I saw the gulf last night......

[Blade56]

between our players and theirs, not it spirit or passion but physically. Even Kyle Walker looked like one of their average size players. They were huge in hight and build, more like a pro egg chaser. Think it's something we are short of in our squad, we have tallent but not that much physical presence.

 

[shorehamview]

between our players and theirs, not it spirit or passion but physically. Even Kyle Walker looked like one of their average size players. They were huge in hight and build, more like a pro egg chaser. Think it's something we are short of in our squad, we have tallent but not that much physical presence.

It doesn't matter how tall you are if the ball is played on the grass. Someone's dad once said -
“If God had wanted us to play football in the clouds, he’d have put grass up there.”
Give me a minute, I'll just think who it was...

 

[itsinyerblood]

between our players and theirs, not it spirit or passion but physically. Even Kyle Walker looked like one of their average size players. They were huge in hight and build, more like a pro egg chaser. Think it's something we are short of in our squad, we have tallent but not that much physical presence.

That's a fair observation 56. I think this trend towards players with a more pronounced physicality began several decades ago, not just here but in countries such as Germany and Brazil. It doesn't follow that this produces successful teams, but it can, with all the other qualities we expect, add to a team's presence on the pitch.

The theory is that weight and height is meant to give a team the edge. The lie in this is someone like Adebayor. He fulfills all the requisite qualities described, but whether he's good enough is another question altogether, and from what I've seen, he's a liability for a team like Spurs. Perhaps too much emphasis on this takes away from our other victories against Premiership teams. We've deserved those wins, with teams similar to the one we put out last night. Players like Reed, small and dogged, could in time be comparable to other small, quality players, the likes of Archie Gemmill come to mind. But learning to compete against these 'giants' is a lesson that'll serve the lad well.

 

[Blade56]

That's a fair observation 56. I think this trend towards players with a more pronounced physicality began several decades ago, not just here but in countries such as Germany and Brazil. It doesn't follow that this produces successful teams, but it can, with all the other qualities we expect, add to a team's presence on the pitch.

The theory is that weight and height is meant to give a team the edge. The lie in this is someone like Adebayor. He fulfills all the requisite qualities described, but whether he's good enough is another question altogether, and from what I've seen, he's a liability for a team like Spurs. Perhaps too much emphasis on this takes away from our other victories against Premiership teams. We've deserved those wins, with teams similar to the one we put out last night. Players like Reed, small and dogged, could in time be comparable to other small, quality players, the likes of Archie Gemmill come to mind. But learning to compete against these 'giants' is a lesson that'll serve the lad well.

Totally agree about players like Reed. It's getting the mix right there is a place for a small player or two in a side but we have to be careful about getting to many in the squad and being all skill but little physical presence.

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

between our players and theirs, not it spirit or passion but physically. Even Kyle Walker looked like one of their average size players. They were huge in hight and build, more like a pro egg chaser. Think it's something we are short of in our squad, we have tallent but not that much physical presence.

Being 2-1 up suggests it might not be the problem you feel it is?

Two men in the wall for the free kick cost us, did we learn nothing in '93?

 

[BusheyBlade]

I remember thinking in the first leg how unfortunate we were to seemingly be losing many lose balls and often being second to the 50:50 balls. It was like that for the first 70 minutes last night. I realised it wasn't bad luck, misfortune or whatever you call it. A lot of it is also the fact that the Spurs players were one step ahead mentally, so are able to see the lose balls almost before they happen and get ahead before the ball even breaks. They were very good last night and put in an extremely professional performance. For the second half of the first 45 minutes it was very much men against boys.

The very fact that Kane took the ball into the corner twice at the end shows just how much of a fright we gave them last night.