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Forget the Hyperbole; The Truth about Yesterday

2 min read
by The Fighting Cock
It’s early days yet. Let’s hope that ten games in, which is probably the earliest you can begin to pass judgement with any fairness, I’ll be eating my words. However it is impossible to be anything other than disappointed with four and half hours of premier league football which have not yielded a single goal […]

It’s early days yet. Let’s hope that ten games in, which is probably the earliest you can begin to pass judgement with any fairness, I’ll be eating my words. However it is impossible to be anything other than disappointed with four and half hours of premier league football which have not yielded a single goal in open play.

DembeleYesterday for all our possession in the second half we never really looked like scoring and had it not been for Hugo they could well have had their usual 5. We’re closer to them than we have been, true. We’d never have managed possession like that in the past. And other sides won’t play as well as Arsenal did. Wenger is, whatever the idiots who support the Arse might say, a managerial genius able to defend like Mourinho and attack like Guardiola. The Goons defended brilliantly, never lost their shape, blocked bravely and broke out with speed and skill.

If only you could say the same about us. We looked much like every other Spurs team down the years – some good individuals, only occasionally a team. We were disjointed (only Rose and Walker for width) and our control was poor. Dawson tripping over the ball in the centre circle was the most laughable example but it illustrated another problem. When one of ours had the ball he was surrounded by 3 red shirts with no out ball, when they had it, they had at least 2 passes on. That’s down to the organisation of the team and the understanding between the players, which should get better. But it’s also down to composure and commitment. If you don’t have that to go with your skill you’ll never be a great player.

[linequote]Trouble is you can sign too many players. Levy may love to play hardball but Spurs play football. The game takes place – as Wenger knows – on the pitch, not in the boardroom.[/linequote]

We have a lot of premier league virgins so hopefully some of this reflects the speed and intensity of the league in general and the north London derby in particular. Perhaps one or two of our signings will step up to the plate as the season goes on but have we really signed anyone who can step into even one of Bale’s boots?

We’ve seen little evidence of it so far. Our MOTM yesterday was Lloris and most dangerous player – first half anyway – Townsend. Dembélé seems to be going the way of so many Spurs signings – a promising start before slumping back to a shadow of the player he was at his previous club. Surely the law of averages says this isn’t going to happen to all the new lot.

Trouble is you can sign too many players. Levy may love to play hardball but Spurs play football. The game takes place – as Wenger knows – on the pitch, not in the boardroom. This isn’t now about a few improvements to a decent team but back to square one and with Liverpool now improving, who’s to say we’ll even finish top6. AVB has a mountain to climb now to figure out how best to play and who best to play it.

PS. I started out bringing devil’s advocate but I’ve now convinced myself. God it’s hard being a Spurs fan!

[author name=”Gareth James” avatar=”” twitter=”” website=”” tag=”Gareth James[/linequote]

All views and opinions expressed in this article are the views and opinions of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of The Fighting Cock. We offer a platform for fans to commit their views to text and voice their thoughts. Football is a passionate game and as long as the views stay within the parameters of what is acceptable, we encourage people to write, get involved and share their thoughts on the mighty Tottenham Hotspur.

36 Comments

  1. Danny Norm
    02/09/2013 @ 12:42 pm

    Sorry mate but this is unbelievably pessimistic. To think that one of Lamela or Eriksen does not have the ability to step into ‘even one’ of Bale’s shoes is naive at best. Yes we do have a lot of new players, and it is obvious that it will take a few games to bed in. Yes we got beaten yesterday by a team who simply played better…sometimes you have to take things on the chin in sport, but negative publicity from a “Fan” site so early, after such amazing signings is to me, not the kind of support that we need!

  2. Spurs Youth
    02/09/2013 @ 12:43 pm

    I think eriksen and holtby have a massive role to play as a creative link between midfield and attack – something we’ve obviously been lacking.

  3. SimonF
    02/09/2013 @ 12:46 pm

    Good stuff. I’ve thought all along that we now have 4 midfielders in Capoue, Paulinho, Sandro & Dembele who arguably the same player. Having just heard the Arse have bought Ozil who has the most assists in Spain, this is the kind of midfielder we desperately need. Eriksson could be that No.10 of course, but it still doesnt disguise the fact that our midfield lacks creativity or variety.

    Soldado has looked ineffective because there is zero service coming to him. He’s not the most energetic of strikers, but he can score if fed, but who will do that? Only Townsend, but playing him on the right meant he was always intent on cutting in to his left foot – so no crosses whatsoever.

    Its early days, but at a cost of £109m regardless what we get back from Bale etc., do we really have a World Class player in the team, a matchwinner, a guy who can singlehandedly win a game like Bale did last year? I dont think we do.

    Thank god we’ve got Lloris!

  4. Spurs est_1882
    02/09/2013 @ 12:51 pm

    I was always expecting an Arsenal win, at this stage of the season, with the new guys bedding in, Arsenal have a better starting 11, and are more organised and cohesive. This is a 38 game season, and realistically I think in 10-15 games, we will look good, and in 20-25 very good. I just hope the new guys can handle Christmas, without dropping off through March. That is where rotation of this SQUAD will help. I think we have a very good chance of getting 3rd, and but potential of coming 6th unless Liverpool and Arsenals weak squads start taking effect – Also Man U are not looking great, this could be the season they dont make the top 4, wont happen twice though.

  5. Wood
    02/09/2013 @ 12:51 pm

    Firstly Arsenal are far better than people give them credit for, because they have a largely settled team and manager. With Ozil on the way in I can see them in the top three and United battling it out for a fourth spot! Secondly when you play a settled team you need to know how to work as a team and most of our team yesterday have a total of about 500 mins together including friendlies. The second half of the season will be better and the individual class of players like Paulinho will make the difference against lower teams who just can’t compete. Thirdly the player Spurs have needed since Modric left is a play maker, they just bought one in Eriksen. Things are going to get better as the season goes on.

  6. TriniSpurs
    02/09/2013 @ 12:52 pm

    AVB has things to sort out. The advanced centre midfield role is not suiting Dembele and we are losing his great play from a deeper position. For me, the 2 centre mids have to be some combination of these; Dembele/Paulihno/Sandro/Capoue. Rose is a liability defending as shown by the Walcott run/assist. Someone please teach Walker how to put in a cross…can’t get them beyond the first defender.

  7. Paul Ivanov
    02/09/2013 @ 12:54 pm

    The season is long, we will see

  8. Devonshirespur
    02/09/2013 @ 12:55 pm

    Let the knee jerking begin

    You’d be forgiven for thinking Spurs were the home team yesterday, such was Arsenal’s ‘defend in numbers and counter’ approach to the game. But it showed some development from Arsenal, who have slowly realised that 3 points matters, style is secondary. They employed effective tactics and then defended their lead. We also tried to employ effective away tactics and really a draw would have been a fair result, they nicked it

    We can expect a lot of these sorts of tactics from the opposition, many of which will be ‘inferior’ and therefore happy to get a point from Spurs. We need to find a solution but lets not start panicking before the likes of Lemela and Eriksen have had a chance to integrate. 6 points from 3 games. a better start than last season, a season when we got better and better after a slow start.

    • Spurs est_1882
      02/09/2013 @ 12:57 pm

      Not to mention a few dubious penalty shouts. Not that I think we should win/draw through penalties – but cant deny when we attack the box, defenders make mistakes.

  9. Kosher Kid
    02/09/2013 @ 1:06 pm

    Yesterday it became apparent that what this team lacks is a plan b. What has impressed me so far about AVB’s new team is the three man ‘midfield shield’ comprising Dembele, Capoue and Paulinho. They all have similar attributes and will be hard for opposition teams to break down. If Spurs take the lead during a match they finally look as though they have players capable of retaining the lead, sitting deep and counter attacking.
    This didn’t happen yesterday because AFC took the lead with a very good goal. Yes Dawson played them onside and yes Lloris got beaten at his near post but; it was a well created and taken goal. AFC did not offer much after they scored, apart from when Lloris tackled Walcott on the edge of the box. The problems began when the onus was on THFC to break down a stubborn AFC rear guard.
    Chadli and Townsend were the two players who would have been most expected to try and achieve this. Soldado is the focul point of the attack, Chadli and Townsend attack from the wing. Townsend did OK. He cut in twice and had shots on target. He also got to the line and pulled one back for Soldado. Chadli was less productive, as he has been in all of the games so far. He has not settled yet and should have been the first player to be substituted yesterday.
    The other theme yesterday was that Dembele, Paulinho and Capoue all had quiet games. Capoue had played well in all the previous games he played in and Paulinho had improved with each game he had played until yesterday. I find Dembele a very frustrating player in most games. Some days he looks world class other days he is a passenger, however he can usually be relied upon to always put a tackle in. Yesterday for some reason he didn’t. For all three of these players to have an off day was remarkable.
    Soldado is also not the tallest which means THFC do not really have the option of going direct if they need to mix things up a bit. This may be resolved before the transfer window closes if not; Adebayor may still have a part to play in this team. AVB has been criticised by some for not making changes quicker and some people have observed that Defoe was not the right choice yesterday. Holtby being the name mentioned.
    Holtby is very similar to the other three ‘midfield shield’ players and Sandro. I don’t see Holtby as a creative force although he did tee one up for Defoe against Tblisi. Tom Carroll is not the answer either. Eriksen may become a great player for Spurs but I doubt we should expect him, or Lamela, to walk into this team and start tearing up trees. I think AVB was probably right to not make any changes at half time. THFC had not done too much wrong and the hope would have been for an improvement in the second half. It didn’t happen and when the substitutions had to be made Dembele for Defoe was probably the most positive change he could make. The fact that he didn’t also swap Chadli for Siggy tells you something. Siggy is usually good for nicking a goal.
    AVB had a plan yesterday and AFC unpicked it. They took the lead and found it easy to contain THFC because we were predictable. AFC are one of the better sides we will play this season, particularly away from home. AVB needs to find his plan b for situations like this in the future. Some of the questions may be answered by 11.00pm tonight. Let’s hope so.

  10. mark-9ten
    02/09/2013 @ 1:09 pm

    I think it’s too early to debate whether Spurs will do THIS or THAT! Maybe another striker, if Adebayor is sold, would be a good move! We were poor, made silly mistakes due to limited playing time of new players and yet still we pushed the gooners back, in the second half! We were away to Arsenal, never an easy game! Spurs, I believe, will improve!!

  11. Mad Dog Mulcahy
    02/09/2013 @ 1:11 pm

    Hey come on folks – 6points from 9 aint bad. In the end Arsenal are just another team. We haven’t even got our team sheet sorted yet. Sure yesterday was gutting – but they’ve got to come back to us in a few months and then we thump them as we usually do. That doesn’t mean that they are a bad side and so losing to them yesterday after we seriously bossed the mid-field (that was very encouraging) doesn’t mean we are. What I would say is that we needed Holtby in there and we needed Kaboom. Don’t know why they were left out. Score could have been reversed if they had.

  12. Sean
    02/09/2013 @ 1:11 pm

    That was Arsenal at their best yesterday. You won’t see them play any better. They played like the away team though. A true Arsenal, yes happy with a 1-0 win but would be worried that is the best they will see. As for Spurs there is so much more to come. We can and will play so much better.The future is looking so good COYS.

    • JulianJJ
      02/09/2013 @ 5:35 pm

      Dont think that was Arsenal at their best mate. Wilshere wasnt fit. Sagna Vermaelen & Chamberlain out, and they just bought Ozil + others. They were there for the taking and we didn’t have a decent shot in the whole match!

  13. Loyalty Matters
    02/09/2013 @ 1:23 pm

    We didn’t play well & lost 1-0 at the Emirates FFS! Yes we could have nicked a point, but they had us & we didn’t really come out & compete. I thought the team was selected not to lose, instead of selected to win. Our midfield was made up of 4 players out of the same mould & we should have played Holtby & Siggy instead for more pace & creativity. Chadli should have come off not Townsend for Lamela who should have gone on earlier, with Defoe maybe coming on later (hey, but AVB no longer asks my opinion…) & massively disppointed in Dawson who is usually well up for this. All said & done it is game three & it ain’t over until the final whistle of game 38. Whatever our detractors say, we have bought quality players it is now only how long it takes AVB to get them all sorted. For me at last we have a Manager with a vision & the Chairman finally prepared to back it. Don’t panic Mr Mainwaring! BTW, 46m for Ozil? & they said we’d paid over the odds…….

    • Tidan2
      04/09/2013 @ 8:17 pm

      Arsenal paid 10 million euros over his value, Tottenham paid 7 million euros over Lamela’s value. Both players will keep their value for years to come because they are young and talented.

  14. Stu
    02/09/2013 @ 1:37 pm

    Eriksen and Lamela will be pivotal in the coming season. Still need to get proper competition for Walker,who is becoming too at ease with his right to start. Rose may have found his level at Sunderland. Time will tell, but this could be costly. Townsend needs look for the striker and not the goal. Dawson to be replaced for Chariches at the soonest possible moment. Love Daws, but he is not at the level required. Lloris…
    walker. .Kaboul…..chariches…Vertonghen( left back until signing)
    Sandro- Paulihno
    Lennon……Eriksen……Lamela
    Soldado
    Subs
    Rose.friedel.defoe.chadli.dawson.naughton. Holtby.
    Townsend.

  15. ped
    02/09/2013 @ 1:46 pm

    MF looked too slow & non penetrating so was suprised to see no tom carroll as his the one player i see who constantly moves for the ball & offers a way out for players who need to offload the ball quickly. also his a positive player who does set up play mostly through forward progressive passing as we’ve seen in some of the games he’s played in lately & could well have been man of the match.
    whatever happens the creative spark is missing so even if we spent another £100,000,000 if we don’t get a creative ball player in then we don’t progress.

  16. Ian
    02/09/2013 @ 1:46 pm

    Excited, loyal, enthusiastic, backing the team, – not if you are a Spurs supporter. Our lot prefer to moan, find fault wherever they can, are negative, never happy, only show support when the team is wining , unfortunately this is the type of many who attend matches. Probably a lot of estate agents and traffic wardens!

    • J Sidewinder
      02/09/2013 @ 2:24 pm

      Exactly….what a load of negatice shite….have the time arrived in London 2 days before and dont know each other…..fuckin load of experts …shut the fuck and support ure team.

    • J Sidewinder
      02/09/2013 @ 2:26 pm

      Exactly….what a load of negative shite….half the team arrived in London 2 days before and dont know each other…..fuckin load of experts …shut the fuck and support ure team.

  17. ped
    02/09/2013 @ 1:50 pm

    if you spend over a hundred million quid & your biggest rivals don’t then you’re gonna get pissed off & that’s what these forums are for….. but as they say this ain’t a sprint…it’s a marathon, a bloody long one at that.

  18. RHuss
    02/09/2013 @ 1:54 pm

    Dawson shouldn’t start at all from now unless Kaboul’s unfit…
    or should try Chiriches.
    Vertonghen should captain the team with a capable partner.
    A bit worrying for me if he leave soon for another club.

    Am skeptical about Dawson when he starts.Spurs should’ve kept Caulker
    and sell Dawson.Happy to see him playing well for Cardiff.A decent CB and better ball sense when going forward.

    And Naughton should be given more time at Walker’s position.
    To be honest I’d prefer Naughton’s cross and defending except for his lack of Walker’s pace.
    If we want pace then we should get Usain Bolt…hahaha.

  19. matt
    02/09/2013 @ 1:55 pm

    we will improve I am sure of it. Great players need time to gel. Only a few of the players on the pitch ever played in NLD. however articles like this are what instill and spread negativity throughout our fan base. Really disappointed to read this so early in the season. Spurs fans please don’t let this kind of toxic blogging get you down. keep supporting the team. Stop moaning. we’re not gooners after all

  20. Raj
    02/09/2013 @ 1:56 pm

    Great analysis!

  21. Paul F
    02/09/2013 @ 2:04 pm

    Agree totally with the above team. It will give us more of an attacking edge whilst remaining strong in the middle. COYS

  22. Paul F
    02/09/2013 @ 2:05 pm

    Should have said agree totally with Stu’s team. Let’s hope this is the line up for our next match.

  23. Chris B Waters
    02/09/2013 @ 2:06 pm

    It’s ironic that if we’d had Soldado (or similar) 3 or 4 years back, then he would have converted many of the chances created by Modric/Bale/Lennon/VDV and even Hudd ..but which were missed by the likes of Defoe, Pav and Crouch. Back then our midfield was creatively top drawer, and even Sir Alex commented on how attractive and effective we were, with either Parker or Sandro ‘outstanding’ as the holding player. A top striker then would have cemented our position as a top four team without having the disappointments of just missing out by the smallest of margins over the past 3 seasons. Even with Bale’s exploits last season and a big points total, think how much a top striker in the box, plus a proper Modric replacement, would have probably put us third (not fifth).
    OK, today we now ‘finally’ have someone like Eriksen (and a young Tom Carroll, who can only get better), along with Soldado and Lamela ..but I can’t help agreeing with a previous comment that in Paulinho, Dembele, Capoue and Sandro we may simply have the same player. Imagine if we hadn’t grabbed Eriksen, after the Willian letdown? I know Paulinho and Capoue are top drawer and will settle in, but against Arsenal we effectively played 3 holding players, because Dembele couldn’t find a creative streak, and the midfield malfunctioned like it did last year on many occasions ..powerful and strong, yes, but off the pace, with little creativity, uncertain at times and pressured quite easily, and all this without the ‘rescue’ of Bale. If Dembele can find form in the hole behind the striker then, with Eriksen as playmaker and one of either Paulinho, Capoue or Sandro in the holding spot, plus effective wing (or other support) play from Lamela/Chadli/Townsend, Holtby or Lennon, then AVB will find his best team. But I don’t envy him keeping everyone happy. It’s a great and powerful squad but only when we find our optimum team (differing slightly for various occasions) can we expect to play with strength AND creativity, or even with the passion/desire that Arsenal showed yesterday.

  24. Rob
    02/09/2013 @ 2:08 pm

    No Creativity in midfield is a repeat of last season where Defoe and Adebayor got no service from midfield. Spurs should only need to play one of the defensive minded midfielders (Sandro, Paulinho, Dembele and Capoue). Some games they may not need to play any of them. Spurs should sell two of the four and bring in another creative midfielder, a left back and a striker.

    A midfield with Carroll, Holtby, Lamela and Eriksen would be alot more effective.

  25. don smoke
    02/09/2013 @ 3:18 pm

    1-0 at the Emirates with us dominating possession..them playing on the counter and defending like they were at the Alamo..followed by yet more of their embarrassing celebrations at full time. WE have come a LONG way and I for one am excited about the squad we have. The two selection mistakes, (in my opinion), were that Kaboul should have been playing instead of Dawson and Sandro instead of Dembele, (who is treading water so far this season).

  26. Gary Fox
    02/09/2013 @ 4:07 pm

    57% possession at The Effeminates and a narrow 1-0 defeat with a team that is still learning names let alone playing together. We were simply spoilt by having Bale. There is no way we can replace him with one player unless that one is Messi Ronaldo or possibly Neymar. So we have to build a team
    instead. And that doesnt happen in 3 games. We bought the power players first so they have played so far. But why do you think weve bought Lamela and Eriksen and are welcoming Holtby back from injury? Dont panic and keep the faith.
    P.s would arsenal have hung on if down to 10 men due to the flying two footed lunge by Flamini that MOTD neglected to feature as it didnt suit their theme of “neat ball-playing Arsenal overcoming hard-tackling Spurs”.

  27. spurs1966
    02/09/2013 @ 6:05 pm

    Spurs have more or less spent the GB fee + the other smaller fees on 7 new players. In one sense that shows willing by the owners. And with a rigid limited transfer window there was pressure to do this. But personally I would always change teams around over a longer period so I could see the effect of some new players before investing money in additional ones. Pace yourself.

  28. Martin Warne
    03/09/2013 @ 8:47 am

    On the positive side, we’re 4 points better off than we were at this point last season, having only played one home game. We’ve only conceded one goal in 3 games. We had close to 60% possession at the Emirates, making Arsenal look like the away team for large parts of the game.

    These are things to build on.

    The problem yesterday was a very conservative approach to build up play, which was far too slow. We had opportunities to get the ball forward more quickly, but our central players turned and went sideways or backwards. We never created the kind of space Walcott got in setting up their goal. Had we done so, or got their defenders on the turn we would have had more success.

    We also had a lot of players playing only their third competitive game together, versus a team that had no new players at all. That’s a big ask and coming away with a 1-0 defeat is not too bad. Compared to the past two visits to the Emirates it’s quite an achievement!

    It’s easy with hindsight, but maybe playing Sigurdsson instead of Chadli, and replacing Dembele with Holtby in the latter stages might have served us better.

    On Sky Graeme Souness said if he were a Spurs fan he’d be happy with the prospect of the season ahead. We’ve bought a lot of good players – maybe one or two won’t work out, but if five do it will have been a great transfer window. Whatever one might think of Souness’ qualifications to make such a judgement (after all, he isn’t actually a Spurs fan and the style of play his teams adopted was far from Spurs-like) I think that’s sensible.

    AVB and Baldini have really overhauled the whole squad. A lot of departures as well as new buys. If we can keep notching up the points while the team gels over the next month or two, we’ll be in a good position.

    We have only seen 15 minutes of Lamela and Eriksen could be the player who unlocks the creativity, a la Modric. Or maybe that will be Paulinho once he finds his Premier League feet. He’s looked good already but needs to play further forwards. I agree with you about Dembele. Maybe he’s not fit but he doesn’t look like the player we signed. 

    Capoue looks to me like the player who has settled quickest and been the most impressive in terms of fitting straight into the team and the Premier League pace. His injury will leave us very reliant for the next few weeks on Sandro as the defensive shield in midfield, unless either Vertoghen or Kaboul moves forward. Both would be perfectly comfortable. Sandro is obviously hugely capable, but he’s only just back from injury and getting 90 minutes twice a week out of him would be expecting a lot.

    Long story short, I’m still optimistic about our chances of a top 4 finish and a decent run in one of the cups. We probably won’t have quite the excitement we got last year from Bale, but there will be some good football to be watched.

    Come on you Spurs!

  29. Garbonza
    03/09/2013 @ 10:34 am

    On their day, at home, Arsenal beat us by the odd goal. So what? Spurs had just as many chances, even more if you count the longshots, that were hopelessly misdirected on this occasion — won’t be forever. Spurs had them baled up defending their goal for the last twenty minutes. And they cheered in relief for themselves at the end of the match like they had just made the top 4 at the end of the season. There’s a long way to go and Spurs can only get better. Not so Arsenal. Even Ozil is a risk and might not settle.

  30. Gareth James
    03/09/2013 @ 11:14 am

    As the writer of this post I was expecting more hostility – especially when I re read it in a more sober light. While nothing I said is untrue and the fears expressed probably widely shared, I wouldn’t normally have written something like this down. I don’t like the negativity we sometimes experience at Spurs.

    Probably, had we lost away to anyone else in the same circumstances I’d have been in the same place as most of the more measured commentators here. It’s just that it had to be THEM. In the best part of a century, the number of seasons we’ve been indubitably better than Arsenal can probably be counted on the fingers of one hand.

    And now the idea – and it’s not just MOTD – that they’re the cultured side and we’re a bunch of cloggers just adds insult to injury. That theory is not borne out by the figures from Sunday by the way. We completed 82% of passes with an accuracy of 85% to their 74% with an accuracy of 75%. They were successful in 82% of tackles compared to 69% by us. So we passed; they tackled.

  31. J Sidewinder
    03/09/2013 @ 2:33 pm

    …what a load of negative shite…are you a gooner in disguise….the team just met.

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