The other games today - 2010/11

[KaKa]

Who does Crouch think he is? 

[Magpie]

By the way the music Sky are using for intro and outro is Northern Man by mate's band Detroit Social Club. To say he's stoked is a massive understatement!!!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YN2Ncti-VE

Ha, small world, which one do you know? I went to school with Bondy.

 

Went to school with Dave and Chris. Both this and Prophecy being used for the cricket!!

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

SWP died of laughter in mid air at the sight of Peter Crouch's flailing limbs block out the sun.

[leffe186]

Main improvement for Lennon has been his tracking back, really, though his crossing and decision-making HAVE improved (honestly). Teams generally have to double-up on him, which leaves the RB exposed to Bale. I'm happy with that.

 

That's mainly due to poor Full Backs though. I think I'd be comfortable asking my Full Back to show him down the channel, possibly even risk asking him to attack so Lennon is on the backfoot - though could be risky. I don't think he mixes it up enough to really test a Full Back, if he could really sort his crosses out and have some deep ones now and again he'd be harder to defend as you wouldn't know if you should go tight (stop early deep crosses) or drop off to stop him making his runs. At the moment you pretty much know he's going to run at you and cross from the byline, occasionally he'll cut inside, but he'll run at you.

 

That's right, and he's not super-tricky, but with his pace all he needs is a sniff and he's away. That's why he'll keep players nervous, and with Modric and the Hudd so good at passing the full-back and covering RM/CB can't lose concentration for a second. He's great in a team that uses pace and clever passing - and a clever RB - which is why he hasn't really worked for England yet.

 

But a good FB will pick his game up after 10 minutes and know that he'll just run at him, drop off a little wait for that run, track it, show him down the wing and try to block the cross. Take Bale as an example of the opposite type of winger, in the same game, he's running at his full back, going down the channel then he mixes it up with cutting inside, pulling the FB in (leaving the overlap open). On top of that he'll look up now and again and put in a deep swinging cross to the back post. Richards (who admittedly isn't the best) is having a nightmare trying to mark him, as he can't tell if Bale will sit deep and cross, or run at him.

 

But when Kolarov did that, Lennon accelerated so fast he couldn't get the block in. I think that lead to the first save from Defoe.

 

At the beginning of last season, Lennon was cutting in at times and as a result scored a couple of vital goals. I think that's the reason why we got so excited. He hasn't really got back up to speed after missing most of the season so hopefully that will develop.

[ponsaelius]

God I fucking hate SWP. He's worse than me the stupid fucker.

[KaKa]

To be fair to SWP he did make a great run on that chance he completely fluffed. Shame.

[leffe186]

Still can't see this 'improvement' in Lennon's game Spur's fans go on about. Is it the type of improvement that has improved him from s*** to average?

 

Huddlestones ability is ridiculous. There's just something missing.

 

Ability? 

 

His technique, passing, vision is all pretty damn good.

 

Consistency. For every class moment he'll have they'll be 20 s*** ones.

 

Lennon has improved ten-fold. He's my idea of a perfect winger.

 

And yeah, you're right about Huddlestone. If he could sort that out he'd be insane.

 

If I make it as a coach, I'll have to remember not to ask you to become my scout if I need a winger! I don't know, he could be good, but I just can't see it. Perhaps its my dislike of Spurs in general (which has no basis at all other than they're over rated).

 

You think we're over-rated after that first half? You're a tough man to please!

 

Since Redknapp took over, though I think thats more to do with Redknapp, people have been talking as if Spurs have been contenders since the Premier League have started, with a bit of a blip under Ramos!  1st half has been decent, but if you were really a good team you'd have put one of those chances away, despite how good Joe Hart had been. I think City's disorganised s**** has flattered you too. They can't hold onto the ball, which means they can't get settled, which means the defence hasn't had a chance to regroup, so its on a cycle at the moment.

 

I get what you're saying, but the reason they can't hold onto the ball is because we're constantly harrying them, and when we get the ball we have plenty of options. I don't think we've been flattered at all because we've played really well and I don't think City have been particularly bad. We're the reason they can't get settled. The only chance we "should" have put away was probably the Defoe one over the top, on every other one the Spurs guy did pretty much exactly what he should have done.

 

Its not 100% Tottenham's pressure that's contributing to City's really poor 1st half. They have very little movement, which means its harder to find a free man, so players are getting caught on the ball. When they do get space (such as SWP) poor player performance has let them down. I'm not saying Spurs are playing poorly, just not fantastically, and I think its more to do with City playing really badly.

 

City will come out and try to pass the ball for 10 minutes, just set a tempo and try to actually get into the game.

 

Yeah, the game will surely slow down a little soon. That's when their extra midfielder might make a difference.

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

Main improvement for Lennon has been his tracking back, really, though his crossing and decision-making HAVE improved (honestly). Teams generally have to double-up on him, which leaves the RB exposed to Bale. I'm happy with that.

 

That's mainly due to poor Full Backs though. I think I'd be comfortable asking my Full Back to show him down the channel, possibly even risk asking him to attack so Lennon is on the backfoot - though could be risky. I don't think he mixes it up enough to really test a Full Back, if he could really sort his crosses out and have some deep ones now and again he'd be harder to defend as you wouldn't know if you should go tight (stop early deep crosses) or drop off to stop him making his runs. At the moment you pretty much know he's going to run at you and cross from the byline, occasionally he'll cut inside, but he'll run at you.

 

That's right, and he's not super-tricky, but with his pace all he needs is a sniff and he's away. That's why he'll keep players nervous, and with Modric and the Hudd so good at passing the full-back and covering RM/CB can't lose concentration for a second. He's great in a team that uses pace and clever passing - and a clever RB - which is why he hasn't really worked for England yet.

 

But a good FB will pick his game up after 10 minutes and know that he'll just run at him, drop off a little wait for that run, track it, show him down the wing and try to block the cross. Take Bale as an example of the opposite type of winger, in the same game, he's running at his full back, going down the channel then he mixes it up with cutting inside, pulling the FB in (leaving the overlap open). On top of that he'll look up now and again and put in a deep swinging cross to the back post. Richards (who admittedly isn't the best) is having a nightmare trying to mark him, as he can't tell if Bale will sit deep and cross, or run at him.

 

But when Kolarov did that, Lennon accelerated so fast he couldn't get the block in. I think that lead to the first save from Defoe.

 

At the beginning of last season, Lennon was cutting in at times and as a result scored a couple of vital goals. I think that's the reason why we got so excited. He hasn't really got back up to speed after missing most of the season so hopefully that will develop.

 

Good call, only thing I could say towards that is he's a new player to the league and won't be familiar with other player's abilities yet. However, it was one of the first one on ones they had, and I can't remember it happening again, which suggests Kolarov got his anticipiation/positioning sorted on Lennon pretty quickly.

 

Still can't see this 'improvement' in Lennon's game Spur's fans go on about. Is it the type of improvement that has improved him from s*** to average?

 

Huddlestones ability is ridiculous. There's just something missing.

 

Ability? 

 

His technique, passing, vision is all pretty damn good.

 

Consistency. For every class moment he'll have they'll be 20 s*** ones.

 

Lennon has improved ten-fold. He's my idea of a perfect winger.

 

And yeah, you're right about Huddlestone. If he could sort that out he'd be insane.

 

If I make it as a coach, I'll have to remember not to ask you to become my scout if I need a winger! I don't know, he could be good, but I just can't see it. Perhaps its my dislike of Spurs in general (which has no basis at all other than they're over rated).

 

You think we're over-rated after that first half? You're a tough man to please!

 

Since Redknapp took over, though I think thats more to do with Redknapp, people have been talking as if Spurs have been contenders since the Premier League have started, with a bit of a blip under Ramos!  1st half has been decent, but if you were really a good team you'd have put one of those chances away, despite how good Joe Hart had been. I think City's disorganised s**** has flattered you too. They can't hold onto the ball, which means they can't get settled, which means the defence hasn't had a chance to regroup, so its on a cycle at the moment.

 

I get what you're saying, but the reason they can't hold onto the ball is because we're constantly harrying them, and when we get the ball we have plenty of options. I don't think we've been flattered at all because we've played really well and I don't think City have been particularly bad. We're the reason they can't get settled. The only chance we "should" have put away was probably the Defoe one over the top, on every other one the Spurs guy did pretty much exactly what he should have done.

 

Its not 100% Tottenham's pressure that's contributing to City's really poor 1st half. They have very little movement, which means its harder to find a free man, so players are getting caught on the ball. When they do get space (such as SWP) poor player performance has let them down. I'm not saying Spurs are playing poorly, just not fantastically, and I think its more to do with City playing really badly.

 

City will come out and try to pass the ball for 10 minutes, just set a tempo and try to actually get into the game.

 

Yeah, the game will surely slow down a little soon. That's when their extra midfielder might make a difference.

 

Not that'll do much good to City with the way SWP is wasting the ball and chances falling to his feet. 

[ponsaelius]

To be fair to SWP he did make a great run on that chance he completely fluffed. Shame.

 

BAO basically played him on like.

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

SWP running forward 10 yards, no City player a head of him. Bellamy would have been breaking his neck, cutting inside from the left wing, screaming for a through ball.

[TaylorJ_01]

Can't see why they didn't stick Robinho on the bench after his game for Brazil.

[TaylorJ_01]

Yaya 'lol' Touré

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

Ball out wide for City. NO ONE in the box. OK, Tottenham playing a high line, but even if they had dropped deep, you'd only have Tevez around the 18 yard spot.

[Keefaz]

Spors might well regret not sticking them chances away...

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

For all the mistakes he's had on the ball, SWP is the only one offering any movement off the ball.

[KaKa]

Yaya is so classy. Great mix of physicality and quality.

[TaylorJ_01]

Lennon's pace

[Keefaz]

Bale is a fucking beast. Brilliant player, tbh.

[leffe186]

Main improvement for Lennon has been his tracking back, really, though his crossing and decision-making HAVE improved (honestly). Teams generally have to double-up on him, which leaves the RB exposed to Bale. I'm happy with that.

 

That's mainly due to poor Full Backs though. I think I'd be comfortable asking my Full Back to show him down the channel, possibly even risk asking him to attack so Lennon is on the backfoot - though could be risky. I don't think he mixes it up enough to really test a Full Back, if he could really sort his crosses out and have some deep ones now and again he'd be harder to defend as you wouldn't know if you should go tight (stop early deep crosses) or drop off to stop him making his runs. At the moment you pretty much know he's going to run at you and cross from the byline, occasionally he'll cut inside, but he'll run at you.

 

That's right, and he's not super-tricky, but with his pace all he needs is a sniff and he's away. That's why he'll keep players nervous, and with Modric and the Hudd so good at passing the full-back and covering RM/CB can't lose concentration for a second. He's great in a team that uses pace and clever passing - and a clever RB - which is why he hasn't really worked for England yet.

 

But a good FB will pick his game up after 10 minutes and know that he'll just run at him, drop off a little wait for that run, track it, show him down the wing and try to block the cross. Take Bale as an example of the opposite type of winger, in the same game, he's running at his full back, going down the channel then he mixes it up with cutting inside, pulling the FB in (leaving the overlap open). On top of that he'll look up now and again and put in a deep swinging cross to the back post. Richards (who admittedly isn't the best) is having a nightmare trying to mark him, as he can't tell if Bale will sit deep and cross, or run at him.

 

But when Kolarov did that, Lennon accelerated so fast he couldn't get the block in. I think that lead to the first save from Defoe.

 

At the beginning of last season, Lennon was cutting in at times and as a result scored a couple of vital goals. I think that's the reason why we got so excited. He hasn't really got back up to speed after missing most of the season so hopefully that will develop.

 

Good call, only thing I could say towards that is he's a new player to the league and won't be familiar with other player's abilities yet. However, it was one of the first one on ones they had, and I can't remember it happening again, which suggests Kolarov got his anticipiation/positioning sorted on Lennon pretty quickly.

 

 

I think more that he dropped off and the midfielder doubled-up on him, which gave Bale more space for the rest of the half - and you saw how that worked out. The first time Lennon got the ball in the second half he had three men on him. I think Kolarov did well given that this was his first game in the Prem but Lennon took a lot out of him and that's why he's off.

[KaKa]

Bale is a f***ing beast. Brilliant player, tbh.

 

Remember when he was being written off at Spurs because of that freaky record of no wins with him in the lineup. Has always looked a great player though.

[leffe186]

Silva could be a brilliant buy. Looks really clever.

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

Bale is a f***ing beast. Brilliant player, tbh.

 

Remember when he was being written off at Spurs because of that freaky record of no wins with him in the lineup. Has always looked a great player though.

 

Shit defender, promising winger.

[Dave]

Where exactly are the Man City matchwinners? There's Tevez deep/out wide, Silva who's barely had a touch and SWP who is poo. Everyone else is a defensive player.

 

I've only just started watching but they look like an expensive version of Blackburn so far.

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

Silva could be a brilliant buy. Looks really clever.

 

Needs a true striker to benefit from his work though, no one in the area for him to really work with. Tevez will be great foil for him off the striker, but there's no one advanced enough to work with.

[Disco]

Classic South American defending.