The Tottenham Thread 12/13

[Manc in London]

I forgot about Ian Harte. :)

 

[Manc in London]

I have watched him several times. He is struggling again tonight against Grant Holt. In purely defensive terms, Dawson is better IMO. I'm not a fan of Dawson either, although I have to say that when I met he came across as a good bloke.

I'm reserving judgement on Vertonghen for now. I think calling him the worst buy of the summer is very harsh, but equally I was somewhat surprised when I saw he was picked by a few pundits in their "team of the season so far". He's had some shockers, but he has showed some class in a few performances too. I'm hoping that being shifted between LB and CB all season is a big reason for his inconsistency and that he'll settle with a long run in the middle. I like to see a settled back four and AVB has changed it virtually every game, which I'm no fan of.

Dawson is a solid, but also limited, defender IMO, and I'm not sure he's quite good enough for a top 6 team. He is indeed a very pleasant young man though, and one of the most "down to earth" players I've met.

To be fair, being a regular in the Spurs team seems to be the only criteria for being in some pundits team of the week. The over rating of Spurs players by the media has become a popular pastime. If pundits and journalists were asked to name who they think are the best 5 FBs in the Prem, Naughton, Ekotto and Walker would all get more votes than Clichy. Even though Clichy is better than all three of them.

Dawson may not be a starter for a top 6 team but imagine Spurs have 10 mins to defend a one goal lead in order to qualify for the CL. Would you feel more confident with the Belgian or Dawson?<br /><br />-- Wed Jan 30, 2013 11:30 pm --<br /><br />RE teams of the season, I would have Nastasic ahead of him. But the Serbian rarely gets any plaudits.

 

[FrostyNRG]

To be fair, being a regular in the Spurs team seems to be the only criteria for being in some pundits team of the week. The over rating of Spurs players by the media has become a popular pastime. If pundits and journalists were asked to name who they think are the best 5 FBs in the Prem, Naughton, Ekotto and Walker would all get more votes than Clichy. Even though Clichy is better than all three of them.

Dawson may not be a starter for a top 6 team but imagine Spurs have 10 mins to defend a one goal lead in order to qualify for the CL. Would you feel more confident with the Belgian or Dawson?

You really think that our players are over-rated by the press? I don't tend to pay a huge amount of attention to the football press as a rule because it's by and large written by idiots, but that is not something I've ever picked up on at all. I know we were something of the darlings of the media for a while under Redknapp, and some of the superlatives bandied around about Bale are somewhat OTT, but I've never seen anything else to suggest that really. Walker really impressed me last season and was exciting to watch to be fair (although defensively suspect on several occasions) so I can understand why he got some good press then. Seems to have gone backwards this season and the little I have read in the press about him seems to support that.

Hard for me to be objective about an ex-Arsenal player if I'm being honest, but he's certainly a top player. Like many full-backs these days, I think his ability going forward is better than his defensive abilities, but I probably haven't seen enough of him to state that categorically.

Answering your question is a tough one, as Dawson tends to show his weaker moments when we are under pressure. Vertonghen strikes me as being something of a calmer individual. If pushed for an answer, I'd probably say Dawson - but I expect (hope?) that this time next year my answer would be different.

 

[carlos tevez is a blue]

To be fair, being a regular in the Spurs team seems to be the only criteria for being in some pundits team of the week. The over rating of Spurs players by the media has become a popular pastime. If pundits and journalists were asked to name who they think are the best 5 FBs in the Prem, Naughton, Ekotto and Walker would all get more votes than Clichy. Even though Clichy is better than all three of them.

Dawson may not be a starter for a top 6 team but imagine Spurs have 10 mins to defend a one goal lead in order to qualify for the CL. Would you feel more confident with the Belgian or Dawson?

You really think that our players are over-rated by the press? I don't tend to pay a huge amount of attention to the football press as a rule because it's by and large written by idiots, but that is not something I've ever picked up on at all. I know we were something of the darlings of the media for a while under Redknapp, and some of the superlatives bandied around about Bale are somewhat OTT, but I've never seen anything else to suggest that really. Walker really impressed me last season and was exciting to watch to be fair (although defensively suspect on several occasions) so I can understand why he got some good press then. Seems to have gone backwards this season and the little I have read in the press about him seems to support that.

Hard for me to be objective about an ex-Arsenal player if I'm being honest, but he's certainly a top player. Like many full-backs these days, I think his ability going forward is better than his defensive abilities, but I probably haven't seen enough of him to state that categorically.

Answering your question is a tough one, as Dawson tends to show his weaker moments when we are under pressure. Vertonghen strikes me as being something of a calmer individual. If pushed for an answer, I'd probably say Dawson - but I expect (hope?) that this time next year my answer would be different.

You've obviously not seen Clichy enough this season, he's far better at defending.

 

[FrostyNRG]

You've obviously not seen Clichy enough this season, he's far better at defending.

I did quantify my comment by saying that, and you are in a far better position to judge that than me. Would you say there has been a noticable improvement in his defending during his time at City? I certainly believe my comment to be an accurate one based on his time at Arsenal.

 

[BoyBlue_1985]

Vertonghen is shockingly bad. Possibly the worst buy of the summer in the Prem.

I do find it funny that Spurs fans rate Ekotto so highly. Reading Spurs foruns, most fans of the club think he is the best LB in the prem. Can anyone name a worse starting LB in the Prem?

Ian Harte?

Oh come on he is decent just slower than a disabled crack addict on a methadone trip<br /><br />-- Thu Jan 31, 2013 8:11 am --<br /><br />

You've obviously not seen Clichy enough this season, he's far better at defending.

I did quantify my comment by saying that, and you are in a far better position to judge that than me. Would you say there has been a noticable improvement in his defending during his time at City? I certainly believe my comment to be an accurate one based on his time at Arsenal.

I would say he is one of the best defenders at the club easily, he has learnt a lot from Mancini's defensive coaches. In fact he is probably better at defending now than going forward

 

[Matty]

Vertonghen is shockingly bad. Possibly the worst buy of the summer in the Prem.

I do find it funny that Spurs fans rate Ekotto so highly. Reading Spurs foruns, most fans of the club think he is the best LB in the prem. Can anyone name a worse starting LB in the Prem?

Whoever Arsenal pick on any given day?
It could be Gibbs, it could be Jenkinson or it couls be Santos. If it's Santos then I'd put good money on Stephen Hawking being a better left back.

 

[THFC6061]

For all the criticism of Tottenham's defence, it should be noted that they've actually conceded two fewer goals than League leaders Manchester United.

And only four goals have been conceded in their last 9 Premier League matches - an unbeaten run since mid-December which has included five clean sheets.

On top of which, our first choice central defender Younes Kaboul is set to return after missing almost the entire season due to injury.

 

[xzbit04]

Don't mind Spurs under AVB, grown to thoroughly despise Monsieur Whinger and his merry fanboys, hope you seal the CL spot over them, after we twat you at WHL of course ;)

 

[Castiel]

For all the criticism of Tottenham's defence, it should be noted that they've actually conceded two fewer goals than League leaders Manchester United.

And they've scored 18 more goals than you. United's defensive record this season is not a benchmark of excellence. Their game plan has been to outgun the opposition and they've only just stabilised their defence to a respectable standard.