Analysis of the goal conceded against Swansea (31/12)

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Scott Sinclair’s goal – Joe Allen strides forward and finds Rangel. His deflected cross is not held by Friedel, and Scott Sinclair is left with an open goal at the far post.

Sometimes Redknapp goes a little kamikaze in search of a second goal – this time, he tries to hang on to the lead. Spurs drop deeper and deeper and stop pressing in the Swansea half – probably partly because the players no longer have the energy to do so.

As a result, Allen surges forward totally unchallenged, with our players sat off.

Allen slides the ball just beyond the reach of Bale who may have intercepted had he been fresh-legged.

The pass finds Rangel, who is a very similar player to Corluka. Not only does he wear the same shirt number, but he is a talented ball-playing right back, who is not blessed with tremendous pace.

For me, he tricks Assou-Ekotto far too easily with the classic winger trick of taking him inside with his first touch…

…and back out with his second – how many times have we seen Corluka, Walker or even Assou-Ekotto himself use this trick? The cross is sent in low, and despite being a couple of yards away, Assou-Ekotto manages to half block it. This should make it easier to deal with.

Kaboul seems to have had a shout from Friedel, as rather than hack the ball clear with his left foot, he slows down and protects the ball from Graham, ready for the goalkeeper to pounce.

Note at this point that the eventual goal-scorer, Sinclair, is behind Walker in the left wing position, but has a run on Kyle, who has made the assumption that Friedel will gather this.

But unfortunately Friedel has a howler, and doesn’t gather it cleanly. Walker needs to have assumed the worst…

…but instead, he has let Sinclair run alone to the far post, and he has the simple job of tapping home.

No doubt a point was a fair result in this game, as Swansea had a couple of other good chances to score. However, with five minutes to go, I can’t help but feel that we should have clung on. Redknapp’s substitutions were not the best – bringing on Defoe seemed like a logical idea early in the second half, to allow us to keep pressing the Swansea back line and forcing them into errors. However, bringing on Defoe and using him in the right wing-forward position with twenty minutes to go was quite odd – why not just put on a player that was used to playing a similar role? Kranjcar or Pienaar were both available. We stopped keeping the ball, and to me it seemed logical that a player like Kranjcar was needed to calm us in possession.

Ultimately, though, we were cost by Friedel’s first major blunder – his reliability has had a real impact on our team this season, and so I hope that this error does not undo all the confidence-building that his steady performances have achieved.

Join the conversation

  1. And look at the position Sandro took up, (compared to the player he was marking) - who was clearly "fearing the worst whilst hoping for the best".
  2. I find it a correct article.
    It was obvious during the whole game that Spurs had run out of fuel.
    Swansea players had more pace and stamina and had shown a stronger will to win the game.
    It is obvious to me that Parker is the barometer of Spurs performance.
    If for any reason he fails to reach his usual performance then this has an impact on the whole team.
    Modric and Sandro can't take a leading role.
    Some of our defence players (mainly Assou-Ekotto, Walker and Kaboul) suffer from sudden lapses of concentration during a game.
    Walker has improved a lot this season but he has to improve also his final touch of the ball and correct passing and become thus more effective in his attacking role.
    As I repeatedly said I would like to replace JD and Pav by a “killer” type striker (like Gomez, Raul and others) who scores using more his brains and his ball technique qualities.
  3. Always a mistake to bring on Defoe and surrender midfield possession. Niko's the one.
  4. If you look at Friedel's position in pics 5 and 8 you can see he is slow in coming off his line and then can't make it to the ball. I think that in this situation it may be better for the most central defender to make the final decision. We have to be louder as a team. I also think that BAE was concerned that he would not be able to shut out Rangel if he went down the line as he was aware of his own lack of energy. Bael's defensive positioning is poor and as a result often leaves BAE exposed, so therefore more knackered than other players and so more prone to lapses in concentration. I'm sure Liverpool will target him to get in crosses for Caroll and for that game it is imperative we have both King and Kaboul.
    BTW what has happened to Coubillalley?
    Sweetsman
  5. Goalkeping error basically but he doesn't make many.
    Kaboul played well and should have hacked it clear even if he got a shout.
    Brad is poor at judging the ball coming towards him and relies on his reflexes to shot stop.

    Vrom from Swansea would be a good shout.
    But how good was Allen?
    In this sequence he has yards of space as he did often in the match.
    Should have put one of our attack dogs on him to deny him space.
    Happy with four points from 2 away games.
  6. It’s indeed a good post, helped me a lot.
  7. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan.
  8. This was a nice game. Everybody was good.
  9. This should make it easier to deal with.
  10. It seemed logical that a player like Kranjcar was needed to calm us in possession.

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