So Mauricio Pochettino claims to he happy with his squad of players, but it doesn`t stop our fans loving or hating certain individuals.
Though I fully accept that many of our players are far from perfect, I do feel that a select few are hung out to dry by fans, whilst others seem immune from any blame. I have to wonder why that is?
It annoys me most that we attack our young players, with the likes of Livermore, Rose, Bentaleb and Kane, all being perfect examples, whilst others, such as Sandro, get treated like footballing Gods as we look for excuses for poor performances, as opposed to looking at the facts.
I have argued many times, that at the start of 2012/13, Jake Livermore out-performed “The Beast” and perhaps only a Livermore injury, saved the Brazilian from being the man to have to face the frustration of a place in the stands, as others returned from injury. That isn`t to say Jake Livermore is a brilliant player, but neither has been Sandro in the last two seasons.
Sandro of course is loved by everyone, including myself. However I like him for his perceived personality and character and the way he publicises his love for Spurs and all things English. What we can only assume is that he is genuine and not putting on a front, but when we add that to his way of playing, we just assume he is a top bloke. Perhaps he is.
I have to say that it disappoints me to hear fans have a go at our young and emerging players, yet in the next breath, talk of the manager blooding the kids and bigging up the academy. There has to be consistency and patience in being a fan and so much of the final development of young players is about time, opportunity and confidence. So why do we stick the boot in, before they have settled in?
A perfect recent example is Danny Rose, who in fairness looked disappointing last season, but are we also looking at the facts, instead of just blaming it on him being useless? Once again, there are far better LB`s in the game and I`m sure even Rose himself will accept that. However, lets remember he is still relatively new to the role and the fans seemed to be on his back from the start. Personally, I know how I would feel if I felt that 36,000 fans were on my back.
When I have discussed Rose and several other players this summer, I have suggested that we judge them once we have a settled side and firm tactical structure. Can we say that was the case under either AVB or Sherwood? I don`t care what the players said in public, but I don`t think they enjoyed playing for AVB, whilst in the case of Sherwood, everything was flipped on its head in terms of tactics and method.
In simple terms, I want to see my full back work with intelligence and adventure, but in that, I also have to accept that if I want him to be attacking the opposing full back on the edge of the opposing box, I will see him get caught out and look “stupid”… Lose possession and he might find himself 80 yards ahead of the ball, with no chance of recovery, and of course its all his fault?
Sometimes it is, but instead of blaming the full back every time, should we be asking what the opposing flanks FB was doing, what the DCM was doing and of course what their instructions were in the first place. How often for example were both FB`s high up the pitch and there was no DCM to cover the drawn CB? If both CBs get pulled over, the far post is vacant and we are in the sh**e. Who is to blame, dumb players or poor tactical advise? Leighton Baines was rated England`s best LB in Brazil, yet got ripped to shreds against Italy. Was it all due to him being rubbish or those around him not supporting?
Just a thought, who was our best central midfielder last season? Dembele, Sandro, Paulinho, Capoue or Bentaleb? If I`m honest, I would give it to Nabil Bentaleb, if only for his composure and promise. Of the others, would any of them get beyond 5-6/10? Not for me. Its common sense that if you demand your full backs to become wingers, you need someone to cover their backside and that has to be either the opposite FB or a central midfielder, whether a dedicated DCM or not. That simply didn`t happen last season, but we blame, Rose, Naughton or Walker, whether it was their fault or not.
Don`t get me wrong, I wouldn`t say any of our current full backs are footballing masterminds, however, they are certainly not as bad as people like to suggest. Of course we need another LB and bringing in Ben Davies is very sensible, but lets look at our players with clear eyes and perhaps look for reasons why they are struggling, as opposed to just calling them useless. For me, we should have been asking why the senior players were so poor last year, as opposed to pointing fingers at younger and developing ones, because if they are struggling, surely they needed senior figures to guide them, but that simply didn`t happen…
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