7 Feb 2012

LFC Legend slams 'awful' Liverpool attacking play...

Liverpool drew their 8th home league game of the season against Spurs last night, and after the game, Kenny Dalglish declared that he was 'really pleased' with the way the team played. Dalglish's former team-mate Steve Nicol had the opposite reaction, and bemoaned the quality of Liverpool's play in the attacking third of the field.

Spurs were missing key players, and their manager Harry Redknapp was not even at the game, but once again, Liverpool could not find the creativity to break down a team at Anfield.

Last week, I highlighted how only 21% of all Liverpool's crosses this season had been successful, and it was the same again last night: the final ball into the box was poor, and once again the result suffered.

Analysing the game for ESPN, Nicol was also frustrated with the quality of passing in the attacking third of the field. He observed:

"The final ball into the box when they had a chance to put it in was just awful. The number of times they never cleared the first man, or played it too far; or gave it to the goalkeeper. They were void of ideas in that final third.

"Spurs did defend well; they've gone away to Anfield and come away with a point; a clean sheet, so on one hand you'd say they'd done well, but on the other hand, they were very poor".


I agree with Nicol - Spurs were poor, and they were arguably there for the taking, but Liverpool just couldn't carve them open.

The lack of creativity at Anfield is a real problem; as John Barnes said recently, Liverpool need more genuine creative quality in the squad. Did anyone really believe that Stewart Downing was going to come off the bench and change the game?

Too many squad players and not enough match-winners; Luis Suarez and Steven Gerrard can't do it all by themselves.

Jaimie Kanwar


56 comments:

  1. 21 percent? not surprised . Been saying this for ages

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  2. Liver Spots only have themselves to blame.  If Spurs had their best squad, then they would have won.  Suerez or however you spell his name should have been sent off for the kick that got Parker.  With his foot that high...................my goodness.  Send him back to Sarf Amerika............he has NFI...........................

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  3. I agree with him 100%. Our crosses were disgustingly rubbish! And number of back-passes we do from a good attacking position is appalling! I felt sorry for Andy Carroll who was asking everyone for the crosses throughout the game! 

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  4. Was at the game last night and left Anfield feeling that it was definitely two points lost rather then a point gained, before the game I would have taken a point though as I think Spurs are quality and alongside Bolton are the only team to really rip us apart. I didn't think Downing did badly when he came on, and I thought Carroll had another really good game-definitely coming good for us as I thought. In fact I don't think anyone had a bad game but as Nicol says, it's as if the players can't beat the first man, it happens too often an I don't understand it because the passing up to the area is pinpoint. Also to be fair, Tottenham had ten men behind the ball for most of the game, any professional team who does that is going to be hard to break down, but if we want that fourth place then we're going to have to find a way to do it, maybe a bit more belief now that the confidence is returning.

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  5. Too many fans saying 'oh we should be happy with a draw as Spurs are third in the table' but base it on what actually happened in the game

    What happened was that Spurs were nowhere near the best, players missing, we had them and the possession under control, we dominated the game and we had most, if not all, our first XI out there......yet the Bale chance was better than anything we created and the hoofballs to Carroll were more effective than any of our passes on the ground.

    You may not like it but just like against United in the cup, hoofball is our most penetrative weapon at the moment

    Great....

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  6. agree..the players gave their best but still couldn't beat a 80% discounted Spurs side. It's time to recruit creative n world class players, n not just settle for a bunch of squad players. But our current standing n lack of CL could b a major turn off to "match-winners"...Personally, i wished v had bought Mata, Tevez, Hazard etc...well, i guess tis year v just have to b satisfied with the Cups n start dreaming of CL again nxt year. YNWA~

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  7. How is it a sending off? If you go to header the ball and butt someone it's not a sending off. If you go to tackle and miss the ball an get the
    An its not a sending off, if you go to kick the ball and lock someone ip the arse its not a sending off. If his foot was high he would have liked him in the chest or head. Oh, I forgot, it was because it was Suarez who kicked. You can tell he didn't mean it from his reaction, he thought he nudged him sufficiently to get a volley off.

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  8. Tottenham fan here...Spurs set out for a point, a dangerous tactic because Liverpool totally dominated us, with spurs relying on quick counter attacks (nearly worked with Bale). Liverpool have vastly improved IMO, however seem to lack a bit of 'quality' in the final third. Sorry but Carroll really doesnt 'cut it' for me, Suarez we all know is quality but without the service, neither can be effective.....but I'm sure Liverpool will come good and are definately heading in the right direction. Couple of quality signings in the summer and they will once again be a CL Team....good match last night and agree you can feel aggrieved at not getting all 3 points (although Scotty Parker was IMMENSE and didnt deserve to lose).

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  9. What did Dalglish & Camolli see in Downing & Carroll to warrant spending OVER £50million?! Downing is 27, has never done anything of note in his career - a league cup with boro?! He couldnt even make the england squad when they struggled for left wingers. So why he was seen as a KEY signing for us is beyond me.

    Andy Carroll, ok he is young and *may* still come good, but to persist with him week in week out is crazy. Maybe our style of play doesnt quite suit him, but our scouts and manager should have known before panic buying. The fact that  Newcastle valued him at under £1mill before we signed him says it all!

    Although Kenny is the King and we have played some good football at times, is he enough to take us to the top? Is his & comollis "moneyball" strategy for signing players working? I'm unsure and this could ultimatley cost us another year without CL football.  I'd deffinately be having a chat with Mourinho should the rumours be true he is looking for a long-term return to england! He is the sort of players the fans could love and he could certainly love the fans, the guy was almost in tears when leaving inter.

    I hope and pray we battle on and get at least fourth;  stuff the league cup and the FA Cup, we need to be a top 4 team, but the way we're going it could be a 5/6/7 place finish which is unacceptable for LFC. Still plenty to play for but we need to buck our ideas up fast!

    PS > I thought we missed Henderson last night, i like to see him up top closing down defence which we really did miss. Bellamy can do that job but not out on the left wing, there was never a chance that Carroll would do it.

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  10. Ho ho pass the Tena pads...a funny cockney

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  11. His reaction...Maybe he was pretending to care and to make it seem like it wasn't intentional. 

    Wouldn't be the first time a footballer tries that trick, in order to look angelic in front of the ref and get him to ease off on the punishment.

    Come on, a barge like that enough to push Parker clearly out the way for a volley? Hmm, dodgy excuse that one at least.

    Sorry but to me, considering the flight of the ball versus the timing of the kick, that was deliberate as they come. No way was the ball going to drop quick enough to justify the timing of Suarez kick, if he genuinely thought a little barge like that would somehow move Parker out of the way.

    Doesn't make sense unless Suarez meant to hit Parker. 

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  12. And it makes more sense for him to not challenge for the ball and to kick Parker in the stomach? Bearing in mind there is no previous history, he hadn't been on the pitch long enough to exactly been wound up by Parker, and the challenge was exactly facing away from the referee. He also pulls his legs back the moment he connects, if he hasn't then Parker would have been in pieces, look how hard Suarez kicks the ball!

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  13. Ohhh and forgot to add, anyone that thinks Suarez deserved a Red card for the Parker challenge, get a grip. Foul, yellow card, move on.

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  14. You don't have to have previous history with victim to attack him.  Maybe he was sat on the bench thinking that Parker is getting away with too many rough tackles/fouls. 
    Some players lose the plot and do stupid things for no reason. Don't see what pullng the leg back does in terms of hitting Parker. Regardless of whether the velocity is weak or hard, still possible to hit someone on purpose, which Suarez seems to have done. And I'm not even going to comment on the eye gouge by Suarez on Parker.

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  15. Why would the velocity not matter? Of you mean to kick someone, you dot pull out do you???? An that's what this debate is about, if he meant the kick then it's a sending off. As for the eye gouge you've just commented-clearly. Also, why has Parker not mentioned anything or even his teammates or management? It seems like its only you and the papers that are bothered.

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  16. The funny thing is I would be more inclined to believe that Suarez didn't mean to do it if the kick was aimed at Parker's head (even though that is more dangerous), because of the timing of it would correlate a lot better with the timing and flight of the ball. 

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  17. I don't feel aggrieved at all, as we didn't create much at all. I think we only had a couple fo shots on target the whole game. For all our possesion we wasted it with the final ball. It says something when our best player was possibly Carroll - he held the ball up well, looked hungry and determined; unfortunately he was let down by his teammates as per usual - not getting the service.

    We are absolutely awful in the final third and delivering the final ball - absolutely embarassing if i'm honest. All we offered was  abit of bluster, square balls across your two lines of 4 and laucnhing ambitious balls in to no mans land or out for goal kicks in acts of desperation, or Dawson clearing easy balls out of the box. We were not a threat at all. Suarez is obviously an exciting player, but that header into Friedel's hands is exactly what he is all about - crap finishing. He is a creator, not a goalscorer - that was a sitter he missed last night, and if that had been Carroll missing that he would be getting slaughtered right now.

    We got what we deserved out of the game, and we are where we are because Liverpool is now a mediocre team with little or no prospects to crash into the top four anytime soon. Certainly with the average players we have in our squad. All down to KK i'm afraid, we will never win anything with him in charge i'm sorry to say. I reckon Cardiff will roll us over in the mickey mouse up final as well. :-(

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  18. Reading your digs on Carroll, what did he do wrong besides that one miss? And how did he not chase the defence down? Where we watching a different game? Because I thought Carroll was very good.

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  19. You need to have a look at the Spurs team and appearances this season and in their forward line VDV was the only one missing Defoe is a sub and Lennon has been injured for half the games this season! Modric,Parker,Walker,
    Ekotto,Bale and Adeybayor have been the main driving force for Spurs going forward this season still had King and Dawson in the centre of defence, 
    Kranjcar came in, the way some on here are discounting the Spurs team and they had players missing is a bit disrespectful to the Spurs team and that Defoe and Lennon are the reason why they are 3rd.

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  20. Suarez doesn't look like pulling out to me, prior to kicking him. After kicking him, he pulls away and I would expect him to, if he wants it to 'appear' accidental and angelic. What I meant by velocity was that it doesn't matter if the kick was weak or hard as that is no proof that Suarez did or did not mean to do it. 

    So what if the Spurs' management haven't said anything about it, I and many others are entitled to an opinion. So because Spurs haven't said anything, that means I can't say anything about it. Odd. How on earth would Parker know if it was on purpose as he was too busy heading the ball and getting kicked in the stomach (ball high enough for header but yet kick is aimed at stomach, at same time. Says it all really). 

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  21. I was very suprised to see Craig Bellamy's Delivery from out wide was poor last night, usually one of our best crossers of the ball. part of the problem was having to play a right footed player at left back as GJ was always coming back on his right foot. MK put in 1 good cross out of about 8 so an area he needs to improve on if we can consider him a more regular starter. Defended well though in all fairness to him!!

    Kuyt awful again and a more liability than any other player in the squad at the moment, gave the ball away so many times, even the often supportive Gerrard shaking his head in disbelief at the lack of simple link up at times!!

    Atleast positive signs with Andy Carroll that he looked like he wanted to be out there!!!!!And murdered Dawson and King in the air with all the build up play, just hope he finds his feet in the box!!!!

    Do think Nicol does need to wind his neck in a little bit though, entitled to his opinion and respect that but maybe he should fly over here and apply his trade within the premier league because if all the Ex Liverpool Pro's from the 80's and 90's Managerial Records stand up I do not expect him to be successful whatsoever!

    Quality player Mind!!

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  22. I thought Carroll was fine apart from that miss, considering the service was rubbish.

    And the long balls upto him were Liverpool's best chance of penetrating Spurs, just like it was Liverpool's best chance of penetrating mancs in the cup. So for all the passing on the ground, its long balls and Carroll that has been more penetrative

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  23. Is that what you expected from Suarez, when he signed from Ajax? He was known for his goalscoring over there. Or are we seeing like a Kuyt-like conversion, from striker to attacking midfielder. Though he is of course more exciting than Kuyt, for good and bad reasons.

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  24. disagree about Henderson - I thought we were better without him. Spearing did a good job for us breaking up their play and getting the tackles in. I thought Skyrtel was immense by he way - he really is quite a decent centre half these days.

    I also think 4th is well beyond us, WELL beyond us. 7th is about right, maybe 6th as Newcastle are just the suprise package of the season (there is always one!). But we are where we are and is a true refelction of our "progress", to think we are any better than the teams above us is pure fanciful blind optimism. The weekend game at OT is the acid test really. I don't expect any kind of result TBH, and then even the nmost rose tinted spectacled LFC fan will accept that 4th is impossible and we can start thinking of getting in a new manager come the summer

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  25. Even if you may disagree that the Spurs side was weakened, we still should have done better considering how the game turned out. All that possession on the floor and yet our best penetrative play was hoofball and they had the best chance of the game. So all this spin about how Spurs form is good, so we should be glad of taking a point anyway is just positive spin waffle. Base it on what happened in the game, not before it.

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  26. Well I'll leave it now as I have said my piece and got nothing new to add to this angle now.

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  27. Well kenny was told their was cash for players if he needed it in jan and he only bought a youngster who prob won't even be given a chance. Their was desent creative players available and not boosting the squad is gonna cost us a champions league spot. I know we have a carling club final to look forward to but this season is looking to be a major fail again. If we get 6th or 7th this season and I think we should go all out for Jose Mourinho. If we want a genuine title challange he has been great at every club he has been at. Kennys a legend yes but what do we want to go forward? I think so!

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  28. it is not what I expected, no - I thought he woudl be a bit more of a goal machine but the proof is in the pudding really. He doesn't appear to be that composed in front of goal, with some wild flails at the ball sometimes for a shot. I got that impression immediately after his first penatly take for us when he sent the ball into row Z - i thought then that his shooting is a bit wild.

    I still think he will score a good few goals for us but I think he would be better playing just behind another main striker, or slightly out wide a bit as he knows how to take on a player down the wing and cut in to the penalty box - but is infinitely better than Kuyt at this. I'm not criticising Kuyt, love the guy, but he offers an extra bod in midfield as additoanl defence mainly, and pipes up with a few important goals, whereas Suarez is pure attacking.

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  29. A good cat & mouse encounter last night and a decent performance from both sides. With VdV, Lennon, Sandro & Kaboul unable to play & Harry stranded in London Spurs played a very uncharectaristic defensive game & it has to be said, played it extremely well. As the home team & with some great results recently the onous was always going to be on Liverpool to try & dictate the tempo of the game. They were unable to do so & with Spurs happy to sit & react a nil-nil was nailed on.
    I thought Skrtel, Carrol, Johnson & Kelly were the pick for Liverpool & Walker, Dawson, King & Parker were Spurs best performers.
    A good point for both sides IMO with Liverpool tucked in nicely for a real punt at a top 4 spot & Spurs cosolidating there place in 3rd.
    All the best to both sides for the remainder of the season. 

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  30. You talk about Spurs like they are a mid table team and not the team of the season when it has come to  
    playing fast flowing football and nearly all the players 
    that have turned Spurs into that team played last night. That game last night was perfectly set up for Spurs for counter attacking football but it only worked once in 90 mins with any real threat so I think Kenny and the team deserve credit in stopping them playing! Isn't it called tactics what a lot on here say Kenny lacks. 
    Carroll and Suarez had chances just as good as Bales. We have been using the long ball a bit more but we still have a passing game, Carroll dropped deep held the ball up and won the headers from the long balls, showing he his more flexible then some fans think and you can see his strength coming back every game. We should have won! Not glad about a point! We had the possession we were rushing the attacks and making poor choices like shooting 7 shots were blocked when other options were available but then again the crossing was that poor shooting was most probably the best option! 

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  31. What is all this about Spurs playing an understrength team??

    How have the poor man's Walcott (Lennon) and Mr. 60 minutes (VDV) all of a sudden been elevated to the best players in the squad, when all season long all anybody's been going on about have been Bale, Modric & Parker!?

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  32. Carroll is beginning show the hunger he had at Newcastle he did everything last night but score and a goal would have topped his best all round performance for us closing down tracking back , think he won everything into his feet and head.

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  33. Can you name the missing players that made that an "80% discounted Spurs side"??

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  34. I think too many judge performances purely based on the results, rather than the actual performance itself.

    The performance yesterday was as good as can be expected from the current squad as far as I'm concerned. We totally dominated a very good Spurs side (not buying into the b.s. about their depleted squad) but didn't quite have the quality to quite break down their defence. The quality from out wide was very disappointing, but I would've been happy if told we'd see such a performance before the match, so I am happy with it now after the game.

    I am much happier with yesterday's performance than the tripe served up when we beat Man City in the first leg of the cup anyway!

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  35. I haven't said anything that blatantly implies that Spurs are a mid-table side. Resorting to false comments like that do you no favours.


    I'll say it again and in English again, that on the basis of what happened during the game last night, we should have done better. I never said anywhere we didn't do a solid job defencely. I said it was two points dropped.
    At the end of the day, we dominated the game but didn't create much. Any signs of penetrating the Spurs defence came about because of hoofball. Our passing game was almost impotent and did almost nothing to penetrate the Spurs defence. Which is sad as that is supposed to be our style. 

    So on that basis, I am justified in being disappointed with our attacking play as we dominated the game and possession.

    If you were happy with our attacking play and two points being dropped, considering all the possession we had and how Spurs didn't attack, than maybe we have different standards as to how good Liverpool should be at Anfield. Funnily enough, if anyone thinks anyone is mid-table, its you making out that we are mid-table, considering your low expectations.

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  36. I'm not leavin it after the comment on me being a bit odd, where s
    Did I say you can't have an opinion????? Please explain. An I'll repeat once again, if I meant to kick someone I would do it as hard as possible, why would I do it an then pull out? Having kicked a few people in the stomach as hard as I can i know that Scott Parker wouldn't go down like that if it was that hard. Leading me to believe Suarez pulled back, as you would when you would realise the ball has not dropped to that level.

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  37. Agreed, I honestly think some people don't like him because he is English, is not flamboyant or full of tricks, and his name looks crap on the back of a shirt. Or am I being a bit of pessimist? ( feel free to correct me with my use of the English language because I think I may be wrong with that word).

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  38. Gerrard plays too deep, he needs to be abit lazy and stay higher up the field to give support to Carroll and the wingers.

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  39. Not got low expectations but I don't think we should just turn up and expect to win against a team like Spurs and how they play at the moment, best thing about last night we are talking about we should have won and not Spurs running us ragged like most were expecting.The team look like they are getting together going forward then we get another game like last night.

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  40. There are always going to be negatives with a player like Carroll but if we can get him playing like he was at Newcastle we have got another weapon to back up the football. We have everything in the attacking department now with Suarez back and the stat that Carroll,Suarez and Gerrard haven't even played 90 mins of football together should gives some hope for what could becoming.

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  41. Thought Tottenham were average last night and was surprised that they virtually surrendered their title challenge by being so negative. Their team was not that weak last night, although Kevin Bond is clueless as a manager, so not having Harry on the bench probably hurt them more than any players they might have missed.

    Our attacking play, however, is poor and with such a high draw rate at home, can't see how we will much higher than 6th at the end of the season. Not good enough if we end up behind Chelsea AND Arsenal.

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  42. Mourinho would play the same boring football our foreign managers played, its not the Liverpool way. As for him almost n tears leaving  Inter...no one made him. And if he was Liverpool manager he'd leave to be man u manager, thats the last thing we'd want.

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  43. Bale, Modric, Parker, Walker and Friedel! And all of them played!

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  44. You are kidding! 4th is as possible or impossible for us, at this point until the end of the season, as it is for Chelsea, Newcastle and Arsenal. Arsenal and Chelsea have become as prone to dropping points as we are and the margins are very fine. To say it is beyond us is hence quite illogical. You question if we should think our team is any better than the teams above us, I challenge you to answer this one, is our team any worse?

    Where we fail is the inability to punish bottom teams the way Chelsea and Man U do, however, we do have a better record against table topping opponents than the rest of our opponents. We've not lost on home turf to a top side. Given how our squad can perform, you don't need rose tinted glasses to see we are no worse than Arsenal, Chelsea or Newcastle.

    Additionally, you seem to have prioritised getting into the top 4 over winning the league. Why should we even consider getting in a new manager? Kenny was signed for 3 years, which is not very long at all. He has a project to work on for 3 years and we can't always suddenly stop these projects and start from square 1. We will lose even more time to create something of note. Besides, it is impossible to name more than 5, or even 3 potentially better managers than Kenny for Liverpool.

    It is easy to whine about us being not that good and being unhappy with what we've got, but we forget we're not that bad and neither is what we've got.

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  45. The character of Spurs' games have never been determined by Sandro or Lennon, or even Kaboul(Dawson is better than Kaboul on good days, but Kaboul is more consistent) who is a defender! Their absence has nothing to do with how Spurs played. Kranjcar is not very inferior to vdV either. The players who normally dictate the tempo for Spurs matches are Parker and Modric and we marked them out of the game. Spurs did not set out to play a defensive game, they had no choice. There was no way Charlie Adam was going to dictate our tempo, so our boys doing that was out of the question. Gerrard was making sure Parker almost never got too far from his own 18 yard box while Spearing was keeping Modric out of ours

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  46. Agree on most counts except lacking the quality to breach their defence. It was our style of play. To score against Spurs, you must give them the chance to score against you and if we played such a game, the probability was they'd outscore us. We were always going to be better off trying to contain them which in itself was quite a feat!

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  47. Well Suarez certainly can't if he's sitting on the bench , pathetic , not fair to play him from the start cos he has'nt played since boxing day , not fair , sorry don't get the logic .

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  48. You are being far too nice to your own team.  Suearez (or however you spell his name) firstly pushed Parker away and then kicked him..........have a good look at the video. 

    Liverspots were playing at home and the Everton Cat couldn't even help you out..............what more do you want..................

    So many games and so many draws at home...................you are not top four any more...........................

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  49. How does the worst chance conversation rate in the league suggest we have everything in the attacking department????

    I must be missing something with Carroll. Nothing more than a rich mans Heskey and a few assists and a goal is not going to change my mind. If he really was as quality as you say, he would have taken that sitter and won the game. Still not good enough.

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  50. Liverpool weren't boring under Benitez.

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  51. You hit the nail on the head there. "Where we fail is the inability punish the bottom teams". That's why we won't qualify for Champions league. There are more bad teams than good teams in the PL and thus, more points to be had from beating them.

    We've not lost on home turf, but we've drawn something like 8 out of 12. Just think how much money Comolli and KD were given last year. We were 7th this time last year and we're still 7th now.

    I don't think people grasp how good Newcastle are. In Ba and Cisse they have a menacing strike force that puts ours to shame. 

    Arsenal have Robin Van Persie, who's scored 32 goals in 35 for club and country, and Oxlade Chamberlain looks a real star in the making.

    Chelsea aren't firing but they still score more goals than us. 

    That's the difference. Our attack just isn't that hot, as sad as it is to say. We're not just going to waltz into fourth place like it's our god given right and it would be a minor miracle if we did get there.

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  52. @ Jay & Pastor of Muppets. Spurs have an strong squad & the 11 starters for Spurs made up what was a very strong team. Whilst I would agree that a Kaboul not playing made little difference I think u r both underestimating the influence of VdV & Lennon on the way Spurs play. Away from home in particular Sandro is massively important too. VdV & Kranjcar are so unalike its ridiculous to try & compare em. The Croat was a direct replacement for Lennon on Mon, he's a quality player but a flying winger he aint. If Johnson had had Walker & Lennon to contend with Im not so sure he would have looked so comfortable as a makeshift LB. VdV mostly plays close to & off of Adebayor. His ommission saw the Togolese isolated & alone for almost all of the game & an easier problem to deal with for Agger & Skrtel. IMO if both of em had been fit to play on Mon night we wouldnt be disecting an enjoyable 0-0 draw. Spurs would have had 1 less defensive midfielder (Livermore) 1 shit off a shovel winger & 1 supporting forward. Im not sure who would have won but am pretty sure we would have seen a few goals.  

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  53. I'm not underestimating the importance of their players - I'm just saying everybody seems to be overestimating them now just because they were missing. If you asked most fans before the game who Spurs' best/most important players were, I doubt you'd be hearing Defoe, Lennon or even VDV appearing in the top 5 tbh.

    We played without Enrique, Lucas and Suarez for most of the game. It's easy to just say if they were all starting, Johnson & Enrique would've put more pressure on Bale & Lennon to defend than Kelly & Johnson did, Lucas would've freed up Gerrard to attack even more freely and Suarez would've had more time to impact the game in a far more positive manner than Kuyt did.

    Every team will be missing a couple of regular starters in any given game, and Spurs had their key players against us, but were forced into a subdued performance. Is it really so hard to give us any credit if we don't win a game???

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  54. And our attack isn't that hot not because we don't have the finishers. We have excellent finishers, however, our attacks still need alot of refinement. We've had too many nearly goals this season that would've been had 1 or 2 players moved a little faster or if the final ball landed a yard further from goal or if there was a lay off to someone better positioned to score. All these require time to figure out and get right.

    Newcastle's forwards get to shine because they attack a little deeper than we do. Their forwards are given the space to run at defenders. Our forwards are typically left with no space to manoeuvre, not just by the opponent's defence, but by how we move players up. Suarez especially loves to play too close to the goal, which means his efforts at creating have no beneficiary. Carroll, while not as skilled, creates better chances with his flick ons as players can run onto those behind defenders, and we haven't seen this till recently, further proof that these things come with time - but are there nonetheless.

    We have the hot attackers. It is something about the collective technique of the team that isn't moving our opponents around well enough. We can't expect every team to look to attack us like top teams do, and that is why we beat them. We press top teams all over the pitch so they lose the ball when drawn out. We totally choke bottom teams, but we choke ourselves too. Van Persie wouldn't hit 20 goals a season playing for us, he'll have nowhere to run to create shooting space. We are playing very similarly to Mourinho's Chelsea, except they are able to force that 1 goal through a game, or defend alittle tighter. I wouldn't say 4th position would be such a miracle, we just have to hit a vein of form. If something suddenly clicks, we'll be there.

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  55. No, its not a problem to give credit. If u read my 1st post u will see I complimented both sides on their performance. Football is a matter of opinion & we can all be subjective as to whether one player playing would have freed up another to make a difference. If u asked 99% of Spurs fans they would tell u that VdV is as important to the sides attacking play as Bale & Modric and that the option to attack with blistering pace down both flanks has been an integral part of our play all season. Its just an opinion but mine happens to be that if both had been fit to play Spurs would not have 'parked the bus' has some have described & we would not have witnessed a goaless draw. One last thing, U were without Lucas & Enrique through injury & u would have more idea than me as to whether they would have made a big difference if they had been available. Your manager chose to bench Suarez for the 1st hour so technically u werent 'without' him. Anyway we move on, our manager has been exonerated & us Spurs fans are looking forward to what should be a helter skelter run in. All the best to the Redmen in their persuit of CL football. Cheers! 

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  56. ok - I thought that you were another Liverpool fan attempting to discredit the performance for the mere fact that it didn't end in victory. As many are doing.

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