Reflection on Spurs Away

Bromley Blue · Dec 21, 2006

So its some stupidly late time and I've been back about half hour after being rescued from Upminster by my Dad.

First thing to be said is what a great night. OK so we went out and we were only 5 mins away from a penalty shootout which is always a lottery. But lets look at the positives, we took a top Premiership side all the way to extra time and we did better than Charlton did there last week!

I had the torture of being in with the yids as being a non seaso I saw this as my only real chance of ensuring I was there on the night. I saw a bloke in the home end with a southend wooly hat and also another guy wearing one of our waterproofs so I knew I wasnt alone in this venture.

I thought Sodje and Prior/Clarke were outstanding and I felt like we contained Spurs for long periods especially in the first half. Ok so they did have some good chances like the one which hit the under side of the bar but there werent too many times they got in behind us n i found myself thinking "1-0".

McCormack also had another strong display altho due to uni commitments this year,this was the first time I'd seen him live since his first spell back in League 2.

Its interesting to read Martin Jol and Robbie Earle's comments mentioned on here. Firstly I would agree with the point made by Jol that we lacked a cutting edge. True. Very True. We have all season. As much as this highlights the need for a more prolific partner for freddy, nothing can be taken away from Bradders performance tonight. His hold up play was immense but why o why didnt he shoot with that chance before they scored instead of trying to find Freddy?

Oh well guess we'll never know...but I feel similar to the way I did after Palace back in August. Went to that game expecting to lose but once again Southend proved to me how we can mix it with top players. Looking at players we've come up against since, the Palace game doesnt seem that significant but back then we were used to away trips to Doncaster, Yeovil etc. That night and again tonight we played some great stuff but lacked enough firepower to make our good football cause the upset.

But as I sat amongst them, we had those yids bloody worried right up until that International dwarf rescued em.

Chins up Southend..

Slipperduke · Dec 21, 2006

Sodje and Clarke were great. Eastwood was barely there.

I'm quite drunk now

bluearmy · Dec 21, 2006

Totally agree with all that.

My thoughts, and pics here at the Longpier

I 8 COLU · Dec 21, 2006

[b said:
Quote[/b] (Slipperduke @ Dec. 21 2006,02:09)]Sodje and Clarke were great. Eastwood was barely there.

I'm quite drunk now

Oh thats unlike you

royfox · Dec 21, 2006

I think Freddy was tightly marked which made it difficult for him. Jol had obviously told Spurs to mark him out off the game.Freddy needs to learn to do a bit more running off the ball to lose his marker, in my opinion.

mattytheshrimper · Dec 21, 2006

freddy was tightly marked but he touch was off he work rate was terrible and he played a shocker.

i know he had no support but any othjer striker would actually make at least one run to help out and create space but he just stood there. he frustrates me so much because when he has a good game theres no stopping him but when he has a bad one he is so crap!

surely no prem club are going to want that. we need him to be consistant and so does anyone else who is going to buy him!

Shrimpbizkit · Dec 21, 2006

Great performance from the lads, fans were superb too.
Flavs- If he were 6ft2 HE would be Englands no 1 not Robbo, another faultless performance.
Sodje- The best defender Ive seen in a blues shirt. We must get him signed up for next season, would be a tragedy if he leaves next month.
Clarke- Excellent performance, just how a £300k signing should perform.
Hammell and Hunt both solid, got forward well too.
Maher- big disappointment, too many loose passes.
Macca- Immense, outshone Huddlestone.
Gower- Fantastic performance, our most dangerous player, great defensive work too.
JCR- Yes frustrating but he works himself into the ground, great defensive work too.
Bradders- I like Lee but we will struggle to score goals with him in the team.
Freddy- Okish but Jol obviously knows that we are almost totally reliant on him for goals and he was up against Dawson, one of the best defenders in the country.

Overall we played the better football but u can see why we have only scored 3 goals in the league away from home. Nervous everytime we got round the 6 yard box.

Hong Kong Blue · Dec 21, 2006

If Flahavan was 6ft2 AND a good decision maker then given the paucity of goalkeeping options he might be in with a chance of being England's no.1. Darryl did make a good reflex save but he was also caught in no man's land by Defoe on a rare venture off his goalline. For those old enough to remember Royce, now there's a keeper who could - and did - play top flight football because he was a good, decisive, decision-maker.

McCormack was certainly impressive, but I wouldn't say he outshone Huddlestone who looked a class above his teammates.

I thought we matched Spurs' football and played some nice, neat, intricate passes but had zero cutting edge. I think the problem is partly that whilst Bradbury has a great touch, he makes the Goat look mobile. If Freddy drops short, which is his style, we've no threat to get behind a defence and that makes us predictable. The other problem is that we've zero production down the right with JCR. So many moves end/lose momentum when they go right. Our main creative forces both like to spread the ball wide, and there will be JCR in space, so they pass to him and the move fizzles out.