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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: Man City v Tottenham Hotspur

January 21st, 2012 Posted in Match Previews, Premier League
Jan, 21 2012
3 Comments »

THFC1882 welcomes another new guest writer. I’ve been wanting this guy to write for the blog for ages and finally he’s found the time. Here’s Adam Nathan with his preview of Tottenham Hotspur’s crucial visit to Manchester City.

Spurs travel to the Etihad on Sunday to face perhaps their fiercest competitors for the Premier League Title in Manchester City. Much has and will be made of the importance of this game in the context of both sides’ seasons; a Spurs win or draw would be enough to cement their credentials as potential champions come May, whilst a victory for the hosts will only confirm that Roberto Mancini’s ‘noisy neighbours’ are perfectly set to claim the league crown from their bitter rivals on the other side of town.

In the world of Sky Sports that we are compelled to live in, it would be understandable to see the game as make or break for our hopes this season but in truth, it is important to remember that nothing, even elimination from the battle for top spot, can ever be confirmed in the middle of January. With a tough run of fixtures to come, Spurs’ fans will be praying for a positive result to kick-start the New Year that has yielded good results but perhaps not the same performance levels as the first half of the season. A defeat would of course be a major set-back, but only a terminal one if the team are unable to bounce back and show their qualities as the season draws to a close.

Games are never won on precedents, but Spurs will take heart from the fact that Eastlands has often proved to be a successful location for them, especially when the odds have been with the Citizens. In the past years, Fredi Kanoute, Darren Bent, Robbie Keane, Steed Malbranque, and of course Peter Crouch have chipped in with winning goals in games that Spurs would have been delighted with a point from. Whilst this Manchester City side represents a completely different challenge to any of the teams featuring Danny Mills or Elano, the travelling support will hope that another man in white can make himself a hero this weekend. With that said, the hosts undoubtedly hold the bragging rights in the duel at this stage, having clinched their Champions League place against us in this fixture last year, in addition to the ‘oh-why-can’t-i-forget-it-already’ hammering that they dealt us (well, a team that wore the same colour shirts as us anyway) in August.

As for team news, Spurs are expected to be without Gallas and Sandro once again as they continue to recover from their torn calf injuries, although Ledley King may make a surprise, and extremely welcome return. Up front, Adebayor misses out through ineligibility, with Roberto Mancini exercising the ridiculous rule that, although he isn’t good enough to play for him, he is far too good to play against him. Agreeing with Arsene Wenger isn’t something I can usually stomach, but on the loan player issue, he does have a point.

For Manchester City, influential captain Vincent Kompany misses out again through suspension, serving the third game of Chris Foy’s redemption present to us, whilst the Toure brothers are away with the Ivory Coast at the African Nations. Latest injury reports would suggest that Micah Richards and Mario Balotelli will be fit for the clash.

As for team selection, it has been a fascinating week to be a part of social media. Whilst everyone will expect Jermain Defoe to start, which in truth he probably deserves after a string of good performances this season, there have been a lot of calls on Twitter and the forums to start with Van Der Vaart up front instead. There is certainly a lot of mileage to this idea, and is probably what I would go with on Sunday afternoon if I was in Redknapp’s shoes. Defoe has proved me wrong a number of times this year and is probably as complete a player as he will ever be, but my worry is that, whilst he is good in almost every attribute, he is exceptional in none. As a result, he becomes exactly the type of player that Joleon Lescott thrives against. Rafa may not have the pace of the England man, but his positional sense and movement are fantastic. Far from me to ever compare us to the greats of Barcelona, it would be interesting to see how we played with Van Der Vaart dropping off ala Messi with Lennon and Bale playing on the shoulder of the last men, positions that Pedro, Villa and Alexis benefit from on a weekly basis. In addition, we would have space for another defensive midfielder, and whilst Livermore is no Sandro, he certainly impressed with disciplined performances against West Brom and in his real acid test against Cahill and Fellaini last Wednesday.

The return of King would of course be a huge boost, but if he plays, it must be next to Younes Kaboul, who for my money has become the best defender at the club this year. King is still a wonderful player, but having seen the Chelsea game where he was partnered with Gallas who is less able to sweep up in behind, we looked a bit of a mess at the back. King and Dawson has always been an excellent pairing, but in my opinion one of the centre back positions is Kaboul’s to lose at this stage of the season.

Gareth Bale will of course start, but his positioning must be sorted out. Redknapp definitely has a point that Bale can be explosive when playing through the middle, but that tactic is more likely to work when it comes as a surprise as opposed to being the norm. Against West Brom, Everton and Wolves we looked very congested as the Welshman spent far more time inside than out on the wing, and in truth created far fewer chances than usual. When thinking back to the wonderful performances we put in against Aston Villa, QPR and Bolton with two orthodox wide players, it would be folly to consider that system obsolete. For me, Bale should spend the majority of time out wide and occasionally drift inside, especially when we are on counter attacks. We will see a lot of possession on Sunday but also spend large portions of the game defending; when we do have the ball in attacking areas it is essential that we make the most of it; with Bale out wide I feel that is more likely.

It is difficult to predict how Manchester City will line up, but their defence is likely to be the area of greatest interest to us. With Micah Richards being fit, Mancini may line up with him partnering Joleon Lescott at centre back, thus sparing the at times hapless Savic, but he may fear that Zabaleta doesn’t have the pace to compete with Bale out wide. Personally, I find that Bale seems to find it easier to play against brawn than brain-see games against Glen Johnson and Phil Neville as examples of that-so I’d rather see Richards in his usual position of right it with Savic central, although he will of course offer plenty going forward. Going forward, it is always difficult to predict how City will line up, although Mancini’s moans about lack of depth clearly have foundation; after all, he may only have three twenty five million pound players warming the bench, as opposed to the usual five or six. I expect Barry and De Jong to sit in front of the back four, with Milner, Aguero, Silva and Balotelli operating in the forward positions. When you put it like that, it’s actually a bit scary.

In conclusion, it is impossible not to be extremely excited about the game. Many a pundit will label it as a true test of our ambitions and ability, but in truth, I think that is just over-hyping a bit game in mid-January to attract bigger TV ratings. For me, whilst it would of course be damaging to our title ambitions if we lose, I don’t really see this as a game where our players should feel any pressure whatsoever. At the start of the season, I would have been sectioned for predicting the league table to look like it does at this stage of the season, and that is a huge credit to the players and coaching staff that have worked so hard to turn this into a wonderful year so far. Getting a win tomorrow would be the stuff that fantasies are made of, and I would be delighted with even a point, but with ten home wins out of ten this season, City rightfully go into the game as favourites. It is of course a results business, but a negative one tomorrow would do nothing more than make us less likely to win the title. Even to write that makes me feel dizzy, and personally, I seem to look south rather than north when studying the table, with the distance between us and fifth of far greater importance to me than the one separating us from the summit. Without wanting to sound too pessimistic, I will be delighted with a good performance tomorrow and waking up on Monday morning with a gap between us and fifth place of at least nine points. With that said, we do have every chance of making a real statement to the rest of the league tomorrow. If we can combine intelligent, patient play with some of the electrifying pace we have displayed this year, Spurs fans may be dreaming on Sunday night of one hell of a party on Tottenham High Road in the middle of May.

COYS

Adam Nathan ( @adamnathan on Twitter )

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Match Report: Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Wolves

January 15th, 2012 Posted in Match Reports, Premier League
Jan, 15 2012
1 Comment »

THFC 1882 present Kenny Palmer with a report on Tottenham Hotspurs latest match.

After Wednesday’s victory against Everton which propelled Spurs to just three points behind leaders Manchester City the team went into the game with expectations of going joint top with a victory over Wolves.

In the lead up to the game the team was heavily feted by the press even usurping Manchester City as the new media darlings. Inevitably this being Spurs they were brought back down to earth with a bump by Mick McCarthy’s industrious Wolves who held Spurs to a 1-1 draw.

The only change from Wednesday’s fixture was a not totally fit Scott Parker replacing the impressive Jake Livermore. While Wolves opted for the inform Steven Fletcher ahead of the hard working Kevin Doyle.

Tottenham started the game slowly with no real tempo to their play allowing well drilled Wolves to get men behind the ball and frustrate Spurs.

A consequence of Wolves conceding a lot of possession and not pressing Spurs in their half was it enabled Michael Dawson to make sweeping cross field passes from the right to Assou-Ekotto to break forward from the left back position to not much success.

Younes Kaboul also had a lot of time to surge forward Beckenbauresque style creating an opening on 18 minutes which Adebayor could not make more of. Spurs 1st real clear opening was a shot from outside the box Modric on 20 minutes.

Completely against the run of play Wolves took the lead on 22 minutes from a corner. The corner was headed on by Roger Johnson and converted from close range by Wolves inform striker Steven Fletcher. Brad Friedel has been excellent in goal for Spurs this season but he is loath to claim balls in the air from corners unlike his predecessor Heurelho Gomes.He could take some pressure off the defenders by trying to claim more balls and being more commanding in the box.

Wolves should have extended their lead when Dave Edwards found himself in space coming in from the left but missed the target with his shot.For much of the first half Spurs dominated possession but found it hard to break down an extremely well organised Wolves. Adebayor had the ball in the net on 44 minutes but was disallowed for offside.

Spurs started the second half brightly with Bale ballooning a good opportunity over the bar on 47 minutes. Not too soon afterwards Spurs could have been 2-0 down but Friedel saved well from Emmanuel Frimpong.

The breakthrough for Spurs came in the 50th minute when a shot from outside the box went under the keeper. This goal seemed to bring Spurs to life. With Adebayor failing to get on the end of an excellent Lennon cross.

A sideshow to the game was Arsenal loanee and pantomime villain Emmanuel Frimpong, who inevitably picked up a yellow for a foul on Bale in the first half and should have picked up a red after another foul.

The Wolves manager Mick McCarthy taking the sensible precaution of replacing him with Stephen Hunt. The resultant free kick wasted by VDV. What has been evident in recent games is Spurs inability to capitalise from dead ball situations. Corners have been particularly poor on many occasions failing to pass the first man and free kicks not working the goal keeper.

Bale was less of a threat from his floating inside position. One of the best sights in English football is Gareth Bale powering down the left wing delivering an accurate cross into the box at pace. Spurs missed his penetration from the orthodox left wing position.Jermain Dofoe came on for Aaron Lennon on 73 and managed to work the keeper with a good shot from outside the box. The game ended without any breakthrough.

Spurs are now perceived as one of the top teams by opponents so will have to find more guile and creativity when trying to break down opponents who put men behind the ball.

A patently unfit Scott Parker was poor today conceding possession with sloppy passing.Wayne Hennessey the Wolves keeper was not overly extended by the Spurs forwards.

Aside from Jermain Defor Spurs did not possess an impact player off the bench who is a real goal threat. Blackburn’s forward Junior Hoilett who can play anywhere across the forward line and who is a transfer target is such a player who would make the difference. The pursuit of his signature may be stepped up in the coming weeks.

After the hype about Spurs pretensions in the build-up to the game maybe the draw is no bad thing as it will now dampen expectations.

Despite the draw Spurs are still 6 points ahead of 4th placed Chelsea and only 2 points behind leaders Manchester City who they play next Sunday in a game which will be a true barometer of whether spurs are genuine title contenders or are going for a top four position.

Not exactly after the Lord Mayor’s show, more consolidating top four.

COYS

Kenny Palmer (Follow Kenny on Twitter @KennyPalmer )

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Match Preview: Tottenham Hotspur v Wolves

January 13th, 2012 Posted in Articles, Match Previews, Premier League
Jan, 13 2012
1 Comment »

THFC1882 presents another guest writer. This time it’s a guy I’ve known on Twitter for a while and he’s always got something to say on our beloved Tottenham Hotspur. It gives me great pleasure to present Kenny Palmer with a preview of this weekend’s game:

Wednesday’s victory over Everton in the postponed game in hand from the start of the season has left Spurs level on points with Manchester United and 3 off leaders Manchester City. The win also took Spurs 8 points clear of Chelsea in 4th and a further point ahead of North London rivals Arsenal in 5th. Mind the gap!

Saturday is the 3rd of successive home games. Any side managed by Mick McCarthy is always competitive illustrated by their narrow defeat to Chelsea and a well-earned draw against Arsenal at the Emirates. Despite the good performances against Arsenal and Chelsea Wolves still find themselves languishing in 16th position and just a point ahead of 18th placed Bolton in the relegation position. They have won just two of their last 18 Premier League games and have gone 17 games without a Premier League clean sheet which bodes well for Spurs who have scored in the last 19 games.

Wolves normally line up with a 5 man midfield when at home so expect a similar formation on Saturday at the Lane. Arsenal loanee and Mr. T look alike Emmanuel Frimpong will form a combative central midfield alongside Karl Henry. Wolves will look to unsettle Spurs with some robust tackling so it is hoped the game is officiated by a strong referee. Mick McCarthy will probably start with the hard working Kevin Doyle as the lone striker and bring on the in-form Steven Fletcher late in the game. Creativity will come from the flanks from the industrious Jarvis and Adam Hamill. Fletcher is Wolves main goal threat with 5 goals in his last six Premier League starts. Spurs old boy Jamie O’Hara is out injured; Wolves other main injury doubt is Roger Johnson who has been woeful since his move from Birmingham.

Spurs come into the game brimming with confidence after Wednesday’s impressive victory over Everton. The game saw the Premier League return after injury of Michael Dawson and Aaron Lennon. Dawson was excellent putting in a consummate defensive performance marshalling the defence superbly. His return should quell the calls to go into the transfer market for Christopher Samba. This would be a needless signing, along the lines of Steven Pienaar, as Spurs are more than adequately covered at centre back with the consistently excellent Kaboul, Bassong contributing and Gallas and King to return.

Wednesday’s game was also notable for Jake Livermore’s’ solid performance in central midfield more than adequately deputising for the injured Scott Parker and Sandro. Even if fit I expect Redknapp to rest Parker for the upcoming titanic game against Manchester City on the 22nd. I expect Redknapp to go with the same team that won against Everton although Redknapp may be tempted to rest van der Vaart, who played the full 90 minutes and bring in Defoe. Van der Vaart had an exceptional game on Wednesday combining craft; we saw a full range of his passing ability and graft, yes graft a continuation from his WBA performance adding a facet we weren’t aware he had in his game. Defoe would be a more than able replacement, scoring 4 goals in five Premier League appearances against Wolves and would be confident scoring against a somewhat static central defensive partnership of Roger Johnson and Jody Craddock.

Prediction

This is uncharted territory for Spurs, six points better than anybody over their last 18 matches. Dare we dream? The team Redknapp has assembled has eclipsed Burkinshaw’s Cup team of the 80’s and Pleats 86–87 team of nearly men. The form Spurs are in has brought optimism and expectation, which is unusual for Spurs fans. A win will put Spurs level on points with Manchester City. Spurs go into the game having gone unbeaten in 9 home games and kept clean sheets in 5 of the last 6. I’m going for a similar score line to when the teams last met at the Lane 3-1 to Spurs!

To echo the sentiments of Younes Kaboul and Aaron Lennon post match against Everton: Keep the run going!

COYS

Kenny Palmer (Follow Kenny on Twitter @KennyPalmer )

Follow the blog on Twitter (@THFC1882dotcom) and ‘Like’ us on Facebook, click the links on the right hand panel.

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Match Report: Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Everton

January 11th, 2012 Posted in Match Reports, Premier League
Jan, 11 2012
5 Comments »

Tottenham Hotspur tonight moved level on points with second placed Manchester United after a performance of patience and high quality.

Everton turned up at The Lane as many teams now do, to sit deep and try and frustrate Spurs. It’s to the credit of Harry Redknapp and his team that they didn’t get frustrated and saw the opposition off to seal the points.

Spurs played good possession football throughout yet struggled to create openings early on as Everton shut down the wings by doubling up, particularly on Bale.

It was from the wings though that the opener came. Benoit Assou-Ekotto has had a couple of poor outings recently but was back to his cool best tonight and it was he who launched a crossfield pass for Lennon. Spurs jet heeled right winger may have been slightly fortunate to beat the first defender but from then on looked sure of his purpose as he jinked inside and slotted past Howard with his left foot. It wasn’t the sweetest of strikes but it left the Everton keeper wrong footed.

Van der Vaart, in imperious form all night, went close with a curled effort and Adebayor should have done better after a fast break move but it remained 1-0 at the break.

Everton started the second half with a burst of enthusiasm but once Spurs had shaken off the half time cobwebs, the slick possession football resumed.

More often than not van der Vaart was at the heart of things, dropping into space and playing pinpoint pass after pinpoint pass. He was ably assisted by Modric who again looked top class and capable of creating space where none existed. Bale had something of an off night, maybe Phil Neville really does have his number?

It mattered not though as his left wing partner Assou-Ekotto provided the moment of genius for Spurs second. The ball broke to the coolest left back in football 30 yards out and he took a touch to set himself before launching a 30 yard rocket past Howard. It may have taken the slightest of deflections on the way through but no one is taking this goal away from Benny.

Spurs were never really in danger of losing this one. Friedel didn’t have a shot to save and the back four remained untroubled for the most part. Dawson and Kaboul dealt easily and efficiently with any Everton attack that got past the half way line but the majority of the keeper and defenders night was taken up recycling possession. Jake Livermore put in his best performance yet for Spurs. Scott Parkers absence wasn’t felt as Jake easily won the majority of his duels and linked defence and attack with ruthless efficiency. Adebayor had a frustrating night in front of goal but as always worked hard and always looked to bring his team mates into play.

Spurs tonight looked like the title challengers they must now be considered. It was the kind of performance that we’ve all seen Manchester United put on time again as teams look to defend and minimize damage.

Look out Manchester, North London’s finest are closing the gap. They’ve also opened a much bigger gap on their London rivals.

That’s how you deal with a game in hand!

COYS

Stuart Watts

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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)

Follow the blog on Twitter and ‘Like’ it on Facebook, click the links on the right hand panel!

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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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