Tottenham Hotspur FC 2013/14

[EJG1980]

Champions League draw is on at 6PM 5PM this evening, so after all the pointless waffle the actual draw will probably take place just before midnight

We're in pot 2 so our potential opponents are:

Pot 1:

Barcelona (ESP)
Juventus (ITA)
Bayern (GER)
Paris (FRA)
Zenit (RUS)

Pot 3:

Lyon (FRA)
Leverkusen (GER)
Salzburg (AUT)
Olympiacos (GRE)
Club Brugge (BEL)
Valencia (ESP)
Internazionale (ITA)
Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)

Pot 4:

Lokomotiv Moskva (RUS)
Genk (BEL)
Galatasaray (TUR)
Leipzig (GER)
Slavia Praha (CZE)
Crvena zvezda (SRB)
Atalanta (ITA)
LOSC (FRA)

My main hope is that we get teams we haven't played loads of times recently, regardless of whether they're big or small names. I really would like to get Atalanta from pot 4 though.

[EJG1980]

Well I got what I wanted, three teams we haven't played in European competition any time recently

Not a bad group with the glamour matches against Bayern, and two teams who we should be beating in the other matches, though away in Greece and Serbia won't be walks in the park.

Decent draw, happy with it.

[fallenangle]

Good so far- well worked early goal with Eriksen in the the right place and an HK penalty: so 0-2 ahead and Spurs look up for it. But 45mins is a long time to go so I'm not counting any chickens (or should that be cockerels?) yet.

And as if by magic Arsenal get one back just before half-time.

[EJG1980]

Annoying to have to say it in a match we were 2-0 up in, but I'm glad we managed to come away with a draw!

First half was very good. Arsenal had more of the ball but our defence wasn't under too much pressure and our counter-attacks were dangerous, it was a good away performance and we deserved the lead. Damn shame we let it slip right at the end of the half to let Arsenal go in on a high, big moment.

Second half was definitely a step down. We counter-attacked less and weren't as incisive when we did counter, it was mostly Arsenal pressure. Nine shots (eight on target) in the first half and only four shots in the second.

The main bright moment was when Kane curled a superb shot that unluckily hit the post and came back out; had that gone it it would have eased some of the pressure and maybe we could have started playing better. It got a bit more "end to end" again at the end and we had chance to snatch it but, alas, it was Sissoko who had the shot

Hopefully the international break will do us good and we can really kick start the season when we get back. I'm sure Poch will eventually get us back to playing at our best.

Edit - though, results wise, it’s only really the Newcastle loss that’s a bad result. An away draw against Man City, away draw against Arsenal, and a home win against Villa, they’re results you’d take. Performances have been below par though, second half against Villa and the first half today have been our best showings (and after Newcastle last week, that first half was quite encouraging).

Edit edit - I'm enjoying the post match videos from Ally Gold this season.

[fallenangle]

Just a little more curl and that HK shot would have gone in and there was also that penalty shout when he was bought down unfairly. HK probably could have stayed upright but he was clearly trying to protect the ball, as he himself said on MotD, and the Arsenal lummox gave him a clumsy and strong enough nudge to justify a penalty IMHO. VAR and the referee obviously disagreed.

[EJG1980]

Ah yeah, I forgot about that, and Kane was right, anywhere else on the pitch that's an instant free kick in our favour. Clear penalty turned down against Newcastle as well. We got away with one against Man City where Lamela should have given away a penalty, so we're 2-1 down when it comes to being hindered / helped by incorrect decisions. Our turn to get a bad decision that helps us next

We managed to get through the European window without losing any players we wanted to keep. Some rumours swirling in the media that Alderweireld might sign a new contract. Would be nice if he, Vertonghen and Eriksen all signed new deals (as Eriksen said he might if he didn't get a summer move) but that's probably wishful thinking.

With Poch saying many times that the squad was unsettled because of the rumours of people leaving, and that he couldn't wait for the transfer window to close so everyone could focus again, it makes you wonder what will happen in the January window.

Do we make it clear to those players that we won't entertain any bids for them in January because we don't want to disrupt the team mid-season, and so allow them to leave for free in the summer? Any offers would likely be quite low too, as teams know they can wait until the summer and get the player for free, so you'd think it'd need to be an unexpectedly big offer to tempt us to sell in the middle of the season.

As usual, interesting times ahead!

[Mayhem]

Challenge wasn't strong enough imo, Kane went down too quickly. Think that's what worked against him.

[EJG1980]

At least the international refs know what they're doing

Kane and Sterling are forming a really good partnership for England. Makes you wonder if a bid might be incoming to unite them at club level too... I wonder how much Man City would want?

[fallenangle]

Trippier played well generally too, only once being out of position and not being able to get back in time.

Why Spurs offloaded him I do not understand. One mediocre season and you're gone without a better quality replacement to step in made no sense to me. Aurier hasn't proven up to mark and is simply not reliable enough to be played as a wing back, Foyth, still raw and volatile, is better in the centre and Walker-Peters still learning.

I'd argue that without Trippier the Spurs squad is significantly shallower in depth than it was last season even with the new players that have been bought in. All it take is a couple of injuries in one key position and that shallowness is all to evident. If we lose Eriksen and Alderweireld in January, a distinct possibility, we'll be lucky to be in the top six at the end of the season.

[EJG1980]

From what Trippier himself has said, Spurs weren't actively trying to sell him. He received an offer from Atletico Madird and he went to Spurs and asked to be let go. Obviously Spurs could have said no and held him to his contract, so there was some level of willingness from Spurs to let him go, but I don't think it was a case of ditching him just because he'd had a so so season (though that may have played some part). I expect it was more a combo of how much his heart would be in it if denied a move, recent form, level of fee for a player of his age, amount of faith Poch had in the youngsters, etc..

I definitely agree that right now, we're worse off at right back. It's a shame that Juan Foyth was injured during our pre-season friendlies as Poch seemed to indicate that he was likely to be the new first choice. He played the whole of the Copa America at right back for Argentina and is now their first choice, so he must have something about him in that position that the national coach and Poch can both see.

Obviously Trippier would be the better choice right now, but Poch must have a lot of belief in Foyth and think he'll be a top player in that position in years to come, so he's willing to take the gamble of letting Trippier go to make sure Foyth gets the game time needed to become a better player. Short term pain for long term gain? We'll have to see how it goes.

KWP has done okay for an inexperienced youngster, but I think he'll be behind Foyth when he returns. I think Aurier is a distant third choice now as even though he was fully fit for the Arsenal game and KWP was injured, Poch still went with an out of position Sanchez at right back.

I disagree that the squad is weaker overall though just because of Trippier's departure. Three choices at left back with the arrival of Sessegnon so we're stronger there (and he can play further forwards if needed). With the injury problems of Wanyama and Dier we had very little behind the first choice of Winks and Sissoko in midfield last season, so adding a player who will expect to be in the starting 11 like Ndombele makes us stronger there. And then Lo Celso gives us another creative option for the attacking midfielders who play behind Kane.

So three areas improved versus one area weakened, I think Poch will overall be happier with the player choices he has available to him this season. Of course that becomes a bit of a different story if we did lose players like Toby and Eriksen in the January transfer window, not least because it would be a big disruption in the middle of the season. I think, especially if we're doing well, we might take the hit of letting them leave in the summer for free rather than disrupt the team. But again, another wait and see situation.

[fallenangle]

Watched the WSL match between Chelsea and Spurs yesterday afternoon shown on BBC something. Spurs lost 1-0 but the game was surprisingly well balanced despite the result.

But.................................WSL, may the footballing greats be turning in their graves. Anyone calling that match good professional football needs a slap. The football was mostly mediocre at best (men's non-league standard and that's being generous) with only the goal being worthy of note. Why these women's matches are getting 30,000 paying customers plus TV coverage I do not understand.

One thing thing of interest though is that despite it being an away match the Spurs fans were very vocal and even more interestingly rather than the usual schoolgirl screams and general female vocal sound of the crowd the "COYS" chants heard were distinctly male in origin.

[EJG1980]

I think it's probably fair that the game gets a bit of "over-representation" now on TV, after it was unfairly held back and under-represented for fifty years by the FA banning football league grounds from hosting women's matches. Plus it's always good to promote a sport, inspire more young girls to get involved, to get a fitter and healthier country.

Apart from the one off specially promoted matches, top flight women's matches don't attract huge crowds. The average gate last season for top flight women's football was about 1,000. England doing well at the women's world cup may boost that this season though. And when they do promote the big one off matches at a big stadium, the prices are far far cheaper than the men's game, the Man City vs Man Utd match was something like £7 per adult and every adult can bring three kids for free.

But they can only improve the standard of the game with promotion and exposure. Hook some extra fans with the big one off matches, grow the crowd sizes, bring in more ticket money, pay for better coaching / facilities, more young girls playing the sport gives you a bigger pool of potential talent, and with luck over time you can push standards up. With a better standard of play you can charge more for tickets, make more money, and hopefully you set up a virtuous circle.

I've never been to a women's match, but I'm thinking about going to the Spurs vs Arsenal match at the new stadium in November, mainly just because it's at the "proper" stadium and the tribal draw of it being Spurs. Plus it's cheap! If women's teams played more often at their club's main stadium I think they could do well by marketing them as a great way to see a match with your family at your club's stadium, without forking out extortionate PL prices. Though the marketing dept. might not like it too much if they went on about how expensive and unaffordable the men's tickets were

[EJG1980]

Entertaining, if worrying from a defensive point of view, England match tonight, and another goal for Kane.

Annoying news though that Giovani Lo Celso injured his hip while playing for Argentina and is expected to be out for six weeks. Worst time to get injured for a player, when they're adapting to a new club and country. I was looking forward to seeing him get more involved over the coming weeks but I guess that'll have to wait.

Edit: forgot to mention that Troy Parrott had a really good international break. Scored on his debut for the Irish U21s and then scored two in his second match a few days later. A very exciting prospect, I'd really like to see him start the League Cup match against Colchester in a couple of weeks time.

[fallenangle]

Yes, England letting in 3 goals was a bit off but it was an entertaining match nontheless. HK missing a penalty - not the first time but it does seem to happen when the commentators/pundits have been saying he's such a reliable penalty taker. He's expected to score and with the shenanigans the Kosovo players did to delay it I was not surprised when it was saved. Under VAR it would have been retaken.

Lo Celso: pity but he's rarely featured in any starting line up so he's not going to missed. Being sidelined with an injury is one thing but with a new player the delay getting him integrated into the Spurs team means it will likely be a long wait until we find out whether he is up to the mark.

[EJG1980]

Yup, it's the integration that's the main thing with Lo Celso. Settling into any new club and country can take time, but with us we also know that it can take players a while to get up to speed with Poch's demanding training regime too.

At least one small mercy is that it's the area of the team where we're most well stocked with players, with Eriksen, Son, Lamela, Lucas (and Dele when he's back from injury) who can all play in similar areas of the pitch (I've probably just cursed them all to pulled groins and hamstrings now ).

On a positive note, at least some of the players who have been missing with minor injuries are returning. Ndombele, Walker Peters, Dier and Sessegnon have all been back in first team training this week, though will be assessed tomorrow to see if they're ready to go straight back in to the match day squad against Palace.