please log in to view this image Sunday 21st February 3pm White Hart Lane FA Cup 5th Round Our third meeting of the season and a chance to do a treble over somebody, which would be nice. The return to the Lane of Emmanuel Adebayor might prove to be a sticking point, however. He scored his first goal of the season against Watford last weekend and he'll be looking to prove a point. Not entirely sure what that point would be though, to be honest. Both of the league fixtures were very competitive. Son's solo goal won the game at the Lane, sending Korean commentators into raptures. We had to rely on some Dele Alli magic to take the lead at Selhurst Park, before Chadli put the cherry on top. Yeah, **** it, watch it again: I'm hoping for another fantastic goal and progress into the next round, but I'll settle for just the latter. Pochettino's team selection is probably going to be controversial, no matter what he does. The Europa League campaign is in the balance and everyone suddenly believes that the league's up for grabs. How does the FA Cup rank in our order of importance? We'll find out at 2pm on Sunday. Pardew's suffered some setbacks recently, but Palace are pretty safe and I think he'll go for this one. He needs to turn his side's form around and make a bit of a statement. He'll send his new striker out to try and write a big one. Lineups for the last League game: Spurs: Lloris; Walker, Alderweireld, Wimmer, Rose; Dier, Dembele; Son, Eriksen, Alli; Kane. Subs: Vorm, Trippier, Davies, Mason, Carroll, Chadli, Lamela. League form: LWWWWW. Palace: Hennessey; Ward, Dann, Delaney, Souare; Zaha, Cabaye, Jedinak, Mutch; Wickham, Adebayor. Subs: Speroni, Mariappa, Kelly, Boateng, Lee, Campbell, Chamakh. League form: LLLLDL. Should we stick with Chadli up front and give him a run in the side as a striker or should Kane start? Is there another alternative that you'd like to see leading the line? Harrison? Son? Lamela? Are there any players that definitely should or shouldn't start?
I can't afford to go much these days but I'll be there with my son, so very much looking forward to it. Completely agree with PNP's summary, really don't know what kind of team we'll put out. I don't think it's so much an energy problem as the team is very fit (which I'm very proud of by the way), more about risking an energy. I guess Kane is the most irreplaceable player we have in that respect, so I would hope he'll start on the bench and maybe come on later. Really nothing would surprise me though. In Poch we trust!
Adebayor says he'll celebrate if he scores. There is no confirmation of who will celebrate if he is stretchered off though.
Craig Pawson is our referee for this one. Palace have sold their full allocation of 5000. Should be a decent atmosphere.
I noted Eriksen was tiring on Thursday night toward the end of the game. I hope he gets a rest for this game.
Adebaoyor said he thanks spurs fans for great support...that he likes MP but us annoyed with Levy for not letting him leave sooner. Not sure what kind of reception he will get but hope it aint bad cos all in all he did ok for us. Am going with my daughters so looking forward to a good atmosphere
I'd rather remember the many goals Ade scored for us and the great moments he provided, rather than the various difficulties, controversies, and headaches, not to mention all the money pissed away. I expect I'm in the minority. The selection for Fiorentina indicated Pochettino is more concerned with training the squad up than winning. He'd like to win, no doubt, but not at the cost of hurting our PL chances. I’m not going to second guess him. The selection aberration for a while has been that Eriksen always seems to start. Also, he doesn't seem tired as he did earlier this season--though maybe he was at the end of the Viola game, I didn't notice. In any case, it may make sense for training purposes to start a mostly first choice team, to keep them sharp, and then to go back to a heavily rotated side Thursday. Vorm Walker Alderweireld/CCV Wimmer (or would you believe Davies at CB?) Rose Dier Dembélé Lamela Erikson/Chadli Alli/Onomah Kane It might be wise to only play the starters from last game for half this one.
4998. My daughter and I will be cheering Spurs on from within the Palace hoards and I think there will be others!
I have never understood the notion of not celebrating a goal against a former club, if a club is willing to move you on why the hell would you not celebrate, i would do, plus some. Surely it's more disrespectful for the team and the fans that you are playing for. I know all the fans will be cheering for every shot he has that doesn't go in.
I think it's just overused. If you have a real connection with the club then I think it's right not to celebrate. So someone like Townsend shouldn't celebrate, whilst Stambouli can do whatever he wants. I wouldn't blame a player for getting carried away and celebrating anyway though.
Since we're going to be hearing a lot about Alli's goal from last month's game, he needs to score one of these tomorrow before we read countless articles of him being a one-season wonder I celebrated when GAME undercharged me by a fiver the other day...
I still cannot fathom how Adebayor is allowed to play against us if we're footing 25% of his wages. It's very unlike Levy to forget to include some sort of clause covering this opportunity because no doubt he'll magically play out of his skin just to make a point. Carroll out is a blow as I'd have started him instead of Eriksen who I agree needs a rest. I don't think Mason looked 100% on Thursday either which is understandable, so I'd go for: Vorm Walker Dier Wimmer Rose Bentaleb Dembele Onomah Lamela Chadli Kane I think there's more than enough in that team to beat a Palace team suffering from a terrible run of form, although the Togolese enigma worries me.
I thought that once (re: Ade ) but now I understand it. We are not paying him a salary. We agreed a settlement that instead of paying him his final year's salary, we would pay him the settlement in monthly installments (unless another team coughed up some of it). Team selection: Back five agree-which is why Dier didn't start against Fiorentina. Mason not looking 100% means he needs game time and this is perfect opportunity so I would play him alongside Bentaleb ( last year's fifth place pairing)-Dembele is too crucial in my opinion-so needs rest. Son instead of Kane. If we lose , it might be a blessing in disguise, although I will be upset seeing as we are at home and therefore have a good chance of progressing.
That's what I meant...very unlike Levy to settle the settlement without stipulating that he can't play against us during the duration of the endemnification period. Unless that's illegal under the terms of a settlement rather than salary?
