Tottenham Hotspur FC 2013/14

[bwi]

<sigh> and at half time believe it or not i said to the missus that we needed ade on to keep hold of the ball. Shows what i know about anything

[VR46]

Yes I noticed you had about 60% of possession in the first half, what a lot of good that did you!

Every team has a blip during the season, just hope that was your one and only.

Going to see Spurs v Liverpool (I'm a LFC fan) on 15th Dec, can't wait.

[fallenangle]

Serious news about Jermain Defoe being let go in January across the Atlantic to Toronto. AVB has wasted him.

There are also rumblings in the press about AVB's job being under threat if results don't improve. When you remember what they were saying about Arsene Wenger only 6 months ago you have to take these sorts of story with a pinch of salt but it doesn't mean the spotlight isn't on him. It'll be interesting to see how he and the team respond in tomorrow's game.

[EJG1980]

Probably need an entire salt truck for most newspapers stories, not just a pinch

On the same day as the Defoe to Canada story a different newspaper was saying that Defoe would reject a move to a couple of clubs up north as he didn't want to leave London. For what it's worth AVB said in his press conference yesterday:

"We don't put into doubt the quality of our strikers but we haven't found the finishing touch yet. The only thing that we can do is continue to work."

Villas Boas does not expect to sign a striker in January and has no intention of letting Jermain Defoe leave.

He said: "(Roberto) Soldado, Jermain Defoe and (Emmanuel) Adebayor are all proven goalscorers, so we can't really get much better than these three.

"The only thing that we have to do, if we are not scoring from the opportunities we are creating, is making sure that we double the amount of opportunities we create to make sure a couple of them finish in the back of the net."

He continued: "I can't stop stories coming out (about Defoe). At the moment the feeling is that the player is happy, he wants to get into the Premier League team for sure. His opportunities have come more from Europa League games.

"At this time we've started more games with Soldado but Jermain is working hard to get into the team."

[EJG1980]

ITV 4 at 6PM for the match this evening.

Paulinho, Hugo Lloris, Kyle Walker, Sandro, Aaron Lennon, Jermain Defoe, Younes Kaboul and Emmanuel Adebayor have all been left at home. We've already qualified for the next round so it seems sensible to take the chance to give some players a rest.

Should still be able to put out a strong side though. Maybe give the likes of Capoue and Chadli more match time now they're back from injury and perhaps we'll see a couple of youngsters get a chance too.

Edit: starting eleven is Friedel, Naughton, Chiriches, Dawson, Fryers; Capoue, Dembele; Townsend, Sigurdsson, Chadli; Soldado.

Archer, Fredericks, Vertonghen, Holtby, Lamela, McEvoy, Coulthirst on the bench.

Nothing special tonight but that's five wins out of five and we've won the group. I wonder what kind of team we're going to put out against Anzhi in the final match?

[fallenangle]

Yes, good enough result but considering that was a just relegated Norwegian team Spurs made heavy weather of getting the win.

[EJG1980]

Yeah, not a performance to set the pulse racing. When was the last time we actually properly battered a minnow in the Europa League? Off the top of my head the last time I can remember was way back in 2007 when we put six past Famagusta.

No matter what our form is like or who's in charge, the players seem to be happy with doing the minimum to get the job done and nothing more, when it comes to the early EL matches. I suppose it's "being professional" but really going for it against a smaller team and getting a healthy score would surely be good practice and a confidence booster.

Edit: 5-0 vs Hearts a couple of years ago. I knew I'd forgotten one.

Edit two: and the 5-0 against Tiblisi waaaaay back in August... can't be expected to remember that far back...

[EJG1980]

Entertaining game today, went with my Dad for the first time in a while, glad it was a good game for us as we often seem to get a bit of a stinker when he comes

It's a shame we gave away the lead twice, especially as we pretty much gifted them both their goals. A much improved performance though and it should be one the players can take encouragement from. A vital couple of away games coming up against Fulham and Sunderland.

[fallenangle]

Just watched it match of the day. A good game and solid looking performance with, on the evidence provided, a single defensive mistake that was severely punished and a penalty decision nobody should argue about.

We should have won it and only downer for me was, yet again, Soldado not delivering. He works hard and put in at least one great pass to set up a goal scoring opportunity but like Torres in front of goal he's just not on song.

The Sandro goal was outstanding.

[EJG1980]

Performance tonight was well below the level we played against Man Utd but managed to eke out the three points late on. Could have been a different story maybe if Paulinho had scored his early chance, amazing miss! Fulham were unlucky and they definitely deserved at least a point, Lloris made some fantastic saves tonight.

Great goal from Vlad but not 100% sure if he meant it, will need to see it on TV. The Holtby goal was superb though, not quite up to Sandro's hit against Man Utd but pretty close. It was pleasing that we were able to turn around a below par performance to get the three points, we played pretty well once we'd got the equaliser.

Worried about Vertonghen though, he had to be carried off at the end, couldn't walk under his own power. Hopefully it was more precautionary than because he genuinely couldn't walk. Hope Rose is back soon!

[fallenangle]

Good result and Spurs deserved it; they needed the win and got it. A bit lucky with the first goal but Holtby's was indeed cracker.

[EJG1980]

Well the goals yesterday were slightly less cracking but another valuable three points. I thought we played some very good football in the second half (until the last 10 mins or so that were fairly nervy) and it was a shame we didn't increase our one goal advantage. Defoe was unlucky to hit the post twice.

Could have proven costly if the ref had given a penalty for the Sandro handball but somehow he missed that one. I didn't see it at the time but on MOTD afterwards it was so clear and the ref seemed to be looking right at it, can't believe we got away with it.

Big tests against Liverpool and Southampton up next, with West Ham in the cup thrown in for good measure. Let's hope we can keep the winning run going.

[Nu-Eclipse]

Liverpool's recent record at WHL is dire.

I'd take a point right now if I'm honest.

[EJG1980]

I worry when we have a good record against a team though, always makes me think we're due for a loss! Although I never think that a poor record against a team means we are due a win, of course

Aside from the 4-0 a couple of seasons ago the games we've won have been pretty close, I have no idea which way it'll go this time.

[fallenangle]

Not a brilliant win yesterday and on another day we could have easily had more from those Defoe attempts. Spurs made the chances necessary to win comfortably and the only downer this time was Lloris, yet again, making one or two Gomez level bad decisions.

Good results for us in the other games too which meant the win keeps Spurs up with most of the rest of the potential top four pack.

Liverpool will be tough, particularly with Suarez in the extraordinary form he is currently displaying. I think Spurs should consider man marking him out of the game. With him neutralised and Gerrard possibly out with a hamstring issue Liverpool are otherwise pretty ordinary and nothing to be feared.