Tottenham Hotspur FC 2013/14

[EJG1980]

Just what you want away from home against lower league opposition. Minimum of fuss, not too much energy expended, safely through to the next round. Had we been slightly more clinical in front of goal could easily have been six or seven.

I did feel a bit sorry for Colchester though; they're already up against it with the gulf between the two teams, and then to add the bad luck of your centre backs colliding and both having to go off injured! I hope they're okay and won't miss any, or many, league games for them.

[EJG1980]

Palace at home in the cup. Pretty tough match but at least we have home advantage.

[fallenangle]

Mentioning the win against Crystal Palace in my last post and then 24hrs later we get them in the next round. Wish I was as prescient with my lottery numbers.

That previous win should give us a positive psychological advantage over them but I don't expect it to be easy.

[EJG1980]

I don't know how I forgot this yesterday, but there's one reason we should all have realised that we'd be drawn to play against Palace: they just signed Adebayor! Forget lottery numbers, it's time to lump the life savings on Adebayor to score in that match

[TonyDA]

Looks like the Dembele #2 deal fell through - Fulham wanted him loaned back, we didn't.

Pritchard is about to join West Brom on loan. A shame, as I was looking forward to seeing him in our team, but I guess we're pretty over much overstocked in midfield. If he gets games for WBA then at least it will give Poch an idea for next season. That's us loaning a player to help out a club that apparently won't deal with us on another player.....

[EJG1980]

Pritchard is about to join West Brom on loan. A shame, as I was looking forward to seeing him in our team, but I guess we're pretty over much overstocked in midfield. If he gets games for WBA then at least it will give Poch an idea for next season. That's us loaning a player to help out a club that apparently won't deal with us on another player.....

I was gutted when he got injured in the summer, I think he'd have broken through and made quite a few first team appearances for us this season had he not been injured (and Poch said in pre-season that he was being considered as a genuine first team squad member).

I think going to WBA is a good move for him. He needs to build up his match fitness which he's much more likely to do at West Brom with less competition for places. He also gets half a season of experience playing at Premier League level and will hopefully return to us in the summer fully fit raring to go for next season.

BTW, I actually think it's a good thing that we're okay with him going to West Brom. We could have been petty and refused to deal with them but we've made the correct decision that doing what's best for the career of a promising young player is far more important than any beef between the clubs.

(Plus I think any animosity between the clubs over the Berahino situation was almost certainly way overblown by the press. In the end, it's just business).

[TonyDA]

I still think we need a striker if we are genuinely thinking of competing for the title and going far in the cups.

[EJG1980]

I would feel more comfortable if we manage to sign someone who is a direct backup for Kane, but I don't think it's a disaster if we don't.

Son has done a decent job in the four or five matches he's started up front instead of Kane. Is he as good or as suitable as Kane in that role? No. But any backup player we buy also won't be as good as Kane, so... if we can't get someone who Poch thinks will definitely do a better job up front than Son or Chadli would, and has a long term future with the club, I can see why he'd rather stick with what we've got.

However, if we can do something like pull off a last minute Berahino deal (like you I have my reservations about him but if Poch wants him that's good enough for me) I certainly wouldn't complain

[TonyDA]

I suppose what worries me is that, in the big games, I don't think Poch trusts anyone else. The FA Cup tie at the weekend was a perfect opportunity to tell Kane to take the day off; instead, he played 67 minutes. Not that I'm criticising Poch, and it's quite possible that Kane asked to play, but he can't play every match from now until the end of the season.

I am now hoping for a last minute Berahino deal lol - as you say, if Poch wants him that's enough for me.

[EJG1980]

I was surprised when he started the Colchester match, especially considering he actually was rested for the much harder away trip to Leicester in the previous round.

They do keep serious tabs on players fitness these days though, hooked them up to GPS devices during training, analysing how far they run, what their average speed is, etc., etc.. Maybe it really was as simple as him wanting to play, and the fitness staff saying "Yeah, no problem, he doesn't need a rest at the moment".

It'll be a difficult juggling act deciding when and where to give him a rest, but that's what Poch gets the big bucks for!

I don't think we'll see any incomings tonight, not even a hint of a whiff of a rumour so far. It makes me a little nervous, but so did not buying a defensive midfielder in the summer, and Poch was proven right when he said we didn't need one because Dier could play there.

So if he says he's okay with us signing nobody and he's happy with Son and Chadli as striking backup, I think he's earned the right for us to trust his decision. Not that there's anything we can do about it anyway, whatever we think

[TonyDA]

Sounded like a straight forward win over Norwich last night, at least according to most of the reports I've read! Can only be a good thing if we're winning these kind of games, away from home, comfortably - so often the kind of banana skins which have tripped us up in the past.

A win on Sat against Watford would set us up nicely for the trip to the Etihad in a fortnight - could be a top of the table clash, who'd have thought that? 😄😄

[fallenangle]

It did look very comfortable on MotD and we could have had more.

Now up to third place thanks to the Arsenal result so, if we don't mess up against Watford, that Man City match could indeed be a top of the of the table clash. What we really need is Leicester and Man City to draw on Saturday with a low scoring hard fought Man City win as a second best result option for us.

Also meant to mention, bearing in mind what I said about it being difficult to imagine that superb Dele Alli goal against Crystal Place being challenged for best goal of the season, what happened last night at Leceister?
Jamie Vardy's opening goal was an absolute peach. Check it out if you can find a decent clip - all the ones I found on YT were crap missing most lead up and fabulous through ball that was as much part of the goal as the finish.

[EJG1980]

I'd rate the Deli Alli goal as very slightly ahead of Vardy's goal thanks to the build up play that came before it, and the skill to pull off the flick over defender, swivel and perfectly placed shot to evade the keepers grasp. No bias here, of course Definitely number 1 and 2 of the season so far though, both brilliant, and mainly down to personal preference as to which one is "better".

I was at the match last night, watched from a football view room in the Holiday Inn as I did a couple of years ago. We lost 1-0 on that occasion so a much nicer trip this time



It was a really good performance. Excellent first half where we could easily have had more than two goals with the number of good chances we created.

Second half Norwich were much improved but we showed the other side of our game and kept them at arms length and were very comfortable. Aside from the Naismith chance right at the start of the half there were no real worrying moments. We still had a couple of good chances to make it 3 before we finally did right at the end, too.

Exciting (and therefore nervous!) times! Just gotta keep our heads down, keep working hard, and take it one game at a time though.

[nakamura]

Alli is a wonderful talent and I hope he continues to blossom but his goal wasn't even on the same planet as the Vardy goal. The Mahrez pass was incredible.

Spurs could win the league. There. I said it!

[EJG1980]

I completely understand people saying the Vardy goal is better, but "another planet" better? So much better than the Alli goal that it's not even worth discussing? I can't agree with that at all.

The deft touch to control the ball from Eriksen's header, then having a hulking great defender charging straight at you and having the ability and confidence to flick the ball up over your own head and his, spin around said defender, and volley the ball accurately beyond the keepers grasp, all in one fluid movement without the ball once hitting the ground. Mesmerising stuff.

I think we're more likely to see someone reproduce what Vardy did before we see someone reproduce what Alli did, which tips the balance towards Alli, for me.

Anyway, Vardy only had to beat Mignolet, how hard can that be?