Tottenham v. Reading 1/4 Match Thread (Halford in)

[Stranded]

Very poor in the second half. Created nothing at all.

nor conceded anything


ffs..........

God only knows how.

From what I heard we did concede - twice. Both were called offside but only one of them was. Granted, the penalty was harsh. But 1-0 flattered us it seems.

Both were offside. For the Defoe one, whilst he was onside and put the ball in the net Berbatov made a very distinct move for the ball from a very offside position so was correctly flagged.

Having said that we deserved nothing esp. in the second half. AthleticoSpizz, it's ok pointing out we didn't concede in the 2nd half but we were 1-0 down (by a very weak pen) so not conceding is the least we could hope for, by not creating the likely defeat turned into a certainty.

I'm not overly upset as 1-0 at Spurs is not the end of the world but I don't want this slump to go on much longer as how we finish this season could have a strong impact on how we start the next.

[AthleticoSpizz]

Very poor in the second half. Created nothing at all.

nor conceded anything


ffs..........

God only knows how.

From what I heard we did concede - twice. Both were called offside but only one of them was. Granted, the penalty was harsh. But 1-0 flattered us it seems.

Both were offside. For the Defoe one, whilst he was onside and put the ball in the net Berbatov made a very distinct move for the ball from a very offside position so was correctly flagged.

Having said that we deserved nothing esp. in the second half. AthleticoSpizz, it's ok pointing out we didn't concede in the 2nd half but we were 1-0 down (by a very weak pen) so not conceding is the least we could hope for, by not creating the likely defeat turned into a certainty.

I'm not overly upset as 1-0 at Spurs is not the end of the world but I don't want this slump to go on much longer as how we finish this season could have a strong impact on how we start the next.

no no no.....it could have a sizeable impact in the close-season negotiations

[Chaney]

Defence pretty good esp when Sonko comes back, forwards will score if given the opportunities, its the midfield where the most concern lays for me and surely something sir Steve needs to look at in the summer

[nivek elyod]

Can't help thinking this might be the start of an end
of season slide to mid-table - hope I'm wrong.

It won't be - we'll get a win next week, no question.

[Philly Flyer]

Defence pretty good esp when Sonko comes back, forwards will score if given the opportunities, its the midfield where the most concern lays for me and surely something sir Steve needs to look at in the summer

Agree. Harps was really off today, Sid did OK but will be off and Blakey has now been off colour since the Villa game. Great shame Coppell had to use a forced substitution at half time for Fed as we could have done with Bryn in the middle to shore things up. Hopefully we will start Doyle and Oster on the flanks against Liverpool. Thought Greg had a decent enough display on his full debut.

[Royal Lady]

Can't help thinking this might be the start of an end
of season slide to mid-table - hope I'm wrong.

It won't be - we'll get a win next week, no question.

Possibly away to Charlton we might get something, home to Liverpool is another matter!

[Arch]

Defence pretty good esp when Sonko comes back, forwards will score if given the opportunities, its the midfield where the most concern lays for me and surely something sir Steve needs to look at in the summer

Agree. Harps was really off today, Sid did OK but will be off and Blakey has now been off colour since the Villa game. Great shame Coppell had to use a forced substitution at half time for Fed as we could have done with Bryn in the middle to shore things up. Hopefully we will start Doyle and Oster on the flanks against Liverpool. Thought Greg had a decent enough display on his full debut.

Shocking distribution form Halford, though. On throw went from near the half way line straight into Robinson's hands at the six yard line. Shocking! Must try harder.

[Spirit of Elm Park]

Defence pretty good esp when Sonko comes back, forwards will score if given the opportunities, its the midfield where the most concern lays for me and surely something sir Steve needs to look at in the summer

Agree. Harps was really off today, Sid did OK but will be off and Blakey has now been off colour since the Villa game. Great shame Coppell had to use a forced substitution at half time for Fed as we could have done with Bryn in the middle to shore things up. Hopefully we will start Doyle and Oster on the flanks against Liverpool. Thought Greg had a decent enough display on his full debut.

Shocking distribution form Halford, though. On throw went from near the half way line straight into Robinson's hands at the six yard line. Shocking! Must try harder.

....in his second appearance

[shadesrwrf]

Defence pretty good esp when Sonko comes back, forwards will score if given the opportunities, its the midfield where the most concern lays for me and surely something sir Steve needs to look at in the summer

Agree. Harps was really off today, Sid did OK but will be off and Blakey has now been off colour since the Villa game. Great shame Coppell had to use a forced substitution at half time for Fed as we could have done with Bryn in the middle to shore things up. Hopefully we will start Doyle and Oster on the flanks against Liverpool. Thought Greg had a decent enough display on his full debut.

Shocking distribution form Halford, though. On throw went from near the half way line straight into Robinson's hands at the six yard line. Shocking! Must try harder.

Halford's long throw is not always the "secret weapon" it's cut out to be. The throws appear to be more speculative than particularly well placed. A couple of times today Spurs managed to break very quickly as a result of receiving the ball from him.

[Arch]

Defence pretty good esp when Sonko comes back, forwards will score if given the opportunities, its the midfield where the most concern lays for me and surely something sir Steve needs to look at in the summer

Agree. Harps was really off today, Sid did OK but will be off and Blakey has now been off colour since the Villa game. Great shame Coppell had to use a forced substitution at half time for Fed as we could have done with Bryn in the middle to shore things up. Hopefully we will start Doyle and Oster on the flanks against Liverpool. Thought Greg had a decent enough display on his full debut.

Shocking distribution form Halford, though. On throw went from near the half way line straight into Robinson's hands at the six yard line. Shocking! Must try harder.

....in his second appearance

Oh for God's sake, you can;t be that stupid.

[nivek elyod]

Defence pretty good esp when Sonko comes back, forwards will score if given the opportunities, its the midfield where the most concern lays for me and surely something sir Steve needs to look at in the summer

Agree. Harps was really off today, Sid did OK but will be off and Blakey has now been off colour since the Villa game. Great shame Coppell had to use a forced substitution at half time for Fed as we could have done with Bryn in the middle to shore things up. Hopefully we will start Doyle and Oster on the flanks against Liverpool. Thought Greg had a decent enough display on his full debut.

Shocking distribution form Halford, though. On throw went from near the half way line straight into Robinson's hands at the six yard line. Shocking! Must try harder.

....in his second appearance

Oh for God's sake, you can;t be that stupid.

Debatable...

[RoyalBlue]

Entertaining game so far. Tough penalty decision which will cause much wringing of hobnobbers hands over the next week or so - especially now Pards has backed the ref on the telly.

Shit happens. Spurs can't do the double over us this season. We're safe in the prem.

I don't care.

To be fair Pardew seemed about as firm in his conviction that it was a penalty as he was in his conviction to stay at the Mad Stad once Brooking came calling.

Andy Gray felt it was an extremely harsh decision and he's a forward who would normally claim them!

Wiley seemed to react to Keane's shouting, blew his whistle and then for a moment seemed uncertain as to why he had blown it! His subsequent late signal that Halford had deliberately swept the ball away with his hand was laughable!

From what I heard on the radio, we were lucky not to lose 5-0.

Totally and utterly outplayed and outclassed.

Can anyone who watched the match on the 'net or who actually went confirm?

We weren't totally out-played and outclassed and that is why we weren't beaten 5-0. Our team lived up to its well earned reputation for battling away and competing throughout the game. Yes Spurs missed a lot of chances but many of them were due to the fact that there were usually several Reading players quckly onto the player in possession or throwing themselves towards the ball when players were in a position to shoot. You largely make your own luck and today I think we did just that.

The downside was that are wingers were poor by their own usually high standards and that during build ups passes too often went astray

[koran]

I was at the match and we were not outclassed! It was a very open game with chances at both ends. We didn't seem to get going in the second half although the defence looked sound. I was taken to the match by my fiancee's Spurs Season Ticket holder so was sitting on my hands amongst the Spurs fans. They were certainly very nervy towards the end and anxious to get that second goal. There were some good comments about Reading afterwards too!

[ScottishRoyal]

Harps was really off today, Sid did OK but will be off and Blakey has now been off colour since the Villa game. Thought Greg had a decent enough display on his full debut.

I thought that it was a day where things just didn't click, too many poor first touches and ricochets that didn't go our way but sometimes these days happen, regardless of form.

Sidwell and Harper appeared to be the most ineffectual players however and were overun in the middle, leaving the front pair very isolated. Too often Kitson and Lita had to struggle to fight for balls played long in the air and had precious little to turn and chase, a shame as Rocha looked very iffy. A lack in the centre today seemed to leave us open to counter attacks and gave the wingers precious few options when they had the ball.

The best performers were probably the full backs though who kept the number of quality crosses to an absolute minimum and forced Lennon to coleect the ball deeper and more centrally. Halford had a very steady first game defensively and will learn from it a lot (fitness as much as anything), he looked gutted at the end.

[PremAddict]

Defence pretty good esp when Sonko comes back, forwards will score if given the opportunities, its the midfield where the most concern lays for me and surely something sir Steve needs to look at in the summer

Agree. Harps was really off today, Sid did OK but will be off and Blakey has now been off colour since the Villa game. Great shame Coppell had to use a forced substitution at half time for Fed as we could have done with Bryn in the middle to shore things up. Hopefully we will start Doyle and Oster on the flanks against Liverpool. Thought Greg had a decent enough display on his full debut.

Shocking distribution form Halford, though. On throw went from near the half way line straight into Robinson's hands at the six yard line. Shocking! Must try harder.

I actually thought Halford was the huge weak link and that comment has nothing to do with the pen. He was playing very deep forward and his pace was awful tracking back - if that's what you call it. If you look at the video, the vast majority of Spurs opportunities started down the right side b/c halford was caught out of position. We all know Blakey's pace is not that great but with the added slowness of Halford, there were far too many times spurs had loads of space. I hope it can be chalked-up to nerves.

[Coppell's Right Footed 11]

My view summed up:

Even first half as you would get as Spurs.

Both had chances, we probably went closest as Lita hit the post, Hahnemann made some great saves.

Never a pen. this changed the game.

2nd half we changed our shape, didnt work, more we tried to push forward more space they were given. If was still 0-0 they wouldn't of had as many shots.

1-0 = not the end of the world and some things just didn't fall for us today

[PremAddict]

Very poor in the second half. Created nothing at all.

nor conceded anything


ffs..........

God only knows how.

From what I heard we did concede - twice. Both were called offside but only one of them was. Granted, the penalty was harsh. But 1-0 flattered us it seems.

From what I watched, we looked almost equal to them in the first, but the second was horrible.

[Sharpy]

we lack intelligience in certain situations
lack bottle when it matters in 50/50 midfield balls
irratic tackling (hunt)
why put doyle on wing, he obviously isnt a winger as we have seen before

bit fcuked off as a point or 3 points was there for the taking

[Coppell's Right Footed 11]

Very poor in the second half. Created nothing at all.

nor conceded anything


ffs..........

God only knows how.

From what I heard we did concede - twice. Both were called offside but only one of them was. Granted, the penalty was harsh. But 1-0 flattered us it seems.

From what I watched, we looked almost equal to them in the first, but the second was horrible.

The goal changed the whole complection of the game, we had to push more men up, left us wide open at the back

[Royal Yank]

We were outplayed - not outclassed.

My opinion was that it was a penalty - but so was the push on Leroy in the second half.

Halford's league debut - he looked a little rusty, but you could see potential, and it may take a game ot two before he gets used to the pace of the prem. His throws looked dangerous, but I think the rest of the team needed to anticipate them a bit better.

Fed did very well, and looked comfortable throughout the second half.

Agree with those that say our midfield were lacking a bit today.