Believe it or not I associate with the occasional Spurs fan. Here’s John Thompson’s take on this weekend’s match:
With the month of November lurking around the corner, its hard to fathom that Spurs are residing in 2nd place. The derby match up on Saturday at home against the Gunners takes on even more importance as Tottenham fans are starting to believe that a spot in the Champions League can be had come next May.
Like any strong baseball team which has a solid spine consisting of a catcher, shortstop and center fielder, Spurs can claim the same with England #1 Paul Robinson between the sticks, Michael Carrick orchestrating the midfield and Jermaine Defoe up front. All 3 have a great shot to be on Team England?s plane ride to Germany next June with Defoe and Robinson near certainties. With the exception of last week?s howler against Man Utd, Robinson has been as solid as any keeper in Europe with perhaps only Peter Cech performing better.
Carrick has been a work in progress since his move from West Ham 15 months ago but his passing from the holding midfield slot has been solid and his free kick prowess should not be underestimated. Defoe, while not tearing up the scoresheets, has been consistent and seems to have found a perfect striking partner in Mido. The Egyptian has been one of the most pleasant surprises this season with his strong aerial ability and relentless running. Is this the same Mido who has been run out of Roma, Marseille, the Egyptian National Team, and Ajax? Yes, he is prone to the injury bug but right now he and Defoe seem to be jelling quite nicely. Robbie Keane has had a rough start to the season which was not aided by Ireland choking in the World Cup qualifiers and finds himself as Martin Jol?s super sub. He has scored key goals off the bench against Villa and Charlton but there is no doubt that Keano is not happy about his situation.
Running shotgun for Carrick on Saturday should be Jermaine Jenas, Pedro Mendes and Aaron Lennon. The pitbull, Edgar Davids, unfortunately picked up a late yellow card against Man Utd on Saturday which rules him out and which will probably give Mendes the start. Jenas started slow upon his transfer from the Magpies but has been strong the last 2 games and his free kick vs Ferguson?s men last week was top shelf. Lennon has been one of the finds of the year with his pace on the wings causing problems. Though still in his teens, Lennon has kept a cool head and could give Lauren/Clichey an interesting tussle on Saturday.
On the backline, it all starts with Sven?s favorite holding midfielder Ledley King who has performed admirably all year and is a definite passenger to Germany next summer. His partner in central defense is another bright hope for both club and country, Michael Dawson. The former Nottingham player was thought of initially as the lesser of the double swoop with Forest with Andy Reid getting more hype but Dawson?s pace, smarts and aerial skills remind one of John Terry of about 3-4 years ago.
In some minds, the full-backs might be looked as a weakness for Spurs. For some unknown reason, Eric Edman was sold and replaced by Korean international Young-pyo Lee. Lee has great speed but is a right footer playing on the left and makes Roberto Carlos look like an all world defender. At the right fullback slot, Totts made a wise move in selling malcontent Stephen Carr but Canadian international Paul Stalteri has looked unsteady of late and there are calls for young Irish fullback Stephen Kelly to get the nod this weekend.
Granted Spurs lost to Grimsby in the Carling Cup so not all is rosy at the Lane but a top 4 place is there for the taking in the Prem and a solid performance against Arsenal could be a huge springboard for Jol?s men.
27 Responses to “Tottenham-Arsenal Preview: A Spurs Fan’s Perspective”
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October 27th, 2005 at 11:37 am
Thanks to John for a very well constructed article. Nothing like a “fans” perspective, even if it is from the axis of evil.
October 27th, 2005 at 11:51 am
Damn you have balls to come here with your own perspectives on come things are going with the lilly trash - Welcome. I heard they are now known as the English team of the future.
John Thompson good luck when you are in the Coca Cola league by the year 2007 when you playing the likes of Chelsea and Millwall. Dreams are all good and great but this dream will be cut short by 3pm on Saturday by the almighty Gunners. We will take you lot back to the cleaners.
3 nil to the Gunners
October 27th, 2005 at 12:00 pm
Outlander!
October 27th, 2005 at 1:55 pm
This is a good post but has anyone noticed how the sc*m have been crawling out of the woodwork and taking over all of the Arsenal blogs? They really know how to wind me up!! I’ve been seriously stressing out at some of them!
Nothing for 6 or so years and now that they think they have a chance they wont shut up! From the point of the Arsenal fan, this really is the first derby that has any meaning for a long time! Lets hope they all disperse after the weekends win!!
October 27th, 2005 at 3:47 pm
Tottenham weakness - Staltieri at right back
Arsenal strength - attacking the left wing
Here’s hoping Lauren stays on and we avoid the usual draw.
October 27th, 2005 at 5:29 pm
BAD NEWS on the injury front:
OUR TEAM… er I mean Thierry Henry has suffered a setback, and is only 30% to play, and 70% NOT… per Arsene Wenger.
I feel we’d have little chance of winning this one without Henry on the pitch… I’d be HOPING for a draw…
praying he heals up … we’ve shown NOTHING, especially on the road, without TH14… and we’ve been alot better WITH HIM.
October 27th, 2005 at 5:53 pm
Now you can see why I was so against his comeback against Sparta Prague. The whole thing smacked of desperation in a relatively unimportant game. All just to lift morale in a competition with no correlation at all with the league. What was the point in rushing him back for that game?
Sheer stupidity.
October 27th, 2005 at 6:22 pm
To add to all this, evidently there will be no money to sign anyone in January either, at least if the article on Soccernet is to be believed. Yeah, he’s really going to want to stay now.
October 27th, 2005 at 8:11 pm
Who is to say he didn’t re-aggrivate the injury in training.
I didn’t see anything that said he did this v. Sparta.
He looked fantastic all game, and the reports afterward said he came thru fine.
This had zero to do with the Sparta match.
October 27th, 2005 at 8:15 pm
I believe the article states that Wenger won’t be getting any cash from the sale of the 711 apartment units at Highbury.
From whats been said, he already has 63Million GBP sitting in the bank for his disposal.
If he chooses not to spend any of that in January, Thierry will be playing his football in Spain next season… you can BET on THAT.
October 27th, 2005 at 9:26 pm
Win this saturday, Arsenal must! The forces of evil are getting stronger. The dark side must be stopped.
Moreover, Spurs are in the way of us getting to the top. So we have to stomp them before progressing up the table. Sat is a perfect chance.
October 28th, 2005 at 1:29 am
Love you love_gunners. You made my day with your comments. And know what, when I read your scoreline prediction, I felt like something churning deep inside me and I only have this feeling when I successfully foresee the future. That scoreline will come true! And that would be the turning point of our season.
Henry has only a 30% chance of playing in this game as per Arsenal.com. Makes you wonder what the heck is going on. Anyway, I am sure Freddy, Jose Reyes and Campbell will be on the scoreline and our defence will be rock-steady.
Roll on Saturday…..
October 28th, 2005 at 3:11 am
preview & perspective = john you need glasses
arsenal 49 - 0 Tottenham
:)~ );
it’s gonna hurt
October 28th, 2005 at 3:14 am
http://www.gerardpas.com/blog/henry_wall.jpg
October 28th, 2005 at 2:37 pm
Henry is OUT for tomorrow’s showdown at Spurtz.
Not exactly getting the positve warm fuzzies about this match up… me thinks we are in trouble.
Our shoulders slump when TH14 is not in the line-up… we lack the flair & confidence he exudes… we don’t finish without him on the pitch.
That spells big trouble… teams smell BLOOD when Henry is watching on the sidelines.
Having said all that…
2-1 Arsenal! PIRES BABY!
October 28th, 2005 at 6:06 pm
Worried too…It doesn’t help that half my office is kitted out in Spurs yellow (known as their rally shirts but how does that make sense?)…Without thierry we are a different side (see best player in europe) especially on our travels this year…i would take a plum draw right now if asked and then we stuff them in the return leg later this season…
October 28th, 2005 at 6:55 pm
No doubt, this is going to be a tough one. Spurs have a decent young squad that is playing with a lot of confidence at the moment. Furthermore, unlike our young players, their young players are not burdened by the great weight of undue expectation. I?m sure they will feel like they can take the game to us.
Having said all that, I still have a lot of genuine faith in our team. It would be nice to have Henry in the lineup, however, even without him we have Sol, Freddie and JAR back. I believe that Reyes is due to breakout on the scoresheet soon. He already makes defenses uncomfortable, but once he puts it all together this guy is going to terrorize teams. Hopefully, that will be sooner rather than later. RvP looked dangerous on Tuesday. Hopefully, he got the sniff of blood that will spur (pun intended) his hunger for more. We could use a big-time goal from him. Defensively, Sol should be up for the game against his former team.
Arsenal 1-0 Spurs
October 28th, 2005 at 6:57 pm
I kept hoping that Henry being out was just crap. Like you said, Teams sense blood when Henry is not around. So Spurs would have been relieved knowing Henry won’t be around but come game day, if he starts, well, might have screwed them up.
But the news is true. Moreover, Wenger and Arsenal don’t give out incorrect pre-game info like Ferguson used to….
DannyT had said a few weeks ago that people would really talk of crisis if we got a negative result tomorrow. I just hope we don’t have to deal with that scenario.
On the flip side, a win no matter how we get it (even if its by a ‘hockey’ score) would do wonders for the team. And a convincing win would be sweeter but right now.
Atleast they don’t have Davids playing. I can’t imagine how many crunching tackles he might have inflicted on few of our younger players.
October 28th, 2005 at 7:06 pm
We’ve got Sol, Freddie, and Jose coming back. If our midfield doesn’t get kicked around like they did against Boro and Clichy pulls his head out of his ass, we’ll do fine. Just having Sol back is going to make us so much stronger.
By the way, did anyone notice we got two clean sheets in a row with Cygan in the starting lineup? (3 clean sheets if you count the midweek Sunderland game.) I didn’t see any of those games but I’m trying to quantify what value this guy’s brings to the team, if any. Who can complain?
October 28th, 2005 at 7:27 pm
I’m not sure HOW we are going to do it…
I think right now, they are a BETTER team than we are, WITHOUT HENRY. With him, I think he tips the scales in our favor, and we would win.
Tomorrow is scary. We need the win badly… and the 3 points… we just can’t afford any more defeats. I think Spurtz BELIEVE they can and will beat us… that is not a good thing.
Us scoring the first goal, especially early, could really be important…
If they score first… they might take us apart.
I am sure WHL will be rocking tomorrow.
I wish the lads all the luck… we need a good bounce or two… and we need some belief in ourselves.
We could REALLY use a PV4 to come in with a nice HARD TACKLE to set the tone. Not sure we have anyone that is capable of doing that in the squad… maybe SOL… someone will have to step up if we are to win.
October 28th, 2005 at 8:03 pm
Funny thing is, when Cygan is on his game he can look a fantastic defender as he makes everything look so easy. He’s done okay in the last few games but he always does play well until he makes an almighty **AYE CARUMBA**(censored)-up in the fourth or fifth game in his little spells in the team. At least he wont have the chance to undo his good work tomorrow. Campbell and Toure it is.
October 28th, 2005 at 8:17 pm
Mazza, I believe you are spot on with Cygan.
He looks the business at times… worthy of French Footballer of the year?? not sure…
but sometimes he looks very smooth and assured, and he does distribute the ball well…
but it seems he ALWAYS has the big f-up… that costs us the goal… and then its back to nail-biting time whenever he is on the pitch.
October 28th, 2005 at 9:40 pm
It should be a no brainer how the team will look like against Spuds:
Lehmann
Lauren Toure Campbell Clichy
Ljungberg Fabregas Gilberto Pires
Bergkamp Reyes
1-1 for me.
October 28th, 2005 at 9:44 pm
With his lack of pace, Cygan is suspect against fast strikers. He did not exactly faced tough opposition in the last 3 games. Having said that, I think he is best used as a last resort. The future is Toure and Sendoros and they must be given all the opportunity and time to gell.
October 28th, 2005 at 11:32 pm
Interesting, that is a full strength squad minus Henry. The performance will be more interesting than the result. If that lot play like sh*t then we reallly will finish outside the top 4.
October 28th, 2005 at 11:50 pm
Surely the most stupid story ever!!
Gunners in ?16.5million striker link XML / RSS
Arsenal are willing to pay ?16.5million for Villarreal striker Diego Forlan according to the Uruguayan media.
The top scorer of last season’s Spanish league still has a contract with the Spanish club for another four years, but it is likely that he will move to a bigger club at the end of the season.
Arsenal striker Thierry Henry has suggested leaving the London based club unless he links up with another world class striker, and Forlan is a player that he has recommended to Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger.
… as if Wenger buys players on other players recommendations. As if any manager does?
October 29th, 2005 at 10:45 am
Still missing Aleksandr Hleb.