14th April 2011

Analysis of the goal conceded against Real Madrid (13/4) plus comments on the game


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First things first, I better get it over and done with… stay with me, as there are some other comments to follow!

Ronaldo’s goal.

Ronaldo is a long way out, and you would almost be encouraging him to hit it from here (after last night he has had 27 attempts off target in the CL this year – 22 on target).

He does and he strikes it well enough.

It’s not far off the middle of the goal, but Gomes doesn’t move his feet to get behind it.

 

As a result, instead of catching it, it just deflects off one of his hands, and loops up.

He loses it in the air, and that split-second is costly…

…as it means that he can’t quite get back to scoop it out. A horrible blunder from Gomes.

Some general thoughts on the game
Redknapp did not go with the three at the back that many suggested before the game, and stuck pretty rigidly to a 4-2-3-1, which almost became a 4-2-4-0.

As pointed out by Zonal Marking, van der Vaart struggled to find space in the classic number 10 position, often dropping deep to receive the ball. However, he was not the only one. Isolated for long periods, Pavlyuchenko also frequently came deep. The image below from the Telegraph Football website illustrates our players’ “average positions” during the match (van der Vaart’s blob is behind Pavlyuchenko’s!).

If were to get anything from this game, it was vital that we played on the shoulder, and really got at the back four. Whilst we played this way for periods of the first half, and Lennon and Bale both caused problems when running in behind, we did not do this enough and, thus, did not get enough shots away – 10 in total (7 off target) was nowhere near enough for a team that needed a minimum of 4 goals.

Penalties?

Bale – 4 minutes.

Bale has lost control of the ball and is already going down, hanging a leg to ensure contact. Not a penalty.

Modric – 6 minutes.

Modric runs on to the ball and, whilst his touch isn’t great, he is in a position to be able to strike the ball, when Alonso takes his foot from the side. This should be a penalty.

Pavlyuchenko – 28 minutes.

Pavlyuchenko clips the ball around Albiol, and has his back leg taken – he goes to ground with a real dramatic fall, which probably doesn’t help, but this should also be a penalty.

Having said that we did not get enough shots on targets, just one of these decisions going our way could have changed the picture of this match. and we may have got a creditable home win. We played well in the first half, pressing Madrid and not showing fear, but too many heads dropped in the second half, particularly after the Madrid goal.

The Champions League campaign has brought so much excitement to the season, and we would all dearly love us to qualify again – it is vital that we try to win all of our remaining home games, starting with Arsenal on Wednesday. Come on you Spurs!

Join the conversation

  1. Anonymous14th April 2011 at 09:37
    i think it may be worth pointing out that i think harry in his mind has us playing a 4411, while i think your right that it tends to end up as 4231, especially when tom plays, would not be best to prepare correctly and actually put on the team sheet a 4231 and better define everybody's roles
    Reply
  2. Symon14th April 2011 at 09:54
    As soon as i saw how madrid set up i knew we would not get anything out of this game,Harry does not have the tactical nous to win against teams like madrid,also bizzare subs as always,im not blaming gomes but surly Carlo has to come in now gomes's confidence is shot
    Reply
  3. Anonymous14th April 2011 at 10:08
    Anon 10:37 - I think everybody knows their role in the team. That is obvious. The team sheet obviously does not have tactical formation on it. It just has the list of players. Firstly, they are not going to tell the opposition how they will line up, and secondly, it changes during the game anyway.... Gomes looked to me like he was already thinking about what he was going to do with the ball - AS he was "catching" it. He was already moving to throw the ball out
    Reply
  4. Anonymous14th April 2011 at 11:28
    fair point ^^ i wrote the first post. but i think there is a reason they always post it on the prematch as 4411 because that what it is, i guess my point is that we should fully embrace the 4231, although stubborn english take a long time to switch from anything than 442. gomes is class. arm around the shoulder harry. needs a bit a confidence and calm back
    Reply
  5. Anonymous14th April 2011 at 19:48
    Gomes is class. You see dropped catches in cricket all the time when the fielder is not set: Gomes was moving, mentally and less so physically, instead of having a zen-like focus on the matter in hand.
    I am interested to know how people think we will line up against Arsenal. I think that we should pack the midfield to contain them and push them out to the sides as they like to play through the middle. Suffocating them, esp if we keep possession, will build up pressure on them and lead to mistakes. How about a 4-4-1-1 of:
    Corluka WG Dawson BAE
    Lennon Sandro Modric Bale
    VDV
    Pav/Crouch

    I would think about Thudd coming on later if the game was in the bag. If we beat them then I think confidence will be high for the remainder of the home games.
    Sweetsman
    Reply
  6. Windy14th April 2011 at 20:03
    Sweetsman - I think a few people are talking about potentially dropping VDV. I think it needs to be between him and Lennon on the right, with Pavlyuchenko and Crouch starting together (we've won all three games when Pav/VDV/Crouch have started together).

    Will be a fascinating game, and I think it will be decided by which wide players are best.
    Reply
  7. Anonymous19th April 2011 at 21:44
    OK, so if VDV goes to the bench at the start how will that affect his confidence and will it be a boost for the opposition? If he does start on the bench then maybe 4-4-2 would be right, but with tonight's draw at St James then Arse are going to be at our throats. If they lose then that's it, so keeping them at bay could frustrate them, make them overcommit and we could hit them on the break. So, I think that the starting line up should be:
    Gomes
    Kaboul WG Dawson BAE
    Lennon Sandro Hudd Modric Bale
    Crouch
    Sandro is essential to cut down space for Fabregas and intercept any runs across the back four.
    Swwetsman
    Reply

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