What’s Going Wrong?

February 10, 2010February 10, 2010 / Alan / 21 Comments

You know those people, older usually, who come out with the same old comments every time certain topics come up. The warning sign is a sentence beginning, ‘Well of course in my day…’ or ‘Kids today, don’t know they’re born…’. Delivered with deep gravitas, as if this is a totally fresh insight into the ways of the world, they have an effect opposite of that intended. This is signalled typically by groans and synchronised eye-rolling from an audience that has heard this one before.

Sad to say, perhaps I’m becoming one of these old codgers. Seen it all before. Nothing new under the sun. I know because I was going to use my pet line to begin this piece before I checked myself – what am I turning into? But here it is, something I heard once and stayed in the brain, crushingly familiar to colleagues and family:

“For every complex, complicated problem, there is a simple, straight forward answer.

That’s completely wrong.”

After my health warning, you might find it useful. Handy for politicians – there’s an election on the way – or saloon bar bores and know-alls. In my experience their favourite recommendations are national service, castration or sack the lot of them. Perm any one from three and you can’t go far wrong.

It is easy to point the finger at certain individuals (many would include referees here) or formations but there is no single reason why we are not scoring netfuls of goals at the moment. Some of our play has been dazzling, some downright pedestrian, most somewhere in between, but more than good enough to earn more points than we have.

Early in the season I was fretting about our defence but it’s been clear for several months that our fate depends on scoring consistently. Although our defensive record is excellent, we are not able to organise ourselves as well as teams like Villa and so must play to our strengths – we will score one more than you. This season I am reliably informed that in the 13 league games we have drawn or lost, we have had 212 goal attempts, 122 of which were on target, yielding a total of 7 goals. Since Wigan we have scored only 13 times.

Some of this is down to the defensive fortitude of our opponents. Spurs are sussed. Massed ranks in front of goal, little ambition bar a possible sucker punch breakaway. This is one thing at the Lane but I suspect Wolves will try the same tactics at their own ground, emulating Villa’s second half at Villa Park.

A deep back four who stay close means there is no space behind them for Hud’s long passes nor room in the channels. Crouch’s flick-ons are similarly dealt with and JD’s speed is taken out of the equation. The midfield funnel our attacks into the middle where they founder on a mound of flying blocks and determined tackles. It’s hard to hit the byline too, especially without Lennon to keep a couple of defenders busy or left trailing in his wake. Villa, Wolves, Hull, all the same.

At the moment we do not have the wit or patience to break them down, although we tried hard enough on Saturday. The absence of a playmaker able to dictate the game leads to hurried efforts and rash decisions. We must maintain possession far more efficiently and keep both ball and man moving. Be patient, keep probing and something will come out of it. Modric and Huddlestone have the talent to fulfil this role eventually but their inexperience shows when the pressure is on.

One thing we could do more of is to have the midfielders making late runs into the box. Coming from deep or diagonally off either flank, defences cannot easily pick them up. Modric got into those positions early on Saturday but missed the chances and Villa then shut up shop. We could score more from midfield, something in favour of Krancjar’s place in the starting line-up.

Another tactic is more movement up front. We’re better away from home when we start attacks from deeper positions, unless Crouch is left isolated upfield and we hammer the ball forward to him, which is useless most of the time. Leeds left us the space for those through balls or byline crossing, and Defoe profited. Often however, Crouch and Defoe loiter at the edge of the box and move across it. They need to vary this and come deeper sometimes, to move up and down as well as laterally. This unsettles defenders who are uncertain about whether to remain in their comfort zone or follow the man they are supposed to be marking. Insert midfield runners into that space and we have more opportunities. That interchange of personnel up front is crucial. Crouch and Defoe can sometimes play their part by taking opponents away as well as scoring themselves.

Scoring, ah yes…both have decent records, Defoe especially, but frankly I can’t find a ready remedy for another blight that affects us currently – we keep shooting straight at the goalkeeper. Keepers must love playing us; their pre-match preparation includes planning where to drink the MOM bottle of bubbly. We have made it too simple for a succession of them to fly flashily across goal, arms and legs stretching, but the ball has been too close to them and (relatively) easier to save.

I just don’t know what’s happening – shooting practice? Modric needs it. No coincidence that Defoe broke his duck against Leeds with a mishit after striking previous chances hard, true and at the keeper.

Which brings me to Peter Crouch. The fact that he had his best performance for us on Saturday in retrospect highlights his limitations. We will find it extremely hard to be a top four team if he plays regularly. Again, there’s no single element to the equation. Some of it is not his fault. We don’t have to hit long balls to him so often if he plays, but we do. His presence is a refuge for players under pressure. One or two touches, nothing on, so wang and the pressure’s off. That is an option but not the only one. He can contribute to pass and move and is a target for crosses but our success will be founded on football played on the ground.

As an individual, Crouch’s distribution is generally erratic, Saturday being an honourable exception. He wins so much in and out of the box yet so little actually comes from it. It’s a percentage game that takes you so far but not to the very top. In the box, he is eased off-kilter, a little nudge, he’s off balance and the hard-won cross slides just wide. At the far post, he’s static and therefore easier to handle. Not easy, but at the top level defenders can deal with him and his bobbly little knock downs, vaguely directed across goal. Similarly, his reactions are poor and once the message goes all that way from brain to legs, the defender sweeps up the ball in the box just waiting to be hit.

The future requires a centre forward more mobile and versatile than Peter, but until we find one, sorry, make that find another one as Berba has come and sadly departed, just remember that we don’t have to kick it to him all the time and if we play the ball in front of him in the box, as he moves forward onto it rather than loitering at the back post, Crouchie can finish.

Any improvement requires collective resolve, something that has been lacking in the Marshmallow Men but promisingly on Saturday we kept going. I’ve said a lot about this lately (see ‘March of the Marshmallow Men’ in ‘recent posts’, so enough already. Wolves is a good place to test this is action. Try some of the above, add a bit of width and the win will come. Battle at the top is now well and truly joined so we must fight to the limits.

Spurs v Villa. Scant Reward for Our Excellence

February 7, 2010 / Alan / 27 Comments

The figures scurrying away through the north London backstreets were bent in frustration, faces tight with disappointment, but there was so much satisfaction to be taken from Tottenham’s excellent performance against Aston Villa. We dominated a pulsating match throughout with a display of sustained good football and earned more than the scant reward of a point.

This was first and foremost a team effort of the highest quality. By the end, wave upon wave of attacks were smashing against the redoubtable Villa defensive barrier to no avail. The stands were contorted in the twisted pleasure of desperate anxiety and anticipation as Spurs craved the goal their performance richly deserved.

If our last evening game was dull monochrome then this was vivid technicolour. From the very start, every Tottenham player appeared pin-sharp, each bead of sweat on their forehead precisely delineated as were their expressions of determined intensity. In my preview I asked for effort from the first whistle, taking the Leeds game as our template, and Spurs rose marvellously to the challenge, maintaining that application and tempo throughout, apart from ten minutes or so near the beginning of the second half when Villa threatened to break out, but we quickly closed down their escape route and reasserted our clear superiority until the gut-churningly frustrating end.

Straight away we settled into a purposeful rhythm. Modric was the pick early on, drifting inside to both get on the ball and be available as the extra man. He could spot the spaces in front of him but remained largely invisible to the Villa midfield. They repeatedly failed to mark him but sadly he failed to put in a clean strike. He looks so frail at moments like these, a forlorn little figure exposed under the glare of the lights. Nothing could be further from the truth. Brought up in a hard Croatian league that by all accounts resembles England in the seventies, he’s more than capable of handling himself and his stamina lasted for the whole game. Those were precious early chances, however, not by any means straightforward but well within his grasp, and you yearned for a shot as firm and well-directed as his winner against Chelsea last season.

Modric’s positioning also illustrated the growing faith Redknapp has in Gareth Bale. Young is always a threat, yet Redknapp felt that Bale could cope without a constant protector in front of him, although Palacios was always willing to lend a a hand, to the full-back and indeed to any team-mate who was under pressure. Bale responded with yet another performance of skill, diligence and maturity. Young beat him once, but the Villa man can do that with any full-back one on one. He was kept really quiet, to the point where if Redknapp is still interested in him, as is rumoured, then you began to seriously question his judgement. When Bale joins the attack, his timing is praiseworthy, another sign of that maturity that belies his inexperience. He doesn’t rush forward but waits for the moment then strikes, either cutting inside or hitting the byline. A fabulous young prospect.

The crowd were chanting ‘boring boring Villa’ by now, I assume a reference to Wenger’s comments a few weeks ago. I say ‘assume’ because I saw only a headline – I’m not interested in the post-match whinging of any hard-done by manager, including ours and certainly not Wenger. However, surely this is the first time ever that White Hart lane has in full voice endorsed the views of an Arsenal manager. And i was there, kids.

In fact at this point in the game, still in the first half, our opponents were sending healthy numbers forward. Heskey limped off (I momentarily had a rather sick vision of he and Ledley, two determined knackered warhorses, trudging off together) but Carew is always a handful, and Agbonlahor, as I suspected, loitered with intent around Dawson and Corluka hoping to exploit their lack of pace. The best way to prevent the danger is of course to not allow him the ball in the first place and for the most part he was very quiet. To his speed he’s added the ability to turn and shoot, but this allowed Ledley to assert his mastery. As the Villa man got away, Ledley snapped in the tackle. Those who say he’s finished are so wrong.

Villa were not boring, they were out-played. Unable to cope with our passing and movement, they were progressively forced further and further back until by the end the heels of their back four scraped against the Paxton stand. In their box they defended admirably well, again as sadly I predicted in my preview, but we too had bodies on hand to block any danger at our end.

The pattern of smooth passing was imprinted on the game. My repeated concerns this season about our capacity to support the man on the ball and to retain possession were banished, hopefully for good. Relaxed and apparently effortlessly we probed and prompted. Bale, Corluka and Bentley were always available to provide width. Modric passed the ball well but could have worked harder in the second half to become consistently involved.

Crouch won everything in what was his best Spurs performance so far. He worked hard to be constantly available, regularly found a team-mate with his lay-offs and kept the ball moving rather than holding on to it. Still, there were those ‘if onlys’ with his headed chances.

Another word of praise for Palacios with his finest outing for ages. Just what we need from a defensive midfielder, biting the tackle, high workrate and clever positioning, covering for defenders when they went forward and not going up if we had too many already committed.

But my top man (‘TOMM’s Top Talent’, hmm, it has a ring to it….hollow that is..) was big Tommy Huddlestone. He quickly adjusted to the shape of the play. Shorter quicker passes suited him and deprived by Villa’s deep defending of the opportunity to pass long, he was all the more effective. Not everything worked but he did not shirk his duties, a sign of maturity. He made himself constantly available and took responsibility to drive us on from midfield.

Finally on the individuals, Gomes once more when called upon was absolutely impeccable. Just love that man.

So arguably the best display of the season but only one point. What went wrong? Reflections on this at greater length in the week but a few thoughts for now, in no particular order.

There’s no one single problem that is preventing us from scoring a hatful of goals. Some are down to our opponents: yesterday, by defending deep Villa ran the risk of allowing us on to them but it closed off the possibilities of long passing into channels and over the top, by Hud and others, and made it hard to reach the byline. There’s no room behind the back four so the long ball is swept up by the keeper or centre halves, as are headed flick-ons from Crouch, and JD’s pace is taken right out the equation. Crouch played very well but at the highest level, and that’s where Villa’s defence is, those bobbly looping touches are easier (not easy, but easier) to handle than passes into channels, low crosses and movement.

Also, our midfield strikes a pose and a few decent long shots, but again a long shot is, percentage wise, easier to deal with than an effort from closer in from midfielders arriving late and unseen in the box. We don’t do enough of the latter.

JD is not quite as sharp as we have seen him, wanting that extra touch, and for some reason he and most everyone else is shooting unerringly and uncannily straight. Opposition keepers look forward to their MOM awards against us. Of course we currently are without the precious alternative of Lennon’s speed and ability to either occupy several defenders at once or leave one or two on the seat of their shorts.

Finally, teams have got wise to us. They are not bothering to play an expansive game and cluster round their own goals. And it works.

Spurs v Villa. Get Stuck In. Like Leeds, Only Better

February 6, 2010 / Alan / 4 Comments

Right, let’s get on with it. Stuck in from the start. No messing about. No elaborate patterns or attempts at profound insight. Simple, straightforward and direct. The ability is there and maybe after Wednesday the confidence, the understanding of what is needed, inside.

And then there’s the football. This evening’s match, despite being tucked away with its afterthought of a kick-off time, is one of the most crucial of the season. Three points against one of our closest and most determined rivals would mean so much, especially after our recent faltering league form. It’s too early to tag this as ‘must win’ but victory would be a phenomenal boost, defeat a telling blow.

Villa are amongst the most organised and redoubtable opponents in the league, if not the most loved. They are to be respected but not feared. They defend deep, throwing layer upon layer of bodies in front of their goal when the pressure is on. We have to move their central defenders out of their comfort zone with fluent movement, as we don’t have Lennon’s pace to take up undue amounts of their attention. JD, use your mind and get inside them. I have to say, frankly I doubt if their defenders had sleepless nights worried about Peter Crouch. So look to Luka and Hud for not just chances but goals too. One in a low scoring game could be enough.

They need to get Bentley moving too – I presume he’ll play after his recent revelation that if he pulls his finger out, he might actually get somewhere. He needs support, with an option to pass inside because he can’t beat a man easily. More of those curling firm crosses to the edge of the 6 yard box. Bale, young as he is, we are already looking to him for those bursts into the box. His stamina is good and he can deliver those later in the match, just as defenders are tiring. Again, this could be match-turning if he gets it right.

Meanwhile, Villa might lap it all up, hanging back and hitting on the break, which is the way they like it to be. Milner is so effective in these situations, with Young and Agbonlahor’s speed mean we cannot lose focus for a moment. O’Neill will have pointed them in the direction of Corluka and Dawson with their lack of pace, although Corluka dealt with Young superbly after coming on as sub for Zokora last year, the best demonstration of the art of full-back play that I have seen for a long while.

In the away fixture, once we got going in the second half, we dominated totally but scored only one, from a defender at that. No second chances, keep the tempo high, right from the first whistle, and the win will be ours.

Leeds v Spurs. A Job Well Done

February 4, 2010 / Alan / 21 Comments

There’s a great deal of satisfaction to be had this morning as Spurs fans bask in the glow of a strong performance. Leeds posed a tough challenge and we rose to the occasion.

My piece yesterday highlighted the two problems with our game at the moment, our marshmallow resolve and the comparative lack of punch up front. Last night there was little reason to question our determination and focus. I’d say we took hold of the match from the start but I was late home from work and so missed the first 25 minutes, although if I break the habit of a lifetime and rely on the ITV commentators, it sounds as if I would not be far wrong. Now having been a Spurs fan for so many years, I don’t actually need to see the game to know what’s happening, so when I switched on it was a tale of Spurs’ superiority and missed chances. We’ve seen this all before, actually in the first game of course, so I sat back and waited for the goal against the run of play and the cup shock that ITV were wanting so desperately that if they could have used CGI to morph the ball into our net, they would have.

JD was on the ball but not quite on his game, looking good to all intents and purposes but we could see that extra touch, that hesitation, momentary but fatal. TV also shows Defoe’s First Law of Thermodynamics to its full extent – ‘the level of performance is in inverse proportion to the level of moaning’. Whinging and scowling like a spoilt child to mask his irritation with his own play, he nevertheless overcame his self-frustration to consistently get in the right positions and was rewarded with a goal, which predictably came not from one of his crisply struck efforts but a mishit shank.

No matter: we deserved to be ahead. The next stage for us is usually implosion and sure enough Leeds forced themselves back into contention. In sport, successful managers and coaches are often praised by sportspeople for their attention to detail. Get the little things right, and what followed was the perfect example of the consequences if you don’t. Almost straight from the kick-off, Dawson went for a high ball well away from the goal, against a guy several inches smaller than he, and fouled him, the sort of irritating transgression that happens ten or fifteen times a match. This innocuous moment completely changed the course of the first half. Leeds seized the initiative precisely at the point where we should have been guarding it like a dog with a bone. They proceeded to hurl the ball into our box from open play and a series of set pieces, the result being an equaliser. Another self-inflicted wound.

The man I felt sorry for was Gomes, and not just for the way he looks with that beard. He had another impeccable game; he is just playing so well right now and is not receiving the credit he deserves. I wouldn’t swap him for any keeper in the land.

But here’s the thing. For the rest of the match Spurs were totally dominant. All credit to them both for their application and intelligent football. Playing to our strengths we kept the ball on the move, supported our men in possession and patiently searched for the gaps. We had so many chances, it looked as if we practiced shooting at the middle of the goal, but the opportunities kept on coming and in the end one went in, this time set up perfectly by Bentley and delightfully finished by Defoe.

Those chances were generated by a willing midfield. Bentley’s was the standout performance, spoilt only by Clive Tyldesy’s ludicrous proposal that after one game against a division one fullback out of position, he’s in consideration for the World Cup. DB used his brain tonight and benefitted from having someone to whom he could pass. He’s not a natural winger so needs that support, but above all he should be praised for his effort and concentration. Hud and JJ had solid rather than spectacular performances but they were in charge of the centre of the park. JJ was wasteful in possession, especially in the first half but he took up good defensive positions, covering the gaps as others went forward and he and Hud took it in turns to venture upfield.

Leeds are to be admired for their passing and movement. They play decent football and deserve to be promoted. However, by the end of the match they looked exhausted, undone by a hard season, a deficiency that we exploited ruthlessly, passing the ball round and through them with economy. Also, our opponents’ back four offerred JD and Crouch so much room that we could not fail to take advantage.

A game to enjoy, in my case for all of the two minutes after JD’s hat-trick. When the second went in, my wife looked up from her knitting (I’ve painting a picture of domestic bliss, eh?) and said, ‘Go on then, shout’. Silence was the reply -in this sort of game, going ahead means only that there’s more to worry about, so it’s only afterwards that the excellence of this performance can be appreciated. Once ahead, we superbly shut the game right down, keeping the ball meticulously. We played really well and the whole team deserve huge kudos for that. This cup is winnable, we can take on and beat anyone who is left in it. Steady now.