A weekend of sporting disaster...

As sporting weekends go, it doesnt get much worse than the one just passed...

I'll start with Spurs.  A 6-0 (yes, SIX - NIL) defeat to Champions-elect Manchester City.  I know we've been struggling recently but I never in a million years saw a hammering coming.  If anyone had seen our last PL game against Newcastle, where we had 31 attempts at goal and the Bar Codes Goalkeeper Tim Krul has single-handedly kept them in the game, most of us Spurs fans were left thinking it was only a matter of time before Spurs finally clicked in front of goal and handed out a good old-fashioned seeing to.

AVB looking just a little shell-shocked in his post-match interview...

Spurs started brightly.  95% possession for around 14 seconds then it all went drastically wrong.  I could write an essay in response to the defeat but I just want to touch on 4 specific points which AVB needs to sort out sooner rather than later...

1. Assou-Ekotto MUST be called back from his loan spell at QPR.  Why is the best left-back on the club's books on-loan?  You may not like him AVB but the sooner you get over your stubborn streak, he needs to be back in the team pronto, so that our first choice centre-back Vertonghen, can marshall the defence.  A centre-back pairing of Dawson & Kaboul just doesnt work.  The last time they played together...Spurs lost 1-5 to Man City at home.  It doesnt take a genius to work that out, surely?
2. Again, put your stubborness to one side and pick Adebayor.  Ok, he's had his issues but he's the only forward at Spurs capable of holding the ball up and bringing others into play.
3. Soldado is struggling purely down to lack of service.  The inverted winger system needs to be trashed immediately.
4. Paulinho needs to be dropped.  Spurs played well last season when Dembele and Sandro were starting games together in the middle.  Paulinho seems to be starting every PL game ahead of Dembele and I'm afraid his performances just dont warrant being picked.  Dembele is excellent at setting the tempo, something Spurs havent played with all season.

Next up in the PL, Spurs play Man United at home on Sunday.  Another mauling at home may see Levy's patience finally run out.

Worringly, Spurs have got problems on a par with the England cricket team.

The notoriously slow tour starters were smashed by the small matter of 381 runs.  It was an absolute mauling.  Restricting the Aussies to 295 in the first innings seemed like an excellent effort from the England bowlers on what looked very much like a pitch where 400 runs plus would have been about par.  England capitulated to 136 all out in the final session of day 2 and by the end of stumps at day 3, the Aussie's had piled on another 401 runs before they declared and took the early scalps of Carberry and Trott, leaving England a hopeless task of trying to bat out 6 sessions.

The Aussie's were able to call on the explosive bowling of the rejuvenated Johnson and he rightly took away the man of the match award for taking 9 wickets and scoring 103 runs.  It was a remarkable turnaround for the bowler who was made the scapegoat of the last Ashes series in Australia.

This morning, England were rocked by the announcement that Jonathan Trott, England's number three batsman, was returning home because of a stress-related illness, invoking memories of Marcus Trescothick on an earlier Ashes tour.

 

Jonathan Trott is heading home from the Ashes tour...

David Warner described Trott as "poor and weak" following the first test in Brisbane, where Trott managed a paltry 19 runs in the two innings.  Warner has since released a statement to say his comments went too far.  As did Michael Clarke's sledging in my opinion, where he told Jimmy Anderson to prepare for his arm to be broken by Mitchell Johnson's bowling.  There's no disguising the Aussies are up for this Ashes series like no other before but they've crossed the line.  I hope and pray that that the England boys respond like they should and really comes at the Aussie's all guns blazing now.

There will be some serious needle in the second test.  With Trott heading home, surely England must now consider fighting fire with fire and bring in Finn or Rankin, who are both capable of bowling in excess of 90mph.

Most importantly, I'm sure every cricket fan will wish Trotty all the best and wish him a very speedy recovery.  Whether he is able to continue at the very top echelons of test cricket again is another matter but whether he does or doesnt, it hardly matters when his long term health is at stake.  He can be very proud of what he has achieved for England.

Sandwiched in between the Ashes and the Tottenham debacle was an absolutely cracking World Championship fight between WBA and IBF title holder Carl Froch and Londoner George Groves.

The build up had been hyped.  Froch had been accusing Groves of a lack of disrespect and Groves was saying all the right things.  It appeared that Groves had got inside Froch's head and the result was going to be a real grudge match.  The pre-fight comparisons to Eubank v Benn were laughable but you could see Eddie Hearn and Matchroom desperately trying t sell the fight to the public and they certainly caught the public's imagination.  The experts couldnt decide what way the fight would go, most agreeing that Groves was more than capable of causing Froch problems with his speed and work rate but Froch's pure strength would show through in the later rounds...

Froch v Groves: A stunning fight but marred by controversy

Groves was booed into the ring.  A few minutes later, Groves had dumped Froch on the canvas in the first.  It was a stunning start to the fight.  Froch somehow survived to the end of the first and so it appeared on a number of unofficial scorecards, Groves won the first round 10-8 and the next 5 10-9, so he was well clear.  Rounds 7 & 8 went to Froch, so  there was at least 4-5 rounds between them.

Froch was getting stronger and one punch caught Groves.  He looked in trouble, there's no denying that but the referee jumped in so quickly to stop the fight, it made a mockery of the contest.  As is turns out, two of the so-called judges had scored the fight 75-76 in favour of Groves so you have to wonder what fight they were watching.

I've watched the fight again since Saturday night and I'm still convinced that Groves would have recovered but Froch was getting stronger and I dont doubt that Froch would have gone on to win the fight at it neared its end.  Groves' lack of experience saw him work so hard in the earlier rounds, it appeared he'd hit the wall by midway through the 8th.

Didnt get the result I particularly wanted but at least I got my prediction right...

Prediction = spot on - Round 9.

The post-fight analysis by McCrory, Khan and Haye in the studio was spot on.  All three were appalled that the contest was ended like it was.  However, you can sort of accept why the referee did jump in when he did.  Its the culture nowadays.  No referee wants to have a Eubank v Watson or Benn v McClellan fight on their hands.  Although the refereeing could almost be excused, there can be no excuses for judges who seem to be more bent than a FIFA voting process.

Post-fight, I dont think I can ever say I've seen a boxer who was booed into an arena be cheered out of it at the end, like Groves was on Saturday night.  That was remarkable.  Froch was his usual arrogant self and done himself no favours whatsoever with his post-fight interview.  I hope that Eddie Hearn can somehow make a rematch but I dont see it can be of any interest to Froch now.  Froch will be running scared.  He knows, like the rest of us that the best boxer on the night lost.  Groves will have learnt a great deal from that fight and I have no doubts that he will go on to be a World Champion in the next few years.  Froch may now be thinking about retirement.  He's had some real big fights in the last couple of years and his age and speed is beginning to hinder him.

Groves: the boos turned to cheers...

Here's hoping next weekend brings some better luck...

My sporting highlight of the weekend is reserved for the awesome guys and girls of Plumstead Runners who put on one hell of a special KFL cross country race at Oxleas Woods yesterday and a huge well done to the Plums that completed the course because it looked truly horrific.  The course is hard enough during the summer months, let alone when there's mud everywhere.  Am really sorry I couldnt run yesterday and I could only make a flying visit...but I did manage to get some video footage...

Spurs 1-0 Swansea, Ars*nal 1-0 Spurs and transfer window round up

Blimey.

Where on earth do I start?  The last couple of weeks have been manic for Tottenham and it has been hard to keep track of it all.  I made comment about Bale leaving last week.  I wish him all the best but I'll break everything else down below...

The Transfer Window

I think that was the transfer windows to end all transfer windows as far as Spurs fans are concerned.  Levy and Baldini worked their genius to get some real quality into the club and got rid of a lot of the deadwood.

Here's a quick run down of the deals...

Ins:
Paulinho (£17m, Corinthians)
Nacer Chadli (£7m, FC Twente)
Roberto Soldado (£26m, Valencia)
Etienne Capoue (£9.4m, Toulouse)
Vlad Chiriches (£8m, Steaua Bucharest)
Erik Lamela (£30m, Roma)
Christian Eriksen (£11.5m, Ajax)
Total £108.9m

Outs:
Jack Barthram, David Bentley, William Gallas, Jack Munns, Jake Nicholson (released) Massimo Luongo, Grant Hall, Ryan Mason (loan, Swindon)
John Bostock (free, Royal Antwerp)
Tomislav Gomelt (loan, Royal Antwerp)
Adam Smith (loan, Derby)
Bongani Khumalo (loan, Doncaster)
Steven Caulker (£8m, Cardiff City)
Clint Dempsey (£6m, Seattle Sounders)
Tom Huddlestone (£5m, Hull City)
Jake Livermore (loan, Hull City)
Scott Parker (£4m, Fulham)
Gareth Bale (£85.3m, Real Madrid)
Massimo Luongo (£400,000, Swindon)
Tom Carroll and Benoit Assou-Ekotto (loan, QPR).
Total £108.7m

Net spend £0.2m

Of course, its a massive blow to lose Gareth Bale to Real Madrid for a world record £85.3m but it really has allowed Baldini free reign to recruit some of Europe's best young talent and again we're operating within budget.

With Bale going, our net spend equates to £200k.  It doesnt get better than that, does it?  We've brought in the exciting winger/inside forward Erik Lamela from Roma for £30m and we've brought in Ajax playmaker, Eriksen for £11.5m.  Presumably both will play behind Soldado with either Lennon, Chadli or Townsend with two holding midfielders behind.

This brings me to the two games Spurs have played since I last updated on Spurs... 

Spurs 1-0 Swansea 

Izzy's first ever Premier League game in the Park Lane end and she loved it.  Soldado's penalty being the difference between the two sides.  Spurs dominated for long periods but struggled for a cutting edge.

Spurs 3-0 Dynamo Tblisi

A Defoe brace and a barnstormer from Holtby from outside the box saw Spurs comfortable winners, through 8-0 on aggregate and into the group stage of the Europa League.  Holtby was my MOTM, run the game like a dream just behind Defoe.  Good to see the lad back after injury and hopefully he'll motor on this season now and will provide good competition for Eriksen.  Sandro was magnificent on his first full competitive ninety minutes since returning from injury.

Ars*nal 1-0 Spurs 

First defeat of the season inflicted by a first half-winner from Olivier Giroud.  Again, Spurs had long periods of possession but were left to rue no cutting edge in the side, highlighted by AVBs selection of three holding midfield players in Dembele, Paulinho and Capoue, instead of playing a recognised attacking midfielder of the likes of Sigurdsson or Holtby.  Dembele is not the answer to play in an attacking role.  At this stage of the season, it is not a disasterous defeat.  It will take the guys time to gel but we have got time to recover.  We're still ahead of where we were at this stage last season.  Absolutely no question we got we deserved from the game though.  Nothing...

...the lack of cutting edge in both games was clear for all to see.  Its a huge worry even at this early stage of the season.  Hopefully Lamela and Eriksen will make the difference.

A few observations to make from the three PL games this season...

• Capoue (pronounced Ka-poo!) is an absolute beast in the middle.  Was excellent against Palace when he came on as a late substitute and fully warranted his start against Swansea and he was magnificent.
• Chadli looks tidy.  Will need time to settle.
• Paulinho looks good as you would expect him too.
• Great to see Sandro back.
• If Soldado is going to profit, he needs service.  He just hasnt got that in the first three PL games this season (am excluding the inferior opposition of Dynamo Tblisi in the Europa League).  Playing three defensive midfielders is not going to help.  Why on earth did AVB go with Dembele instead of Holtby or Sigudsson?  No idea.  Ok, Holtby played 70 mins on Thursday night but surely he was worth a go with 20 minutes to go and we were chasing the game.
• Lloris is by far the best goalkeeper we've had at Spurs since Ray Clemmence and Big Pat Jennings.
• Dawson, for all his heart, shouldnt be first choice at the back.  If Kaboul is fit, he needs to be first name on the team sheet alongside Vertonghen.
• I've got major question marks against both full backs, Rose and Walker.  I think both are fortunate that they are blessed with electric pace which will help them out of difficulties time and time again.

All in all, apart from the actual result against Ars*nal, it has been one hell of a couple of weeks to be a Tottenham supporter.  

Palace 0 - 1 Spurs

1/1 for Roberto Soldado

A potential banana-skin of a game against Ian Holloway's newly-promoted Crystal Palace was dealt with in efficient fashion by Spurs.  With Spurs lining up 4-5-1, with fit-again Vertonghen returning alongside skipper Dawson, debutant Paulinho anchoring a 5 man midfield with Dembele, the attacking trio made up of new boy Chadli alongside Lennon and Sigurdsson with £26m Roberto Soldado up front on his own.

A game of few chances but Spurs bossed the possession.  Dembele and Paulinho set the tempo excellently, the midfield attacking trio linked up well with Soldado and it was good to see the full-backs Walker and Rose over-lapping and getting beyond the midfielders.

Chadli missed a far post header in 1st half injury time, Sigurdsson's stinging drive brought a save out of Palace's keeper Spironi and Dembele shaved the cross-bar from distance but Spurs were by far the busier team.

Spurs started the second half brightly.  One penalty appeal turned down but then the Palace left-back handled Lennon's cross and referee Clattenburg righty pointed to the spot and Soldado put the penalty away with aplomb and wheeled away in delight towards the Spurs fans in the Arthur Wake stand.  Selhurst Park is a sh*t hole and always will be.

With 20 mins to go, Holloway prompted Palace into action with a triple change, bringing on veteran Kevin Phillips and new signed Chamakh (aka Ars*nal failure) and resorted to the long ball game but Dawson, Vertonghen and the returning beast of Kaboul, on for Danny Rose with 10 mins to go, held firm.  There was one last chance for Palace but it was hit straight at Lloris who in fairness had little to do throughout.

A great, workman-like win for Spurs.  The new boys Soldado, Paulinho, Chadli and Capoue [who came on for Dembele in the second half] looked at home and are now fully aware of the kind of thing that will be thrown at them on a cold Tuesday night in November or February up at somewhere like Hull or Stoke.

MOTM by a mile was Paulinho for me.  Hard to remember an occasion where he misplaced a pass.  I'm pretty sure he didnt all game.  Put himself about, made a couple of breaks forward.  Very promising indeed.  Strength in depth in that position is now excellent.  Dembele, Paulinho, Sandro and the impressive Capoue along with the likes of Holtby when he is fit, Spurs are clearly moving from strength to strength.

As for Palace, they worked hard but showed very little quality.  If throwing the kitchen sink for them means lumping the ball long to the likes of Chamakh and Phillips, they're going to have a very long season indeed.  My prediction is that they'll be relegated by Easter.

Next game up for Spurs, a little trip to Georgia, where we take on Dynamo Tblisi in the Europa Cup qualifying round on Thursday evening.

BBC Match report here

EDIT:  Check out the stat on the picture below...seems I didnt give Capoue as much credit as he deserved...

Capoue...The Beast Mk 2?

Spurs v Espanyol friendly at WHL...impressions and thoughts

Roberto Soldado scored his first Spurs goal at WHL from the spot...

Spurs finished their pre-season programme with a sell out at WHL against Espanyol.

The game finished 1-1.  Roberto Soldado opened his account for Spurs from the spot midway through the first half after Danny Rose was brought down in the box, although the replays showed it was a tad harsh on the Espanyol defender.

In typical Spurs fashion, Spurs failed to defend a near-post set piece, conceding just before half-time.  The second half turned into a feisty, scrappy affair but a draw was a fair result.

The biggest cheer of the day was on the 60 minute mark when Sandro "The Beast" Raniere made his first appearance this rupturing his knee ligaments in the QPR game back in January.  Kaboul played the full second half too and it was absolutely brilliant to see the two power-houses back in the side.  I certainly feel full of optimism with both of them back.

Without wanting to go into a full review of the game, I wanted to pick up on a few observations:

• Danny Rose - may have won the penalty and looked ok going forward but he is not a left-back.  Still far too much to learn.  I dont know what Disco Benny has done to upset AVB but surely BAE is the better option at left-back?  (As Chandra rightly pointed out in the Gym, both Vertonghen and Fryers can play the position so we do have cover there even without BAE anywhere near the starting XI.)  Talking BAE, comments he made on Twitter over the weekend seem to suggest he will be leaving sooner rather than later.  If this happens, I'll pay my personal tribute to him later.
• Soldado - only played 60 mins but if he works as hard as he did in very game for Spurs like he did in that 60 mins, we've got one hell of a centre-forward on our hands.  Looked sharp throughout, always looking to come off the shoulder of the last man, looked comfortable dropping deep to receive and lay off, looked good in the channels.  Impressed.
• Chadli - saw a bit of him last weekend against Monaco and he looked as though he was a little nervous and took a few touches too many at times but he looked much more composed.   Linked up well with Soldado, Dembele and Rose down the left, especially an excellent little flick around the corner for Rose.  Good work rate.  Impressed.
• Paulinho - looked very good.  Good use of the ball, good work rate, good link up with Dembele.  Scored with a header early in the first half but was incorrectly ruled out for off side.  Excellent 60 mins.
• Kaboul and Sandro - great to have them back in the side.  Fabulous.  Read AVBs thoughts on the returning pair here

Sandro...aka The Beast back in the side

Of course, the main TV footage by ITV concentrated on the one issue that we're all sick of right now.  Gareth Bale.  In the quick pre-match interview, AVB said Bale is still suffering from a sore foot.  You could tell he didnt mean it.  I'm assuming he's off.  To be quite honest, for anything in the region of £85m+ he can go with my blessing.

Spurs are looking good right now with or without him.

 

Paulinho = Done

Welcome to WHL Paulinho.

As per the Spurs website...

"We are delighted to announce that we have reached agreement for the transfer of Paulinho from Corinthians after the Brazil international successfully completed his medical.

The box-to-box midfielder has enjoyed great success since joining Corinthians from Brazilian Serie B side Clube Atlético Bragantino in 2010. He has made a total of 86 league appearances, scoring 20 goals while helping the Sao Paulo-based club to the Brazilian Serie A league championship in 2011 as well as the Copa Libertadores and FIFA Club World Cup a year later.

His fine performances at club level have also seen him twice named in the Serie A Team of the Year in 2011 and 2012.

The 24-year-old, capped by Brazil 17 times, helped his country to FIFA Confederations Cup success last Sunday with victory against world champions Spain and also scored the equaliser against England in the 2-2 draw at the Maracana last month."

If your name doesnt end in "inho"...you're not coming in...

Paulinho: Hands up if you hate Ars*nal...

After weeks of rumours of will he or wont he, SSN sources report that Brazillian midfielder Paulinho is having a medical in London ahead of his proposed £17m transfer to Spurs from Corinthians.

The transfer will be the first under the reinstated Sporting Director structure since Franco Baldini's appointment last month.  We are led to believe that although Daniel Levy still has his hands controlling the purse strings, his day-to-day role of runninng of the football-side of the club will now be handed to Baldini, allowing him to attend to more personal matters on the other side of the Atlantic, notably his wife's current ill health.

Anyhow, getting business done early in pre-season is a real statement of intent by Levy.  No doubt bitterly disappointed at not achieving the ultimate fouth place in the Premier League and Champions League qualification, the snippets coming out of WHL during the close season indicates Levy wants Spurs to hit the ground running this season, especially with the visit to deadly rivals Ars*nal coming so soon at the end of August.

The imminent arrival of Paulinho suggests that AVB will be looking to play a more fluid 4-3-3 system, as opposed to the 4-5-1 which was enforced by the most part last season on key injuries.

A midfield trio of Paulinho alongside the technically gifted Belgian Dembele and the Brazillian workhorse Sandro is a mouth-watering prospect.  Until Christmas and the New Year, Spurs were flying last season.  The key turning point was the serious knee ligament injury suffered by Sandro against QPR which ruled him out for the rest of the season.

Parker replaced Sandro but didnt have the same telepathic understanding with Dembele and sadly lacked the class of the young Brazillian.  Dembele lost his freedom to play further up the pitch and his role in the side became a deeper, withdrawn one, although the tactical move did free up space for Bale centrally.  One only has to think back to the opening 20 minutes of Tottenham's last trip to Old Trafford when Sandro and Dembele orchestrated a first away win at OT for the first time in decades.

I think everyone would admit that midfield really wasnt the priority this pre-season.  The forward positions are.  I still believe, like many others, that Levy's faliure in January 2013 to bring in a forward was a key reason why we failed to achieve the coveted Champions League qualification.  Fingers could be pointed at the mundane performances of Adebayor, the unfortunate injuries to Defoe and Bale at key times but the front positions are definitely what Levy and Baldini should be focusing on.

Rumours persist that Barcelona's David Villa is available and talks have taken place between Levy and the Nou Camp hierarchy.  If the ITK is to be believed, a deal is done and will be announced shortly.  I'll believe it when I see it.  Although he is a quality player, although now the wrong side of 30, is he the right man to lead the line?  I'm not sure he is.  He's a goal scorer but he doesnt lead the line.  When you think of the way Barcelona play, Villa always drifted left or right, creating the space in the middle for Messi.  Can Spurs utilize Bale in the same way?  Would 4-3-3 work in the Premier League?

Can I suggest an alternative?  Its difficult.  As much as I want Spurs to progress, I also dont want to see Spurs break the bank and risk the club's long-term future.  The press has suggested the likes of Aston Villa's Benteke.  He's had one season in the Premier League and a transfer fee of £20m in being talked of.  He could be a one-season wonder but then thats the risk you take as a football club.  I really wouldnt like to be in Levy's or Baldini's shoes.