That was the team that beat the same Inter. Inter being the team that it took Benitez-grade substitutions, a good performance at home and a Bale wonder hat-trick for us to beat.
Against AC Milan I'd say we matched them pretty well, but it took the pace of Lennon on the counter and his pass that not even Crouch could miss to get us through to Madrid. The Madrid who then absolutely clobbered us and I honestly think would have done so even without the Crouch red card.
My point with this is that I think if we were up against the Schalke side that played United we would have struggled. The pressure they applied in the first half probably would have worked against us and caused mistakes on our end. I think we'd have thrown the kitchen sink in the second half and probably come back, but we would have made a mess out of it.
The article Holts posted a link to earlier brought up some good points (
http://www.spurs.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=7508551) about our side and I do begin to wonder some times. King was a good defender, captain and leader, but we miss him and if he stays on it should only be to train Dawson on not losing concentration.... Seriously 1 on 1 lessons every day! DON'T SWITCH OFF!
We were unlucky against WBA. The first goal only happened because of BAE's injury and the second was almost as unexpected and out of nowhere as that brilliant Danny Rose goal. I feel that going forward we've got to look at building a team that can play as a team, though, rather than relying on individual moments of brilliance. The problem with individual moments of brilliance is that there will never be any consistency (Synonym: Spurs). I still think we need to bring in a central defender, but someone who will cost quite a bit because we need a Vidic/Ferdinand type of character and I don't mean one who only has a year or two left to play.
I also think that although we're well stocked up in midfield we need a really good tackling midfielder (that Sandro will be, but isn't quite yet) to play beside Modric. But again I don't want Harry going out and getting Van Bommel to play for a year. I want someone we can build a team around. Someone I really like is Everton's Fellaini. I know that wouldn't be a cheap transfer, but we have to invest in the right areas. We all know the striker situation, but who knows what's going on there. That must be the most frustrating area when you're a manager trying to sign a player.
I think tactically we've been caught out and we've also been unlucky this season, but we need to start rotating our squad instead of slapping the same names on the pitch in hope of a moment of individual brilliance. Feel free to tear what I've said to shreds here! This is all opinion, but a direction I'd like to see. I want a team with a spine and something we can start integrating our younger players into. I would also look to become independently wealthy in a way that requires very little effort on my end.
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