Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Olympiakos

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PleaseNotPoll

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May 31, 2011
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Wednesday 18th September 5.55pm
Champions League Group Stage
Karaiskakis Stadium, Athens​

The return from the international break was an unexpected boost, as we routed a tough Palace side with ease.
It's the sort of performance that we'll need to see more of now, as the fixtures pile up with little respite.
Our first European trip of the season awaits and our Athenian hosts promise a hostile reception.
It's the sort of banana skin that we've slipped on in the past and we'll need to show some quality to get anything.
Can Pochettino inspire another aggressive, cohesive display or will we see our own Greek tragedy?

Last season was Pedro Martins' first full campaign as Olympiakos manager and his first in Greece.
The Portuguese coach spent his entire playing and coaching career to that point in his native country.
It was an eventful one and showed a fair amount of promise, but it ended trophyless.
They finished 2nd in the league, despite an unbeaten run of 23 games, winning 20 of those.
Domestic cup glory also eluded them, as they were knocked out by Lamia in the quarter final.

The Europa League provided some high points for them, as they took a couple of scalps from bigger leagues.
Burnley were comfortably beaten 3-1 at home and held to a 1-1 draw at Turf Moor in the qualifier.
They faced a tough group with Betis and Milan, but exchanged 3-1 wins with the Italians and drew with Betis.
This was enough to see them through on goal difference, where they narrowly lost to Kiev.

They've started this campaign in similar form, winning all three league games and five of six qualifiers.
Plzen, Basaksehir and Krasnodar were all well beaten, as they scored 13 times and only conceded once.
The Turkish side have some familiar names on their books from the Premier League's past, too.
Clichy, Elia, Ba, Frei, Skrtel, Inler and Robinho all played over here and Arda Turan's also there on loan.
Here are the highlights of their 2-0 home win:

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Their 5-0 win over Volos on the weekend has taken them to the top of their table.
They've yet to concede a goal in that competition, so it seems they're difficult to break down.
They had similarly impressive defensive stats last season, too.

Our only previous meetings were in the 1972/73 UEFA Cup 2nd round.
Jimmy Pearce scored twice, Martin Chivers and Ralph Coates netting between them, to win the first leg 4-0.
Some rare footage of the event from Greek TV:
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A 1-0 loss in the second leg was enough to see us through to the 3rd round.
We faced Red Star Belgrade, who are also in this group, beating them 2-1 on aggregate.
Strange coincidence.

No injury news at this time, but the thread will be updated when any becomes available.

Lineups for each side's last league game:

Spurs: Lloris; Aurier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose; Sissoko, Winks; Lamela, Eriksen, Son; Kane.
Subs: Gazzaniga, Davies, Dier, Wanyama, Ndombele, Alli, Moura.

Olympiakos: Sa; Elabdellaoui, Cisse, Meriah, Koutris; Camara, Guilherme; Randelovic, Valbuena, Podence; El-Arabi.
Subs: Allain, Torosidis, Papadopoulos, Bouchalakis, Benzia, Soudani, Guerrero.

Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (ITA). He was the ref for the Chelsea v Arsenal Europa League final.
Also took charge of our 3-1 win against Dortmund at Wembley in 2017 and our 2-1 loss to Monaco in 2016.

TV: BT Sport 2.

How would you like to line up for this one and what would you change from the Palace game?
Would you make sweeping changes or stick to roughly the same players and formation?
Which system and tactics would you use and what are you expecting Olympiakos to go with?
 
Some pre-season highlights from a decade ago:
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Pavlyuchenko, Corluka and Defoe with the goals.
 
How would you like to line up for this one and what would you change from the Palace game?
Would you make sweeping changes or stick to roughly the same players and formation?
Which system and tactics would you use and what are you expecting Olympiakos to go with?

Start with Moura, as CL games really suit him.

Other than that, we have to go quite strong because a win is so
important to get the group stage campaign going (remember the eff-up
last season away at Inter) .
 
I know they are only clips but it's interesting to see how players in the 70's did not spend so much time on the deck. They obviously had more stability or perhaps the planet was not spinning so fast and it was easier to stand up.

So much time spent play acting in the modern game. The theatre of football just goes on growing.
 
I know they are only clips but it's interesting to see how players in the 70's did not spend so much time on the deck. They obviously had more stability or perhaps the planet was not spinning so fast and it was easier to stand up.

So much time spent play acting in the modern game. The theatre of football just goes on growing.
Rodney Marsh made Neymar look statuesque.
 
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It's all about managing the squad efficiently over the next 20 or so days. 6 games will be a tough test, without sounding arrogant the Colchester one should be able to afford us some heavy rotation, in the others I'd like to see roughly 3-4 changes to keep as many fresh as possible.

Tomorrow something like:

Hugo
Aurier, Toby, Jan, Davies
Dier, Winks
Lucas, Eriksen, Son
Kane

Would be great if Sess and Dele can get some game time too to help boost match fitness. Come Leicester the likes of Lamela, Tanguy and Sissoko to go back into the XI.
 
I know they are only clips but it's interesting to see how players in the 70's did not spend so much time on the deck. They obviously had more stability or perhaps the planet was not spinning so fast and it was easier to stand up.

So much time spent play acting in the modern game. The theatre of football just goes on growing.
The game was a hell of a lot slower and players were allowed to be a lot more physical.
 
The game was a hell of a lot slower and players were allowed to be a lot more physical.
They were although referees are allowing more and more of the physical stuff to go now as well. Tackles from behind were allowed in Britain and all of this could have made for more players falling over, but I don't think it did. There was never an intention to look for a foul to achieve a tactical advantage as is commonplace now. When I played it was a matter of honour to stay on your feet and be strong. Falling like players do now would have been considered very weak and you would probably lose your place in the team for not being 'up to it.'
 
Tomorrow something like:

Hugo
Aurier, Toby, Jan, Davies
Dier, Winks
Lucas, Eriksen, Son
Kane

<yikes> :huh:

Funnily enough, I'd actually drop him for this, although I think the substitutions at the weekend will give some indication as to who will be playing tomorrow. I reckon:

Hugo
Aurier Dave Jan Rose
Winks N'Dombele
Lucas Eriksen Son
Kane

For Colchester we could potentially see something along the lines of:

Gazza
KWP Dave Tanganga Davies
Dier N'Dombele
Lucas Alli Sessegnon
Parrott
 
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Pochettino and coaches, Ndombele, Vertonghen, Lloris, Sanchez, Gazzaniga, Dier, ?, Son, Wanyama, Sissoko, Walker-Peters.
Skipp, Whiteman (I think), Moura, Alderweireld, Kane, Eriksen and Winks.
 
In honour of our opponents, Paul Stewart is subbed, and replaced by :

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I loved the rowers.Something potty me and my old mates would do. Enjoyed seeing Pav again. Really liked him. He'd 'ave been a world beater if more consistent!
 
<yikes> :huh:

Funnily enough, I'd actually drop him for this, although I think the substitutions at the weekend will give some indication as to who will be playing tomorrow. I reckon:

Hugo
Aurier Dave Jan Rose
Winks N'Dombele
Lucas Eriksen Son
Kane

For Colchester we could potentially see something along the lines of:

Gazza
KWP Dave Tanganga Davies
Dier N'Dombele
Lucas Alli Sessegnon
Parrott

I think Winks is more suited to this type of European tie and don't wanna rush Tanguy back too quickly into the XI, so would rather he come from the bench tomorrow (if need be), try and give Sissoko a small break as he's played every minute of every game so far plus some France games too IIRC, whilst Winks has been subbed off in 3 of the 5 games and didn’t feature for England.

Rumours that neither Rose or Aurier travelled, presuming that’s tactical in order for them to play Saturday, with KWP and Davies starting tomorrow.
 
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