Credit to all fans that made it tonight. Travel was horrendous. The boys huffed and puffed but ultimately a world class player did for us and that was the difference. Marco could have made the subs earlier and given manor more minutes. I think he is quality and given more time will come good, possibly pushing us towards a European place. Onwards and upwards we go again. Come on you whites!!
Thought an even game up to 70 minutes but then I had to leave to catch the train. The stats for the game show a close game so no shame. Is it me orc was the Ref a bit bug team biased again?
Can't complain too much about the ref. How Palhinha wasn't sent off at some point I'll never know.
BBC website and back pages of papers go very very large on Kane's "achievement" in equalling Jimmy Greaves' record, as if Kane had solved the Ukrainian crisis. Call me a boring old fart but where is the merit or achievement in equalling a record? By all means make a fuss when he passes the record (no doubt with a penalty) but we've heard nothing else for weeks. "Kane moves closer to Greaves' record". ""Kane closes in on record". And so on. Now he's equalled the record, the media go into overdrive. Unbelievable. I really can't wait for the open topped bus parade down the Mall when he passes the record.
If Mitro had scored a goal tonight to equal Gordon Davies' record, it might have got a sentence in the media.
Couldn't make the game tonight. Apologies to all.
As much as Kane is the England captain and all that I would love it if someone gave him a good kicking.
Quote from: Chi_FFC on January 23, 2023, 11:28:58 PM
Can't complain too much about the ref. How Palhinha wasn't sent off at some point I'll never know.
How was Son still out there?
Quote from: cookieg on January 23, 2023, 11:42:24 PM
As much as Kane is the England captain and all that I would love it if someone gave him a good kicking.
You wouldn't be able to get a boot on him before he flung himself to the ground, writhing in agony.
1) Silva (not for the first time) too late on the subs - I thought Willian looked good in the first half, but didn't really have an end product. Bobby I barely noticed apart from his long drive - we need players that can really create something in those wide areas - and that's what Manor and Harry can do.
2) A lot of possession but what did we do with it?
3) Kane showed Ream's chink in his armour - Tim has had a superb season but doesn't have the agility to change direction as quick as he needs to
Would anyone think that starting Willian on the right and Manor on the left could be an effective combination? Willian is then able to play as a more traditional winger and supply crosses for Mitro, whilst Manor is able to cut in and fashion opportunities for himself and others cutting in from the left?
We're running up against the limits of our current talent level and roster depth. It is what it is.
The club did a terrific job reinforcing the team's spine this past summer. This summer is to upgrade the wingers and Reed and add another quality striker, preferably with pace. Then we'll be much closer to a legitimate top-six roster. Until then, we'll have nights where we huff and puff and ultimately don't have a great answer, like tonight after the first 30 minutes.
Spurs were pedestrian, but world-class talent tells and they comfortably saw out a 1-0 once they gained the lead.
I found the game quite frustrating.
First half we were pretty good, but came up a little short on the finishing. Probably should have scored. Definitely could have defended better for the goal, but no big criticism - Kane is very hard to defend against.
Second half though, I thought we were quite flat and mediocre. I don't think Willian was as good as he normally is in the second half. He frequently turned and played back to Robinson instead of crossing into the box. We lacked incisiveness and intensity.
Not terrible, but a bit "mid" as the kids say.
Palhinha was fantastic as always, as was Leno.
Quote from: Black and White Town on January 24, 2023, 12:06:33 AM
I found the game quite frustrating.
First half we were pretty good, but came up a little short on the finishing. Probably should have scored. Definitely could have defended better for the goal, but no big criticism - Kane is very hard to defend against.
Second half though, I thought we were quite flat and mediocre. I don't think Willian was as good as he normally is in the second half. He frequently turned and played back to Robinson instead of crossing into the box. We lacked incisiveness and intensity.
Not terrible, but a bit "mid" as the kids say.
Palhinha was fantastic as always, as was Leno.
Yeah, that's been an area for Willian where he seems to go through periods in games where he just doesn't deliver that telling ball and retreats back to Robinson/Reed.
I think that's why a lot of on here are calling for Manor to start on the left, as he has the pace and ability to beat his man and fashion chances for himself and others. Marco then has the option of being able to start Willian as a traditional winger on the right, or use Harry if he wants someone to be cutting inside there.
I have not watched the game - I had to work through it (here in NZ kick-off was around 9:15am ish. I followed the (biased) BBC text service. What came through to me is that I believe the clubs like NUFC, THFC, etc have sussed out how we use Mitro and park the transport shield accordingly. I think we need another midfielder of Prem quality who can 'unlock' such defences. Whilst I am reasonably happy with the efforts so far this season of TC and Pereira, I think we need someone who is a bit of a step up from them who can unlock the opposition with some precision passing.
Maybe I am talking (writing) out of a 'lesser used orifice', but against the big boys we seem sometimes a bit bereft of ideas.
"Back in the cave michael!!"
Spurs were very hard to break down after they'd scored - with everyone behind the ball, especially in the second half.
We should have scored with all our pressure and chances in the first half, but didn't really look likely to put it in the net. Mitro had about four on him all game, and was a frustrated figure. But on another day one of those efforts would have gone in.
Kane's goal was hard to defend against, the way he drifted away from our defenders and slotted it away from distance, which apart from that our defence did a great job - how many shots on goal did they have? Kane's goal was class and I don't think we could have dome much about it - he only needs a yard of space.
It was a frustrating night - we matched them really, outplayed them for a lot of the first half, especially compared to the away game, when they did look a bit of a class above, but couldn't find a way through them, massed behind the ball when they were in front, and we did look a bit bereft of attacking ideas, with Mitro so closely marked.
A very creditable display from Fulham, who weren't at all out of place against a team packed with expensive stars, though maybe we could have done with someone else up front alongside Mitro.
If Spurs had come out and attacked us in the second half there might well have been a different outcome, or if we had taken the lead, as we deserved to, in the first half.
COYW!!!!
Quote from: cookieg on January 23, 2023, 11:42:24 PM
As much as Kane is the England captain and all that I would love it if someone gave him a good kicking.
Booking was absolutely correct and definitely not a sending off as Smith claimed it could have been. None of the others were remotely yellow and Kanes theatrical dive was a joke (yes I know we do the same). Son's poorly timed challenge on Tete was dangerous and could easily have been red.
Spurs parked the bus for about 80 minutes of the match and it was always going to be hard to break them down because of the quality they have. Apart from the goal, they didn't create much either, one or two chances and that was it.
Son should have been sent off. Chalobah was sent off for less against Newcastle. Son gets away with lots of dangerous fouls because he's "a nice guy". He gets a red and it's a different game, we get a point at least too.
Don't know why we didn't cross more when Vinicius came on as we had both him and Mitro in the box. Liked Solomons cameo, thought Cairney was really unlucky to slip two times in very good positions for us.
If Son's 'tackle' was only a yellow then Palhinha's booking count for the season should be about two rather than seven. Another example of the biased refereeing and VAR that has perverted justice in the PL for decades. Little bit lacklustre in the chance department for us and Kane's goal was an example of how the ball sometimes runs for strikers. He attempted a repeat second half and was a good metre wide. I think we need to sign another central midfielder before deadline day because there are tired legs and brains out there.
I thought the ref was good, especially in comparison to some of the other performances that have been served up this season.
What a dull, boring game that was. We didn't really even huff and puff in that second half which is disappointing. Still, people shold remember that on Friday we come to the end of what are a traditionally more difficult set of fixtures and we get back to playing (and hopefully beating) some of the sides below us.
Chalk this one off as a bad day at the office and move on.
Quote from: toshes mate on January 24, 2023, 08:21:27 AM
If Son's 'tackle' was only a yellow then Palhinha's booking count for the season should be about two rather than seven. Another example of the biased refereeing and VAR that has perverted justice in the PL for decades. Little bit lacklustre in the chance department for us and Kane's goal was an example of how the ball sometimes runs for strikers. He attempted a repeat second half and was a good metre wide. I think we need to sign another central midfielder before deadline day because there are tired legs and brains out there.
It's exactly the same tackle that got Felix a red card...he was never going for the ball.
My only real take from that game was how worrying it is that we can be on top, and have more of the ball yet create so little. Not to be overly dramatic but it felt dry and stale at times but then again, if that's how Spurs want to play and get 3 points, I'm not surprised the fans are miserable. For a side with a rich history of exciting football, that was turgid. And to think, they played like that against Fulham. Speaks volumes when you consider how far we've come.
We matched them except for that classic finish by Kane, we had no one capable of scoring in the first half hour when we were on top.
Spurs sat on their half time lead and just shut up shop in the second half, our wide men, BDR, William, Solomon, and Wilson all failing to to get behind their defense, Solomon and Wilson in need of more game time.
Remember they are a well organised top six team , however it is always a disappointment coming away from the Cottage without having seen a Fulham goal.
Quote from: JimOG on January 24, 2023, 09:43:54 AM
Quote from: toshes mate on January 24, 2023, 08:21:27 AM
If Son's 'tackle' was only a yellow then Palhinha's booking count for the season should be about two rather than seven. Another example of the biased refereeing and VAR that has perverted justice in the PL for decades. Little bit lacklustre in the chance department for us and Kane's goal was an example of how the ball sometimes runs for strikers. He attempted a repeat second half and was a good metre wide. I think we need to sign another central midfielder before deadline day because there are tired legs and brains out there.
It's exactly the same tackle that got Felix a red card...he was never going for the ball.
For me it was even worse. Thought Tete was just a bit faster than Felix and Felix actually tried to pull his leg away a bit towards the end. Son didn't and was not even close to getting to the ball first.
We're lucky Tete "survived" those fouls considering his injury history.
Agree with a lot of this - they have a lot of world class players, starters for their teams at the World Cup, and a manager who's won almost everything. Yet they played a deep 5-4-1 to hold onto their win.
In the second half, if we got past the first line, the second line swarmed us and we couldn't find a way to work the ball out and round quickly enough to find space on the other side. A few attempts at switching it were just too slow to get us to 1 on 1 situations or create overlaps/loads. We needed a mistake or for them to switch off and we they didn't oblige.
Not really sure what we can do about that with the current roster. E.g. though Solomon looks like he can beat a man and pick a cute pass, he's still going to be doing it in a tiny amount of space. Perhaps as we see more of him, he'll be the new Messi, and be able to commit opponents in the final third, but that's likely wishful thinking.
Even our set plays were from very deep, with them holding a high line, so we were competing for balls on the edge of the box rather than the six yard box.
Fortunately, this isn't too much of a problem for us, it's going to be pretty rare that a top team comes to us looking to grab a 1-0 and hold on. They'll usually give us a bit more space than that as the game stretches.
A couple of other comments:
- Leno good, no chance with the goal.
- Diop and Ream generally very good.
- Tete and Robinson also.
- Reed excellent first half.
- Palinha won lots of ball, walked the tightrope a bit, does need to concentrate on his passing a bit more. Gives it away a bit too much.
- Perreira, not really on it unfortunately.
- Willian, good first half, no space/avenues in the second.
- BDR, same. They focused on shutting us down.
- Mitro, some nice link up, but feeding on scraps.
- Subs, tidiness, signs of quality, but very tough to create anything.
With the first half performance we showed yesterday, we'll probably see another 4-5 wins this season and few draws and as we settle into mid-table. So a fairly quiet end to the season (with the caveat that you don't want to carry a run of straight losses over the summer - we need to be careful to finish up acceptably).
Quote from: wback on January 24, 2023, 10:10:22 AM
With the first half performance we showed yesterday, we'll probably see another 4-5 wins this season and few draws and as we settle into mid-table. So a fairly quiet end to the season (with the caveat that you don't want to carry a run of straight losses over the summer - we need to be careful to finish up acceptably).
Nothing I saw last night made me think we're only going to go at a 20-25% win ratio for the rest of the season. We battered Spurs in the first half and the only reason they won is because they've got a world class striker and then proceeded to park the bus for the entire second half
Quote from: Deeping_white on January 24, 2023, 10:17:03 AM
Nothing I saw last night made me think we're only going to go at a 20-25% win ratio for the rest of the season. We battered Spurs in the first half and the only reason they won is because they've got a world class striker and then proceeded to park the bus for the entire second half
Don't think it's just last night. Feels like we're creating very few quality chances at the moment (though we're a lot tighter at the back than we were). After the next round of games, we might find ourselves in 10th, we'll only have Palinha for 15 out of 17 games, other teams will get more competitive as they fight for their lives/European places... we're going to have to be really, really on it to maintain a 40% win ratio.
Quote from: wback on January 24, 2023, 10:39:06 AM
Quote from: Deeping_white on January 24, 2023, 10:17:03 AM
Nothing I saw last night made me think we're only going to go at a 20-25% win ratio for the rest of the season. We battered Spurs in the first half and the only reason they won is because they've got a world class striker and then proceeded to park the bus for the entire second half
Don't think it's just last night. Feels like we're creating very few quality chances at the moment (though we're a lot tighter at the back than we were). After the next round of games, we might find ourselves in 10th, we'll only have Palinha for 15 out of 17 games, other teams will get more competitive as they fight for their lives/European places... we're going to have to be really, really on it to maintain a 40% win ratio.
I have seen nothing to suggest that we would not be equally competitive, we are also potentially playing for European places. Why would other teams care more (as if they didn't already care)?
Also not sure why we will only have Palhinha for 17 games. Is he scheduled to miss games for any reason? Or have you already awarded him the additional 3 yellow cards needed for suspension? He just went 12 games with just 1 yellow so if he replicates that he will reach match day 32 without being suspended, and then the number is increased to 15.
I agree that we will have to be really, really on it though. Which we have been so far under Silva. No reason to believe that will change in my opinion.
Spurs were dull, boring and several times when the camera angle was right, easy to see Spurs played 2 banks of 5, no intention to attack in the second half. It was an even game and if I was a spurs fan I would be crying out for some creativity in midfield which in the past, they have always been famous for. Once again, we were unlucky.
Is the window still open and is anyone in the frame.??
Quote from: Sting of the North on January 24, 2023, 12:37:05 PM
I have seen nothing to suggest that we would not be equally competitive, we are also potentially playing for European places. Why would other teams care more (as if they didn't already care)?
Also not sure why we will only have Palhinha for 17 games. Is he scheduled to miss games for any reason? Or have you already awarded him the additional 3 yellow cards needed for suspension? He just went 12 games with just 1 yellow so if he replicates that he will reach match day 32 without being suspended, and then the number is increased to 15.
I agree that we will have to be really, really on it though. Which we have been so far under Silva. No reason to believe that will change in my opinion.
Yeah, I think he'll get the bookings.
As for competitiveness, isn't it just the case that teams in the middle of the league get a bit softer because they've less to play for, whereas the top and the bottom have to push on.
Yes, Silva has kept us on it so far, but when we were really running away with the league last year we definitely dropped off at the end. It's just what happens when the pressure's off.
It was disappointing that we could not break them down in thew second half. For me, we should have played two up front a lot earlier in the second half and gone a bit route 1 at times to get their defence running backwards, they looked all too comfortable playing with two lines of 5 and we didn't know what to do.
Quote from: jarv on January 24, 2023, 03:03:46 PM
Spurs were dull, boring and several times when the camera angle was right, easy to see Spurs played 2 banks of 5, no intention to attack in the second half. It was an even game and if I was a spurs fan I would be crying out for some creativity in midfield which in the past, they have always been famous for. Once again, we were unlucky.
Is the window still open and is anyone in the frame.??
A Spurs' fan and a Fulham fan were on 5 Live early this morning, giving their reflections on the game.
Fulham fan, Dan, spoke of how well we were doing under Silva - much better than anyone anticipated.
The Spurs' fan, a woman with a strong, Manchester?, accent, ranted about how boring Spurs were now, and how they needed a new manager.
Dan said 'It was Fulham who played the entertaining football,' and she agreed.
Frustrating game, but an overall positive for me. Sure, very disappointed we couldn't get something out of this game. But Spurs are still one of the top clubs in this league, and we played them even for most of this game, with large chunks of time of possession and a handful of scoring chances. Too bad Reeds' volley from the box early on was hit directly at the keeper. Great chance there. I think we finished the game with same number of shots and more shots on target. Very encouraging to see that we can stack up with and compete against any team in this league. I'm still hoping for a top half table finish this season, but this team has proven itself as PL quality. A few more improvements/backup help and this team will be tough to beat this season and next.
