The TottenHAM Hotspur
Monday, July 26, 2010 at 11:26AM Cracking article from over the pond, covering the open practice session we had prior to the game against the Earthquakes which also included three of the 49ers turning up to join in with the fun.
This made me smile...
About half of Spurs’ starting eleven were not there as they were still on post-World Cup holiday. So sadly no Crouch (yes, I would have asked him to do the robot). Defoe, Gomes, King, Lennon, etc. were also absent. Still, Spurs are a talented team and many of their superstars were on show. Some bullet points:
- Luka Modrić is tiny and looks like a 10 year old schoolboy. He was also the best player on the pitch by far and his ball control is spectacular.- Tom Huddlestone is a big boy. He also likes “hiking” his shorts up to uncomfortable levels.
- Younes Kaboul is bigger still, but he looks in shape.
- Robbie Keane really does bark and yap, and is still a very skillful player.
- Gareth Bale has simian-like features.
- Cudicini ALWAYS has a scowl on his face.
- Roman Pavlyuchenko is known as “Pav.”
- Hutton never shuts up and is really funny (if you can understand him).
- There was a definite distinction in skill between Modrić, Bale, Pav and a few others versus the rest of the squad.
Considering the yanks are getting some flack (tongue in cheek) over the ESPN commentary for our US tour, it's only fair this gets shared.
Click here to read the article. Check it out.
And re: the commentary. Thus far 'Bale is a stud of a player' has to be the best statement made in-game.
Reader Comments (33)
I loved the commentary where we were called the Hotspur and one of our players was Jerome Jenas.
Commentary was immense. we had a corner being swung in by Bale which led to " the keeper comes to collect at the top of the six" lmao. Still been v good to have our preseason games on ESPN so i wont complain.
Great read, thanks for sharing.
The commentary has been very entertaining. Corners sponsored, mispronunciation of names, players ages exaggerated and some of the strangest analogies I've ever heard since well since Pleat was on ITV.
I actually rather enjoyed the American commentary, at least they were enthusiastic and for the most part had done enough research about the teams in front of them to make some good observations (the only exception was that when Pedro Mendes came on they said how he had spent 2 years at Rangers and didn't mention his time at Spurs!). Also while they made a few puns (Rose is being a thorn in the side of the Sporting defence, for example) it was about the game and not just moronic banter like Lawrenson and company. I visit the US a few times a year and their other sports commentators (and coaches for that metter) are obsessed with conversion percentages (batting averages in baseball for example) and ground covered. They also like player histories so it was interesting to hear that Liedson worked at a supermarked until he was 22. I don't mind those changes, and if anything it is nice to hear what an outside observer thinks of our team (although I still prefer watching games online from other countries so in listening I just pick out the essentials - the player names).
Observations on the game:
Has Taarabt been given the number 11 shirt for this season? He was wearing it in the game and while the official site is out of date/wrong (3 players have number 39) wikipedia has him as number 11.
Naughton looked pretty sharp, and Hutton looked good in the first half, being a very willing runner. He also beat his man a few times to get crosses in which was nice to see.
Jenas killed off so many attacks with bad passes/staying in posession too long. It is as though he just isn't trying anymore.
aparently gareth barry was one of our best yesterday also. was impressed with the younguns' tho, townsend and obika look like their worthy of a bench place this season i reckon
From that link "Whenever he has a free moment, Redknapp is ALWAYS on the phone"........that sounds promising! Good article I thought and intriguing to see what they thought of the players.
I have loved the commentary to bits its made the whole thing much more enjoyable considering our play hasn't been great which is obviously understandable. My two favourites have to be when they called Gareth Bale Christian Bale against the Red Bulls, and when Obika was asked whether his goal was the greatest ever moment for him in a spurs shirt :). COYS
And finally .....I didn't know Corluka previously played for Liverpool!!
Also Obika got the man of the match champagne, surely ESPN shouldn't be giving alcohol to someone underage by 2 years ;)
I love how you get a kick out of them calling Bale a 'stud.' It's a term used all the time here in the States.
Decent commentary. Shame some of our team were no so good. All this talk about Keane being rejuvenated has baffled me, he was awful yesterday, he took so long to pass the ball meaning Bale was caught offside on numerous occasions. Also Townsend was poor as too was Tarrabt & Thudd. Walker looked very good as did Obika.
Looking forward to the season getting underway!
DC Spurs is a stud.
From the San Jose game:
'Robbie Keane sneaks up the backside'
He's desperate to stay isn't he?
Surely some mistake though - Modric was smashing shots into the net?
Mr Spang - lets hope not, we need some more goals from midfield!
'Arry being on the phone all the time could just mean he's getting a few bets on!
And if he's talking about horses, I know the bloke who gives him the tips. My ex-boss and still well known to my old man.
Said it before, if I asked, I could probably get Harry's mob number, but it's a bit rude to bother the man. At least that's the excuse I'm using until we sit 4th from bottom at Christmas...
my favourite was finding out that "Christian Bale" plays for spurs.........................that is "tottenham hotspurs, from North London, United Kingdom"
The commentary is very similar to old skool WWF matches between Hogan & Macho Man - with commentary from Mean Jen!!
COYS
You should drop him a text Spooky and request a phone interview. That way if he ain't arsed he can just delete it, no harm done.
I learnt two important things from reading the link.
1. Jenas should never be a wide receiver
2. We need to sign clive allen for the hotspur as soon as possible.
Jenas shouldnt have AUTONOMY on his shirt,it should say ANONYMOUS !
haha
Lucas Modrick, Jerome Jenas, Gareth Bale - when did Harry sign these? Did we all miss it?
Also the term "outside back" was interesting. I was waiting for them to call Huddlestone the "quarterback"...
Oops I meant Gareth Barry...
best line was "he was naked in the middle there" (as in unmarked)
Thought Keane played well.
Purposeful running, took his goal exceptionally well, assist for Obika's goal, closed down the whole game.
I still think he will go but for more money after that.
Just because a dog has a bad name you don't have to hang it.
On behalf of all my fellow American soccer lovers, and most especially to my fellow Yids out there, I heartily apologize for putting all of you through the agony of our soccer commentators, if you watched. The number of times Spurs were called "The Tottenham Hotspurs" nearly had me curled into a tight fetal position, weeping softly at the undying agony.
On the other hand, I was very excited to learn that we have Batman playing for us.
Apology accepted.
My brother met all the lads yesterday and got photos with them.... and I can safely say that Carlo wasn't scowling!!
Christian Bale...does he play on the left bat-wing? I believe had had a shot that nearly ended up in the cage!
We got into some good points scoring positions in the endzone quite regularly. Their goaltender had some work to do.
You have to forgive the Yank sports announcers, they simply can't live with the notion that you DON'T HAVE TO CONSTANTLY BE TALKING. They are really fearful that if they aren't saying something, or explaining something (even that which needs no explanation) then they aren't doing their jobs. That's why there is something like 1 or 2 decent sports announcers across all US sports (Cris Collinsworth and Jeff Van Gundy for NFL and NBA are about it).
Harry being on the phone all the time is because he has time for the fans - as I can testify from speaking to him on the phone on Sunday.......