Tottenham – Pretenders in free-fall
Tottenham have hit new lows this year, and with Carrick sold and Lennon and Berbatov out injured, the squad is being slowly found out as not being of any real quality.
To be fair to the Spurs, the slump is unfortunate – Tottenham have played away at Old Trafford, Anfield and Reebok this season, and all three fixtures were expected losses for them. Considering that they are having trouble finding the net this season (Tottenham have not scored in 5 games out of 7), playing away to these sides wasn’t ideal.
After last season’s high and the pre-season hooplah, Tottenham fans will be understandably distraught at their team’s current table position (they lie 4th at the wrong end of the table). The knee-jerk reaction is to blame the manager, and I feel that Jol’s tinkering nature (in the mould of one Claudio Ranieri) may lend some credence to the idea that the manager is responsible for their problems.
However, you can’t just blame Jol and absolve everyone else from blame. Right now, Tottenham have an excellent defensive lineup – Chimbonda, King, Dawson, Assou-Ekkoto – and with Robinson in goal this side should be the 5th best defensive side in the Premiership. Jol (with King and Robinson) needs to settle the defence down quickly – Riise should never have been given the space to take that shot (even if it was the 90th minute and the game was lost).
The left-side remains a problem, but playing Tainio / Murphy there is not a bad idea, especially if you have A-E overlapping and providing crosses. It’s a makeshift solution, but something has to be done. The other possibility would be to play Robbie Keane there, with Defoe/Mido/Berbatov taking the striking roles.
Seeing Berbatov play reminds me of a more elegant version of Ruud van Nistelrooy, and it makes me wonder if the current Tottenham squad wouldn’t be better playing a 4-5-1, like this:
Robinson
Chimbonda-King-Dawson-Assou-Ekkoto
Lennon-Jenas-Zokora-Malbranque-Keane
Berbatov
The service Berba would get out of this lineup would be amazing, and it will allow Tottenham excellent defensive cover as well in away games. A plan B then? Surely that’s more than Jol seems to have right now.
Liverpool 3-0 Tottenham – Riise’s scorcher
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Erm ahmed – we can’t play that team at the moment, the injuries prevent it somewhat. Anyhoo, I wouldn’t worry too much as a Spurs fan. Ok, we might not make the top 6 this season, but there is no danger of us lingering in the bottom half. You have correctly pointed out that we have already played some of the most difficult fixtures, and the team has far too much quality to remain in the bottom 10. Mark my words. It happened to everton last year…
September 24th, 2006 @ 13:42this is the most rediculous post i have ever come across. Jol doesn’t tinker and yes we have got injuries but the 3-0 scoreline against liverpool didn’t tell the story of the game and we were bloody unlucky against united. (breath)
Zokora is starting to settle now and you will see the difference in the next few games. we’ll be in the top 6 by christmas.
September 24th, 2006 @ 14:55Jol is stubborn – that is his big problem – we have seen this before with him. But now all of us had enough: STOP playing Murphy and Davids, they ruin the game.
September 24th, 2006 @ 20:52Chances should be given to: Huddlestone, Keane in midfield, Ziegler, Ghaly.
Can’t wait for Malbranque, Lennon and Berbatov on a winning Spurs team !
The Liverpool game was lost in two ways. Neither of them to do with selection or our defence.
1. Jenas missed a sitter, after that the team knew they weren’t going to get a better chance. The goal that occured at the other and whilst half the Spurs team are still pondering their bad luck proves my point.
2. Our strikers seem to be out of position for much of the game. It may have been me but Defoe seemed to be hugging the touchline at times. He needs to be on the edge of the box, being a turn-and-shoot merchant. Keane on the other hand seemed to be the one too far advanced. His best stuff comes when he’s got space to move therefore hoofing balls up to him from deep when he’s being marked isn’t going to provide the goods either. I thought that Mido a) came on too late to change much and b) looked off the pace.
The Jenas incident summed the match up for me – opportunity missed.
September 25th, 2006 @ 14:04Hugo – I know about the injuries.
Toby – at the highest professional level (Premiership), conceding a goal while your team is “pondering their bad luck” is not just a morale problem, it is unprofessional and … well … stupid.
You’re right about Keane – he’s more of a Rooney-type player than an out-and-out striker.
September 25th, 2006 @ 20:22Ahmed,
Thanks for the comment – like I said I don’t think team selection or the skills of our defenders are the problem.
You’re right that to be caught napping once you miss a chance is stupid, especially when we know that the best teams in the Prem are most dangerous on the break. The midfield was caught napping and I don’t think there’s much as a defender you can do about it apart from do your best to get a tackle in whilst closing down any overlap.
The answer? Be a lot more disciplined and aware, and make sure everyone on the team knows that their job involves mucking in and defending…
I thought this was a pretty decent, balanced article and I’ll be coming back onto this site more and more – hopefully once we’ve actually won a game.
September 26th, 2006 @ 16:42