Tottenham 0 - 1 Newcastle United - 10/11/13 - Post-match reaction from page 43

[STM]

Have no complaints about going to Spurs and having to ride our luck. Im more than happy with a smash and grab at WHL.

 

Its the home games where we need to show more guile.

[BrettNUFC]

I don't know why people think we should be controlling games against likes of Chelsea/Spurs. I watched Barca/Betis last night and Betis set up a high line and tried to control the game against Barca, it was suicidal. They had their fair share of possession and created numerous chances but they got beat 4-1. It's good from a neutral point of view seeing a team give it a good go but if you're of an inferior class to the opposition, you should have no qualms with sitting back and soaking up as much pressure as possible, riding your luck and looking to break away when possible to grab a goal.

 

Norwich will do exactly the same to us in a couple of weeks and then it's down to us to prove that we have a different dimension to our game and we aren't just a team who can only defend and counter. It's still a big question mark above our side whether they have it in them as West Ham/Fulham/Hull/Sunderland weren't convincing in the slightest, the next two home games are our acid test so to speak. It's down to Pardew and the players to show us what they are really made of, the next two games could make or break our season.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

I sit on a row of desks with two Arsenal fans, a Man City fan and a Spurs fan.

[Guest firetotheworks]

Brett, you're inventing an extreme view in order to make your point with a longer polarity. No one but no one thinks that we should be controlling games against the likes of Chelsea and Spurs. I imagine that quite a few (myself included) think that we should be competing more than we are and relying more on our own football, than the toothlessness of whoever we're playing on the day. Some are also saying that the way that we've played in the last few games has worked, but is unsustainable.

 

Again, there's a middle ground that you're ignoring in order to make your point seem more realistic and imply that any suggestion otherwise is the stuff of dreams.

[jackyboy]

Could it be that we are winning these 'big games' because of the tactical know how of JFK/  Maybe he inputs the opposition into his phone and hits speed dial and there are the tactics.

[Skirge]

Could it be that we are winning these 'big games' because of the tactical know how of JFK/  Maybe he inputs the opposition into his phone and hits speed dial and there are the tactics.

Must have upgraded his Nokia 3210 then

[Guest neesy111]

Think we always play better when we are in the under-dog, seem to have got that siege mentality back from 11/12.

[mattypnufc]

I sit on a row of desks with two Arsenal fans, a Man City fan and a Spurs fan.

 

Bet its quiet.

[BrettNUFC]

Brett, you're inventing an extreme view in order to make your point with a longer polarity. No one but no one thinks that we should be controlling games against the likes of Chelsea and Spurs. I imagine that quite a few (myself included) think that we should be competing more than we are and relying more on our own football, than the toothlessness of whoever we're playing on the day. Some are also saying that the way that we've played in the last few games has worked, but is unsustainable.

 

Again, there's a middle ground that you're ignoring in order to make your point seem more realistic and imply that any suggestion otherwise is the stuff of dreams.

 

I have no complaints in the slightest playing defend and counter against the top 6. You don't expect to take anything off them especially away from home and if you manage to grab bonus points off them through negative tactics even if you take a hammering somewhere along the line, i'm fine with that. The next two games are bigger than what Chelsea/Spurs were, we've come out with massive massive credit in those games but we now need to back it up. Be very interesting to see how people react if Pardew and the players do indeed back up their performances.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Brett, you're inventing an extreme view in order to make your point with a longer polarity. No one but no one thinks that we should be controlling games against the likes of Chelsea and Spurs. I imagine that quite a few (myself included) think that we should be competing more than we are and relying more on our own football, than the toothlessness of whoever we're playing on the day. Some are also saying that the way that we've played in the last few games has worked, but is unsustainable.

 

Again, there's a middle ground that you're ignoring in order to make your point seem more realistic and imply that any suggestion otherwise is the stuff of dreams.

 

I have no complaints in the slightest playing defend and counter against the top 6. You don't expect to take anything off them especially away from home and if you manage to grab bonus points off them through negative tactics even if you take a hammering somewhere along the line, i'm fine with that. The next two games are bigger than what Chelsea/Spurs were, we've come out with massive massive credit in those games but we now need to back it up. Be very interesting to see how people react if Pardew and the players do indeed back up their performances.

 

Probably a good time to have an international break actually, prepare ourselves for the different approach needed in these upcoming games.

 

[BrettNUFC]

Brett, you're inventing an extreme view in order to make your point with a longer polarity. No one but no one thinks that we should be controlling games against the likes of Chelsea and Spurs. I imagine that quite a few (myself included) think that we should be competing more than we are and relying more on our own football, than the toothlessness of whoever we're playing on the day. Some are also saying that the way that we've played in the last few games has worked, but is unsustainable.

 

Again, there's a middle ground that you're ignoring in order to make your point seem more realistic and imply that any suggestion otherwise is the stuff of dreams.

 

I have no complaints in the slightest playing defend and counter against the top 6. You don't expect to take anything off them especially away from home and if you manage to grab bonus points off them through negative tactics even if you take a hammering somewhere along the line, i'm fine with that. The next two games are bigger than what Chelsea/Spurs were, we've come out with massive massive credit in those games but we now need to back it up. Be very interesting to see how people react if Pardew and the players do indeed back up their performances.

 

Probably a good time to have an international break actually, prepare ourselves for the different approach needed in these upcoming games.

 

Possibly, also have the feeling now we are in good form you just want to keep going. I love a win on the back of an international break though as your happy about the club for a couple of weeks rather than being depressed looking back at a loss. Norwich got themselves a decent win too at the weekend but West Ham were all over them for 45 minutes, not convinced by them and i fancy us to take 3 points. Be surprised if Ben Arfa isn't recalled, we'll need his creative edge in a agme like this where Norwich park the bus.

[Guest firetotheworks]

Brett, you're inventing an extreme view in order to make your point with a longer polarity. No one but no one thinks that we should be controlling games against the likes of Chelsea and Spurs. I imagine that quite a few (myself included) think that we should be competing more than we are and relying more on our own football, than the toothlessness of whoever we're playing on the day. Some are also saying that the way that we've played in the last few games has worked, but is unsustainable.

 

Again, there's a middle ground that you're ignoring in order to make your point seem more realistic and imply that any suggestion otherwise is the stuff of dreams.

 

I have no complaints in the slightest playing defend and counter against the top 6. You don't expect to take anything off them especially away from home and if you manage to grab bonus points off them through negative tactics even if you take a hammering somewhere along the line, i'm fine with that. The next two games are bigger than what Chelsea/Spurs were, we've come out with massive massive credit in those games but we now need to back it up. Be very interesting to see how people react if Pardew and the players do indeed back up their performances.

 

You're exaggerating. We haven't come out of it with massive credit at all. Chelsea's poor performance was discussed at great length and you'd be hard pushed to find a review of the Spurs match that doesn't have an entire section on Krul. We won both games and that's great, but that doesn't mean that we've automatically played well, or won those games in anything like a sustainable way.

 

I'm not being all sad face about it, because you have to find happiness in the victories otherwise you'd go crazy, but how you can think relying upon toothlessness or an amazing performance from your keeper is a solid and sustainable way to get results is beyond me.

[Mattoon]

I don't know why people think we should be controlling games against likes of Chelsea/Spurs. I watched Barca/Betis last night and Betis set up a high line and tried to control the game against Barca, it was suicidal. They had their fair share of possession and created numerous chances but they got beat 4-1. It's good from a neutral point of view seeing a team give it a good go but if you're of an inferior class to the opposition, you should have no qualms with sitting back and soaking up as much pressure as possible, riding your luck and looking to break away when possible to grab a goal.

 

Norwich will do exactly the same to us in a couple of weeks and then it's down to us to prove that we have a different dimension to our game and we aren't just a team who can only defend and counter. It's still a big question mark above our side whether they have it in them as West Ham/Fulham/Hull/Sunderland weren't convincing in the slightest, the next two home games are our acid test so to speak. It's down to Pardew and the players to show us what they are really made of, the next two games could make or break our season.

 

Absolute drivel again, where has anyone said we should be controlling these games or that we shouldn't be soaking up pressure??

 

I have no problem in us being dominated at times by better, more experienced, more expensive teams. However that shouldn't rattle us to the extent it does, we should be doing more when we do break down an attack and regain posession rather than it going sideways/backwards or just plain losing it because we have no movement or options.

 

That said, yes we rolled the dice and rode our luck at times but we got a smash and grab and I'm happy with that. There's still a lot of work to for us to move forward, a couple of good results does mask the fact that Pardew isn't the long term answer.

[BrettNUFC]

Brett, you're inventing an extreme view in order to make your point with a longer polarity. No one but no one thinks that we should be controlling games against the likes of Chelsea and Spurs. I imagine that quite a few (myself included) think that we should be competing more than we are and relying more on our own football, than the toothlessness of whoever we're playing on the day. Some are also saying that the way that we've played in the last few games has worked, but is unsustainable.

 

Again, there's a middle ground that you're ignoring in order to make your point seem more realistic and imply that any suggestion otherwise is the stuff of dreams.

 

I have no complaints in the slightest playing defend and counter against the top 6. You don't expect to take anything off them especially away from home and if you manage to grab bonus points off them through negative tactics even if you take a hammering somewhere along the line, i'm fine with that. The next two games are bigger than what Chelsea/Spurs were, we've come out with massive massive credit in those games but we now need to back it up. Be very interesting to see how people react if Pardew and the players do indeed back up their performances.

 

You're exaggerating. We haven't come out of it with massive credit at all. Chelsea's poor performance was discussed at great length and you'd be hard pushed to find a review of the Spurs match that doesn't have an entire section on Krul. We won both games and that's great, but that doesn't mean that we've automatically played well, or won those games in anything like a sustainable way.

 

I'm not being all sad face about it, because you have to find happiness in the victories otherwise you'd go crazy, but how you can think relying upon toothlessness or an amazing performance from your keeper is a solid and sustainable way to get results is beyond me.

 

We could have got thrashed 4-0 in both games and i wouldn't have been all doom and gloom, just like i'm not saying we are going to be top 6 because we beat both of these. The players do deserve massive credit because of their passion, their commitment, their spirit and togetherness as a team. I mentioned it to Venky how people on here can say Liverpool/City/Chelsea/Spurs weren't at their best or didn't turn up but i think 5 games in a row to say that is naive. Our players stopped them from playing their best, they couldn't play to their peak because we harassed them, we were organised and we showed we are a far cry away from the team of last season who would often roll over and teams 3 points when things got tough. And for that they deserve massive credit in turning themselves around and showing they do care for this club after all the nonsense they got last season about clicks in the camp and unrest.

[BrettNUFC]

Fwiw, had Spurs of scored, i think we would have stepped up and scored again like we did against Villa. I'm not buying the fact had they of scored we would have crumbled and them went on to win.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

We haven't come out of it with massive credit at all. Chelsea's poor performance was discussed at great length and you'd be hard pushed to find a review of the Spurs match that doesn't have an entire section on Krul. We won both games and that's great, but that doesn't mean that we've automatically played well, or won those games in anything like a sustainable way.

 

I'm not being all sad face about it, because you have to find happiness in the victories otherwise you'd go crazy, but how you can think relying upon toothlessness or an amazing performance from your keeper is a solid and sustainable way to get results is beyond me.

 

Properly baffling, this attitude. Spurs we relied a lot on Krul, of course, but Friedel also made some saves. And anyway, a keeper is as valid a part of a victory as any other player. Against Chelsea we made them look ordinary, restricted them and won fairly comfortably. Nobody is saying it makes us brilliant or as good as those two teams even, but I don't understand the rush to play down two absolutely fantastic results in this way.

[Guest firetotheworks]

Brett, you're inventing an extreme view in order to make your point with a longer polarity. No one but no one thinks that we should be controlling games against the likes of Chelsea and Spurs. I imagine that quite a few (myself included) think that we should be competing more than we are and relying more on our own football, than the toothlessness of whoever we're playing on the day. Some are also saying that the way that we've played in the last few games has worked, but is unsustainable.

 

Again, there's a middle ground that you're ignoring in order to make your point seem more realistic and imply that any suggestion otherwise is the stuff of dreams.

 

I have no complaints in the slightest playing defend and counter against the top 6. You don't expect to take anything off them especially away from home and if you manage to grab bonus points off them through negative tactics even if you take a hammering somewhere along the line, i'm fine with that. The next two games are bigger than what Chelsea/Spurs were, we've come out with massive massive credit in those games but we now need to back it up. Be very interesting to see how people react if Pardew and the players do indeed back up their performances.

 

You're exaggerating. We haven't come out of it with massive credit at all. Chelsea's poor performance was discussed at great length and you'd be hard pushed to find a review of the Spurs match that doesn't have an entire section on Krul. We won both games and that's great, but that doesn't mean that we've automatically played well, or won those games in anything like a sustainable way.

 

I'm not being all sad face about it, because you have to find happiness in the victories otherwise you'd go crazy, but how you can think relying upon toothlessness or an amazing performance from your keeper is a solid and sustainable way to get results is beyond me.

 

We could have got thrashed 4-0 in both games and i wouldn't have been all doom and gloom, just like i'm not saying we are going to be top 6 because we beat both of these. The players do deserve massive credit because of their passion, their commitment, their spirit and togetherness as a team. I mentioned it to Venky how people on here can say Liverpool/City/Chelsea/Spurs weren't at their best or didn't turn up but i think 5 games in a row to say that is naive. Our players stopped them from playing their best, they couldn't play to their peak because we harassed them, we were organised and we showed we are a far cry away from the team of last season who would often roll over and teams 3 points when things got tough. And for that they deserve massive credit in turning themselves around and showing they do care for this club after all the nonsense they got last season about clicks in the camp and unrest.

 

What is this? I honestly have no idea what you're talking about here. You wouldn't have been that bothered if we'd lost all games 4-0? We've turned up for 5 games in a row?

 

I don't or can't understand where you're coming from here. It's the ramblings of a mad man.

[Guest Roger Kint]

Have no complaints about going to Spurs and having to ride our luck. Im more than happy with a smash and grab at WHL.

 

Its the home games where we need to show more guile.

 

This and i enjoyed seeing us do it too. Cant believe people want to call it horrific or whatever, We went to a better side and won, i am happy to see it more often. Yes we need to play better against Hull and mackems etc but that is exactly how you play against the top sides.

 

Oh and krul was fantastic! Good to see Mbwia doing well too.

[Guest firetotheworks]

We haven't come out of it with massive credit at all. Chelsea's poor performance was discussed at great length and you'd be hard pushed to find a review of the Spurs match that doesn't have an entire section on Krul. We won both games and that's great, but that doesn't mean that we've automatically played well, or won those games in anything like a sustainable way.

 

I'm not being all sad face about it, because you have to find happiness in the victories otherwise you'd go crazy, but how you can think relying upon toothlessness or an amazing performance from your keeper is a solid and sustainable way to get results is beyond me.

 

Properly baffling, this attitude. Spurs we relied a lot on Krul, of course, but Friedel also made some saves. And anyway, a keeper is as valid a part of a victory as any other player. Against Chelsea we made them look ordinary, restricted them and won fairly comfortably. Nobody is saying it makes us brilliant or as good as those two teams even, but I don't understand the rush to play down two absolutely fantastic results in this way.

 

It's not playing them down, it's correcting Brett on this nonsense about people saying that we should be going toe to toe with these teams and dominating them. No one is saying that, but some are saying that the way that we played against Chelsea and Spurs isn't sustainable, whether they were fantastic results or not. Again, no need to change a correction into an 'outlook'

 

[BrettNUFC]

We haven't come out of it with massive credit at all. Chelsea's poor performance was discussed at great length and you'd be hard pushed to find a review of the Spurs match that doesn't have an entire section on Krul. We won both games and that's great, but that doesn't mean that we've automatically played well, or won those games in anything like a sustainable way.

 

I'm not being all sad face about it, because you have to find happiness in the victories otherwise you'd go crazy, but how you can think relying upon toothlessness or an amazing performance from your keeper is a solid and sustainable way to get results is beyond me.

 

Properly baffling, this attitude. Spurs we relied a lot on Krul, of course, but Friedel also made some saves. And anyway, a keeper is as valid a part of a victory as any other player. Against Chelsea we made them look ordinary, restricted them and won fairly comfortably. Nobody is saying it makes us brilliant or as good as those two teams even, but I don't understand the rush to play down two absolutely fantastic results in this way.

 

It's not playing them down, it's correcting Brett on this nonsense about people saying that we should be going toe to toe with these teams and dominating them. No one is saying that, but some are saying that the way that we played against Chelsea and Spurs isn't sustainable, whether they were fantastic results or not. Again, no need to change a correction into an 'outlook'

Nobody is saying it's sustainable, man! It's not like we will go to Norwich with a similar attitude, we set up perfectly well agaisnt Chelsea and Spurs and took 6 points. It's credit to Pardew and the players for getting them. No need to dissect the performance and moan because Spurs pinned us in for 45 minutes in the second half, we nullified every threat they had be that with with good defending or top aves it doesn't matter. 5 minutes injury time went up and Spurs were already defeated, they had nothing left to offer that could break us.

[Guest firetotheworks]

We haven't come out of it with massive credit at all. Chelsea's poor performance was discussed at great length and you'd be hard pushed to find a review of the Spurs match that doesn't have an entire section on Krul. We won both games and that's great, but that doesn't mean that we've automatically played well, or won those games in anything like a sustainable way.

 

I'm not being all sad face about it, because you have to find happiness in the victories otherwise you'd go crazy, but how you can think relying upon toothlessness or an amazing performance from your keeper is a solid and sustainable way to get results is beyond me.

 

Properly baffling, this attitude. Spurs we relied a lot on Krul, of course, but Friedel also made some saves. And anyway, a keeper is as valid a part of a victory as any other player. Against Chelsea we made them look ordinary, restricted them and won fairly comfortably. Nobody is saying it makes us brilliant or as good as those two teams even, but I don't understand the rush to play down two absolutely fantastic results in this way.

 

It's not playing them down, it's correcting Brett on this nonsense about people saying that we should be going toe to toe with these teams and dominating them. No one is saying that, but some are saying that the way that we played against Chelsea and Spurs isn't sustainable, whether they were fantastic results or not. Again, no need to change a correction into an 'outlook'

Nobody is saying it's sustainable, man! It's not like we will go to Norwich with a similar attitude, we set up perfectly well agaisnt Chelsea and Spurs and took 6 points. It's credit to Pardew and the players for getting them. No need to dissect the performance and moan because Spurs pinned us in for 45 minutes in the second half, we nullified every threat they had be that with with good defending or top aves it doesn't matter. 5 minutes injury time went up and Spurs were already defeated, they had nothing left to offer that could break us.

 

Brett, it was you that put words in other people's mouths. I haven't said anything about you saying that it isn't sustainable, I was merely correcting you on saying that other people were saying that we should be dominating teams, when that quite clearly hasn't happened.

 

Again, no one is moaning, just pointing out that the way that we set up wasn't perfect at all and relied upon the opposition being toothless. Something which isn't sustainable.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

We haven't come out of it with massive credit at all. Chelsea's poor performance was discussed at great length and you'd be hard pushed to find a review of the Spurs match that doesn't have an entire section on Krul. We won both games and that's great, but that doesn't mean that we've automatically played well, or won those games in anything like a sustainable way.

 

I'm not being all sad face about it, because you have to find happiness in the victories otherwise you'd go crazy, but how you can think relying upon toothlessness or an amazing performance from your keeper is a solid and sustainable way to get results is beyond me.

 

Properly baffling, this attitude. Spurs we relied a lot on Krul, of course, but Friedel also made some saves. And anyway, a keeper is as valid a part of a victory as any other player. Against Chelsea we made them look ordinary, restricted them and won fairly comfortably. Nobody is saying it makes us brilliant or as good as those two teams even, but I don't understand the rush to play down two absolutely fantastic results in this way.

 

It's not playing them down, it's correcting Brett on this nonsense about people saying that we should be going toe to toe with these teams and dominating them. No one is saying that, but some are saying that the way that we played against Chelsea and Spurs isn't sustainable, whether they were fantastic results or not. Again, no need to change a correction into an 'outlook'

 

 

Not sure what 'sustainable' means really. Yes, this approach won't beat top teams every time, but neither will any other approach we have available to us. We came up with a plan, we got two great wins.

 

[TRon]

I don't know why people think we should be controlling games against likes of Chelsea/Spurs. I watched Barca/Betis last night and Betis set up a high line and tried to control the game against Barca, it was suicidal. They had their fair share of possession and created numerous chances but they got beat 4-1. It's good from a neutral point of view seeing a team give it a good go but if you're of an inferior class to the opposition, you should have no qualms with sitting back and soaking up as much pressure as possible, riding your luck and looking to break away when possible to grab a goal.

 

Norwich will do exactly the same to us in a couple of weeks and then it's down to us to prove that we have a different dimension to our game and we aren't just a team who can only defend and counter. It's still a big question mark above our side whether they have it in them as West Ham/Fulham/Hull/Sunderland weren't convincing in the slightest, the next two home games are our acid test so to speak. It's down to Pardew and the players to show us what they are really made of, the next two games could make or break our season.

 

Absolute drivel again, where has anyone said we should be controlling these games or that we shouldn't be soaking up pressure??

 

I have no problem in us being dominated at times by better, more experienced, more expensive teams. However that shouldn't rattle us to the extent it does, we should be doing more when we do break down an attack and regain posession rather than it going sideways/backwards or just plain losing it because we have no movement or options.

 

That said, yes we rolled the dice and rode our luck at times but we got a smash and grab and I'm happy with that. There's still a lot of work to for us to move forward, a couple of good results does mask the fact that Pardew isn't the long term answer.

 

Absolutely agree with this. The first half hour or so was a classic defend and counter attack strategy executed to perfection. The second half we just hung on for dear life and the counter attacking went out the window. Of course you would expect them to have a spell where they are going to throw everything at us, but we should have been able to hold onto the ball better when we did get it. It's something we need to improve on.

[Lotus]

We were at them in the 1st half and arguably the better side. 2nd half they really came at us but didn't really give Soldado much service.

 

We've got plenty of glaring weaknesses but tbf, they've spent £100m and so have they.

 

Credit to the players, Pardew and of course, Mike Ashley

 

Thoroughly happy with the 3 points.

[BrettNUFC]

Brett, you're inventing an extreme view in order to make your point with a longer polarity. No one but no one thinks that we should be controlling games against the likes of Chelsea and Spurs. I imagine that quite a few (myself included) think that we should be competing more than we are and relying more on our own football, than the toothlessness of whoever we're playing on the day. Some are also saying that the way that we've played in the last few games has worked, but is unsustainable.

 

Again, there's a middle ground that you're ignoring in order to make your point seem more realistic and imply that any suggestion otherwise is the stuff of dreams.

 

I have no complaints in the slightest playing defend and counter against the top 6. You don't expect to take anything off them especially away from home and if you manage to grab bonus points off them through negative tactics even if you take a hammering somewhere along the line, i'm fine with that. The next two games are bigger than what Chelsea/Spurs were, we've come out with massive massive credit in those games but we now need to back it up. Be very interesting to see how people react if Pardew and the players do indeed back up their performances.

 

You're exaggerating. We haven't come out of it with massive credit at all. Chelsea's poor performance was discussed at great length and you'd be hard pushed to find a review of the Spurs match that doesn't have an entire section on Krul. We won both games and that's great, but that doesn't mean that we've automatically played well, or won those games in anything like a sustainable way.

 

I'm not being all sad face about it, because you have to find happiness in the victories otherwise you'd go crazy, but how you can think relying upon toothlessness or an amazing performance from your keeper is a solid and sustainable way to get results is beyond me.

 

We could have got thrashed 4-0 in both games and i wouldn't have been all doom and gloom, just like i'm not saying we are going to be top 6 because we beat both of these. The players do deserve massive credit because of their passion, their commitment, their spirit and togetherness as a team. I mentioned it to Venky how people on here can say Liverpool/City/Chelsea/Spurs weren't at their best or didn't turn up but i think 5 games in a row to say that is naive. Our players stopped them from playing their best, they couldn't play to their peak because we harassed them, we were organised and we showed we are a far cry away from the team of last season who would often roll over and teams 3 points when things got tough. And for that they deserve massive credit in turning themselves around and showing they do care for this club after all the nonsense they got last season about clicks in the camp and unrest.

 

What is this? I honestly have no idea what you're talking about here. You wouldn't have been that bothered if we'd lost all games 4-0? We've turned up for 5 games in a row?

 

I don't or can't understand where you're coming from here. It's the ramblings of a mad man.

 

I mean, if we got thrashed 4-0, i wouldn't be saying 'well we are in for a relegation battle' or 'another s*** season ahead'. I would have taken it on the chin and looked at more reasonable games against Norwich and West Brom. We got 6 points which was excellent but they are bonus points because you expect nothing and chances are you could be on the end of a battering, but we weren't.

 

Was meant to say 4 but i mean people criticise Liverpool/City/Chelsea/Spurs for not turning up against us, but it think that's far too much of coincidence. I think we've made them look average or poor. That’s' credit to us. Gerrard/Suarez, Dzeko/Navas, Torres/Mata, Soldado/Eriksen, there's 8 top players there who hardly did a thing against us for what they are actually capable of doing. Why do we look at these and just say they never turned up when we should be crediting our own players for nullifying their threat to a certain degree where they haven't performed to the best of their ability. We are too quick to play down the opposition rather than build our own team up.