Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Stoke City

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Saturday 10th September 3pm
Premier League
Britannia Stadium​

3 games in and I think it's fair to say that we've still not hit form.
Two disappointing draws against Merseyside teams and a late win against Palace, so far.
Identical results to the same fixtures last season, but an improvement on our start to that campaign.
We need to see more from the team in this game, in my opinion.

Stoke will probably be fairly unhappy with their opening fixtures.
A away draw at Boro isn't the worst start, but their disastrous late show against City was a harsh follow up.
An easy win against Stevenage in the League Cup will have raised spirits, but a narrow loss to Everton will have undone that.
Two pretty hard games in there though, so their lack of a league win isn't that bad. Early days.

Mark Hughes has continued to make changes from the Pulis era, making a number of decent signings.
Joe Allen will offer them decent creativity from a deep midfield role, which they lacked last season.
The loans of Bruno Martins Indi and Wilfried Bony gives them a couple of strong options, too.
Might be a little too soon for them to make a mark, but they're both experienced players.

Our visit to the Britannia was one of the highlights of the whole campaign, for me.
A superb performance from start to finish and one which Stoke simply didn't have an answer for.
Kane and Alli shared the goals in a 4-0 victory, but Eriksen ran the show and it could've been more.
The words of their manager said it all: "We didn't deal with them at all. We couldn't get close to them."

The game at White Hart Lane at the start of that season didn't go quite as well.
A similarly dominant performance was totally undermined by a second half capitulation.
There was only one team in it for an hour, as we went in 2-0 up at the break and were coasting.
The introduction of Ireland (in particular) and Joselu on the hour switched it around, though.
Poor defending and bad substitutions let Stoke level things up and they could've nicked it.
Lessons weren't learned quickly enough from that game, in my opinion.

Stoke will be desperate to win this, both to open their account for the season and to get revenge for our last game.
Bony ahead of Arnautovic and Bojan with Allen pulling the strings and Imbula shielding? Dangerous.
They have decent, if aging, striking options from the bench, too.
Charlie ****ing Adam is always dangerous, as well. Literally. The twat.

Dembele sits out the last game of his seemingly everlasting ban for this one.
There are questions about the fitness of Rose and Lloris, so we'll have to wait on those.
Lamela played for Argentian this morning too, so he may have to be assessed.

Stoke have a few problems with injuries at the moment.
Affelay, Butland, Ireland and Johnson are all out, while Diouf and Shaqiri are doubts.
Martins Indi isn't fit enough to be considered for a starting place, either.
They have no suspensions.

Line-ups for each team's last league game:

Spurs: Vorm; Walker, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose; Dier, Wanyama; Lamela, Alli, Eriksen; Kane.
Subs: McGee, Davies, Carter-Vickers, Winks, Onomah, Son, Janssen.

Stoke: Given; Bardsley, Shawcross, Cameron, Pieters; Allen, Imbula, Whelan; Diouf, Crouch, Arnautovic.
Subs: Haugaard, Muniesa, Adam, Ahmed, Bojan, Walters, Ngoy.

Referee: Anthony Taylor.

Quite a few questions about the approach to this game, I think.
4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1? Sissoko to come into the 2 or is it too early? Lloris back for Vorm, if available?
The internationals seem to have thrown a few spanners in the works too, with regards to training and fitness.
What would you change at what do we need to look out for from Stoke?

 

<LDL>

 

Paul Stewart

 

Sorry Lukey, but you were told long ago that <LDL> is the shorthand
for "Paul Stewart" .

 

I think Sissoko needs to come in straight away and show everyone what all the fuss is about. I'd like him to feel the pressure of expectation from the off, not to slip into a comfort zone of mediocrity sitting on the bench. He strikes me as the type of player who will only chase the carrot after he already knows what the carrot tastes like. Play him, remind him that Dembele is back next week and a place in the reserves will be waiting if he can't provide half a dozen solid reasons why the Belgian doesn't deserve his place back. Same goes for Son. He left international duty early to 'proove himself'. Go ahead son. I'll show myself out, thanks.

Also absolutely no reason for Vorm to be dropped after recent performances. I will be furious if Hugo starts as it undermines Poch's entire meritocratic philosophy.

For me:

Vorm
Walker Toby Jan Danny Boy
Sissoko Dier
Son Alli Eriksen
Kane

 

Davies might be getting a start, because among the things that apparently aren't Allarshyte's job is substituting players when they have a hamstring strain.

 

Looking forward to this, there's a chance we'll get to see two of our new boys in action at some point so that's always intriguing and exciting.

What I'd do for a repeat performance of last season at the Brittania. Kane's long overdue a goal while it'd be nice for Janssen to get his Spurs career off the mark as well, hopefully now Eriksen's contract if sorted he'll get back to his best form, we'll need him too seeing as Lamela is likely to sit this one out.

I'd go with:

Vorm
Walker, Toby, Jan, Rose (if fit)
Dier, Wanyama
Sissoko, Eriksen, Alli
Kane

Lloris, Davies, Trippier, Winks, GKN, Son, Janssen

If Rose can't play then Davies goes to LB and CCV (unless Wimmer is fit?) is promoted to the bench.

I've echoed the sentiment of what CK said in regards to not dropping Vorm, he was amazing against Pool, made a superb save against Everton and was solid against Palace, so it'd be incredibly harsh to drop him, though that also applies to Wanyama for me, he's really impressed in the centre of the park and seems a threat from set pieces which is always a bonus. It was a toss up between Sissoko and Son for the RW role and while I respect Son's decision to skip his international match to focus on Spurs, I feel the new Frenchman deserves to show his worth to the club, there are many sceptics on him already and I think he'll need the 90 minutes to hopefully give a good first impression, not say a 20 minute cameo off the bench. With GKN now finally a Spurs player, his pace could come in extremely handy with 20-30 minutes to go, whether that be us going for a goal or using him for countering Stoke if they're chasing a deficit by pushing men forward. If Kane again fails to find the net or fails to impress in general, I'd start Janssen for the following game, that may light a fire in Harry and see him come back roaring.

COYS!

 

Vorm should definitely keep his place even if Lloris is fit.
Equally, it must be time to switch at LB and give Ben Davies a game. He's a top player as proven in the Euros and in the clip of last seasons game and we need to keep him match fit.
Can't see Lamela starting after his travels, so that probably means opportunities for Son and Sissoko - and both have plenty to prove. Mind you, so does Eriksen on current form and hopefully the conductor of last seasons emphatic win at their place will turn up.
Otherwise just hoping to see either Janssen or Kane get off the mark. Hopefully both!

Tough game and wouldn't be surprised if it's another single pointer.

 

Agreed about Vorm, and I also think we’ll see Davies. Starting Sissoko seems a bit too desperate to me. It’s not your older brother’s Stoke. They’re certainly likely to score, but at least as likely to leak goals. We’ve been very solid defensively, and another solid defensive game should give us a good chance to win. I’d start Janssen in Lamela’s place. It may well be Sissoko does start, though. If so, I’d much rather he starts on the right, where he’d be less of a defensive liability.

 

Pochettino has confirmed that Lloris is available again and that Rose will miss this game through injury.
Cheers Sam, you useless twat. I'm sure leaving him on after he was clearly hurt really helped.
Still, it's not like you had a choice as you didn't take another left-back.
Shaw left you with only Baines, Bertrand, Gibbs, Mee, Friend or Daniels to pick from in the Premier League.

 

Just as an aside, I love this pic. Look at MP's face!

 

Unshaven again I notice.

 

Personally, I couldn't care. It's the deadly determined look that I like!..

 

My favourite is the Martin Jol/Arsene one. When Jol says "get out of my face" to Wenger.

 

I met Martin Jol. Nice guy.

My brother knows him personally. He lives in Waalwijk and knows Martin from when he was the manager there.

We've been to games a few times and I met Martin when I went to get some tickets.

 

He's a lovely man. Used to chat with him at reserve games at Stevenage when he was having a fag behind the main stand at half time.

 

Only met him twice. When I collected the tickets, he came down and said hello and asked how my brother was.

Second time, my brother and I had a quick drink with him after a game in the bar.

 

Me too! Both unshaven, and noticing

 

I really hope Poch grows a beard, so for when Kane nets the 94th minute winner in the North London Derby, Pochettino does a knee-slide right in front of where you sit and then rips the buttons off his shirt (or unzips his tracksuit!) to reveal a t-shirt stating "How d'you like me now, Spurcat!?".