The Mighty Spurs - Swansea of Wales

[JDK]

I thought he was very poor throughout first half. Clearly, this was down to our lack of possession (and also due to lack of support from Dembele), rather than just the natural gap in quality vs. Shelvey.

2nd half he did fine and as well as we could hope for, lots of balls won too as I recall it.

I think Sherwood adjusted at half time too and told him to play deeper to eliminate space between himself and the back line. I thought he played much deeper in the second half while Dembele pushed further forward. Thus, he ended up with eight successful tackles in the second half.

 

[NorseYid]

I think Sherwood adjusted at half time too and told him to play deeper to eliminate space between himself and the back line. I thought he played much deeper in the second half while Dembele pushed further forward. Thus, he ended up with eight successful tackles in the second half.

That corresponds nicely with what I saw.

Also it appears to me we played a much higher line in 2nd half. Must be good for him having to cover less ground.

 

[Pairsy1882]

I think many of his passes are very poorly weighed and executed.

However his first touch is excellent, and although he sometimes tends to play the ball too early (thus putting teammates under unneeded pressure), he does have an excellent vision of the game around him and he does again and again choose some brilliant angled passes, completely putting off the opposition pressing players.

People compared him to Busquets in type. To me he looks like when Xavi was young and broke into their side. being more of the player moving the game along rather than spoiling it.

People like @ WindyCOYS kept telling us Nabil's got it, long before his debut.

Despite the disagreements of how good or poor he was today, that much is sure: Nabil's got something, that is for certain.

Each to their own I guess and without watching the match back again I can't really argue against what you are saying about his passes being poorly weighted, I doubt it very much as every time I have watched him play he has looked a very accomplished passer of the ball. His completion rates are high and although this does not necessarily reflect what happens once the recipient receives the ball (e.g pass is poorly weighted and puts them under pressure) it is a good indication of his passing ability.

His vision is superb and he reads the game very well in both an attacking sense and a defensive sense. There was one moment that particularly stuck with me. Down our left hand side, Danny Rose closed down the ball when (I think) Ben Davies had it, this allowed Routledge in behind but Nabil was switched on and instantly realised the danger and tracked Routledge's run. As I said going forward he is a great asset because he very rarely gives the ball away, he manipulates the opposition's defense very well and he is capable of playing that killer ball when appropriate.

One of the things that I have noticed about him is that he always seems to have space and that is a sign of a very good young player as there are not many who are capable of finding space with such ease.

Me and my brother always used to pick out Bentaleb as one of the top performers when we used to watch our U21's on a regular basis.

In summary I thought he had good game today and looks a very bright prospect.

 

[escher]

Does anyone else think Sherwood looks a bit depressed considering we're doing well.

I think he needs a holiday in the sun

 

[NorseYid]

Sherwood certainly shouldn't look depressed. He has shown ability and he has enjoyed fortune when needed. And broken records.

Appointing him or anyone like would always be a gamble. So far it has paid off far better than anyone should have dared to hope.

 

[TDub]

I don't know how anybody can argue against Benteleb still. Sure, Swansea were able to keep possession well but they hardly overran us. Even though they did have so much possession, they rarely were able to get into our box and had to resort to long shots. I'd happily give them those all game long. Oh, and guess how many tackles Benteleb had today. He had 10. 10 tackles. Add 58 passes with a 91% completion rate and you have a solid performance. I don't know what more he can do to impress you guys. He may not stand out much, but was pretty fantastic. He and Dembele were the reason why Eriksen was able to get so much space and run the game.

 

[Mr S Pippo]

Does anyone else think Sherwood looks a bit depressed considering we're doing well.

I think he needs a holiday in the sun

Wouldn't you be if you knew this exsisted?

 

[Mr S Pippo]

Slow start, allowed Swansea some football. They missed some half chances, hit the woodwork. We took control. 1 - 3 later - a very god performance and win. The players/ TS/supporters should feel proud. Its ticking along quite nicely. It may be a blessing we have City when Eve play Liverpool on the same weekend (draws all round)

Dilema . beat City, do the scum a favour ?

Disclaimer, i want to beat City regardless of the scum.

 

[gaz]

Does anyone else think Sherwood looks a bit depressed considering we're doing well.

I think he needs a holiday in the sun

A Cheap holiday in other peoples misery!?

 

[BigYid1882]

Thankfully they didn't show him on the big screens or anything, did they? Would be a riot.

Saw him play us in the home draw in 2005. The bile at WHL was to thick you could cut slices from it

It was my first NLD. Loved every second of it stood all game (Paxton upper, basically unheard of) the hatred displayed to that cunt was on another level

 

[Tomo]

Slow start, allowed Swansea some football. They missed some half chances, hit the woodwork. We took control. 1 - 3 later - a very god performance and win. The players/ TS/supporters should feel proud. Its ticking along quite nicely. It may be a blessing we have City when Eve play Liverpool on the same weekend (draws all round)

Dilema . beat City, do the scum a favour ?

Disclaimer, i want to beat City regardless of the scum.

I get the feeling man city will beat us but we will put out a good performance, they can score goals from anywhere at the moment , I am kind of hoping ts will play a combination of Sandro, bentaleb and dembele in a middle with Ade, eriksen and Lennon up top and try and hit them on the counter. Still we have done amazing so far with ts even if we lose the city game but hopefully we can do something against them. Coys

 

[Mark]

I think you can analyse football too much! Sherwood has simplified it for our team and so far so good! Enjoy it while it lasts!

 

[OZHotspur]

I thought bentaleb for all the critism (some valid) for his first half performance really turned it around in the second half.. after a win like that its not nessarily the time to be overly critical. Im not reading too much into the win however, swansea were really poor, lennon and chadli showed me exactly why i dont rate them and i feel city wednesday week will be the real yardstick of our progress under sherwood..

 

[Tomo]

I thought bentaleb for all the critism (some valid) for his first half performance really turned it around in the second half.. after a win like that its not nessarily the time to be overly critical. Im not reading too much into the win however, swansea were really poor, lennon and chadli showed me exactly why i dont rate them and i feel city wednesday week will be the real yardstick of our progress under sherwood..

Please no chadli against city, Sandro, dembele and bentaleb in the middle I hope.

 

[sammyspurs]

i feel city wednesday week will be the real yardstick of our progress under sherwood..

I dont get this sentiment.....apart from the next game always being "the real test".....why would we need to beat City to prove ourselves? When were we ever going for the title?

I promise we could beat them, and people would just say, "Hull is the real banana skin, lets see how we do there..."

Not saying that things are always going to go well for us.....but last week "the next two games" were the "real test".

We win the first one, and it "proved nothing"

 

[OZHotspur]

I dont get this sentiment.....apart from the next game always being "the real test".....why would we need to beat City to prove ourselves? When were we ever going for the title?

I promise we could beat them, and people would just say, "Hull is the real banana skin, lets see how we do there..."

Not saying that things are always going to go well for us.....but last week "the next two games" were the "real test".

We win the first one, and it "proved nothing"

sammy it has nothing per say with the result against city..subjectively i would suggest the chances of us losing are higher than winning. but it will be a great test of TS team selections/formation/tactics...
whilst TS has had the greatest start of any spurs manager (something which i wont begrudge him) his also besides OT away had a relatively easy run of games...city as i said will be a good yardstick

 

[Dan D]

Hotspur Related ‏@HotspurRelated 6m
Louis Van Gaal has admitted he was approached by Tottenham Hotspur to become their manager. #THFC

 

[Super Jan Fan]

Dilema . beat City, do the scum a favour ?

Disclaimer, i want to beat City regardless of the scum.

The way I'm looking at it is if we win, or even get a draw, then we have got ourselves a great result that sets us up nicely for a top four finish. But if we lose then Woolwich get knocked off the top sooner, which is inevitable, but also a joyous occurence when it does happen. Kinda win either way.

 

[JDK]

Hotspur Related ‏@HotspurRelated 6m
Louis Van Gaal has admitted he was approached by Tottenham Hotspur to become their manager. #THFC

Not surprising. The big question is if they'll go after him again in the summer. Only time will tell.

Great game from Vlad today, Dan. Glad he survived that headbutt. Bony is a very large man.

 

[Mr S Pippo]

sammy it has nothing per say with the result against city..subjectively i would suggest the chances of us losing are higher than winning. but it will be a great test of TS team selections/formation/tactics...
whilst TS has had the greatest start of any spurs manager (something which i wont begrudge him) his also besides OT away had a relatively easy run of games...city as i said will be a good yardstick

Don't agree its been an easy run of games. We have played well, created our luck and got results. The odds, winning 5 away in then PL, is hugh, bigger than you are giving credit. We've done brilliant so far, let it continue.
History will be the judge.