I hope Wigan bounce back
As wonderful as our nine goal victory was on Sunday, spare a thought for Wigan. As I said last week, I was not surprised to see a big score line but it was thanks in part to Wigan’s style of play.
As difficult as it must have been for Wigan fans to swallow, I hope they give Martinez time to finish the good job he’s started. I know they have been on the end of a few hidings but they play attractive football. The Premier League would be very boring if all the lesser sides played like Stoke. He’s a good young manager and comes across very well.
As for Tottenham, maybe we still have a mental block when it comes to the big teams. We cannot continue to put on scintillating performances against the majority of opponents at the Lane and then give limp displays like we did against Arsenal, Man Utd and Chelsea. I know two of those games were away from home and injuries played a part but the contrast is too great.
Harry has done wonders since his arrival but his previous sides have always been able to turn over the likes of Utd and Arsenal, sides that had no where near the strength in depth the current Spurs squad has. Maybe things will look different come the end of the season.
With Arsenal, Liverpool, Man City and Villa all dropping points this past weekend, our top 4 push is still going along nicely and the 9-1 win will have done wonders for both confidence and morale. It couldn’t have come at a better time with 3 away games on the trot coming up, all against tough sides. I’d take 1 win, 1 draw and 1 defeat if I’m honest, as long as the win is against Utd!
This post has 4 comments
November 25th, 2009
I do like Martinez and his philosophy, though unfortunately the PL is all about results and unless he finds an assistant coach that can teach the team how to defend, Wigan are in trouble. I’d rather see them stay up than the likes of Bolton though, so good luck to them this season.
As for us – there are plenty of reasons we haven’t done well against good sides this season, not just mentality. We need to avoid unfamiliar formations and be more disciplined against the top 4/6 sides; we can afford some openness against poorer teams thanks to our attack (our defense rather frightens me this season tbh) but we have to outfight good sides when we get outclassed. We played well against the top 4 last season, when we took a conservative approach and strove to keep clean sheets first, which is why we mostly drew 0-0s save for one incredibly lucky win against Liverpool and a hardfought but deserved 1-0 against Chelski.
Palacios was also in better form then, we were lucky with injuries and played the same back 5 every week, and we played Jenas rather than Huddlestone, who still fails to convince me against strong sides (though he is rather marvelous against rubbish teams). Hopefully Palacios has regained his form now, and the players coming back from injury/suspension and some semblance of a continuous back 5 will help us go on a good run in the tough weeks ahead. We’ll need to pull away from the rest this winter to have ANY chance at all of making 4th, especially since Liverpool will very likely get their acts together soon.
November 25th, 2009
Wigan will bounce back. If you really think about it, what is the difference between being beaten 4-1 and 9-1. Just a temporary humiliation (and bad goal difference) – but both are hammerings. To us a 9-1 win is a big difference. As for Spurs, we should all be content because the general progression is there. Ok, we are losing more to the ‘big four’ this season, but we are much, much better against everyone else. My only concern is that we haven’t played our apparent ‘equals’ yet – Villa, City, Everton (yes they had bad start) nor have we played Fulham – who usually give us a torrid time. These games are coming up.
November 25th, 2009
Lol, 9-1, Defoe scores 5
sums spurs up, wankers
bet they get turned over by 2 or 3 at villa this weekend
typical flat track bullies
November 26th, 2009
….and with no Bent, no Kenwyne, no God knows who else to help my lot, that comeback could well come as early as Wigan v Sunderland this Saturday. If you’d beaten them 4-0 I’d have felt happier about our prospects. Can we have Defoe on emergency loan for one game?