Because Spurs have such a great history of winning ties in the first leg... League Cup semi-final second leg 2009: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/league_cup/7824257.stm Europa League last 16 match 2013: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21696151
The last time I saw Fiorentina was: The Bill Nicholson Testimonial http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/the-bill-nicholson-testimonial-070801/ We won that 3 - 1 if I remember correctly.
I think that we need to pick our strongest side for this game and then make minimal changes for West Ham. The second leg can be dealt with later, depending on this result.
I’m with you and Morpheus, barring some kind of unusual result in the first leg. In any case, it’s a tough choice. On the face of it, I wouldn’t want us to abandon the heavy rotation we’ve used fairly successfully so far. In the end, games are decided by low probability events, so the chances for slightly weaker teams winning are always decent. I’m not sure how much starting a second choice team in the second leg affects the likelihood of getting through. I feel more certain that starting a team on two days rest against a fresh Chelsea team may amount to giving away our one decent chance of a trophy this year. In any case, if worst comes to worst, we’ll be out of all the cups, and can concentrate on the league. The problem with the Europa at this point is that, given the chances of winning any tie are perilously near 50%, we really only have a very small chance of winning.
Stambouli discusses why he chose us over Fiorentina last summer: http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/foo...-he-chose-spurs-over-fiorentina-10053447.html
If you offered me a League Cup win and a win over West Ham in exchange for going out vs.Fiorentina, I'd bite your hand off.
I've just read "Emmanuel Adebayor will have a new look as Spurs take on Fiorentina when he 'll show off his new hairdo." No ,please Noooooooooooooooooo!
He's playing Bill Bonstay in the Spurs production of HMS Pinafore. He wanted to play Dick Deadeye, but then Poch reminded him about his goalscoring stats this season.
At least it's on television over here in the DRC. The previous league thing wasn't. 22:00 local time though, I have to get up for work at 04:00. Play a strong team I say, put the tie to bed tonight. COYS
Lloris (c), Walker, Fazio, Vertonghen, Davies; Bentaleb, Paulinho; Chadli, Eriksen, Townsend; Soldado. Subs: Vorm, Dier, Rose, Dembele, Lamela, Mason, Kane. Ok. Not the lineup that I was expecting.
01 Lloris 02 Walker 21 Fazio 05 Vertonghen 33 Davies 08 Paulinho 42 Bentaleb 17 Townsend 23 Eriksen 22 Chadli 09 Soldado Substitutes 03 Rose 11 Lamela 13 Vorm 15 Dier 18 Kane 19 Dembélé 38 Mason I'm a little surprised Pochettino has changed six from Liverpool. Kane not starting is a bit of a shock. My guess is that Pochettino didn't want to feel like he was carting all the second choicers to Italy next week. So half the first choice play today, the other half in a week, and in theory everyone will remain fresh enough during the fixture pileup. COYS!
please not Townsend play Rose wide left he is not the best but better and some defensive cover for Davies and he does have the ability to get the ball ito the box