Tottenham Hotspur FC 2013/14

[EJG1980]

Very tough first half, managed to stay in it thanks to Man Utd's poor finishing and Hugo Lloris being his usual brilliant self when they did get a shot on target. Rode our luck and then had a much better second half, finished very strongly, a real shame we couldn't nick all three points when we were bossing the closing stages. That Ryan Mason chance... gah! If only

Still, a point isn't to be sniffed at, especially coming less than forty-eight hours after that tough Leicester match and against a Man Utd side on a great run. Five in a row now without losing to Man Utd, must be our best run against them in donkey's years.

[fallenangle]

We could have lost it 3-0 on the first half performance quite easily but, particularly in the second half, we made enough real chances to sneak a win. One point is what I was expecting and if we can do the same against Chelsea then I won't be complaining.

01.01.15 Edit: WTF - how did Spurs do that? I was hiding from the results all evening but I finally gave in and checked on Teletext expecting to see at best a goaless draw or, worse, a real drubbing. But 5:3 to Spurs, almost beyond belief. Great start to 2015.

Can't wait for MotD.

Gives me hope Spurs can repeat it if we end up facing them in the Capital One Cup final too. But I'm not going to count our chickens before they're hatched, we've still got to get there first.

[EJG1980]

Gotta say, I'm really liking 2015 thus far

Wow. Man Utd, Arsenal and Liverpool all drop points, and not only do we take advantage of it but we do it by putting FIVE past Chelsea! I was thinking before the match that even hoping for any kind of sneaky win was pushing it, would have taken a draw all day long, but to do them for five? Bloody hell.

Right up there as one of my favourite ever matches at WHL. Brilliant

Four matches in a row now for Kane. Big test coming up for him now though, can he keep his scoring run going against Man Utd and Chelsea?

I think we can call that a pass! Not just the goals, Kane was fantastic in every aspect of his game today. Everyone did their bit today though, Chadli was excellent, and aside from that one moment where he was robbed of the ball and it lead to a goal. I thought Fazio was a beast at the back. Pat on the back to the whole team though.

[fallenangle]

Fingers crossed for tonight and I hope Spurs also took note of the way Sheffield Utd dispatched QPR yesterday.

[EJG1980]

I think tonight will be a tough match. Burnley looked good at WHL and away in the cup is often tough no matter the opposition. Hopefully our recent good form overall and good away results throughout the season will see us though.

I'm annoyed that it's on a Monday night but not on TV. From what I've found on the internet the only TV station in the world showing it live is QQ Sports in China! I don't think I can be arsed to mess about trying to find a stream of it though, I'll listen on the radio while watching Italian football on TV.

West Ham, Southampton and QPR all dispatched by Sheffield United in the two cups. I'm sure those results should make sure we don't take the games against them lightly.

Edit: Tight and tough match as expected (no shots at all by either side in the first half!). A shame we have to go to a reply having taken the lead, but it's better than being out! If we can win the replay we have a home match against Leicester in the next round.

[fallenangle]

Yes, shame we couldn't get a win and a replay is almost certainly not what Spurs would have wanted at this time but we're still in it. The prize of facing Leicester, not that I think they'll be easy either, in the next round rather than a top six Premiership club means a good chance to progress. Hope so.

[EJG1980]

The only free midweek date for the Burnley match is the 14th so assuming that is when we play them we're going to have Palace, Burnley, Sunderland, Sheffield Utd, potentially Leicester, Sheffield Utd again and West Brom to play between the 10th and 31st, with no more than three rest days between any match (and two days between some of them).

It's going to be a hectic January! A big test for the whole squad because we'll certainly have to rotate. Could be a defining month of the season, let's hope we can come out the other side still in both cups and with a good haul of points from the league matches.

[EJG1980]

@SpursOfficial: "We can confirm that @IAmJermainDefoe will train with our Development Squad for the next week to maintain fitness during MLS close season."

If possible I'd sign him on loan for a couple of months until the new MLS season starts. He knows the club so can slot straight in, he won't mind sitting on the bench as his main interest is maintaining fitness, and it gives us an extra squad member for a very hectic period.

[fallenangle]

There are lots of rumours going around about who is coming and going. One I've seen (reported from the Daily Mirror) is that apparently Spurs are after West Brom's Berahino but they want both Townsend and Lennon in exchange.

Not a good idea IMHO.

[EJG1980]

He wouldn't be in my first choice eleven but I don't want to see Townsend leave now. I thought he did okay against Man Utd and Chelsea (great confidence / guts to take that vital penalty too) and he's a good option from the bench to inject some pace into a game, or to play when others need a rest or are injured (and maybe he can do well enough to force his way into the starting eleven).

Most of the rumours appear to indicate that we're willing to let Lennon go if someone meets our asking price (Everton the latest to be linked). We've got quite a few wingers / wide forwards so it'd probably give a bit more balance to the squad if one left in part exchange for a central striker. So if Poch really rates Berahino and thinks he can mould him into a top player, and is willing to let Lennon go to finance the deal, I'd back his judgement.

Lennon and Townsend for Berahino though? I agree, not a good idea. I think we need at least one of them in the squad to give us the option of pace out wide.

[fallenangle]

Exactly, I've always thought of Townsend as a natural successor to Lennon on the wing. Although at one stage he looked as though he had caught Lennon's consistent refusal to use his pace often enough during a game to get past defenders and cross from the byline lately he's been doing more of that.

He has his faults, dawdles on the ball, losing it and all too predictably rather than cross at some point in a match he'll run across or diagonally into the box looking for a spectacular shooting opportunity even when a simpler better option was available.

Newspaper reports today suggest Townsend is happy at Spurs and doesn't want to leave so with any luck this will turn out just to be another transfer windows rumour.

[EJG1980]

Bugger, that's a shame. A win would have moved us into the top four places (and we could have stayed there depending on the result between Man Utd and Southampton tomorrow) but you have to give Palace credit today, they really fought for it and arguably created the better chances than we did. I thought it was a definite trip on Kane at the end though, we should have had the chance to make it 2-2 from the spot.

Ah well, can't complain too much, first loss since away to Chelsea, and you have to lose at some point. Hopefully we can pick ourselves up and get good results against Burnley and Sunderland to get back to winning ways.

[fallenangle]

As Gary Lineker was saying on MotD yesterday's result was a typically inconsistent Spurs performance long term supporters are all too familiar with. We get a great result against a top four club in one game then give away three points to a bottom four one just over a week later. It seems to be the law.

[EJG1980]

I'd better post again so we can get back on track to having the footy forum renamed to the Spurs forum

It's always disappointing to follow up a win against a top side with a loss against one fighting against relegation, but I prefer to look at the bigger picture whe it comes to consistency. Yesterday's result was our only loss in eight matches in what was our best and most consistent run of the season.

We still have the positives gained from the Chelsea match, of knowing that we can go toe to toe with the very best in the league and beat them. You can't win every match, and given the choice of beating Chelsea and losing to Palace, or losing to Chelsea and beating Palace, I certainly prefer the former.

[hudson]

Ha. 'Member when this forum was manc heavy? One bad season and...