totally underwhelmed

[Marvin]

we did shoot, gomes did make a save, fact is we'd have been 1-0 up if Shauny could use his right foot.

Personally I would blame Tevez for not playing as the lone striker as he should have imo, but at the end of the day I'm happy with a point so don't really care.

-- Sun Aug 15, 2010 1:11 pm --



it's the first game of a new season with new players etc. etc., it's hardly comparable.

how can it not be comparable when it's the same manager and the same style of play. explain?

Two months in I'd agree. But we have made 5 signings, Hart has returned. On top of that some of the new signings weren't available and the World Cup players have little pre-season football under their belt

The one thing our opponents have against us is the lack of continuity between this season and the last.

 

[melons]

The weak link in yesterday's line up was Richards. He's just not good enough for this level now. He gave the ball away too easily, was caught wondering upfield and generally looked out-classed. I was nervous every time he got the ball or if Spurs attacked down the left.

 

[Crabbers]

Yeh but look at the games under mancini...And the two recent spurs games should be included in the big games. United and arsenal at the end of last season, were there for the taking and we didn't go for it. We seem too happy to play for the draw.

The one game we did go for it was Chelsea away and look what happened there.

I'm not a Mancini hater, just frustrated with the style of play in certain matches. I think were better than the way we set up.

Yeah but we didn't go for it in the Chelsea game. We set up exactly the same way, one up front and couldn't get the ball for 45 minutes. Tevez goal was a one man show from the half way line with no support and then Chelsea were forced to throw more bodies forward.

All our goals were counter attacks as Chelsea threw players forward, not a result of dominating possession and the game. Nothing has changed, but the game proves Mancini's counter attack system can work.

Well then, given that it has only worked in one of those games, and we needed to rely on fluking a goal in order to commit the opposition forward, the system seems flawed.

I'm not saying we should be going all out attack... But let's a least have a few shots at goal and play with a bit more umph.

 

[ono]

To fully understand why we were under the cosh yesterday you have to look at a lot of things...

Spurs were at home on the first day of the season, in the very fist game of the season against the team who they beat for a Champions League place and againsta team who they had beat 12 times out of the last 13. They were also up against a team that hasn't had much time to play together or even train together.

So the idea for Spurs was to start fast. The crowd make a lot of noise. Everyone wants to beat City now. Everyone in the ground is up for it, which understandably gives Spurs a huge momentum lift.

They gave our players no time on the ball, and when they had the ball, more often than not they got it out wide and hit Crouch. This in itself causes problems because of how tall he is. Everything suddenly looks last ditch as we battle to get on the end of his knockdowns before a Spurs player does. It's very difficult to show compusre and retain possession when the game is at such a tempo and the atmosphere is so intense. We actually did really well in this respect.

Then Joe Hart has to make some exceptional saves. 1st from a Defoe shot, after a knockdown from Crouch (which we actually defended ok). Then he makes two great saves from Huddlestone and Ekotto. 9 times out of 10 those shots miss by miles. Huddlestones technique was fantastic, but 9 times out of 10, shots from that distance don't even register. The very fact that those shots both almost produced goals only hightens the atmosphere, and in turn it makes our job of not conceding, even harder.

Now the only real chance in the first half where we were majorly at fault was the Defoe 1 on 1. Kompany and Toure both got caught, and there was no pressure on Huddlestone who played a quality long ball. Maybe Richards could have done better with Bale's shot that hit the post...

In the 2nd half, we performed much better and we should have scored with SWP. From there on, we controlled the game, and after about 20 minutes of the 2nd half possession was something like 63% - 37% in our favour. This impressed me, because it's an area where we'ved struggled in the past. We managed to silence the crowd and we carved out 1 or 2 decent chances. The whole pattern of play changes, because Spurs no longer have the momentum. Bale still had a good chance to win it, and Kompany made a great block late on, but make no mistake, we were the better team in the 2nd half.

Toure looked much more comfortable, Barry looked good. Silva looked decent, and we looked a lot more composed. To me, that's a sign of things to come. We controlled the game for 45 minutes away from home against a top 4 side. Not many teams are going to start like Spurs did, and we'll be able to get a grip on a lot of games much earlier. I saw enough in the 2nd half to see that we're a better side than last season, and we've also got Balotelli and probably Milner to come in, aswell as having a fully fit and co-ordinated midfield, which will probably take a few weeks to fit together.

I honestly don't understand what was underwhelming about yesterday. We took a point from White Hart Lane, against a team who have won their last 8 there. They started very similar against Chelsea last season and could have been 4 or 5 up by half time. It's normal for Spurs to start like that against the top sides. All you can do is hold out and take the sting out the game. We did that and i'm pleased. Underwhelmed didn't even enter my mind.

 

[maso314]

i agree with most of the comments the first haif was one way traffic thank god for joe hart.the second half was a bit better we posed a bit more threat and actually got in their box acouple of times.i know its not much but that was how the game went the result was a good one for us but the performance still wasnt as good as i was hopeing.and if you playing liverpool will be any easier you could be in for a shock.to be any threat in this league we have got to improve by at least 15 points and on yesterdays performance do you think that is possible?i know it will take some time for the newer players to adjust but the problem with this league is if you dont hit the ground running you are playing catch up for the rest of the seasonand at this level it is very hard.right thats enough of me being negative its only the first game and we didnt lose so lets look forward to the next game and get behind the boys and hope we do well come on city we can do it!!!!!

 

[City Raider]

Yeah but we didn't go for it in the Chelsea game. We set up exactly the same way, one up front and couldn't get the ball for 45 minutes. Tevez goal was a one man show from the half way line with no support and then Chelsea were forced to throw more bodies forward.

All our goals were counter attacks as Chelsea threw players forward, not a result of dominating possession and the game. Nothing has changed, but the game proves Mancini's counter attack system can work.

Well then, given that it has only worked in one of those games, and we needed to rely on fluking a goal in order to commit the opposition forward, the system seems flawed.

I'm not saying we should be going all out attack... But let's a least have a few shots at goal and play with a bit more umph.

i don't know mate, can't make my mind up about our tactics - it is getting results away from home which is the key to winning anything, but we deffo don't test away keepers enough in the big games

 

[GaudinoMotors]

First game of the season -
Players hardly know each other's names - let alone being on the same wavelengh playing wise.
Debutants first premiership experience
Playing a very good settled Spurs side who beat us twice last season
Mancini only just back after his father's illness
No Balotelli or Boateng yet
No chance yet to assess which is our best team - even Robinho may comeback to surprise us

Cheer up - a point at WHL is a good result - plenty to look forward to and an extremely interesting season awaits. Mancini didn't make Tevez captain and buy Silva and Balotelli to be defensive.

 

[MaChine]

If Mancini continues to behave this way with our best players(Given, Bellers, Johnson) he will have really big problems inside the team. Some of the players have not diserved to play yet, those who guys really deserve it sit on the bench or even worse. I do not like it at all, Five years ago the situation was much better!

 

[samharris]

Well then, given that it has only worked in one of those games, and we needed to rely on fluking a goal in order to commit the opposition forward, the system seems flawed.

I'm not saying we should be going all out attack... But let's a least have a few shots at goal and play with a bit more umph.

i don't know mate, can't make my mind up about our tactics - it is getting results away from home which is the key to winning anything, but we deffo don't test away keepers enough in the big games

But we did get a result mate 1 point at spuds is a result in my books.

 

[Crabbers]

Well then, given that it has only worked in one of those games, and we needed to rely on fluking a goal in order to commit the opposition forward, the system seems flawed.

I'm not saying we should be going all out attack... But let's a least have a few shots at goal and play with a bit more umph.

i don't know mate, can't make my mind up about our tactics - it is getting results away from home which is the key to winning anything, but we deffo don't test away keepers enough in the big games

I think that's it - the thing that's frustrating is not testing keepers enough... It becomes uninspiring. Fingers crossed it gets better!

 

[Ducado]

Just as I feared would happen, some of fans are getting impatient for results, the trouble is they are not looking at the bigger picture, a team without much pre-season preparation lots of new faces.

You can not make judgements after one game, it's a long season if some of the topics appeared in a couple of months I would think it would be reasonable, but after one game it's ridiculous.

Mind you it does not surprise me, it's what happens on here (and to be fair other forums) we win we are the best in the world, we lose we are doomed, we draw we are nearly doomed, it's one game out of many all the top clubs in the prem will have similar results throughout the season, but what matters is the points tally at the end of the season

 

[TFC]

To fully understand why we were under the cosh yesterday you have to look at a lot of things...

Spurs were at home on the first day of the season, in the very fist game of the season against the team who they beat for a Champions League place and againsta team who they had beat 12 times out of the last 13. They were also up against a team that hasn't had much time to play together or even train together.

So the idea for Spurs was to start fast. The crowd make a lot of noise. Everyone wants to beat City now. Everyone in the ground is up for it, which understandably gives Spurs a huge momentum lift.

They gave our players no time on the ball, and when they had the ball, more often than not they got it out wide and hit Crouch. This in itself causes problems because of how tall he is. Everything suddenly looks last ditch as we battle to get on the end of his knockdowns before a Spurs player does. It's very difficult to show compusre and retain possession when the game is at such a tempo and the atmosphere is so intense. We actually did really well in this respect.

Then Joe Hart has to make some exceptional saves. 1st from a Defoe shot, after a knockdown from Crouch (which we actually defended ok). Then he makes two great saves from Huddlestone and Ekotto. 9 times out of 10 those shots miss by miles. Huddlestones technique was fantastic, but 9 times out of 10, shots from that distance don't even register. The very fact that those shots both almost produced goals only hightens the atmosphere, and in turn it makes our job of not conceding, even harder.

Now the only real chance in the first half where we were majorly at fault was the Defoe 1 on 1. Kompany and Toure both got caught, and there was no pressure on Huddlestone who played a quality long ball. Maybe Richards could have done better with Bale's shot that hit the post...

In the 2nd half, we performed much better and we should have scored with SWP. From there on, we controlled the game, and after about 20 minutes of the 2nd half possession was something like 63% - 37% in our favour. This impressed me, because it's an area where we'ved struggled in the past. We managed to silence the crowd and we carved out 1 or 2 decent chances. The whole pattern of play changes, because Spurs no longer have the momentum. Bale still had a good chance to win it, and Kompany made a great block late on, but make no mistake, we were the better team in the 2nd half.

Toure looked much more comfortable, Barry looked good. Silva looked decent, and we looked a lot more composed. To me, that's a sign of things to come. We controlled the game for 45 minutes away from home against a top 4 side. Not many teams are going to start like Spurs did, and we'll be able to get a grip on a lot of games much earlier. I saw enough in the 2nd half to see that we're a better side than last season, and we've also got Balotelli and probably Milner to come in, aswell as having a fully fit and co-ordinated midfield, which will probably take a few weeks to fit together.

I honestly don't understand what was underwhelming about yesterday. We took a point from White Hart Lane, against a team who have won their last 8 there. They started very similar against Chelsea last season and could have been 4 or 5 up by half time. It's normal for Spurs to start like that against the top sides. All you can do is hold out and take the sting out the game. We did that and i'm pleased. Underwhelmed didn't even enter my mind.

Top notch post.

 

[Crabbers]

i don't know mate, can't make my mind up about our tactics - it is getting results away from home which is the key to winning anything, but we deffo don't test away keepers enough in the big games

But we did get a result mate 1 point at spuds is a result in my books.

It is a good result no doubting that ... Just need to do more in the games. Four games come to mind... rags home, arsenal away, spuds home and now away.... Did we score a goal in any of those games? No. Did we look capable of scoring a goal in any of those games? Not really. And that's worrying. Two of them were home games too.

 

[borassic]

to coin a phrase from the late great ken barnes

"I know it’s an old saying but it’s true that attack is the best form of defence. It really annoys me when coaches try to stress negative play. It doesn’t matter how many goals you concede so long as you score more"

It's that simple ain't it? Which teams at the top level go gung-ho? Hughes tried it and look how far it got him. It's about striking a balance, Mancini hasn't quite found it yet but with weeks it will come...I think.

 

[JoeMercer'sWay]

But we did get a result mate 1 point at spuds is a result in my books.

It is a good result no doubting that ... Just need to do more in the games. Four games come to mind... rags home, arsenal away, spuds home and now away.... Did we score a goal in any of those games? No. Did we look capable of scoring a goal in any of those games? Not really. And that's worrying. Two of them were home games too.

I think we looked capable of scoring a goal when we got into good positions and then passed it round too much, or when SWP balls'd up the best chance of the game, so 2bh I don't see the issue because the 1st half performance was corrected in the 2nd.

 

[zeven]

If Mancini continues to behave this way with our best players(Given, Bellers, Johnson) he will have really big problems inside the team. Some of the players have not diserved to play yet, those who guys really deserve it sit on the bench or even worse. I do not like it at all, Five years ago the situation was much better!

Oh dear, Oh dear.

What the fuck do you want Mancini to do? play two Keepers? Johnson played and will be a big part of the Team.

Bellers, Spues is pretty much the last team on the planet i would play that little rat in. He want to join them for god sake.

5 years ago we would have lost, and being mid-table at best.

PS.
Hart is the future! And he did make a statement of intent yesterday, didnt he??

 

[City Raider]

there are issues here worth debating and I can see both sides - good thread

 

[Chippy_boy]

To fully understand why we were under the cosh yesterday you have to look at a lot of things...

Spurs were at home on the first day of the season, in the very fist game of the season against the team who they beat for a Champions League place and againsta team who they had beat 12 times out of the last 13. They were also up against a team that hasn't had much time to play together or even train together.

So the idea for Spurs was to start fast. The crowd make a lot of noise. Everyone wants to beat City now. Everyone in the ground is up for it, which understandably gives Spurs a huge momentum lift.

They gave our players no time on the ball, and when they had the ball, more often than not they got it out wide and hit Crouch. This in itself causes problems because of how tall he is. Everything suddenly looks last ditch as we battle to get on the end of his knockdowns before a Spurs player does. It's very difficult to show compusre and retain possession when the game is at such a tempo and the atmosphere is so intense. We actually did really well in this respect.

Then Joe Hart has to make some exceptional saves. 1st from a Defoe shot, after a knockdown from Crouch (which we actually defended ok). Then he makes two great saves from Huddlestone and Ekotto. 9 times out of 10 those shots miss by miles. Huddlestones technique was fantastic, but 9 times out of 10, shots from that distance don't even register. The very fact that those shots both almost produced goals only hightens the atmosphere, and in turn it makes our job of not conceding, even harder.

Now the only real chance in the first half where we were majorly at fault was the Defoe 1 on 1. Kompany and Toure both got caught, and there was no pressure on Huddlestone who played a quality long ball. Maybe Richards could have done better with Bale's shot that hit the post...

In the 2nd half, we performed much better and we should have scored with SWP. From there on, we controlled the game, and after about 20 minutes of the 2nd half possession was something like 63% - 37% in our favour. This impressed me, because it's an area where we'ved struggled in the past. We managed to silence the crowd and we carved out 1 or 2 decent chances. The whole pattern of play changes, because Spurs no longer have the momentum. Bale still had a good chance to win it, and Kompany made a great block late on, but make no mistake, we were the better team in the 2nd half.

Toure looked much more comfortable, Barry looked good. Silva looked decent, and we looked a lot more composed. To me, that's a sign of things to come. We controlled the game for 45 minutes away from home against a top 4 side. Not many teams are going to start like Spurs did, and we'll be able to get a grip on a lot of games much earlier. I saw enough in the 2nd half to see that we're a better side than last season, and we've also got Balotelli and probably Milner to come in, aswell as having a fully fit and co-ordinated midfield, which will probably take a few weeks to fit together.

I honestly don't understand what was underwhelming about yesterday. We took a point from White Hart Lane, against a team who have won their last 8 there. They started very similar against Chelsea last season and could have been 4 or 5 up by half time. It's normal for Spurs to start like that against the top sides. All you can do is hold out and take the sting out the game. We did that and i'm pleased. Underwhelmed didn't even enter my mind.

Top notch post.

Totally agree. In fact I posted along the same lines a few pages back.

They would have made Chelsea look poor the way they went at it in the first half. And we are a new team, only just back from the break. I thought overall we did pretty well.

And to those who say attack is the best form of defence? I don't agree. Not away at Spurs on the first day of the season. That's a recipe for losing 5-2 and morale being flat on the floor for the next 5 games with the press laughing their heads off. No, we had to play with caution yesterday and overall I was impressed.

If I have any criticism, and even this I am not sure about, I might have been tempted to take Silva off and replace him with Ade, leaving Ade up front and Tevez dropping deeper. I think we could have nicked it at the end, as we were definitely on top.

Oh, and another thing? 4 extra minutes??? Where the fook did that come from. Only the ref blew on 3 mins odd when he could see Spurs weren't going to win.

 

[Joycee Banercheck]

Top notch post.

Totally agree. In fact I posted along the same lines a few pages back.

They would have made Chelsea look poor the way they went at it in the first half. And we are a new team, only just back from the break. I thought overall we did pretty well.

And to those who say attack is the best form of defence? I don't agree. Not away at Spurs on the first day of the season. That's a recipe for losing 5-2 and morale being flat on the floor for the next 5 games with the press laughing their heads off. No, we had to play with caution yesterday and overall I was impressed.

If I have any criticism, and even this I am not sure about, I might have been tempted to take Silva off and replace him with Ade, leaving Ade up front and Tevez dropping deeper. I think we could have nicked it at the end, as we were definitely on top.

Oh, and another thing? 4 extra minutes??? Where the fook did that come from. Only the ref blew on 3 mins odd when he could see Spurs weren't going to win.

The last two paragraphs in spades! Ade should have been on earlier. He was unlucky not to bag after a heavy first touch, but if he'd have had more time... but if is an if.

...and I can only imagine that subs amounted to 4 mins.

 

[SupermanUnderpants]

I thought we did well yesterday, beside having a few heart attacks in the first half. Hart was brill yesterday, this is what I was probably most apprehensive about going into the game, but jeezuz what a performance from him, Kolo and VK.

Harry had a bash at us with all his strikers and still couldn't lodge one in. A point at WHL for us at this stage in the season, with alot of new players still needing to settle is good. We'll get there and that's when I'll start judging performances. Its a little too early to judge the team and manager just yet imo.

It'll be as good a season this year for both clubs as it was last year, but we'll be taking the CL spot this year Harry. ;)