He thought Vertonghen's handball against Chelsea was a clear penalty too. He does it every game we play seemingly and nearly always asks the managers about it in his post match interview too to try and make something of it. Did he not get the ball? I assumed he had at the time. We're talking about when he went for a punch, right? The pundits on MOTD didn't even dignify it with a replay in the summing up.
On the Ospina punch YV I think it was an Arsenal defender who headed it away and Ospina got none of the ball and a bit of Kane. Seen them given but I'd have been annoyed if it had been given against us.
Ah, one of those where it's probably technically a foul but a soft penalty to give. A bit like when Evans tripped Kane in the United game.
Personally, I thought it was a penalty. Ospina completely mistimed his run and attempted punch and succeeded only in completely flattening Kane. He just clattered straight into Kane's back.
Wow. Wow. Wow. What a day it was for me yesterday. To start the day off, I got in late from the pub at about 00:30, seeing as I wasn't drunk nor tired, thought I'd chuck a score in the Paddy account and play a bit of live roulette, 15 minutes later I withdrew £240, so maybe then I should've realised that it was going to be a great day. Not even sure where to begin in regards to the match, well for a start the whole team put in an enormous shift, even the ones who didn't impact it as much as I'd have liked were working their arses off for the side and that what's I admire, I know that every player won't play well in every game but as long as the work rate is there, it'll get a from me. I thought Rose, Mason, Bentaleb, Walker and Kane were great. Rose and Walker were bombing it back and forth down the wings like mad men, Poch's fitness regime really is paying dividends because 99% of full backs wouldn't have been able to have maintained that level like they did over the course of 90 minutes. Mason and Bentaleb again showed what a promising duo they are, at 20 years old it is ridiculous just how composed and aware Bentaleb is, his reading of the game is of someone 10 years older and then we have Mason who plays like any fan of this club would (if they could) - runs his arse off, gets stuck in and tries to get the ball forward as quickly as possible. Then the man of the hour was there to yet again get the business done, Kane is exciting me now just as much as Bale, Modric and Berbatov did, I haven't been around as long as others to have witnessed some of our other stars of the past so the three mentioned were probably the best I've seen in person in terms of entertainment, skill and unpredictability, and Kane is now becoming another to add to that list if he can continue this type of form. For a guy without much flair, he's able to take on players very comfortably and his strength also allows him to shrug off any barge attempts, his striking of the ball is superb and as we've seen a number of times this season he's also deadly in the air, with yesterday's header being one of the best I've ever seen live. In terms of the game, we absolutely bossed it, from minute 1 to minute 94. It was typical that a lucky break for Arsenal gave them the lead but there was a sense of come-back-ability amongst us fans, something Poch as has installed throughout the club and we were rightly rewarded for believing so with the fantastic support. I think the players sensed Arsenal were there for the taking even when we went behind, and it was only a matter of when and not if we'll eventually turn the result around. The passing, movement, pressing was just a joy to watch and the result just capped it off. Poch is turning us into a force and it's very exciting to witness. The Lane was absolutely rocking, the new chant we've adopted of "Everywhere we goooo" was sung by all corners of the stands at certain points and it created a phenomenal atmosphere, I'm not a massive fan of the song as I generally associate it more with Northern clubs but if it gets the Lane going like that and helps Spur the lads on then it'll become my favourite instantly. And so then if winning on roulette and seeing us beat the fake North London scum wasn't good enough, a little £5 accy came in for me later on in the evening meaning I picked up another £50 which paid for a nice Indian takeaway for me and a few of my family. More days like yesterday please COYS!!!
Never mourned the loss of Bale maggie as the club is bigger than any one player. I said at the time that if we could find Bale then we can find Bales again.
Just read elsewhere that our starting lineup yesterday was the youngest in the Premier League this season. The players had average age of just 24 years and 37 days.
Agreed. It was a bad weekend for expensively assembled collections of other players, with Real getting mullered. Lamela played, and has been playing, with the spirit of an academy player, not the expensive import he is, and for that alone I'd say he had a good game. It's an interesting question whether that's our best "3" now. Many if not most would choose Chadli on the left, Eriksen in the center and Townsend on the right. I continue to like Dembele in an attacking role, though. Finally, cloudy crystal ball department: the Torygraph at its best: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...rth-London-derby-here-are-10-reasons-why.html
I think I'd choose Chadli over Dembele, mainly because it allows Eriksen to play central where I feel he's most effective and both Chadli and Eriksen offer greater goal threats than Dembele. Lamela and Townsend, at the moment, is a harder choice, Lamela has shown a great work ethic lately but Townsend is probably more effective in terms of running at defences. I think for the time being, I'd rotate the two based on the type of opposition we face, though once Lamela hits top form I think he'd make the position his own. That said, after yesterday's performance I'm hardly suggesting Poch needs to change it around instantly, but it's just that in the long run, I do feel a Chadli - Eriksen - Lamela trio would be more effective. However regardless of my preferences, this type of debate is a great situation for the club because it shows the strength we have in positions to be able to say "X is better than Y" or vice versa. It wasn't that long ago where the first XI picked itself mainly down to the fact the squad wasn't strong enough and therefore rotating meant weakening, where as now rotating is literally just rotating while pretty much maintaining a very high level standard of football. To beat Arsenal (and Chelsea) this season in a convincing manner yet still debate who should be first choice shows we're massively improving and I think Poch deserves huge credit for this, he's bringing out the best in roughly 80%-85% of players in our squad, AVB and Sherwood tended to rely on just 1 or 2 stand-outs to bail us out.
I think it's clear that the number of changes we made to our squad following the Bale sale has taken over a season to mature. MP is benefiting from that maturity so I wouldn't credit him with all of the improvement, however he does appear to have had a good effect on fitness and durability. I like the fact that he is seen to be urging the team on when we have taken the lead, he does not fall for the 1 - 0 'comfort mistake' that AVB appeared to. He has also managed the appearance of Mason, Bentaleb and Kane to great effect and not been afraid to change his plans when it becomes clear that it's not working too well. I am thinking of his decision to make Kaboul captain, following team preferences, a decision he later changed when Kaboul's form was clearly missing. This flexibility is for me one of the best and most encouraging features of MP's management and one that augers well for the future. He is winning me over because atm he is not doing a lot wrong. I hope it continues.
Yes, I'd agree with most of the above. What impressed me most yesterday was the fight, the determination. Our intensity and will to win was simply too much for the Goons. It's a long time since I've seen that from a a Spurs side. Our fitness levels are amongst the very best. Our squad is one of the youngest. Their confidence must be growing. Let's keep it going on Tuesday.
