• Dear Guest, Please note that adult content is not permitted on this forum. We have had our Google ads disabled at times due to some posts that were found from some time ago. Please do not post adult content and if you see any already on the forum, please report the post so that we can deal with it. Adult content is allowed in the glory hole - you will have to request permission to access it. Thanks, scara

***Tottenham versus West Ham****

DubaiSpur said:
In retrospect, a strange game. We were completely in control at the 60th minute - we could have properly demolished them if we'd kept that going. But then two completely needless, self-inflicted moments of weakness, and suddenly we had to throw up the barricades and ride it out against a truly garbage side.

We just about managed it, but getting into that needlessly risky position was entirely self-inflicted.

Anyway, positives - Big Daddy Kane, Eriksen being quietly unstoppable as usual, Davies did a good job down the left, Lloris did reasonably well in terms of being alert to developing dangers and distributing it reasonably well when the need arose. Toby, Verts and Sanchez were for the most part solid and did their jobs well.

Mixed reviews - Alli, Dier and Aurier. To be fair to him, Alli *tried*, and kept making runs that weren't spotted - and when he did get the ball, he created two assists, so it isn't really fair to say he was up-and-down. But that remains my impression - having screamed for the ball so much, when it actually came to him in promising positions twice, he fluffed his lines both times. And his flicks and skills, while magnificent when we're in full flow, are really 50:50 when we're not clicking - on the plus side, they lead to us getting a lot of free-kicks when he gets fouled, but they also lead to turnovers a lot, and that's not what we needed in games like today.

Dier was sort of half-and-half as well - did reasonably well distributing possession, but either dropped to deep or otherwise lacked the positioning to really stamp his authority in the middle. He's great at winding c*nts up, though - much like Alli. [emoji14]

Aurier was actually good for the 70-odd minutes he was on the field - he was caught out of position by Arnautovic a couple of times, but he made amends with some brilliant last-ditch challenges and looked increasingly assured as the game wore on.
And then he got himself sent off for absolutely no reason whatsoever. I suppose he's still adapting to the pace of the English game, but that was thoroughly reckless, and I hope he learns from it. 50:50, in the end, because we got away with it - if we hadn't, he'd have been the pantomime villain, I think.

Negatives - Sissoko. He was *okay* on the ball - ran into blind alleys a few times, but kept things ticking and was a reasonably useful outlet when on the break. But he did nothing of note. And when you're having an unremarkable game, you need to do the basics well - which he failed to do when he lost Hernandez for the first goal. I don't blame him for looking out of place at right-back, but his middling performance combined with his error on the first goal mean he had a bad day.

Anyway, a win's a win - same scoreline as at the Lane last season, and it's always good to put the tinpot spammers back in their place before moving on. No doubt 'we wuz robbed' will be the refrain from their lot, but they were truly woeful when three down - they were looking worse than Everton did against us, which is quite a feat. If they end up escaping relegation this season, it'll be an undeserved escape, on this evidence.

Also, as a closing thought, Poch got the subs *spot on* today. Winks on for Eriksen gave us a bit of control and a shield in midfield - he also made some very useful runs forward to wind down the clock, and his energy helped us keep the right side reasonably tight and locked down. Trippier for Sissoko was the obvious choice, and he did well in the time he was on the field. And Llorente on for Kane at the end was also the right choice, because he immediately put himself about, won all the balls we sent up at him and helped restore some control in the dying minutes. He also got up in Reid's face and helped waste two whole minutes as a result, which is also a bonus. [emoji14]

So, in the end, Poch did well with his subs. I'm still concerned about the Dier-Sissoko central midfield pairing, but props to him for his changes today.
Click to expand...
Allis first assist was poor and saved by Harry's brilliance. Would you call the second as assist? He went for goal and missed. Harry mopped up the rebound opportunistically. Alli didn't at once think about assisting him.

We lost it when we went down to 10 men and our subs making us worse off. Trippier for Sissoko was right, but I would have preferred to keep Eriksen and Kane on for their mobility especially with 10 men. Alli wasn't able to retain possession or maintain a real threat. I would have him off.

Sent from my SM-T819Y using Fapatalk
 
Gazza said:
What a clam pardew is ... berates aurier for being arrogant ... teddy makes a comment about nerves and pardew back tracks ...
Click to expand...
Teddy must feel like Einstein sitting next to those two, even the host had to move them on. His point about internal players not always getting the wage was a valid one too.
 
MKSpur said:
Teddy must feel like Einstein sitting next to those two, even the host had to move them on. His point about internal players not always getting the wage was a valid one too.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure it's relative to Kane though. Hes one of the top paid footballers here and it's to do with wage ceiling that he's not paid more, not because he came through youth ranks....
 
Pardew looking for WHU job.

The totting up doesn't work for me on serge first card, a few spammers were committing just as many fouls.
 
metalgear said:
Allis first assist was poor and saved by Harry's brilliance. Would you call the second as assist? He went for goal and missed. Harry mopped up the rebound opportunistically. Alli didn't at once think about assisting him.

We lost it when we went down to 10 men and our subs making us worse off. Trippier for Sissoko was right, but I would have preferred to keep Eriksen and Kane on for their mobility especially with 10 men. Alli wasn't able to retain possession or maintain a real threat. I would have him off.

Sent from my SM-T819Y using Fapatalk
Click to expand...

An assist is an assist - I mentioned after the goal that the cross was possibly a bit overhit, but in the end, it got to Harry and he did his job. Ditto with the shot that led to Kane's second.
It isn't Eriksen-level in terms of deliberate precision, but let me put it this way - if Sissoko was in those positions instead, Kane would have ended this game goalless. And I say this as someone who doesn't want to criticise Sissoko unduly.

As for the subs, Eriksen was flagging - Winks gave us exactly what we needed, which was energy, tenacity and a renewed drive to get forward. And Kane was flagging too - Llorente held more balls up in his few minutes on the field than Kane did in the last half-hour he was on for, or so it seemed. I would have liked to see Alli come off - I agree that he faded too. But Trippier for Sissoko probably killed the chances of that happening.
 
harr1984 said:
I'm not sure it's relative to Kane though. Hes one of the top paid footballers here and it's to do with wage ceiling that he's not paid more, not because he came through youth ranks....
Click to expand...
Agreed and it needs to remain that way and he probably needs to be out on his own. I meant it was more valid than sherwood saying he needs to win stuff, we just need to treat him properly and not take his loyalty for granted.
 
metalgear said:
Allis first assist was poor and saved by Harry's brilliance. Would you call the second as assist? He went for goal and missed. Harry mopped up the rebound opportunistically. Alli didn't at once think about assisting him.

We lost it when we went down to 10 men and our subs making us worse off. Trippier for Sissoko was right, but I would have preferred to keep Eriksen and Kane on for their mobility especially with 10 men. Alli wasn't able to retain possession or maintain a real threat. I would have him off.

Sent from my SM-T819Y using Fapatalk
Click to expand...
Alli's first assist is excellent in my opinion. Good run, stays on side. Good first touch to get it into his path and give himself options. Identifies the right way to cross it, there wasn't much space and a cross along the ground would likely get blocked, then executes the cross to find Kane's head.

Second isn't really an assist. But a good run again, tests the goalie with his left. Can't ask for much more in a tight situation.

Overall far from top form from Alli. But decisive for the ask important first goal and worked hard for the team. I'm happy with that for and out of form player.
 
MKSpur said:
Agreed and it needs to remain that way and he probably needs to be out on his own. I meant it was more valid than sherwood saying he needs to win stuff, we just need to treat him properly and not take his loyalty for granted.
Click to expand...
Agreed mate. BUT I do think Sherwoods point was valid. People might not like Sherwood but like it or not he knows Kane a hell of a lot better than any of us. Also Kane's ambition is blindingly obvious, you don't work as hard as he does on his game not to win any trophies. He knows how good he is, could play for any team in the world. We need to win things and soon or he will be looking to move irrespective of salary....
 
braineclipse said:
Alli's first assist is excellent in my opinion. Good run, stays on side. Good first touch to get it into his path and give himself options. Identifies the right way to cross it, there wasn't much space and a cross along the ground would likely get blocked, then executes the cross to find Kane's head.

Second isn't really an assist. But a good run again, tests the goalie with his left. Can't ask for much more in a tight situation.

Overall far from top form from Alli. But decisive for the ask important first goal and worked hard for the team. I'm happy with that for and out of form player.
Click to expand...

Yep, Alli's assist was pinpoint. Perfect. 10/10, ideal.
 
MKSpur said:
I know, I just think if a striker scores 2, hits the post twice he's doing the right things in the right areas. I think Alli's contribution was far inferior and he is expected to be more involved in general play.
Click to expand...
All I'm saying is that I don't think this was a particularly good game from Kane. Goals are the most important in football so he did enough. But I've seen him way better. And as I suspected, saying anything that remotely resembles criticism against Kane, causes a full meltdown.
 
Kandi1977 said:
All I'm saying is that I don't think this was a particularly good game from Kane. Goals are the most important in football so he did enough. But I've seen him way better. And as I suspected, saying anything that remotely resembles criticism against Kane, causes a full meltdown.
Click to expand...
He's probably played better and not scored and no player is beyond some criticism. Goals and winning can often mean the performance is overlooked. No meltdown from me, but it's going to be a contentious point when a player scores two decisive goals and a long range effort hits the post that contributes to the third. He does set high standards though.

Still think alli's two assists would make it appear he had a better game than he did if I only read it on the paper tomorrow as some of his indecisive play actually hindered us. Great problems to have after a 3-2 away derby win!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back