Howard Webb has been named referee for our Premier League fixture, this weekend, against Blackburn Rovers.
Really? Really?????
Why oh why????!!!! Liverpool’s failure to nail the 3 points at Wigan last night was a bit of much needed breathing space for Spurs. But now, with this bit of news, God knows what good could possibly come out of this match. Am I being dramatic? Yes, and I don’t believe I need to justify the reason. You have all seen it before with your own eyes…
A quick salute to two players after last night’s FA Cup match against Fulham. What they did to give us a shot at the Cup:
So we didn’t walk away with the win, but at least we’re taking it back to the Lane. For the rest of the squad, I wasn’t overly impressed with the lot of them, although Bale still managed to maintain an impressive string of consistent performances. We’re still in it!
COYS!
Cheeky!
http://www.arsenal.com/match-menu/171859/ladies/tottenham-hotspur-v-arsenal-ladies
Spurs’ ladies felt the wrath of bad karma coming back to haunt THFC after the Wigan thrashing. Could the spell be cleared and potentially a win secured today at Craven Cottage?
Praying…
When the boy’s on fire, he’s almost impossible to stop. We’ve witnessed that first hand.
Think back to his hat-trick against Hull, where he seemed to possess sublime skill scoring from the most unthinkable angles. His 5 against Wigan, making him only the third player in Premier League history to score that many goals in a game.
Defoe normally comes off as a forward who needs to score early on in a match. If so, beware! But what happens when he doesn’t? Frustration creeps in. It shows. It showed against Egypt yesterday.
Now, many will argue that his contribution to the team is priceless, and I cannot agree more. JD ranks 3rd in the league for goals scored. He is a major threat in our attacking game, keeping all defenders on alert at all times. We love him dearly for that.
But out of the 6 matches played in January, Defoe contributed a total of only 2 goals.
February? 5 goals in 7 matches, with 3 of those coming out of his hat-trick against Leeds United. However, we still drew against Villa – a performance which we deserved to win – and lost to Wolves. Both were matches where we needed our prolific goalscorer to shine in.
Every player will drop in form at one point or another. With Defoe, when he struggles with a dip in form, he’s out of goals and he’s out of ideas. I’m just asking for a bit more consistency.
Is that too much to ask for?
Our good friend, Michael Lacquiere, over at “All Action, No Plot” has been working for quite some time now on a Spurs publication titled “Spurs’ Cult Heroes”! The book tells the tales of the club’s “20 greatest fans’ icons and discovers the true stories about exactly what double-winning Dave Mackay said to Billy Bremner whilst grabbing him round the throat, which legend dented the FA Cup in post-match celebrations, why Gazza once turned up to training plastered in GBP50 notes”, and much more!
I am an avid reader of the AANP blog, and I am quite confident that Michael’s new book will be a joy to read. Spurs’ Cult Heroes is available for pre-order now from Amazon, Tesco, Waterstones, Play and Tottenhamhotspur.com.
The injury list continues to pile up at Tottenham and it’s as discomforting to me as a massive hemorrhoid after some spicy Thai food. Beating Everton last night was a delight to watch, simply because our Eastern European family members (3 Croats and a Russian) seemed to possess a certain mojo beyond anyone else’s comprehension (except for Bale that is – this kid is impressive).
Everyone else in the team put in a solid performance, although Gomes had a few skeptical moments. What baffles me about him is his bad decision making during easy moments… then he comes back with a few breathtaking saves, when you would least expect anyone to do so, without breaking a sweat. I will never understand you H. But I do love your presence between the goal posts.
Palacios played one of his best games of the season. His tackles were timed to perfection, although his passing still needs a bit of work. Does anyone else think his ball handling skills have improved in 2010?
The loss of Huddlestone could have a dramatic impact on our team’s passing game. Tommy has been great at midfield, which nobody could have predicted during the past summer. If the knock he received last night is going to keep him out for a lengthy period, then it must be time to call back Jaime O’Hara. Let’s face it, Kaboul isn’t a CM. He did manage to pull it together after some time on the pitch, but he shouldn’t be a long-term plan. Jenas will be going under the knife soon, so he’s not the solution either. We didn’t sign Sandro, obviously can’t use him. Kranjcar can slot into that position but I’m not so sure we want to use him there either. Modric? Possibly, if Bentley is out on the right, but not a great solution when we need work horses in the midfield.
Jamie does possess that “blue-collar” attitude. I think he has had some positive first team experience out at Pompey, which we could use to our benefit at this point.
Plus, Jamie’s a true lilywhite at heart. He could give this chance his all.
“Hello Jamie… it’s Tottenham. Time for you to hang up that Pompey jersey and come home.”
“TAKE THAT HARRY!”
You know that was the first thought that crossed Pav’s mind when he scored! He was proving a point to everyone in the DW Stadium last night: opponents, supporters, teammates, and most of all: Harry!
The relationship has been a rocky one from the start. Pav’s inability to come to grips with life in London and the English language (food too apparently) pushed him into the dark pecking order abyss. Defoe was paired with Robbie Keane, while Crouchie was eventually brought in and, almost instantly, given a shot as starter. Naturally, that would destroy anyone’s morale.
Numerous reports circulated the news that Pav and Harry were heading towards an ugly divorce. Fans were not happy.
His last performance should have been enough to warrant him a shot at a starting role. Unfortunately not. I actually thought that Gudjohnsen would get the nod somewhere at the 60th minute mark last night. But the fans wanted none other than Pav and they made it very clear. Apparently there were chants from the away supporters (I love you) for “Super Pav” way before his introduction. Now, whether Harry listened to the fans is one thing. If he did, it was a noble move; swallow your pride and give a chance to someone your supporters want to see on the pitch.
Well, it is now time to give the boy his chance. In his last two appearances, he has scored 3 times (I think that’s correct). Crouch has been sort of ineffective in the last few matches and we need someone else to aid with the scoring. He must start alongside Defoe against Bolton on Wednesday. HE MUST HARRY.
Note: If there is anything wrong with the Russian title, I blame Google Language Tools
Update: just visited AANP and saw that he also put together a 9-point wish list… I know we are addressing the matter in two very different ways but his is probably better lol
Straight to the point post here everyone. 10 things that could go wrong today:
Short, sweet and straight to the point. I might seem pessimistic, but I just want to make sure that I am prepared for any upsetting events. Can we win today? Of course. We always can. But I’m not prepared to predict anything. One game at a time.
COYS!
Once again, I have managed to let my disappointment with Tottenham get in the way of cranking out consistent blog posts. Can you blame me? In my eyes, we have been performing up to the standards of a lower side, and I don’t mean top 10. Harsh? Not at all. Especially when you know that the boys have the potential to play some beautiful footy (i.e. Man City, Aston Villa). But through all of the “aargh’s” and “for f#^k’s sake’s” that have been constantly oozing out of my mouth, like a foaming-at-the-mouth heroin overdose victim, the clouds have managed to part for one.
Bale. Or as the creative fans like to put it: “Bale, Bale, Bale”.
In every match he has played till today in place of Assou-Ekotto, he has easily been our best performer on the pitch.
Defence
The boy likes to run and is a true LWB. Bale has managed to fine-tune his skills to time his tackles almost perfectly. He has outperformed the likes of Daws and Ledley game-in game-out. But the one trait that I just cannot get enough of, is the boy’s ability to leap / out-jump his opponent when challenging for headers. I remember watching one of the Leeds United fixtures, and watching him dominate headers crossed into his side consistently. Leeds then stopped putting the ball in the air, playing it into the area on the ground. Bale had that covered too. The ball never made it to the left side much after that.
Attack
The boy likes to run and is a true LWB. I said it again. Bale knows when to push the opposition. It seems that at times when our attack slows, he manages to reinvigorate it and speed up the tempo. He stands out so much that he seems to have stolen some of Modric’s thunder, when in reality he should be a major asset to the Croatian’s game. When you think about it, Bale has the required attributes to give Modric the comfort of dropping into the middle, while he assumes left wing duties. Why isn’t it working? It is, but Modric isn’t delivering… yet.
The concern
Who will come knocking this summer? Can we hold onto him? What will happen when BAE comes back? Could Harry possibly bench Bale with the way he has been playing? I have a headache just thinking about all of this. What I can’t help thinking about is how many of us were ready to give up on this young talent (luckily, I can say I wasn’t one of them which is surprising). Makes me think that it would be unfair to judge some of our other squad members so prematurely without giving them a real chance CHANCE to shine. Bale has gotten it. He has taken it by the balls.
COYS!
A bit of a contradiction, but this was a fantastic match to watch. It ended in an unfortunate draw for a Tottenham side which assumed the Tony Soprano role of bossing the opposition around. The opposition here being a quality Aston Villa.
The 1st half was intense right from the start. Villa’s counter-attacking was constantly met with clinical defending, instantly mirrored with a wave of Spurs counter-attacking. Unfortunately, to no avail.
Crouch was a major weapon in the 1st. Villa had little or no answer for our long range passing game to the lovable giant. They seemed to rarely get a touch on the ball. We had a foot in every direction they attempted a pass. On the attack, Spurs were much more composed and tactical in the build up of play. A 4-touch combo involving (in order) Bentley, Crouch, King and Defoe at the 40th minute was Spurs best chance of the half.
When the 2nd half whistle arrived, I was praying for more tenacity over the next 45 minutes. Was it too much to ask for? Am I a greedy supporter? Not if you compare me to the 30-odd thousand fans at the Lane. Greedy and smug bastards. I love each and every one of you.
A resurgent Villa side came about. Not so much on the counter attack as one would expect, but trying to use their forwards to draw fouls in dangerous places. Two close set pieces and they were left with nothing.
Defencively, they accomplished all they set out for. Keep a clean sheet and maintain momentum for their 4th spot run.
Palacios was doing his job in the midfield. On the attack though, his passes were quite weak. He managed to be at the right place at the right time, but then he seemed to taint it with Zokora-esque decision making. His role is all about heart and intimidation. Check on the list for both of those attributes.
Modric was a delight, but needs to work on his finishing. Add a little more muscle in his shots and he could be a major threat within shooting range.
“Boy wonder” Bale was super-impressive. BAE must feel nervous watching these spectacular performances he’s putting in consistently. Bale made Ashley Young look amateurish at best.
So at the end of the day, was today’s match a disappointment? We did enough to warrant the win, but without goals being scored we sealed a brilliant display but not a brilliant victory. Still, this could have been one of our best performances in a long time. If we manage to play like this week-in week-out, we could very well be on our way to the Champions League. That’s if we score, of course.
What did we lack? I can’t say it enough but there is a need for another instinctual finisher. I’m not going to go on and on over this issue; the window is closed and we must make with what we have. We can do it.
What did they lack? Defence being the exception, they lacked everything. “Are you West Ham in disguise… Boring boring Villa.”
Classic.
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