MATCH THREAD v Forest Sunday 7 th April ….18-00 kick off | Page 12 | Vital Football

MATCH THREAD v Forest Sunday 7 th April ….18-00 kick off

I don't think that we should have too much to say about 'bias' against us where refereeing decisions and sending offs are concerned, considering that Maddison survived a blatant punch in the guts of an opposing defender, without so much as a word in the ear. What can be considered as 'inconclusive' about that I'll never know.
As somebody who punted extensively over a long period of time for us to sign Maddison, he is increasingly becoming a disappointment to me. Granted his injury layoff hasn't helped, but his continuing and increasing tendencies toward becoming a real prima donna with an arrogant streak that forbids opposing players to challenge him, is getting quite embarassing. It's time he gets back to doing the job we signed him for.
 
Not sure why Maddison should be knackered as many think in their match ratings, he has surely only had a hand full or so of games since returning from a fair time out injured.
 
SmithAndJones said:
I don't think that we should have too much to say about 'bias' against us where refereeing decisions and sending offs are concerned, considering that Maddison survived a blatant punch in the guts of an opposing defender, without so much as a word in the ear. What can be considered as 'inconclusive' about that I'll never know.
As somebody who punted extensively over a long period of time for us to sign Maddison, he is increasingly becoming a disappointment to me. Granted his injury layoff hasn't helped, but his continuing and increasing tendencies toward becoming a real prima donna with an arrogant streak that forbids opposing players to challenge him, is getting quite embarassing. It's time he gets back to doing the job we signed him for.
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He's been getting kicked off the pitch for months, and suffered all sorts of dark arts which have regularly been used on him. I don't see this prima donna behaviour at all! Personally, I think he should have put some force behind it instead of the silly little tap he gave him - let's be fair about it, he gets zero protection from refs and it's no wonder that pictures of his legs covered in black and blue were doing the rounds not so long ago.

He doesn't mind a challenge at all, but if you watch the game and see what he was on the end of before he responded. My guess is you'd change your opinion - if that was me, I'd have headbutted him, broke his nose and stamped on him!!
 
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Spursex said:
He's been getting kicked off the pitch for months, and suffered all sorts of dark arts which have regularly been used on him. I don't see this prima donna behaviour at all! Personally, I think he should have put some force behind it instead of the silly little tap he gave him - let's be fair about it, he gets zero protection from refs and it's no wonder that pictures of his legs covered in black and blue were doing the rounds not so long ago.

He doesn't mind a challenge at all, but if you watch the game and see what he was at the end of before he responded. My guess is you'd change your opinion - if that was me, I'd have headbutted him, broke his nose and stamped on him!!
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Yes, I've not seen a single report that mentions what Yates had been doing to him right from kick-off, Yates himself admitted that he had been tasked with disrupting Madders to prevent him from setting up attacks, he was doing whatever he could to achieve that. I've watched him in a few games, it's what he does but clearly doesn't like it when somone turns the tables.
 

The second-half specialists​

Tottenham are still a work in progress but they may be turning into the best second-half team in the country. Fourteen of their last 16 goals have been scored after half-time, and this game is added to the long list of recent Spurs wins which came thanks to them turning it up in the second half. Against Forest (H), Aston Villa (H) and Palace (A) they were drawing at half-time and won. In the home games against Luton, Brighton and Brentford they were behind at the break and still came out on top. And this is only their record in the league this calendar year.

Some may argue if Tottenham want to be a genuinely competitive side, then they need to play well for 90 minutes and not slowly ease themselves into games like this. Too often recently we have seen Spurs start slowly. Remarkably, they are yet to have a half-time lead at home in 2024, even though their fixtures here have been fairly gentle.

But Postecoglou has said that his teams generally tend to finish games stronger, that they work hard on their fitness so they can be more effective as the game goes on. These strong second halves — and the Forest game was the perfect example — are all part of the plan.

If Spurs start producing before the break they will be even stronger.

Jack Pitt-Brooke
 
Spursex said:
He's been getting kicked off the pitch for months, and suffered all sorts of dark arts which have regularly been used on him. I don't see this prima donna behaviour at all! Personally, I think he should have put some force behind it instead of the silly little tap he gave him - let's be fair about it, he gets zero protection from refs and it's no wonder that pictures of his legs covered in black and blue were doing the rounds not so long ago.

He doesn't mind a challenge at all, but if you watch the game and see what he was at the end of before he responded. My guess is you'd change your opinion - if that was me, I'd have headbutted him, broke his nose and stamped on him!!
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Haha Ex, thought that myself regards the "Assault", have a closer look, Maddy never even pulled his elbow back for a "Punch" so either Maddy has a really hard punch or the Twat head is woooos! think I will go for the latter! lol!
 
TQ2Spurs said:
Yes, I've not seen a single report that mentions what Yates had been doing to him right from kick-off, Yates himself admitted that he had been tasked with disrupting Madders to prevent him from setting up attacks, he was doing whatever he could to achieve that. I've watched him in a few games, it's what he does but clearly doesn't like it when somone turns the tables.
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Aghreed, Yates should have had a second yellow before that.
 
Pompey Yid said:
Haha Ex, thought that myself regards the "Assault", have a closer look, Maddy never even pulled his elbow back for a "Punch" so either Maddy has a really hard punch or the Twat head is woooos! think I will go for the latter! lol!
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Nuno Espirito Santo fumes at VAR’s failure to send off James Maddison for ‘punching’ Ryan Yates​


Nottingham Forest midfielder went down off the ball, holding his stomach and demanded VAR review as he claimed he was struck by Maddison



Thom Gibbs, Senior Sports Writer, At Tottenham Hotspur Stadium 7 April 2024 • 10:47pm Referee Simon Hooper spoke to both James Maddison (centre) and Ryan Yates (left) but did not card either player


Nuno Espirito Santo was baffled by VAR’s failure to intervene when James Maddison appeared to punch Ryan Yates during Tottenham Hotspur’s 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest. In an off-the-ball incident in the final minute of the first half Yates fell to the ground after jostling with Maddison in the Spurs’ penalty box.
After a delay in which referee Simon Hooper appeared to be communicating via his headset, the incident passed with no more punishment than a conversation between Hooper and the two players. “It looked like Maddison punched Yates,” was the diplomatic phrasing of a question put to Nuno after the game. “It doesn’t look like he punched him, he punched him,” said the Forest manager.



“I saw the image. I was surprised that VAR didn’t tell Simon to review it better because honestly, with all my respect, Maddison loses his composure and it’s a punch in the stomach of Yates. It should have been reviewed and [led to] a different decision, not to chat with the players and it looks like nothing happens.” Nuno said he had not asked the referee to explain his decision. “We did not see it the same way. We didn’t agree, me and VAR.”
“It’s clear for me, I think it’s a red card,” Nuno said on Sky Sports. “I’m surprised Simon solved it with a nice chat.”

Roy Keane thinks Yates was ‘dramatic’​

But Maddison’s apparent act of aggression was not met with universal condemnation on Sky. Roy Keane was asked if he agreed that the England midfielder deserved a red card. “No, not really.
“I know Yates is a nice lad but he does a lot of this, I don’t like the look of it. He’s asking the official to look at the VAR. There’s no need for it. He’s a tough boy, he likes to give it out. If you’re giving out you’ve got to take it. I think it’s a bit dramatic the way he goes down there. Get on with the game, just toughen up a little bit.
“I don’t see that as a punch. It’s a coming together, that’s the way I look at it.”
Tottenham’s victory puts them into fourth and a potential Champions League spot but their manager Ange Postecoglou claimed again he was not overly focussed on his side’s league position. “Couldn’t care less about the race for fourth,” he said. “What I care about is the way the team is progressing.”
 

Tottenham’s unsustainable brilliance sees off Nottingham Forest – but not without a dose of jeopardy​

7 April 2024 • 10:41pm
The tedious truth about modern football is the best teams strive to keep it boring. It is all about control and the elimination of jeopardy, which makes Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur an unusual success story. His team thrives in adversity and requires risk to find its highest gear. Game management is something they have only read about in books.
Here they threw away a lead to a soft goal, rode their luck, ripped up their midfield and only then found cruising attitude against a team which is out of the relegation zone on goal difference alone. Perhaps Spurs’ best player was James Maddison, also star of this week’s episode of unexplained VAR mysteries. Peripheral and frustrated in the first half, he appeared to down Forest’s Ryan Yates with an off-the-ball one-inch punch to the guts. The incident was reviewed and cleared. The cosmic ballet goes on.



Maddison played a part in the two second half goals which gave Spurs breathing space but a more refined team would not need a rescue mission in a home game like this. Spurs started with numbers in attack but little movement, which left much of the creative work to the defensive midfield duo of Pape Sarr and Yves Bissouma. Both were removed at half time, which tells you how that panned out.
Timo Werner was a more composed outlet and made the opening goal, set free on the left by Son Heung-min and crossing low across the six yard box. Forest midfielder Danilo had attempted to embarrass Spurs’ keeper Vicario moments earlier, trying a shot from deep within his own half. That dropped just wide, but he had his goal now, albeit into his own net.


Forest’s response was predictable in execution and therefore defensively suspect. Nuno Espirito Santo always seemed likely to target Spurs on the counter on his first return to the club where he spent an unhappy four months in 2021. His new team’s wingers are their most potent asset and Anthony Elanga went clear behind Destiny Udogie with embarrassing ease.
His cross was helpfully slowed by a Cristian Romero deflection and Chris Wood scored for the fourth consecutive league game. He should have had a second when cracking a post from close range 10 minutes later. For the first half Nuno’s team looked to be executing their plan perfectly. Deep and compact for waves of toothless Spurs attacks, they aimed to release their wide men at speed after winning possession.


When they finally had the ball for a sustained period shortly after half an hour there was more purpose and desire to their attacks than Spurs had managed for their dominant opening to the game. Morgan Gibbs-White, coming off a bravura performance against Fulham last week, looked a cut above.
Spurs were listing but improved by the introduction of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur after the break. This ramped up the physicality in central midfield and set the tone, with Spurs willing to match Forest in the running stats and target Gibbs-White with increased aggression.
You could say Micky Van de Ven’s goal looked in from the moment he hit it, but you would be lying. Such was the violence of his shot there was no time to process he had struck the ball before it was testing the integrity of the goalnet. Further goalscoring defender adventures followed when Pedro Porro lashed in a volley after Maddison’s cross was intelligently nodded across by Bentancur.


By now Maddison looked transformed, Son was thriving as link-man extraordinaire and Spurs were operating at a higher gear than Forest could cope with. Their flurry of second half subs made little difference, Spurs’ clearly did. But they still feel like a team relying on external factors to define their performances.
There has been a pattern to many Tottenham matches this season. A shock and awe campaign opens games and gives them a lead; they ease off and bad things happen; they rally and attempt to rescue themselves from whatever fine mess they have got themselves into this week.

This is a season of scrapes and japes, like a Saturday morning 80s TV show which puts its heroes into variations of the same hopeless predicament only to wrap it all up satisfactorily by the end, with time for a brief moral lesson about the importance of recycling. It is great fun, certainly for as long as Spurs are finding ways to win games. But Postecoglou speaks repeatedly about the need for progress and improvement. This volatility is unsustainable.
 
I still don't get the downer on Bissouma for this game, for me, he did OK and was involved in the first goal, IMO there were severl players either level or below him in performance.
Similarly whilst Hoj played well against a maybe 'tiring team' he almost made a 'Dier like' Ricky to give Forest a goal, by Dier like, almost ruined a good performance by one mistake.
I don't think he's what we need, his passing isn't good enough and he does, tire in games, then the 'flapping hands start' one Swallow and all that...
 
Could be a player combo issue but Biss was always prone to errant passing. His defensive abilities hid that. And TBF it's a positional issue for anyone trying to cut open teams.
 
If that was a punch from Maddy, then he is in the wrong Sport, his opponents wouldn't stand a chance, bloody Yates at 6ft+ is a fcuking woooooos simple as that lol!
 
I watched for the first time last night. Werner was outstanding. Apart from after their equaliser we played very well. Sarr and Biss were off it enough to be pulled at half time, something Ange is loth to do. Unfortunately Son was the exception, he was a complete waste of space throughout. I think Porro was at fault defensively more than once and he has not impressed me for months. How many crosses come in from that side when he plays? I think Emmerson should get a starting spot even if just to give Porro time to regather his spark.
 
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