Not really. I think we were utter brick all game in al honesty. What happened was we scored out of the blue by a player who should be considered world class. The performance in the 80th minute was exactly the same as before that - the only difference is I think the players cottoned onto the fact that we had to win and our efforts were lifted to a higher level. Merely coincidence more than design - then again we cant say for certain.
Like steff I can't see how the bolded part can be true. I've mentioned it in another thread, but I think our poor performance was more down to nerves than to a lack of effort.
Our team from the midfielder forward at kick off yesterday:
---------Hudd-Dembele----------
Lennon------Bale-------Dempsey
------------Defoe---------------
That's 6 players with very little (positive) experience from the though, nervy end of seasons, competitions and matches. Defoe, Lennon, Bale and Hudd have all been at the club for years and although I think our reputation of always tripping up is a bit harsh we certainly don't have a reputation for always coming out on top when the going gets tough. The two others have most of their recent experience from Fulham, a club that rarely had much to play for at this end of the season. Belgium and the US aren't national sides that are known for their mental strength either I think, similarly to England and Wales.
Holtby who came on might have some of that German mentality in him, but he's still very young and unproven as well as being fresh to the league of course.
Of all those players I actually feel that Hudd was the one that showed the most maturity, with the exception of Bale for the goal of course. Hudd at least played his game, put in some good passes, did his job defensively and made a cynical foul when he had to. He looked on top of the situation. The rest, including Bale up until the goal, did not.
I think our pressing was symptomatic for this, a lot of players pressing on their own, leaving gaps behind them and around them, seeming stressed to do things on their own without the composure to act as a team.
Adebayor gets a lot of flak for his relaxed attitude, but yesterday his attitude seemed a lot more useful than the attitude of most of our other players.
