Tottenham Hotspur FC 2013/14

[EJG1980]

My thought on England before the tournament were that we'd probably win the games you expect us to win, but once we come up against a really good side with technical ability and nouse we'll probably be going home, and I don't think I've changed my mind on the evidence of that match. He's a nice bloke, but once you get to the highest level opponents you need a better coach than Southgate telling the team what to do and how to play.

I'd be very happy to be proven wrong though, and luckily that's not a difficult thing to do, so England should be nailed on winners

Enjoyed the other matches yesterday too, Poland gave a good account of themselves against Netherlands before letting in the late goal to lose the match, and it was lovely seeing Christian Eriksen back at a European Championship and scoring a great goal.

Watching the Romania vs Ukraine game on the iPad and it's been a very decent game, a brilliant goal from Romania, and I'm hoping they can hold on for the win so Dragusin can pick up the three points.

Edit: Great win and performance from Romania. A good example of keeping your foot on the accelerator when you're on top and killing an opponent off. An excellent display from our man Dragusin too; I already liked what I'd seen of him for us before today, and playing like this he's going to be pushing very hard to get into the Spurs starting eleven more regularly.

Also, the commentator was wrong, his marauding run forward in the 70th minute IS something Spurs fans have seen, he's done that two or three times for us even in the limited minutes he had last season

[fallenangle]

I had that match on in the background whilst doing other things so I wasn't watching it that closely but when they mentioned Dragusin's performance and how well he was playing I paid more attention. At full time the pundits were still cooing about it and imagining Spurs, at last, with a world class line up in all areas of the pitch.

I can't wait.

[EJG1980]

The other matches yesterday were good too. I loved the Slovakia win over Belgium, as it's really easy to get caught up in an underdog overcoming the odds story. By the end I was fist pumping the Slovakia clearances each time they repelled a Belgium attack The biggest ever upset at a European Championships, in terms of the ranking difference between the teams, according to the commentator.

Austria's performance against France was also a good one. They worked really really well as a team, their pressing and passing movements were lovely at times, they look really well coached and more than the sum of the individuals. But the lack of a real standout individual let them down as they didn't have anyone to provide that extra bit of magic to really hurt France in the final third.

Away from the internationals, the PL fixtures for next season have already been released:

https://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/2024/june/fixtures-202425-list-in-full/

We start with Leicester City away, and in what has been a rare event in recent years the home derby with Arsenal is early in the season, four matches in. Unlike last season where we had that run in April with about five heavyweight matches in a row, the only time we play even two big teams in consecutive matches is in January when we play Newcastle then Arsenal (and even that is split by what could be a match against a lesser opponent in the FA Cup 3rd round).

Of course that could change when matches get moved for TV, but at the moment it looks like a very balanced fixture schedule.

[fallenangle]

Had a quick look at those fixtures and it does look like a better spread of what we can guess will be the hardest matches across the season. November we get Aston Villa and MC; also December looks like a busy month with seven games scheduled. But there's nothing in the fixtures to be more worried about than usual.

I saw the highlights of the Euro games mentioned and the Belgium v. Slovakia one with two Lukaku goals ruled out by VAR (second one a very dodgy decision IMHO) and the final result being a win for Slovakia was a standout.

[EJG1980]

Yeah, they were lucky with the second disallowed goal, seems wrong to rule out a goal because the ball brushed a players fingertips for a microsecond during their normal running motion. I didn't begrudge Slovakia that luck though, they deserved a break for the massive effort they put into the match.

Turkey vs Georgia earlier today was a brilliant match, easily my favourite of the tournament so far. Superb goals, great action, and topped off with the great ending where it was so close to 2-2 and ended up 3-1. The Portugal vs Czech match was nowhere near as good, but at least it did have the fantastic Czech opening goal to light it up a bit.

[fallenangle]

I was going to post about that Turkey v. Georgia match myself. As it was on at tea time I'd sat down and decided to give it a go not expecting much but, as you said, it was a brilliant game to watch right up to the final whistle. Felt sorry for Georgia particularly the last goal where the goalkeeper had gone up the pitch for a corner and simply couldn't get back in time.

I wonder if they'll be ruing that decision because some of the final placings, particularly the four best third place teams in the group stage who also qualify for the knockout stages, are very likely to go down to goal difference.

Thursday Edit

Scotland managed to scrape a point against Switzerland with a much better performance than the German game. But they were lucky. The Swiss had several genuine scoring chances they fluffed, often through inexplicably bad finishing.

Now onto the England game against Denmark which we can win but we'll need a similar step up in performance too. Eriksen has to be neutralised and HK needs far better service than he received in the previous game. What the starting line up and formation is going to be will be interesting to find out.

[EJG1980]

I missed the Croatia vs Albania match, but the reports and highlights made it sound like another good match. Germany vs Hungary was a decent match, Germany the better side and deserved winners but Hungary offering enough fight to make sure the Germans didn't have it all their own way.

Scotland vs Switzerland had some exciting moments and was enhanced by the atmosphere, even if it often wasn't the greatest quality of football on display (save for that incredible finish from Shaqiri). Switzerland had a couple of lucky escapes too from Scottish missed chances, but yeah, Switzerland missed quite a few more. Despite having lost both their matches Hungary have looked okay, and I wouldn't be surprised if Scotland struggled to get more than a point against them.

It's been a good tournament so far. There haven't really been any stinkers of a match, and the less consistently exciting ones have usually at least been lit up by a stunning goal or some exciting moments / incidents. Unless you have the high standards of Ossie Ardiles, of course:


Don't hold back Ossie, tell us how you really feel

[fallenangle]

Ossie is just telling it like it is as he was not in any way invested in the game, unlike most of the UK. From the neutral's perspective it was probably not a good watch most of the time. I also think he's right about the UK(?) TV pundits not being as honest as they should be for fear of getting an avalanche of trolling in the social media from Scottish fans.

I just hope the England game is going to be a good watch and not just a workman-like 1-0 win or, worse, the 0-0 draw that I think it might be. If I'm wrong about that I will be very pleased.

[EJG1980]

Ossie is just telling it like it is as he was not in any way invested in the game, unlike most of the UK. From the neutral's perspective it was probably not a good watch most of the time. I also think he's right about the UK(?) TV pundits not being as honest as they should be for fear of getting an avalanche of trolling in the social media from Scottish fans.

Oh yeah, can't argue too much with his opinion, it's just that my image of Ossie is of him being a loveable, excitable motormouth talking at 100mph about football, but in a gentle and softly spoken way.
So seeing him being so blunt and stating "Bloody hell, that sucked!" was a bit of a surprise

I just hope the England game is going to be a good watch and not just a workman-like 1-0 win or, worse, the 0-0 draw that I think it might be. If I'm wrong about that I will be very pleased.

Not great. A squad full of attacking players yet the gameplan of the manger is very conservative, sitting back if you have a lead, safety first (which ironically ends up not being that safe at all). Really good performance from PEH again though.

Edit: Good match between Spain and Italy. Spain were the better team and deserved the win, but Italy showed a lot of grit to hang in there and keep it close until the end. Not a stunning insight here, but it looks like Spain and Germany are probably the two teams to beat based on the matches so far.

[fallenangle]

PEH................are Spurs selling him or not? On the form he showed against England and earlier game they'd be stupid to do that just to get in Connor Gallagher who came on today in what was a pretty drearily uninspiring game and did practically nothing of consequence. One important defensive tackle and that was it. That was not what he was bought on to do.

I'd say Southgate should have bought on or started with Maddison and Grealish but, hang on........................... doh, I was forgetting , he left them out of the squad.

I couldn't work out why Saka was subbed for Bowen. Saka had a pretty good game I thought and was more effective in his right wing role than either HK, Bellingham or Foden were in their roles. Eze came on too and was no more effective than Foden had been and lost the ball a number of times. That won't have done his case for being in the starting line up any good at all.

I really think HK is injured or ill. Despite scoring he kept on going back into his number 10 role and as Alan Shearer pointed out needed to be subbed as he was often not even in the 18 yard box let alone challenging for the ball when such crosses as there were came in.

There was one move where I think it was him who passed it out to Bowen or Walker on the right and the camera moved in to focus on that side of the pitch. I was watching to see HK running in from the right of the screen but it never happened. As the camera pulled back he was just trotting towards it and was still outside the 18 yard box when the ball was crossed, poorly.

That's not like him.

[EJG1980]

Re PEH I think the main thing is that the stuff he's best at, isn't the stuff Ange prioritises most in a midfielder. Kinda like how a really good player who's perfect for a tiki-taka Barcelona style team might not be the best fit for a Mourinho style defensive team, and vice versa. And Ange still did use him a reasonable amount last season, but obviously not enough for PEH who wants to be starting all the time.

So I think him leaving for first team football, and us getting a decent fee for him to spend on someone more suited to what Ange wants, is something both sides would be happy with. And ignoring whether you think that's a good idea or not, his performances at these championships should help drive up the fee teams are willing to pay.

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Kane wasn't near his best yesterday (though still scored), but you could say that about nearly every England player, so I think it's a bit weird that Kane seemed to be the one most singled out. I found it weird that Shearer kept banging on about him needing to run in-behind, when Kane has pretty much never done that his entire career. We should be playing to his strengths, getting wide players to bomb past Kane so that he can pick them out with his superb passing.

But Southgate doesn't want them to do that, he wants them to sit deep. I saw a video on Twitter that showed multiple attacking players just dropping off ten yards as soon as Denmark got the ball, instead of taking it to them by pressing Denmark as soon as they got the ball. Southgate obviously instructs them not to press. The players can do better than they did yesterday, but I think even playing much better, the style that Southgate wants will hold them back.

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I missed the 2pm game again today but the Poland vs Austria match at 5pm was another really good one. A fairly close contest until Austria turned up the wick in the second half. Austria won’t win it, but after their good performance against France and today against Poland, they’d definitely be a potential banana skin should they get through to the knockout rounds.

Hopefully France vs Netherlands keeps it up. Edit: an hour in, apparently it was a forlorn hope! Brief flashes aside it hasn’t been the most engaging of matches.

[fallenangle]

Yes, saw most of the Poland vs. Austria game and it was pretty good entertainment unlike the the France vs Netherlands one I was banking on being a good watch but which stretched my patience fairly quickly. I ended up dipping in and out of it during advert breaks whilst watching other stuff and I'm glad I didn't persevere.

The VAR disallowed Netherlands goal was highly questionable though - the goalkeeper would never have got to the ball whether the player ruled offside had been there or not.

Sunday Edit
Good games yesterday but even though I enjoyed Portugal vs.Turkey which featured a bizarre own goal and some very good defending from 41 year old 'Pepe', the standout was probably Belgium vs. Romania. Some Spurs interest too: Dragusin and our ex-Spurs and old-favourite defender Jan Vertonghen still putting in an excellent performance.

[EJG1980]

Sunday Edit
Good games yesterday but even though I enjoyed Portugal vs.Turkey which featured a bizarre own goal and some very good defending from 41 year old 'Pepe', the standout was probably Belgium vs. Romania. Some Spurs interest too: Dragusin and our ex-Spurs and old-favourite defender Jan Vertonghen still putting in an excellent performance.

I was going to mention Super Jan, a great rolling back the years performance. There was one moment in the second half where Romania would have been through for a one on one chance but he put in a great last ditch challenge to just nick the ball away from the attacker. Another good display from Dragusin too.

After their lacklustre opening match Belgium sorted themselves out and turned up for this one, but Romania still did very well (especially in the second half) and pushed Belgium all the way until they finally got that goal to make it 2-0. You couldn't ask for a more finely poised group with all four teams on 3 points going into the final matches.

Feeling a bit sorry for Georgia as they've been so close yet so far in both their matches: inches away from a last minute equaliser in the first match, and then yesterday a massive one on one chance to win their second match with the last kick of the game and their striker blazes it over. Could have easily been on 4 points and instead they're on 1.

Edit: almost an hour in to Scotland vs Hungary, I think Ossie might be drafting another tweet

Yikes, I went out to get a drink and completely missed what happened to that Hungarian player. The fact that they covered him with sheets as they took him off was a bad sign Hope he’s okay and it was more precaution than necessity.

Well at least the injury time was fairly exciting!

Good news that the Hungary player who was injured will be okay, although won't play any further part in the tournament:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cnkkk8qng7lo

[fallenangle]

After the first half, in fact during it too, I was switching between the Scotland game and the Switzerland vs. Germany one hoping for something interesting to happen. It didn't so I watched something else completely different and just dipped in and out of the second half of both games during advert breaks. So I too missed the injury incident but I guessed there had been something as they were still playing the 10mins of extra time when I went back over to check the result.

Good to hear the player taken off was just about OK.

Scotland yet again failed to produce a decent performance at a major tournament - disappointing.

However I was bit peeved though that in the run up to the game David Moyes was whingeing about Scottish grass roots football not having the funding it needs. This was used to explain the lack of Scottish players in the Premiership (at an all time low apparently) and consequently fewer players use to playing at the level required to achieve international tournament success.

Sounded like he was setting up an excuse for Scotland failing to get out of the group stage before they'd even come onto the pitch. It also had an Anglophobic political whiff about it too. Effectively blaming the 'English' government for the quality of Scottish professional football is a bit of a stretch.

[EJG1980]

I didn't hear what he said but there probably is a BIT more to it than just the UK government underfunding them (and I say that as someone who is all in favour of slating our current government, roll on 4th July ).

I did have a quick google and saw an article from this year that said the UK government had made £300 million available for upgrading grass roots facilities across the UK, with £20 million going to Scotland. Meaning Scotland is getting about 6.7% of the money when it makes up 8% of the population, so it does look like they've been slightly underfunded re that specific pot of money. At the same time, the Scottish government itself has sold off over 100 playing fields since 2010, which is bound to have an effect on grass roots football in Scotland, and they can't blame anyone else for that.

So I'd be very unsurprised if there were more UK wide schemes where Scotland probably should have got more money, but at the same time, they've also made poor decisions of their own that will have negatively affected grass roots football.

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Watched the Italy vs Croatia match last night, which wasn't the best match but at the same time managed to be engaging because of the situation in the group that each team was in, and the way it played out. Plus, any chance to watch Luka Modric, I'll take it.

Shame we almost certainly won't be seeing him again at this tournament though, Croatia need a number of results to go their way to qualify as one of the best third placed teams. A couple of those results will probably come off, but they also need England to beat Slovenia by four goals, which seems a stretch at the moment.

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Austria won’t win it, but after their good performance against France and today against Poland, they’d definitely be a potential banana skin should they get through to the knockout rounds.

Maybe they’ll be a little bit more than just a banana skin, great match between Austria and Netherlands and a top notch performance from Austria, they’re a really good team to watch. Topping a group which has France and Netherlands in it is a real achievement and they’ve done it in style. Nobody will be looking forward to playing them in the knockouts.

I think this means we (assuming we don’t mess up against Slovenia) will play Netherlands in the second round. It also means that France, Portugal, Spain and Germany are all in the other side of the draw to England, meaning we couldn’t meet any of them until the final, again, assuming we top our group.

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Blimey, that England match was a slog to get through. Didn’t help that it came after such a good match before it. Shows what a difference the manager can make, as Rangnick has Austria playing great football and performing as more than the sum of their parts, whereas Southgate has got players who are playing starring roles for the likes of Madrid and Munich and Man City looking like strangers and playing uninspiring football.

Of course, Southgate will say top of the group and in the next round, stop complaining But we’ve made very hard work of one of the most favourable groups in the competition.