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    Yup, it was probably the perfect display for that kind of match. Didn't go over the top and expend energy without need, but played very professionally and more than well enough to get a very comfortable victory.

    Lots of good performances but I'll just mention Carlos Vinicius who was very good on his debut. Early days but he looks like a very capable player. Missed an early header but his two assists for the goals were excellent, especially the deft header to set up Son for the third. Would have had a hat-trick of assists had Dele Alli scored his chance in the second half. Held the ball up well, good link up play, and made some nice runs.

    Also, Matt Doherty had his best game for us so far. Linked up well with Bale, put in a lovely cross for the aforementioned Vinicius header, helped set up the third goal, and generally looked much more at home.

    It would have been nice if Jack Clarke could have scored with the late chance he had, would have been a great moment for him, but you can't have everything And we got a clean sheet!

    Good stuff, and hopefully we can keep up the winning ways against Burnley on Monday.

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      Very tough match tonight but ground out a needed three points. Bit of a tepid first half, and I was hoping it would be like the Southampton away match where we had an average first half and then blitzed them in the second, but if anything I think Burnley were the better side for good chunks of the second half. Not amazing play, but I felt our defence was under more pressure than theirs, though we coped with it well.

      A moment of class from (who else) the Kane and Son combo saw us home though, with Kane's superb headed assist and Son's lovely lofted headed finish. Actually, two moments of class from Kane, as he made a brilliant goal line clearance when the score was still 0-0. He's on top form at both ends of the pitch!

      Lamela was very good when he came on, his energy and general bastardry made us (gradually) start looking more creative; the tempo of the team went up and we started getting better movement. And, of course, he swung in a great corner for the goal.

      It's only one match but I thought our set piece defending was a lot better today too; Burnley got a few corners after we scored and we dealt with them very well, a couple of really good claims from Lloris to calm the nerves. I thought we coped pretty well with Burnley's physical forward play, and even if not playing great the team were well up for the fight.

      So yeah, nothing like scoring 5 against Saints or 6 against Man Utd, but to play well below our best and still come away with the three points is very pleasing.

      Edit: something I forgot to mention last night, yesterday's match showed how our squad depth has really improved thanks to the summer transfer window. Sanchez, Winks, Dele and Bergwijn not even making it on to the bench. Wouldn't be surprised if we saw them involved on the pitch on Thursday though.

      ----------

      Thursday edit: poor evening at the office, just off our game throughout and Royal Antwerp deserved the three points. If we'd nicked a point at the end I don't think it would have been quite lucky.

      Jose made four subs at half time (and then brought on Kane ten minutes after that for good measure) to underline what he thought of the first half performance, and while we did get better with the likes of Son and Kane on, it was still quite frustrating. Antwerp were excellent at the back and when we did work good positions we just couldn't find the final pass.

      Not a good night for our defence either. Not in general play so much, but mistakes, lapses, switching off at a vital moment, to hand Antwerp chances out of nowhere. They had about three, I think, superb clear cut chances in the second half to make it 2-0 that they missed, but we didn't take advantage of that good fortune.

      Don't wanna go too overboard as it's our first loss since the opening day of the season, but it was a disappointing evening, especially the lack of concentration at the back after the hard fought clean sheet on Monday. Ah well, onto the next one!
      Last edited by EJG1980; 29-10-2020, 20:21.

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        Disappointing result against Antwerp.

        Having just watched the highlights, disappointing performance too, particularly in defence. Could have been worse but we also could have salvaged a point if we'd been a little more lucky.
        Last edited by fallenangle; 29-10-2020, 23:33.

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          Not a great performance again but we ground out the win and move up to second in the table, for a little while at least

          The first fifteen minutes were actually really good, passing the ball around with a nice zip, good off the ball movement, nice tempo, and we deserved to go 1-0 up. For some reason we became very lethargic after that and most of the good stuff vanished from our performance. Credit to Brighton though as they got hold of the ball and played some really good stuff, they just lacked a cutting edge up front as Lloris had little to do, but despite that it was pretty uncomfortable for us.

          Majority of the second half Brighton played the better stuff too, but they were lucky with the goal. Clear as day foul on Hojbjerg in the build up: both commentators said clear foul, the VAR told the ref to look at it on the monitor so they thought it was a foul, but bizarrely the ref didn't change his mind after reviewing it on the monitor. I can only assume that he didn't have the guts to admit that he'd got it wrong.

          Thankfully we still managed to snatch the win. Lamela almost got us back ahead with a superb long range strike that hit the post (and almost an own goal when the ball came back out to a defender who fluffed the clearance), and then Kane hit the post too, but we got a bit of history with Bale's first goal since re-joining Spurs to give us the three points. Fantastic moment. We saw the game out pretty well once we went back ahead, no massive scares.

          Gotta get back to the excellent football we were playing before the past two or three matches, but it's pleasing to get up to second even when we've still got a few things to sort out in the team and we’re not at our best every week. Massive potential in the team if we can start playing at our best more consistently and keep the concentration levels up at the back.
          Last edited by EJG1980; 01-11-2020, 22:30.

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            Just watched the highlights on MotD.

            Definite foul on Hojbjerg but I think they were right about HK going looking for a penalty. It is still a foul if a player clatters into you accidentally even after getting the ball.

            Great to see Bale scoring and Spurs second in the Premiership. Leicester and, bizarrely, Aston Villa could still overtake us as they both have a game in hand. The two teams on eleven points both have much worse goal difference so we're top four whatever happens.

            Early days still but we're in touch and in the mix which is always a good thing despite some lack lustre performances recently.

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              Much better in Europe this evening compared to last week. Good performances from the starters, and the subs who came on the in the second half did well, aside from perhaps Vinicius who was a little bit below the level of the rest of the team.

              Unlucky not to keep a clean sheet, a 1 in 100 deflection from a blocked shot that played in their striker. Should have scored more than three from the chances we created, but the win and improved performance was the main thing.

              Harry Kane now has 200 goals in all competitions for Spurs after tonight, nice and neatly in 300 games. Just 9 more goals needed to overtake Bobby Smith and 67 to overtake Jimmy Greaves and become our all time top scorer. Absolutely phenomenal.

              Edit: another stat I just saw about Kane's goals, they're a perfect split of 100 goals at home and 100 away.
              Last edited by EJG1980; 06-11-2020, 11:45.

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                Just got around to watching the highlights and it looked like another Spurs performance where they didn't need to get out of 2nd gear for most of the game. Very nice build up play with Bale being significantly involve. He's slowly getting back up to speed. It augers well.

                Yes shame about their goal but what was a little more concerning was the goal scoring opportunities not taken. There were at least three other good chances to score that were wasted and that excludes HK hitting the post.

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                  Get in! Pretty much a carbon copy of the Burnley match with us being under par, a really well organised and disciplined opponent, and a moment from one of our best players to eek out a hard fought win.

                  Top of the league, for a short while at least Hopefully Wolves can get at least a draw against Leicester and then Man City can do likewise against Liverpool.

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                    Again I forgot this was an early match.

                    Very welcome result even if the goal was a little late in the day.

                    Leicester, as usual , raining on our parade, Foxes 1 - 0 up against Wolves at half-time.

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                      Ah well, nice while it lasted

                      Obviously as long as you’re “up there” your exact position in early November isn’t too important. Massive run of fixtures coming up after the international break, Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Palace, Liverpool, Leicester, Wolves, with Europa League and Carabao Cup thrown in for good measure.

                      If we can come through that run of games against so many top of the table rivals, and still be right up there in contention for top spot, things are going to start to get interesting.

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                        It's an incredibly early shout, I know, but given that Liverpool and Man City have players dropping like flies due to injuries, this season might well be Spurs' best chance to win the league (and we all know that this is what Jose is aiming for - his ego won't be able to resist the possibility of being the first manager to win the PL with two different clubs!).

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                          Nah, Leicester will pull ahead and stay there as in 2015/16 and Spurs will choke in the last third of the season and end up second again.

                          I noticed this that bizarrely at the if Aston Villa beat MC, with their game in hand, they'll go top on goal difference. That's an unexpected new element to the top four mix.

                          Still early days.

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                            Well if Spurs and Leicester stay in the title race all the way to the end of the season, it could make for an interesting final day, with our last match being away to Leicester. Hopefully we'll have wrapped it up by then and they'll be giving us a guard of honour when we take to the pitch

                            Still way too early, but if it does continue to be an open season with lots of teams in the mix, Mourinho's experience and winning knowhow could be invaluable. And if Kane and Son stay injury free and continue their current phenomenal form all the way through the season, we've got the firepower to beat anyone.

                            Even with injuries I'd still be surprised if it isn't Liverpool or Man City who lift the title, but you never know. As said above, crucial run of games coming up after the international break. Do badly in those and we'll look like we're out of it, come through that run in great shape and maybe we can start thinking unthinkable thoughts

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                              Leicester have injuries at the back currently. Then again so do Liverpool. The match between the two is going to be interesting next weekend but I fear Liverpool will win easily like last season. They've been managing the Europa league games so far, and hopefully this weekend will give players a rest (bar Jonny Evans!) and allow some to recover. But yeah Spurs are looking strong so far.
                              Lie with passion and be forever damned...

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                                Sad news about Ray Clemence who has just died after a long struggle with cancer.

                                Great servant to Spurs, Liverpool and, of course, England.

                                I saw him play at old Wembley several times when he and Peter Shilton were vying for the same job. Arguably at his best the number one goalkeeper in the world.

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