Tottenham Hotspur FC 2013/14

[EJG1980]

Good to see a post from you, always nice to up the Spurs chat from 2 to 3

Yeah, I have no ill will towards any player who leaves, it's just part of football. Kane said he'd always be happy to stay at Spurs as long as we were competing at the top and in the last few years we've fallen away from that and gone backwards, so, not surprising he started eyeing a move away.

I agree that there was a sense of "I'm kind of glad it's over," once the transfer went through; I think the feeling of waiting for a bad thing to happen is often worse than the bad thing actually happening. It's a fresh start, a new era, and hopefully one where we can start moving forwards again.

I'm hopeful that with Bissouma and Maddison we will finally be able to banish the phrases "We still haven't really replaced Eriksen" / "We still haven't really replaced Dembele" from the supporter's lexicon this season.

I mentioned a few posts ago in pre-season that in the friendlies where Perisic and Solomon were playing as the wide attackers, they seemed to be a more natural fit for the way Ange wanted to play. Extremely early days though, Son and Kulu are both very good players so more time on the training pitch and more matches under their belts and I think they'll adapt to what Ange wants. And, if they don't, I don't think Ange is the kind of manager who will keep them in the team regardless.

[fallenangle]

There are worse ways to start the season than a 2 - 2 draw against Brentford who, for Spurs, are an often tricky team to beat. Good game to watch despite dropping two points.

Spurs scored two goals and the midfield, with Maddison, is looking good, really good too. those are the pluses. Even if the goals didn't come from our front men that really doesn't bother me either. The letting in of two goals is the issue.

However if Richarlison, who I was greatly in favour of Spurs buying, does not start scoring more goals this season then his raison d'etre to be in the squad is in question. Spurs will be better off perhaps loaning him out in January and help pay for a more consistent goal scorer (Ivan Toney?).

I thought that suggestion might be a bit fanciful but, honestly, I'd toyed with the idea of Toney in my mind even last season when we were not sure whether HK was leaving or not but if he did who Spurs might buy to replace him. Of course that was before Toney had been suspended until January for being a naughty boy.

But a quick Google today and I see that there are some credible news stories around that Spurs are indeed interested in Toney and that he may be a target in January.

https://tbrfootball.com/report-tottenham-have-privately-discussed-signing-a-striker-whos-miles-better-than-callum-wilson/

Richarlison has to start producing goals for Spurs before then or I think there's a good chance, Toney or not, Spurs will try somebody else and he'll be gone in the summer.

[TonyDA]

Good to see a post from you, always nice to up the Spurs chat from 2 to 3

Haha - See, I nearly posted quite a few times last season, but it really would have been moan after moan after moan. I didn't want to drag you two poor chaps down with me! The last game I went to was Brighton at home, the won we won 2-1 and had the officials to thank it wasn't a 5-2 defeat. Two rows from the front in the South Stand, right by the corner flag. Was amazing to be that close to the action, but the football was dire, and it was something to hear the venom in the crowd, directed at a few of the players. Dier and Hoijberg bore the brunt that day. I now console myself that Harry played and, of course, scored the winner right in front of me.

I was also a bit harsh yesterday - to give the front three their due, they didn't stop working. Should also take into account we seemed to have a disorganised pre-season, with a couple of games cancelled. That can't help a group of players trying to get to grips with a complete change in formation and tactics.

[EJG1980]

However if Richarlison, who I was greatly in favour of Spurs buying, does not start scoring more goals this season then his raison d'etre to be in the squad is in question. Spurs will be better off perhaps loaning him out in January and help pay for a more consistent goal scorer (Ivan Toney?).

Richarlison has to start producing goals for Spurs before then or I think there's a good chance, Toney or not, Spurs will try somebody else and he'll be gone in the summer.

I have a bit of sympathy for Richarlison as last season was very disrupted for him. He never started more than three games in a row for us, never actually played as the central striker, and when he did play he usually played on the right of the front three which is his least effective position.

But you're right, this is his big chance and he needs to produce. He's currently the first choice player in his favourite position, probably going to start each week, so he's got to make the most of it. He's definitely capable of it as his record of 20 goals in 40 games for Brazil playing as their central striker shows.

I think we may bring in another striker before this window closes though, as even if Richarlison remains first choice you need someone to cover for him in case of injury. Or maybe even a right winger to compete with Kulusevski, and if Richi gets injured you move Son to the middle. Lots of possibilities.

The last game I went to was Brighton at home, the won we won 2-1 and had the officials to thank it wasn't a 5-2 defeat. Two rows from the front in the South Stand, right by the corner flag. Was amazing to be that close to the action...

I was in a very similar position for the Marseille Champions League game, in the front row a little bit past the corner flag in the south east corner. I got there early, and while taking a very artistic shot of the sprinklers doing their work, I discovered that there is one disadvantage to the front row being so close to the pitch:





Luckily I saw it coming so it only got my seat and not me! I wonder if any unsuspecting soul has ever been sitting there reading the programme, looking at their phone, etc., and received a soaking?

[EJG1980]

Very good win today, well deserved, and the second half especially was excellent. A really good atmosphere inside the stadium too, it felt like the fans made a telepathic decision that come what may, we were gonna have a good time.

My comments about the first half are basically exactly what Ange just said on MOTD, we started a bit nervously and anxiously, gave the ball away a bit too much and took a little while to settle down. Had one big let off with the Fernandes missed header. We got better and better as the half went on though, started becoming more and more composed, and I think we ended the half in the ascendancy. Porro was very unlucky with his brilliant shot that hit the bar.

We moved up a gear in the second half though and were clearly the better side throughout. After we went 1-0 up we had the brief scare with Antony hitting the post and Vicario making that great save from the Casemiro header, but I'd say from then until we went 2-0 up, it was pretty much all us. I don't think Vicario had anything to do in that period, until another great save from a header late on (which was offside anyway, but he didn't know that). Some of the football was great at times, with Man Utd often chasing shadows.

Really nice to see us taking it to the opposition with no fear and imposing ourselves on them. Of course we're going to come unstuck in some matches, where we don't take our chances and get punished for mistakes at the back, but today was a very encouraging performance. Especially as it's still only Ange's second match and the players are still getting used to the new system.

[fallenangle]

Made my day although I think we were lucky not to concede but it was a good and deserved win in the end. Very encouraging.

WTF was going on with the audio on MotD BBC1 HD? It sounded, even in the studio, as if it had been recorded in a large, echoing sewer. I thought my ears had gone funny and then that the TV audio had gone wrong but a quick check and it was only affecting BBC1 HD so I watched it in SD which, oddly, had perfect sound.

They eventually said there was a sound problem and were working on it but I stayed with SD.

26.08.23 EDIT

Good win today against Bournemouth by the sound of it.

Three more points in the bag and top of the Premiership for a few hours.

[EJG1980]

26.08.23 EDIT

Good win today against Bournemouth by the sound of it.

Three more points in the bag and top of the Premiership for a few hours.

Yup, it was really good stuff. Very good first half performance with the only negative being that we only scored one goal. Bournemouth gave it a good go at the start of the second half and we had to ride out a bit of pressure for about 10-15 minutes, but we defended well and got through that, took back control of the game, then got the second goal to kill it off. Then we saw out the remainder of the match very well, with no drama or scares.

The moves for both goals were very good. The midfield three of Bissouma, Sarr and Maddison have rightly been getting a lot of praise, and the first goal was a brilliant combo from the three of them. The second was great tenacious play from Udogie and a lovely little finish from Kulusevski. There were a number of other moves that would have been great goals had we managed to find the finishing touch for them.

Had a bit of a scare when Udogie went down with nobody near him after passing it back to the keeper, but apparently he just kicked the ground and should be fine. Would have been really annoying if he'd been taken out by a freak injury as he's had a really impressive start to the season.

[EJG1980]

That's a shame, one chance for silverware chalked off. The draw in 90 minutes was probably just about fair, we were poor in the first half, better in the second, but not enough better in the second to say we should have won the match. If anyone deserved to win in the 90 it was probably Fulham, they had more clear cut chances than we did.

I was hoping that the squad players who got their chance last night would acquit themselves better, as you'd think they'd be relishing the chance to put in a good performance and try to convince the boss that they deserved a start in the Premier League. Most of them started poor and then went up to okay, nothing really better than that. At least Richarlison got a goal! Great cross from Perisic for that goal too.

At least I got to go to an away match though, which is a rare thing this days (I won't go on a long rant about loyalty points and how the tickets get allocated and hoovered up by those at the top of the list!). Hurrah for extra big cup allocations Great atmosphere for most of the match, despite the result.

Oh well, hopefully we can keep the strong league performances going, as we have nothing but league matches to cope with now until the FA Cup starts in January. Also looking forward to seeing what ins and outs happen over the last couple of days of the transfer window, Ange has suggested it may be a little hectic.

[fallenangle]

Forgotten that game was on last night.

Just watched the extended highlights and going out on penalties is always depressing. Still the Richarlison goal was at least some compensation - good cross and very well taken header - more please Mr.R.

Early Saturday EDIT

Looks like the Brennan Johnson deal with Nottingham Forest has gone through before the transfer deadline. Do not know much about him except his goal scoring/assist record which seems pretty good.

Tanganga and Reguilon out on loan. Sorry about the latter as I'd always thought he was the better part of the Bale revisited package but he was injured and then fell out of favour for some reason. I think MU could have done themselves a pretty good deal getting him on loan.

[EJG1980]

Yup, a youngster getting 8 goals and 3 assists in his first ever top flight season, for a team fighting relegation, is a very good return. And as he plays predominantly on the right it gives us proper competition for Kulusevski. Hopefully he can be our next great Welsh winger: Cliff Jones, Gareth Bale, Brennan Johnson. No pressure

Reguilon looked really good in the first half of the season when he arrived, looked extremely promising, but he’s never seemed to be able to recapture that form since then and hasn’t been able to convince multiple managers. Even on loan at Atletico Madrid last season he only made two starts in the league, and you’d think that’d be the most favourable environment for him to rekindle himself. It’ll be interesting to see how he does at Man Utd.

I like the trend in recent years of more young English players trying their luck aboard, so good on Tanganga for moving to Germany, good luck to him. Augsburg is only just outside Munich too, so I’m sure him and Harry Kane will be meeting up a fair bit while they’re both over there. His loan becomes a permanent transfer if he makes a certain number of starts or Augsburg stay up.

My main worry after the transfer window is that we didn’t pick up another central defender. I don’t mind Sanchez staying as I think his pace makes him the most suitable of our backups for Ange’s style of football, but I would have liked to see another new face too. I don’t think we see Phillips as being ready yet as he’s been playing with the under 21s since we signed him. Hopefully Romero and VDV can stay injury and suspension free.

I don’t think we see Phillips as being ready yet as he’s been playing with the under 21s since we signed him.

My powers of analysis know no bounds, as right after I say that, he gets a spot on the bench for today’s match

A slight rejigging of the frontline as Richarlison picked up a knock against Fulham (I thought he was limping a little when he went off) so he’s only on the bench. Son playing as the central striker with Solomon given his first league start as he fills in for Son on the left.

[fallenangle]

Pity about giving away the early goal but going in 1 - 2 up at half time is good enough.

Let's just hope Spurs are on the ball and up to speed at the start of the second half and can put this game to bed with another couple of goals.

[EJG1980]

Pity about giving away the early goal but going in 1 - 2 up at half time is good enough.

Let's just hope Spurs are on the ball and up to speed at the start of the second half and can put this game to bed with another couple of goals.

Mission accomplished

Excellent performance today, bar that opening early wobble. After about ten minutes we got into our rhythm and were on top for the rest of the match, until the last ten minutes or so when we were 5-1 up and had done a lot of subs, allowed Burnley to have a little consolation rally at the end and nab an extra goal.

Could have had more goals in the first half if our decision making for the final ball had been a bit better, or a bit quicker, but we remedied that in the second half and really put Burnley to the sword.

Some brilliant finishes today and some lovely assists, my favourite of which was Porro's pass through to Son for his hat-trick goal, what a brilliant pass. Favourite finish... probably Son's opener, love a deft little clipped finish, but maybe I should say Romero for the rarity of seeing a twenty yard thunderbolt coming from the boot of a central defender. Maddison's goal was okay too

Big thumbs up for Solomon too, was given a chance to show what he could do and he grabbed it, two assists for the first two Son goals and a very good performance in general.

Edit: All the goals today were great, but I especially liked the 5th goal, and as they didn't show the whole buildup on the MOTD highlights so I thought I'd share this clip on here. From Romero winning the ball on our own goal line, all the way up to Son sticking it in the net, lovely stuff.

[fallenangle]

I think that Son goal was my favourite even without the great additional build up play although I loved his first dink goal too, Maddison's finish was exquisite and that Romero shot gloriously good.

Only downer for me is we gave away a second goal late on. That sort of lapse will be punished by better sides than Burnley. Like their first that was unfortunately one of the features, even at their best, in the Poch's era too..................slow at the start, slow just after half-time and losing concentration in extra time.

You were right earlier about us needing another decent central defender.

[EJG1980]

Wow, what a finish to today's match, haven't gone that nuts at a match winning goal for a while! Thought it was going to be one of those days where you dominate the match, play nice football, but just can't find the final shot or final pass, and end up paying for it.

Full credit to the team though, never gave up, stayed calm, didn't panic, just keep playing their football and plugging away and eventually we got our (deserved) rewards. After the absolutely phenomenal display of time wasting (especially from the Sheff Utd keeper, who could have got two or three yellows for time wasting alone) it was highly satisfying to score both goals in added on time.

After his revelations in the week that he has been going going through a tough time mentally recently, I (and I think most Spurs fans in the stadium) were really happy that it was Richarlison who got the equaliser and then set up the winner for Kulu.

MOTD highlights didn't do the match justice at all, so much missed out. Not even a mention of what should have been a clear as day penalty when Maddison was fouled in the box in the first half. Overall one of the worst referee displays I have seen too, so many weird moments and poor decisions. Heckingbottom should actually have been thanking the ref afterwards, one with more gumption would have sent your keeper off instead of constantly warning him but never actually punishing him.

Massive test next week, away to Arsenal, but one I'm really looking forward to. Win, lose, or draw, at least we should go there and have a go this season, unlike the last few seasons where we've gone there and been really meek and timid in defeat.

[fallenangle]

All of that ^.

I was dipping in and out of it all afternoon whilst doing some DIY I'd been putting off. After Spurs dominating the game with all those good and half chances missed only for SU to score, I thought it was just going to be one of those days.

Thankfully it wasn't with an extraordinary last 15 minutes.

Indeed good to see Richarlison really on the ball and up for it. I'd also note Perisic contribution as well, whenever he comes on you know you're going to get some quality crosses and corners - he's still got it and I'm very glad Spurs didn't sell him as some of the rumours this summer suggested they might.