Spurs V Swansea

Mullo76

Despite the heartbreak of last Sunday (think I would be use to it at this stage but it never gets easier) we are motoring fairly well. This is a game we should win at home, no excuses. Hopefully Parker gets a few mins at the end when we are 3 up

mickman

Swansea are on a good run (except for last game) but i think we should win also - looks like parker will make the bench for this one

Lets hope Caulker listens to Lloris when he comes for a cross this time - he has cost us two goals recently and possible 3 points against everton because he wasnt listening.

Hatch99

Mullo76 wrote: »

Despite the heartbreak of last Sunday (think I would be use to it at this stage but it never gets easier) we are motoring fairly well. This is a game we should win at home, no excuses. Hopefully Parker gets a few mins at the end when we are 3 up

If we win the next 2 home games, it will set us up well for the 2 televised games over xmas. Hope we go 442, bale and lennon out wide, JD and Ade and have a go. COYS

Gianangelo

Swansea's excellent run was brought to an abrupt halt by Norwich, who defeated them 3-4 on Saturday.

Good news for us: Swansea leak goals.
Bad news for us: Swansea score goals.

Given the heartbreak of last week, I hope AVB works on our defence in training, particularly in the latter stages of the game.

We leak far too many goals in the late stages.

BAE and Parker can't return quick enough, in my opinion. Our back four have been doing well, but fatigue is starting to creep in, especially given the Europa League matches.

eoinola

must win game no doubt about it -

...but does anyone else agree the policy of rotating keepers backfired so much v Everton. On course for a huge away win then caulker doesnt listen to lloris - bang bang game lost. But in fairness to culker - having played in front of friedel, lloris and cudicini this year he has been used to just clearing ball rather than waiting for the keeper. Friedal doesnt come out for balls at all to be fair and lloris does alot - defenders need consistency and there has been very little of it thus far...and when a defenders isnt sure - he just clears!!!! ...anyway on to Swansea!!!

mickman

eoinola wrote: »

must win game no doubt about it -

...but does anyone else agree the policy of rotating keepers backfired so much v Everton. On course for a huge away win then caulker doesnt listen to lloris - bang bang game lost. But in fairness to culker - having played in front of friedel, lloris and cudicini this year he has been used to just clearing ball rather than waiting for the keeper. Friedal doesnt come out for balls at all to be fair and lloris does alot - defenders need consistency and there has been very little of it thus far...and when a defenders isnt sure - he just clears!!!! ...anyway on to Swansea!!!

yes this is true but they should have done this in training. surely the coach told the CB's that llors will come out of his goal and to let him take the ball if they hear a shout - or is that asking too much of the coaches ??

tippspur

My first visit to the Lane for this season so hoping to bring home the 3 points,I think we should do it.

kensutz

Any word on Bale returning or is he still out for this one?

Devo from Dublin

Id go with....

Hugo

Walker Vertonghen Caulker BAE

Sandro Dembele


Lennon Dempsey Bale

Adebayor.

Giving Adebayor a chance to play from the start and warn him, he's got to take his chance from the start... if hes not doing the business, bring on JD who will be chomping at the bit, and will start every other game over the xmas period.
Sandro will get his long overdue rest in and around 70 mins i feel.
Backing us to win 4-1.

Caulker 1st goal (old team)... always happens..i encourage you all to throw a sneaky 5r on him..about 25/1.

mushykeogh

kensutz wrote: »

Any word on Bale returning or is he still out for this one?

Still out for another week i believe.

Hatch99

Andre Villas-Boas reports that Scott Parker could return to action against Swansea on Sunday.

The midfielder has been out all season with Achilles trouble but having played 90 minutes for our Under-21s against Sunderland on Monday and trained this week, Andre revealed there is ‘a possibility’ he'll be back in the frame for the 1.30pm kick-off at the Lane.
There is further good news on Michael Dawson, who trained with the team on Friday after picking up a hamstring injury at Fulham on December 1.
However, Andre said that Gareth Bale, who also suffered a hamstring problem in the same match at Craven Cottage, was ‘very unlikely’ to be involved.
Andre said: “Michael trained today with the team and is back after his muscle injury against Fulham. That was important for him and he now has another training session tomorrow to be back in contention.
“Scott Parker has made a good recovery and there is certainly a possibility he could be involved.
“Gareth Bale is not an impossible scenario, but it’s very unlikely he’ll be involved.
“Benoit Assou-Ekotto is still further off, but he has joined the team (in training this week). As soon as he is match fit, he will be involved.”
Younes Kaboul (knee) remains sidelined.

Leinstersqspur

@SpursOfficial: Our starting team today: Lloris, Walker, Gallas, Vertonghen, Naughton, Lennon, Sandro, Dembele, Dempsey, Adebayor & Defoe #COYS

Parker on the bench along with Friedel, Caulker, Livermore, Huddlestone, Townsend, Sigurdsson

Happy to see Vertz at CB with two natural full backs, shame for Caulker to miss out, can't wait to see Scotty get on around 70! COYS!

SuprSi

Somewhat surprised that Gallas starts ahead of Caulker but happy that Vertz reverts to his favoured position.

Leinstersqspur

Unlucky not to be one up, we're pressing well..

PogMoThoin

Dempsey is playing well, he's now linking up superbly with everyone. He's come a long way

davycc

Coys great pressure so far we need to make it count!

SuprSi

So much pressure and possession but just lacking the cutting edge.

davycc

Speaking of ex players scoring Id almoost put money on Routledge scoring today if we get sloppy-which we invariably do..lets just hope were 3 up at that stage & its just a 89th min consolation for em..

SuprSi

How the **** are we not ahead! Some strike by Walker

davycc

what a rocket from walker..

SuprSi

Lennon has been great until it comes to either the shot or final pass, where he's been rubbish

Leinstersqspur

Yep Lennon's final ball has been abysmal..

Except for goals it's been a very good performance, now is the test for AVB, were camped in their half we just need to unlock the door! COYS!

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

Walker having another piss poor game, the rest playing quite well, Lennon has been alright imo. Gallas has had to do nothing yet. Very unlucky that we're not ahead.

davycc

gallas turned inside out by routledge.. almost 0-1!

SuprSi

FFS Walker!! Take a touch, pass it, something other than shooting on the run.

SuprSi

Woohoo Jan!!

franktheplank

Go on COYS

davycc

Jan!!!!!!!!!!! right foots not just for standing on then..

markesmith

Lovely finish by Vert...he's got a lot to his game. Top 4 with a bullet!

davycc

5mins injury time lets see this out please!

davycc

scotty on for dembele who picked up a knock..

welcome back scotty much missed

SuprSi

Great play by Lloris, brilliant punch. Took Michu out, but completely legal challenge.

davycc

up to 4th after 8mins inj time

PogMoThoin

Back in 4th

SuprSi

Great stuff, well deserved win. Swansea just defended for most of the match and I think we fully earned that one.

davycc

weird last few mins but a lot a lot of heart & belief in our side today overall deserved win

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

Didn't think we would score but we managed to pull one out in the end. Dominated the match completely from about the 10th minute until the 85th. Williams deservedly won MOTM.

pancho84

Good win, thought we were going to concede late again but we hung on, Sandro was a beast again, it will be interesting to see what he does with Scotty back, will it be a case of Sandro or Parker to start

Leinstersqspur

Well deserved, the team played good and fcuk me Lloris is one ballsy dude, he's out so quick and has the reflexes of a cat!

Townsend was very good when he came on, should be pushing Lennon for a starting spot in my opinion..

Super, Super Jan!

DubPerryman

Very happy with today's performance. We dominated throughout and eventually got the goal we desperately needed.

As well as we played, the outlet which Bale provides was evidently missed.

I was delighted to see Andros Townsend to get a run out, he could be our most natural replacement for Bale, if he leaves.

Lloris didn't have much to do, but what he did do he did brilliantly. He fills me with great confidence and is the first piece of AVB's jigsaw.

DubPerryman

Can anyone finish the Jan song the crowd was singing....


"Vertonghen ohhhhh, vertonghen ohhhhhhh.... He comes from Amsterdam...."


Cheers!

pancho84

I think its "He plays for Tottenham"

nipps

delighted with the win. we dominated the game and pretty much nullified any swansea attack. great to get a clean sheet for a change!

we defended well up until the 80min mark and then you could see the nerves from the crowd reflect the players (particularly walker and naughton but they just lack experience). despite putting ourselves under unnecessary pressure late on, it will be a big boost not to have conceded. i have to say i was getting very nervous. considering the amount of chances we had, we should have won by 3-4. we just lacked dat finishin instinct.

great to see scotty back, but if i was avb id keep sandro in the 1st team, he's been immense. i hope ade's injury is nothin serious, we'll b a bit short in the striking department then. the more i think about it, getting lloris in is some bit of business, delighted we have a long term top keeper. i was very impressed with townsend wen he came on, not afraid to take on his man which was great to see.

then theres super jan, lads wat can i say... wat a finish:eek::D reminded me of RVP! never in doubt with him defensively (we just need daws or caulker beside him instead of gallas). he's a top top player.

like i said delighted with the win:)

mickman

Nice win yesterday - we deserved it 100%. Looked solid throughout and should have won by more.

Agree with what most people say above - verts is a real good player - one of the signings of the season.

We are joint 3rd guys coming into xmas - i would have gladly taken this at the start of the season.

One thing i dont like is that we have lost 6 games and we arent even half way through - that could end up with us losing 14 games this season - i cant see us getting 4th with that many losses.

DubPerryman

mickman wrote: »

that could end up with us losing 14 games this season - i cant see us getting 4th with that many losses.

I think the above quote is hypothetically pessimistic. We could also easily say, based on how competitive the league is this season, if we only lose ten by the end of the season we could possibly come first or second.

Man Utd have lost three and conceded 24 in December, which is unusual. While Citeh have had 6 draws which could have easily ended up as losses.

My point being, we are where we deserve to be at the moment. If us, and all the teams around us, carry on the way we're going then we'll finish fourth.

Hopefully Arsenal don't win the Champions League!

Hatch99

Good win again, keeps us in the mix coming in to xmas. Another winnable game next sat, hopefully another 3pts.

2nd Row Donkey

I said in pre-season that I could live with the inconsistent performances (and results) as long as we were within touching distance of 4th come christmas time, so I'm a happy camper.

mickman

yeah i understand what you are saying but my point was that historically losing 12+ games in a season

2nd Row Donkey

I know what you mean. anything more than 10 loses and we can forget it.

I'm also concerned that we are not really giving anyone a good thumping. Okay 3-0 at fulham was only a few weeks ago but the scoreline didnt reflect the game.

SuprSi

2nd Row Donkey wrote: »

I know what you mean. anything more than 10 loses and we can forget it.

I'm also concerned that we are not really giving anyone a good thumping. Okay 3-0 at fulham was only a few weeks ago but the scoreline didnt reflect the game.

Well that could be down to how opposition teams are playing against us. Look at Swansea - admired for their free-flowing attacking football, yet yesterday they didn't have a single shot on target. 11 men behind the ball for most of the match and I cannot understand how the possession stats were roughly 50/50 when, to my eye at least, it looked like we had the ball for 70 - 80% of the game!

If a team, and a good team in the case of Swansea, put that many players behind the ball, it can be very difficult to break them down. Add to this Lennon's inability to deliver the final ball and 2 - 3 last ditch and probably goal-saving tackles which, on another day may have gone in.

tippspur

Had a great day at the Lane Yesterday,thought it was heading for a scoreless draw until Verts done the biz,Dembele had a great game but I would give my MOTM to Lennon he ran himself into the ground from start to finish.