Touch

[The Moonlit Knight]

his touch is one of the best i've seen from ANY tottenham player, dont think ive ever seen him take a bad touch. obviously the goal vs. chelsea in 2006 is near the top of the list

Lennon has a brilliant first touch to bring a ball under control from a still position. But a truly great first touch is being able to take it on the move or when under pressure.

 

[johnola]

Not the word I would choose after watching the montage of his moments ITV showed after the game.

But he seemed to get away with it and a clean sheet. Another delayed decision about this guy for me.

Fair enough. I liked him instantly, he's a footballer. My defining image of him was when he dribbled the ball past the midfield cover into space to defuse the high press and then laid it off nice and easy without dwelling on a hard bobbly pitch.

Even Dembele, who has the balance of a ibex, had trouble last night.

 

[parklane1]

Is it just me or do we have a team full of guys whose first touch is terrible bar a few?

I know the pitch tonight was bad which doesn't help a passing game but the lads don't help themselves with so many poor first touches.

Hate to say it but its what sets us apart from Wengers boys- something which AVB needs to iron out of a few of our lads.

Thoughts?

Sorry but that is rubbish.

 

[Mumorn]

Lennon has a brilliant first touch to bring a ball under control from a still position. But a truly great first touch is being able to take it on the move or when under pressure.

and Lennon does that better than a lot of players at Spurs.

 

[skyfarer]

I think Berbatov was the last player here who had a truly consistently world-class touch. VdV wasn't too bad either.

I think we need to speed up our play to really distinguish who has sublime touches here, because we still generally play at a pretty slow, methodical tempo and you can't really tell in those circumstances. You can definitely tell on the fast break though. I would argue we tend to have players with "inconsistent" touches more than genuinely poor touches - I've seen some beautiful control from each of our players, just not consistently.

 

[funster]

Berbatov's first touch was almost always sumptuous. Watching him bring the ball down effortlessly while he was in the air himself was just awesome. Not seem anything like it since. Anywhere. (Rose tinted glasses an' all that, but still, it was something to behold)

 

[The Moonlit Knight]

I think Berbatov was the last player here who had a truly consistently world-class touch. VdV wasn't too bad either.

I think we need to speed up our play to really distinguish who has sublime touches here, because we still generally play at a pretty slow, methodical tempo and you can't really tell in those circumstances. You can definitely tell on the fast break though. I would argue we tend to have players with "inconsistent" touches more than genuinely poor touches - I've seen some beautiful control from each of our players, just not consistently.

Berbatov's touch is one of the best I've ever seen and almost certainly the best I've seen from a Spurs player since the Premiership began. Ginola had a great first touch too. Sheringham's first touch was arguably better than Berbatov's, simply because Sheringham used to pass it first time on a regular basis.

A good first touch can vary. For example the easiest first touch is that of a wide man, controlling a crossfield ball. He has time to watch it come over and set himself to take it down in one movement. Lennon does it better than most. Ekotto is another one who was superb at that.

But for me a top class first touch is one where the player can take an opposition player out of the game with it. That's why for me Berbatov and Sheringham were better than Ginola with their first touches. Ginola was a bit like Lennon. He'd wait for it to come down, control it and then beat his man. His first touch (especially chest) was still majestic though and would often give him that little bit of extra time to beat his man. Teddy would simply move into space and play the ball first time accurately before he was closed down. Probably the most difficult thing to defend against in football. Berbatov's touch is so amazing that he can have a defender right on his back and bring the ball down and turn his man in one movement. Carrick was another player who also had an excellent first touch, and Modric's close ball control first touch under pressure is also excellent. It's what sets these players apart.

All of them pale into insignificance to the Spurs player with the best first touch I have ever seen in the world. Hoddle didn't specialise in one or two kinds of first touch. He could do ALL of the above and with either foot!

 

[Roland Beurre]

Kanoute played like he had fly-paper for skin. Maybe even better than Berba in terms of first touch, in my view, at least on high balls.

 

[braineclipse]

Berbatov's touch is one of the best I've ever seen and almost certainly the best I've seen from a Spurs player since the Premiership began. Ginola had a great first touch too. Sheringham's first touch was arguably better than Berbatov's, simply because Sheringham used to pass it first time on a regular basis.

A good first touch can vary. For example the easiest first touch is that of a wide man, controlling a crossfield ball. He has time to watch it come over and set himself to take it down in one movement. Lennon does it better than most. Ekotto is another one who was superb at that.

But for me a top class first touch is one where the player can take an opposition player out of the game with it. That's why for me Berbatov and Sheringham were better than Ginola with their first touches. Ginola was a bit like Lennon. He'd wait for it to come down, control it and then beat his man. His first touch (especially chest) was still majestic though and would often give him that little bit of extra time to beat his man. Teddy would simply move into space and play the ball first time accurately before he was closed down. Probably the most difficult thing to defend against in football. Berbatov's touch is so amazing that he can have a defender right on his back and bring the ball down and turn his man in one movement. Carrick was another player who also had an excellent first touch, and Modric's close ball control first touch under pressure is also excellent. It's what sets these players apart.

All of them pale into insignificance to the Spurs player with the best first touch I have ever seen in the world. Hoddle didn't specialise in one or two kinds of first touch. He could do ALL of the above and with either foot!

Solid post! Unfortunately I'm too young to remember Hoddle, but I agree with all the rest.

Ekotto had a great touch, especially for a defender. Berbatov was really special, like you for me part of it was the ability to take a perfect touch even when under heavy pressure from defenders. They could be hanging off him or barging him in the back, but he still just brought the ball down so easily.

What you said about a first touch taking opponents out of the game made me think of Eriksen's touch against Chelsea in the buildup to our goal. The turn against Lampard was perhaps in isolation not a fantastic touch, but the awareness to make that turn first touch was a bit special. It's not always about the skill in isolation, it's about making that happen at the right time in the right situations in the match.

 

[K.D.D.D.D.Soc]

Defoe's touch is poor, he couldn't trap a box of kippers

 

[Disco]

Berba's touch was magnificent. So much so that at the time all the kids in the park or powerleague regardless if they were spurs fans or not, if they did a great control would call it a Berbatov.




that mother****er for leaving us.

 

[Raziel]

The vast majority of current Spurs players have a brilliant first touch .. to say otherwise based on a single tv game on **** pitch in a cold away game in Russia is a bit over the top.

While we have previously had players with a good touch (e.g. Berbs), touch, strength on ball, short passing are the things that have noticeably improved as we have built a far more technically gifted squad over the last few years (Harry & AVB's time).

 

[metalgear]

jd's first touch isn't his worst attribute.