A periodic RDBD 606 tome, so off we go ...
Firstly, for all the kids last night who must have been having a truly surreal WTF moment with no Internet feeds, no Sky Sports N to watch, and that "radio" thang. Thats' how it used to be done.
Midweek away games (league, cups, Euro etc) , or even home games you couldn't get into WHL to watch. Sit at home with your dad by the radio, or outside on the landings etc with your mates crowded around a portable radio.
As with the superior Spurs 606 match threads, tis not the media that matters, but the collective enjoyment you get with a group of kindred spirits.
And so to the game ...
1. Gomes
Did not cost us the game. But still classic Gomes.
2. VDV
Expected him to take the game by the scruff of the neck.
Didn't happen. Perhaps not as fit as he believes he is.
Could have done with him for the penalties.
3. Gio
Another game to show us what he has. Another game gone.
The love of THudd ain't gonna save him now.
4. Sandro
Not really much for him to do, other than a leg stretch and letting the new hairdo fly.
5. Crouch
Much better performance !!!
No long balls to him. No own goals. MOM IMHO.
6. Kids (Carroll etc)
Solid. But nothing to write home about.
7. Pav
Apart from giving THudd his (literal) 15 mins of fame : SFA.
And although you shouldn't be harsh on penalty shoot-out takers, I will on this occasion. Purely because over the past 2 season, penalties have been something that Pav HAS done better than the other forwards !!!
8. Redknappp
Not the debacle of last year, but a bit wanting wrt the CM creativity that might have won it for us.
Overall :
Too much of a chasm between the top tier and the rest wrt MF creativity, and forwards. Not too sure Kane is ready to lead the line yet with the main team (still a work in progress) . And do not want to hype Coulibaly into a no-win scenario.
Not sure who in the kids is closest in ability to Luka/Niko/Hudd in playmaking (Spurcat to enlighten us perhaps) , but the gap was there to see.
Bit sad that the fringe/kid players have lost a possible extra few competitive games to have a go in, but nothing more than that.
The morning after the night before
posted on 21/9/11
Comment Deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 21/9/11
Edin :
+1.
Remember Stoke are the kind of team who have managed to give the *FULL* Spurs PL lineup serious grief.
So for them not to have been able to do that to us with the lineup yesterday, tells me that the squad is moving in the right direction.
However, twas a cup tie. And they have to be won. And I don't feel twas a forward/MF lineup that had the spark to do that.
posted on 21/9/11
Bales :
Players of that kind need no motivation whatsoever. They still have the joy of playing, period. Together with the desire to make their mark on the footballing world.
The concept of "pension players" etc is a lifetime away for them.
posted on 21/9/11
RDBD
I hope you're right about our development players, certainly Gio sounded like he was trying - the radio man described him as "charging all over the pitch" at one stage
Now to find out what motivates a Pavlovachenko...
posted on 21/9/11
Bales :
Surely you jest ??
The chance to :
- play yourself into a 25-50K/wk job ??
- have 35,000+ adoring fans chanting your name on your every play ??
- be pit yourself against the Inter/AC/Real of this world ??
Nah, not much motivation is it.
posted on 21/9/11
Crossed wires here I think - I was referring to squad players like Pav, Gomes & Gio. I'm sure the likes of Livermore & Townsend don't need a kick up the rear
posted on 21/9/11
Bales :
You cannot call Gio, Pav et al "development" players. That term is for the Kanes, Carrolls etc.
posted on 21/9/11
I know RDBD - hence the use of "" when I described them as "development players" ... kind of mocking really. As Thudd implied in the match thread last night - Pav might be taking it as an insult to play with the kids.
I don't see them as development - of course not - but in Harry's eyes they might as well be
posted on 21/9/11
Bales :
Tis an insult well deserved.
And he wasn't alone - for Crouch suffered the same fate.
posted on 21/9/11
Tis an insult well deserved.
I hope VDV was humbled last night also.. I know how good he can be, but I get the feeling he sees himself as superior to most of the squad.. never hurts to take an ego down a peg or two