Tottenham Hotspur 2011-2012 Official Thread
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London_Calling
Pleasant and unpatronising
Just think, you could buy 5 Gareth Bale's for the price of one boozy Geordie fuckwit.
London_Calling
Pleasant and unpatronising
That the original deal was £5 mill up front and another £5 on appearances, but that Southampton later needed the cash so gave up their rights on appearances for £2 mill cash, makes it all soooo much better.
Also... three more points and we're safe!
Also... three more points and we're safe!
Corax
Luke 5:16
There used to be a song at WHL about dreaming of a team of Robbie Keanes.
Leaving his personality aside, Keane was a great player for the club, scoring over 100 goals for the club, and in his prime had pace, good control, and a great shot.
Gareth Bale has pace, in spades. He has not just great control, but a bag full of tricks that he can pull out as needs. The step-overs, dummies, spins, etc are often overlooked in the focus on his speed, but they far surpass anything Keane ever produced. He has an incredible shot, placing it beyond the reach of the keeper time and again with either foot, from any range you care to pick.
Unlike Keane he can also score with his head. And he's big, and strong, and can ride challenges and hold up the ball under pressure. And he can cross as well as anyone in the EPL. And he can sprint for 90 minutes without running out of energy or enthusiasm. And he can tackle back without conceding. In fact, when you look at his defensive abilities it's almost as if he'd played top flight football as a defender. And he rarely gets injured to boot.
I honestly think that if you fielded a team consisting of one goalkeeper and 10 Gareth Bales then neither of the Manchester sides would stand a chance.
Leaving his personality aside, Keane was a great player for the club, scoring over 100 goals for the club, and in his prime had pace, good control, and a great shot.
Gareth Bale has pace, in spades. He has not just great control, but a bag full of tricks that he can pull out as needs. The step-overs, dummies, spins, etc are often overlooked in the focus on his speed, but they far surpass anything Keane ever produced. He has an incredible shot, placing it beyond the reach of the keeper time and again with either foot, from any range you care to pick.
Unlike Keane he can also score with his head. And he's big, and strong, and can ride challenges and hold up the ball under pressure. And he can cross as well as anyone in the EPL. And he can sprint for 90 minutes without running out of energy or enthusiasm. And he can tackle back without conceding. In fact, when you look at his defensive abilities it's almost as if he'd played top flight football as a defender. And he rarely gets injured to boot.
I honestly think that if you fielded a team consisting of one goalkeeper and 10 Gareth Bales then neither of the Manchester sides would stand a chance.
London_Calling
Pleasant and unpatronising
I keep looking at that 9-game period from Citeh away on 22nd Jan to Chelsea away on 24th March and wonder how the hell we're going to hang on to 4th, never mind 3rd. In that period - as well as Citeh and Chelsea - we have the goons away and Liverpool away. All four away. Plus Man Utd at home.
Also there's Newcastle and Stoke at home and Everton away - all battles.
Tottenham aside, it's pretty much the top half of the table, one after the other.
Whatever we get now is points in the bank that we really are going to use up, hopefully they'll be more on Saturday at Swansea....
/we're dooooomed
Also there's Newcastle and Stoke at home and Everton away - all battles.
Tottenham aside, it's pretty much the top half of the table, one after the other.
Whatever we get now is points in the bank that we really are going to use up, hopefully they'll be more on Saturday at Swansea....
/we're dooooomed
London_Calling
Pleasant and unpatronising
Just a reality check, I suppose; win at home and draw away will be good enough.
TruXta
tired
What points tally are you on vs what you expected?
London_Calling
Pleasant and unpatronising
2-point average is the aspiration, and has been for some while. We might even get there this year, but it might not be enough this year.
Monkeygrinder's Organ
Dodgy geezer swilling vapid lager
Enough for what target? It wouldn't have won the league for years but is a pretty safe top four normally.
Maurice Picarda
Actually, might as well flounce.
Top four - and so keeping Modric and Bale - is the realistic aspiration. It's possible that things will get so close that to remain in the top four we'll be potential champions right up until the end of the season, but that's tangential to the main aim.
London_Calling
Pleasant and unpatronising
Fully agree, Maurice. Also, unlike two years ago we are probably going to have to finish above the goons to quality, so we'd bag that prize anyway.
So much hinges on CL qualification this year.
All things considered, imo it's Man Utd's title with 82-84 points and, key injuries notwithstanding, I'd like to think we can get within about 6-8 points of that.
So much hinges on CL qualification this year.
All things considered, imo it's Man Utd's title with 82-84 points and, key injuries notwithstanding, I'd like to think we can get within about 6-8 points of that.
London_Calling
Pleasant and unpatronising
Moderately helpful that the day we have Citeh away (22nd Jan) the goons host Man Utd, and a couple of weeks later (we're away at the Dole Office), Chelsea host Man Utd. More of those the merrier.
London_Calling
Pleasant and unpatronising
This diamond thing 'arry is playing (in the absence of Lennon) at away games is certainly healthy for ball retention. Looking at The Guardian Chalkboards it's also very fluid - no idea what the workrate is but it looks huge, the front 6 all seem to cover huge areas. No way can the opposition prevent space.
Random thought; I'm quite frustrated at the poor results we get from set pieces, esp. corners - if it's not Modric hitting the first man, it's VdV passing it to Modric five yards from the flag. Unless it's Bale doing that near-post run, we seem to get on no first balls in the box.
Anyway, although there is no Ledley, it would be disappointing to concede today. I see Defoe is fit and Dawson not far behind. We do need Lennon for that 9-game run though....
Random thought; I'm quite frustrated at the poor results we get from set pieces, esp. corners - if it's not Modric hitting the first man, it's VdV passing it to Modric five yards from the flag. Unless it's Bale doing that near-post run, we seem to get on no first balls in the box.
Anyway, although there is no Ledley, it would be disappointing to concede today. I see Defoe is fit and Dawson not far behind. We do need Lennon for that 9-game run though....
London_Calling
Pleasant and unpatronising
In the context of a mad day it doesn't seem too bad - only the 4th goal Swansea have conceded at home but, in the round... they're a promoted club, Man Utd won there 0-1, and we were leading.....
Come on Tottenham fans, give Swansea at least a bit of credit for that fightback.
London_Calling
Pleasant and unpatronising
Oh def - tremendous stuff. Really excellent manager, completely agree with what 'arry said in his post-match interview.
London_Calling
Pleasant and unpatronising
At the half way point it's quite interesting to consider who we've dropped points against:
Citeh - 3, at home
Man Utd - 3, home
Newcastle - 2, away
Stoke - 3, away
Chelsea - 2, home
Swansea - 2, away
So, we've dropped 8 points at home, and 7 away. We're 4th in the Prem home table and 2nd in the away table. At half way, we've dropped 5 points against teams not in the top 7.
Citeh dropped 2 points at each of West Brom, Fulham and Liverpool, 3 at Sunderland and Chelsea (they also beat us and Man Utd away).
The difference is home form where we've dropped points against the other top four sides, and they've won every game - having not played any of the top four.
We're not the only team with tough games coming up, and we don't lose any players to the ACN.
Citeh - 3, at home
Man Utd - 3, home
Newcastle - 2, away
Stoke - 3, away
Chelsea - 2, home
Swansea - 2, away
So, we've dropped 8 points at home, and 7 away. We're 4th in the Prem home table and 2nd in the away table. At half way, we've dropped 5 points against teams not in the top 7.
Citeh dropped 2 points at each of West Brom, Fulham and Liverpool, 3 at Sunderland and Chelsea (they also beat us and Man Utd away).
The difference is home form where we've dropped points against the other top four sides, and they've won every game - having not played any of the top four.
We're not the only team with tough games coming up, and we don't lose any players to the ACN.
Maurice Picarda
Actually, might as well flounce.
Togo not in it?
Maurice Picarda
Actually, might as well flounce.
I was sure that he had retired from retirement. Just as his parents are now known for their respectable jobs, he used to fear bus trips, but not any more.
Monkeygrinder's Organ
Dodgy geezer swilling vapid lager
He has come out of international retirement - there was an interview in one of the papers talking about it the other day. Togo haven't qualified though so he's not playing in the ACN.
