Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Hull City

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Sunday 21st May 3pm
Premier League
KC Stadium​

The game with Leicester offered more entertainment than I was expecting, so can this one match it?
The last league game of the season's here and neither side really has anything to play for.
Hull have finally met the relegation that everyone predicted, while we have a firm hold on 2nd place.
Both sides go into this wanting to prove something to the fans, though. Which team will do so?

The difference from the end of our hosts' last campaign couldn't be more stark.
They bounced back immediately from relegation, winning the play-offs after finishing 4th.
A victory at Wembley via a single goal returned them to the top flight and everything seemed great.
Then it all went wrong.

Pre-season games resulted in serious injuries, including our old player and their captain, Michael Dawson.
He was ruled out for several months and the club's ownership situation left the squad threadbare.
It was all too much for Steve Bruce, who walked out, leaving the team in disarray in late July.
Mike Phelan took over, various players left and things looked grim.

The start of the league season turned all of that around, though. Hull won the opening game. They were top.
After defeating the reigning champions Leicester, they faced a trip to Swansea. They won that, too.
Some optimism returned, but it was just a temporary blip and things swiftly soured.
Phelan only won 1 of the next 18 matches and he was sacked.

Marco Silva joined in January and made some new signings, which turned things around.
Their home form improved dramatically and they moved off the bottom of the table.
It wasn't enough though, as a surprise home defeat to relegated Sunderland dented their chances.
A heavy loss at Palace sealed their fate in the last fixture.

There was no corresponding fixture last season, of course.
The game at the Lane in this one was rather uninspiring, though you'd probably never guess from the scoreline.
We were largely in control, but looked a bit lifeless and out of sorts, for some reason.
Two goals from Eriksen and one from Wanyama, assisted by the Dane, makes it look like it was easy.
It certainly didn't feel like that until the second went in, though.

Neither side has any suspensions for this one, but both have various injuries, as usual.
Winks, Rose and Lamela are out for us, Lloris is a doubt, Walker will be checked, but Trippier may return.
Maguire, Hernandez and Evandro are out for Hull, joining a long list of casualties.
Markovic, Meyler, Keane and Ryan Mason are all long-term injuries, unfortunately.

Lineups for each side's last league game:

Spurs: Lloris; Dier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen; Sissoko, Wanyama, Dembele, Davies; Alli, Son; Kane.
Subs: Vorm, Wimmer, Lesniak, Eriksen, N'Koudou, Shashoua, Janssen.
League form: WWWLWW.

Hull: Jakupovic; Maguire, Dawson, Ranocchia, Robertson; Elmohamady, N'Diaye, Clucas, Grosicki; Evandro; Niasse.
Subs: Marshall, Davies, Elabdellaoui, Huddlestone, Maloney, Bowen, Mbokani.
League form: LLWDLL.

Referee: Andre Marriner.

TV: Not televised. Only the Liverpool and City games are on, as Sky used up their allocation!

Given the fairly short turnover between the Leicester game and this one, how should we approach it?
Who shouldn't be risked, who should be given an opportunity and who should be dropped?
Should we pick a back four or stick with the three?

 

That was Eriksens last decent freekick wasn't it??

Likewise surprised and delighted in equal measure about Thursday's annihilation of TMATE.
No point in risking any half-fit / injured, and think we have more than enough to finish the season on a high note.
Would like to see more of GKN and was impressed with the brief introduction of Lesniak.

A goal fest would be great, but a win, a clean sheet and another couple for Harry will do me fine. Is that asking too much??

And thanks for doing the match threads PNP!

 

Eff
Eff
Ess

 

Cheers for all the match threads...they are a great and enjoyable read unlike the **** ones on the goon board

 

Don't knock it, mate - PNP is the Wise to your Morecambe!

 

Way-hey!

Where's he gone?

 

Throw them all in..play our strongest team...finishing the season strong is important for many psychological reasons.

Clean sheet and a few more Kane goals please.

 

With Lloris out, the obvious question is whether Vorm starts, or Lopez has his debut.

 

Go easy tomorrow fellas... its been a rough two weeks for us, but our support has been immense, asked to leave Palace on Sunday still singing 30 minutes after the game finished. So, as its really a fun game for you, a celebration of a brilliant season, please feel free to join in with any of our chants, maybe when we sing 'we want you to stay' (in relation to Marco Silva) maybe you might sing 'we think you should stay'...?... just for the fun of it... unbelievably, we;'re not in mourning.. the more noise the better.. enjoy the day, go out and win the whole shebang next year..

 

Thanks. And hope to see you guys back the season after. You have a decent manager who might do something if given the time. Genuinely sad to see ex Spurs like Dawson, Mason and Huddlestone go down. 3 top men imo.

 

Shadow of the man he was unfortunately Daws'... maybe he's rusty, but he's cost us one or three that ultimately proved decisive. He's still been amazing for us. If you get Harry Maguire you'll genuinely warm to him immediately. Strong as an ox, gifted (not playing tomorrow)... Maybe Ryan Mason might be on the pitch too, so something else for you to cheer, we missed him massively, who knows, we might have managed the escape we wanted had he been available. You have to read what the lad has been through, its horrendous.

 

We are all behind Ryan and hope he makes a full recovery to help lead you back to the premier league in the near future

As for Daws he did look rusty at Palace but we wont say a bad word about him either (or Tom for that matter)

Good luck next season

 

That's a shame, Dawson was such a top player in his day. I'll always remember when they were announcing the fans player of the year and everyone was signing either "There's only one Michael Dawson", or "Dawson for England"(I forget which) in what was supposed to be a dramatic pause before the announcement. Luckily he did win it, otherwise it might have been a bit embarrassing lol.

Genuinely hope you guys get back up soon. Proper club with proper fans. Hopefully you'll be taking West Ham's place in the PL at the end of next season

 

A real shame you guys got relegated. I would have much preferred West Ham or Palace to gone in your place. Your off-field problems certainly did not help your players. Hope you get straight back up and keep all your players( unless it someone to us). It will be great to see Ryan on a football pitch again even though he won't be playing.

 

Ryan says he's keen to get back playing, but its a long road back for him. We've been debating about the first time he goes up for an aerial challenge. If we had stayed up that might have driven him a bit harder, but thats secondary to his health. I wouldn't be surprised to see him miss the majority of next season TBH, lets hope from our perspective he comes back in the Premier League. As for Thud, he still has more class in one foot than many in the PL.. and thats his bad foot..

 

PNP Thanks for the Match threads always the first thead I look for as games approach
COYS

 

Hear hear

 

Vorm
Dier Toby Kev
Trippier Wanyama Mousa Davies
Alli Eriksen
Kane