Pav scores, empty seat salutes
Friday, October 21, 2011 at 10:29PM Tottenham 1 Rubin Kazan 0. What did we learn?
Kurban Berdyev should consider looking for the receipt for his prayer beads.
Spurs fans who managed to attend might have been better entertained had they remained home and played around with a different ilk of bead.
24058. You should be applauded for turning up.
Kaboul and Sandro swaggered with cool, calm, controlled class as they punctured the game with powerful pomp. Not that you can complain too much about the standard of football. This was a second eleven (be it one with plenty of internationals) with returning first teamers and youth players that can't truly be expected to 'turn it on', as much as we'd like to see it turn on. It was more Sorry Sorry, than Glory Glory. Don't think this was the Europe Bill Nicholson referred too.
Pav proved beyond doubt that he is most effective when he is standing completely still and has ample time to consider options and weigh up the best course of action. He does that every time he plays, but alas, doesn't always pay off. What we do know after his free-kick goal is that he can't do it on a cold week-day night up at Stoke but can at the Lane when nobody much cares other than nerds who create animated gifs of goals. We'll always have the gif Pav.
I'll give Gomes a 7. Gio a 5. As for Carroll? 8. That's not out of ten, that's his age. On reflection (having watched the game a second time) he wasn't quite this elegant floaty flicky footballer I thought I witnessed (against the Russians) rather I had fantasised he was far better than he performed. Okay so he moved about, looked for the ball...but the nature of the game and its tempo meant that it was all much ado about nothing. But that hardly warrants him being tagged with 'out of his depth' comments. He's played a handful of games and he has to continue to make first team appearances to gain experience/confidence and understanding. He looks comfortable, very comfortable with the ball. Give it time, plenty of protein and we'll beef him up I'm sure. Keep on using him Harry please.
Can I mention Sandro again? Hands up if you retained your interest in the game just to see him charge towards a player to tackle the ball back into our possession or for his Gandalfesque-like in 'you shall not pass' defending. If I was Sandro, I'd never take that gum shield out of my mouth either. You never know, he might happen to brush past Godzilla in the pub and spill his pint and we all know 'zilla struggles with his temperament.
Bassong. Captain. That is all.
Lennon is back. Sort of. I'm sure I can remember him making some tasty runs second half. Don't make me watch the game a 3rd time - I wasn't making notes, I was busy multi-tasking and reading Channel 5's online coverage of the Big Brother house so I could appreciate more the various link-work Jim Rosenthal and the commentating team were doing.
Defoe blow out some of that cold, just reminding us that he's still capable of doing so. It's not all hot. Has it ever been any different?
Walker and Rose had a decent enough run-out. Gio was Gio. It's like getting dressed up for a night out, polishing your shoes then being turned away from the club door by the bouncer for being over-dressed. Gio looks the part but he can never get in on the action where it matters most.
As for the visitors. They looked more like a unit, a team. Which was hardly a shocker considering the line-up we fielded. Risky football, but we got away with it. They were not as good as I expected them to be (our first eleven would wipe the floor with them). Europa League group stages, hardly a priority then. So no, we have learnt nothing new.
Could have quite easily been a home defeat had we not rode our luck some what (thank those malfunctioning prayer beads). We got away with it. Stronger side required when we visit them.
We won. Isn't that all that really matters?
Reader Comments (19)
Don't think 'Arry is up for this whole 'stronger side' lark Spooky...
"With the Premier League still his number one priority, Redknapp plans to field a severely weakened team for the club's trip to Russia.
"I will be taking a very, very young team out to Russia now for sure for the second game," Redknapp added."
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-sport/football/article-24000645-gomes-still-has-future-at-spurs-says-harry-redknapp.do
Very 'very' young? Let me guess. The Sperm of Sandro.
We'll still win.
Yes - Harry's Bertie Bassett selection did enough to shade it. Even Bassong stepped up.
Lennon has forgotten, again, that the early ball into the Corridor of Uncertainty is the pass that scares the sh*t out of the defence, and affords the strikers the best chance of success.
Anyone notice the banner on the ground behind one of the goals at the Marseille v The Red and White Team game - Come On You Irons ? Have they made a bid ? Groundshare ?
I'm not joking ... does Sandro have extensible legs or something? Can someone please check.
Bassong. Forgot all about him. Will have to add something in now.
Totally useless article !
It's the exclamation mark that will stop me from sleeping tonight.
Highgate, I'd ask for a refund if I were you.
"Don't think this was the Europe Bill Nicholson referred to."
Quite right. It's high time people stopped using the great man's quote about being 'nothing' if you're not in Europe to back up an all but lost argument that anyone other than the teams in the Europa League give a monkey's about it.
Today's equivalent would be, "If you're not in the Champions' League, you're nothing". Let's ensure we are in it next season, and if it means treating the Losers' League with the contempt it deserves, so be it.
That's not to say I'd turn down a ticket to the final.
@TMWNN Spot on. Can't stand hearing that myself either.
If we don't make it to the CL for a few years then yes maybe we have to start giving the EL more priority.
But anyone who wants to big up and prioritise this nothing of a competition today should do it without using Bill Nicholson's words out of context as back up.
Says a lot about the standards of the EL competition that we can field a random Spurs XI and still win the group. Might have to wait til the semi before we face a team that is even mid table EPL quality.
For thursdays game though the ruskie shot his bolt but that was his bolt shot for the duration. He and Defoe only reinforced the thought that we rely heavily on Ade. Carrol looked very good but I only saw the game the once. Everyone else was mostly OK but you could definitely see the difference when Benny+Bull came on.
"Says a lot about the standards of the EL competition that we can field a random Spurs XI and still win the group."
Exactly right. Why not just expand the CL and ditch this Ropey League altogether. It's the Carling Cup of Europe.
Thought we were lucky to win. They threatened our goal more than we did theirs, and we were the home side. If they had started with one decent striker....
I fear that our "very young side" may get thrashed in Russia.
Bassong played Rose into trouble on numerous occasion in the first half. Bass doesn't have a clue what to do with the ball when he has it. Not a decent footballer and should be replaced when possible.
Gomes made some good saves but yet again put us into trouble with a couple of throw outs - one in particular. I don't understand why he hasn't been told not to do it.
Gio effectively disappeared after the first 25 minutes. As did Lennon's effectiveness.
WHEN WILL Harry learn that players are no good on the opposite wing when they are NEVER willing to use their second foot and go outside. So easy for the full back.
Some good performances. Please that we won but not sure why we did.
Dissapointed to read your comments on Carroll Spooky. Thought he was brilliant for a 19 year old playing his 4th or 5th senior game. Modric was running around with a turd under his nose all night. Obviously felt he should have played the previous night . He's starting to get up my nose as he is just biding his time until January. At this stage, I'd sell the little darling rather than have to stomach him for the remainder of the season. Agree with the comments that Bassong isn't good enough, nor is Dos Santos. Anyway thats my say.
I think Redknapp is fielding too strong a side still. We should save the squad players and just send 11 random individuals to Russia. If you are wearing a Spurs shirt near the ground that should qualify you to play in the EL games. Or we could knock on 1-11 Northumberland Park and invite the likeliest looking ones who answer the door. Most of the opponents are made up teams anyway. UEFA just invented a load of clubs to pad out the EL after pinching all the real European clubs for the Champions League.
Cookie - for his age and inexperience he is superb, but I'm just trying to hold people back a little because we all know how quickly we rate youngsters then destroy their confidence due to our impossible expectations.
hate all these comments belittiling the uefa cup - for years we tried to get it - ok i too believe champions league could be ours this year but until it is again can we not enjoy thursdays - lets be honest we could easily have lost again rubin with a team with 8M gomes / 8M bassong / defoe / 14m pav etc so lets not get out heads too big - look at some of the teams in it - if we win it it will be a great acheivement and god forbid an injury to big ade and a few league losses we might come to like the wafa cup come march april.,.....so yes c'mon spurs 3rd in the league will be great thank you....but 4th and a euro trohpy would really float my boat.........3 points tommorow please as have man flu and it will cheer me up !
@colseycolsey I agree with some of your points and some of my comments for example are more banter than strictly serious if that wasn't clear. I think we can win it and should try to and have done so far. But it remains the case that the EL is not the old UEFA Cup which was arguably as strong as the old European Cup and that is not the fault of fans belittling it. It is UEFA who have done that and made the CL the true aim of all the big clubs across the continent.
"very young players." if it were wenger saying that, i'd be worried, but 'arry has got me exited. Probably will play falque coulibaly and ceballos!
COYS
Colseyx2, the day UEFA decided that teams which didn't do so well in the CL could enter the EL at a later stage ruined any credibility Europe's 2nd cup had. How the fuck is it possible to win a cup after entering an altogether different competition?