Rudy Austin

[Assasin]

Sometimes people don't understand the effect of injury and been out for a 2 to 3 months.

Yes Rudi is not at his best but one thing he understand first and that is his defensive work. He will get back to been the offensive threat that he was. I saw half of the game and he was very good covering the middle and reading the game. Rudi will have a very good game against Chelsea, the question is, will his team?

[Paul Marin]

I thought so too, but it looks like it was Diouf.

Are you sure? Okay - could have sworn it was Austin, I will have to look again. Thnaks.

[Paul Marin]

Are you sure? Okay - could have sworn it was Austin, I will have to look again. Thnaks.

Just checked - you're right. Diouf it was. Nice pass.

[Plush]

Is it because Ausitin is Jamaican? Di man didn't play that well...I can accept that he is coming back from injury but he didn't give a good account of himself yesterday. There were times when he was beaen on 50/50 balls..other times he just ran into the players at the time the ball was played and his passes were mostly backward...he had one or two opportunities to shoot and he didn't...
I'm an Ausitin fan but I think he had an off day yesterday

[Assasin]

what was great for Austin was his positioning and showing Spurs midfield that they can't dribble through the middle.

Watch on defensive plays how he came back and was in position to always tackle for the ball when a man is beaten or stop the passes. He simple help close down spurs attack.

[Karl]

Goal.com's take...

http://www.goal.com/en-us/match/1009...player-ratings

Still have not got around to watching the game a 2nd time.

[TheDread]

Tottenham Hotspurs take:

http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/spur...13.page?#tab10

[Twan]

Sometimes people don't understand the effect of injury and been out for a 2 to 3 months.

Yes Rudi is not at his best but one thing he understand first and that is his defensive work. He will get back to been the offensive threat that he was. I saw half of the game and he was very good covering the middle and reading the game. Rudi will have a very good game against Chelsea, the question is, will his team?

what makes you think he will have a VERY good game against Chelsea ? is it his Jamaican connection ?

[Mosiah]

Hey, when your star player did not play as well as you would have liked, you can always come with these phantasmal and nebulous phrases, like "running, shadowing and closing space."

Remind me to use it next time Maestro appears to not have contributed defensively.

[Jangle]

....or more importantly, his stats?

[Assasin]

No. If you notice Chelsea with Hazard, Oscar and Matta set right into the space that Rudi play. They pull the purse string. He is strong enough to bounce them off the ball and could also help to cover Lampard. One of the reason Austin did well in this game is he took away that space that Lennon and Bale would cut back in.

Ruddy is strong defensively down the middle and he helps to cut that option away.

[Mosiah]

Wow!

3/10
Rodolph Austin
The Jamaican midfielder looked composed on the ball and passed well when in possession, but some of his tackling left a lot to desire as he was not forceful enough. Dominated the Premier League midfield of Southampton in the League Cup this season, but he was a long way off that today.

Didn't they notice he was "running, shadowing and closing space"?

[Karl]

Had my 2nd look!

Ruddy had a hand in the 1st goal. Pressured the ball leading to a bad pass by his opponent...and eventually the goal. (2 or 3 other passes...final one being into goal!).

Appeared to have had a 60:40 game i.e. 60% good work...40% not giving full effort...not good work.

Was it somewhere within the first 15 minutes he failed to track back and allowed Tottenham a good attack. Was it an occasion where the misfiring Clint Dempsey fired wide - clear chance? He and his team = LUCKY!

Perhaps not 100% fit?

[Karl]

Finally watched the match for a 2nd time this moring. He was definitely not at his best! His performance cannot be said to have been good as for far too often his defensive effort was not up to par!

Yup!...he did good stuff (including big contribution to his TEAM's first goal)...but not consistently good enough - not enough running, shadowing and closing down space.

[Me]

Since coming back from injury he has been off the pace of the game.