***TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR VS swansea OFFICIAL OMT**********

[Jordinho]

Variety is the spice of life for Spurs

Tottenham may have failed to score from open play for the second week running, but there were still positives to take from their attacking display against Swansea. Chief among these was the performance of Andros Townsend, who deputised for Aaron Lennon on Tottenham's right wing.

Lennon has been one of the most dangerous wide players in the last six or seven years of the Premier League, but Townsend's game - particularly the variety in it - may be about to nudge the 22-year-old ahead of the former Leeds man in Andre Villas-Boas' pecking order.

Making his first Premier League start for Spurs, Townsend was a threat both on the byline and when coming inside. He saw a stinging 25-yard drive dip just over the crossbar, and won the penalty from which Roberto Soldado scored the only goal of the game.

His willingness to both take on his full-back on the outside and cross with his right foot, or cut inside before shooting with his left, makes him a tricky player to keep a lid on.

The winger proved during his loan spell at QPR that he is comfortable playing on either flank, and with Villas-Boas believed to be looking for versatility among his playing squad, it could be that Townsend's face fits best.

http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/debrief-premier-league-weekend-reviewed

 

[SteveAWOL]

I havent read the thread - just back from the game and whilst im ecstatic with the win, but at the risk of being called a bozo, I am not all that impressed with the tactics or the state of play so to speak. There were positives such as Townsend who was very good, Paulinho I thought was excellent in bombing forward and Soldado worked tirelesly up front. Maybe the whole new team or new pairings etc are playing a part etc.

The lack of creativity is bewildering and that may change with one or two creative players being brought in (which we desperately need) but Soldado was starved of chances and he worked tirelesly in trying to make things happen. I found it strange to start with BOTH Paulinho and Capoue - I think having Sig behind Soldado with Dembele in middle with either of the aforementioned two midfielders would have helped with the creativity. The passing is all very straight very one dimensional and predictable.

Can someone please explain the sustitutes? Why is Dembele being subbed as soon as we score? Its a strange one and whilst its a like for like replacement in terms of position I am unsure why we couldnt take off either Paulinho or Capoue and like the point above why start both at home.

I was also at the game today and also found the performance a tad underwhelming, effective football but not very entertaining. Hopefully the team will click over the next few weeks and we sign a playmaker of the calibre of a Mata / Cazorla / Silva / Coutinho / Modric / Moutinho to play those incisive through balls for Soldado to feed off (although I'm optimistic that Holtby can help in that regard when he's match fit) so we doesn't have to rely upon penalties as a source of Premier League goals.

 

[metalgear]

effective not entertaining - that AVB's doing. was going to get worse without bale.

but i love the effective part - some how keeps me glued to the set watching the how the team performs instead of the players. guess you can't please everyone.

 

[onlyme]

effective not entertaining - that AVB's doing. was going to get worse without bale.

but i love the effective part - some how keeps me glued to the set watching the how the team performs instead of the players. guess you can't please everyone.

Good post. TBH I did not enjoy it. But we won. The Swansea fans kept singing and made our guys do the same so the atmosphere seemed great.

 

[Eriktheviking]

?

Paulinho had 7 shots today.

We need at least one more quality player, either Bale or a replacement for Bale. I like both Townsend and Chadli, but at this point neither of them is the quality game changer we need to push on from last season imo. I think that player will come and I think we'll do well in 4-3-3 and that we can go very far.

It wasnt a scathing criticism and, i agree, i think we will dominate games, however, we dominated games in previous seasons without much luck in front of goal. Soldado will only be as good as the service to him, which is pretty **** poor to be honest.

Yes Paulinho had 7 shots, but none went in. Yes he got forward but the fact remains, in reality we played 3 sitting midfielders, not attacking or creative ones in the true sense. Frim this, over 2 games in the PL we have scored from 2 debatable pens and Soldado hasnt had another real chance. Thats the reality.

I cant wait for a true no 10 or a special player to sit in behind the striker as when it clicks and with that monster midfield we are going to be awesome!

 

[africanspurs]

effective not entertaining - that AVB's doing. was going to get worse without bale.

but i love the effective part - some how keeps me glued to the set watching the how the team performs instead of the players. guess you can't please everyone.

it was like that last season though no?

 

[THFC6061]

Spurs have lost just once in their last 20 competitive matches at White Hart Lane, a run which stretches back to 8th November 2012...

...14 Premier League matches have been played during this period with 33 out of a maximum 42 points taken, including wins in the last four successive matches.

 

[Eriktheviking]

Who was man of the match? Paulinho looks awesome! Could be one of the great Spurs.

 

[braineclipse]

It wasnt a scathing criticism and, i agree, i think we will dominate games, however, we dominated games in previous seasons without much luck in front of goal. Soldado will only be as good as the service to him, which is pretty **** poor to be honest.

Yes Paulinho had 7 shots, but none went in. Yes he got forward but the fact remains, in reality we played 3 sitting midfielders, not attacking or creative ones in the true sense. Frim this, over 2 games in the PL we have scored from 2 debatable pens and Soldado hasnt had another real chance. Thats the reality.

I cant wait for a true no 10 or a special player to sit in behind the striker as when it clicks and with that monster midfield we are going to be awesome!

I don't see how that's a fact.

I don't see how him missing his chances means that he's a sitting midfielder.

I don't see why box to box midfielder isn't a better description for his role than sitting midfielder.

 

[Mosquito_Coasting]

I don't see how that's a fact.
u
I don't see how him missing his chances means that he's a sitting midfielder.

I don't see why box to box midfielder isn't a better description for his role than sitting midfielder.

Agreed. Doesn't look like a defensive player to me.

 

[Mosquito_Coasting]

Who gave that first time through ball to set Paulinho free at the end? I thought it was Sig but wasn't sure.

 

[SteveAWOL]

it was like that last season though no?

True but we had Bale scoring memorable wonder goals to win those tactical battles which was a tad more exciting than watching a penalty being slotted home... although if "1-0 to the Tottenham" sees us finally win a major piece of silverware for the first time since 1991 and finish above the Gooners for the fist time since 1996 then guess I'll learn to enjoy it!

Although I'm hopeful that it's just a matter of time before Paulinho starts slotting home those chances in the Prem, like he does for Brazil, and AVB finally gets a playmaker, to fill the void that Moutinho / Willian were expected to, so that we don't have to rely upon simply being able to overpower opponents with our superior athleticism.

Good post. TBH I did not enjoy it. But we won. The Swansea fans kept singing and made our guys do the same so the atmosphere seemed great.

The Swans were in good voice which did make for a decent atmosphere and lots of banter with those of us sat in the neighbouring blocks. Hoddle' appearance at half time was also a nice touch, oh for a passing genius like that to pull the strings in this current team.

Who gave that first time through ball to set Paulinho free at the end? I thought it was Sig but wasn't sure.

That was Chadli, although technically he took a touch to control Defoe' lay off before playing the through ball to Paulinho.

 

[Eriktheviking]

I don't see how that's a fact.

I don't see how him missing his chances means that he's a sitting midfielder.

I don't see why box to box midfielder isn't a better description for his role than sitting midfielder.

Now we are starting to split hairs. He isnt a creative player in the true sense. Call him box to box, whatever. Personally, i think he is going to be quite easily out player of the season by an absolute mile. The fact remains he simply isnt a Modric, VDV or Bale type.

How many times have our midfield put Soldado through in two games against 'lesser' opposition? None.

Im not having a go, far from it, with this midfield i dont think we are going to lose more than 6 this season, such will be our dominance but i can see a lot of draws.

I am merely pointing out, to achieve top 4 i think we need that special player... Its the difference between the good teams and the excellent. There are only a handful of steikers in the world who can create from nothing, Soldado isnt one, he needs excellent service and Paulinho, Capoue and Dembele can only do so much.

 

[Spurs7891]

Happy with the win but disappointed about not scoring more than 1 goal. Despite the win, you can't help but worry about our lack of goals, especially from open play. It is amazing we have won 2 penalties in a row after not getting one last season. But this is the 4th time in 6 matches we have won a league game 1-0. It is great we are keeping more clean sheets but lack of goals will always put us at disadvantage when it comes to league standings. Hope AVB will rectify this problem soon.

Paulinho and Dembele should have scored their chances. Paulinho could have had a hattrick if he made use of the chances as he only had the goalie to beat in all those 3 chances. He should have been more composed in those situations. Hope he will improve his finishings. Or maybe he should just concentrate on creating chances for Soldado, instead of trying to score himself. I think Paulinho should have let the ball to Soldado for his second chance in the first half.

Great to see Soldado taking his penalty well again. He seems very composed when taking the penalties. It is a pity we couldn't create any chance for him from open play. He has now got 4 goals in 3 matches for us, which is really encouraging. Hope our midfield will help him score more goals from open play. Somehow felt having Defoe beside him would have helped Soldado more.

Big credit to our midfield and defence for keeping our third clean sheet of the season. We do look solid in defence so far this season. Hope we can continue this solid performance for long time. We didn't take undue risk in defence which was nice to see. Also, Lloris made a few great saves to help us keep this clean sheet.

This has been a good start to the season for us. We are now joint leader of the PL with maximum points from 2 matches which is a great feeling. But we need to continue this good work in our coming matches, especially against Arsenal next week. But hope we would have signed a creative midfielder or two by then.

 

[braineclipse]

Now we are starting to split hairs. He isnt a creative player in the true sense. Call him box to box, whatever. Personally, i think he is going to be quite easily out player of the season by an absolute mile. The fact remains he simply isnt a Modric, VDV or Bale type.

How many times have our midfield put Soldado through in two games against 'lesser' opposition? None.

Im not having a go, far from it, with this midfield i dont think we are going to lose more than 6 this season, such will be our dominance but i can see a lot of draws.

I am merely pointing out, to achieve top 4 i think we need that special player... Its the difference between the good teams and the excellent. There are only a handful of steikers in the world who can create from nothing, Soldado isnt one, he needs excellent service and Paulinho, Capoue and Dembele can only do so much.

If differentiating between a holding midfielder and a box to box midfielder is splitting hairs to you then I think we'd better agree to disagree and move on.

I do agree that we need more creativity, I'm hoping we'll complete the deal for Lamela.

 

[billyiddo]

am loving the midfield dominance - we just seem to take the ball from our opponents at will, making it look so easy. i think once the Bale situation is sorted (him staying or a replacement brought in) and the team has played a few more games together we'll start to create a lot more

 

[BrainOfLevy]

This sitting midfielders thing is a bit strange. We played a 4-3-3, not 3 sitting midfielders. We played one sitting in Capoue.

 

[DHSF]

This sitting midfielders thing is a bit strange. We played a 4-3-3, not 3 sitting midfielders. We played one sitting in Capoue.

I think the terms people are bandying about have the same meaning in the end. Ultimately its playing midfielders at home who lack creativity and guile in the true sense.

Surely playing Dembele in the middle with Paulinho/Capoue and Sig behind Soldado is more creative than the starting front line up. Im not a big fan of Sig but he is more suited to that behind the striker role. The starting line up may well be fine for away games id say especially if youre talking about playing against chelscums of this world.

We were at home and whilst swansea are a decent team who barely got a sniff at goal, we need to boost our goal difference, as we know from last couple of seasons where that counted as an extra point.

Anyways time to move on and hopefully we will remain unbeaten going into the international break.

 

[braineclipse]

I think the terms people are bandying about have the same meaning in the end. Ultimately its playing midfielders at home who lack creativity and guile in the true sense.

Surely playing Dembele in the middle with Paulinho/Capoue and Sig behind Soldado is more creative than the starting front line up. Im not a big fan of Sig but he is more suited to that behind the striker role. The starting line up may well be fine for away games id say especially if youre talking about playing against chelscums of this world.

We were at home and whilst swansea are a decent team who barely got a sniff at goal, we need to boost our goal difference, as we know from last couple of seasons where that counted as an extra point.

Anyways time to move on and hopefully we will remain unbeaten going into the international break.

Overly simplistic imo.

We put out a team that was very well matched to Swansea's strengths. That's much more relevant than us being home or away or up against a top team or a mid table team.

I think it can be argued that Paulinho offered more going forward in that 4-3-3 against Swansea than Sig did against Palace playing behind the striker anyway.

 

[metalgear]

also credit to swansea they did play well, good pressure and passing and all. too bad for shelvey , otherwise it would have been nil-all