Tottenham Hotspur FC 2013/14

[EJG1980]

Ha, I think they'll be able to cope without my input

To be fair, the whole double header thing on Saturday was a bit of a last minute idea. I'm sure that if it was something that had been planned for a while in advance, they'd have arranged for the women's match to be first. Not to be disrespectful to the women's team, but I'd liken it to a rock concert: you don't send out the headline act first and follow them with the lesser known support act.

On a different subject, I didn't realise it was on, but just saw a tweet about the U20 World Cup by Spurs, as one of our youngsters Dane Scarlett has scored for England in their opening match. You can watch it free on the web at:

https://www.plus.fifa.com/en/showcase/live-streams/a5bff155-ecbc-4ca0-bed2-009a8713c704

Missed the first half, but the second half is about to start, so I think I'll give it a watch.

[fallenangle]

Not holding out much hope for today's match at Leeds.

We should win it but with our points total as it is even with three points we still need Brighton to beat Aston Villa to get the 7th spot in all circumstances. If we draw, as AV have exactly the same GD, we will scrape through on GD. However the fly in the ointment is Brighton. They have no investment in the game other than playing for their highest Premiership points total but whatever the result their final position is already locked in.

So are they going to turn up? Are they just going to use the game to give their subs, youngsters and B team an end of season reward run out? Are good Spurs going to turn up at Leeds? In short: I'm not confident things are going to go our way.

[EJG1980]

I've been preparing for this all week, swotting up on all of my best "Maybe missing out on Europe could be a blessing in disguise!" rationalisations

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Well it was nice to finish the season with a good win, though no Europe thanks to Villa's win, so congrats to them. They've been on a brilliant run since Unai Emery joined (I'd have him as a candidate for manager of the year for taking them from a relegation battle to European qualification) so they deserve it. Shame though, just one extra win somewhere in the season and we'd have finished 6th.

It was an enjoyable match: four goals, including two for Harry to get him up to 30 league goals for the season; a lovely goal from Porro; and it was a heart warming moment for Moura to be able to sign off from Spurs with his brilliant solo effort to cap off the win. It was also good to see us respond so quickly when Leeds pulled one back to make it 2-1 and immediately restore our two goal advantage.

A weird quirk of Harry Kane's scoring record: he's been Premier League top scorer three times, yet in his two best seasons where he got 30 league goals (2017/18 and this season), he finished second in the scoring charts.

Elsewhere it looked like Everton might finally succumb to a last day relegation with them going down as the scores stood at half time, but once again they managed to survive on the final day and send Leicester down (only a few years since Leicester were champions too). I think that's Everton's 3rd or 4th last day survival in the PL era.

[fallenangle]

That Lucas Moura goal was the cherry on the cake of a good win, superb dribbling.

The Porro goal finish was also top notch too.

We just have to forget this season I guess, hope HK stays for at least another year, that Spurs bring in some top quality creative midfielders and add depth to the defence squad.

I wouldn't mind seeing Leicester's James Maddison in particular and, perhaps, Southampton's Ward-Prowse as Spurs purchase targets this summer. There were reports a few months ago (unconfirmed speculation or fanciful newspaper drivel) that HK wanted Ward-Prowse and would stay if he joined Spurs.

I don't think he is that good but if there is any truth and it keeps HK happy and at Spurs it might be worth spending whatever money Southampton are asking just for that benefit.

[EJG1980]

Always nice to see ex-Spurs players having good moments, and this is a pretty special one for Toby Alderweireld:

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[EJG1980]

Oh, we've got ourselves a new manager too

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Perhaps a bit of an outside the box appointment as all his experience has come in Australia, Japan, and then Scotland, so the main question is going to be whether he can take another step up and make his methods work at a higher level.

If he can make that step up, then it could turn out to be a shrewd appointment. Instead of going for the biggest name possible even if they might not be the right fit for the club (Mourinho, Conte) it seems like we've gone for the person who's the best fit for the club regardless of how big a name they are.

I must admit I've been getting quite excited from the articles I've read and videos I've watched over the past few days, it seems like he ticks a lot of the right boxes. Especially the fact that he's fully committed to attacking football; I've enjoyed the videos of him bellowing at his players for passing backwards too much

I don't watch Scottish football, but I've seen plenty of people raving about the style of football he had Celtic playing.

He also gives me the kind of vibe you got from Martin Jol or Poch, where he just comes across as a likeable bloke who you're happy to have as the manager of your club, which I think really helps with the atmosphere around the club and in the stadium on match days.

Big summer and season coming up, but hopefully they should be fun! I'm looking forward to it, COYS!

Edit: there was one excellent article I read about why Ange could be a perfect fit for Spurs right now, but of course I can't find it! This article from the BBC is a good read though:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/65509996

[fallenangle]

Sounds like a good and hopefully shrewd appointment but the proof will be in pudding as they say.

Talk of Spurs doing a Newcastle like spending spree this summer with the aforementioned James Maddison indeed being a prime target. However it looks as if we may well have serious competition from Arsenal to sign him.

[EJG1980]

Some defenders should probably be top priority on our shopping list; last season was our worst defensively for nearly FIFTY years. You have to go back to when we got relegated in 1977 for the last time we conceded more goals per game than last season. Oh, and a new keeper of course, as Lloris has said now that his preference would be to leave Spurs.

It'll be interesting to see if we want to go for a completely fresh start with new faces with no previous Spurs baggage, or if any of the returning players who were out on loan will get a chance with the new coach.

I think the one with the most chance of reviving his Spurs career would be Giovanni Lo Celso. He was bought for a high possession attacking manager in Poch, who then got sacked, and virtually his whole time here was with low possession counter attacking managers.

Now that we have another attacking manager in charge again, maybe he could come good for us, I can see him fitting into a Postecoglou team. He's had good reviews during his loans at Villarreal and nearly always starts for Argentina when fit, he's a good player. On the flip side, he's probably the loanee we're most likely to get a reasonable fee for if we sold him, so, as with everything, we'll have to wait and see.

[EJG1980]

Fixtures announced for next season already:

Aug 13 Away - Brentford
Aug 19 Home - Manchester United
Aug 26 Away - AFC Bournemouth
Sep 02 Away - Burnley
Sep 16 Home - Sheffield United
Sep 23 Away - Arsenal
Sep 30 Home - Liverpool
Oct 07 Away - Luton Town
Oct 21 Home - Fulham
Oct 28 Away - Crystal Palace
Nov 04 Home - Chelsea
Nov 11 Away - Wolverhampton Wanderers
Nov 25 Home - Aston Villa
Dec 02 Away - Manchester City
Dec 05 Home - West Ham United
Dec 09 Home - Newcastle United
Dec 16 Away - Nottingham Forest
Dec 23 Home - Everton
Dec 26 Away - Brighton & Hove Albion
Dec 30 Home - AFC Bournemouth
Jan 13 Away - Manchester United
Jan 30 Home - Brentford
Feb 03 Away - Everton
Feb 10 Home - Brighton & Hove Albion
Feb 17 Home - Wolverhampton Wanderers
Feb 24 Away - Chelsea
Mar 02 Home - Crystal Palace
Mar 09 Away - Aston Villa
Mar 16 Away - Fulham
Mar 30 Home - Luton Town
Apr 02 Away - West Ham United
Apr 06 Home - Nottingham Forest
Apr 13 Away - Newcastle United
Apr 20 Home - Manchester City
Apr 27 Home - Arsenal
May 04 Away - Liverpool
May 11 Home - Burnley
May 19 Away - Sheffield United

A big match against Man Utd for Postecoglou's home debut, and a possibly tricky start with four of the first six fixtures being away from home.

It's a decent mix of fixtures though for the most part, until you get to that run in April / May where we face Newcastle, Man City, Arsenal, and Liverpool, in consecutive weeks! That's going to be a hell of a run in if we're doing well and have something to play for at that point (which hopefully we will!)

[fallenangle]

I was think much the same when I scanned down the fixtures and then saw those April/May games. I wouldn't discount the last two being difficult as well as newly promoted teams are the ones most likely to be in a relegation battle at that time.

It seems as if the rumours are correct that Spurs are definitely going after Brentford's goalkeeper David Raya to replace Hugo Lloris but still not willing to pay the full £40m being asked. MU have shown interest in him too so its certainly not done and dusted yet.

[EJG1980]

It seems as if the rumours are correct that Spurs are definitely going after Brentford's goalkeeper David Raya to replace Hugo Lloris but still not willing to pay the full £40m being asked. MU have shown interest in him too so its certainly not done and dusted yet.

I'd be very happy with Raya, hopefully we can get him signed. He's looked good whenever I've seen Brentford play and, while I don't think he's up there yet with peak Hugo Lloris in terms of being able to pull world class "how did he do that???" saves, he is definitely an improvement when it comes to passing it out from the back, a department that Hugo never managed to inspire confidence in. That will definitely suit the way Postecoglou wants us to play.

Hopefully we get his and some other signings done asap, so they can have as much of a pre-season as possible.

We have done our first "signing" of a sort though:

"We are delighted to announce the permanent signing of Dejan Kulusevski from Juventus"

Very glad we wasted no time in making his move permanent once his loan expired. He struggled for consistency in the second half of last season after he returned from his earlier injury (though who did have a consistent second half of the season for us, aside from Kane?) but he was excellent from when he signed up until that injury, and I expect him to recover that form. Still only 23 as well, so he's got plenty of time to improve and become and even better player than he's already shown.

[fallenangle]

Yep, saw that DK news on Friday - if he returns to the consistent form he had when first arrived he's going to be a great asset. I did not know he was still only 23 so, as you say, plenty of time to improve.

Watched the European Nations League final today (Sunday) between Croatia and Spain - not a brilliant game but tactically interesting so not boring even though 0-0 after extra time. The penalty shoot-out was entertaining of course and it was a shame Croatia lost as they were the better side over the whole 120 minutes.

What I wanted to say was that our guy Perisic was for me man of the match. He played really well but, like Spurs, none of his team mates seemed to be in the right place to make use of his accurate and often dangerous crosses.

Early Tuesday Edit
Excellent England game against North Macedonia last night; some quality goals with the Saka one (HK assisted) probably the best. But the snappy passing, dribbling skills and movement off the ball for some of the others was outstanding too, Great to watch.

[EJG1980]

I saw the earlier Italy vs Holland match (which was a good watch) but missed the Spain vs Croatia final.

It's strange, if you look on things like Twitter, there seems to be a lot of fans that think Perisic was a "flop" for us, had a poor season, etc., despite the fact that he was our top assist maker and the only player in the whole squad to get into double figures for assists. I think he got caught out a few times defensively, but it wasn't like he was the one flaw in an otherwise watertight defence, so hardly a reason to single him out.

Weird stuff, it's why 99% of the time the only thing I look at on Twitter re Spurs are the official tweets from the club

Yup, that England match was great, a bit dull for the first twenty minutes or so but once Kane scored that first goal England really turned it on and played some great stuff. North Macedonia are no mugs either, qualified for the last Euros, only one win away from qualifying for the last World Cup, and they didn't get a single sniff all match. The England front three of Kane, Saka and Rashford (especially Kane and Saka) looks excellent.

[EJG1980]

New signing klaxon, we have our new goalkeeper:

We are delighted to announce the signing of Guglielmo Vicario from Empoli, subject to international clearance and a work permit. The Italy international has signed a contract with the Club that will run until 2028 and will wear the number 13 shirt.

It looks like the club decided that Brentford were simply asking too much for David Raya (and if the £40 million fee they reportedly wanted is true, that would have made him the 4th most expensive goalkeeper in history). I would have been happy with Raya but I think the club have taken the correct approach.

Unless it's a genuine "next level" signing that's worth waiting for, I think it's better to make sure the new players have as much of a pre-season as possible to get to know their new team mates and coach.

Hopefully he should be a good signing, he's been talked up by Italian goalkeeping legends like Buffon and Pagliuca as as being their tip for who the next top Italian keeper will be. From what I've read the Italian football media expected him to end up at somewhere like Juventus or Inter within the next year or two and think we've done a good bit of business by stealing a march on them.

[fallenangle]

Fingers crossed then but the buy certainly appears to be a good one.

I also think we might be saving our money to up the offer for James Maddison as Leicester want more than Spurs have put on the table so far.