PL: Spurs a Ratings & Reactions

[SilverPeacock]

Good point I think. Dunne was immense. I think we did ok, particularly defensively, with the exception of the last 20 which were terrifying.

I think people are being a little harsh on our overall performance, with spurs playing so high up the pitch and playing the direct ball to crouch so much it was always going to be difficult to retain posession and make the game a bit scrappy.

[Ponky]

I thought the Spurs plan of crowding our midfielders worked well for them. Our boys don't like being crowded at the best of times and the Spurs midfield just didn't give them any time on it. So Spurs were pretty much dominant in midfield but their celebrated attack was no match for our defence. We have conclusively proven over two matches that Dunne / Collins >>>>> Defoe / Crouch.

That said I think Friedel was our MOTM today, simply because the buck stopped with him all day, and he did not let us down.

I was livid that the non-penalty on Defoe was given 'moment of the match' status on the broadcast. Defoe was clearly on his way down when Petrov's leg went in. Yet what of Dawson's hanball in the area in the first half?

And how was Huddlestone not given at least one yellow (deserved three at least) for kicking the shit out of our players, not to mention his flying karate kick on Collins that could easily have ended his season?

Definitely a point gained for us here, rather than two lost. Grab a draw or sneak a win off Man Utd on Wednesday and we are not too far off the pace.

[kurtsimonw]

Spurs = boring long ball team

Villa = Ten men behind the ball, desperate not to lose team.

you were at home, you were meant to be the team trying to beat us, a point away from home against a top 6 side is a good result. But because your manager has no sense at all, he just lumped the ball in the box against a back line of Cuellar, Collins, Dunne and Young.. yeah, good luck with that.

[rjshare]

for all the good heskey and carew did today we would have been better off with delph on the pitch in the middle - and that isnt an invitation to restart the infamous 4-5-1 debate, just an observation.

for dunne it was just another routine day at the office - turn up, get changed, be the best player on the pitch, go home...

friedel played excellently too.

biggest worry for me is downing. it started as niggle and is now becoming really annoying - play with some b0ll0cks man!

[nycVILLA]

That was horrid to watch, Defense was great, midfield tried to put out fires all game, but next to no forward momentum.

It was like that was the team tactics though. Milner put in plenty of effort but we need a Midfield that takes control of a games like that.

I just don't understand Petrov's function.

[VillaGoMarching]

For all of Spuds 'possesion' Brad didn't have to pull off many world class saves. Think our defence is looking incredibly strong. After keeping Defoe quiet (didn't have a sniff today did he?) i hope we can keep Red Hot Rooney quiet on Wednesday.

[The_Steve]

I think the problem with Downing is he's missing Warnock, he looks more assured on the ball with Warnock playing behind him and using the overlap. We are a better team when Warnock is playing.

[Mantis]

All in all I think that's a good result. A point from WHL is always good and we're now 7 points clear of SHA. We still have a shout at 4th place what with only being 3 points behind with a game in hand. If we can make it through Wednesday with a draw or a win we've got a pretty good chance I think.

[privateer]

Fantastic sly pop at Wenger by MON in the interview. I'll give him a 9 for that!

[SimplySpurfect]

Spurs = boring long ball team

Villa = Ten men behind the ball, desperate not to lose team.

you were at home, you were meant to be the team trying to beat us, a point away from home against a top 6 side is a good result. But because your manager has no sense at all, he just lumped the ball in the box against a back line of Cuellar, Collins, Dunne and Young.. yeah, good luck with that.

You played the exact tactic when we met at Villa Park in November too. What's the excuse there?

[MrWeedMcGrass]

Who has voted for Carew as MOTM? lol..currently has one vote...

[The_Steve]

Spurs = boring long ball team

Villa = Ten men behind the ball, desperate not to lose team.

you were at home, you were meant to be the team trying to beat us, a point away from home against a top 6 side is a good result. But because your manager has no sense at all, he just lumped the ball in the box against a back line of Cuellar, Collins, Dunne and Young.. yeah, good luck with that.

You played the exact tactic when we met at Villa Park in November too. What's the excuse there?

We play counter attacking football, you flood the midfield. Dawson manages to hand ball in both games.

[briggaman]

Spurs = boring long ball team

Villa = Ten men behind the ball, desperate not to lose team.

you were at home, you were meant to be the team trying to beat us, a point away from home against a top 6 side is a good result. But because your manager has no sense at all, he just lumped the ball in the box against a back line of Cuellar, Collins, Dunne and Young.. yeah, good luck with that.

You played the exact tactic when we met at Villa Park in November too. What's the excuse there?

Jog along now.

[tonyh29]

Fantastic sly pop at Wenger by MON in the interview. I'll give him a 9 for that!

missed it , what did he say ?

[ryu.yokoi]

Frustrating game (made worse by the annoying comms we were served here Stateside - was that the comedian from Parklife doing color?).

Friedel - 10 - Saved everything and was under constant pressure.

Cuellar - 6 - Eh. Needed a lot of help from Young that limited our ability to attack.

Dunne - 9 - Beast. Some really timely challenges today.

Collins - 6 - Solid, but should really clear the ball more cleanly...

Young - 6 - No major mistakes, but never a threat coming up either.

Downing - 5 - Never beat his man all day. Has a great cross, could have done more to keep possession today. Weak deadball play - an area which should be our strength.

Petrov - 5 - Very very quiet day for the Bulgarian. Modric seemed to have oceans all day to play as he wished...

Milner - 8 - Immense. Plays everywhere on the pitch. Was let down by teammates on some counters he created.

Young - 4 - A non factor. We need Ashley to be effective to win these kinds of games. Poor finishing on two counters and a subpar free kick.

Gabby - 4 - Forced what I thought was a clear handball early on, but then didn't do much the rest of the way. Everything he hit was straight at Gomez, and on two or three occasions he tried to help the defense but ended up giving Spurs possession in very dangerous spots.

Carew - 4 - Doesn't look match fit. Had two opps in front of goal that a healthy Carew buries - instead he hit them with a bizarre nonchalance that was very dissappointing. Was put in a tough spot by the amount of route 1 we played today...

Bottom line: We are a counterattacking team that is built to win by leveraging our pace on the counter attack and skill/size in deadball situations. Despite a very conservative gameplan, we had plenty of counter opps and some dangerous free kick spots, and just failed to capitalize. Defense did their job.

[Mr_Dogg]

Fantastic sly pop at Wenger by MON in the interview. I'll give him a 9 for that!

what was said?

[May-Z]

Why are people saying we were lucky or didn't deserve a point today?! If anything we DID deserve a point because we defended so well for the whole game.

My goat is well and truly got with statements like that.

[Stevo985]

Great defence. Midfield couldn't get into the game. It was hard with Spurs playing the long ball to crouch at every opportunity, but it works for them.

Defences came out on top for both teams. Spurs probably edged it but our defensive performance deserved the point.

[Hanky]

Good result will take that. We could do with another striker I think. Carew looks disinterested and Heskey is injury prone and hasn't looked much better either.

Dunne is immense.

[CarewsEyebrowDesigner]

Shit match, good result.

Tottenham are quite the long ball team, and Defoe as i predicted would do **** all against a decent defence.

Still, only winners are Liverpool tbh.