Tottenham Hotspur - Official thread

[EJG1980]

No Moutinho, didn't expect it, but still a shame we couldn't pull off the deal. The late night movement was Harry Kane going on loan to Norwich. Going on loan to a PL club really helped Walker and Caulker come on leaps and bounds, so hopefully it can do the same for Kane.

Looking forward to seeing Dembele's debut and the other new signings being introduced to the fans! Hopefully we can get the three points against Norwich. COYS!

Just noticed, Aaron Lennon signed a new contract yesterday too.

[fallenangle]

Good to read that about Aaron Lennon, he gives Spurs that speed of his down the right wing which is always useful to have available. He also gives the team symmetry with Bale on the left.I just hope he can be coaxed out of his habit, noticeable in the past couple of seasons under HR, of, nine times out of ten, trying to cut inside to the left before crossing. Maybe a Bale influence because he never used to do that. It was, equally predictable, always trying to beat the defender on the outside and then a variable quality cross, if you were lucky. He's much better with his crossing now but needs to mix up his tactics like Bale does on the left to become more effective. There's definitely work needed on his finishing because he's way behind Bale in that respect too.

[EJG1980]

Our worst performance of the season today, it was quite... disjointed for most of the match, although we did play better after the break, had a bit more penetration. Ade and Dembele definitely helped. Thought we were going to manage the win but another late blow. Again though, like last week, I think Norwich played well and deserved something.

Dembele's goal was very nice and Brad Friedel made one of the best saves I've ever seen in the first half (from a close range header), it was phenomenal.

A disappointing start but with a little bit more luck we could have had seven points. Thems the breaks! Hopefully the international break will help the players and we can start a good run. Still, a shame we've dropped points in home games we'd expect to be winning.

[fallenangle]

One wonders why Spurs have spent so much money on an alternative goalkeeper at this particular time. Brad Friedel, just as I said he would, displaced Gomez last season as first choice and he deserved it. OK he's getting on in footballing terms but he's got several more seasons in him at least and when he's in that sort form it would be stupid and appallingly bad man management to demote him to the subs bench.

It was the rest of the defence that needed more depth of talent and particularly that left back position. I just don't reckon (or like) Assou-Ekoto as a defender, he's prone to rashness (there should have been a penalty for the shirt pulling incident on that Norwich guy yesterday) but it's his positioning that is consistently questionable. He's a much better asset coming forwards supporting Bale but he's also often slow to get back. That's where Parker has come in so useful filling in that gap but with him out of the side our defensive inadequacies on that side have become more obvious.

Problem is that most other clubs have trouble on the left finding people to fill the role so I guess we're stuck with him. I just hope Parker returns soon.

[EJG1980]

Even though Brad has been great, I think we did the Lloris deal now because it was simply too good an opportunity to pass up. A superb goalkeeper, only 25 years old, loads of Champions League experience, France number one and captain, for ?12 million.

If we'd waited then he could have signed a new contract and pushed his price up, a bigger / richer club could have come in for him, etc., and we'd have missed out.

(I wouldn't say it's "that much" money myself either. Man Utd paid ?20 million for De Gea, who's less proven at the top level than Lloris. For the quality of keeper we're getting I think the price is excellent.)

It will be interesting to see how AVB juggles the keepers though. After the Norwich match he said "It is undeniable that Brad's position is his and it will continue to be like that," which seems to suggest that Lloris is going to have to wait to get his chance.

Oh, on Parker, AVB said that he should be back in training by the end of the international break, so not long to wait.

[fallenangle]

Very unusual that Tom Huddlestone's red card was over-ruled.

[EJG1980]

That's more like it today, much better performance and a well deserved win. Sigurdsson had his best game in a Spurs shirt, good to see him start to pick out those clever passes, excellent ball to Lennon in the build up to the opener. Bale and Lennon did well on the wings, good match from Dembele, everyone on the pitch put in a decent performance.

An especially good performance from Defoe today too, best I've ever seen him play the loan striker role. On this form Adebayor is going to find it very tough to dislodge him. AVB rightly keeping him in the side at the mo.

Shame we had to let in a late goal again, a clean sheet would have been nice. Seems harsh to criticise a win and good performance, but I would have liked to see Walker making much more of an effort to get back and stop the cross getting to Robson-Kanu. Overall though, very good, hopefully we can keep it up.

I watched the Chievo vs Lazio game earlier today, it was a really good match, so I'm looking forward to going to The Lane to see us play them on Thursday. It'll be nice if both teams put out a reasonably strong side, I'd like us to take the Europa League a bit more seriously than we did under Harry.

[fallenangle]

^ Almost exactly what I was going to say about the match yesterday. I've said here before many times that Defoe is one of those strikers who needs to be played regularly to get the best out of him. Unlike HR AVB seems to understand this. It also looks as if, with Demele in particular, the mid-field purchases will replace the gaping hole left by Modric and VdV's exit rather well.

[fallenangle]

So glad to read AVB is taking the Europa League seriously this season. HR put all his eggs in the PL basket and getting into the Champions League. He could have written his own contract and probably still been at the club if he'd done that. But he didn't produce the goods.It always annoyed me when he made it clear that the European campaign last season was of secondary interest. Basically he blew it by using inexperienced players in key areas far too often. I think Spurs would have had a great chance of doing well in that competition otherwise. Now with AVB clearly up for it and as long as the new look side gel quickly we could have a very good run this season. Hope so anyway.

[EJG1980]

It should be a really good match against Lazio as their manager has said he's going to play a full strength side. It's not going to be a sellout crowd unless there's a latte surge in ticket sales, which isn't surprising considering how we've treated the competition in the past. Hopefully if the fans see us taking it seriously we can boost the crowds in the future and sell out like we do for every other competition.

I agree that it's great to hear the manager bigging up the Europa League and talking about the positives it brings instead of bemoaning it. I was reading the interview with AVB in London24 and it's much nicer to hear "It'll be great for Spurs history if we could win it," and "I'm glad for the extra games, it gives the team more chance to get used to the new system," rather than being told that the cup is a nuisance and our best players won't be going anywhere near the pitch.

I expect we'll rotate the team a little bit but not a huge amount. Adebayor has picked up an injury so Defoe should get to carry on up front. I'm guessing we'll see a debut starts for Lloris and Dempsey, maybe a start for Huddlestone, possibly Caulker or Dawson getting a go at the back. Gonna be a tough match but hopefully we can pick up the win!

[fallenangle]

I was going to say that we'd probably see Lloris and a start for Dempsey too - I suspect he was saving Adebayor for Europe as well but as you say the injury means Defoe will probably be up front.

I caught an item somewhere which said Gazza had been invited to the match as a special guest but he turned it down. Does Anybody here know the full story why?

Edit:-

Disappointing 0-0 draw but a rather good performance against a well matched side. At least one of the disallowed goals was perfectly good IMHO so Spurs should have won but it was a fair result otherwise. I liked the way our mid-field had some real physical strength and used it to good effect, fighting to get and keep the ball. That was often missing with Modric and VdV.

[EJG1980]

Yup, nothing to complain about with the performance, there's not a lot you can do when you put the ball in the net and the referee doesn't give it. Every report I read after the match said that Caulker header should definitely have been given and most of them said that while the Dempsey offside was very tight he did look to be on. So much for the attacker getting the benefit of the doubt!

What was really disappointing was the pretty clear monkey chanting directed at Defoe by the Lazio fans According to the reports Townsend and Lennon were on the receiving end too, but we only heard it clearly for Defoe. An utter shame because the Lazio fans were in excellent voice and then they have to go and do something as disgusting as that.

I'm sure UEFA will take "strong" action though. A €10,000 fine should stop them

[EJG1980]

Poor first half, much improved in the second. I thought we might end up getting sucker punched again as we spurned some good chance to go 3-1 up. Thankfully there was no late goal conceded this week!

Early days and our play is inconsistent still, but we're looking good when it clicks. With time we should get better at making the new system work for longer spells.

My man of the match was Vertonghen, he was very good at centre back and (in the second half) left back. Really good at bringing the ball out from the back, reads the game well, and he put in an amazing tackle in the second half which certainly saved us conceding a second. He's looking top class so far.

Man Utd away up next! I'm going up there for the weekend with my brother. Third trip to Old Trafford, so hopefully it's third time lucky A point would be a very good result though.

[bwi]

Just waiting for the Dodgy penalty/sending off/Ball not crossing the line/ Dodgy area free kick to happen and then lose 5-2. Obviously this will happen 2 minutes into the second half so they have time to put half a dozen or so goals in

[On The Edge of Insanity]

Get the **** in!! Superb performance first half; road our luck a little in the second half but a deserved victory. Really feel we can push on from here. Exciting times!