CERNY BEMOANS SPURS' POROUS DEFENCE
Tottenham goalkeeper Radek Cerny bemoaned his team’s “silly mistakes” after they conceded yet another last minute goal at the weekend and is worried about the low confidence of Younes Kaboul.
Birmingham’s Sebastian Larsson scored with 35-yard wonder-strike in the 93rd minute to gift Alex McLeish a dream start with a 3-2 victory at White Hart Lane.
The 33-year-old, who joined Spurs from home-club Slavia Prague in January 2005, asked: “How many times have you seen us concede a goal in the last minute?
“Larsson’s goal was fantastic, but it’s like when I was in goal against Blackburn when (Christopher) Samba scored in the last minute and we lost – I was a little bit unlucky.
“It’s these little things that all add up. We have lost maybe 18 points in the last five minutes this year – that’s a lot of points. I just hope our luck will change.”
Spurs have conceded five goals in the 90th minute or later, and have dropped seven points. The tone was set in the Premier League’s first game of the season on August 11 when Sunderland found a winning goal in the 94th minute. If they had not conceded those late goals Ramos’ team would be in tenth place.
Cerny is also concerned by the form of young centre-back Kaboul. The Frenchman was replaced at half time on Sunday by manager Juande Ramos after conceding a penalty, which Gary McSheffrey converted to put McLeish’s team one nil up.
The Czech international said: “Younes made a big mistake against Birmingham and it makes it difficult for us – we need not to make silly mistakes like this.
"It was a silly foul and a penalty. And in the last few games we have made big mistakes.
“Younes is having a difficult time at the moment. But when he arrived he was playing well. I hope he has the character to come back and be a success at Spurs, because we have some very good players here."
He added: “But we need to win games like Birmingham City at home, so we can be fine for the next game. We do the first step but we have a problem with the second step.
“I think there is a problem with the confidence, not just of Younes, but of the whole team. When we are a goal up we need to relax and control the game more."
Tottenham goalkeeper Radek Cerny bemoaned his team’s “silly mistakes” after they conceded yet another last minute goal at the weekend and is worried about the low confidence of Younes Kaboul.
Birmingham’s Sebastian Larsson scored with 35-yard wonder-strike in the 93rd minute to gift Alex McLeish a dream start with a 3-2 victory at White Hart Lane.
The 33-year-old, who joined Spurs from home-club Slavia Prague in January 2005, asked: “How many times have you seen us concede a goal in the last minute?
“Larsson’s goal was fantastic, but it’s like when I was in goal against Blackburn when (Christopher) Samba scored in the last minute and we lost – I was a little bit unlucky.
“It’s these little things that all add up. We have lost maybe 18 points in the last five minutes this year – that’s a lot of points. I just hope our luck will change.”
Spurs have conceded five goals in the 90th minute or later, and have dropped seven points. The tone was set in the Premier League’s first game of the season on August 11 when Sunderland found a winning goal in the 94th minute. If they had not conceded those late goals Ramos’ team would be in tenth place.
Cerny is also concerned by the form of young centre-back Kaboul. The Frenchman was replaced at half time on Sunday by manager Juande Ramos after conceding a penalty, which Gary McSheffrey converted to put McLeish’s team one nil up.
The Czech international said: “Younes made a big mistake against Birmingham and it makes it difficult for us – we need not to make silly mistakes like this.
"It was a silly foul and a penalty. And in the last few games we have made big mistakes.
“Younes is having a difficult time at the moment. But when he arrived he was playing well. I hope he has the character to come back and be a success at Spurs, because we have some very good players here."
He added: “But we need to win games like Birmingham City at home, so we can be fine for the next game. We do the first step but we have a problem with the second step.
“I think there is a problem with the confidence, not just of Younes, but of the whole team. When we are a goal up we need to relax and control the game more."
Labels: Birmingham, football, Juande Ramos, Premier League, Tottenham
