Tottenham Hotspur FC 2013/14

[Mayhem]

Was a bit harsh on Leicester, referee didn't have a very good game for either side, truth be told.

And a bit harsh on Man City for the penalty by the looks of it, but the Spurs fans are not going to be complaining there

(of course this means I want City to get an equaliser now hah hah)

[fallenangle]

Of course, it is Spurs we are talking about. We never do it easy when it matters.

BREAKING NEWS: Tottenham fan describes Arsenal win as a "perfect result"

Not afraid of saying that. Leicester needed to be reeled in. Arsenal did the business so no way am I going to complain. If Spurs get the result today against Man City, and there still enough time for us to muck it up, we're the ones going to be leading the chase.

[EJG1980]

Get in

Great performance, class and grit in equal measure. We did get lucky with the penalty I think, I would have been really upset if that had been given against us. Wonderful goal to win it though, the run and pass from Lamela, the control and finish from Eriksen, brilliant.

I slightly regret letting my brother take my ticket now, but, I'm sure he's having a good time on my behalf! Lucky sod

Glad that Trippier seems to be making a positive impression when he gets the chance. Was a class act for Burnley before he joined you boys.

He's become one of my favourite players this season. Our wide players in the three behind the striker always come infield, so the width comes from the full backs, and he's fantastic at providing that. Not too shabby at the actual defending stuff too!

He should play quite few more games this season as Poch is rotating the fullbacks nearly every match at the moment (not surprising with the amount of work our fullbacks have to get through).

[TonyDA]

Wow - what a performance. I thought we were very comfortable in the first half, although we created very little. The penalty was generous, to say the least, and it was only at this point that we were rocky. City dominated for a good 20 minutes and, after the goal, I was thinking how 1-1 would still mean we'd gained a point on Leicester and would be a decent away result. But a terrific run from Lamela - benefiting from the rest ETG... - set up Eriksen for a fine finish. Special mention to Lloris as well, as that 'no, you're not heading that in because I'm just going to flick it over your head' save in injury time was world class.

Not sure my nerves can take this though......

[fallenangle]

Just about to watch it on MotD.

The fact we didn't fall back into our old ways and make any stupid defensive mistakes but also actually won says volumes about the attitude change there must have been. Great win but lets hope no complacency.

[EJG1980]

Not sure my nerves can take this though......

The classic football fan emotional roller-coaster where your team doing well makes you constantly lurch between feeling and feeling

[fallenangle]

After watching MotD and being, again, surprised at how very solid Spurs looked throughout, it must be said that whilst we fully resrved the win the Sterling penalty decision was a bit harsh.

From his position the referee couldn't have seen what part of his body the ball hit and in fact only one camera angle I've seen makes it clear the ball did hit the underside of Sterling's forearm. He jumped across the corner of the penalty area trying to make himself big to block the diagonal ball or shot. He was in the penalty area when the ball struck him and whilst he was facing away it did hit his arm, not just his side as he tried to claim.

It was a penalty but the referee couldn't have been certain and therefore it shouldn't have been given.

Sunday Edit:-

A good performance and decent result in the Europa League earlier in the week. A big win against CP today in the FA Cup would also be most welcome. A FA Cup, Premiership and Europa triple season is not beyond us on current form.

[EJG1980]

Oh well, just have to go for a double now

Not our day today. Our passing and movement was a bit below what we're capable of but having said that I don't think we deserved to lose. Had a few chances where we were unlucky not to score (especially the Dele Alli double post hitting, cleared off the line shot!) but Palace caused us a few problems too and did the vital thing of putting the ball in the back of the net.

Ah well, we had a great run in the past eight matches and it had to end at some point. I'm sure we can do what we've done after every other defeat this season and bounce back with a good run of results. Back on track on Thursday, hopefully

[fallenangle]

I just saw the highlights and it looked as though Spurs could have won it but didn't convert the chances they made, DA's post hits and the finger tip HK save.

I just had this feelng that Spurs weren't firing on all cylinders.

Maybe a good thing we're out of one competition because the number of games we would/could have been playing might have had a significant effect on out Premiership challenge. A few weeks ago they were pointing out that with FA Cup replays Spurs could have had as many as 30 games to play before the end of the season whilst, for example, Leicester only had 16.

[EJG1980]

Yup, not firing on all cylinders just about sums it up. Certainly not a bad performance, just a level below the kind of performances we've been putting in recently. A shame we didn't have that little bit of luck that would have still seen us win the match but thems the breaks.

I'd love to see us win the FA Cup, but as it's been even longer since we won the league or won in Europe, if I was forced to choose one competition to sacrifice it would be the FA Cup. Fingers crossed that it does at least have the silver lining of increasing our chances in the remaining competitions.

[EJG1980]

Boris Johnson has rubber stamped the planning permission for our new stadium. I think that's pretty much the final planning hurdle cleared so it'll be full steam ahead now.

Not that they haven't been making a lot of progress already. In the past couple of days they've started laying concrete around the foundation pilings (bottom right of the photo below, which was taken yesterday). I know almost nothing about construction but apparently (according to those who do) this is a reasonably significant step.

[fallenangle]

Very good performamce and result tonight. Just watched the highlights on ITV and the opposition was made to look more than a bit ordinary at times. Could have had more goals too - would have loved to have seen that late, saved Ryan Mason volley go in.

Only downer was DA getting the second yellow card and missing the next match.

[EJG1980]

It was indeed an excellent performance, I was really impressed that we were so comfortable against a very good Fiorentina side. Great atmosphere too, loads of noise and singing in the second half especially, one of the best this season.

Damn shame the keeper kept out that late Mason shot, would have been one of the goals of the season had it gone in! He had a very decent all round game last night. Hopefully he's over the niggly injuries that have plagued him this season and he can get back to his best form again for the run in.

----------

Draw for the next round at midday today. Hopefully we avoid the English sides (it feels like a waste to play an English side in Europe!) or any really long haul away trips.

Teams we can draw:

Anderlecht (BEL)
Athletic Club (ESP)
Basel (SUI)
Braga (POR)
Borussia Dortmund (GER)
Fenerbah?e (TUR)
Lazio (ITA)
Bayer Leverkusen (GER)
Liverpool (ENG)
Manchester United (ENG)
Sevilla (ESP)
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
Sparta Prague (CZE)
Valencia (ESP)
Villarreal (ESP)

It's a fully open draw from now on so we can get any team.

It's.......... Dortmund! Couldn't have got a tougher match, but it should be one hell of a tie Glad we have the home leg second, if we can do a good job in the first leg that will be an epic European night at The Lane. Damn, I'm really excited for this one!

[fallenangle]

Well we knew it was going to get really serious from this point on and we're going to have to learn to deal with some really good clubs.

Will be a very good test of how far we've actually come in the last year. As long as Spurs play up at the level they have proven they can do then you can't ask any more but it would be really nice to have a bit of luck too.

[TonyDA]

Happy with that draw - not because I'm convinced we'll win (although I think we certainly have a chance) but, either way, it should be a great learning curve for our young side. If we're to get CL football next season, we'll be drawn with at least one big team, possible two depending on where we'll be seeded, so I'd rather we get some experience against one of the biggies left in the EL. Also glad to have avoided Man Utd/Liverpool - we play them every year, after all...

Sky have announced their live games for April/early May - these games are all live:

Sat 2 Apr: Liverpool v Tottenham (5.30pm)
Sun 10 Apr: Tottenham v Man Utd (4pm)
Mon 18 Apr: Stoke v Tottenham (8pm)
Mon 25 Apr: Tottenham v West Brom (8pm)
Mon 2 May: Chelsea v Tottenham (8pm)

Yes, that's five league games in a row live on Sky. Yes, that is three Monday nights in a row as well!