Gh10, Low key is the wrong way to describe the game! Although I think this game is not as high profile as a premier league fixture. I don't mean to devalue the game as like yourself I see this as a competition that we should take seriously this year and think we have a decent chance of reaching the later stages. Also, valid point about sandro. But I felt he looked a touch rusty on Saturday.
Hi J8 good points, Sandro was off the pace V Chelsea, but he wasn't the only one obviously. To me we have to play our strongest possible team v Maribor, and I think that includes Sandro. However, I wouldn't be distraught if he didn't play. I definitely think Dembele and Dempsey should stay at home, I'm hoping Bale is ready to play again, but if he stays in Wales, then Sandro just has to travel I think. And if he travels he may as well play I reckon. I suspect Maribor will be as tough a task as Southampton, and so we need strong teams out on both occasions.
My team would line up like this: http://this11.com/topics/add/abDAPALaiP Subs: Carrol Defoe Gallas Falque Smith Friedel
I didn't realise Sandro had had such a quiet international break, but still I think Livermore should do the job for us against Maribor. We need to be careful with Sandro with Parker injured, but even when Scotty is back Sandro still has the more complete game so he'll still be playing a lot come the end of the season IMO. Any break we can give him now can't hurt in the long term can it? One thing (amongst many) I do like about this Spurs squad is that with everyone fit we seem to have 3 different pairs for the '2' in our 4-2-3-1. We have Sandro and Dembele as first choice, Parker and Huddlestone behind them and then Livermore and Carroll as the 'up and comers'. Not saying they should only play in these pairs by and means! But there seems to be a nice symmetry and balance there, as we have 3 sets of 'creators' and 'destroyers' so to speak.
HI Hudd, take you points, but any break we give Sandro now could hurt massively, lose to Maribor and chances are we'll be dumped out of Europe at the groups stage, again. That's a big, big hurt. Having said that if AVB doesn't pick Sandro I won't be jumping up and down, just depends who he picks instead.
100% agree. I think one should be the goalkeeper too and wear gloves. Just want to add my voice to say that I agree Sandro should not start. We really will be buggered if he gets injured. We do not seem to be blessed with many solid central midfield options at the moment. If AVB wants the 4-2-3-1 formation (or whatever) then Hudd and Livermore practically pick themselves. As for fringe players like Falque/Townsend, well it's just rolling dice, isn't it? Maybe they'll do well, maybe they'll be anonymous. Not been too inspired by either in the past. Do like the look of Carroll, though. Would like to see him play again.
A preview of possible team selection and a few other interesting points http://www.goal.com/en-gb/match/93776/nk-maribor-vs-tottenham/preview I like the name Tavares, wasn't that a disco group? Heaven must be missing an angel etc, I certainly think we'll be missing Dembele, and I hope Dempsey has his feet up at home instead of sampling the celestial delights of Europe's joint city of culture or some such this year.
Yeah, for me whether or not Sandro plays depends on the level that Maribor play at themselves. Obviously winning the game is a priority above all else, given our results already in the EL this year. I'm not saying Sandro needs to be rested right now by any means but I can't se it hurting so long as our ability to win the game isn't impaired. A quick Wiki appears to show that Maribor are Slovenia's most successful team ever, however that means that its still hard to gauge their quality in absolute terms! Their UEFA coefficient is currently 159 but I don't know what to read into that, especially given that England are ranked in the top 5 national teams in the world right now, erasing my belief in such ranking systems. For the record we're 30th. Read into that what you will, but for me Maribor remain somewhat an unknown quantity!
Hi Hud, cheers for the info, I didn't realise they had such a low ranking, that's a bit of a shock to me. The fact they beat Pana so easily was a major turn up for the book then, though from my limited knowledge of Greek teams in Europe they tend to fare a lot better at home than away, though IIRC POAK didn't last season against us. Maribor's form so far in the group has been a lot better than 159th would suggest, indeed so far it's been better than ours at 30th. I really don't know what to expect, the pitch seems to be okay, but I'll want to see what the TV people make of it before I rely on that. We're lacking Bale and Dembele apparently, I don't know if Dempsey has travelled, I hope he hasn't. We may just need Sandro out there. What I don't want to see is any of Carroll, Falque, Mason, etc starting. I will be jumping up and down if that happens, unless we win of course All respect to AVB on this so far, he's kept true on his word to go for the EL, and I applaud him wholeheartedly for that.
According to Team talk Ade and Bale haven't travelled Ade has a back problem http://www.teamtalk.com/match/preview/978/8191829/Maribor-v-Tottenham-preview? I can't vouch for any of this but squad apparently is Hugo Lloris will start in goal for Spurs, while Mousa Dembele (hip), Scott Parker (Achilles), Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Younes Kaboul (both knee) are all sidelined. Tottenham (from): Lloris, Cudicini, Naughton, Walker, Caulker, Gallas, Dawson, Vertonghen, Smith, Livermore, Parrett, Huddlestone, Sandro, Sigurdsson, Lennon, Townsend, Falque, Dempsey, Defoe. I guess without Ade and Bale, Dempsey had to travel, shame though. I'll go Lloris; Naughton/Smith Caulker Dawson JV; Hudd Sandro Siggy Lennon Dempsey Defoe from that, but would be happy with Livermore & Townsend playing
The lack of striker options is again rearing its ugly head. Ade isn't playing so Defoe plays- think he has played nearly every game. Surely he will need a rest soon.
Yep PL, it's a strange one this. At least we have Dempsey, but he must be suffering from all the travelling he's doing.
A decision which Kane was pissed off about. Well maybe not so much the decision, but more the way it was handled. Not the best example of AVB's supposed man management skills. Assuring Kane he was going to play a part this season and then 24 hours later, shipping him out.
Can't argue with that lineup really. I agree with the possible inclusion of Livermore and Townsend, and I'd definitely like to see some of the youngsters later on in the game. Possibly not dropping Walker might be good, obviously he made mistakes on Saturday but we need to keep his confidence up if he's going to reach the heights he reached last year. But I can see why you might want to rest him to a) give him a rest because he did look a bit jaded at the end of last season having played pretty much every game for us and b) to send a message that no-one is undroppable.
I think i'd go with this too, GH10. yet, it doesn't fill me with a massive amount of confidence. these europa games can be tricky,especially away from home. Naughton will be fresh back from injury and could still be tender. Hudd looked way off the pace against Chelsea, Sig hasn't done anything particularly productive so far and Dempsey needs a rest. - ...oh, and Defoe and Lennon play again With all things considered, I think it's going to be a real test tomorrow night, to the point where the Europa league table might not be looking too pretty.
Hi Hudd, I think it's essential we drop Walker, for the reasons you mention, and also because Smith looks in good form for the U 21s and it's a good chance for Naughton to get some game time. I wouldn't advocate them playing if I didn't think they're up to it, but I think they are.
