the back foot. When we got the ball there was not enough holding it up, it would seem to go back to them with one flick too many. The tie is still very winable, but we will need a good away performance. Certianly not beyond the realms of possibility that AVB sets up the team better to deal with Basle's attacking style (which will be less about the counter-attack at home anyway). 1-0 Tottenham, Lyon all over again, why not?

I'd also say that we, the English football fans, can underestimate a lot of teams in Europe these days. A bit too stuck in the past. Bayern Munich, Roma, Valencia? Big names with a big past, we respect those teams. But less established names like Malaga, or names from traditionally smaller footballing nations like Switzerland, and we take for granted that it should always be a home win.

These are a good side, last 8 in a European competition that has so many rounds, there has to be a fair amount of filtering out along the way. They ranks alongside us, Chelsea, Lazio on merit at the moment and the way they played last night showed that. Going 2-0 down at home to anyone is a disappointment, drawing a European tie at home is a disappointment too but to put it in perspective, it was against a well-organised and adventurous opponent, who brought good support.

 

[P.D.]

Have to say games like this we miss Sandro, he brings a bit of fire to the game and tracks runners really well. Several times they had men over on the edge of the box, that is Sandros strong point.

 

[thfcsteff]

Have to say games like this we miss Sandro, he brings a bit of fire to the game and tracks runners really well. Several times they had men over on the edge of the box, that is Sandros strong point.

100%.
Parker needs to show more discipline and sit a bit more. Obviously it's a pressing game so he cannot just anchor in space, but take the deeper position!!!!

 

[AdamB]

100%.
Parker needs to show more discipline and sit a bit more. Obviously it's a pressing game so he cannot just anchor in space, but take the deeper position!!!!

Agree we miss Sandro but Parker gets a lot of stick on here. How many teams have a better back up DM?

 

[Pirate55]

Can't be bothered.
as for 'telling you what AVB's done' there's pages and pages of it out there you, go digging if you give a toss. WOuldn't make a difference anyway, you have a set vision and you'll stick to it. Enjoy that.

Would you sack him at the end of the season then Pirate?

Tell you what, I hear there's an experienced 'manager' who live on the south coast that will be available in the summer...laughable, just laughable...

BTW, your comments about 'one world class player' and 'no coaching that would help the rest become a team'...come on. If you're going to say something, at least have it make some sense!

No. As I have previously said, imo the jury is still out on him. I do not believe in making over hasty decisions.

However, unlike you, who seem to think he can do no wrong, I adopt a much more balanced view. For you to say "he has done more right than wrong this season" is however a statement I would take issue with. I am happy to debate this with you if you take off your rose tinted for a minute and are prepared to be open minded - but that also seems to be a lost cause.

 

[Pirate55]

Didn't you spend every single one of your posts bashing Redknapp towards the end of last season too? Bit of a Negative Nancy mate...

Towards the end of last season , I did. I call it as I see it.

Did you not feel that HR had lost the plot after the England fiasco?

 

[Crawley]

Towards the end of last season , I did. I call it as I see it.

Did you not feel that HR had lost the plot after the England fiasco?

Please.............lets not go back there again [-o<

 

[Pirate55]

No. We are 3rd for a variety of reasons. Bale is one, Bale is a big one. Take him away and we are 5th, or 8th, or 15th. But take away all the other contributing factors - Lloris, Dembele, AVB, Lennon and more - and leave us with Bale and a mediocre side, and we are below QPR.

I'm gutted Gareth is probably out of Sundays match, but there's a few myths to get over.

We do not get our goals purely from Gareth Bale
He didnt score either last night. He didnt get both at Swansea. He didnt get the crucial one at Inter.

We do not have the battle and belief to fight for matches
Last night was a good result, given that we were 2-nil down at one point against a very good side. There are other games when we have had to fight to emerge with a result this year, Lyon and Inter for example, but Man U at home too, West Ham away. It's also a myth that we bottle games in the last ten minutes... we've snatched points and wins at the death a fair amount too. Plus holding off pressure from arsenal, Swansea when trying to see a game out.

We don't have the depth in squad
We have plenty of quality players are the club, but yes can get thin on certain areas. However, how can you replace Bale or even Lennon? You cannot, and while you can get close by putting in a quick winger for Lennon, Townsend for example is not half the danger Lennon is nor the defensive cover. You have to change the whole game plan for Everton. We will become narrower to a degree but we will also have to play to other players strengths now. Who knows, may even suit Adebayor more? Here's hoping.

No Lennon or Bale on Sunday but last nights fight back happened with one off the pitch and one on an of day. No Lloris either or Defoe. We do have something else out there you know!!

We have no strikers
We have three quality forwards that any other club would happily have in their squad. All been off form overall this season but injuries and ACN and a Baleshaped game plan don't help. Get behind them, remember Ade got the key goals in Europe, Dempsey against Man U.... these fellas all know what it is like to play off a streak they just need to get a bit of momentum.

We are third, we can win and lose that position and maybe even second from here. Get behind the team, it really isn't that bad a situation to be in. COYS!

QED.

 

[Pirate55]

Please.............lets not go back there again [-o<

Eltrev dredged it up - but I am happy to leave it rest.

 

[chicken_badge]

QED.

Not at all.

Here, if you can't be arsed to read the rest of my post here's a summary

We are in 3rd for one reason and one reason only. Bale.

No. We are 3rd for a variety of reasons. Bale is one

 

[billyiddo]

Agree we miss Sandro but Parker gets a lot of stick on here. How many teams have a better back up DM?

Better on paper? Not many
Better in reality? Quite a few id have thought.

Was happy as anyone else to see Parker coming back just in time to cover for Sandro but he has been a shadow of the player he was last season ufortunately, imv

 

[thfcsteff]

No. As I have previously said, imo the jury is still out on him. I do not believe in making over hasty decisions.

However, unlike you, who seem to think he can do no wrong, I adopt a much more balanced view. For you to say "he has done more right than wrong this season" is however a statement I would take issue with. I am happy to debate this with you if you take off your rose tinted for a minute and are prepared to be open minded - but that also seems to be a lost cause.

No debate necessary.
Your accusations come from someone staring in a mirror and blinded by the light of a past reflection.
BTW, your jury is most certainly not out, you regularly take a crack at him. As for my thoughts that he can do no wrong, nonsense. You only hear from me in his defence because you cannot help yourself. You clearly have no interest in applying context to his season or situation. Of course he's made mistakes, he's human, but his mistakes have been outweighed by the very positive work he has done.

If you want to sheeple with a few moaners and whingers, fantastic. Have at it. I have my opinions based on what I see and what I know. I'm not going to allow the internet to change them. Sorry. Your tribe awaits you Sir!

 

[thfcsteff]

Please.............lets not go back there again [-o<

Agreed. Let's leave it.

 

[thfcsteff]

QED.

Is this a faux-intellectual's way of avoiding a tactical discussion? Innocent question...:-"

 

[Pirate55]

No debate necessary.
Your accusations come from someone staring in a mirror and blinded by the light of a past reflection.
BTW, your jury is most certainly not out, you regularly take a crack at him. As for my thoughts that he can do no wrong, nonsense. You only hear from me in his defence because you cannot help yourself. You clearly have no interest in applying context to his season or situation. Of course he's made mistakes, he's human, but his mistakes have been outweighed by the very positive work he has done.

If you want to sheeple with a few moaners and whingers, fantastic. Have at it. I have my opinions based on what I see and what I know. I'm not going to allow the internet to change them. Sorry. Your tribe awaits you Sir!

Says it all. Suggest you have a long hard look in the mirror yourself.

No wish to enter into a debate seems to me to indicate someone of a closed mind. Not a psedo intellectual, in fact not an intellectual at all.

 

[Pirate55]

I said we wouldnt be in 3rd without Bale - and you agreed. So would anyone with any sense.

 

[Spursalot]

I said we wouldnt be in 3rd without Bale - and you agreed. So would anyone with any sense.

True. We'd have been playing with ten men, you wouldn't expect anyone to do well with ten men all season.