Spurs back from the Game/sofa

[Archie's penalty]

Well I was relatively pleased with that to be honest.

I thought the efforts of the team were clear. First half we pressed them well, and in the second half we tired. Had that great little spell,
could have got something out of the game and then Dempsey got the flukey goal. No shame in losing at Spurs 3-1.

Little disappointed by HRK and our saviour (copyright team board) Guthrie giving the ball away in good attacking positions but I think we fought pretty well.

Also happy with Brian's formation changes and subsitutes, he made the right changes at the right time, not his fault that HRK didn't perform.

I reckon if we add a good attacking midfielder (come to the Madejski Arshavin we need you) I reckon we could get the points we need to stay up.

Happy New Year everyone.

[SPARTA]

Harte has got to go. Makes zero sense having him come in for Shorey.

The sooner Carrico is fit and can come in for Leigertwood the better. No digging at him, but we need someone who can win the ball, keep the ball, and play a pass. Leigertwood doesn't give us that.

We can't continue going into games and allowing the opposition to have so much possession, and us create so little. We've plugged the gap a lot which is great, but it's one extreme to another, and now we're struggling at the other end. We haven't got a lot of time left to strike the balance.

[USA_Loyal_Royal]

i was very pleased with the performance to be honest, we played well against a team that we all knew outclassed us. carrico needs to come in for ledge asap.

[Archie's penalty]

Brian has gone back to basics, plugged defensive holes and it all looks so much better, much more pressing, more tackles going in.

We just need that attacking midfielder in and we can really compete. Let's look for the positives from today and there were some clear ones.

[peterroyal76]

I see people forget Harte's contribution to our goal, yes he was rinsed by Lennon but Lennon rinses better and faster left backs then Harte. I do believe Shorey should of started today, but when we lose is always someones fault? Or are we sometimes beaten by the better team?
For the record Mick Gooding reckons Legs was one of our better players today. He should of done better with Dawson's goal, but I don't think he should of been marking him anyway
We're still progressing and I for one are happy about that.

[windermere_royal]

sky stats spurs efforts on goal 34 (including blocked shots) of which 24 were from outside the box, gievs the incication we kept them out well with only 10 chances inside the box.

[SPARTA]

[No Fixed Abode]

sky stats spurs efforts on goal 34 (including blocked shots) of which 24 were from outside the box, gievs the incication we kept them out well with only 10 chances inside the box.

Far too many chances for Spurs today.

[Simon's Church]

The sooner Carrico is fit and can come in for Leigertwood the better. No digging at him, but we need someone who can win the ball, keep the ball, and play a pass. Leigertwood doesn't give us that.

Completed more passes than anyone else in the team today and had the highest pass accuracy %. Also made 8 interceptions with Karacan and Guthrie making 3 between them.

[windermere_royal]

11 shots on taget here (including blocked shots)

http://www1.skysports.com/football/live ... 1767/stats

[Reading West]

If we can get Arshavin (on loan only mind) to replace Guthrie in the 5 man midfield and for Carrico to replace Legs that would hopefully give us the stability and attacking threat to give us a fighting chance to stay up (hopefully)

[Ian Royal]

Feel happy after that.

Disappointed with our comparative atheleticism, with some of our passing and with the equaliser conceeded so quickly. But we made a far superior Spurs side really work for it. Troubled them again when they eased the throttle back and tbh, while Spurs deserved the win and were dominant for most of the match, I thought that scoreline flatters them a little and does us a disservice.

As long as McDermott focuses on the positives to take from that then we can maybe continue to ride the wave of slightly renewed confidence and get something against West Brom and Sunderland in the next few games.

Federici - 9 MotM similar to West Ham, but better saves and slightly more bad kicking.
Gunter - 7 worked very hard and kept Spurs out for most the game
Harte - 7 beaten for pace a couple of times when left exposed, but I thought he played fairly well. Didn't misstime his jumps (thanks Ian) and took a couple of cracking set pieces.
Pearce - 8 very solid, although beaten by Adebayor for their second. Against a far superior attack and midfield to West Ham he kept them out similarly. Organises the back 4 (7) so well
Mariappa - 7.5 looks a different player with Pearce next to him.
Kebe - 7 excellent second right back, didn't trouble spurs too much, but they were mostly as quick as him and all stronger.
McAnuff - 7 couple of flashes going forward but defended really well with Harte.
Karacan - 7 worked his socks off
Guthrie - 7 some loose passing but worked really hard and kept midfield stiff, if overmatched
Leigertwood - 6.5 passing poor, but better than recently. Solid defensively. He still lost the ball too much and couldn't hold it when he won it, but it was improved from him against a super Spurs midfield.
Pogrebnyak - 8 worked really hard, fed off scraps. Scored and could have had a second.

ALF - 6 on, not a lot shown.
HRK - 4 terrible decision making, don't recall him beating his man, poor crossing and poor passing. Shame, just wasn't up to Spurs speed
Hunt - 6 didn't have much time basically defended.

McDermott - 7 nice try.

Webb - 8 mostly a really good display. Played advantage really well. Great ref. Not so sure about the male lino. I'm suspicious of several of his decisions.

[PremAddict]

sky stats spurs efforts on goal 34 (including blocked shots) of which 24 were from outside the box, gievs the incication we kept them out well with only 10 chances inside the box.

One of the commentators said Spurs have more goals outside the box than any other EPL club. Still, I was happy with the performance save for HRK.

[plroyals]

didn't expect anything and didn't get anything. was relatively pleased with the performance and we could have even got a point if we took one of the chances at 2-1. Villa drawing and Wigan losing also mean we haven't lost to much ground. It's going to be tough but i actually think we could do this or give it a hell of a go. WNG

[SPARTA]

The sooner Carrico is fit and can come in for Leigertwood the better. No digging at him, but we need someone who can win the ball, keep the ball, and play a pass. Leigertwood doesn't give us that.

Completed more passes than anyone else in the team today and had the highest pass accuracy %. Also made 8 interceptions with Karacan and Guthrie making 3 between them.

Really? I hope that's true. Link please. Cheers.

[Born 'n Bred Royal]

Harte has got to go. Makes zero sense having him come in for Shorey.

The sooner Carrico is fit and can come in for Leigertwood the better. No digging at him, but we need someone who can win the ball, keep the ball, and play a pass. Leigertwood doesn't give us that.

We can't continue going into games and allowing the opposition to have so much possession, and us create so little. We've plugged the gap a lot which is great, but it's one extreme to another, and now we're struggling at the other end. We haven't got a lot of time left to strike the balance.

I disagree, I didn't think Harte played too badly today. He was obviously going to be exposed for pace when up against Lennon (one of the quickest wingers int he division) but he put in a good shift overall - quite a few battling tackles and the assist for the goal.

[southbank1871]

Shouldn't this chat be on the match thread, with the BFTG started by someone who was actually there

[weybridgewanderer]

says a lot about how bad we have been that people are pleased with that performance

[Ian Royal]

Shouldn't this chat be on the match thread, with the BFTG started by someone who was actually there

Match thread is traditionally for during the match and often from people who haven't seen the game. Back from the game has often been started by someone who watched at home / in the pub. Especially for away games. This is nothing new. It's all people who've seen the game and is a review of the game as a whole after the fact. Why does it matter whether it's from someone who was standing on the sidelines or watching on a screen?

[Mr.T10]

Ok. Better than I thought we would do (We scored). Defended well.

Still lacking a CDM who can pass, tackle and keep the ball. I dare say his name of whom we have current or I might be using him as a scape goat of his performances, however that works.

Poor wing play today considering Tottenham were very open on the widths, Kebe was hardly with it. Many opportunities to get the ball to him when he was on the left but we never looked at him or he even look like he wanted it.

Still need to be better at passing as a whole team as they are all culprits of giving the ball away but movement is not the greatest.

An attacking midfielder is a must, hopefully this is where we go to with most of our budget. Guthrie is not a attacking midfielder, he is a creative midfielder who likes to sit deep.

Feds had a good game still some poor kicks but getting there. Mariappa was brilliant probably our MOTM.