Spurs v Villa Post-Match Thread

[peter w]

Oh and yes, Jack was shite again. While we're arseing around waiting for him to fire we're never going to do much. I won't write him off completely yet but he should be used just from the bench until we see him consistently have an impact on games, he's little more than a passenger at the moment.

Interesting attempt at doing a Carbone that didn't quite come off.

It was a bloody good attempt too, only for the BBC commentary team to mock. Danny Murphytwat really doesn't like us does he? Always looking to be critical and have a go. This has only been in the last 18 months or so because he was largely positivr about us until something has happened to make him bitter about something.

As for the game:

Johnstone - Yep, good debut.
Hutton - Actually thought he defended well. Rubbish going forward but nothing wrong with his defensive work
Amavi - Needed to do a lot more work in trying to overlap. Also, when to sleep again and the was 2-0 and game over.
Chester - Nice
Baker - Towering
Tishbola - Some nice touches
Grealish - Not supported but always looking to get something going
Jedinak - Good covering
Bacuna - Worked hard
Adomah - Some nice touches
Gabby - Haterz gonna hate. Did his job very well.

[Chris Jameson]

His free kick was certainly a better attempt than anything McCormack came up with. Quick thinking and awareness that the keeper was in a poor position, sadly the execution wasn't right but didn't deserve the derision from Murphy. If Alli had attempted it no doubt it would be an audacious attempt from an outstanding player.

[Bad English]

Gabby - Haterz gonna hate. Did his job very well.

I can haz hate? I don't recall seeing an assist or a goal from Chubs so I would put 'to the best of his current ability' rather than 'very well'. Trust me I write lots of reports. ;-)

[themossman]

Gabby - Haterz gonna hate. Did his job very well.

I can haz hate? I don't recall seeing an assist or a goal from Chubs so I would put 'to the best of his current ability' rather than 'very well'. Trust me I write lots of reports. ;-)

Did his job averagely I'd say, which is more than we've come to expect of him. Still looks unfit and only one decent chance all game. If you modelled an infinite number of scenarios for that game, none of them would have gabby scoring. Which is an issue when he's your only striker.

[brontebilly]

I don't know what people expect of Grealish with so few options around him to play with.  He was the only player apart from Adomah who could hold onto the ball for any period of time.  Hardley his fault there isn't a player making a run or in a position to move the ball on.

I expect him to do whatever job he's in the side for instead of flouncing around doing nothing. He literally did nothing yesterday, AGAIN

He's not creating, he's not making runs, he's not providing a spark. What is he doing ?

Waving his arms and whinging at the ref mostly

[supertom]

His free kick was certainly a better attempt than anything McCormack came up with. Quick thinking and awareness that the keeper was in a poor position, sadly the execution wasn't right but didn't deserve the derision from Murphy. If Alli had attempted it no doubt it would be an audacious attempt from an outstanding player.

All that gushing over Alli was nauseating. I'm surprised the MOTD studio wasn't drowning in jizz. It's that sort of ridiculously fawning that goes to these players' heads and contributes to them never fulfilling their potential. Talking him up as being good enough for Barca and Madrid? Fucking ludicrous. Lets see in another 1-2 years, not because he scored 7 in 4 games. It was only the other month for England he was being singled out as one example of the dwindling levels of talent the country has. Now all of a sudden he's the next Pele.

[Sexual Ealing]

His free kick was certainly a better attempt than anything McCormack came up with. Quick thinking and awareness that the keeper was in a poor position, sadly the execution wasn't right but didn't deserve the derision from Murphy. If Alli had attempted it no doubt it would be an audacious attempt from an outstanding player.

All that gushing over Alli was nauseating. I'm surprised the MOTD studio wasn't drowning in jizz. It's that sort of ridiculously fawning that goes to these players' heads and contributes to them never fulfilling their potential. Talking him up as being good enough for Barca and Madrid? Fucking ludicrous. Lets see in another 1-2 years, not because he scored 7 in 4 games. It was only the other month for England he was being singled out as one example of the dwindling levels of talent the country has. Now all of a sudden he's the next Pele.

That's a good point.

[class-of-82]

when it comes to the big games like champions league and England that's when you see how good a player really is and that's why England was put out by Iceland and spurs are in the Europa league ok danny smurfy
also his comment all the time that villa are always seem to have 6 men in defence yes you prat that's what usually happens when the other team are on the attack

[Matt Collins]

I'm probably biased but my view on grealish is this

He's not strong or fast or tall. He's outstandingly skilful. But he's only as good as for players around him enable him to be. He needs to interact with players who will give him space, who he can play a one two with or who will move intelligently for him. They're in short supply at villa

Also, it doesn't seem that long ago that he scored a brilliant last minute winner so I think the all fart no shit stuff is a bit harsh. He's scored three great goals this season and won about four penalties

I'm not saying he's going to live up to the hype but he's still a talent to be cherished in my view

[chrisw1]

I'm probably biased but my view on grealish is this

He's not strong or fast or tall. He's outstandingly skilful. But he's only as good as for players around him enable him to be. He needs to interact with players who will give him space, who he can play a one two with or who will move intelligently for him. They're in short supply at villa

Also, it doesn't seem that long ago that he scored a brilliant last minute winner so I think the all fart no shit stuff is a bit harsh. He's scored three great goals this season and won about four penalties

I'm not saying he's going to live up to the hype but he's still a talent to be cherished in my view

Good post.  I think in a better team he would look very good indeed.  But he's not yet the type to carry a team on his own.

[ciggiesnbeer]

I like what Grealish does, I just wish he would do it quicker. He has the great ability to beat a man or create space out of nothing, he  just needs to do it quicker and pass to a team mate faster. That would be enough I think to take him from "decent" to "good" in the Championship.

The thing is, as I said in the match thread, he was picking the ball up 10 yards outside our box, looking up and seeing 6-7 spurs players and gabby in the distance, how can he do anything creative in that situation?  I can understand being defensive in that game but ayew/kodjia/grealish picking it up deep in their own half with no pass forward available has been a consistent problem for the last 2 months.

You mention he can 'create space out of nothing' but who is he creating space for other than himself and if he's the only person who can benefit from it then he's really got no choice but to hold onto the ball.

The problems you describe exist at the team level and Grealish is a circumstance of that as much as anything else.  This isn't me attempting to white knight for him or ignore his part in it, I'm just pointing out that right now under Bruce we'd be better off playing long ball in a 442 with a big target man and a quick fucker running off him because players like Grealish just aren't going to work if we play so deep.

fair points.

[QuintonVilla]

Grealish is too slow on the ball. He slows everything down and is more interested in trying to draw a foul than stretching his legs and being direct. I just want to see him pick the ball up and run at defenders with pace.

[Ads]

Grealish makes runs all the while. He needs movement to deliver a killer ball. How was he going to do that at Spurs when we were sat with a low block?

[paul_e]

Grealish is too slow on the ball. He slows everything down and is more interested in trying to draw a foul than stretching his legs and being direct. I just want to see him pick the ball up and run at defenders with pace.

What he's doing is the only sensible thing to do.  As you say he tries to draw fouls.  Surely you've noticed we're at our most dangerous from set pieces, especially in away games so I can't decide if this is something he's decided to do to give us a chance or if he's been asked to do it.  I think Grealish is a very smart player so it wouldn't surprise me at all if he has realised that he just doesn't have the movement in front of him to influence games in open play so he'd rather get us free kicks and see if we can take advantage from those.

[ChicagoLion]

So fatty can blast them over the bar