please log in to view this image Saturday 6th February 3pm White Hart Lane Premier League Our second league game against Norwich went much the same as the first, including the scoreline. Victory, a clean sheet and nothing massively eventful to report, which all seems rather nice. Watford played a day later and had a rather dull draw with Chelsea, by all accounts. A dull first half, followed by an improved second and a Gomes save at the end kept it all goalless. Our visit to Vicarage Road became something of a battle and it would be good to avoid that this time. Watford's style can be very unsettling and they really made it a hard-fought win. There was an element of luck to Son's winner too, as he was definitely offside in the buildup. Some bad blood may still remain too, as Ake was dismissed and Ighalo should've been. It's been nearly nine years since the last time that the hornets visited the Lane. Paul Robinson infamously netted in a 3-1 victory in 2007, with goals from Jenas and Ghaly either side of it. Darius Henderson got a late consolation for them, in typically Spursy style. The win against Norwich was convincing and comfortable, for the most part. I expect a couple of changes, as that seems to have become fairly normal, but nothing drastic. Pochettino switched things up a bit in the last game against them though, so who knows? Lineups for the last league game: Spurs: Lloris; Walker, Alderweireld, Wimmer, Rose; Dier, Dembele; Son, Eriksen, Alli; Kane. Subs: Vorm, Trippier, Davies, Bentaleb, Carroll, Chadli, Lamela. League form: WDLWWW. Watford: Gomes; Paredes, Prodl, Cathcart, Holebas; Capoue, Watson, Behrami; Jurado; Deeney, Ighalo. Subs: Pantilimon, Nyom, Suarez, Guedioura, Adbi, Anya, Amrabat. League form: LLLLWD. Referee: Roger East. Should Pochettino play Dier in the same role that he had at Vicarage Road? Who should play in our ever-rotating fullback roles? Did Wimmer do well enough to keep his place or should we try something else?
"Tottenham have been very impressive of late, but I think the same can be said of Spurs as that of Leicester - experience under pressure could be key to success. The last eight to 10 games of the season are when you really find out who you are as a player, team and a club as a whole. At the moment they are going along fantastically well and you have to say they have given themselves a chance of winning the Premier League, but they don't have a lot of winners in their team." Thanks Judas. We'll pin it up in the dressing room. 3 points this week, next week and all the way to the end of the season. Schmuck!
...nor any traitors in their mirror, which is more than some can say. Yup, if I were Pochettino, I’d post the words "THEY DON’T HAVE A LOT OF WINNERS ON THEIR TEAM. SOL CAMPBELL" so that those would be the last words the players saw as they headed out to the pitch. I had a different take on the Watford Chelsea game. I thought Watford looked like a good team in the first half, and had the better of most of it. That was consistent with what I’ve seen of Watford this year, who I’ve thought were good. Then they lost ambition in the second half and were really lucky to nick a draw, largely thanks to an excellent half by Gomes. Gomes, incidentally, has been really good all year, I think, and Capoue has been good as well. I think Ighalo has flown under the radar. He may not be the nicest player on the pitch but he is an excellent striker. He may be as good 1 v. 1 as anyone and has the goals to prove it. It will be a severe test for Wimmer. While I’m thrilled at how good the team look now, it seems to me that our chances of winning the title are still very small. Problem one is that in order to win it, we need two more wins from 14 games than Leicester get (draws being equal). The thing is, Leicester have only lost twice in 24 games, so that’s a big ask. We also need to have one more win than City. The problem there, among others, is that we play them at their place, where they’ve only lost once. Finally, we need to match results with Arsenal, who are due to go on a long winning streak, and who should have a lineup which includes Sanchez, Ozil, Cazorla, Koscielny and Bellarin.
Watford definitely tired in the last 10 minutes last night. Having a day less to recover will probably mean they will tire sooner, so maybe 20 minutes before the end. If need be this will be when we should bring on a sub to run at them-Son? For this reason I would probably start with Lamela. After this we have a week to rest. Loris Trippier, Toby, Wimmer, Davies Dier, Dembele Lamela,Alli,Eriksen, Kane
Yes there was an element of luck in the win at Watford as there was in the 4-1 against City with two offside goals. This is why I still don't think that Spurs are firing on all cylinders. and have yet to find top gear. I can only see a Spurs win on Saturday. Lawro has Arsenal down for an away win at Bournemouth which surprises me a bit.
Graham Roberts @GrahamRoberts4 6 hrs6 hours ago The fact you left the way you did you will never be remembered like players @LedleyKing who is a real Spurs hero. please log in to view this image Graham Roberts @GrahamRoberts4 6 hrs6 hours ago You would thinkCampbell would stop commenting on Spurs no one is interested in yourcomments. @HKane @ericdier @AlderweireldTob are leaders And the image above as a free avatar to boot. Robbo : the legend that never stops giving.
Ladies and Gents, I've missed less than half a dozen games in the past ten years, mainly cup games, and I don't if that's commendable or a little sad. Anyway, I've gone and scored a date and she plays well above my league and Saturday afternoon at 3pm was the only time she could meet me (probably a ****-test but, see above, she's out of my league). Could someone post the many goals I expect us to score? They're posted here, https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/new/ , about 2-3mins after the event. Hit refresh a lot. The alternative angles are posted within the thread comment. Cheers
Whilst the result in December wasn't what I wanted I thoroughly enjoyed the game and was impressed at the way that Spurs wouldn't let us bully (mostly completely lawfully) them in the same way as we have other teams. With apologies for the cliche it's quite un Spurs like and one of the many reasons you're doing so well. When we got promoted I was really looking forward to playing the London teams and that one certainly didn't disappoint. I hope that there's no bad blood lingering from what was a very feisty game and that tomorrow provides a decent match. I would be surprised if the outcome was anything other than a Spurs win but, on the whole, we have been running the top teams close this season losing by the odd goal in 3 to Leicester away, Spurs and City at home and United at home. I'll just be pleased if we're still in the game in the alst 20 minutes or so. Also looking forward to seeing some of our new signings tomorrow though I guess they'll be on the bench again.
I’ve been impressed with Watford when I’ve seen them, and was more impressed with the first half against Chelsea. In the second half I thought the team made a mistake trying to settle for a draw, as it took some great keeping from Gomes to get it. It took everything we had to win the first match. Most expect us to have an easier time tomorrow, but we have a new CB who has to face Ighalo and Deeney, so that’s a huge worry. To tell you the truth, I thought Watford were going to be this year’s Hull, what with the two ex-Spurs in defense and the orange kit. Instead it’s a hard working, aggressive side with quality up front. Staying in the top half of the table would be an impressive achievement for a team most had down as relegation fodder. Watford fans ought to be very pleased. It’s the kind of team fans can really get behind, I think. And Flores is one of my favorite PL managers. I really liked how he stepped in to defuse the tension in the Chelsea game. Spurs and Watford are two of the most aggressive sides in the league. It’s no wonder the first game tempers flared. The officials may call the game tightly to keep the lid on. A stretch of four and a half hours Saturday will go a considerable distance to clarifying our prospects this year. There will never be a better chance to close the gap on Leicester. Spurs teams of the past would certainly not get over this hurdle, and might well leave themselves farther away from the top and closer to fifth. This is in some way the biggest gut check yet for us. It’s sure to tell us more about our team.
Got a feeling this'll be another really tough game like the one at Vicarage Road, Watford don't look like a team that concedes easily and they've got a goal machine up top in Ighalo, this'll be Wimmer's first real test up against an in form striker so will be good to see how he fares with Toby. Lloris Walker, Toby, Wimmer, Rose Dier, Dembele Alli, Eriksen, Chadli Kane Vorm, Tripps, Davies, Carroll, Onomah, Lamela, Son Think Chadli could do with a league start, Son and Lamela haven't really impacted much in recent games so I'd say Nacer deserves the shot to impress while also help to continue building his fitness levels. Was debating who to go with at RB, Walker was class against Norwich while Tripp's crossing helped win us the match at Vicarage, I opted for Walker purely based on the Norwich game as he looked much better than he has in recent weeks. Poch said on the OS that Mason is 50-50 so it'll be good if he does make an appearance on the subs bench although I can see him likely making a return the week after against City.
Leicester might be top of the league at present but they are not a top team. Watford are bigger than Leicester.
Fair enough - I only really mentioned the teams that are right up there - hence not bringing up our 3-0 battering of the 'pool
Don't let the Leicester fans read that comment about us being bigger! In our Championship battles they couldn't wait to tell us how "tinpot" we were.. I think we will try to keep it tight again trying to counter on the break. Hopefully we don't gift you any goals this time as at the Vic (with the first..) Last time we went to Spurs Paul Robinson scored I remember!
I seem to remember Dier, Vertonghen and Toby all playing as CB's in the last meeting, to deal with Deeney and Ighalo. - and Ighalo still bundled his was through the 3 of them to score! Can't see it being any different today, with the exception of Wimmer replacing vertonghen, obviously. With this in mind, dembele is a must in DM, not only to provide cover where Dier may not be present, but also to start our offensive play. Wouldn't be surprised to see Trippier play at RWB, with us using him as the focal point of our attacks, providing crosses from the right. With him stretching the play, he may help to provide that extra bit of space for our front 4 to create more chances too. Looking forward to the game. - gotta keep their front 2 quiet!!! COYS
Now can't get the meatloaf baseball commentary bit out of 'Paradise By The Dashboard Lights' out of my head: OK, here we go, we got a real pressure cooker going here Two down, nobody on, no score, bottom of the ninth There's the wind-up, and there it is A line shot up the middle, look at him go This boy can really fly He's rounding first and really turning it on now He's not letting up at all, he's gonna try for second The ball is bobbled out in the center And here comes the throw and what a throw He's gonna slide in head first Here he comes, he's out No, wait, safe, safe at second base This kid really makes things happen out there Batter steps up to the plate Here's the pitch, he's going And what a jump he's got He's trying for third Here's the throw It's in the dirt, safe a third Holy cow, stolen base He's taking a pretty big lead out there Almost daring them to pick him off The pitcher glances over, winds-up and it's bunted Bunted down the third base line The suicide squeeze is on Here he comes, squeeze play, it's gonna be close Here's the throw, here's the play at the plate Holy cow, I think he's gonna make it I am a punk first, last and forever but that song makes me laugh.
