Routledge / Carrick

[TomMcLaren]

Two things I took out of the match today.

1. We really missed someone with the passing range of Carrick. Too many times we had real space on the right and missed out as nobody had the vision (or ability) to hit a long ball. If this happens in real games we will struggle as the play will get compressed on one side with no chance of working our way through. Somebody needs to take on this role.

2. Routledge was poor. Hardly had a tackle to make at wing-back (which was fourtunate), but I don't think he opened up all game, and I can't remember him beating his man or delivering an accurate final ball. In the last 20 mins or so, he consistently came inside, leaving us with no options on the right and a crowded central area.

Thank god it was only a friendly - and we won! :)

[xXx Jo xXx]

i didnt see the match 2day but we do need someone to take carricks role as he was an excellent passer of the ball n could pick out players. as for routledge i think e can be a good player but needs a bit more experience in the spurs team. hopefully if he is given the chance he can improve.

[onthejazzin77]

Two things I took out of the match today.

1. We really missed someone with the passing range of Carrick. Too many times we had real space on the right and missed out as nobody had the vision (or ability) to hit a long ball. If this happens in real games we will struggle as the play will get compressed on one side with no chance of working our way through. Somebody needs to take on this role.

2. Routledge was poor. Hardly had a tackle to make at wing-back (which was fourtunate), but I don't think he opened up all game, and I can't remember him beating his man or delivering an accurate final ball. In the last 20 mins or so, he consistently came inside, leaving us with no options on the right and a crowded central area.

Thank god it was only a friendly - and we won! :)
did you take any positives out of the game?

For example - 100% pre season record - no new injuries - Taino on scoring form etc

[shoot_ffs]

there were probably more positives than negatives, in as much as new or inexperienced players doing well. negatives are what need to be corrected tho and there were plenty of those too. davids wants putting out to pasture in my opinion.

[hastingsyid]

POSITIVES..hudd best player on the field...ekotto looked good,ghaly looked good,tainio scoring....berbatov worked his socks off....half the team missing.....beat italian champions..... full house....fans very vocal....carrick ****ed off.....CHIN UP PEOPLE the futures white the futures tottenham

[Houdini logic]

POSITIVES..hudd best player on the field...ekotto looked good,ghaly looked good,tainio scoring....berbatov worked his socks off....half the team missing.....beat italian champions..... full house....fans very vocal....carrick ****ed off.....CHIN UP PEOPLE the futures white the futures tottenham

'applaudes'

[shoot_ffs]

i thought hudds was pretty average as it goes. not a carrick performance by any means, he did nothing wrong tho.

[Spur]

Carrick wasn't always having 'Carrick performances' though. Hudd done well, but he never really hit long balls as for when he was on the pitch we lacked width.

Routledge had a shocker. A real shocker. If it wasn't for him being out of position though Teemu wouldn't have scored his cracker...perhaps we have found our new right back in Teemu..? No I don't think so either. What a legend he is though.

We done excellent with the 4-4-2 as well, it's nice to know that we have the players who have the ability to change half way through. Would have been nice to see the Hudd play some part in the 4-4-2, but Ghaly played very well too, getting stuck in, running about.

And have we got an excellent left back!?!? Great performance by young Benny, if he can continue that then the only place we might see Lee is on Lennon's right.

[TomMcLaren]

Carrick wasn't always having 'Carrick performances' though. Hudd done well, but he never really hit long balls as for when he was on the pitch we lacked width.

Routledge had a shocker. A real shocker. If it wasn't for him being out of position though Teemu wouldn't have scored his cracker...perhaps we have found our new right back in Teemu..? No I don't think so either. What a legend he is though.

We done excellent with the 4-4-2 as well, it's nice to know that we have the players who have the ability to change half way through. Would have been nice to see the Hudd play some part in the 4-4-2, but Ghaly played very well too, getting stuck in, running about.

And have we got an excellent left back!?!? Great performance by young Benny, if he can continue that then the only place we might see Lee is on Lennon's right.

OMG I agree with eveything you just said. Except you forgot to mention Davids contributon. Great team player, but he embaresses himself sometimes - when he fell over the ball trying to control a through ball from Benny? Or when he put it out for a corner to them from nearly the halfway line? Didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Hudds did well, protected the back four, and always looked for the simple ball. Unfortunately this meant we went sideways or backwards too often. Still, he's young and probably not first choice at the moment given the positive things MJ has had to say about Zorka.

In terms of pure positives...

Benny was excellent - if this is how good he is after a few weeks training, we have got a real player on our hands.

Ghaly did well, looked nervous at first but settled in and started to pull a few strings. Was brilliantly positioned to create Reto's last minute chance, looking forward to seeing more of him.

Teemu was excellent, Berbatov started to look involved, Davenport looks a lot more solid than Tony (not hard), both keepers did well, we beat Inter Milan (missing a number of star players on both sides), and we showed we can play more than one formation (remember the Gerry Francis days?).

Nice.

[Spur]

May I also say that their goal was somewhat lucky. And also I noticed MJ wasn't out at the line too much either...?

Yes your right, Davids was a bit off the pace I thought. And both keepers did do well.