Plastic pitch takes its toll on Spurs
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Spurs travel to Stoke City for the second league game of the season with 4 out of the possible 5 front players injured on the plastic pitch in Berne Switzerland on Tuesday night. All the forwards that played picked up strains and only Peter Crouch is fit possibly because he is the only one that didn’t play.
It is a bit difficult to predict the line up with Modric also injured. If none of these players travel it looks like Harry might be forced to play Jenas as an attacking midfielder getting up to play in and around Crouch or possibly Kranjcar could play in the hole.
It looks like Spurs are getting stronger now with the arrival of Gallas and Sandro. The weakness appears to me to be the fullbacks now. Ekotto can be great but has a few stinkers but how Corluka gets the nod over his rivals for right back is a bit of a baffler. He is tidy but slow and rarely delivers a decent cross. He is too slow to overlap and often gets outpaced when defending so it ought to be a good time for Walker or Naughton make the breakthrough this season. It is unclear why Spurs bought Kaboul back as they had already sold him once because he wasn’t good enough.
For Saturdays game perhaps only having one forward might be a blessing as going to Stoke is a job for the physically and mentally strong. A packed midfield might just be whats necessary to get a result.
Gio To Sporting? But he was Spurs only decent player at the World Cup
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If the rumours are true that Giovanni Dos Santos is about to get shipped out again I will be very disappointed. He was far and away Spurs best representative at the World Cup in South Africa which you would think might earn him a chance to actually get on the pitch in a Spurs shirt. One thing you can be sure of is that if Spurs didn’t already own him they would be linked with buying him about now.
Now with David Bentley injured I would have thought it was a great chance for Gio to at last get a chance to shine. If the World Cup is any sort of barometer Gio is one of the best young players in the world but nobody at Tottenham seems to think so.
It always baffles me at this time of year when the revolving door starts. You could start a team of ex Tottenham players that were not given much of a chance at White Hart Lane but have gone on be successful at other Premiership clubs. Pedro Mendes and Danny Murphy were both better than midfielders that kept them out of the Spurs side but they never really got a chance.
Let s hope Harry decides to give him a chance because there are a lot of Spurs fans that would really like to see him out there ahead of players like Bentley and Kranjcar.
Isn’t it great to be a Spurs fan ?
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The world is in chaos today with flights grounded , the general election nonsense going on and an armed robbery just down the road. But all is well in the world because Spurs gave the Arsenal a beating for the first time in years. It could only have been better if Sol Campbell had been sent off and Wenger had claimed it wasn’t fair. Actually he was unusually gracious in defeat this time to his credit.
The difference in attitude of the Spurs players from Sunday to Wednesday was huge. Instead of the pedestrian arrogance of a team that thought it only had to turn up to win there was a work ethic and determination that was a joy to behold. I loved every moment even though Arsenal had much of the possession. From the moment Danny Rose rocketed Spurs into an early lead they always looked in control keeping Arsenals intricate passing far enough away from Gomes for him to get out his deckchair.
Bale and Modric were splendid, King and Dawson super strong and everybody else without exception dogged and determined.
When Bale scored a well taken side foot into the corner soon after half time Spurs looked even more comfortable and in wasn’t until Arsenal brought on Van Persie that there was any threat to the Spurs goal.
Van Persie made a big difference and had 3 efforts spectacularly saved in the last ten minutes by official man of the match Gomes. He carved out the goal which Bendtner scored with five minutes to go. The Spurs fans had to live on their nerves for another 9 minutes before erupting intoscenes of delirious pleasure.
Now the big ask to go do it again on Saturday against Chelsea probably without Ledley King. But why not? Spurs won this fixture last season so it is not as unlikely as the pundits would have us believe.
Spurs please stop knocking it long to Crouchy !
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I had a brief moment of expectation in the F A Cup semi final on Sunday when I saw SuperPav getting ready to come on. Unfortunately, it was very short lived as it became apparent that it was Defoe being replaced and not Crouch. What a lift for Pompey to see our main striker leave the field and leave the predictable and constantly falling over Crouch on the pitch.
I can’t see the merit in keep on knocking balls at him early when the other team aren’t coming out of defence. I don’t like it at the best of times but when they are all around him waiting for it to happen it is just pointless.
Spurs only have themselves to blame for losing this match. It is all very well saying the pitch was terrible and contributed to the goal or the referee disallowed a perfectly good goal but they did nothing significant in 90 minutes against the worst team in the league.
I think Redknapp could probably even have afforded to take Corluka off instead of a forward because they only played with one up front the whole game and Corky was having a stinker. I can’t see what makes him better than Hutton. He runs like my Grandad and I have ever seen him hit a decent cross. He is tidy and composed on the ball but that isn’t much help in a match like Sundays when the other team don’t come out of their own half.
They are going to need a bit more imagination and a lot more determination to beat Arsenal on Wednesday and keep the season alive a bit longer.
Spurs 3 Spurs Rejects { Fulham} 1
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For all the first half the 5 Spurs rejects and their pals were by far the better team. Their neat passing and organised structure made them look dangerous going forward and untroubled in defence. Damien Duff was excellent but ex Spurs Danny Murphy and Simon Davies were in control of the centre while Zamora looked menacing up front before putting Fulham ahead in the 17th minute. Spurs offered only the predictable punt towards Crouch as their best effort at attacking. It didn’t look like it could work.
At half time Harry Redknapp made brave decisions and took off Kranjcar whose touch had let him down several times and Assou Ekotto who was also struggling with his decision making. They were exactly the right choices to come off introducing Huddlestone and Bentley in their place. Redknapp is often slow to make changes but on this occasion was spot on with Bentley scoring from a free kick with his very first touch. Corluka was another one not on his game and luckily his ineptitude served to confuse Schwarzer in the Fulham goal allowing Bentleys cross to drift in between them both into the net. Another brave substitution followed as the injured Corluka was replaced by Pavlyuchenko in a very attacking move. It was rewarded almost instantly when SuperPav swept home Bentleys cross to the back post with style and a smile. The crowd just love SuperPav. Spurs were suddenly purring , playing football that was nowhere to be seen in the first half. Now it was Fulham who looked lost. Spurs third goal was the goal of the game with some sweet interpassing started by Gudjonssen and also finished by him. Bentley was excellent as was Bale again for Tottenham and Duff was different class for Fulham. It was an excellent game in the end and also an excellent evening for Spurs with League results going their way too.
Bentley revs up again
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The Bentley was firing on all cylinders again at Elland Road as Spurs saw off a spirited performance from Leeds United in the FA Cup replay. David Bentley put in a man of the match performance to show that he can still play. He has been largely written off as a player on his way out of Tottenham but he has had 3 good performances in a row and his confidence was clearly growing with every minute in this match.
He showed a hunger for the ball and a desire to make things happen that had been missing from the odd appearances in had made earlier in the season.
When I saw the Spurs line up with a centre midfield pairing that were overrun at White Hart Lane, to the extent Palacious had to come on to shut Leeds down, repeated I was amazed. However Jenas gave a much better performance in this match and it wasn’t such a problem. I also looked at the Spurs squad and saw some little boys as substitutes and wondered if Harry Redknapp might regret loaning the bench out to other teams.
In truth, Spurs were dominant the whole game and Defoe could have had 6 or 7 although he looked at one stage like it might not be his night. He did miss several chances he would normally score and had a tap in goal disallowed for running unnecessarily offside.
If Spurs had realised that all the danger came when Bale or Bentley who got round the back in wide positions instead of knocking so much at Crouch they would have won more easily.
Bale is another player who has suddenly found confidence. He has a great injection of pace and goes past people almost effortlessly which is great to watch. If Spurs can continue to get these two in behind the opposing defence pulling back quality crosses they can be a very formidable side.
Bentley picked out Defoe for the first goal which he fortunately sliced into the top corner. Becchio was on hand to slide in a rebound off Gomes in first half injury time for a Leeds equaliser.
Defoe latched onto a precise low cross from Bentley to put Spurs back in front. For all their superiority Leeds were pressing right up to the end and it was only their over commitment to equalizing that let Defoe in to seal the win.
Myhill plays well but sloppy finishing to blame
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The Hull goalkeeper was rightly acclaimed as man of the match, however he would still have been the most effective player on the pitch if Spurs had won 3 – 0. He made several superb saves, ‘worldys’ to use the latest phrase,to deny Modric Keane Palacious Defoe and Crouch. I have to say that Crouch was particularly wasteful near the end first shooting from a ridiculous angle and then a lazy header when putting any sort of direction on a perfect ball in would have left the keeper with no chance.
Harry Redknapp really needs a rethink on how to deal with teams that come to White Hart Lane just to defend. It is happening more and more the stronger that Spurs get the less the opposition wants to come out and play. Who would have thought Spurs wouldn’t manage a goal at home against Hull , Wolves or Stoke? They all just camped in and defended and Spurs were suckered by all three. Spurs have the talent to cope with this but unfortunately didn’t . Once might be unlucky but three times is a worrying trend and if Spurs want to mount a realistic challenge for fourth spot this wastefulness has to stop now.
Of course most people consider Keane and Defoe as an ineffective pairing so were disappointed with the starting line up. Crouch and Defoe or Pavlyuchenko and Keane or any combination of big and small would be preferable to a small and small pairing. Spurs really should know enough about Anthony Gardner to exploit his weaknesses yet they really didn’t get at him at all. If teams are going to keep turning up with this game plan Spurs need the anti game plan because it is becoming expensive keep giving away the home bankers.
Many fans are wondering where is Gio Dos Santos because he is a tricky talent who hasn’t had a chance yet didn’t make the bench again against Hull. He would add a bit of unpredictability that might unlock a stubborn defence.
Tottenham Hotspur – Games To Remember
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After a disastrous start to the season, the Spurs fans needed a performance to be proud of and on the 29th October 2008 they finally got it. After being taunted by Arsenal fans from the start of the season Spurs managed to turn the tables in dramatic fashion in a game that will go down as ‘one of the most memorable North London derbies of all time.’
Duration : 0:4:43
phil thompson reaction arsenal v tottenham 4-4
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phil thompson reaction arsenal v tottenham 4-4, please rate.
Duration : 0:1:18
Spurs lose their way at the Emirates
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Much has been made of Tottenhams belief that they can finish in the top four. Not on this showing they can’t. They only had one strategy going forward which was to hit Crouch as quickly as possible. Despite the fact that it showed no sign of working that continued to waste possession knocking long balls to the isolated forward. In defence they were also vulnerable. Ledley King probably had his worst game ever in a Spurs shirt, his usual cool head missing and ending up on his backside for all 3 Arsenal goals.
All three goals were Spurs mistakes and the second was an incredible embarassment. Eleven seconds from a Spurs kick off to an Arsenal goal. Palacios , Huddlestone and King ought to give there match fees to charity for this hideous display of ineptitude. Redknapp said it was like sunday morning football but thats an insult to the amateurs. It was much worse
Spurs really missed the pace of Lennon and the invention of Modric, also there was no goal threat at all without the suspended Defoe who is undoubtedly Spurs sharpist finisher.
Arsenal showed much more ambition than Spurs to win the game and did so deservedly with massive help from Spurs kamikaze defending
