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?