Ratings v Sunderland

[metalgear]

sandro had a lot of mistakes in critical areas but also a lot of saves that could have ended up as goals... a 5 for him.
ade looked like he wasn't going to bust his lung at all. .... a 5 for him
the rest of the team - i believe played according to plan, but ran into brick walls.... 6 maybe 7 for a few
8 for both BAE and Walker who were involved in all the important plays, BOTH in attack and defence.

3 for redknapp for tactics and not working the team harder during training on how to play against two-banks-of-four.

 

[THFC]

sandro had a lot of mistakes in critical areas but also a lot of saves that could have ended up as goals... a 5 for him.

he created most of the last ditchers that he saved

 

[totman]

That would be pretty bad, and I think you would agree if that was the case.

Scara made the point that pass completion and a high number of passes on it's own doesn't have to be a great thing. It's like the "Oh, Leon Britton is the best passer in Europe, look at this one stat - he's ahead of Xavi" flimflam the media came out with not long ago.

But if you want more stats, of his passes he completed 8/10 into the final third. By comparison Modric completed 16/29, VdV 21/29. Despite both of them having quite a few fewer passes than Scotty.

If you want to argue against the point that his passes aren't as well weighted, or as accurate as the passes some of our other players make I don't know what to say. But I don't think you hold that opinion.

When coupled with Sandro completing 5/8 passes into the final third we get what we got. Loads of possession, very little of it in the final third and relatively few chances and in my opinion legitimate criticism of what that central duo did on the ball.

It would be bad, but the point Im making is that it wasnt bad. It was an excellent stat, but predictably it was belittled.

Yet if the stats were poor, Im pretty sure they would be used as "evidence" against, with absoluetly zero other factors taken into account.

 

[Gilzeantoscore]

You might want to start supporting another team over the next few seasons then because I have a feeling he will be used alot more. Your comment is the ultimate fickle nonsense Spurs fans are infamous for.

I have a feeling this could get rubbed in your face

,so the price of supporting Spurs is approving of every player in the squad? Using that criteria Tottenham would have very few supporters. Ha, ha. Sandro was clueless yesterday and basically has been a passenger for weeks now. Coincidently since we stopped winning.

I'm not interested in how well he played last year. I'm only interested in how he performs now! Frankly there are better options than him. If he were British, people would be all over his performances ala Jenas, but rumour has it he was born in Brazil. He must be one of the few who can't pass, trap or head a football. Anyway I would be happy to have it rubbed in my face, I only want the team to win.

 

[braineclipse]

It would be bad, but the point Im making is that it wasnt bad. It was an excellent stat, but predictably it was belittled.

Yet if the stats were poor, Im pretty sure they would be used as "evidence" against, with absoluetly zero other factors taken into account.

What is your opinion on how Parker passed the ball against Sunderland? Do you think it was "excellent"?

Possession for the sake of possession and passing for the sake of passing against a team that is parking the bus when we are at 0-0 is not a good thing in my opinion. Exchanging easy, unpressed passes in our own half is not a good thing in those cases. Parker is far from the first player criticized for this.

Just because a 50/108 stat would be terrible doesn't mean a 100/108 stat is excellent.

 

[punk_is_back`]

,so the price of supporting Spurs is approving of every player in the squad? Using that criteria Tottenham would have very few supporters. Ha, ha. Sandro was clueless yesterday and basically has been a passenger for weeks now. Coincidently since we stopped winning.

I'm not interested in how well he played last year. I'm only interested in how he performs now! Frankly there are better options than him. If he were British, people would be all over his performances ala Jenas, but rumour has it he was born in Brazil. He must be one of the few who can't pass, trap or head a football. Anyway I would be happy to have it rubbed in my face, I only want the team to win.

Parker is british and he gets away with only have the bulldog spirit and a tough tackle.

 

[Jurgen the German]

Parker is british and he gets away with only have the bulldog spirit and a tough tackle.

You forgot to mention another reason he is given some leeway is because he has been one of our best players this season. You won't be able to admit this is the case, but he has been a great signing.

 

[The Moonlit Knight]

What is your opinion on how Parker passed the ball against Sunderland? Do you think it was "excellent"?

Possession for the sake of possession and passing for the sake of passing against a team that is parking the bus when we are at 0-0 is not a good thing in my opinion. Exchanging easy, unpressed passes in our own half is not a good thing in those cases. Parker is far from the first player criticized for this.

Just because a 50/108 stat would be terrible doesn't mean a 100/108 stat is excellent.

Parker passed the ball well against Sunderland. The entire team did generally. The problem was we lacked anyone supplying that killer pass, but that isn't Parker's primary role in the team so to single him out seems a bit absurd.

When a team sits deep you usually have two realistic options (unless you're Barca in which case you play through them!). Hit the ball long and see if you can make something of the second ball. Or more cultured, get the ball wide and whip it crosses and attack them. The problem we had was that Walker and Ekotto's crossing was abysmal. Bale didn't stay wide left enough to actually provide any crosses and VDV drifted and hardly crossed anyway.

We also lack a midfielder that loves to attack the box. Modric likes to receive the ball to feet. If you had a 33 year old Poyet alongside Parker and Modric in the centre of our park and all of a sudden you have that threat. Modric likes to create openings, not be on the receiving end of them and THAT is our problem from central midfield. And the problem we have is that if we choose to play 4-5-1 we don't have a single midfielder at the club who can play that role from the centre. The closest we have is Kranky, and as far as I am concerned he is no central mid.

 

[The Moonlit Knight]

Parker is british and he gets away with only have the bulldog spirit and a tough tackle.

Harsh. He is a massive reason as to why we dominate possession. He slows the play down and offers himself up for a simple pass time and time again. And that possession domination is a massive reason as to why we are currently 3rd in the table.

 

[polski sklep]

Parker is british and he gets away with only have the bulldog spirit and a tough tackle.

It is not just the British who appreciate the contribution of leaders.

 

[Rorschach]

The 5 man midfield gives us a possession advantage, and considering we'd just come off a poor run Harry has gone into recent matches playing it safe and it has worked more or less. Possession is our best form of defence lately.

When I saw the line up yesterday I agreed with it but it was obvious after even 15mins that Sunderland were going to sit in and tough it out. At that point Harry needed to change it but we pesisted with the two DMs until halfway through the 2nd half. That was was a tactical error by Harry in my opinion but I would have probably taken a point at the SOL before the game started.

 

[punk_is_back`]

Harsh. He is a massive reason as to why we dominate possession. He slows the play down and offers himself up for a simple pass time and time again. And that possession domination is a massive reason as to why we are currently 3rd in the table.

There's no need for possession domination nor slowing the play if you are at a 0-0 stalemate when you need to win the game against an inferior team. Parker only slows the play down because he doesn't have the ability to contribute, its because he's neither a smart nor a technical footballer not because he's tactically trying to slow it down.

 

[punk_is_back`]

Well he hardly "led" us to a victory didn't he. You need to lead by example like Roy Keane did dragging his team across the line at times, not just by tackling someone a bit hard.

 

[braineclipse]

Parker passed the ball well against Sunderland. The entire team did generally. The problem was we lacked anyone supplying that killer pass, but that isn't Parker's primary role in the team so to single him out seems a bit absurd.

When a team sits deep you usually have two realistic options (unless you're Barca in which case you play through them!). Hit the ball long and see if you can make something of the second ball. Or more cultured, get the ball wide and whip it crosses and attack them. The problem we had was that Walker and Ekotto's crossing was abysmal. Bale didn't stay wide left enough to actually provide any crosses and VDV drifted and hardly crossed anyway.

We also lack a midfielder that loves to attack the box. Modric likes to receive the ball to feet. If you had a 33 year old Poyet alongside Parker and Modric in the centre of our park and all of a sudden you have that threat. Modric likes to create openings, not be on the receiving end of them and THAT is our problem from central midfield. And the problem we have is that if we choose to play 4-5-1 we don't have a single midfielder at the club who can play that role from the centre. The closest we have is Kranky, and as far as I am concerned he is no central mid.

I'd agree up to "he passed the ball well", I'd probably word it more like "alright", but that's about it.

It might not be his job, but when we're playing him and Sandro in the middle, whose job is it to get the ball forward into good areas? He did alright, better than Sandro anyway. I don't think people are singling him out, people are just saying that a 100/108 pass completion (or whatever it is) is misleading and a lot of those passes were ineffective.

 

[Jurgen the German]

There's no need for possession domination nor slowing the play if you are at a 0-0 stalemate when you need to win the game against an inferior team. Parker only slows the play down because he doesn't have the ability to contribute, its because he's neither a smart nor a technical footballer not because he's tactically trying to slow it down.

And yet you ignore his contributions in games when we were under the cosh or the other team had more possession than us like Liverpool away or Arsenal at home.

 

[punk_is_back`]

And yet you ignore his contributions in games when we were under the cosh or the other team had more possession than us like Liverpool away or Arsenal at home.

Look at my ratings the past two games when he played well. I gave him an 8 in one and 7 in others. However he has yet to reach Keane, Gerrard, Ince or Vieira levels of Adulation that he is getting from fans. If he isn't brining his leadership skills to games like yesterday his contribution is neglibible, he isn't needed in games like this we need someone with a bit more speed of thought who can get the ball to modric and VDV without having them drop back.

 

[The Moonlit Knight]

There's no need for possession domination nor slowing the play if you are at a 0-0 stalemate when you need to win the game against an inferior team. Parker only slows the play down because he doesn't have the ability to contribute, its because he's neither a smart nor a technical footballer not because he's tactically trying to slow it down.

Christ that's arrogant. Against Sunderland at their place? Sunderland are favourites against anyone but Utd or City (and even then I'd say that a draw is most likely than a Utd or City victory).

And keeping possession is totally key. If you have the ball, you can't be hurt. Parker has been THE main fulcrum of our team this year (as the holding midfielder always is in any team). The centre of the spider web. So if he is so brick, how are we third?

 

[Jurgen the German]

Look at my ratings the past two games when he played well. I gave him an 8 in one and 7 in others. However he has yet to reach Keane, Gerrard, Ince or Vieira levels of Adulation that he is getting from fans. If he isn't brining his leadership skills to games like yesterday his contribution is neglibible, he isn't needed in games like this we need someone with a bit more speed of thought who can get the ball to modric and VDV without having them drop back.

He's not as good as Scholes, Keane or the other players you mentioned, I've never claimed he was and I don't think many others have either. He was getting the ball to Modric in the first half of the season, but like many of our players, he has been off form in many games since January. He had a poor game yesterday, but Sandro was far worse. At least Parker didn't get booked or nearly gift the ball to Sessegnon which would have put us in serious brick.

 

[punk_is_back`]

He's not as good as Scholes, Keane or the other players you mentioned, I've never claimed he was and I don't think many others have either. He was getting the ball to Modric in the first half of the season, but like many of our players, he has been off form in many games since January. He had a poor game yesterday, but Sandro was far worse. At least Parker didn't get booked or nearly gift the ball to Sessegnon which would have put us in serious brick.

I've criticised Sandro as well, however we know what he's capable of once he has gotten a run of games. Parker has played the same way all season, sometimes it works out well other times it works out horribly but he's a very limited player and will never be able to win us games like the leaders than Keane, Gerrard and Vieira have for their teams.

 

[scaramanga]

Christ that's arrogant. Against Sunderland at their place? Sunderland are favourites against anyone but Utd or City (and even then I'd say that a draw is most likely than a Utd or City victory).

And keeping possession is totally key. If you have the ball, you can't be hurt. Parker has been THE main fulcrum of our team this year (as the holding midfielder always is in any team). The centre of the spider web. So if he is so brick, how are we third?

As I and others have said before possession is useless for its own sake. When in possession we need to try and stretch the opposition, pull them out of shape. Otherwise we just end up with what happened yesterday.

Parker has his uses - especially when teams throw the kitchen sink at us, but will serve little purpose when up against a team sitting deep and letting us have the ball.