please log in to view this image Sunday 18th September 4.30pm Premier League White Hart Lane The good work at Stoke was undone by a poor display at Wembley, so now we need a response. Our form's been very patchy so far and this is our first post-Champions League game challenge. Pochettino seemed rather unhappy with our performance, so I'm expecting changes. Our visitors' start to the season has been an unhappy one, so far. Their only victory was in the League Cup over Shrewsbury, via a solitary, late goal by Januzaj. They've not been far off the pace though, losing marginally to City and Boro, plus a draw against Southampton. There was something of a collapse in their last game, as they slumped to a 3-0 defeat to Moyes' old club. They matched Everton in the first half though, looking a lot like their opponents did under that manager. Substitutions changed the game and heads dropped a bit, so he'll have concerns about that. Both of our games against the Mackems last season were fairly important victories. The home tie was in January and it saw a potential banana-skin turn into a comfortable win. Van Aanholt scored on the break around five minutes before half-time, sparking a dull game into life. We'd been comfortable but uninspired until that point and it looked like things were going to be tough. Our opponents attempted to see things out til the break, but they didn't reach it unscathed. Eriksen leveled things up straight away and it seemed to be the kick up the arse that the side needed. Dembele put us ahead, then Jan Kirchhoff was introduced and he had a very rough debut. Almost instantly deflecting an Eriksen shot past his own keeper, he then gave away a penalty on Rose. Kane converted and the scoreline made it all look rather easy. The visit to the Stadium of Light took place at around this time last year and it was a very different game. Both sides failed to trouble the other's keeper until late in the game, though Defoe did hit the post. A move that was uncharacteristic of the tie provided a late winner for Ryan Mason, though. A lovely passing move saw us nick the points, but it wrecked the scorer's season, to some extent. Kaboul still had time to hit the bar, but the home side couldn't stop us claiming our first victory of the campaign. Dembele's ban has ended, but Rose may miss this one through injury, as he has the last two. I'm sure that he'd want to face his old club, as his loan there was very important to his development. Sunderland don't have any suspensions either, though they do have some injury issues. Pienaar, Borini, Mannone, Larsson, Jones and Cattermole are all on the treatment table. Lineups for each side's last league game: Spurs: Lloris; Walker, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies; Dier, Alli; Lamela, Eriksen, Son; Kane. Subs: Vorm, Trippier, Carter-Vickers, Wanyama, Dembele, Sissoko, Janssen. Sunderland: Pickford; Manquillo, Kone, Djilobodji, van Aanholt; Watmore, Rodwell, Kirchhoff, Gooch; Januzajl; Defoe. Subs: Mika, Denayer, O'Shea, McNair, Love, Ndong, Khazri. Referee: Mike "Penalty!" Dean. Our first loss of the season and a tough midweek should see changes, so who will come in and who'll be dropped? Lots of possibilities and I think there'll be some disagreement on this, so I'll leave it to you. Sunderland may set up in a similar style to Monaco, hitting on the break with pace, so how do we deal with it?
These literally get posted within about 2 minutes of me putting these up! How upset would you be if I started putting a Paul Stewart: Yay or Nay bit in the threads?
It was wrong to start with Son on Wednesday. It was the same last season , he played well one game and everyone thought he had to play the next and he couldn't replicate the performance. I don't think he and Lamella can play together. Also, as everyone has said, Kane needs a rest and Janssen , I feel needs a whole game before he turns into a Soldado. coming on with 20 minutes to go doesn't give him enough time and he is more than a part time player and cup cameos. Lloris Walker, Toby, Verts, Davies Dier, Dembele Lamella, Dele, Eriksen Janssen
I was a tad wary about Janssen when we saw him miss a sitter before he signed. Because he scored two the same match everybody was ok with him. I feel though that he might come good.
He needs time to acclimatise, like any new player. It's a new league, new teammates, different style of football, etc. If MP and his scouts have got it right, we'll see what he can do before long
Hopefully the Monaco game has given a few a kick up the arse and wanting to turn in a better performance on Sunday, won't be easy though, Moyes is a very good manager at this sort of level and he'll have Sunderland well prepared I reckon. Hugo Walker, Toby, Jan, Davies Dier, Dembele Sissoko, Eriksen, Alli Janssen Vorm, Tripps, CCV, Wanyama, Lamela, Nkoudou, Kane Sissoko impressed me on the right when he came on against Monaco, he was direct and done his best to make something happen and if only Janssen's through ball was a touch softer he could've potentially got us back in the game. Lamela I think may still be feeling the effects of returning late from international duty as he still looked a little laboured against Monaco, so I'd stick him on the bench to begin with. Janssen needs a good 75 minutes, 15-20 minute cameos aren't enough for him to prove his worth and the longer he goes without a goal the more his confidence may take a beating, plus as B&W mentioned he's much more than a bit part player judging from what we've seen. Kane has been pretty much **** in the first few games, he got the goal against Stoke but missed a good couple of chances against Monaco and deserves to be dropped now that we have genuine competition in his place. Would love to see Nkoudou come on at some point, his current match fitness can't be that bad, can it? I'd dropped Son, was great against Stoke but anonymous against Monaco, I think his inconsistency is going to force him out of the squad, a great player when on form but is somewhat reminding me of the Jermaine Jenas of wide players - great potential with great skill but only seems to turn it on every once in a while.
Poch says that N'Koudou may be ready for selection in the next week or two, which sounds like he'll be starting against Gillingham. For the Sunderland game, I think we should start with a Dembele/Wanyama pivot - Wanyama's been consistent thus far despite being deployed in an unfamiliar role, so playing him in his favoured position while giving Dembele his first start since The FA decided to make an example out of him for having the nerve to prove Diego Costa can't take what he dishes out. Janssen certainly deserves a start, too - not least because it makes it easier for him to silence the "Janssen's a flop" narrative which has already become tedious.
I'd be very tempted to give Janssen a start in the next two games. I don't think that it's what Pochettino will do and I can understand why, but Kane looks knackered, either physically or mentally. I hope that he takes no part at all in the Gillingham game. The midfield's also tricky and I'm not sure how many changes we can risk. Going back to what we know works might be an idea, but freshening things up could also work. Sissoko and Wanyama are the obvious choices to bring in, but each has equally obvious risks.
Yes big smithy AND Middlesborough because it's City after. I have to say that some are being a touch unfair on Son but spot on about Kane.
"It was difficult because of the Euros, they come late, we were in Australia and some players started to play with only 10 days' or 14 days' training. It is difficult to understand why in every game we have some period in the first half that is difficult to get the pace of the game and to manage and handle the game like we normally used to do. "And then in the second half it is like we need that from the manager and the staff to wake up and say, 'this is the reality', we need to change and then say, 'now yes we are going to do our job' Maybe it is because the pre-season was difficult and all that happened in the summer, maybe now we are in a process to settle all the pieces." There's no doubt that some of our players look to be under performing and generally lacking in the energy that characterised last season's fantastic performances, Rose and Walker being the obvious exceptions. I think we need to be prepared to let those who played in the Euro's have some time to work their way into this season, it seems to have affected Kane and Dier particularly. I don't think flogging those players with 3 games a week in the next few weeks is going to do them any favours and we should be using our whole squad across the upcoming games. Like may on here, I don't want to see Kane in the team tomorrow. Ideally, I'd like to see Victor Wanyama and Mousa Dembele in the pivot and Mousa Sissoko, Dele and Christian Eriksen in the 3 behind Janssen. Also, if we are in a position to make some substitutions, I would like to see CCV get some time on the pitch before we have to call on him to play his debut in the CL or a similarly pressured game. More than last season we need MP to use his squad, especially as our internationals catch up from not having a proper rest and pre-season. He has better resources and we need to use them. The early weeks have seen Chelsea and United win some easy early games and then start to falter. I think Citeh will start to find it difficult in the weeks ahead too. The teams that don't have European or major cup runs will have an advantage in a season where players are feeling the effects of summer tournaments.
There appear to be some answers here: http://www.hertfordshiremercury.co....rs-situation/story-29723532-detail/story.html
