Tottenham Vs Sunderland Official Sunderland Not606 Match Thread please log in to view this image Match Appointments Referee:Lee Mason Assistants:S Bennett & I Hussin Forth Official:M Dean Tottenham Team News Spurs could be lightweight up front with both Soldado and Adebayor doubtful. The Spaniard was carried off at Anfield last week but Adebayor has been training all week and should be available. Jan Vertonghen could miss out after coming off against Liverpool. Mousa Dembélé could come back in in central midfield after Gylfi Sigurdsson had a poor game in the loss at Liverpool. Sunderland Team News Gus Poyet will surely recall Adam Johnson after he came off the bench and quickly showed himself as the team's best attacking threat in the loss to West Ham last week. Connor Wickham could continue up front, though he was ineffective last time out and either Borini or Altidore could play through the middle. Westwood and Fletcher remain absent. Head to Head please log in to view this image Form Guide please log in to view this image This Seasons Return Fixture Tottenham 2-1 Sunderland37, A Johnson42, Paulinho 50, J O'Shea .OG please log in to view this image Last Corresponding Meeting please log in to view this image What the 'Experts' Say please log in to view this image Lawrenson Tottenham's poor performance in their 4-0 defeat by Liverpool last weekend was very strange but, then again, these are uncertain times at White Hart Lane. Last August, they lost their best player in Gareth Bale and bought in £100m of players. Are they any better? No. Most definitely not. Are they actually in a position where they are not quite sure who their best team is? Yes. Will there be a new manager in charge in June, July or August? Quite possibly. Do they then gamble that some of the new arrivals who have struggled will kick on next season? We don't know. There are a lot of doubts over Spurs right now, but they should still be too strong for a Sunderland side who have lost their way in recent weeks and are in a lot of trouble after taking just one point from their last six games. Sunderland need goals but in their last game, a 2-1 home defeat by West Ham, their strike-force of Connor Wickham and Fabio Borini felt more like a Championship forward line than a Premier League one. Lawro's prediction: 2-0 Merson Iâve played with Tim Sherwood and I know what heâs all about - heâs a winner â so I felt so sorry for him having to sit and watch Tottenhamâs performance against Liverpool last week. Most of those players need to go and see the Wizard of Oz to get a heart; it was terrible. That display was nothing to do with the manager, it was all the players, and it wasnât on. There are ways of getting beat and you shouldnât get beaten that way because there was no heart. They now need to show desire against a team thatâs playing for their lives. Iâm a big fan of Gus Poyet, but I donât know what he was doing against West Ham. Why change your system and play three at the back, especially when itâs hardly the most electrifying team to play against â Andy Carroll and Kevin Nolan arenât quick, are they? And he also left out his best player, Adam Johnson, who is the only one that can make things happen. This is a simple game for complicated people sometimes and while I like Poyet, he got that horribly wrong. Sunderland will be in disarray with the fixtures theyâve got coming up and they need a fluky result sooner rather than later. Otherwise they could be relegated by the time they play Cardiff on April 27. PAUL PREDICTS: 2-1 Facts n Stats Tottenham have won five and lost none of the last seven Premier League games against Sunderland. Sunderland have scored a league-high 46.4 per cent of their Premier League goals from set pieces this season. Sunderland boss Gustavo Poyet had two spells at Tottenham Hotspur, one as a player where he made 82 league appearances and scored 18 goals and also as assistant coach to Juande Ramos. Tottenham have failed to score in four of their last six Premier League matches. Tottenham have conceded the fewest headed goals in the Premier League this season (1). Tottenham are one of only two teams not to lose a Premier League game from a winning position this season prior to this matchday (along with Man Utd). Five of the six Premier League goals that Roberto Soldado has scored this season have been the first goal of the game. Five of the six goals that Soldado has scored have been the winning goal. Spurs have picked up just three points fewer than they had after 32 games in 2011-12, which was their best-ever Premier League haul at this stage. Spurs could become only the fourth team to finish a Premier League season in the top six with a negative goal difference (currently -4; Norwich 3rd -4 GD in 1992-93, West Ham 5th -7 GD in 1998-99 & Everton 4th -1 GD in 2004-05). Betting please log in to view this image Links http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/the-stadium/directions/ http://www.mapsinternational.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/standard-tube-map1.gif
As for the team, who f**king knows. Id go; ---------------------Mannone---------------------- Bardsley-------Cuellar----Brown----------Alonso -----------Cattermole--Ki--Bridcutt--------------- Johnson-------------Borini-------------Giaccherini Rose and Walker both like to push forward so we could get some joy in wide areas. It would be a cake walk for Kaboul and Vertongen against Wickham but Borini's pace could cause them problems. Plenty of through balls over the top like Johnsons in the cup.final. Call me a glutton for punishment but im looking forward to it. Nothing to lose!
Cuellar . I'd rather play Roberge TBH. Cuellar has the turning circle of the QEII (much like O'Shea) at least Roberge is a little bit mobile. Or we could play Diakite........ Oh, hang on!
Cuellar has apparently been playing very well in the second string. We just need John Oshea out of the side and club with immediate effect imo.
Not just IYO mate! IMPO (Most People's)!! I supported him early on in his SAFC career but he truly has been terrible of late. Him and Brown did OK when Brown came back but now O'Shea's errors are affecting us again. Apparently he threw the captains armband down when subbed on monday night - that isn't the type of captain we need at the club! Edit: Glad you put Catts and Bridcutt in - I thought Bridcutt had a canny game on Monday night - tidy without being spectacular. Great engine on him mind and I think those 2 are good players against the bigger sides and combat the attacking play. Sadly I think it's too late but hey, you never know!!
I fancy us for a draw, don't know why the way we are playing like, but it would be just like us to get one. Get beaten at home by teams we should beat, then go away to a team we should get beaten off and get a result. Fingers crossed.
couldn't have put it better myself. JOS needs a big fkin slap. I thought Vergini was okay on Monday too.
Vergini in the first half was our only player showing a bit of urgency. Yes he misplaced a couple of passes second half but its because he was trying.to pass it forward quickly. He could have dwelled on it and hoofed it into the east stand like Oshea but he was trying to pick positive passes. I was delighted when he subbed Oshea
I think this is half of the problem - a "couple of misplaced passes" turn some of our less seasoned supporters (like me - who has been going since 1981) against players immediately. Cattermole could play 5 50 yard passes to feet and then give the ball away once and fans get on his back. Same with others - Vergini was taking some stick from around me for giving it away a couple of times but he did OK (My old man had a go at him too!). If only Cattermole learned how to shoot when he had a bit of time!! He'd be a cracking player to have. No idea what team we will play on Monday. Johnson will start and I think JOS may drop to the bench after his recent interview with BBC Radio North East. I don;t mind the "5 across the back" tactic - I like the way Gus plays it as whichever side we attack down sees the centre half fill in for the full back. It is a great idea although we need more attacking nous. Borini was utter w**k on Monday - I rate him very highly but he was no better than Wickham on Monday night. Hopefully he finds his boots for Monday coming eh? We might be bottom come Monday night the way things have gone recently Bloody southerners - congratulate the OP who puts all that effort into creating a post then ignore the rest of us who post 30 second drivel.... Shocking
That's my team to, Id push Ki up a bit though, Spurs haven't lost this season from a winning position but are dreadful if they go behind. We need an early goal so i'd pin them back from the off and hope we find some bollocks in the final third. Best team we have at the moment that like. Never thought I'd say this but Cuellar safe no **** style of defending is exactly what we need at the back, he just needs to give it to Brown and let him play it out.
