Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Borussia Dortmund

["Thanks for that Brian"]

There's something vaguely familiar to this but I can't quite place it. Will it help or hinder us? Impossible to tell to my mind but it's nice to see Real have upped their act. Oh,sorry! No,they haven't.

MADRID SIGN AUBAMEYANG?

Real Madrid have reached an agreement with free-scoring Borussia Dortmund forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, reports AS.

However, Dortmund have been angered by the agreement that has been reached between the player and the Bernabeu giants and they are demanding a non-negotiable transfer fee of €100m.

According to AS, Aubameyang finalised the agreement with Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane, who has insisted on the recruitment of the Gabon striker.

 

[Spurlock]

6pm is such a **** time for kick offs.

this should be at 8 pm.

 

[No Kane No Gain]

Hope we field our best side tonight, this game's huge for us. I'll be disappointed if we don't win something this season as it's quite clear this is the best squad we've had for a number of years.

 

[deedub93]

6pm is such a **** time for kick offs.

this should be at 8 pm.

6 pm is great, it's 8 pm here in the DRC. 8 pm kick-offs are bloody 10 pm here meaning the match doesn't finish until almost bloody midnight. I have to get up at 3:30 for work. You need to go sick after lunch Donna. If there are a load of Spurs fans at your place of work, get together and blame it on the staff canteen or the local sarnie shop. Unless of course you boss is decent, then he might let you just slide off early. I would. I would expect you to make up the time but hey-ho, you can't miss a Spurs match.

Many years back I was running a site in Hertfordshire when the world cup was on. England and Ireland had qualified so I took a TV to site. I announced that when England were playing, the English could stop work and watch whilst when Ireland were playing the Irish could stop work and watch. Some Jock said 'what about me, what can I watch? I had to give him the obvious answer, '****-All, your lot didn't qualify'........No wonder not all of them like us. I could obviously watch all matches as it was my tele.

 

[vimhawk]

You need to go sick after lunch Donna. If there are a load of Spurs fans at your place of work, get together and blame it on the staff canteen or the local sarnie shop.

... particularly if they are serving lasagne. Tell them that lasagne is notorious for making people ill.

 

[The RDBD]

"There's something vaguely familiar to this but I can't quite place it. Will it help or hinder us? Impossible to tell to my mind but it's nice to see Real have upped their act. Oh,sorry! No,they haven't.

MADRID SIGN AUBAMEYANG?"

Have you got your Get real Madrid c**t check list to hand. Here we go then ...

1. Have La Marca muppets been running the story non-stop for several weeks

2. Has the German equivalent of the Daily Fail been selling the guy to Madrid
or Munich for a similar period of time,

3. Is Zidane on record as saying the player should be wanting to come to
Madrid.

etc etc


And have you got your 'Are Dortmund like Spurs' check list to hand ...

1. Is there industrial undermining of your key player by the media.

2. Have you threatened to rinse an overseas club for at least EUR 100m
for said player.

etc etc.

 

[The RDBD]

"Hope we field our best side tonight, this game's huge for us. I'll be disappointed if we don't win something
this season as it's quite clear this is the best squad we've had for a number of years."

I now believe that a strong side should be fielded anyway.
The next stage of Spurs progression is to usurp the Goons and become a CL shoo-in
via a PL placing. That will require being involved in the business end of a UEFA cup
while pushing for a PL top 4 place. Which means decent squad quality and management.

So now is the time to see whether the current manager and squad can operate better
on both fronts than the last time (2011) . Where we finish in both we will judge come May.

 

[humanbeingincroydon]

1. Have La Marca muppets been running the story non-stop for several weeks
According to our good friends at Marca, Aubameyang promised his grandfather he'd play for Los Ladrones
Article posted 20th February 2016: http://www.marca.com/en/football/real-madrid/2016/02/20/56c89f21268e3e9c608b45c9.html

2. Has the German equivalent of the Daily Fail been selling the guy to Madrid or Munich for a similar period of time,
Just yesterday Bild were reporting that Dortmund should have sold him to Los Ladrones in the summer
Article posted 9th march 2016: http://sportbild.bild.de/bundesliga...l-madrid-das-sagt-der-bvb-44864474.sport.html

3. Is Zidane on record as saying the player should be wanting to come to Madrid.
Aubameyang certainly said he wants to move to Madrid - in an interview posted a month after Zidane brought his name up in a press conference
Article posted 19th February 2016: http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/Arti...n-personnage-ca-me-permet-d-etre-libre/635760

 

[The RDBD]

Dortmund, you have our sympathies.
Also better secure your stadium to the foundations (in case Levy flat-pack ships it back to
WHL overnight while you are sleeping) .

 

[PleaseNotPoll]

Mythbusting: Does European football effect league performance.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35146716

No.

Everyone likes to use European football as the scapegoat, teams lose even if they have a week off, its only when you lose after you have played in Europe, that it must be the reason you lost.

The BBC ran another article with virtually the opposite conclusion a while ago!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/31470797

 

[The RDBD]

"The BBC ran another article with virtually the opposite conclusion a while ago!"

There is no doubt that the Europa is more of a judgement on the strength and
management of the squad for PL clubs.

1. The away legs of group games usually involve at least two trips to the middle of nowhere,
with one being a logistics nightmare and a time zone difference of at least +2.

2. The KO stages impose two more games than the CL, merely to accommodate
CL failures.

3. Sunday KOs (more than even if the TV channels get their PL scheduling desires granted ?? ) .


Given the above, is it any wonder that the likes of Everton, Toon etc have had a poor PL season
the year after a good one, purely because the Europa has been their reward.

 

[humanbeingincroydon]

Lloris; Trippier, Alderweireld, Wimmer, Davies; Mason, Carroll; Onomah, Son, Eriksen; Chadli
Subs: Vorm, Carter-Vickers, Walker, Bentaleb, Dembele, Lamela, Kane

 

[----HistoryRepeating----]

6pm is such a **** time for kick offs.

this should be at 8 pm.

Big clubs get the 8 spot.

 

[The RDBD]

"Lloris; Trippier, Alderweireld, Wimmer, Davies; Mason, Carroll; Onomah, Son, Eriksen; Kane"

Jeez, Pochettino has basically stated the PL is the priority by that MF.
Can always pray for an "echoes of glory" like AC Milan in 2011, but against Dortmund ??

 

[The RDBD]

"Big clubs get the 8 spot."

Agreed. One of the Poool / Man Utd will be getting the PL "8 spot" come May.

 

[----HistoryRepeating----]

True bro.

 

[humanbeingincroydon]

"Lloris; Trippier, Alderweireld, Wimmer, Davies; Mason, Carroll; Onomah, Son, Eriksen; Kane"

Jeez, Pochettino has basically stated the PL is the priority by that MF.
Can always pray for an "echoes of glory" like AC Milan in 2011, but against Dortmund ??

There was also a typo in the original team sheet - Chadli starts up front.

 

[The RDBD]

"There was also a typo in the original team sheet - Chadli starts up front."

Confirmed : Pochettino seeks to out-Arry the 2011 AC Milan away result.

 

[No Kane No Gain]

Awful line up. Really disappointed in Pochettino for not even giving it a proper go. Hope we can somehow get a decent result out of this tie still but I doubt it, we could get smashed here.

 

[The RDBD]

"Awful line up. Really disappointed in Pochettino for not even giving it a proper go."

No backup striker. Bentaleb not match fit to the level that Mason is.
Immediate reasons for this starting XI.