The Daily Dose is our unique daily round-up of all things Spurs. Catch the e-Spurs Daily Dose each night exclusively here!Tonight's Dose by Matt Tumminia was Written Before Thursdays Game.
Europa League Continues, JD Almost Top European Scorer, Siggy’s On Fire and Injury Updates
As I sit here and write up this little summary of Tottenham-based news, I have to feel for the Spurs fans who have managed to brave the cold to make the trip to Russia and will be there to back the lads as we look to take three more points and stay top in our group. I have heard nothing but bad things when it comes to travelling into Russia whether it is due to the cold or the frequent acts of racism that any non-Russian fan must be subjected to during the match. It’s such a shame that one of the richest and more powerful countries in the world is still lagging behind many others when it comes to simple things such as equality and freedom of choice, yet they want to be accepted as a warm and hospitable place where people are free. Anyway, we have a match in Moscow against Anzhi Makhachkala and it is played in Moscow, not Anzhi’s home stadium as the Dagestan region of southern Russia is very unstable and a hotbed for terrorist activities, with the winner of this match in a good position to qualify from the Europa League group stage.
Russian Roulette
Only a year back, Anzhi was seen as an up and coming football power thanks to the major investment by their owner, Suleyman Kerimov, and at one point boasted such names as Samuel Eto’o, Lassana Diarra, Yuri Zhirkov, Willian and Christopher Samba. Now, the squad has been completely changed and all the high earners have been dumped as the owner has lost patience without the qualification of Champions league football or any silverware to show for his major investment. This heavy investment and subsequent fire sale should act as an example of what can happen when a small club is purchased by a “sugar daddy” yet cannot reach the heights of its owner’s expectations, therefore, crippling the club with a high wage bill and not enough earnings coming in while the owner simply tires of the project and walks away, without any care or connection to the club they toyed with. In cases such as this, one has to feel for the fans as they were promised the riches of the world only to be handed beads and trinkets. As for the actual football squad, Anzhi are very poor as they sit second from bottom and have already sacked their first manager of the season after only 16 days in charge. We really should not have any problems with this team.
JD Keeps Scoring
As of the start of the match today, Jermain Defoe is our second leading scorer in Europe. Yes, the majority of these strikes were in the Europa league or UEFA Cup, but being only two goals away from matching the record of a very prolific Martin Chivers is something to be proud of. The diminutive striker with a nose for the goal has the chance to become the outright leader of the record tonight if he was to score a hat-trick, which is likely thanks to the turnover and lack of quality in Anzhi’s squad, but regardless, I am sure he will break the record at some point over the next few European matches. Jermain has his flaws but one cannot knock the fact that he does score goals and he has been scoring goals for many seasons. Lace up them shooting boots, Jermain and let ‘em fly!
Iceman on Fire
It seems that our Icelandic midfielder, Gylfi Sigurðsson has been quite the scorer over the last few matches. Two against Norwich and one vs. the scum of Chelsea has put Siggy at the top of our league scoring chart for this term and as one of the few holdovers from last season, he understands what is needed to work in AVB’s system. He has a great knack for cutting inside and combining well with the infield players or creating space for our left back to bomb down the side on the overlap. Good with both feet and able to track back, “The Iceman” has slowly become a fan favourite after his move from Hoffenheim last summer. Besides his ability to score big goals, he can do the job of a winger and stay wide when needed as made evident by his ball touches vs. Norwich where the vast majority of his pass receptions were on or near the touchline. Yes, he likes to cut inside and shoot but he is flexible enough to act as an out and out winger, if needed. I can see Siggy Smalls getting into double figures this year and maybe even up to 20 if he gets really hot.
Injury Updates
The news keeps getting better with our squad almost at full strength going into a tough matchup against West Ham United this Sunday. Younes Kaboul is back as he is starting today’s match, Lennon is almost there and Danny Rose should be ready for this weekend while only long-term casualty Etienne Capoue is definitely out but should be back after the international break. Needless to say, this will be awesome to have a full squad with a deeper understanding of AVB’s system and players who understand their roles and the need for rotation. The rotation of the squad will allow us to keep fresh for the final push in March through May while keeping competition for each starting berth high. It is a nice time to be a Tottenham Supporter.
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