Spurs v FC Basel Match Thread

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Thursday see's us in the QF against the Swiss side FC Basel, our previous encounters with Switzerland are a bit of a mixed bag, the first leg agianst Youngs Boys made depressing viewing, but that was put right at WHL. Ramon Vega looked...well, I was never sure tbh, but an ankle break finished him formwise, Reto Ziegler was a bit of a marmite player, and before that of course we had Christian Gross!

Back to the match, their key player Alexander Frei has thrown a bit of chaos in to the ring in the last 2 weeks, originally just due to retire at the end of the season, he's announced he's joining Lucerne in mid April. Its uncertain whether he'll play, ironically the two sides play each other today, and he obviously is not involved in this one. Reasonably good news that they're actually playing today...not the best prep for our game! chuck some travel in and I can't see this lot having too much in the tank as the 2nd half goes on.

They've won their latest game today 4-0 away, so I might have been a tad over-optimistic!

They Played For Both...quiz time!

Christian Gross has managed both.

There are no previous matches between the 2 teams.

 

I thought maybe Blondel or Ziegler might have played for them but no luck.

I'm hoping we set out with:

Friedel
Walker, Gallas, Caulker, Benny
Livermore, Dembele
Lennon, Carroll, Holtby
Ade

If we only win 1 of the two games coming up I'd rather we beat Everton even if it meant we lost 6-0 against this lot. I don't think the side is that weak anyway, Gallas has been excellent in home games for us this season, other than the Chelsea game, although playing Caulker and Livermore is probably quite a big risk. The risks need to be confined to this competition anyway so I don't really care and if Parker, gets injured we'll need Livermore to step up and likewise with Carroll and Holtby needing to be ready too if we get hit by injuries.

 

Its really up in the air I think YV, I know they're top of their league (jointly), but they haven't played since Frei announced this upheaval, their first game without him is today. Luzern are 2nd bottom, so it'll be interesting to see how Basel react, they're away aswell.

 

From what I understand they're a good side and might well punish us for fielding a weakened team but as I'm sure you've picked up, I'm not in the slightest bit bothered about us going out of the Europa League So long as our best players are rested that is.

I get the feeling AVB may disagree with me though.

 

...you forgot Ramon Vega!

 

I was 100% with you till very recently, we've tried to chuck this comp in it seems along the way, but the footballing gods keep smiling on us, in the same way as they did on Chelsea in last years CL. I dunno, I'm also getting irritated by the thought of Chelsea winning it for bragging rights. This looks like a pass into the semi's without counting chickens, but can you see what I mean about the circumstances. We've been starved of trophies YV and as the carrot gets nearer I'm turning!

 

Can you blame me!

 

Don't get me wrong, I hate that I'm talking this way about an opportunity to win a trophy. As I said after the Inter game, if winning the EL was even worth half of what getting out of the groups in the CL is then I'd rather we went for the trophy. I remember when the FA Cup Semi against Portsmouth was coming up and everyone on the BBC 606 would've rathered CL qualification over winning the FA Cup which I totally disagreed with. Unfortunately, the reality is that Champions League money is vital to a team looking to continue to progress in the longterm and especially for us as we need to be able to afford the money to continue to add quality players to our squad and give more competitive contracts to our best players.

If we had beaten Fulham or Liverpool I'd feel the opposite as we'd have a slip up in the bank but if we fail to match Arsenal's results then as it stands we'll lose our slim advantage.

 

Whereas if we had a proper Champions League with Champions only and a proper UEFA cup for the rest we would not be thinking like this.

 

YV - I'm not getting you wrong at all mate, its a situation as fans we've all been putting off, most of us hoping it would have took care of itself by getting knocked out earlier, but its in our face now, I'm just a few weeks ahead of you! On our league fortunes, Chelsea will be asked serious questions now as they start this fixture pile up, I feel we play them at the right time feeling the full effect of these games by then, it could still be us and the goons that qualify. Its a really interesting end to the season.

It gets better after beating United, I thought playing them in the middle of their pile up was a bonus, now it'll be even later!

 

I think that we need to put out some players that didn't play against Swansea, as much to try and shake things up a bit as to give a few a rest.
Dembele looks out on his feet and I still don't think that we've solved the left wing problem that well.

Friedel; Naughton, Caulker, Gallas, Assou-Ekotto; Livermore, Carroll; Dempsey, Holbty, Lennon; Defoe.
Might be a bit over the top and it might be better to play it a little more sensibly and make fewer changes, but those in bold should definitely start, in my opinion.
Maybe push Dempsey up alongside Defoe, as they seemed to form something approaching a workable partnership earlier in the season.

Our U21s are in action today against Liverpool. It kicks off at 2pm and it's live on Liverpool TV.
The line-up there is absent of any senior players. Is that a hint that they may be involved on Thursday?
Vigouroux; Fredericks, Fryers, Hall, Barthram; Bentaleb, Dombaxe, Veljkovic; McEvoy, Coulthirst, Ceballos.
Half of the team from the last game appears to have gone out on loan, though:
Miles, Fredericks, Byrne, Fryers, Hall, Huddlestone, McEvoy, Luongo (Capt), Parrett, Bentaleb, Ceballos.

 

I expect Huddlestone will be starting then, possibly in place of Dembele.

 

I'm going to this one - hopefully we put out a decent side as Basel are a good team.

Winning breeds confidence so it's important that we build on Sunday's win and start off a new run.

 

Oh well thats my theory out the window, Basel stuffed Luzern 4-0!

 

I hope that AVB puts out a strong side for this one
Basel are a good team and if we play a weakened side then I think we'll be going out.
Which in my opinion would be bad, having come this far I firmly believe that we can go all the way and win it.

Plus we've got a spare weekend after the 2nd leg for the players to recover now!

 

Basil Brush shouldn't be underestimated. Hope you go through cos we need you involved in as many games as us

 

[video=youtube;lvIVaxjeCm4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvIVaxjeCm4[/video]

 

Funny thing is, I turned once (from playing anyone in the Europa to trying to win it), and am now turning back the other way...

My current idea is that first legs often don't seem to matter very much--we won both the last rounds with a last ditch effort in the second leg. So maybe fielding a weakened team in the first leg won't really hurt us, and it's a question of who needs a rest before the Everton game:

I'd say Lennon definitely (disaster to lose him, and he's just coming back from a hamstring) Parker (doesn't look like he can play twice a week anymore). I'd love to rest Vertonghen and Dembele too. Maybe try to play them both for a half?

Naughton, Caulker, Vertonghen, Beni

Livermore Dembele

Holtby Bale Gylfi

Defoe

Dawson and Carroll to come on for Vertonghen and Dembele at the half.

 

Without sounding too over-confident, I think we can afford to rotate a good few players against Basel. I'm not underestimating them one bit, but they're not in the same league as Lyon & Inter and if anything, a rotated squad would probably perform better than a "1st team" being too complacent and fatigued.

I'd go for:

Friedel,
Naughton, Caulker, Gallas, Ekotto
Livermore, Carroll
Lennon, Holtby, Sig
Defoe

Subs: Lloris/ Archer, Walker, Vertonghen, Dawson, Bale, Dembele, Ade

Livermore and Carroll I think will be desperate to impress where as Holtby needs to find some rhythm if he's to force himself into contention for a starting place.

Going for 2-0 Spurs, Caulker and Defoe to score.

COYS!

 

I have a feeling that Huddlestone and Dempsey might start, despite being completely omitted from your 18, SoS!
The American was rested on the weekend, as he was flying all over the place and the big man didn't play for a heavily depleted U21 side yesterday, as they beat Liverpool.
He's been playing for them recently, so he may have been left out for this game.