No scapegoat for me yet
In yesterday's match report of the Spurs draw with Norwich, I posed the question, "Who's your scapegoat?". I have been asked to respond to my own question. Here it is:-
There is no scapegoat for me as yet, but I felt I should pose the question. The comments received in the Spurs Odyssey survey so far are in some cases dramatically negative. I prefer some balance.
When AVB was appointed I wrote this piece in July:-
AVB doesn't excite me, but I'll give him a chance!
... in which I wrote that AVB does not excite me, but I'll give him a chance. I'm doing that, and whilst I am not getting distressed about the situation, that's partly because my expectations are lower. I no longer expect a top five finish, although I remain hopeful.
I can see what AVB is trying to do. Don't laugh, but it's the same sort of strategy as deployed by Spain. The priority is to keep possession, but when possible to look for accurate forward passes. Often I could see our players looking for a pass that would pierce the defence down the channels. Similarly there were some good passes down the flanks. The players we've got are nowhere near as clever as they need to be to succeed in this style, I fear. At times, especially at home, there is still a place for the "old fashioned" 4-4-2, as demonstrated by Norwich yesterday, and to some degree by each of our Premier League opponents so far this season.
As I wrote in the report, we seemed to lose tempo towards the end of the first half, and once again, when we scored, the priority seemed to be to defend that one goal. Clearly we do not have the staff or tactics to do that.
It's not AVB'S fault, but the fact is we have lost two highly talented creators in Modric and Van der Vaart. There were one or two rash clearances from the back on occasions when previously, Modric would be there to pick up the ball, carry it a while, then make a good pass to a man in space. Van der Vaart was of course always capable of incisive passes and creativity, plus the bonus of a good number of decent and valuable goals.
We remain a work in progress, with which we fans need to be patient for a little longer, before the new players can gel as a team. I don't think Adebayor is anywhere near match fitness, and I wonder what the extent was of his pre-season with City. Sandro's fitness levels may also be suffering due to his summer exertions with Brazil.
I do fancy that Spurs will compete fully in all their cup competitions this season, and maybe there will be a trophy to be lifted through that path. It will quite possibly be our best path to Europe next season.
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