Spurs Banter Archive January 07 2014



 

07 Jan 2014 13:36:10
Half year report

Before we all get too depressed, our form has been very spotty so far but we are actually a point ahead of where we were at the same stage last season.

Unfortunately, that is the end of the good news. On a fixture-by-fixture basis we are 3 points behind and have scored 12 fewer goals. I also note that last year we were significantly stronger in the second half of the season than in the first, but our 72 points was still not enough to secure Champion's League football.

More worrying is the fact that three of the Big Four seem to have improved since last year and they have been joined by Liverpool and Everton. Only Man United is struggling. In contrast, I think we have gone backwards somewhat.

In the summer, I was concerned about the reckless spending and at the half way stage in the season I don't see much to reassure me. For example, I cannot justify adding five new players to our midfield. It gives us a stronger overall squad but hasn't really solved any of the problems we had last season and has added some new ones.

For example, Paulinho and Capoue are quality cover for Dembele and Sandro, but don't give us a new dimension or any new options. Arguably, their main effect has been to unsettle two of the best players we already had.

Chadli and Sigurdsson are just useful squad players. Like Holtby, they will do a good job when called on, but will never dominate or direct games.

Then there is Eriksen and Lamela. They are the players we hoped would eventually compensate for the loss of Bale. Both are young and have plenty of time to fulfil their promise but it cannot be denied that when they are on the pitch they are not contributing much at present. Eriksen is finally getting some game time without pulling up any trees, but Lamela hasn't really got started yet. It is sod's law that he picked up an injury just as he had a chance to impress the new man in charge. At the moment, I would be wary about picking either of them ahead of Lennon or Townsend in the wide positions, while the 4-4-2 system makes it difficult to accommodate them in the more central position they both obviously prefer.

Chiriches has added some mobility to the defence and looks to be a good addition to the squad, but has marred his promising start with a string of bad mistakes in recent games: particularly by losing possession when he is the last man. Hopefully, as he gets more used to the pace and intensity of the Premiership he will quickly overcome this weakness in his game.

Shipping Ekotto out looks like a bad decision which has only helped confirm that Naughton cannot play on the left.

Last season, the biggest problem was in the forward line. It still is.

I was dubious about Soldado before we signed him (how could we pay £8m more for him than City paid for Negredo?) and that hasn't changed yet.

Adebayor has re-emerged as our best option to lead the line, but we all know there is no future in him. On past form, as soon as he starts to get comfortable in the 1st team again he will stop trying.

In the short run, Adebayor's presence has allowed Soldado scope to roam and get more involved in our link-up play. He looks a better player for it, but he still needs to be getting and taking more chances. People have understandably criticised Defoe for his low conversion rate, but at the moment Soldado's conversion rate is just as bad and he is making far fewer chances for himself.

We can argue about individual players as much as we like, but I think the underlying problem is the role of Baldini. AVB has said that he only approved 3 of our 7 summer signings, implying that Baldini ignored his requests, failed to recognise his priorities and emptied the coffers to shower him with players he didn't want and couldn't use. If Sherwood wants to make the squad his own then this is an issue he will have to confront; sooner rather than later. But what are the chances he will still be in charge next season?

However, it is always darkest just before the dawn and the next few months may turn out to be a lot better than looks likely at the moment.


Shipping out Ekotto was the best decision made, not replacing him was the mistake! He is one big liability! Defoe has had his chance, never took it, we have to persist with Soldado as when we play to his strengths he will flourish . Give it another two games and Ade will be back to his old self . The only problem there is Sherwood thinks the sun shines out of his arse! Erikson is total class, but AVB and Sherwood don't play him in the proper position! Lamela has tremendous potential, but if they are not going to play him, then sell him! You don't pay £30 million for a player and then loan him to another league!


Lamela played yesterday in a spursX1 against Charlton, we won 10-6! Lamela scored and Obika scored 6.


Obika is still not good enough! He is 24, would be a regular if he was!


Calm down Davo I agree, was just saying he scored six!


Pretty much agree with most of that report KM, except on Ekotto where i'm firmly with Davo. Yes we've been short at left-back which is a problem but, Ekotto is brainless and has cost us countless goals over the years. I would never argue with his pace or footballing ability, if he wanted to he could be up there as one of the best left-backs in our league at least, along with Cole, Baines etc, but, he never concentrates for more than odd games or sometimes just odd minutes. A strange character who openly admits his job is just a job, not a passion for the game or a club.


Simmo

I agree with Davo that Ekotto should have been replaced (a left back is probably one of the things AVB asked for, but didn’t get), but I also think that for several years he was a better and more important player than either of you give him credit for.

He was very skilful. Occasionally, over-confidence in his own ability led him to give the ball away in dangerous positions (like Chiriches at the moment) but this did not generally cost us too dear. I know that ‘countless goals’ was meant to be rhetorical, but in truth it was scarcely even a ‘handful’.

Defensively, he was good, but not great, and needed better protection than he usually got. Lennon was always available to bail out Hutton, Corluka and Walker, but Ekotto seldom had any cover. Bale was nominally on his wing but had freedom to roam wherever he wanted and rarely did much defensive work.

Ekotto’s most important contribution was as a springboard for our attacks down the left, either alone or in tandem with Bale. He was one of our most important and frequent outlets and our failure to adequately replace this aspect of his game is a weakness in our current style of play.

I have to admit that last season, when Ekotto came back after a long spell of injury, he just didn’t seem like the same player and your criticism of him was fully justified at that time.

I don’t know if he has subsequently recovered his form at QPR, but an in-form Ekotto would give a useful boost to our squad. Of course, a world class player in this position would be better still and in an ideal world that is what we would go for. But we don’t live in an ideal world.

In the meantime, I would heed the old warning: “Don’t let the best be the enemy of the good”.


 

 

 

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