Nicholas van Whatsisface
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 21 Dec 2007
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I put a similar post in another thread earlier, but the thread had moved onto a different topic by the time I'd actually managed to finish the post, so apologies if it sounds familiar, but I wanted to make a point about last night's games.
Any road - I feel there seems to be lot of doom and gloom on here today, and much of it has come from comparing Spurs' game against Milan last night with ours against Aris, from which many Blues seem to have drawn the conclusion that Spurs are amazing and that we are pretty crap, as evidenced by our conflicting fortunes in Europe last night. But I just don't see this as a valid comparison.
We played a team who set up like they were scared to death of us - they had 10 men behind the ball for large parts of the game, and we struggled to break them down (as we often have this season when teams approach us in this way). Clearly this is a problem we need to rectify, but its a very different situation to that which faced Spurs last night.
Spurs played Milan - one of the giants of European football - at the San Siro. Milan were clearly not scared of Spurs (and perhaps they should have been), therefore they set up entirely differently to Aris. They were confident of being able to get a result, and their play was dictated accordingly. Spurs had far more space to put attacks together playing against a far more open and less defensive set-up than that which we were faced with last night.
Its hardly surprising that they looked better than us last night, as the way Milan set up meant Spurs had the space to play their game, to string passes together and to pose an attacking force. We had to break through a stubborn defence who stifled any creativity, which we were unable to do.
I believe we would have looked much better playing against Milan as they set up last night, and Spurs would have looked much worse playing against Aris, as one team set out to try and attack their opponent, whilst the other had no such game plan in mind.
A further point is motivation. Whilst all players should be motivated for all games, as this is what they are paid to do, I think even the most belligerent of fans would concede that certain games will capture the players' imagination and get them pumped up more than others.
We had Champion's League winners in Tevez, Yaya and Balo, a World Cup winner in Silva, League winners in Dzeko, Kolo and SWP all playing last night. Their motivation for an away fixture against Aris will have been less than if they were playing Milan at the San Siro - and I'm afriad anyone who claims otherwise is probably lying to themselves just a little bit. Its human nature, and we can't deny it, as much as it may frustrate us.
Spurs' team is made up of players who haven't won a huge amount, or played at the top level. Their line up last night was: Gomes; Corluka, Dawson, Gallas, Assou-Ekotto; Lennon, Palacios, Sandro, Pienaar; Van der Vaart; Crouch. Apart from Gallas, Van der Vaart and Crouch, there isn't anyone there who has even played in the Champion's League before (to my knowledge) - maybe Gomes and Pienaar, but not to a high level like the last 16 in a knockout against Milan.
A lot of those players have been plucked from small sides, and will have been playing in one of the biggest games in their careers last night. The same cannot be said for our players. For that reason, I think its impossible to rule out the motivation factor as being of importance in relation to the two results.
Sorry for the long post, but I've been frustrated by the persistent comparisons between the two games on here since last night, which I feel is disingenuous at best, and is completely pointless and unhelpful in terms of actually assessing the merits and limitations of our two teams.
Any road - I feel there seems to be lot of doom and gloom on here today, and much of it has come from comparing Spurs' game against Milan last night with ours against Aris, from which many Blues seem to have drawn the conclusion that Spurs are amazing and that we are pretty crap, as evidenced by our conflicting fortunes in Europe last night. But I just don't see this as a valid comparison.
We played a team who set up like they were scared to death of us - they had 10 men behind the ball for large parts of the game, and we struggled to break them down (as we often have this season when teams approach us in this way). Clearly this is a problem we need to rectify, but its a very different situation to that which faced Spurs last night.
Spurs played Milan - one of the giants of European football - at the San Siro. Milan were clearly not scared of Spurs (and perhaps they should have been), therefore they set up entirely differently to Aris. They were confident of being able to get a result, and their play was dictated accordingly. Spurs had far more space to put attacks together playing against a far more open and less defensive set-up than that which we were faced with last night.
Its hardly surprising that they looked better than us last night, as the way Milan set up meant Spurs had the space to play their game, to string passes together and to pose an attacking force. We had to break through a stubborn defence who stifled any creativity, which we were unable to do.
I believe we would have looked much better playing against Milan as they set up last night, and Spurs would have looked much worse playing against Aris, as one team set out to try and attack their opponent, whilst the other had no such game plan in mind.
A further point is motivation. Whilst all players should be motivated for all games, as this is what they are paid to do, I think even the most belligerent of fans would concede that certain games will capture the players' imagination and get them pumped up more than others.
We had Champion's League winners in Tevez, Yaya and Balo, a World Cup winner in Silva, League winners in Dzeko, Kolo and SWP all playing last night. Their motivation for an away fixture against Aris will have been less than if they were playing Milan at the San Siro - and I'm afriad anyone who claims otherwise is probably lying to themselves just a little bit. Its human nature, and we can't deny it, as much as it may frustrate us.
Spurs' team is made up of players who haven't won a huge amount, or played at the top level. Their line up last night was: Gomes; Corluka, Dawson, Gallas, Assou-Ekotto; Lennon, Palacios, Sandro, Pienaar; Van der Vaart; Crouch. Apart from Gallas, Van der Vaart and Crouch, there isn't anyone there who has even played in the Champion's League before (to my knowledge) - maybe Gomes and Pienaar, but not to a high level like the last 16 in a knockout against Milan.
A lot of those players have been plucked from small sides, and will have been playing in one of the biggest games in their careers last night. The same cannot be said for our players. For that reason, I think its impossible to rule out the motivation factor as being of importance in relation to the two results.
Sorry for the long post, but I've been frustrated by the persistent comparisons between the two games on here since last night, which I feel is disingenuous at best, and is completely pointless and unhelpful in terms of actually assessing the merits and limitations of our two teams.