We played like Wimbledon today

[NaijaSpurs]

We were brick, one shot on target all game. And to make things worse we played like Wimbledon, what was with the hoofing the ball up front. Dawson and Benny were the biggest culprits, Dawson more so. It was shocking. I hate hoof ball anyway but it is worse when you have a midget up front WTF

Thank fukk for Bale. We did not remotely look like a team that deserved to play CL football next season. If we play like that against Chelsea we will get owned.

 

[indianspur]

Gorgeous George Graham would be proud

 

[Yermiyahu]

Gorgeous George Graham would be proud

\o/

 

[elltrev]

If you play 4-4-2 against a team who presses high up the pitch, hoof-ball is the most likely outcome. Think AVB has to take a large share of the blame for today's poor performance. In his defence maybe his plan was to take advantage of their high line with long balls over the top, but it didn't work and he should have changed things at half-time IMO.

 

[Rorschach]

The problem for me was, bar Hudd occasionally, absolutely no one showed for the ball from the defenders all game. That coupled with a little pressure on our back line meant that there were zero options for the guy on the ball and a punt up field ensued to the 2nd smallest guy on the pitch. It was obvious as the nose on your face and AVB should have addressed this. I'm normally a glass half full type of person but this was a car crash of a performance in reality.

I think Carroll in beside Hudd to recycle possession would have helped us greatly.

 

[3DSpur]

The BBC have made us look great in these MOTD highlights, lol

 

[spurs' magna carter]

Saw this come up on the bottom of the screen after the highlights on MOTD.

Tom Huddlestone ‏@TomHuddlestone6
Bale Bale Bale!! Tough game, Southampton got their game plan spot on, restricted our chances. But at this stage got to win by any means

Totally agree. I have to say that we were poor, felt we were let out of jail at times during a performance that was one of the worst this season but that was in part down to Southampton who I have to say played very well, it was no different to when they went to Old Trafford even SAF said that Utd were very lucky to get their win. Regardless as to how you see Southampton they are no mugs, can give anyone a fright in my view.

 

[elltrev]

The problem for me was, bar Hudd occasionally, absolutely no one showed for the ball from the defenders all game. That coupled with a little pressure on our back line meant that there were zero options for the guy on the ball and a punt up field ensued to the 2nd smallest guy on the pitch. It was obvious as the nose on your face and AVB should have addressed this. I'm normally a glass half full type of person but this was a car crash of a performance in reality.

I think Carroll in beside Hudd to recycle possession would have helped us greatly.

This is why I think AVB was largely to blame, because he picked a formation and lineup that made this inevitable. Defoe, Dempsey and Bale were constantly looking for the long ball over the top - they very rarely moved deeper towards the ball. To counteract a team who presses you need to try and outnumber them in the areas that they're pressing - that's virtually self-evident. We never did this.

I too thought Carroll would have been better suited to counteract Saints' style, but I think he too would have struggled without our more attacking options coming deeper.

 

[Raziel]

As I mentioned in the review thread, team just looked tired, Lennon, Bale, Dembele all obviously not 100% fit.

Without Parker we lost the urgency and were pressed by Saints much harder than we pressed them.

The only blame AVB gets for me is not pushing Levy harder for some fresh legs in January.

 

[braineclipse]

We didn't play like Wimbledon at all, at least not how I remember Wimbledon.

Yes, we played some long balls, but with Defoe, Dempsey, Lennon and Bale as our attacking line those long balls were largely wasted. We didn't punt it long as a game plan, but because we were forced into it.

It's possible to be good at playing long balls, have a target man and have plenty of movement around that target man to win the ball as it drops. We didn't have a target man and we didn't have the movement.

I think it's fair to be forced into some long balls against pressing teams, that happens. We've been poor for years and years at actually doing something with those long balls we play.

 

[elltrev]

As I mentioned in the review thread, team just looked tired, Lennon, Bale, Dembele all obviously not 100% fit.

Without Parker we lost the urgency and were pressed by Saints much harder than we pressed them.

The only blame AVB gets for me is not pushing Levy harder for some fresh legs in January.

Don't you think it was a mistake to play 4-4-2, without even a No.10, against a team who we all know press high up the pitch and give centre-backs and central midfielders no time on the ball? Hoofing was the only logical outcome really.

I agree that the team lacked energy, but wonder how much of that was down to the awful atmosphere too (I actually thought we started the game with good energy).

 

[Mosquito_Coasting]

Gorgeous George Graham would be proud

It reminded me of those days in the nineties and early noughties when you would go to the Lane and just know you wouldn't score because you weren't making any chances and there was zero energy in the team. And it would actually be a really boring spectacle.

 

[jimmyb]

We didn't play like Wimbledon at all, at least not how I remember Wimbledon.

Yes, we played some long balls, but with Defoe, Dempsey, Lennon and Bale as our attacking line those long balls were largely wasted. We didn't punt it long as a game plan, but because we were forced into it.

It's possible to be good at playing long balls, have a target man and have plenty of movement around that target man to win the ball as it drops. We didn't have a target man and we didn't have the movement.

I think it's fair to be forced into some long balls against pressing teams, that happens. We've been poor for years and years at actually doing something with those long balls we play.

Excellent post.

 

[Superhudd]

I expect the stats to show 2 long balls and 20 long cross field balls from BAE

 

[jimmyb]

Don't you think it was a mistake to play 4-4-2, without even a No.10, against a team who we all know press high up the pitch and give centre-backs and central midfielders no time on the ball? Hoofing was the only logical outcome really.

I agree that the team lacked energy, but wonder how much of that was down to the awful atmosphere too (I actually thought we started the game with good energy).

I'm not one for analysing or even understanding tactics in great detail but, as far as I could tell, we didn't play 4-4-2 until Ade came on.

And that's when we finally started to get some control of the game.

 

[elltrev]

I'm not one for analysing or even understanding tactics in great detail but, as far as I could tell, we didn't play 4-4-2 until Ade came on.

And that's when we finally started to get some control of the game.

Even though Adebayor is thought of as a striker whilst Bale is thought of as an attacking midfielder, Adebayor showed for the ball and came deeper much more than Bale did when he was playing centrally.

Perhaps I shouldn't have said playing 4-4-2; I just meant playing a team where none of our four attacking players were coming deep to show for the ball.

 

[africanspurs]

i put it down to nerves personally, has to be. it cant be because parker was missing surely.

 

[Raziel]

i put it down to nerves personally, has to be. it cant be because parker was missing surely.

hahaha .. nerves/tired/personnel mix, say what you want about Parker, he does add a "hustle" to the team

Bale cause us some issues without a clicking midfield, still think it makes sense for him to start out wide, then drift in vs. start in middle when other teams will just crowd the middle and compress the game.

 

[africanspurs]

hahaha .. nerves/tired/personnel mix, say what you want about Parker, he does add a "hustle" to the team

Bale cause us some issues without a clicking midfield, still think it makes sense for him to start out wide, then drift in vs. start in middle when other teams will just crowd the middle and compress the game.

i agree with the second bit. been calling for that the second lennon gets injured. move bale out wide to keep the baalance

the need is less when lennon is healthy , but like you say when teams stop us from playing we need to stretch them

having said that i put a lot of blame on BAE's shoulders for a lack of balanced width

 

[elltrev]

i agree with the second bit. been calling for that the second lennon gets injured. move bale out wide to keep the baalance

the need is less when lennon is healthy , but like you say when teams stop us from playing we need to stretch them

having said that i put a lot of blame on BAE's shoulders for a lack of balanced width

'Stretching' opponents is only useful if the rest of the players are moving into the space between these 'stretched' players. Otherwise stretching just becomes a euphemism for playing miles apart from eachother and therefore not being able to keep possession, as was the case yesterday.