Ryan Mason - you cheeky little rascal!

Article by Jack Cumming

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There we have it. A win against a team we should be beating. As I said previously, I love supporting spurs, as even the results against the little teams cheer me up. If that was taken incorrectly before then hopefully now that makes sense? If not, it doesn’t matter…

The game - not a bad result against a team unbeaten in their league and playing some nice football under Stuart Pearce. Was always going to be a tough game as I would probably rate Forest higher than Burnley or Leicester who have recently come up and I can imagine they would hold their own in the Prem. We were vulnerable and on the ropes after our recent form so they were definitely going to come at us and try to make matters worse. I have to say I liked the look of our defence, any mistakes made I will put down to the fact there are some new relationships being built and they will get better with time, even Kyle Naughton had a good game. Fazio, for me, is someone I really enjoy watching, he wins most of his aerial duels and puts in some cracking tackles. I can really see this guy becoming a stand out player for us alongside Vertonghen, which does leave the manager a problem in terms of where he plays his Captain. Davies didn’t look too bad but the lad has a long way to go. I can see him becoming a big player eventually especially if he keeps whipping in those cheeky crosses!

What is worrying for me from this game is that it took us being a goal down in the 60th minute before we decided to start playing properly. Some inspired changes from the manager and when I saw Harry Kane strip off I thought that Soldado's time may have been up. Getting two strikers on the pitch and a young hungry midfielder was a great decision and hopefully shows a few doubters that the man does know a bit about football and the team he is working with. Whether that means he will do the same with Ade and Soldado against the Scum I’m not sure. It would be a bold move to change it now but we looked very dangerous once he made those changes It also allowed Roberto to get into the positions he enjoys. Townsend and Lennon disappointed again. I was surprised Andros got man of the match at the end; maybe I missed something, unless they want to convince me his assist wasn’t a terrible shot. He didn’t put any dangerous balls into the box and he didn’t look like he knew how to dribble past a player, he was actually lucky Naughton was having a good day otherwise we could have been torn apart down that side. Lennon is just Lennon and there's nothing more to say. Maybe one day he will wake up and remember what he used to do but I wouldn’t want to be the one paying his wages whilst playing that waiting game.

Elsewhere on the pitch it was pretty average, nothing special from the two holding midfielders and Soldado didn’t set the world alight in the first half. Every time the camera switched to Mauricio I feared for the players at half time as he was not a happy bunny. Thank god for Ryan Mason will be the headlines though, what a cracking player he could turn out to be if he comes on and performs like that more often. He gave us something different and it was nice to see a midfielder pick the ball up with some confidence and self belief to smash it in the net. These are the kind of games and competitions that make players like him and it will be interesting to see how he is used in the future bearing in mind he isn’t registered to play in the league. Was good to see Lamela get an assist from the bench and I think once he grabs a couple of goals against a big team he will start improving even more. Same as I’ve said for Roberto, he wasn’t rated highly in another country for a sick joke; he was a world beater and was tipped for great things, so he will deliver, hopefully soon.

Apart from Hull costing me my accumulator, it was a good night of football and I look forward to the next round. Mixed emotions for the game against the Scum this weekend. I’ve heard people say that this game has come too early in the season, but I disagree. I think it is the perfect time. We feel sorry for ourselves, we have been told off by the manager and we want to go and give something back to the fans. I want to see a line up of blokes willing to put their bodies on the line and hit Arsenal hard. They really aren’t anything special this year, they just know how to get results, even when things are going wrong, something to be admired but not feared. I want to see Fazio and Vertonghen in the centre and whoever is in the best frame of mind for the left and right. I would also like to see Soldado start and even have Kane just behind him so he doesn’t feel isolated and drift onto the wing for company. Midfield is anyone’s guess, it depends who is performing well and who has the right attitude now. When it comes to these games, form is nothing and passion is everything.

My Line up:

Lloris

Kaboul Vertonghen Fazio Rose

Dembele Stambouli

Lamela Chadli

Kane

Soldado

 

Yes, I’ve dropped Eriksen as I've not been too impressed with him lately and think someone like Kane deserves a chance in these games.

 

Rip me apart in the comments below. J.

 

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