please log in to view this image Saturday 29th September 3pm Premier League John Smith's Stadium It certainly wasn't pretty, but League Cup progress was achieved and some small measure of revenge, too. Placed alongside the victory at Brighton and we're slowly shifting some of the negativity from our poor run. We could really do with going into the game against Barca next week on a positive note. This is a big opportunity to do just that. Our hosts have had a disastrous start to the campaign and are desperate for something to kickstart it. Opening the season against Chelsea and City was always going to put them on the back foot. Two losses and -8 goal difference certainly did that, but they haven't responded well since. A dour goalless draw with Cardiff and a nicked point at Goodison weren't terrible, I guess. Subsequent losses to Palace and Leicester have put them in real early season trouble, though. David Wagner had a bright beginning to his Premier League management career last year. We faced them in the seventh game then too, but they'd only had one loss and had picked up two wins. It still took them a very long time to confirm their safety and this start will have made their fans nervous. A win here would be massive for them, while a loss would put the manager under pressure. Will they react with real fighting spirit or has their morale already taken a beating? The corresponding game last year was one of our better early season performances. The Terriers started quite well, getting in people's faces and closing down quickly and confidently. It didn't take long until that approach fell apart though, as Harry Kane broke in behind to put us ahead. A lovely move and a lucky break saw Ben Davies double that quickly and Kane made it three before the break. A late Sissoko goal made it 4-0, as a controlled, comfortable second half was strolled though: The match at Wembley was a less emphatic scoreline, but a fairly similar performance. Possession was the order of the day, as the visitors were made to run all day. Heung-min Son put us ahead about halfway through the first period, as Alli picked him out on a rare break. He added another after a delightful ball from Kane, guiding a well-placed header home early in the second half. Huddersfield never looked likely to get back in the match and it ended 2-0: Vorm, Aurier and Eriksen are unavailable for this one due to injury, while Lloris is unlikely to feature. Sobhi appears to be Huddersfield's only casualty and neither side has any suspensions. Lineups for each side's last league game: Spurs: Gazzaniga; Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose; Dier, Dembele; Son, Eriksen, Moura; Kane. Subs: Whiteman, Aurier, Sanchez, Wanyama, Winks, Lamela, Alli. League form: WWWLLW. Huddersfield: Lossl; Durm, Jorgensen, Schindler, Kongolo, Lowe; Kachunga, Mooy, Billing, van la Parra; Depoitre. Subs: Hamer, Hadergjonaj, Hogg, Mbenza, Pritchard, Diakhaby, Mounie. League form: LLDDLL. Referee: Craig Pawson. TV: Not televised. Eriksen's injury leaves us with a dilemma. How would you solve it? Did anyone do enough against Watford to earn a starting place or a spot on the bench? Should we rest anyone for the Barcelona match or go full strength for both?
Very limited options for this one... Eriksen's injury may explain his last couple of performances. Not a bad time for a 10 day rest as long as he's back and fully fit for Barca. Gazza keeps the No 1 by default. Otherwise, might keep Toby and Dave flanked by Tripps & Rose (Ben was poor again v Watford - worrying loss of form). Dembele improved things the other night but really need him for the CL so loathe to start him. Vic needs the game time, so him and Dier to start? Lucas, Sonny, Dele and Lamela should provide the ammunition for Harry. COYS!!
Sexy **** Tripps, Dave, Jan, Rose Dier, Dembele Lamela, Alli, Lucas Son None of our CBs have been great lately, which is surprising considering the quality of all three. So I'd give Dave a start with Jan in this one. Edit: for some reason I had in my head that Kane was injured. I’d have him in for Dembele, save him for Barca. Alli at CM. Son and Lucas either side of Lamela.
Whoever plays should be enough to beat Huddersfield...so long as Lamela starts we will play with the right tempo
It's being reported that Dele's damaged his hamstring again and could be out for 4 weeks. **** our luck. As soon as Big Vic and Moussa Sissoko get some minutes, we lose Christian Eriksen, Serge Aurier and Dele.
These guys won a hat-trick of league titles. A long time ago - granted. But still a great achievement. Paul Stewart never made it to God's own country did he?
It's ok we've got cover for them...Levy knew Poch might need a deep squad for on field success. Having said that...less than 6 points in the next 2 games is embarassing and no excuses.
David Wagner has said he's a fan of Poch I wonder is some reactionary bigot on The Sun's payroll has spunked off three blogs this morning saying how wrong he is?
There's no doubt that the squad's light by at least 2 players. MP really needs to cajole some performances out of players like Llorente and GKN and be prepared to utilise the Academy. I'd prefer not to see HK on the pitch after 70 minutes, if we can get a couple of goals up in a game. Llorente, if properly used, can offer us something, even if it isn't all that we hoped for when we signed him. Equally, GKN can provide energy and closing down to protect Lucas and Sonny. He shouldn't be a starting option but he is a resource. Right now, it's all hands to the pumps.
My gripe with Poch...he doesn't give the others a proper chance. I thought Llorente was a handful when he came on...had more energy and nouse in the 6 yard box than Kane is showing who seems to have been drawn into always dropping deep and wanting to run with the ball..thing is for all of Kane's attributes he's not got a burst of speed, for me...so kind nullifies himself from getting onto the end of things once he's dropped deep, and spreads the ball. This team after 4 years should be at a place where Poch can throw GKN on after about an hour with full confidence against a toothless Huddersfield...or why is he(GKN) still here after 3 years? 6 points from the next two anything less and I bet Poch's decision making will be a key component of why we get less....we don't even need Kane to start today.
I agree that MP doesn't get the best out of the more limited players. They just seem to get cast aside. We're not in a position to let that happen right now. They need to be energised and ready to contribute. There have been a succession of failed forward options - N'Jie, Vinnie, Llorente and GKN. We've not got anything approaching a tune out of any of them. At Swansea, Llorente proved what he's capable of but we've just played him like he was Harry Kane - exactly what we did with Vinnie. Expecting lesser players to match what HK was doing, was completely unrealistic. It destroys their confidence to do what they're actually good at. MP is still learning about competing at the top. Despite being an Argentinian international, the majority of his career passed without winning much. He did win a couple of things with Bielsa at Newell, but like his mentor,his philosophy is very black or white. Maybe if MP accepted some grey, there would be players that would let their levels drop? I don't know but flogging our better players throughout this season is unlikely to bring success. We need to find a way to use our resources to see games out and give players, that we have no strong replacement for, a rest.
Today we come across the biggest(tallest) team in the PL on average. I bet they spent all week practicesing corners and getting free kicks around the GK area. I'm off to the game today....Sun is out...can't wait COYS
