He's been poor for us this season, but he's returning from a long injury and hasn't had any sort of run in the side. The three games that he's played for Romania this season have only seen them concede once, though and they played nearly an entire half of one of them with 10 men. Virtually all of our defenders in every game look vulnerable and nervous, so I'm loath to put all of the blame on him, despite his shocker against Besiktas. This has been the case for quite some time, predating Pochettino's arrival and that of big chunks of the squad.
Vorm, Naughton, Fazio, Vertonghen, Davies; Dembele, Stambouli; Lennon, Kane, Townsend; Soldado Subs: Friedel, Dier, Chiriches, Chadli, Lamela, Mason, Paulinho
Quite like that team, but would have rested Vert and risked Chicheres. I just hope the wingers play on the correct side. Also hope it is a little less worrying than when I saw Spurs v Brighton in a cup match a number of years ago when Deadly rescued us! And just noticed that is nearly exactly what PNP went for - someone's listening!
I don't think that the team will be set out in the way that I posted, though. It'll be a 4-2-3-1 with inverted winger, unfortunately. Lennon's next to useless on the left and Townsend's completely predictable, if still fairly dangerous, on the right. It's a waste. It also cramps the middle and allows compact sides to completely fill space through the centre, while leaving us open on the flanks to counters.
I'm pretty sure that in later years when we reflect on recent history and see the long-term outcomes of last year's transfer dealings you will look back fondly on the times when a manager was able to buy players with experience of the English game for reasonable sums. I still maintain that if you look at Harry's signings you will find considerably less duds than during the DOF periods that came before and after. With Harry it was never rocket science. Need goals? sign Defoe. Need a midfield enforcer? Sign Scott Parker. Need a goalie? Sign Brad Friedel. I know none of them broke any transfer fee records but signings like that were refreshingly straightforward and effective. He made many signings like these - mostly for reasonable sums and without a two-year wait for them to "gel".
All true, but at least Pochettino looks serious, to me, anyway, about responding to the problems we've been having. One of the things I've liked about him so far is that he seems willing to try new things. I like this team, even with inverted wingers, since I think we'll be solid enough at the back, and Kane and Soldado between them should be able to provide goals.
The match has been delayed by 15 minutes. Tim Sherwood's talking out of his arse on my stream, unfortunately. Spurs fans don't like homegrown talent? That's why you'll still hear songs every game about Ledley King. I'd like him to get a job somewhere soon, just so he's not doing punditry for a while. Tonight's ref is Mark "banned for going to see Ed Sheeran" Twattenburg. Great.
Southampton take the lead against Stoke via a goal by Pelle. Newcastle take the lead against City via a goal by Aarons. One of those is slightly more predictable than the other.
Need to see Dier and Fazio as the centre backs,after all isn't that what Dier was bought for,he certainly isn't a right back
They seemed to be quite supportive of Harrikane last week, too... I do wish we'd see more of the Eriksen/Lamela/Lennon attacking trio we saw in pre-season, as that seemed to have a good balance to it and there was more width - something we don't have with the Eriksen/Lamela/Chadli trio.
I'm a little worried about Dembele's role. I think he's quite good as an attacking midfielder, but does not work as a deep lying playmaker, as he does not get the ball forward quickly. Good result the other day, Luke, though I'd rather you take points off Chelsea and Arsenal...
Shouldn't have been used tonight, though. He looked knackered against the Geordies and he's played a lot recently, for a youngster.
Yep, it's inverted wingers, again. Meh. What the hell happened then? We get a throw, they suddenly get one instead and then foul throw it? Weird.
