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Match Report: Liverpool 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur

February 7th, 2012 Posted in Articles, Match Reports, Premier League
Feb, 07 2012
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THFC1882 present a match report by Anthony Lombardi

Liverpool and Tottenham: Both Clubs Fail to Dare and To Do.

 

Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur drew 0-0 at Anfield, in a tight Premier League encounter that neither team wanted to lose, or seemed determined enough to try and win.

The hosts seemed happy to limit the visitor’s options in attack and try to nick a goal through a moment of brilliance or luck. Unfortunately for the Reds, their starting 11 had both of these in short supply.

As both sets of supporters drifted off after the final whistle, there was no doubting the happier of the two. The Liverpool faithful have now had to endure eight home draws this season, a record that for a team aiming for top is well below par.

Tottenham came into this encounter shorn of Redknapp’s presence, due to adverse weather conditions at John Lennon airport, as well as key first team players. These factors clearly affected Spurs who lacked the swagger and style that has come to symbolize their 2011/2012 season

The White Hart Lane outfit has exposed countless teams this year by stretching them across the pitch. Lightening fast wingers Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon have forced teams to double up on them, leaving Luka Modric and Rafa Van der Vaart to expose the extra space. Last night however, with Bale central and Modric and Niko Krancjar offering no penetration wide, Liverpool were able to play narrow close the space, forcing Spurs into a long ball game.

Liverpool, who despite certain deficiencies in attack, are blessed with a wonderful centre back pairing in Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel. These two kept Emmanuel Adebayor and later Louis Saha in check for the entire game. Ably supported by Glen Johnson and Martin Kelly, the Reds back four was tested only once in 90 minutes, when a long ball sent Gareth Bale through one on one with Pepe Reina, who saved well from the Welshman..

The Reds will without doubt return to training today knowing that had they been braver and technically better in the final third, they could have claimed the two extra points. Target man Andy Carroll, who over the last few weeks seemed to be returning to his Newcastle best, was once again wasteful in and around the area. The £35 Million striker won his fair share of headers and on occasion caused some problems for Michael Dawson and Ledley King, but when a great chance fell to him, he blazed it into the Kop. Champions League qualification, League titles and cups are earned on the ability of striker to convert a half chance, unfortunately for Liverpool, Carroll doesn’t look like that kind of striker.

With 25 minutes left on the clock, the game threatened to peter out, disappointing the capacity crowd and the millions of Sky viewers, but fortunately, Liverpool have their own headline maker, Uruguayan Luis Suarez.

Returning to the side after serving his 8 match ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra, Suarez was given a heroes welcome by the Anfield crowd, however, that was the highlight of his cameo. There is no doubting his ability or his commitment to Liverpool. With the ball he is has the skill to attack off either foot, and off the ball he is a man possessed hassling and harrying the opposition defenders. Last night though he reminded us why we haven’t missed him in 2012.

First there was the kick to Scott Parkers midriff long after the whistle that earned him a yellow card, then there were the on existent penalty claims, the screaming and histrionics. These may be accepted in South America, but as he found out when he called Evra a certain word, that is no defense in this country.

Redknapp and Dalglish will have a lot to ponder this week as their teams prepare to face Newcastle at home and Manchester United away respectively. With Chelsea and United sharing a point this weekend, there was a chance for both clubs to close the gap on the team above, but perhaps the biggest worry for both managers will be their teams inability to adapt over 90 minutes.

The Tottenham bench, for the first time in years looked lightweight. After the January departures of first team squad players and the loaning out of promising youngsters, the Spurs coaching staff had no real game changers to work with. This matter will be addressed once players return to fitness, but as last night proved, if Plan A doesn’t work, the Plan B is shaky at best.

Across the technical area, the same thought should have been settling on Dalglish.

In the early part of 2011, the legend reconstructed a stifled Roy Hodgson team in to a free flowing attacking unit. Maxi Rodriguez, Dirk Kuyt and former Red Raul Meireles were all grabbing goals both home and away. A Championship winning run of results reignited the hope within the club that Liverpool would once again be challenging rivals United at the top, but Dalglish’s masterplan has crumbled around him.

The purchases of Stuart Downing, Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson have failed to sparkle, each player has lost the attacking vigor that earned them the big price tags. Whilst captain and Talisman Steven Gerard, has become a shadow of the man that dragged his team to FA Cup and Champions League finals.

Perhaps it is time for Dalglish to give up on his summer experiment and revert back to his 2011 tactics, otherwise another year outside the top 5 beckons.

On reflection a draw was perhaps the fair result, but there remains the nagging thought for both set of fans, that had their club and manager believed, they would be two points better off today.

COYS

Anthony Lombardi (visit Anthony’s blog here and follow him on Twitter @ARLombardi )

 

 

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Match Preview: Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur

February 4th, 2012 Posted in Articles, Match Previews, Premier League
Feb, 04 2012
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THFC1882 brings another new guest writer. Football blogger and Spurs fan (obviously) Anthony Lombardi previews Tottenham Hotspur’s visit to Liverpool:

Liverpool v Tottenham: The Fab Four and Beyond.

 

This Monday Totteham Hotspur faces Liverpool at Anfield in a clash that is set to have far reaching effects across the top of the Premier League.

Man City’s failure to collect any points on Tuesday and the London duo of Arsenal and Chelsea being held by lower opposition has reignited both clubs seasons. Whoever claims the three points will be well on their way, whilst the losers may well have to Let It Be for the rest of this season.

For the last decade both clubs have had to endure life in the shadow of their fierce rivals, but now a change is sweeping across these sleeping giants. Liverpool’s victory over two legs against Man City, followed by knocking United out of the FA Cup has given fresh hope to a season that threatened to go off the boil. Spurs meanwhile have cruised to a 12 point gap over North London rivals Arsenal and once again find themselves back in the title race.

When the pair met in September, Spurs strolled to a 4-0 victory that was unfairly overshadowed by Liverpool’s two red cards. The Lillywhites, in the first 20 minutes at White Hart Lane played the type of football that has ignited the belief within the club and perhaps even in Luka Modric who grabbed the first goal with a spanking right foot drive. That result propelled Tottenham into a run of form that only some dubious refereeing decisions have stopped on occasions.

The North London club’ season started in tumultuous fashion, with riots disrupting fixtures and supposed player discontent filling column inches. However, under manager Harry Redknapp’s positive guidance Tottenham, have built a team spirit that promises to deliver them their best Premier League finish since 1990.

The Tottenham boss has kept to relatively the same starting 11 in each Premier League game, choosing instead to use squad and youth players in the Europa League, Carling and FA Cup. Redknapp may have sacrificed participation in two of these cups but there is no doubting that come Monday evening the Spurs starting 11 will have played rather less football than their counterparts.

In Liverpool’s last home game, the Reds rode out 2-1 winners against arch rivals Man Utd, however, despite the magnitude of this victory, Spurs can take heart from certain points.

The Champions were given an incredible amount of space in central midfield as the Reds sought to deny Man Utd space in behind them. In nullifying the speed and directness of Danny Welbeck and Antonio Valencia, United’s central midfield were given time and space, but they were unable to use it.

With Liverpool likely to counter act the speed of Gareth Bale, Kyle Walker and Aaron Lennon in similar fashion, Spurs will need to be creative in central midfield. The London club will need Modric and if he is fit, Rafa Van der Vaart orchestrating and creating in front of Liverpool. The duo will seek to commit players before slipping in teammate.

However, should Liverpool seek to shut out Tottenham, they run the risk of disappointing the home crowd and having to chase the game should Spurs break through. This season Spurs have been at their most threatening when one nil up and attacking on the break.

Since being destroyed at White Hart Lane, Liverpool have regrouped defensively and are now only a consistent striker away from Champions League qualification. Had they been sharper in front of goal against supposedly weaker opposition, then this clash would have been a direct head on battle, for the right to challenge the Manchester duo.

Manager Kenny Dalglish, who signed a full time contract hours before these two met at the back end of last season, faces some positive, but difficult selection decisions on Monday.

With Uruguayan Luis Suarez finally available again after suspension, one of Dirk Kuyt and Andy Carroll looks set to miss out. Dutch forward Kuyt, recently returned to scoring ways with a goal against Man Utd and a strike against Wolves on Tuesday. Carroll though shouldn’t be quickly dismissed. Against United last week, he finally started to look like the powerful striker that earned the huge price tag and his goal against Wolves with have boosted his confidence.

The forward that Dalglish selects will immediately give us an insight into his game plan. If he employs Carroll he will be going for the victory. Should he select the hard working Kuyt, a player more disposed to tracking back, then he will be searching to keep it tight and look to strike later in the game.

There are however, two attacking options that should not be discounted. Spurs striker Jermaine Defoe and Liverpool’s Craig Bellamy, both possess speed and the instinctive ability to score a goal from out of nowhere. The duo may start on their respective benches, but there is no doubt that if the game remains goalless, both managers will use what they hope is their trump card. Defoe of course may be struggling for fitness, if so, it could be a quick return to Merseyside for Louis Saha and the chance to get one over on his former city rivals.

It is difficult to see where the three points will go, but with Chelsea hosting Man Utd the day before, winning this fixture will give the victor a huge boost.

The team that scores first in this fixture should go on to win it. Should Spurs draw first blood and force Liverpool to seek out an equalizer, Bale’s ability to expose the space left behind the Reds defence will become a major factor. Whilst Liverpool are past masters at defending a lead.

Either way, Anfield will be intriguing viewing this Monday.

COYS

Anthony Lombardi (visit Anthony’s blog here and follow him on Twitter @ARLombardi )

 

 

 

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Match Report: Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 Wigan

February 1st, 2012 Posted in Articles, Match Reports, Premier League
Feb, 01 2012
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THFC1882 presents guest writer Kenny Palmer’s report of Tottenham Hotspur versus Wigan:

A man of the match performance by Gareth Bale against obliging opponents Wigan helped reignite Spurs title challenge, as they now sit just five points behind the Manchester clubs following the leaders City’s defeat to Everton. The Welshman’s two goal brace capping an exceptional personal display and a perfect response from the team to Friday’s poor performance against Watford in the FA Cup.

The only change in the line-up to the team that faced Manchester City in the last premiership game was Niko Kranjcar coming in for the injured Aaron Lennon. It’s a puzzle as to why the Croatian international has been so rarely used this season even from off the bench when he started the season so brightly before picking up an injury.

An early run from Gareth Bale from the left wing position proved to be a statement of intent of what was to come from the Welsh Wizard. With Wigan not pressing the ball the Spurs midfield dominated possession an ideal game for Niko Kranjcar to start as he seamlessly interchanged good passing movements with Modric, Parker and Bale in his free role. As against Spurs last opponents at the Lane Wolves, Wigan retreated to their own half and defended in numbers making it hard for Spurs to break them down.

Tottenham’s best effort in the opening stages was a shot from just outside the D from Luka Modric after some good build up play. Bale and Kranjcar continued to swap flanks to create openings. Younnes Kaboul was unlucky not to score with a powerful header from a corner which was cleared off the line. Benoit Assou-Ekotto was seeing a lot of the ball from the left with Bale floating inside. Unfortunately his decision making was poor and delivery inconsistent despite finding himself in good positions high up the left wing.

The inevitable breakthrough for Spurs came in the 25th minute. Luka Modric floated an exquisite pass from the left midfield position, possibly the pass of the season, onto the chest of Gareth Bale who timed his run to perfection and dispatched it to the left of Al Habsi’s goal. A worrying sign for Spurs soon after was the sight of Rafael van der Vaart going off and being replaced by Jake Livermore, possibly another hamstring injury which the Dutchman has been plagued with this season. The change didn’t stop the team’s rhythm as they were soon two ahead after Modric’s drive from just outside the box, another goal in successive home premiership games following on from his equaliser against Wolves. A criticism of the midfielder is that he doesn’t score enough goals for a player of his ability. His tally is now three in the league this season.

Spurs controlled the first half against a poor Wigan team. Brad Friedel was not tested at all.

Gareth Bale started the second half in similar vein to the first. On 48 minutes he broke down the right wing and put in an excellent cross with his right foot to Emmanuel Adebayor who should have scored with the header. The Togo internationals industry and work rate cannot be questioned in the game but quality wise he took his poor performance against Watford into this game straying offside on numerous occasions and lacking sharpness in the box. The signing of Louis Saha to the end of the season should put pressue on the Manchester City loanee to up his game and maybe rested as he has played all league games when available since signing.

Inevitably after a poor first half, Wigan started the second half vastly improved, taking the game to Spurs. Moses had a good effort on fifty two minutes and Ledley King had to make a great tackle in the box to stop a Wigan attack soon after. With Wigan pressing more Spurs play became sloppier with stray passing. Gareth Bales second, spurs third coming somewhat unexpectedly finding space on the left he shot across the box alluding Al Habsi into the net.

Kyle Walker departed late on having picked up a knock replaced by Sandro himself returning form injury. It is hoped it’s nothing serious as with the club allowing Vedran Corluka out on loan to Bayer Leverkusen they have no cover at right back.

Wigan’s good play was rewarded on eighty minutes with a goal from James McCarthy. The relegation strugglers should have had a second when Connor Sammon could not convert a ball flashed across his path. The closing stages of the match were illuminated by the man of the moment Gareth Bale. Released by debutant Lancaster a great run right from the right was saved by Al Habsi with the crowd willing him on to score and get his hat trick. A final trademark run in injury time this time from the left resulted in a shot wide. The Welshman’s two goal haul now takes him onto nine goals as the team’s top scorer in the premiership along with Adebayor. Following on from his performance against Norwich he once again excelled in his free role, a constant threat in the final third, be it from crosses from either flank, surging runs from deep or his powerful shooting. On current form he’s arguably the Premier League’s best player.

With the early season momentum gone from a faltering Manchester City and United having to negotiate tricky games against Chelsea and Liverpool respectively in their next two fixtures Spurs are firmly back in the title race.

Injuries to VdV, Adebayor & Walker tonight will undoubtedly test the depth of the squad particularly as the departures of Corluka, Bassong, Piennar and Roman Pavlyuchenko have weakened the squad with only the injury prone Louis Saha coming in. February’s challenging games against Liverpool, Newcastle and Arsenal will tell us more.

To Dare Is To Do!

COYS!

Kenny Palmer (follow Kenny on Twitter @KennyPalmer )

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Match Preview: Tottenham Hotspur v Wigan

January 30th, 2012 Posted in Match Previews, Premier League
Jan, 30 2012
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THFC1882 welcomes back guest writer Kenny Palmer with a preview of Tottenham Hotspur versus Wigan.

A week is a long time in football, as Spurs two contrasting performances highlighted. Heroic in defeat against Manchester City earning plaudits for the character they showed in coming back from 2-0 down to level the scores before losing to an injury time penalty. They were then abject in victory against championship strugglers Watford in the FA Cup producing the most shambolic, disjointed performance in Harry Redknapps reign as Tottenham manager. A game in which only the goalkeeper Cudicini, defenders Michael Dawson, Younnes Kaboul, Kyle Walker and midfielder Jake Livermore can claim they played well.

Emmanuel Adebayor was particularly poor a fact he acknowledged after the game. His performance produced such a level of knee jerking it probably registered on the Richter scale in North London! The Togo international has been a pivotal part of Tottenham’s success this season leading the line and linking play. His industry and hold up play was greatly missed at the defeat to City at the Etihad Stadium. It was one bad game nothing more. Just as the darlings of the Spurs Twitter sphere Benoit Assou-Ekotto, whose decision to smash the ball up field rather let the ball run out of play for a Tottenham throw in and run the clock directly led to Spurs conceding the penalty against Manchester City and Rafael van der Vaart are allowed a bad game without opprobrium Adebayor along with all Spurs players deserves that right as well.

Tuesday’s opponents Wigan, who prop up the bottom of the league, provide the perfect opportunity for the team to put three points on the board before a challenging run of away games in February against Liverpool and Arsenal sandwiched in between a home game against a vastly improved Newcastle. Wigan come into the game on a dreadful run of form, they have not won a premiership game in their last seven matches. Their last win an away victory against West Brom in December. They have the distinction of the second worse defensive record in the premiership shipping forty three goals and the least potent attack scoring a paltry nineteen goals this season.

Roberto Martinez’s team will probably start with the same formation that played against the defeat to QPR. Hugo Rodellega a lone striker ahead of a five man midfield. The goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi a potential summer target of Spurs, who has been excellent this season can expect a busy evening in store. Wigan despite being bottom will still try to play an open brand of football. Wigan’s main threat will be the mercurial Victor Moses who they will do well to keep in this transfer window with his direct dribbling and shooting.

A hugely improved performance is expected from Spurs after the dreadful display against Watford. That game hopefully ended any notion that Luka Modric can be deployed from the flanks and influence a game. As the team’s best player he has to always be played in his best position central midfield!

Gareth Bale who missed the Watford game is the main injury worry but should be fit to start. With seven goals and seven assists he has been crucial to the team but has created a conundrum. Deployed as an orthodox left winger he is arguably one of the best in world. But his game has developed this season in a free role in which he is encouraged to come inside. Against Norwich he was devastating; in the first half against City it was less productive. But once positioned back to the left wing position in the second half he scored a stunning goal and produced a cross which Defoe was unlucky not to convert.

Redknapp is likely start with the same team that played against City with Adebayor coming in for Jermain Defoe or Rafael Van der Vaart. The Dutchman has been off the boil of late producing another anonymous performance against Watford despite the goal, Dofoe would be unlucky not to retain his place in the team. He has an excellent scoring record against them most notably his five goal haul in the 2009/10 season.

Prediction

Spurs still have a five point lead over fourth placed Chelsea and are looking to consolidate third. I fully expect Spurs to put the defeat to City, which effectively ended their title challenge, behind them with a comprehensive win 4-0 to Spurs.

COYS

Kenny Palmer (Follow Kenny on Twitter @KennyPalmer )

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Match Report: Man City 3-2 Tottenham Hotspur

January 23rd, 2012 Posted in Articles, Match Reports, Premier League
Jan, 23 2012
2 Comments »

THFC1882 presents Adam Nathan’s report of Tottenham Hotspur’s visit to Manchester City.

They are two time-old clichés, but not only is it a funny old game, it’s also one heck of a rollercoaster following Tottenham Hotspur. After a drab first half, the second period against Manchester City yesterday afternoon pretty much had it all. Having gone two down and looked like potentially being on the end of another Nasri-inspired hammering, a little bit of luck and an awful lot of drive saw us fire our way back on level terms, and probably look the most likely winners with twenty minutes of the game to go. What followed was a period fraught with tension from both sides, with some of it spilling over illegally-both Joleon Lescott and Mario Balotelli will feel extremely fortunate to step out onto the Anfield turf on Wednesday night-but more importantly manifesting in errors, all of which performed by players in mud-spattered white shirts. No sooner had Bale and Defoe conspired to miss one of the chances of the season, Ekotto, Parker and King all made uncharacteristic mistakes that saw a ball start in our left back position, have a brief soiree into the Manchester City midfield before looping, bouncing, and ricocheting out for what all Spurs fans hoped was to be a Manchester City corner. Sadly, Howard Webb’s arm correctly pointed to the penalty spot, and with practically the last kick of the game, Balotelli was able to dust himself down and slot the Etihad stadium into raptures.

Whilst the moment itself was depressing enough, Spurs fans will be further saddened this week when thinking back to all three City goals, which, with a touch more concentration in some areas and desire in others, probably would have been averted. With all that said, if this was to be the acid-test for Harry Redknapp’s men, they certainly passed as far as the performance was concerned. Unlike in August, the lilywhites matched their hosts from whistle to whistle, and will hope that as the season continues, they don’t have to face such heartbreak on any other occasions.

In terms of the first half, I’m not going to waste too much of your valuable time by talking about it. Ultimately, it was cagey and both sides were pretty flat. Milner did an excellent job marshalling Bale when he drifted inside which really halted our attacking progress, and Van Der Vaart spent a lot of time in a more central area than attacking, which left Defoe isolated. As always, people are split on the performance of the Duutchman, but in truth-and I am biased because I think he’s great-I felt that he was the only one of our players who was moving the ball around with intelligence. Yes, a lot of his passes were from side to side, but if you want to play possession football, you need players like that who just keep the ball ticking over. I daresay that if Modric and Parker had shown the same desire to be on the ball and use it quickly, we may have been able to leave Rafa in a more attacking position. In addition, Van Der Vaart ran the highest number of yards in the first half, and the more I watch him, the more of a leader I can see in him; say what you like, but he has carried us through so many games since joining, probably more than anyone else in the squad, and to give him the amount of criticism that he receives not only seems laughable at times, but ungrateful. Our whole club ethos revolves around players like Van Der Vaart, and whilst Modric and Parker are seemingly able to escape with below par performances on an all too regular basis at the moment, it never ceases to amaze me how often anything less than a perfect team performance is always blamed on Rafa.

And breathe.

In terms of the second half, it seems futile now to go through the moments that determined the mach in too much detail, so I’d rather look at the connotations, and perhaps what we could have done differently. In terms of the positives, I was really impressed with the efforts of Defoe up front, who was well rewarded with a goal that was indicative of his performance; not the prettiest, but earned through grafting and anticipating errors from the opposition backline. Naturally Bale’s goal is one that will be showed over and over again, and it’s no coincidence that it was created in one of the rare moments in the match where Lennon actually attacked a full back and created space as a result. The more I watch the speedy winger against good teams, the more let down I’m beginning to feel. I’m not sure if it’s a mental issue that still hangs over him after the World Cup, but if I were an extremely fast winger, the thought of my man being booked after 10 minutes would have me licking my lips; as it happens, Lennon didn’t take Clichy on once for the rest of the game, which was a real shame. I’m just starting to wonder if he’s got the bottle for the biggest games anymore.

In terms of the goals we conceded, I think there are two ways of looking at them, depending on the way you’ve been talking about the team this season. If your focus has always been on getting into the top four and giving it our best shot, then we were a bit sloppy in the main and thoroughly capitalized on by clinical finishing by the Citizens. If, however you have been talking us up for the title as many of the journalists have done recently, then you probably have to highlight a number of individual errors for all three goals that handed City the points. I know this sounds harsh, but sadly there are no concessions when you are in your first title race. Unlike getting free banking for a new business in your first year, in the Premier League it doesn’t matter if it’s your first or twentieth title race, the circumstances are the same. Having seen all the goals again, I couldn’t help but thinking how furious Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho or an early 2000s Arsene Wenger would have been with their teams had they given up such soft scores to their opposition. For the first, Silva has no right to get away from Bale and Modric, who seem to give up chasing him, Parker wasn’t in the position you’d expect from a defensive midfielder and of course, perhaps more lethally, Kyle Walker let Nasri run completely free to finish emphatically. For the second, Bale really has to win the ball at the near post from the corner-albeit it was excellent work from Dzeko-and on another day Parker may have won the battle with Lescott at the back post to prevent the latter from bundling the ball in.

The third goal, irrespective of timing and context, was the most disappointing thing to give up. Firstly, Ekotto could probably have let the ball run out for a throw, but in keeping it in, he simply has to send his clearance down the line. In aiming for Defoe’s head, he handed possession straight back to City, and with our midfield rushing out at the time, left a big gap between them and the defence, which is exactly where their forward ball landed. I’m inclined to point a finger at Parker here and say that the ball should have landed on his right boot, but I’m cautious about being too harsh on him; I do believe that footballing wise, Sandro is a better player, but to ignore Parker’s influence on the team mentally would be harsh on him to say the least. He has turned our season around, but it just doesn’t overly surprise me that he has put in his two worst performances this year against the top class midfields of Chelsea and Manchester City. Overall, I do think we should have done better for the goals, but I don’t think anyone ‘cost’ us any of them, or the game for that matter. We were just punished by the most clinical Premier league team I’ve seen since Mourinho’s Chelsea.

The only things left to talk about are the Defoe miss in the last minute and, sadly, refereeing decisions. As for the chance, I personally believe that Bale should have slipped Defoe in as soon as possible and give him a one-on-one with Hart. This isn’t to say that what he did was wrong necessarily, but if I was coaching a defender in a two-on-one situation, I would urge him to send the attacker with the ball wide, and if possible, make him cross it. Both Lescott and Bale did their jobs very well, and I am hesitant to blame Defoe for not getting there in time. From what I’ve seen of Jermain over the past seven years, I reckon he’d trample over his grandma if it meant scoring a goal, so I certainly don’t think it was a lack of effort. I just think it was one of those moments that confirm it’s just not going to be your day.

As for referees, I don’t actually blame Webb for not seeing the incidents on Kaboul and Parker. Ultimately, I blame the game. If you run a business where your employees are incapable of doing their job, you have to go to whatever lengths possible to make it easier for them. Until television replays are used, or there is one man watching the game on a screen and reporting to the ref, as in the majority of other sports, I almost find it pointless to chastise the referee for incidents that they only get one view of. None of the Spurs players appealed for red cards on either occasion, and they had as long as Webb to have a look at it. It’s really annoying, but I’ve popped too many blood cells and wasted too much precious oxygen bemoaning refs recently, when in reality, the reasoning is that they are not able to do their jobs with the game being as fast as it is currently. If you’re reading this Sepp, get your head out of your backside and sort it out, because it is killing the sport.

Overall, I think we’ve all woken up today wondering what might have been. To be behind, come back, nearly win and then lose it like that is stuff that even the nightmare goblins in your head wince at when you drift off to sleep, and to see it happen like that will take some getting over. With all that said, the lads showed an incredible amount of spirit to get back into the game; heck for thirty five minutes they really did play like potential title winners. In order to clinch the hallowed crown, they will have to turn thirty five into ninety five on sixteen more occasions this season. Do they have the talent? On the basis of yesterday, undoubtedly yes. Will they be able to put that ability into practice? That remains to be seen. Whatever happens, we are still ten points clear of fifth and everything is shaping up for a memorable run-in and celebration of some sort in May.

COYS

Adam Nathan (follow Adam on Twitterhttps://twitter.com/#!/adamdnathan)

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Match Preview: Tottenham Hotspur v Everton

January 9th, 2012 Posted in Articles, Match Previews, Premier League
Jan, 09 2012
8 Comments »

So the Premier League season is finally here, it’s Tottenham Hotspur’s opening game versus Everton……….

That’s how the preview for this one should have started, but the unfortunate and unseemly rioting of early August put paid to Spurs opening fixture. Now this is the game in hand it’s vital that Spurs get maximum points if they want to be taken seriously as title challengers. Everton though are one of the trickiest teams in the league to get a result against, despite some major inconsistencies, this is never a fixture I feel confident about.

Everton currently sit 11th in the table, and 11th in the form table. That seems about right for the squad they have, despite the delusions of grandeur that some of their fans seem to have. They come into this fixture with injury problems for several key players, Cahill, Rodwell, Jagielka and Hibbert all seem sure to miss out as do Leon Osman and Seamus Coleman. Danger men for the visitors will be Tim Howard, one of the Premier League’s most consisitent goalkeepers who’s now added scoring to his repertoire! In all seriousness, he shouldn’t offer a threat to Brad Friedel’s goal but could well frustrate Spurs attackers. Ahead of him Leighton Baines is one of the best full backs in the country and is also a well known danger from set pieces, Spurs will hope not to give any silly free kicks away around the box. American international Landon Donovan, currently on loan from LA Galaxy might be Everton’s biggest attacking threat and it will be important that the defence keep a close eye on him. Louis Saha also shouldn’t be discounted, on his day he is a lethal finisher, though his ‘day’s’ appear to be getting fewer as time goes on.

With most of the first team rested for the FA Cup win over Cheltenham, Harry Redknapp’s team shouldn’t be too hard to predict, central midfield being the major exception. Brad Friedel should return in goal, with Kyle Walker and Benoit Assou-Ekotto resuming full back duties. One question for Harry, is who to partner with Younes Kaboul at centre back. Gallas is unavailable while Ledley King is also likely to be missing. Most people’s saviour Michael Dawson made a succesful return from injury at the weekend, however this blog still maintains that he’s not as good as most think and he could be a risk agianst Premier League opponents after such a lengthy lay off. Sebastian Bassong would be the sensible choice. Never thought that sentence would make it into the blog! In midfield Bale, Modric and van der Vaart seem no brainers, it’s the other slot that is up for grabs. Scott Parker could yet return from his knee injury but if not then Jake Livermore should get the nod to offer a bit of bite against a well drilled and hard working Everton midfield. The other potential options, Niko Kranjcar and Steven Pienaar just don’t offer enough ‘tackley-ness’ for the job. Aaron Lennon returned from injury on Saturday but again may not be risked from the start, his pace could offer an effective weapon from the bench. If Lennon does start, Harry could take a gamble that has paid off for Holland boss Bert van Marwijk recently. Playing Rafa as a holding midfielder! It seems mental, but he has shown effectiveness on a couple of occasions for the Dutch national team and no one can fault his work rate or will to win and get stuck in. That said, Harry is unlikely to take that gamble. In form Jermain Defoe and Emanuel Adebayor should both feature up front again.

Prediction

Spurs really have to win this one, doing so would put them level on points with second placed United and open an 8 point gap on 4th placed Chelsea. It won’t be easy, David Moyes’ team rarely rolls over and surrenders, but the quality in Spurs line-up should shine through. 2-0 to the Lilywhites for me!

COYS

Stuart Watts ( @THFC1882dotcom on Twitter)

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Match Report: Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Chelsea

December 23rd, 2011 Posted in Articles, Match Reports, Premier League
Dec, 23 2011
4 Comments »

This isn’t going to be overly analytical of the game, THFC1882 is about to go on it’s Christmas holidays! Before that though we take a brief look at Tottenham Hotspur versus Chelsea from The Lane.

On the balance of play both sides will have been satisfied with a point. Spurs again struggled with a formation lacking in shape. With no like for like Lennon replacement all roads led to the left wing. At first this worked and Spurs dominated the first half. Bale, returning from injury, was the provider of an early goal for Emmanuel Adebayor. At that stage with White Hart Lane buzzing Spurs should have run riot. However they failed to turn possession into chances. Howard Webb then predictably stepped into the role of provider for Chelsea. He awarded a soft free kick near half way and then failed to call Ashley Cole for handball before his cross for the equalizer. Apparently there is some doubt as to whether it was a handball but being right in line with play in the East Upper it looked clear to me. Even so King and Ekotto should have played to the whistle and may have prevented the goal. Webb also should have dismissed Bosingwa for a cynical and vicious foul on Bale but again failed in his duties.

Chelsea started the second half on fire but like Spurs in the first rarely threatened to actually score. Spurs meanwhile had to replace van der Vaart with Pavlyuchenko and this caused even more imbalance. That wasn’t helped by a typically dire Pav performance. Spurs gave the ball away too much in the second half and gave Chelsea too much room on the ball. Bale also faded in the second half, missing a great chance, blazing a first time shot over when he had time to control the ball.  The Lilywhites did however have the best opportunity to clinch it in the closing minutes as Pav – his one useful moment – fed Adebayor, his shot beating Cech but pantomime villain John Terry slid in to stop it on the line.

Spurs go into Christmas in third and the highest placed London club, a fine achievement. It’s obvious that a winger must be purchased to provide depth and competition. I’ve been calling for this since the summer and it belies belief that no one at the club saw this need. Junior Hoillett should be top of our January shopping list.

All told though it’s been a great start to the 2011-12 season and Spurs fans can tuck into their turkeys as the pride of London.

THFC1882 is now taking a well earned Christmas and New Year break. We’ll be returning to action for the FA Cup tie with Cheltenham! Obviously we’ll be hoping for maximum points from Norwich, Swansea and West Brom in the meantime!!

I’d like to wish all of you a very merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year!!

COYS

Stuart Watts ( @THFC1882dotcom on Twitter )

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Match Report: Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Sunderland

December 19th, 2011 Posted in Articles, Match Reports, Premier League
Dec, 19 2011
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It wasn’t pretty. On a cold December Sunday afternoon, Tottenham Hotspur saw off a resilient Sunderland to record a 1-0 victory and get back to winning ways in the Premier League.

Winning ugly is the sign of champions. Not getting carried away here, I’m not suggesting Spurs are going to win the title, there’s a chance of it, but Manchester City are a scarily good outfit and their neighbours are impossible to write off. That said, there’s no reason that with these kind of wins that Spurs can’t be up there and should certainly be looking at the top four come the end of the season. For years, United and more recently Chelsea have had this ability to win when not playing well, to grind out three points despite not firing on all cylinders. Yesterday wasn’t the first time that Spurs have pulled it off this season and Harry Redknapp is to be credited for instilling a steely resolve into the squad.

The first half was certainly ugly, shorn of the electric Bale and the Modric/Parker axis broken up with Luka nominally on the left wing the side looked unbalanced and there was little in the way of fluidity. Aaron Lennon’s pace was used a couple of times before he picked up a hamstring injury that is likely to sideline him for some time. With the two lightning wingers out of the side, it highlights the one area of weakness in our squad, Townsend, Falque and Rose are clearly not considered good enough to take their places at the top level. Junior Hoillett or Xherdan Shaqiri or both even, should be at the top of ‘Arry’s Christmas list for a January move. Despite the lack of cohesion and width in the first half, Spurs always seemed in control, only for Sunderland to have the two best chances of the half. First Larsson put a low cross into the box that just eluded Richardson then Larsson had a good free kick palmed away by Friedel. Spurs best chance fell to Sandro, a beautiful reverse pass from van der Vaart – something he was to repeat a number of times in the second half – put the Brazilian through but he scuffed his shot wide.

Into the second half and Spurs livened up, van der Vaart and Modric had obviously been given licence to roam freely, Sandro and Parker providing cover for them and also allowing the full backs to maraud, providing width. Still though it appeared that Sunderland may just stand up to the attack. Too many balls bounced off of Adebayor and especially Pavlyuchenko to frustrate the home crowd. Just as it seemed that this would be one of those days, the magic happened. Super Scotty Parker did what he does, winning the ball in midfield and feeding Modric. Luka’s incisive pass found van der Vaart and the Dutch master played a beautifully weighted reverse ball in for Pavlyuchenko who didn’t need to break stride as he rifled it low into the corner past Keiren Westwood. It was as true a strike as you’ll see and Pav knew it was in the minute it left his boot. Super Pav does it again. Spurs searched – in vain – for a second and still weren’t at their flowing best, although there were some extremely slick passing moves, van der Vaart was at the heart of them all. Being freed of the right wing he’d been pegged to after Lennon’s departure clearly cheered Rafa up and the ability to roam meant he was a threat that Sunderland struggled to pick up. He set up the hard working Adebayor for an excellent chance – another reverse ball – that Westwood did well to save, only palming it into Modric’s path for a sure fire second. But Luka somehow contrived to sky it into the Paxton from 1o yards with an open goal.

‘Old’ Spurs would have suffered for this, but not this team. Parker and Sandro patrolled the midfield dutifully, tackling and intercepting at will. Behind them, William Gallas had his best game of the season, giving a masterclass in defending against first Conor Wickham then the hapless Bendtner. Alongside him calm as ever, Ledley King did what he always does, turns up, puts in an excellent performance and goes home. Neither Walker or Assou-Ekotto had their best games but both did enough to help contain Sunderland in front of the unflappable Brad Friedel. No disrespect to Gomes but the team just seems so much more assured with Mr USA between the sticks, shame that he’s already over 40 and that Spurs may need to replace him next season. Sunderland showed heart to attack for the last ten minutes but in all honesty it never felt like they had much chance of seriously threatening to score, Bendtner will do that to a front line.

It wasn’t sexy, glory-glory football, but it was three very important points that see’s Spurs in third as they approach a massive game with Chelsea on Thursday. That’ll do for now.

COYS

Stuart Watts ( @THFC1882dotcom )

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Match Preview: Tottenham Hotspur v Sunderland

December 16th, 2011 Posted in Articles, Match Previews, Premier League
Dec, 16 2011
2 Comments »

Tottenham Hotspur v Sunderland, White Hart Lane, Sunday 18th December, 3pm Kick off

So on Thursday night Spurs European adventure for this season came to an end, despite a 4-0 win at Shamrock. The perceived wisdom is that this is a blessing in disguise and can leave Harry Redknapp and his team to concentrate on getting Spurs back into the Champions League. Still, the Europa League could have been very winnable and would look nice in our trophy cabinet. Never mind it’s not to be and now attention turns to the first of two tough home fixtures before Christmas.

Sunderland are the visitors on Sunday and with new manager Martin O’Neill at the helm are fresh from a last gasp win against Blackburn. A new manager often revitalises a struggling team and O’Neill certainly seems to have lifted Sunderland already. Although the value of a win against Blackburn should surely be questioned. Spurs meanwhile will be looking to put last weeks defeat to Stoke behind them and will attempt to set off on another winning run to carry on the push for Champions League qualification and the possibility of a title challenge.

Sunderland will hope that Nicklas Bendtner is available and the crueller Spurs fans will too. The self proclaimed ‘best striker in the world’ can on his day dent any defence, but has thus far through his career more often threatened row Z than opposition keepers. Besides his fitness concerns Bendtner, along with club captain Lee Cattermole was arrested for criminal damage, it will be interesting to see how fiery Irishman O’Neill deals with the pair. If Bendtner’s not fit or able to start then the young Conor Wickham is likely to retain his place as the lone frontman. It’s a lot of responsibility for the teenager but he’s certainly not lacking in the physicality department and has shown flashes of the quality that made him a target for ourselves and other big clubs. Sunderland’s two biggest threats are likely to be Stephan Sessegnon and Seb Larsson. Sessegnon arrived last season from PSG and is a lively and tricky player who is prone to bouts of indifference. Hopefully he’ll not be up for a cold Sunday afternoon at The Lane. Larsson is in this blogs opinion a massively underrated player who has been unlucky to not move to bigger clubs than Birmingham and Sunderland. His delivery from open play is excellent whilst his dead balls can be lethal. Benoit Assou-Ekotto will need to maintain his concentration throughout in order to keep the Swede in check.  On the other flank Kieran Richardson is a player who’s always promised a lot yet rarely delivered on his potential, if he has a blinder he could trouble Kyle Walker but Kay-Dub must rate his chances of winning that duel. Sunderland’s midfield, if without Cattermole, is likely to be David Vaughan and Jack Colback, they are workmanlike and will put in a good ‘shift’ but in all honesty Super Scott Parker and Luka Modric should by rights win that battle. At the back Sunderland will likely have O’Shea at right back and Bardsley at left back, which is odd because they are left and right footed respectively. Maybe ‘inverted’ full backs are the new cool thing to have in football and O’Neill sees himself as a trendsetter? Between them will probably be Wes Brown and Titus Bramble. Adebayor will like his chances against that pairing and keeper Keiren Westwood could be in for a busy day.

Spurs biggest worry for the line-up is at centre back. This year Younes Kaboul has been phenomenal but after Chris Foy’s Stoke nightmare is now suspended for this match. Ledley King also remains a doubt but Redknapp has not ruled out a return for his skipper. If King doesn’t make it then Gallas and Bassong are likely to form a defensive partnership that could have Spurs fans worried. Both have had limited opportunities this season and have yet to look anywhere near their best, here’s hoping it’s a case of needs must and they come through. Brad Friedel will continue his run of consecutive Premier League games and there is no reason to suspect that Walker and Assou-Ekotto won’t return to their rightful full back positions. With no other fitness worries the midfield four doesn’t need to be messed with, Lennon, Parker, Modric and Bale are all on form and are all more than capable of tearing Sunderland apart at will. Ahead of them, Emmanuel Adebayor will continue to offer a figurehead who is capable of troubling the best defences in the world, the only question will be, who with? Fresh from his goal against Shamrock there will be the usual clamour for Defoe and a good old fashioned 4-4-2. Defoe of course can be a lethal finisher but clearly Rafa van der Vaart offers more to the team and it seems nonsensical to not start the World Class Dutchman. Whichever Redknapp goes with, it will be a tough ride for Sunderlands defence. Options from the bench should be enhanced by the return of Niko Kranjcar and maybe Pavlyuchenko. Andros Townsend will hope his thrilling performance at Shamrock will get him a place on that bench too.

Prediction

It may be a cliche but there really are ‘no easy games in the Premier League’ and this certainly won’t be one of them. O’Neill will ensure that Sunderland fight all the way and will hope they can contain Spurs. The home side meanwhile will believe that last week’s result was a blip and that this game should see a return to ‘business as usual’. I think Sunderland will frustrate but can see 2 or 3 being scored in quick succession if Spurs get one and I’ve also got a feeling that a team are due a proper ‘kicking’ at The Lane this season. I’m going for 5-0 Spurs to set us up for Chelsea’s arrival on Thursday.

COYS

Stuart Watts ( @THFC1882dotcom on Twitter )

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Match Preview: Stoke v Tottenham Hotspur

December 9th, 2011 Posted in Articles, Match Previews, Premier League
Dec, 09 2011
1 Comment »

THFC1882 welcomes another guest writer on board. This time it’s Glen Bocking. Glen is an Essex boy but now lives in Stoke so is handily placed to attend this game. Glen’s first Spurs memories are the ’91 FA Cup semi and final! Great start to his Spurs watching! Glen’s favourite player of all time is Erik Thorsvedt, closely followed by Darren Anderton. His favourite current player is Michael Dawson. Anyway over to Glen for the preview of Tottenham Hotspurs visit to Stoke:

So, we take our fantastic run (wwwwdwwwwww in case you hadn’t heard) to ‘The Brit’, home of Stoke City, one of those grounds that always gets referred to as a ‘tough place to go’ and where visiting fans are generally happy to say ‘I’ll take a point’ etc etc etc.

But, given our recent run, should us Spurs fans just adhere to aforementioned standard visiting fan sound bite? Sure they are a tough team to play at their gaff but can their slow and cumbersome CM partnership and equally slow and cumbersome back line cope with the pace that we can put in front of them? Is Matty Etherington going to give their left back enough help with Lennon and Walker charging at them, likewise with Pennant and Wilkinson against Bale and ‘disco’ Benny?

I’m really not so sure to be perfectly honest, sure enough their wingers are decent and shouldn’t just be left to their down devices but other than that what do they really have to scare a team on the sort of run that we’re currently on (aside from the obvious threat that is Rory Delap’s high school javelin like throwing ability), their central midfield pairing of Delap and Whelan is not a patch on Parker and Modric. Stoke absolutely will not have come up against a team playing the kind of football we are at the moment and will have to go some in order to stop us, their highly regarded crowd will certainly be up for it and I’m sure the ‘apprentice’ Tony Pulis would love to put the mockers on our recent run and get one over on his old ‘master’ ‘Arry.

Danger Men

Sorry Stoke fans but this is a lot easier to pick for your team than Spurs, Crouch against his former club (where it all ended a bit acrimoniously if the papers are to be believe) is always one to watch out for, don’t give Whelan space to hit a shot from distance as he is half decent, aside from that it’s really a case of not giving them easy throw-ins where Delap can free his arms and don’t allow Pennant or Etherington to get a running start at our fullbacks

Now to Spurs danger man, erm…. Where do I start, it could be anyone couldn’t it? Modric is just pure class as we know, Lennon is showing the sort of form we all know he can (keep it up son), Bale has added a new dimension to his game, having a trick to get past defenders whilst also drifting inside on occasions thus making it hard for him to pick up, and what about the revelation that is Kyle Walker… while positioning is not yet one of his better assets, he has the pace (and then some) to recover when he caught out by a ball over the top. Also, with Bale now starting to drift infield more than we’re used to, Benny has used this to rampage forward every now and again, delivering a half decent cross or a ball to Lennon or Walker out on the right, he’s also no slouch getting back.

 Tactics/Team News

Neither team is going to spring a massive surprise in terms of tactics, we all know pretty much who is going to play (fitness allowing) and we all know how Stoke will set up and how we’ll play. Stoke will work hard as usual and their crowd will cheer all throw-ins as if they’ve just got a penalty (how many goals have they got as a direct result of a Delap thrown in lately anyway?) whereas we’ll look to carry on the fast pace stuff we’ve trotted out game after game after game.

For me the biggest decision for either manager will be ‘Arry’s choice about who to play up front, surely he won’t dare to leave Rafa out for a second game in a row will he? Rafa has come out in the press this week and says he fully understands the reasons for him being on the bench, which is all very good but you get the impression that now he’s had a week to rest his dodgy hamstring and an extra week of training with the team that he fully expects to be starting on Sunday, will the gaffer risk annoying Rafa by leaving him on the bench again? I think he should but I fully expect him to be lining up alongside the in-form Adebayor. Of course the only other bit of team news is a collective Spurs fans prayer that Ledley (he’s better than John Terry) is fit and recovers from the ‘minor knock’ he took in training.

Key to the game

I think the key to the game lays on the flanks, if we can push their wingers back more often than they can do so to ours then I think we’ll swarm all over them, aside from the route one stuff Stoke are ‘famous’ for, all of their creativity comes from Pennant and Etherington, stop them and I think we stop Stoke City.

Prediction

This is the part I dislike very much, I’m not one for predictions as it generally ends up with you looking like a fool or being blamed for a defeat in a game you should have won, that being said I’m going for a conservative 2-1 to Spurs and for the run to keep going for another week. This and the fact that living in Stoke as I do will mean for a much nicer day at work on Monday than if they win, although if Stoke lose then certain fans of theirs I know will invariably blame it on the ref as it’s always his fault if they lose….

 COYS

Glen Bocking (follow Glen on Twitter @gb2point0 )

Don’t forget, the Spurs Writers Club has launched and our first book – The Glory-Glory Game – will be published in early 2012, you can get your name in the book by preordering now!! Here’s the link don’t forget to enter code (SW1) in brackets next to your name on the order form. More info can be found here or on the website!

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