Nicholas van Whatsisface
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 21 Dec 2007
- Messages
- 2,714
Going off what Hughes has said, it seems likely de Jong will be OK for this game, whereas SWP probably won't. If that's the case, we need to approach this one like we did against Chelsea, by playing a high line and by relentlessly keeping the pressure on from all our attacking players - with players like Tevez, Robbie, Ade and Ireland, there are few teams in the league who can cope with this approach, and Spurs are hardly the most defensively robust team we'll come up against this year. They will leave space between their midfield and their defence, which Robbie, Tevez and Superman should have a field-day in.
At Bolton, our defenders had a worrying tendency to all head upfield at once, leaving us incredibly vulnerable to the break on a number of occasions. A better attacking team, which Spurs undoubtedly are, would have really punished us for this. A more rigid, defensively focussed approach will be needed, with the defenders making sure they know their positions and staying disciplined - and we've shown we can do that with these players against the Rags, Arsenal, Chelsea, Villa, etc.
Toure and Lescott won't be bullied like they were by Davies and his ilk at Bolton, and its this approach that seemed to rattle them. They aren't the type of defenders who necessarily cope that well with the rough and tumble aspect of the Premier League, which is why they look better against the better teams.
I would play the same formation as against Chelsea - a kind of 4-2-3-1
GK - Given
RB - Richards
CB - Toure
CB - Lescott
LB - Sylvinho
DM - de Jong
DM - Barry
RM - Ireland
AM - Tevez
LM - Robinho
CF - Adebayor
Subs - Taylor, Onuoha, Zabaleta, Kompany, Weiss, Petrov, Santa Cruz
If they are playing Bale instead of Assou-Ekotto, we're laughing - Ireland and Tevez should have a licence to run at him and put him under pressure, as he hasn't got a clue what he's doing when it comes to actually defending. We know all about Corluka too, who has his strengths but also his considerable weaknesses - Robbie should have a good day against him and his funny run. Lennon is the big threat for these, and Barry will need to be covering the left side of the midfield to support Sylvinho, as Robbie isn't going to help him out much. If Barry and Sylvinho can keep Lennon quiet, and we get de Jong to rough up Defoe early on in the game, I quite fancy us for a decent result against these. 3-1 to City
At Bolton, our defenders had a worrying tendency to all head upfield at once, leaving us incredibly vulnerable to the break on a number of occasions. A better attacking team, which Spurs undoubtedly are, would have really punished us for this. A more rigid, defensively focussed approach will be needed, with the defenders making sure they know their positions and staying disciplined - and we've shown we can do that with these players against the Rags, Arsenal, Chelsea, Villa, etc.
Toure and Lescott won't be bullied like they were by Davies and his ilk at Bolton, and its this approach that seemed to rattle them. They aren't the type of defenders who necessarily cope that well with the rough and tumble aspect of the Premier League, which is why they look better against the better teams.
I would play the same formation as against Chelsea - a kind of 4-2-3-1
GK - Given
RB - Richards
CB - Toure
CB - Lescott
LB - Sylvinho
DM - de Jong
DM - Barry
RM - Ireland
AM - Tevez
LM - Robinho
CF - Adebayor
Subs - Taylor, Onuoha, Zabaleta, Kompany, Weiss, Petrov, Santa Cruz
If they are playing Bale instead of Assou-Ekotto, we're laughing - Ireland and Tevez should have a licence to run at him and put him under pressure, as he hasn't got a clue what he's doing when it comes to actually defending. We know all about Corluka too, who has his strengths but also his considerable weaknesses - Robbie should have a good day against him and his funny run. Lennon is the big threat for these, and Barry will need to be covering the left side of the midfield to support Sylvinho, as Robbie isn't going to help him out much. If Barry and Sylvinho can keep Lennon quiet, and we get de Jong to rough up Defoe early on in the game, I quite fancy us for a decent result against these. 3-1 to City