Tottenham Vs Espanyol

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Spurm said:
Am I the only one who thought dembele looked good? Leaner and sharper than last year, still impossible to get off the ball, had 3 (admittedly fairly tame) attempts at goal.
When he first signed I struggled watching him (frustrating/stressful) but I get him now. Does a surprising amount defensively and is usually 2nd on the ball after we re-gain possession
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Dembele with his sure dribbling and safe passing adds a lot to our possession. I think he intimidates other teams as well. We did so much better last year when he played. The debate continues whether he adds a lot, despite the lack of goals, assists and key passes and is under appreciated (my opinion and maybe yours as well) or whether that was a statistical anomaly.
 
PleaseNotPoll said:
Sigurdsson's decision making was a little off but he was fouled so many times that the opposition would've been in serious trouble in a competitive game.
The foul given against him by Marriner when he was sandwiched was pretty hard to believe, too.
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My thoughts exactly. He kept beating his man and getting hacked. Fair to say we looked lacking in creativity in the final third, but a team that sits back and fouls cynically is always hard to break down. I'd rather we play Carroll or even Hudd to add creativity, with the idea the rest of the team is strong and fast enough to be able to afford a creative player who isn't much of a ball winner.
 
What did people think of Chadli? I thought he had some great touches and linkup play, which is very encouraging from a new signing, but seemed to lack a bit of end product and did drift inside and across the pitch a lot. Maybe he'd do better on the right to stop this? Although he and Rose did seem so have something of an understanding building up which was, again, encouraging to see in preseason.
 
Chadli looked good, but he was far too greedy at times. There were occasions where he needed to release the ball early, but instead, ended up running himself into trouble.
 
I see what you're saying Roo, Chadli ended up running the width of the pitch a couple of times because he wouldn't/couldn't release the ball. Espanyol did seem to press us very well which probably didn't help, we rarely seemed to have time and space on the edge of the box whereas we were allowing them plenty at times, which wasn't so good to see.
 
I think it's fair to say Chadli won't be having a Bale-sized impact this season, and probably never. I'm not going to judge whether he's a good buy though, till the season is well underway.

Whether he's worth a start v Palace, I'm not sure. I expect him to start, but I think I'd prefer Townsend IF Andros had the manager's confidence, which I suspect he hasn't.
 
JamesPGreaves_357 said:
I think it's fair to say Chadli won't be having a Bale-sized impact this season, and probably never. I'm not going to judge whether he's a good buy though, till the season is well underway.

Whether he's worth a start v Palace, I'm not sure. I expect him to start, but I think I'd prefer Townsend IF Andros had the manager's confidence, which I suspect he hasn't.
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What's the deal with Townsend's ban? Anyone know when it starts/finishes?

EDIT: Just researched - The initial 1 month ban was surprisingly active over the summer, so he's available for selection. Remaining 3 months are suspended until Summer 2016, and only activated on breach of betting rules. Seems very lenient.
 
I'd really like to see Townsend get a bigger role this season. Always seems to look threatening when he has come on and he did well at QPR. Could be a great sub to make the most of tired legs with his direct approach and pace and I'd be happy to see him start the right games as well.
 
No mention here of any long term injury issues for Younes?

Tottenham Journal said:
Kaboul: It was hard to watch Spurs during year-long injury hell

Younes Kaboul Younes Kaboul
By Ben Pearce, Tottenham correspondent
Sunday, August 11, 2013
3:00 PM


Younes Kaboul says he struggled to watch his Tottenham team-mates during his year-long absence – and he is now determined to make up for lost time and rediscover his top form.

The 27-year-old was flying high at the end of the 2011-12 campaign, having starred in a Tottenham team that finished fourth in the Premier League – although they were denied a place in the Champions League – and initially being selected in the France squad for Euro 2012.

However, he was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to a knee problem, and he then played just one match last season – Spurs’ opening day defeat at Newcastle on August 18 – before undergoing an operation which ultimately ruled him out for the entire campaign.

The centre-back occasionally sat behind the Spurs substitutes at White Hart Lane to support his team-mates, but he concedes that he found it difficult to accept his powerlessness – and he was thrilled to finally return to the field in yesterday’s 1-1 draw with Espanyol in Tottenham’s final pre-season friendly.

“I had enough of that, honestly. It was very hard, it’s terrible when you watch your team,” said Kaboul. “Of course I was here to support them as usual, but sometimes you just want to go on the pitch, take the ball and go and score. To sit there all the time was hard for me sometimes.

“When you see your team struggling a bit, or winning, you want to be with them. Whether you lose or win you want to be with them and that was a big frustration for me.

“It’s been a long time for me - a year now - so I am fully happy to be back with the team. I missed football so so much last year.

“Thank God I have a wife and kids so I looked after them very, very well. But I am so glad and so happy to be here at the stadium at Tottenham. I’m very delighted.

“I was ready to come back [in April] but unfortunately I tore my quad against Man United in the reserves so that delayed my comeback with the team.

“I was very angry about that and this summer I got myself right to be ready for this season, and now I hope the injuries are behind me.

“Of course I was disappointed [with the timing of the injury] but I have to repeat that [form] again. I have to start back as I stopped a year ago because I was in good form, so I hope to be back even better than I was when I left.

“Now I feel fit, I will have a good week again before the Crystal Palace game, and I have to be ready for next Sunday.”

Having missed out on the Champions League so narrowly in the past two seasons, Kaboul is determined to help Tottenham to secure a seat at Europe’s top table this term – and he was encouraged by the performance of the new arrivals against Espanyol.

“We played very well in the first half,” he said. “The new signings were very good on the pitch, and they are very good people also. This season it is looking very good and sharp for us.

“Of course, we are going to have to be there in the top four this season - that is our target as usual. Last season we missed it for nothing, and two years ago it was the same, so this year we have to be there as well.

“Can the changes at the other clubs help us? Yes, of course, definitely, because of what Andre [Villas-Boas] brought last season - he has done a magnificent job.

“He broke the [club’s best ever] points record and this season will be even better for him and for us, so I am looking forward to having some very good days with the club.”

Follow me on Twitter @BenPearceSpurs
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http://www.tottenhamjournal.co.uk/t..._spurs_during_year_long_injury_hell_1_2329421
 
One good thing about yesterday was that I can tell my grandchildren that 'I was there when Andre Mariner awarded us a penalty'. He still missed a blatant handball however! Good to see Sandro and Kaboul back but I'm not sure that they will be up to 90 mins in a league game for a couple of weeks. Chadli looks an absolute steal for 7 mill and I think he could go on to be one of our best players for the next few years. I also think that Carroll should get more game time this season especially in games against lesser sides who will probably park the bus even when they are at home. New left back definitely required. Contrao would fit in nicely
 
Meanwhile, in better news, didn't our u21s recently demolish Chelsea u21s?
 
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