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    Originally posted by fallenangle View Post
    Watched Ghana v. Egypt from the ACN yesterday - first half just as boring as an earlier match I'd watched, can't remember which. But second half was a pretty good watch for any neutral. Ended up 2 - 2 with some good goals and fun to see defensive howlers.
    I haven’t watched any matches yet, but as Pape Matar Sarr is starting, I’ve just put on Senegal vs Cameroon.

    Edit: that was a pretty good match. Senegal on top for pretty much all of it, got a deserved 2-0 lead (with an assist on the first goal for Pape Sarr), but then came very close to throwing it away at the end.

    Cameroon grabbed a goal back with their first shot on target with 5 minutes to go, and then with only a couple of minutes of injury time left Spurs old boy N'Koudou missed a glorious chance to snatch a very unlikely 2-2 draw. Senegal then promptly went down the other end and finally killed the game off with the goal to make it 3-1.

    Fine, fine margins, such little space between a well deserved win and a frustrating throw away draw.
    Last edited by EJG1980; 19-01-2024, 19:05.

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      Thing I meant mention about that Ghana v Egypt match and I posted here is because that too has a Spurs link.

      Something I didn't know when I started to watch it that the Ghana manager is now Spurs old boy ex-player, coach and assistant/caretaker manager Chris Hughton, better known in more recent years for his time as manager at Norwich and Brighton with a short stint at Nottingham Forest as well.

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        Originally posted by fallenangle View Post
        Thing I meant mention about that Ghana v Egypt match and I posted here is because that too has a Spurs link.

        Something I didn't know when I started to watch it that the Ghana manager is now Spurs old boy ex-player, coach and assistant/caretaker manager Chris Hughton, better known in more recent years for his time as manager at Norwich and Brighton with a short stint at Nottingham Forest as well.
        Doh, I actually read about that just before the tournament kicked off, then somehow forgot, and now you've reminded me again

        Petty much his whole playing career with Spurs was when I was too young / hadn't started properly supporting the team, but he was on the coaching staff for almost the first 15 years where I was properly following the team week in, week out. He was assistant manager to Martin Jol in the period that started reestablishing us as a top six team, one of my favourite periods supporting Spurs, so I'll always think fondly of him. And he always comes across extremely well whenever he speaks.

        Veering onto a different topic, I see that we've let Ivan Perisic go on loan to Hajduk Split for the rest of the season, and then he'll join them permanently as a free agent in the summer. Seems like we've done it as a favour to him as he's touch and go to be fit again this season, so we've let him go back home early so he gets a head start on settling into his new club. Apparently he's accepted a wage of 1 euro a week from Hajduk, which is a very nice gesture from him.

        It's a real shame he got that injury as he was making a real contribution at the start of the season (he appeared in six out of six matches before his injury) and Ange said that had he not got that season ending injury he would have been a really valuable member of the squad this season. Fitting at least that his final match for us was the 2-1 win against Sheffield United, where he came off the bench to provide a trademark pinpoint cross for Richarlison's equaliser.

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          Sorry to see IP go - a world class player and when he was on the pitch you could almost guarantee to see some excellent crosses just asking to be converted into goals. Not enough were though.

          But if he wants to leave then it would be churlish under the circumstances not to do it this way and part on good terms.

          Thursday Edit

          Turned out as a very short lived Spurs connection to Ghana in the AFCON - Ghana went out in the group stage and promptly sacked Chris Hughton!

          Ghana sack boss Chris Hughton after the Black Stars suffered a group-stage exit from the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
          Last edited by fallenangle; 25-01-2024, 12:50.

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            A bit gutted to go out of the FA Cup last night to such a late goal, when we were so close to forcing a replay. I think we improved in the second half, had some okay periods where we had the ball, but we couldn't convert any promising positions into promising chances. Can't fault the hard work of the team, but we didn't manage to get going enough beyond that, and as Ange said most of our hard work was going into staying in it rather than hurting Man City. They deserved the win, just a shame we couldn't quite give ourselves a second chance in a replay.

            No shame in going out to the best team in the country though, it's a bit easier to take than our recent exits at the hands of lower league opposition! At least we had the positive of Maddison finally being back from injury, that'll be a massive boost for the rest of the league campaign.​

            Originally posted by fallenangle View Post
            Turned out as a very short lived Spurs connection to Ghana in the AFCON - Ghana went out in the group stage and promptly sacked Chris Hughton!
            That's a shame for him but pretty much any team going out in the group stage of a tournament will change the boss, especially these days with most countries / clubs having a revolving door for managers. He did slightly improve on Ghana's previous performance though: in 2021 they finished bottom of the group with one point, this time they came third with two points.

            Moving to current Spurs players, at least one of Sarr and Bissouma will be coming home early. Senegal will play Mali in the quarter-finals if both get through their round-of-16 matches, so one of them is definitely coming home at that point. Of course we could get them both back even earlier if they both fail in the ro16. Even though it would be nice to have them back asap, I think I actually prefer for them to do as well as possible as I think the psychological boost of doing well in a really big tournament will benefit us more than them missing one or two less games for Spurs.
            Last edited by EJG1980; 27-01-2024, 11:59.

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              Whoops
              Last edited by EJG1980; 27-01-2024, 11:58. Reason: Accidental double post!

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                Defensively last night I thought we were pretty good throughout although that insistence of playing out from the back against all common sense, particularly when one of the defenders is surrounded by three pressing attacking players, is really stupid.

                It is the current fashion, I know, because statistically you keep the ball for a higher percentage of the time compared to the keeper just punting up field. But there are occasions when it is simply not worth the risk.

                The ITV pundits had it right about Timo Werner; he was making some great runs into space from the wings but no Spurs midfielder seemed to notice. That was really frustrating along with our lack of attempts on goal in general.

                Still as you say losing to one of the best teams in the Premiership and Europe was always the most likely result but to go out so late and to a minor goalkeeping decision error was a bit disappointing.
                Last edited by fallenangle; 28-01-2024, 15:05.

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                  Originally posted by EJG1980 View Post
                  Moving to current Spurs players, at least one of Sarr and Bissouma will be coming home early. Senegal will play Mali in the quarter-finals if both get through their round-of-16 matches, so one of them is definitely coming home at that point. Of course we could get them both back even earlier if they both fail in the ro16. Even though it would be nice to have them back asap, I think I actually prefer for them to do as well as possible as I think the psychological boost of doing well in a really big tournament will benefit us more than them missing one or two less games for Spurs.
                  No Spurs vs Spurs QF at the Africa Cup of Nations as Pape Sarr's Senegal went out on penalties to Ivory Coast. Sarr himself had a very good game though, and also scored a very good penalty in the shootout. A shame for Pape but it'll be good to have him back. Wouldn't be surprised if he's available to play against Everton at the weekend.

                  Another two Spurs players in knockout action today, Bissouma for Mali vs Burkina Faso and Son against Saudi Arabia in the Asian Championships.​

                  Edit: Bissouma and Son both progress! Bissouma didn't get off the bench in Mali's win (I read he's been ill for most of the tournament which has limited his game time) and Son played and scored in shootout as South Korea beat Saudi Arabia on penalties. A close run thing for SK as they were 1-0 down and equalised in the tenth minute of injury time to force the match into extra time.

                  Mali vs Ivory Coast up next for Bissouma, while Son and South Korea face Australia; I wonder if Ange will be wishing Son good luck or not
                  Last edited by EJG1980; 30-01-2024, 19:14.

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                    I saw the Senegal v. Ivory Coast game; fair to good to watch as neutral and the penalty shootout was great fun as it often is even if you're not invested in the result. I guessed absolutely correctly who was going to miss even before his run up - his whole body language looked nervy.

                    Good win against Brentford last night; just what was needed but the first half was a bit of a mess, particularly after they scored. Second half: good Spurs appeared and ripped them a new one but the gifted goal made the last 20 minutes more difficult than it should have been.

                    Still its what we needed to keep us up there although I still think MC and Liverpool are going to open a gap between 2nd and 3rd which it will be very difficult to close now unless they make some unexpected mistakes and Spurs don't.

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                      Yeah, it's tough to see past either Liverpool or Man City winning it. Liverpool have got a lot of momentum at the moment and will possibly be extra galvanised by wanting to make sure Klopp leaves on a high, and Man City often become a steamroller in the second half of seasons AND they've got De Bruyne back from injury who has been missing for the past five months. But all we can do is worry about ourselves, win as many of our own matches as possible and see where it takes us.

                      I think Ange was correct after last night's match when he said that we got suckered in by Brentford's antics during the first half, and "spent more time talking to the referee than trying to play football". Good experience for a lot of young players though, just ignore any opposition attempts to wind you up and keep playing football, if you rise to it you'll play worse.

                      Whatever he said at half time (and his tactical changes of dropping Maddison deeper and telling the team to stop wasting our wingers) worked and the start of the second half we blitzed them with some absolutely superb football. The best move of the bunch didn't get a goal unfortunately, a beautiful move that ended with Kulusevski messing up what should have been a goal to make in 4-1, which would have made the end of the match a bit more comfortable.

                      I love the fact that Ange always takes the flake for any mistakes players make (such as Udogie last night) by saying that those mistakes come because of how he tells them to try and play, so put any blame on him. It must give the players a lot of confidence to keep trying instead of becoming afraid to make mistakes and going into their shells, when they know the manger has their back like that.

                      I see that Son used the same trick with South Korea, as one of their players said that before the shootout Son told them not to worry about missing, he's the captain so if they go out he'll take all the responsibility.

                      Quick shoutout for Timo Werner, who did very well yesterday. Three assists in three matches already, and that's with him and the team still learning each other's games. If he keeps it up then I think it'll be a no-brainer to make his move permanent in the summer for the 15 million Euros we'd have to pay. It'll be interesting when Son gets back though, as Werner is doing well on the left and Richy is doing well as the central striker, so which one makes way for Son?

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                        Ange must have taken on board the comments on Saturday's MotD about Timo Werner's excellent running into space down the right wing and coming in from there too. It was all very Son-like and now they've realised that it could prove very interesting to see who goes where when Son returns.

                        I think TW is just too good to be left out and maybe it will be the use of an overlapping wing back on the left that is sacrificed to accommodate TW in the left side midfield position interchanging with Son.

                        Johnson, who has been good recently, might lose out and be used more as a super-sub, particularly if Son and/or TW aren't on form in any game.

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                          Certainly a lot of options for Ange to ponder, which will make a nice change as for the past few months the team has often picked itself due to the lack of players available.

                          It'll be nice to have various positions where multiple players have good claims to be starters, which (touch wood) we should have once all our players are back from international duty. Which in turn also means that we'll have a lot more options on the bench who have the ability to come on and change a game.

                          International edit: Sonny and South Korea through to the semi-finals in similar nail-biting fashion to the previous round. Once again SK were 1-0 down and on the verge of elimination, and once again they scored deep into injury time to take it to extra time. It didn't go all the way to penalties this time though as Son scored a lovely free kick in ET to win it for South Korea.



                          Would be great for Sonny to go on and win it now, and with Jurgen Klinsmann managing SK we've got an extra reason to back them.

                          Surprise transfer edit: I guess this is an early summer signing rather than a late January one, seeing as he's joining the club on 1st July, but we've announced the signing of young Swedish midfielder Lucas Bergvall from Djurgarden.

                          We are delighted to announce that we have reached agreement for Lucas Bergvall to join the Club from Swedish Allsvenskan side Djurgarden.

                          Apparently for most of January it looked like he was nailed on to go to Barcelona, then about a week ago there were reports he was also talking to us but it was still expected to be a formality that he'd sign for Barca, then a couple of days ago that changed to it being 50/50 between Spurs and Barca, and then last night it was reported that he'd rejected Barca to sign for Spurs!

                          My football watching doesn't extend to the Swedish league, but followers of youth football are very excited and he's seen as the next big thing in Scandinavian football, lots of reporters saying it's a big coup for us to get him ahead of Barca. Already made his full Sweden international debut at the age of 17 last month. He does look very exciting and skilful from the video clips I've watched, very much a bums off seats player.

                          It was all done and announced on his 18th birthday, not a bad way to spend it, signing a contract for a Premier League team
                          Last edited by EJG1980; 03-02-2024, 11:50.

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                            Sounds like an interesting player and an interesting decision to make coming to Spurs instead of Barca. Hope it works out for him and us.

                            Thanks for the South Korea clip - lovely goal.

                            I was watching old Spurs on The Big Match Revisited earlier this morning. 12.06.80 at Anfield - guess who won 2 - 1? At that time it was 68 years Spurs hadn't won at Anfield and another 5 years after that before it finally happened!

                            Extraordinary iconic players on the pitch for that clash: Glen Hoddle, Garth Crooks, Chris Hughton, Steve Perryman, Ricky Villa, Osvaldo Ardiles, Ray Clemence (in his Liverpool days), Kenny Dalglish, Ray Kennedy, Graham Souness and Alan Hansen.

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                              Gah, three points today would have put us in a very good position, very annoying to drop to a draw at the last moment. We started dealing with their set-pieces much better in the second half after they had caused us a lot of problems with them in the in the first half, so of course the very last one they have we let it slip and concede the goal.

                              I think we were a bit lucky to go in ahead at half time as in-between our early and late goals I thought Everton were the better side. Second half I thought overall we were better, but didn't create enough chances to get the killer third goal, and we paid for it right at the death.

                              Still, these things happen, you're not gonna win every match, take it on the chin, learn from it, move on. A great couple of goals from Richarlison though, both fantastic in their own way, that's 9 goals in his last 8 league matches now. We've won our last four in a row at home in the league, and we've now got three home matches in a row, so hopefully we can take advantage of that and keep that winning run going.

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                                To lose it so late - gutting indeed.

                                I was hoping that Sheffield Utd would do us a favour against AV but, as expected, they didn't and so with the draw we slip out of the top four.

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