Tottenham Hotspur FC 2013/14

[bwi]

where is ade when we need him lol

[EJG1980]

See, you miss him now

Seriously though, the main concern at the moment for me is that Soldado just isn't getting enough support. Hopefully Lamela and Eriksen coming into the side will go a long way to sorting that out.

It is only the third game of the season with many new players though, gonna take a little while before everyone is fully gelled and in tune with each other.

[EJG1980]

Well, Bale is gone, announced by AVB in the post match press conference and now on the Spurs twitter feed as well, with comments from Daniel Levy:

Chairman, Daniel Levy commented, 'Gareth was a player we had absolutely no intention of selling as we look to build for the future'

Levy: 'He is a player whose career we have fostered and developed and he was only a year into his new four year contract'

Levy: 'Such has been the attention from Real Madrid and so great is Gareth's desire to join them, that we have taken the view that the...'

…player will not be sufficiently committed to our campaign in the current season.' #THFC

Levy: 'We have, therefore, with great reluctance, agreed to this sale and do so in the knowledge that we have an exceptionally strong squad'

We wish Gareth all the best in the future and he shall always be welcome at the Lane.

Sky Sports News are reporting that the fee will be exactly €100 million / ?86 million, a new world record fee.

I'm disappointed with the way he acted in the past week, but I can't forget all the fantastic moments I've had as a Spurs fan that have been down to Gareth Bale. Every time he gets the ball you get a buzz of excitement because you might be about to see something special happen. It's been amazing watching him progress the past few years and I will really miss seeing him in a Spurs shirt.

Time for some new stars to step up

[bwi]

Today i was more disappointed in the fact that we wern't running with the ball more through the centre (dembele does try admittedly). Like you said Soldardo didnt have much in the way of service to be fair and the only substitution that looked lively was defoe.

I'm going to get my optimistic hat out and say that the team needs bedding in more than anything.

As for GB it was one of those games were you would expect him to pop up and get a wonder goal for us. Got to admit i was suprised how he was "reportedly" acting this week and i'll miss him on my twitter feed posting when his next adidas sponsorship signing session was.

[smouty]

It wasn't the best of games but Spurs didn't look like a side that has had ?100m spent on them.
I was expecting them to easily beat Arsenal.

[EJG1980]

Really? Aside from their opening day defeat Arsenal have looked good this season. They're going to be up there as one of the favourites to finish in the top four just like they are every season. They may not have signed anyone (yet) but that doesn't mean the players they already have suddenly got worse.

As has been said, it's gonna take a while for Spurs new players to gel and get used to playing together (although I've seen a lot of good signs in our opening few matches). Man City have spent plenty of money on new players too and they laboured to a win against Hull and lost to Cardiff, it nearly always takes time to play at your best when you have quite a few new players.

[Mayhem]

It wasn't the best of games but Spurs didn't look like a side that has had ?100m spent on them.
I was expecting them to easily beat Arsenal.

That's the same comment my brother made. They've spent ?100m and looked a worse team without Bale, compared to Arsenal who've spent nothing and seemingly getting better.

[fallenangle]

They looked exactly what they are: a bunch of good players but as yet nowhere near a team. It should improve and the fact Spurs didn't let Arsenal score more than once and could have easily drawn the game I think is actually a good sign of improvment, at least defensively.

[EJG1980]

You're being far too sensible for the knee jerk world of modern football. Stop it at once

Good news on Etienne Capoue's injury: the club are reporting that he suffered an ankle sprain and early indications are that he should be back in around four weeks. Hopefully that diagnosis is correct as it means he shouldn't miss too many games, especially with the international break taking up half his layoff time.

[saturn-gamer]

Spurs have 2 decent players for every position but I reckon they are no match for the top 3, those are just too rich and powerful. Chelsea has like 7 options for their midfield. City buys players as if they're cans of pringles. Negredo is decent? sure lets sign him! And Jovetic is going to get wasted there i'm afraid.

Arsenal is playing well, and if they sign Ozil then I would place them above Spurs as well. I actually don't understand why United isn't chasing Ozil. Well seeing Kagawa's situation Moyes must not like creative playmakers.

[EJG1980]

No last minute signings for us but we did let a couple more go; Benoit Assou Ekotto and Tom Carroll have both gone to QPR on loan for the season. Big vote of confidence in Danny Rose by letting BAE go. I was hoping that Tom Carroll would get a Premier League loan if he left, but as long as he plays every week the QPR move should be very good for him.

Spurs have 2 decent players for every position but I reckon they are no match for the top 3, those are just too rich and powerful. Chelsea has like 7 options for their midfield. City buys players as if they're cans of pringles. Negredo is decent? sure lets sign him! And Jovetic is going to get wasted there i'm afraid.

Yup. The club have done brilliantly to go from stumbling along as mid-table also rans to get to the point where we're challenging for 4th place consistently, but taking it up another level from that is going to be extremely hard in this day and age. We're desperate for the new stadium to get built to try to and close some of the financial gap (there are strong rumours that as soon as we secure a naming rights deal it will be all systems go, hopefully not too much longer to wait).

Having said that I'm still very optimistic about what we can do this season. I think we've had an excellent transfer window and have brought in a few players who have the potential to be really outstanding. If we can manage to get everyone to gel as quickly as possible then I definitely think we can give the teams above us a very good run for their money.

Despite the loss of Bale I really feel the club are pushing as hard as possible to move forwards, and as a fan it's great to see.

[saturn-gamer]

At least Spurs are playing good football from what I gather. Its on the offensive. AVB should be that sort of coach, he only failed at Chelsea so far and that had to do with the veterans.

I've watched a lot of PL last season (its now gone to FOX and I don't know if I'll take a sub for that), and City made my eyes bleed. So much money, so much world class players like Silva, Aguero, Yaya... and such cowardly tactics by Mancini. Chelsea same. They had their best play under Ancelotti imo, but they've gone back to parking the bus a lot of he times and knowing Mourinho he will probably continue on with 2 holding midfielders against the bigger teams. I respect Mourinho, but he shouldn't ever have coached Real Madrid... he destroyed their rep. That club breathes elegant football, not the thuggish **** he displayed.

Arsenal and Spurs display enjoyable football. Used to enjoy United as well, but they have not much creativity at midfield and lots of sneaky 1-0 victories. Results are important, but as dutchman I value entertainment more.

[EJG1980]

Very good today, best display of the season so far. Some of the passing moves were lovely (the opening goal especially was a great move) and we had much more of a cutting edge than in the previous league matches.

Lots of good performances today: great debut from Eriksen, he had a very big influence on the game. Sigurdsson played very well, Townsend was very good again (his decision making over when to shoot and when to pass improved as the match went on) and Rose was superb at left back, including a fantastic block to deny Norwich an almost certain goal. Soldado was able to get more involved in the general play today, which was good, and was really unlucky his clever back heel didn't end up as a goal. Everyone played well though.

Very encouraging and good signs for the future, especially with Lamela still to come into the side. I'm sure we'll have worse days while the team is still learning to play together, but today, very enjoyable

[fallenangle]

I said Rose and Townsend were looking good a few weeks back. Glad to see they've maintained that form.

Very good performance against Norwich, some of that quick passing, flowing football was classic Spurs stuff. I just hope AVB can fashion a team or teams from the squad he's now built who are consistently as good over the whole season. I don't think it is likely to be a smooth road all the way but it is definitely looking promising.

Heard that Bale scored on his debut for RM.

[EJG1980]

I know we've got a big squad to cope with injuries but three in one match is taking the Michael a little bit. Hopefully none of them are serious.

The first half was watchable with lovely finishes from Defoe after great through balls from Lamela and Holtby. Second half was pretty poor to watch to be honest, until that fantastic goal from Eriksen at the end. Job done.

Edit: ah good, injuries don't seem to be too bad, according to AVB. He expects Kaboul and Dembele to be available for the match with Cardiff at the weekend. He's a little more cautious with Rose but expects him to be okay too, although he may be out for Sunday.