Tottenham Vs. Leeds United Match Day Thread

[BrumSpur]

Kranj was a real work horse on the left and sublime on the ball at times (for you Brum). Dosest give us natural width though and in the prem we need that to pull teams apart. He would be different mustard behind the top 1 or 2 IMO. But then Modders would too!

As I'm on holiday and off work until Feb 15th (whooo hoooo!), I sat down, this morning, and watched the game again, with the pressure and tension off, this time!

Last night, I remarked to someone that Niko had been 'quietish', but seeing the re-run, I think I was being a little unfair to him. He was quieter than usual from an attacking point of view. But you're right, Unit. He worked bloody hard - tracking back, trying to block shots, tackling (WTF??) and generally getting in the way.

No, he didn't provide natural width, because he didn't have to. Wingmaster Bale was already doing that, so Niko played further in-field, just as Luka did on Saturday. And thinking about it, Niko's defensive play last night was, IMO and without rose-coloured spectacles on, better than Luka's against Birmingham. Luka might have got the nod on the attacking side, though.

The 'Niko behind the strikers' idea is one I'd really like to see. It worked well for Croatia in Euro 2008, when they beat Germany. And it worked for Portsmouth on occasions - I remember one beautiful goal he scored, against Wet Spam. He found a little space, got himself into it, collected the ball and fired!

In closing, I have to say that there is something almost sexual about the sight of Niko, heading for goal, with the ball at his feet. His body seems to curve over the ball and his movement is both powerful and beautiful. For anyone who has recorded the game, replay the 26th minute and you'll see what I mean. If I was a defender and saw him heading towards me, I'd think: "Oh sh*t!"

However, if it was ME he was heading towards, I'd think it was my birthday, Christmas and Valentine's Day, all rolled into one!

[woody]

leeds will be a tougher game than bolton imo, i expect us to whip em at the reebok for 3 reasons

1. its the cup so they can't put 10 men behind the ball and try and scrape a goal like they do at the league, they'll have to try and play us and we play better against teams that attack us i.e city rather than teams that sit back against us i.e stoke

2. the league will be on coyle's mind with relegation still a worry so he might rest a few players and they have a thin squad so no real quality to hurt us on the bench

3. if they do decide to sit back and do earn a replay they have to go to WHL which is different mustard all together

[woody]

my ratings of the boys:

gomes - 7 - didn't have muc to do, was unlucky for their goal as it was a good ave but fell kindly to becchio, made an unbeliveable save to deny michalik a header moments earlier

corluka - 7 - solid, consistent, unspectacular, the three words that describe charlie and his game the best, wasn't up against much mind

bassong - 6 - dealt with becchio quite well but wasn't troubled much

dawson - 7.5 - had beckford in his pocket the whole game and that's all we asked of him, was unlucky from a header in the 2nd half that drew a great save from ankergen, a good start for the new spurs skipper

bale - 8 - made some great bombing runs forward and crossing was good but needs to be careful defensively when up against better opposition as ashley young would've had loadsa space in behind him last night if we were playing villa, was unlucky not to score a fluke as ankergen made a brilliant reaction save in the 1st half

bentley - 9 - great game and really has announced himself to be back over the past 3 games, his crossing was fantastic although corners were a bit too high at times, worked up and down the line and put in some decent shots, ankergen again made a great save to deny him a great goal in the 2nd half

huddlestone - 7 - kept leeds' midfield quiet and stuck his foot in for tackles which we were worried about that him and jenas would lie down to both the leeds' crowd and players

jenas - 6 - nothing special, did nothing and thankfully was up against nothing

kranjcar - 8 - thought he had a great game cutting inside and playing some neat passes, he carved leeds open with his skill and flair on several occasions

crouch - 6 - missed two sitters, a header just after JD made it 2-1 and a sliding in tap in at the far post at 1-1, i thought the game was over there and then, but made some good headers down for JD but could've done a lot better against a dodgy defence

defoe - 7.5 - got a hat-trick but tbh could've had 6 and as harry said the 3 chances he missed were easier than the three he scored but still plugged away and got chances, the 90th minute one was satisfiying as you thought if he missed it leeds would almost certainly score because the karma would work against us for missing the chance, one thing i will give him is that if you keep giving him chance after chance he will eventually score one, good to see him on the score books again for the past 2 games as he has been on a bit of a barren spell of late ever since lennon got hurt