Can't be anything but pleased, can you? Fredericks came on and was excellent, Coulthirst looked lively too and Eriksen came back. Holtby was the stand out player for me tonight, that goal was some skill and he looked lively everytime he got forward with the ball. Job done in the groups and another bit of confidence added for us to take into the game against Liverpool.
Like most of the stats under AVB they mean nothing unless he delivers something of importance but the team has done whats needed so far in Europe. I won't complain, much
Inside info or just a guess? Tottenham 4-1 Anzhi Makhachkala Tottenham academy coach Bradley Allen on BBC Radio London "Spurs have been very professional this evening. It sets them up in a positive frame of mind. "I think Jermain Defoe has been given the nod already for the game against Liverpool, despite Roberto Soldado's hat-trick."
Boss, can you do me a favour and predict a Soldado hattrick in the prediction league? I already did mine and can't change it
Haha.... I went early myself, have you missed your opportunity to get one of your crazy predictions right!
Defoe is under pressure now to score or is his mind already on a move, either way he's been a great servant to the club and this must be his last year with us before he earns mega bucks abroad.
a lot of plusses tonight, danny rose back from injury, capoue looks awesome ,fredericks was very impressive, siggy was very good ,and so pleased soldado got a hatrick , holtby was very good, and the beast in midfield didn't even need to play .
Robbed off the Beeb: As group winners, Spurs will face one of: Ajax, Juve, Porto, Viktoria Plzen, FC Chornomorets Odesa, Esbjerg fB, Maribor, Dnipro Donetsk, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Dynamo Kiev, Slovan Liberec, Real Betis, Lazio or PAOK Salonika. As runners up, Swansea will face one of: Napoli, Benfica, Shakhtar Donetsk, Basel, Ludogorets Razgrad, Red Bull Salzburg, Rubin Kazan, Fiorentina, Eintracht Frankfurt, KRC Genk, Sevilla, Lyon, Trabzonspor or AZ Alkmaar. There's hardly a difference is there? We might as well have not bothered and fielded the kinds after the first few games.
don't panic lads this squad is good enough to win this competition ,even better the gooners will be knocked out of the champions league and hopefully we will beat them in the fa cup
I know that Tots but they are the strongest team, the whole Europa, CL drop outs is a shambles of a system.
I was honestly thinking we'd phone in tonight, especially with the makeshift back four that looked like the perfect excuse for AVB to shut up shop, especially when we went 2-0 up. Good to see the team go for the jugular for the game, as well as some of the combinations between Soldado and Townsend. That sequence where Townsend and Soldado kept finding new ways to bamboozle their defence on the left was more entertaining than the two Tromso games combined! Friedel - Did my eyes deceive me, or did he actually look like he was capable of playing sweeper keeper tonight? Seemed to be off his line quicker than he was at any point in the past couple of seasons, and did a good job of it. Naughton - Kept his average of creating an opportunity for the opposition every game with his slack defending for Anzhi's goal Capoue - Filled in at the back very well, including a crucial block in the first half Fryers - Solid shift, not doing anything wrong but not doing anything that stood out Rose - Wasn't off the pace, although only got 45 minutes Dembele - Came up with some great passes, including some that went forwards Holtby - Deserved his goal (lovely finish, too), passed it around superbly, and was winning headers all game - although his tackling left a lot to be desired Lamela - Great pass to set up Soldado for 2-0, was getting into good positions, and showed he wanted the ball by constantly scrapping for it Sigurdsson - Got into some useful positions, although wasn't as good as Holtby, Townsend or Lamela Townsend - Ran all night, combined very well with Soldado, and was crossing rather than cutting in for a change - also showed we should use him on the left Soldado - Showed what he can do with the right kind of service, and looked a lot happier on the pitch than in some of his Premiership appearances of late Fredericks - Had an iffy moment at the start of the second half, but was a constant threat down the right and grew as the game went on Eriksen - The only things I noticed was he's grown a beard, and smacked a shot into a defender late Coulthirst - Made the most of his opportunity, with some good runs that may have created more if the team weren't settling for 4-1 by then And the Europa League final is at their stadium!
We've got to believe that we can beat any team. I thought our kids did fantastically well, tonight, and it was great to see Rose get 45 minutes. He's going to make a tremendous difference to the balance of our side. Bonus, too, that Fryers and Capoue did superbly well as makeshift Defenders. Oh, and yes, Soldado scored a hat-trick. All-in-all, we've got to be confident moving forward in this competition, certainly far more so that Arsenal will be in the CL. I'll be surprised if they go any further, in fact.
Why worry about Juventus.Let them worry about us. This is the knockout now.Most of the minnows are gone and now the tournament really starts!
Playing well againt Anzhi shows nothing, it's true. But we looked excellent for decent stretches of the Sunderland game, and have been playing a much quicker tempo and have the goals to show for it since at least the Man U game. I wouldn't call it the turning point yet, but it's a turning point. We're attacking faster and more often, playing more attractively and making more mistakes too, scoring more goals and giving up more. It's what I wanted, and I'm glad to see it. So, good news--for the time being, at least until the next turning point.
Holtby sold me when I watched him wrong foot everyone but Defoe at WHL. I'm sure some Germany U-21 captains have been busts, but I'll bet most have gone on to greater things.
It was a nice change to watch us attack- a left footed winger ON THE LEFT and then putting in crosses. No matter what some might say a hat-trick in a competitive match will be a huge boost to Soldado and Townsend finally playing a proper left wingers role. As RWAEB said a turning point and a confidence boost for the important games coming up.
