English Matches 2011/2012

Christopher Flanagan wrote:Of course it's not time to 'forget Spurs'. Madness. It's January FFS.

I think the point is to focus on Chelsea and Liverpool at the moment because thats who we are battling with right now. City, united and spurs are too far ahead for us to be worried about them. It may be January but there are three teams 9 or more points ahead of us which is a fair old chunk considering how unreliable we are. I still think there are 2 mini leagues at the top- city, united and spurs in one and Chelsea, ourselves, pool and possibly even Newcastle in the other. That's how I'm looking at it for now anyway.

Richard Wallace wrote:

Christopher Flanagan wrote:Of course it's not time to 'forget Spurs'. Madness. It's January FFS.

I think the point is to focus on Chelsea and Liverpool at the moment because thats who we are battling with right now. City, united and spurs are too far ahead for us to be worried about them. It may be January but there are three teams 9 or more points ahead of us which is a fair old chunk considering how unreliable we are. I still think there are 2 mini leagues at the top- city, united and spurs in one and Chelsea, ourselves, pool and possibly even Newcastle in the other. That's how I'm looking at it for now anyway.

Are you suggesting Spurs have a genuine chance of winning the league this season?!?

I'm suggesting that they are battling with united in that top three. I don't think they will win the league because I feel city have too many resources and will win it this year. I certainly think they can finish second, though. I hate to say it but they play some of the best football around when I've seen them and they are never short of plaudits.

Richard Wallace wrote:

Mohamed Samir wrote:Spurs are just taking the piss, they have endless luck or what?!

Sorry but how exactly are Spurs lucky? I think we need to forget about them because they clearly have a better starting 11 than us and most teams in the premiership. If you are suggesting spurs are lucky because they are not getting injuries I can't agree. They've had Lennon out, two of their first choice centre backs in king and Dawson out and they've managed to cope well.

A lot of arsenal fans just write them off and say they will bottle it like every year but I don't see that happening. They're 9 points ahead of us at this stage of the season and will be looking to make a push for the title. We, on the other hand, will struggle to finish fourth and the fact that we probably won't buy another attacking player really doesn't help us. If wenger thinks Henry is going to solve our issues in the final third I'd be very disappointed. It looks to me as though that's what is going to happen.

They scored 2 goals from 2 deflected shots today, surely there is a bit of luck there?.

To suggest Spurs have not had any luck smacks of trying too hard to be even handed. It's like Arsenal fans who suggest that injuries were not a major problem in years past. But that's nonsense. Any team will struggle with injuries and suspensions - Man City only had 4 players out today (Kolo, Yaya, Silva, Kompany) but they struggled. When had an entire first team out, we struggled too. We have no full backs to speak of, which is severely hampering our ability to break stubborn defensive teams down, and we're dropping points because of it. That is all down to bad luck.

Spurs have had luck. Lennon was injured for a little while, and they picked up a few defensive injuries. They've also had the luxury of being a small-time club, evident in the way they disgracefully threw away the Europa League so they could focus on the PL. Arsenal fans would never allow Arsenal to do that, because we're not a small-time club. Their main striker - some would say their only good striker - is not even employed by them. That may not be luck, it's a shrewd loan deal. But it doesn't speak of continuity. Especially if they do well in the league by the end, City will never sell him outright to a rival.

They've had luck, it's madness to suggest otherwise. They also have a strong first XI, and have been in good form. In Bale, VdV, Modric, Lennon and Adebayor they have a dynamic, pacy, creative attacking unit. In Walker and Assou-Ekotto they have pace and an ability to stretch defenses. In Parker they have a decent DM. But I don't think they have very much beyond that.

The question is, do we?

Yes. Our second best player hasn't even played this year.










Also, Thierry Henry.

Christopher Flanagan wrote:Yes. Our second best player hasn't even played this year.










Also, Thierry Henry.

Not to mention the league's best RB has played only 6 games

Spurs, currently have more points than any team at this stage last season. You can't say it's all luck.

Is anyone saying it's all luck? I'm genuinely curious.

i think spurs have done really well in transfer in last couple of years:
gallas on free
ade on loan
vdv for 8 million
fridel for free
parker for 5 million
modric also turned out to be awesome.

this is almost the backbone of their current team

£12m Palacios, £15m Defoe, £12m Keane, £16m Pav, £10m Gomes, £15m
Bentley, £8.5m Corluka, £8m Bassong, £9m Crouch, £5m Naughton, even a combined £5m on Pienaar and Krancjar has been an utter waste.

They have had such turnover that it's little surprise they have got lucky with a couple.

And on the subject, this is from today's Guardian:


Jermain Defoe's agent has told Tottenham Hotspur that the striker wants to move in this transfer window because he is not in Harry Redknapp's first team. The manager revealed that Daniel Levy, the chairman, has been contacted by Defoe's representative to discuss the future of the England international, who wants to play regularly before this summer's European Championship.
"Daniel spoke to his agent who said he is not happy because he wants to play and he has got a few clubs in for him," Redknapp said. "I am sure he has got a few clubs in for him but we are not selling him. He is saying this club wants him and that club wants him – that is how they make their money. He is not moving anywhere, though. He is on contract here and is a big player for us."
Regarding Defoe's prospects of being selected for Euro 2012 by Fabio Capello if he is not in the Spurs starting XI, Redknapp said: "Jermain wants to play in the Euros but so does Rafa [van der Vaart]. He wants to play for Holland so he feels he has to play. I would not consider letting him out on loan."
Redknapp has suggested that this season could be Tottenham Hotspur's best chance of winning the title after admitting it may be difficult to retain his star players beyond the summer. He said that if Luka Modric or any other of his best performers was offered a lucrative deal they would be tempted to leave, with the manager revealing that Emmanuel Adebayor, who earns £225,000 a week on loan from Manchester City, should return north in the summer.
Redknapp said: "If someone comes along and offers players a contract that could blow their current one out of the water, it's very difficult. They are not going to say I was born in Croatia [as Modric was] but I have always wanted to play for Tottenham. If someone offers to treble a player's wages, you've got a problem, haven't you? We're not in a position to pay £40m or pay £200k a week."
Regarding Adebayor who has scored nine goals in 18 league appearances, Redknapp said: "He has done well for us. He is on amazing money. The other week, one of the lads said to him that he had not paid his £50 fine for being the worst player in training on a Friday morning. He said: 'Bloody hell, Addy, you are on 200 grand a week and you can't afford to pay a £50 fine.' He replied: 'Don't insult me – it's 225.' He certainly isn't getting that here."
Asked if the Togolese international may stay at the club once his loan expires, Redknapp said: "We have Adebayor till the end of the year, and [will] see how we go."
Speaking before Spurs rejected a bid for Steven Pienaar from Queens Park Rangers, Redknapp said he does not want to sell in the current window. "I wouldn't want to let him [Pienaar] go. There is no one here who I'd love to see the back of."
Everton's Phil Neville claimed earlier in the week that the test for Spurs's championship credentials will come in March when the season reaches its defining point. In response, Redknapp agreed that the campaign's closing part will be difficult. "It depends what the fixtures are. We've got some hard games: we've got to go away to Man City [in eight days], Liverpool [in February], Arsenal [late February], Chelsea [March]," he said, with Spurs also facing Manchester United in March.
Tottenham entertain Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday conscious that victory would draw them level with City, who do not play until Monday. But Redknapp refused to consider that prospect, saying: "I can only look to tomorrow, knowing that it's a tough game." Redknapp added that he was "hopeful" Scott Parker would return from a knee injury.

So, to start the ball rolling for this afternoon....

For once, a few of the big teams are playing at 3 o'clock on a Saturday. Unfortunately, they all seem to have home bankers, so can't see us making up any ground. Liverpool v Stoke seems the most likely to me, if anyone were to drop points.

Here's an awful thought: theoretically, tonight we could be 7th and Spurs could be joint top.

Word on twitter is that Scholes starts for Man U today. Says a lot about their midfield options.

Stephen Mitchell wrote:Here's an awful thought: theoretically, tonight we could be 7th and Spurs could be joint top.

Horrible thought, but part of the beauty that is the prem. Things changing every gameweek

Scholes starts for Utd

Also, don't want to tempt fate, but Liverpool's starting xi looks very weak today. Quite negative too, for a home game.

Stoke dont travel well, they havent won at anfield in the league ever

Yep, but Liverpool have shown time and time again that they struggle to break down teams going to Anfield for a point. Should be an interesting one.

here to wishing spuds lose..and they get frimponged...

Is Frimpong playing?

Yes

Hopefully he doesnt learn leg breaking abilities from Karl Henry

Chavs 1 up Lampard

Unlucky for Torres. That would have been goal of the season, instead Lampard gets credit for it.