Spurs Banter Archive October 09 2013

09 oct 2013 12:56:54
things are not going well at the moment. we are not playing much football and the defeat by the hammers was a disaster waiting to happen. however, there are a lot of new players who might take time to settle in. we have to be patient.

however, when it comes to pinpointing the short-term problems, i am amazed by some of what i read on this site.

for example, in what crazed, alternative universe would townsend be the first player to drop? he runs at the opposition, beats them, gets crosses in and get shots off (sometimes too many and too wild) and he works his socks off. he is the main attacking threat we have at present and the only player giving us any width.

he is not the perfect player, but in the final third of the pitch he is contributing three times as much as high-priced strugglers like soldado, lamela (when he plays), dembele (whose good work stops at the edge of the area) and chadli. even eriksen has failed to build on the great initial impression he made. other than townsend, only paulinho and sigurdssen are making a significant attacking contribution.

when lennon is back and other players settle in, the time might come when we don't want to play townsend as much, but right now he is one of the first names i would put on the team sheet: despite the fact he is british and didn't cost anything.

Could agree but six words sum up Townsend! ' sometimes too many and too wild '
Unfortunately for us and him, he has caught Defoe itus! He is that desperate to impress he forgets he is part of a team and that's no good for us! As for your comments about our hi priced strugglers, Soldado is superb, holds the ball well, lays off a good ball and once that open play goal comes, there will be no stopping him! Lamela hasn't been given a chance yet, needs a run in the team, and as he was AVBs choice, don't know why he isn't playing, AVB needs to sort himself out!

I would play Soldado in the Mickey Mouse Cup games to get a few cheap goals that might help him relax and settle in. This early in the season the extra work load should be manageable. At the moment, he needs successful game time, not rest time.

Should townsend have passed the ball through instead of shooting (again) soldado on several occassions would have had a more realistic chance of scoring. he does give us width but then cuts back inside looking to shoot all to often. it was lamela who got the assist against cardiff, in fact I don't think for all the football you say he plays he has had one an assist in the epl which is terrible when playing in the position he does. his job is to create goals lamela who is settling in and hasn't played in the epl anything like townsend has had at least 1 assist already and that is why the 1 or 2 people and here have said they would prefer lamela to townsend. lamela to start with townsend impacting once the opposition are tired after chasing lamela around

coys

DD, I don't disagree with you about Townsend cutting inside too much, but I would point out that Lamela was brought on to give us something down the left, but within a few minutes was playing in the central position he obviously prefers.

My point is that people are quick to criticise established players for their mistakes or shortcomings (Dawson) even though they are actually doing something, but are terrified of saying anything against the expensive newcomers who (at present) are doing nothing.

Of course we want Soldado to be the striker we have needed since Berbatov went and we want Lamela and Eriksen to give us the class that we lost when Bale went, but while we wait for them to come good let's not heap all the blame for current poor performances on the players who, whatever their limitations, are actually earning their wages right now.

As for lamela you must be talking about a specific game as he has been played on the right when he has come on that is where he got his assist from. Lamela is not a winger so will drift inside to pick the ball up and will also swap sides quite often too as he can play all three roles and probably has been instructed to, he isn't an out and out winger. I have never slated townsend but equally I feel he is far from the finished article so does tend to be criticised. As for dawson well when he defends the way he does what can be expected he was certainly guilty for letting terry go and score a free header against chelsea and against west ham he was also found wanting on two if not three occassions. I don't think chiches is ready to replace him in fact the only newcomer to light up the pitch has been erikson the others are really taking there time to find there feet. Lamela I feel is the one to watch for though. with townsend I like his style of play its his decision making that is generally at fault and he can be selfish. who would you suggest I blame, say for the terry goal if not dawson. I agree we need to be patient I disagree we are not playing well (apart from west ham) ans as for playing football even the defeat we have dominated possession you can't do that playing badly. where we need to gel is in the last third to make the possession count and as most of our new players play in this area it is obvious that in time the will gel and then watch them fly in. mean time play well or we will comment, that is our behest

You are right. I was specifically referring to the West Ham game. When Lamela came on he immediately took up a position on the left wing (as I assume he was instructed to do), but soon abandoned it.

Incidentally, when only about 10% of people are naturally left-handed and good left wingers are a scarce resource, why do all our left-footed players want to play on the right, including both Townsend and Lamela? Even Gareth Bale, when he was given the freedom to roam, spent more time on the right than on the left.

Thats right KM in fact since rose has been out we are struggling down the left as siggo as well as he is playing is never seen loitering on the left wing he seems to come inside a lot. what worries me especially takingf lamela into account is are we playing to central like chelsea do with no or little width. towndsend apart who sticks to the wings, its only rose and walker who seem to do this consistently. we seem to try to keep the ball then try and work it through the middle when it stalls we start again but again its through the middle. I heard some commentator saying that soldado likes to score from the ball coming in from the wings he can poach his goals that way. the only problem is with crossing the ball inif you don't score generally the opposition have the ball. I am certain after a short while together we will start picking the passes that do unlock defenses until then we are relatively easy to defend against as some of the lesser teams have proven. anyway KM good to chat mate and onwards and upwards because be honest apart from WH we have had a good satrt to the season long may it continue

KM, if earning their wages is being to blame for at least 3 of the last 4 goals conceded, can I have Dawsons job? Yes he is a good professional and a nice person, but he is a liability as he switches off in games, gets caught out of position too often, dives into the tackle to often and hasn't got the speed to get himself back .