Manchester United and Bolton game thoughts

Posted by Stevio in Tottenham Hotspur on May 1st, 2010

Well last week’s trip to Manchester United was yet another disappointment after two cracking results against Arsenal and Chelsea.

I don’t know what it is, whether it’s a mental problem or not, but we just don’t seem to be able to get good results at places like that.

We have a decent enough team, we’ve been in great form, but whatever it is, it just isn’t enough.

Today though Bolton Wanderers come to the Lane. Last season we beat them 2-0 at home with Roman Pavlyuchenko and Darren Bent scoring. If you remember they had Gavin McCann sent off.

Usually they’re a tough side to play against, but as we showed earlier this season in the FA Cup, we can beat them at home, with or without the help of a few own goals.

Bolton beat Stoke City away 2-1 a few weeks back and only lost by a goal at Chelsea recently, so looks like we might have to be patient to get on the score sheet.

They are safe from relegation, so only pride to play for, whereas we’re still in fourth position and have lots to play for.

I really hope we get a win today, we certainly need it, and with Jermain Defoe playing his 400th career game today, let’s hope he can top it off with a few goals and a win.

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Tottenham Hotspur 2009/10

Posted by Stevio in Tottenham Hotspur on July 19th, 2009

It has been quite some time since my last post, a lot has happened. The main thing is that Spurs managed to avoid relegation to remain a Premiership club.

Now it’s the close season and all the talk is about transfers. So far, the only signing is an ex-Arsenal youngster called Anton Blackwood. Ricardo Rocha has been released, and Didier Zokora has left for Sevilla.

At present there’s plenty of talk on who could be coming to the Lane. Ashley Young, Peter Crouch, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar are a few being bandied around.

There’s also a lot of talk on who will exit the club. Tom Huddlestone, Darren Bent, David Bentley to name a few.

I think the present squad is pretty good. We’ve got two very good goalkeepers. The defence is strong, although a new experienced centre-half would be a useful addition to act as cover with Michael Dawson. With Zokora’s departure, a new defensive midfielder would be a good idea, as we’ve only got Wilson Palacios who can play there. Of course, as always, a left winger would be great, but, well, let’s not hold our breaths. Upfront is an area which is up for much debate. We’ve got four quality strikers, however there’s question marks on whether they can play together.

I think with a few new additions we should be more than capable of qualifying for Europe next season, especially if we can maintain our excellent home form. That said, we must keep Jonathan Woodgate and Ledley King fit, as without them, our defence becomes too vulnerable. Also I hope Aaron Lennon can continue improving his game, as he most certainly shone last season.

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The good, the bad and the ugly

Posted by Stevio in Tottenham Hotspur on January 17th, 2009

It has been quite a while since my last post, since then things have improved, sadly even with a new manager installed, the results and the performances have not been good enough.

With 21 league games played this season, we’ve won 5, drawn 5, and lost 11, scoring 20 and conceding 26. We’re currently third from bottom in the relegation zone.

Something positive is that we’re still in all the cups, and all being well, we can at least look forward to a League Cup final.

The performance in our latest game – the defeat at Wigan Athletic – wasn’t our worst this season, however, it was far from our best.

Even though manager Harry Redknapp had made changes to compete with a physical Wigan side, many of our players failed to perform, most notably Gareth Bale.

In recent months there have been some positives, defender Michael Dawson has once again found his form and has been a rock at centre half, also Heurelho Gomes has overcome a spell of uncertainly to show that he’s more than a capable ‘keeper.

Upfront we’ve seen Darren Bent struggle despite scoring 12 goals this season, while fellow striker Roman Pavlyuchenko has improved of late with goals in the FA Cup and League Cup against Wigan and Burnley respectively.

Since the transfer window opened Jermain Defoe has returned to White Hart Lane in a big money move from Portsmouth. He scored 15 goals in 31 appearances for Pompey, fingers crossed he can keep the same 1 goal in 2 games ratio up at Spurs.

I have faith in Harry Redknapp to turn it around, however, the problems at Spurs are chronic, and I’m unsure whether the team’s problems can be solved in time to prevent relegation.

Harry needs to build a new team. The current one is so fragmented, sometimes it’s like watching a team of eleven strangers. You’d think after training and playing together the players would be able work together and know each other’s game – sadly not.

If it’s true that the club are splashing out tens of millions on players in a desperate bid to avoid relegation then I fear we may find out it’s a big mistake, as sadly I doubt a big turnover of players during this transfer window will save us from heading down into the Championship.

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