Spurs Online

Category: Premier League

  • Its a Must Win!

    Its a Must Win!

    Fixture…

    Sunday 26th January, 14:00

    Tottenham Hotspur Vs Leicester City

    Premier League

    Available On…

    Optus Sport 3

    Bein Sports English 1

    Astro Supersport 2

    Hub Premier 1

    SuperSport Premier League

    More Info…

    connect@spursonline.net

    Result: 1-2 (Leicester Win)

    Richarlison (33′)

    J. Vardy (46′)

    B. El Khannouss (50′)

    Match Report…

    Well I said it was a must win but I didn’t say it would be easy. When is it ever easy with us?  As expected, it was a tough relegation fight with little separating the teams in the first half, but for a touch of extra class up front for Spurs to edge the battle. 

    In the 33rd minute a wonderful cross from Porro allowed Richi to head in from close range for a 1-0 lead. Spurs looked for a second goal and Son was unfortunate not to score when hitting the bar from the edge of the box.

    The second half kicked off and it was yet another classic Spurs example of us switching off, losing the intensity in our game and allowing Leicester a free pass in front of goal. With just a minute on the clock Vardy scored with his 10th goal against Spurs. Moments later Porro hadn’t learnt his lesson and gifted Leicester a second goal with the sort of poor passing we have become accustomed to all too much under Ange. In a blink of an eye we find ourselves 2-1 down purely through our own stupidity. 

    Let’s face it, if a team is struggling, they want to come to Spurs, if a striker can’t buy a goal, they want to come to our stadium. We’ve seen it time and time again so it was no surprise to see Spurs crumble this way in the second half.

    The Spurs players looked shell shocked with a “here we go again” feeling echoing around the stadium. We are playing a side that has only scored 2 goals in their last 7 Premier matches and have lost all 7 of those matches. Here we are 2-1 down looking rather desperate now to salvage even a draw from this game.

    Ange made some changes and on comes Moore for Richi and Reguillon for Sarr, allowing Gray to move into midfield. Spurs push forward and chances are created, Porro hits the bar and then wastes a second opportunity when he selfishly goes for goal himself. 

    With the clock ticking it’s hard to see how this Spurs team can find their way back into this game and it looks to be another day Spurs regret not being more clinical with their earlier chances when the game could have been killed off. Have Spurs ever killed a game off? I’m not sure that’s even in Spurs vocabulary!

    With just 15 minutes remaining it’s all Tottenham but they cannot break down this Leicester defence showing a lack of quality in the final third. As the minutes painfully count down, Spurs efforts look only more desperate and the writing is on the wall. We are looking at a home defeat against a struggling relegation team whose manager looks more clueless than Ange, or perhaps not.

    Spurs continue to attack in all fairness and corner after corner the balls are swung in but without Richi on the pitch it’s hard to see where any header is going to come from at this point. Leicester are happy to do what Spurs should have done when taking the lead, they defend deep with numbers and it’s going to take something special to break them down now.

    4 minutes into injury time and Ange decides to bring on Lankshear. His actions seem as desperate and hopeless as the atmosphere within the stadium. Not for the first time this season Spurs have been their own worst enemy and have thrown away another lead that will only ask more questions of what the hell is going on at this club?

    Fair play to the loyal Spurs fans who keep turning up to support the team, week in week out. Going to home matches in that beautiful stadium must feel a bit like being told you are going to be picked up in a limo for your wedding only to discover Mr. Magoo is behind the wheel.

    1 win in 12 Premier games now, it is what it is as Ange would say.  What are you doing Levy? You are aware it’s January? Do something before it’s too late! We may be 90 minutes away from a cup final but we’re also just 8 points above the relegation spots.

    I’m sure if Ange was put in charge of a school team they could do very well, they might even win something in their second season, but this is the Premier league and he is completely out of his depth with his lack of tactical knowledge. Sooner or later Ange has to go and Mr Levy will have to concede he has made another almighty error of judgment in his managerial recruitment.

    It wasn’t that long ago Ange would complain our poor results were down to a lack of game time due to no European football. Now Ange tells us the poor results are down to the players being tired. Personally I have heard enough of the excuses.

    Sean from “Spurstalkshow” summed it up well this week when he said “I think there’s 3 teams in the league worse than us”.

    Well, one of those sides just beat us! That’s about all we can say on this current Spurs form.


  • Relegation Battle Confirmed

    Relegation Battle Confirmed

    Fixture…

    Sunday 19th January, 14.00

    Everton Vs Tottenham Hotspur

    Premier League

    Available On…

    UK TV – Sky Sports Main Event

    UK TV – Sky Sports Premier League

    Optus Sport

    SuperSport MaXimo 1

    More Info…

    connect@spursonline.net

    Result: 3-2 (Everton Win)

    D. Calvert-Lewin (13′)

    I. Ndiaye (30′)

    A. Gray (45’+7 og)

    D. Kulusevski (77′)

    Richarlison (90’+2)

    Match Report…

    I’m not saying Ange read my last blog but possibly for the first time this season Spurs utilised a back three with Ben Davies joining Gray and Dragusin. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut because it didn’t help a bit. Without a single holding midfielder on the pitch we were still wide open and so easy to break on the counter. Dragusin and Davies lack the pace required and the jury is still out on new goalkeeper Kinsky. I’m not sure if Kinsky is a good signing but I do find him entertaining and so I guess that fits the Ange way.

    It didn’t take long for a team sitting close to the bottom of the league who’s struggling to score goals, to find themselves 2 nil up against Spurs. At the other end of the pitch Son missed an absolute sitter and after only half an hour Spurs looked in real trouble. By half time we were 3 nil down and the writing was on the wall in more ways than one.

    With very few options on the bench optimism was low for any remarkable second half turnarounds. Youngsters including Lankshear and Moore were sitting patiently as was Richarlison, returning from another long term injury. It was Richy who got the nod and the back 3 was scrapped with Dragusin being replaced.

    Spurs started the second half brighter but with such open play, the risk of conceding more was probably greater than us ever getting on the scoresheet. After 70 minutes Sarr was sacrificed for young Mikey Moore and that was about all we could hope for by this point. Another training exercise for our young players to gain experience.

    However, on 76 minutes Tottenham were offered a slim lifeline when Kulusevski scored a wonderful little chip with the goalie off his line, but there were few celebrations from a much deflated Spurs side. A short corner and a beautiful ball in to the far post from young Moore in the 93rd minute allowed Richarlison to score on his return from injury and against his former club. With the scoreline now 3-2 there was a frantic last few moments around the Everton goal area but it was too little too late for Tottenham Hotspur.

    With so many injuries it can be understood why we are struggling but questions still need to be asked of Ange’s system and Levy’s lack of activity in a time of crisis. If you don’t have the players to make the system work you have to adapt, it’s as simple as that. If you don’t know how to adapt then go back to your school boy league, because this is the Premier league and quite frankly you’re not only embarrassing yourself, you’re making a mockery of this club, which takes some doing after the last 20 years under Levy’s Spurs.

    But what can we expect from a manager who refuses to change his high line defence when going down to only nine men against Chelsea, or from a chairman who refuses to buy a single player for more than 16 months.

    We are now more than half way through the January transfer window and all we have added is a goalkeeper. What is this club doing?  Get in Toney, get in Eze, get someone in who can make an instant impact. We have an abundance of players for the ‘future’ and we don’t need any more average players, we need a top class player who can come into this team and make an actual difference.

    With regards to the injuries It’s no coincidence most of our injuries are hamstring problems and I don’t accept it’s just bad luck. If players are constantly overstretching or over trying these sorts of injuries can occur. For me this suggests the players are just not relaxed in their play and this over trying results from acts of desperation. A poor run of results and this set of players are looking both physically and mentally drained. Ange cannot get these long term absentees back quick enough I’m sure.

    However I’m just not convinced that if we had a full squad available our performances would be any more consistent but we cannot ignore the fact that the injury crisis has gone from bad to worse and the results have followed suit.

    If you were in any doubt before the Everton game about the threat of relegation, take a look at the league table, we are now sitting 15th in the league. Just 19 wins from 49 Premier league games now for Ange. Time is running out.

  • London Derby Awaits

    London Derby Awaits

    Fixture…

    Wednesday 15th January, 20:00

    Arsenal Vs Tottenham Hotspur

    Premier League

    Available On…

    UK TV – TNT Sports 1

    More Info…

    connect@spursonline.net

    Result: 2-1 (Arsenal Win)

    Son Heung-Min (25′)

    D. Solanke (40′ og)

    L. Trossard (44′)

    Match Report…

    The less said about this result the better but seriously, what can we say. Losing to Arsenal 2-1 at the Emirates stadium is no shock and by the scoreline you might even say it was a close one. But unfortunately the reality is this scoreline flatters us to say the least. If I was to sum it up in one word, it would be ‘embarrassing’.

    Rio Ferdinand compared Spurs’ performance to an under-18 game and if you ask me, I think he was being generous there. It was an absolute shambles from start to finish. With the exceptions of Gray and Bergvall no Spurs player can really hold their head up and say they performed on this evening.  Gray is benefiting hugely from this run of games showing grit and composure whilst Bergvall tried to make things happen although nothing to get over excited about.

    With complete disorganisation throughout the team you have to question the teams tactics and of course the Ange ball which clearly lacks to such a level that even 5th tier Tamworth had him sussed! I know there will be some loyal fans out there keen to defend Ange once again and blame the result on injuries, fatigue, or the players themselves. But as far as I am concerned the players can only perform to their potential if they are set up correctly in the first place and that’s down to the coach.

    Starting the game in midfield was Bissouma, Sarr and Bergvall which raised questions immediately. Why was Maddison dropped to the bench again? Does he have an injury? Is he no longer able to compete in two matches in a week? It seemed crazy to drop him for such a big game if there is not an issue with his fitness and whilst Bergvall does not lack confidence, he does lack experience. With other key players already unavailable it makes only sense to have your experienced players like Mads starting such a big game. You would think?

    At half time he made two changes to that midfield, acknowledging it clearly wasn’t working. Sarr was absent for the entire half so it was no surprise to see him benched but it was a surprise to see Bissouma taken off too. With Maddison and Johnson being the replacements it meant Ange had decided to play the entire second half without a single holding midfielder on the pitch.

    Correct me if I am wrong but I don’t know a single football formation that doesn’t require some sort of defensive midfielder, at least one to stop the midfield from being overrun. Well I didn’t at least before Ange ball came along. Now I am all for attacking football and we all wish we could play like the classic ‘Brazil’ teams of old but our players simply are not good enough for this way of football.

    The second half kicked off and immediately you knew it was going to be wide open. Sure it offered some end to end football but Arsenal never really looked in trouble and I am sure they are asking themselves how they failed to add to the scoreline, with 48 touches inside the Spurs box. Had it not been for some frantic defending I am sure we were looking at a real hammering.

    I was full of praise for new goalie Kinsky after the first couple of matches but his Premier League debut was one to forget. Kinsky should have done better with the second goal and he seems to have quickly embraced the Kamikaze way of football at Spurs with some crazy ball skills of his own.

    In defence Dragusin continues to unimpress, clearly out of his depth with the pace of the Premier League leaving 18 year old Gray to hold the fort once again. Our so-called inverted full backs were ineffective and even after the substitutions the midfield was in scatters, making it far too easy for Arsenal to run riot. Up front we had a struggling Son who got caught on the ball far too many times and Solanke failed to make any impact against the likes of ‘man of the match’ Gabriel. Kulu, like a lot of the players, was probably guilty of over trying and making mistakes with poor passes and over dribbling. The only positive from the game was the return of Richiarlison who at least offers us another option upfront if he can stay fit for more than one game.

    I don’t like to criticise players for lack of effort as I believe for the most part they are doing their best in what are very difficult conditions. You can see as the games progress the players are looking more desperate to make something happen but they are clearly lacking in confidence and you are wondering how many of them are now questioning Ange ball.

    For me the blame has to lie with the coaches who prepare these players. After another dismal performance Anges job is hanging in the balance more than ever and it is no longer an if, but just a when. The only thing that’s stopping the inevitable is that second leg in the semi final. Will Levy set a new record and sack a second coach before a cup final ? We may soon find out.