*** Tottenham Hotspur - Arsenal OMT ***

[The Portugeezer]

@Portugeezer http://haveyoueverseentottenhamwintheleague.com

Look I realise 8 years without a title seems like a while … if you're a gooner that is …

 

[Joesh]

No offence mate, but even wearing Spurs goggles loud and proud, you realy cant be saying that with a straight face ?

I have seen the scum play Utd in the same way and have their fans celebrate as if the game was a (trophy), they were up for today as if their lives depended on it and as a result will affect how they sign tomorrow. Lets hope Wenger thinks todays lot are good enough \o/

 

[El Dante]

http://www.sincearsenallastwonatrophy.co.uk/

 

[Dr Rosenrosen]

This is boring. Please don't bring the quality of this forum down with this schoolyard drivel.

 

[Richie]

We looked like a team of new players today. Controlled the game but Arsenal had all the better chances, we were caught out a number of times.

Need more creativity in the final third, hopefully Lamela can give us that. Holtby or Sigurdsson should have played in the place of Dembele, that midfield trio just doesn't have that spark in the final third.

 

[Robspur12]

BOL I must have been watching a different game. Forget the stats - we DID NOT control that game in any shape or form. We had a lot of possession but in non dangerous areas. Arsenal easily defended it and then cut us open when they needed to. And frankly to pin the loss on Dawson is just fanciful. AVB was poor today simply out thought.

 

[monkeybarry]

Mate, youre embarrassing yourself.

Arsenal have won far more than we have.
But they still have this scummy air about the club and almost every goon I've met has been a ****wit with no idea about history.
But quit with trying to 'out trophy' the tr
As far as todays game goes, they were never going o let us win today, too much riding on it y

 

[The Portugeezer]

BREAKING NEWS: Arsene Wenger has been spotted cross-dressing!

 

[The Portugeezer]

This is boring. Please don't bring the quality of this forum down with this schoolyard drivel.

Mate, youre embarrassing yourself.

Arsenal have won far more than we have.
But they still have this scummy air about the club and almost every goon I've met has been a ****wit with no idea about history.
But quit with trying to 'out trophy' the tr
As far as todays game goes, they were never going o let us win today, too much riding on it y

Liven up you two, it's only a bit of banter.

 

[SteveAWOL]

Oh well that' 3 Premier League games in which we've failed to score from open play or even force an opposition GK into making a world class save... Dunno why Holtby didn't come on for Dembele as it's not as if Defoe was ever going to be the one to create a chance for our £26m star striker...



Good to see Sandro back bossing midfield after disappointing showings by Dembele and Capoue today... Fingers crossed that AVB can integrate Eriksen and Lamela into this team asap so we finally have creativity in the final third... Some crossing practice might also be in order...



http://www.fourfourtwo.com/statszone/8-2013/matches/694930/

 

[Naughton16]

Encouraging signs having dominated possession and creating more chances. At the moment we're still adapting to the loss of the focal point of our attack. Once Soldado, Eriksen, and Lamela are fully integrated we will be a very strong team in this league. Today was frustrating as Arsenal were there for the taking, but no point dwelling too much.

 

[Mumorn]

We could have had Bale today and we still wouldnt have won in my view. Bale never created with neat intricate passing that we needed.

 

[El Dante]

^^ Well said, at least one of you lot still has a sense of humour. You ever considered turning coats Portugeezer?

You'd have thought 52 years since your last title you'd be slightly less sore losers, wow … also is it just me or is this forum as buggy as ****?

Yup, there's a serious problem with this forum...




Your still here

 

[DubaiSpur]

DubaiSpur, I'm a bit shocked at your assessment to be honest, but I completely agree with Sandman.

I don't think this was Wenger's tactics at all. We just went to Arsenal's ground and controlled the game. We set the tempo. Did we slice them open at will? No, of course not. But that is never going to happen at the Emirates anyway. I'm not even saying it was a great performance, but to go there and set the tempo like we did is damn impressive. I came away from this game actually feeling pretty happy. Creating chance after chance wasn't there but I think the pieces of the puzzle were to have a really good season.

Under AVB we aren't an 'attacking' team as I feel some commentators lazily point out. We don't play to attack like Harry. We play to control. So that means we don't create chance after chance but leave ourselves exposed. The idea is to create some very good chances and rarely give anything away at the back at all, while probing for openings in possession. The fact that we were able to go to the Emirates and implement this shows how far we have come. I liken this to the Saudi Sportswashing Machine away game last year. Yes they won, but we clearly looked like the better side and it was obvious it would be that way at the end of the season.

The chances we did give away come from a lack of concentration from an individual who probably isn't suited to how we want to go. And unfortunately despite fighting his way back into the plans, Dawson I think is the weak link for me in this team. And today the other problem was that some of the new signings clearly hadn't the time to settle in. Lamela had good touches but it was clear he didn't know exactly which positions to be taking up. But that will come in a couple of weeks, he only had one session.

But other than that - Lloris, class. Walker and Rose, actually pretty good. Dawson and Vertonghen lost concentration for the goal. Midfield was pretty imposing and controlled possession, while up town Chadli and Soldado showed nice touches and Townsend looks like a genuine threat.

The performance today for us looked like the better team unfortunately losing to the plucky mid-table team looking to sit back and hit on the break. So many times we may have beaten Arsenal that way but today it was other way around. We looked like the big dogs and once our signings are integrated, we are going to be very, very hard to stop.

Now, I'd like to politely disagree. We did not 'set the tempo'. Far, far from it. We tried desperately to avoid Arsenal getting the ball, is what we did. In the main, we succeeded. We had very few ideas on what to do with the ball, and were content to pass it around on the half-way line. Any further and Arsenal's central midfielders pounced, repeatedly nicking the ball from our surprisingly brittle midfielders and bursting forward with pace and purpose. Lloris had to save us time and time again as Arsenal found gaps across our team at will, while anything we attempted to do in their half was quickly and effortlessly snuffed out by their central defenders and midfielders acting as a cohesive unit. They let us have the ball because they knew we would do absolutely nothing with it. That is not a triumph, not matter how much possession we rack up that way. If 'control' means terrified midfielders passing back and forth on the half-way line while the opposition team wait to pounce tigerishly when the ball moves forward ten yards into their half, then give me playing to attack any day.

You know, on second thought, I withdraw my first statement. we did set the tempo. The tempo being slow, laborious passing and penetration followed by quick, incisive counter-attacks and desperate defensive flailing, followed by regained possession, followed by slow, laborious passing and penetration, etcetera, etcetera, ad infinitum. It wasn't just Daws and Verts losing concentration, it was our midfield failing to hold on to the ball in the attacking third and failing to provide cover for our defenders, it was our full-backs giving away possession time and time again by putting in atrocious crosses, and it was Soldado, Chadli and Townsend struggling up front with no support or movement around them.

We played badly as a team, with Daws and Rose just being the most prominent examples of our bad performance. That much is attested to by my post in the ratings thread, where I gave nearly everyone a sub-par (below six) rating.

Look, I don't doubt we'll improve. And I have faith that AVB will eventually make us the team you envision: able to control possession and fashion chances when they choose to while remaining rock solid at the back. But please don't assert that it's already happened. Today's performance shows we have a long, long way to go.

 

[Hootnow]

We could have had Bale today and we still wouldnt have won in my view. Bale never created with neat intricate passing that we needed.

The only difference Bale might have made was another long range screamer. We would still have created **** all.

 

[monkeybarry]

I don't like the inside fwd idea, it closes space and gaps, is too easy to defend against and relies on scoring worldy goals.

The result however, takes pressure off and adds perspective after all the recent hype about our spending which got out of hand.

 

[The Portugeezer]

^^ Well said, at least one of you lot still has a sense of humour. You ever considered turning coats Portugeezer?

You'd have thought 52 years since your last title you'd be slightly less sore losers, wow … also is it just me or is this forum as buggy as ****?

No I would never turn, Spurs are my local football club and the true North London football club

 

[suffolkspur]

Unfortunately after they scored we never looked like getting a goal back. I was surprised to see Defoe chucked into the game so early, we weren't getting any service to Soldado so i don't understand why AVB thought that would help us from an attacking perspective. Would rather have seen Holtby or Sig's put in just behind Soldado.

Theres some positives BUT it was pretty easy for Arsenal to nullify us today and AVB needs to sort our attacking play out now we have a couple more players in.

 

[Yossarian]

You lot are going to miss the Bale effect. Soldado's a cart horse and the window's about to slam shut. If Lamela doesn't work out you've got bugger all …

Your desperate trolling counts for nothing. I'm ignoring you as of now. As will all sensible Spurs fans. You won't be here anyway come the business end of the season.
Goodbyeeeeeeee!

 

[Nigeyman]

Last season 2 points from the first three games.

This season 6 points from the first three games.

Losing the NLD is never easy in fact nothing is worse in life but sometimes you have to step back and you still have to look to the future...in the main I think we are in great shape and I am excited about the season ahead.

We have a wonderful Goalkeeper and decent back-up so no problem in that department. I do think In the near future that its unwise to play Vertonghen & Dawson, it does look as if both are slow on the turn with a high line so either one or the other for me. I said it in the Saudi Sportswashing Machine Fan questions thread that I think Dawson will be our most disappointing player. This is a difficult subject for me as I have enormous respect for Dawson and some of his qualities but I stand by my belief that He is not suited to our style of play.....that's the crux for me....I am not saying he is a poor centre half far from it, however if he doesn't fit the style then I cant see a future for him and AVB's initial assumption to move him on was probably right.

To me its either Verts Kaboul or Dawson Chiriches but never verts & Dawson again for the big games.

The rest I am confident about.....getting that link to Soldado is crucial.....AVB will need some time to gel the squad but I think we have the correct personnel to be a major player this season.

As Mumorn said we have lost the battle today but I am confident in winning the war......Just hope Capoue is ok and not out for a massive amount of time....doesn't look promising.....Let them have their day in the sun. I can quite confidently say that if they do not strengthen they will be found wanting as their squad is not equipped for a 60 game season.

Have faith Spurs fans.....early days.....lots of new faces to work with and I trust our management to make us a force this season...COYS