I saw that last night when watching the game, at first I thought Nabil was silly arguing with the ref as he went in quite strongly but after the replay, I could see why he was annoyed. Shocking from Debuchy.
So, the formation last night. All sources listed it pre-match as 4-2-3-1 and we grumbled about the 2 holding midfielders, but I don't think we actually played like that did we? Seemed to me that Bentaleb was further forward and it was more like 4-1-4-1? Capoue Dembele Paulinho Bentaleb Lennon Ade
Christalmighty. You win 4-0 thanks to your agent Ashley (a Spuds fan) incompetence of Pardew and couldn't care less players and STILL you whine ? Jesus I knew Spuds fans were the most petulant and self-obssessed supporters in London, but even so. Wow.
Are we only allowed to discuss ludicrous dives if we lose. I must have missed that memo? For the record, we are very happy overall with last night's match
How dare we laugh at a comedy dive! They should introduce retrospective punishment for such ludicrous overreactions. Make the perpetrator wear a pink tutu for the next game, perhaps?
The lineup may have taken into account three things: 1. Kaboul's speed makes the high line a workable option. 2. Our lethargic starts require a major change 3. Our central midfielders have been better than our wide and attacking midfielders. The result was, it seemed, the classic error of playing your best players instead of your best team. It didn't work out that way because in fact our central midfielders looked at least as good in attacking roles as our attackers have been. They certainly looked more formidable in midfield. I would have called it 4-1-4-1, with the weird addition that both Lennon and Bentaleb were on the left, Dembele on the right and Paulinho in the center. Kaboul filled out the right side at times, along with Walker, while Naughton didn't do the same on the left and Vertonghen tended to stay in the middle when going forward. I thought he began with an Audrey Hepburn raised foot for a kiss. Then he managed to raise the other foot into the same position while throwing his hands up in an "Adoration of the Magi" pose while arching his back in a way Tom Daley (sp) would be proud of. "Give your luck a chance to work for you," is a phrase I like. A classic mistake is to try to white knuckle your way through covering every angle in a situation where dumb luck is often the ultimate arbiter. You do better in chancy situations gambling aggressively. Let's not get carried away. Just because he's been scoring more than Suarez while at times looking like both our best midfielder and best defender?
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1801180-is-tottenhams-kyle-naughton-being-unfairly-singled-out Old article but makes some valid points about Naughton being harshly critised.
I'm not sure whether to feel sorry for Naughton or not. On the one hand he's now 25 years old and is very well paid to do, for the most part, a job that he's clearly no bloody good at - playing left back for a Premier League team. However I can't help but feel a bit sorry for him cos he's not that bad as a stand-in right back (mind you I might just think that due to not having seen him play there that often) but he's gaining notoriety as one of the worst left-backs we've had since...Edinburgh? It's getting to the point where I'm now thankful every time he has the ball and does a very standard 20 yard pass successfully or connects with his left foot onto a volleyed clearance. He really has to be either ONLY a stand in right-back or leave at the end of the season cos he's just nowhere near good enough at left back for Spurs.
Strange that Naughton is showing willing for the cause and no murmurs from him, though he has played there far more often than he should be. And yet Vert in the same situation allegedly handed in a transfer request.