Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Sunderland

Really depends on what grade the damage is, grade 3 being the worst.

But I doubt we'll get to hear what it is.

 

That's sad for the lad. Hope it's something minor and fixable.

 

On the grounds that we'd definitely release information that showed good news, it can only be:

• undetermined;
• bad news;
• very bad news.

If this is either of the latter 2 options, then the chances of keeping this 'under-wraps' for any meaningful time that makes a difference to anyone are nil, unless we've found a non-contract player that we could sign....Oh God, it's coming true isn't it? He's coming back, isn't he?

 

And indeed it does appear to be minor, as he is in the Sunderland squad for their next game.

 

Mauricio Pochettino:

"We need to be positive now the damage is done. It's a good opportunity to build his body, his fitness, his mentality and to work hard on different aspects and help him become more strong."

To quote a great idiot - "Do I not like the look of this!"

 

Yeah, that doesn't sound like a few games out, does it?
Have a depressing list of out of contract strikers in response:
http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/spie...id=alle&wettbewerb_id=alle&seit=alle&yt0=Show

How about Klose as a ridiculous attempt to make a Klinsmann-esque signing? No? Adebayor or Anelka it is, then!

 

A mixture of people I've never heard of and a few that I've tried hard to forget. Eric Dier up front?

 

Why do I suspect that Dier would actually pull it off and do it without any fanfare or moaning?
"Yeah, the boss asked me to play up top, so I gave it a go. My hat-trick? It was alright." Followed by a dig at Alli.

 

Vaclav Sverkos was a beast...on PES6...which came out nine years ago...

 

To be fair to Pro Evolution, that edition came out in late 2006/early 2007 and he did have a good campaign following it.
He scored 23 goals in 39 games for the mighty Banik Ostrava and was top scorer in the... er, Czech League.

 

The FA have sort of refuted Sunderland's version of events, which has just left me confused at what happened:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37417135

I think that the club contacted the FA's medical people, but that the FA itself wasn't involved. Possibly?

 

Joking aside I think he would do well. He is big, powerful, has a good first touch, can head the ball well and has a good shot. What aspects of being a 'striker' would he be weak at? Dele Alli might do OK too. Both would be miles better than anyone we could afford to sign.
But I remember saying exactly the same thing about Gareth Bale four or five years ago, to howls of derision.

 

The plethora of pool and Utd players that go on to become pundits always turn out pro-pool and pro-utd. All the Spurs players that become pundits seem to end up anti-Spurs. What the hell are we doing to these players when they leave? Garth is about the most-pro Spurs and even he isn't exactly partisan

 

Jamie Redknapp seems to hate us for sacking his dad, so I'm guessing that Danny Murphy's dad was groundsman or something...

 

Positional awareness and anticipation? Reading defenders' movement to lose them and/or spring the offside trap? Being able to hold the ball up to bring other players into the fray?

There are multiple aspects of any position that have nothing to do with actual physical ability and everything to do with experience and training. Bale is probably the only player in the history of the PL who has successfully made the transition. Perhaps a case can be made at a stretch for Henry too but either way both players are absolutely world class. Son and Chadli have similarly 'well suited' attributes and look how much they struggled up top last year.

 

Dembele was a striker at Alkmaar...

 

Defoe can't do any of those things...is he not a striker?

 

...but not at Fulham...mostly because he wasn't very good at it.

 

Most of ours are actually quite pro-Spurs, but not the most prominent ones.
Lineker's normally positive, but he's obviously more aligned with Leicester and has ties to Everton, too.
Jenas is totally pro-Spurs, Clive Allen talks like he's still at the club and Pleat actually is, though he wasn't a player, obviously.
Hoddle's clearly Tottenham through and through, Ferdinand's pretty good about all of his old clubs and I'm sure I'm missing others.

The problem is that most of them don't get used on our games.
Sunday's game was a prime example. An ex-Sunderland and Arsenal striker balanced out by... an ex-Arsenal striker.