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Article by Marc Ashed (USA)
Opening day down and 3 points on the board. While the scoreline wasn't convincing, the play on the field certainly was. Our new signings, Paulinho, Nacer Chadli and Roberto Soldado were handed starts for their Spurs debut and did not disappoint. The individual efforts were fantastic but the players seemed to be searching for the right pace from start to finish. This did not stop us from dominating the centre of the pitch, quickly closing down on Crystal Palace players and bombarding down the flanks with pace and purpose.
Our only position that was lacking was our #10. When Bale is healthy and playing, he will create chances with his long range shooting, space creating movement and deft crosses but when he is out of the lineup, we do not have anyone with the ability to consistently produce a moment of magic whether its picking the lock or hitting from range. With that being said, here are the e-Spurs player ratings for our opening match versus Crystal Palace (Twitter comments taken into account, so keep them coming)
Hugo Lloris- 8. Hugo did not put a foot wrong all day. He displayed his strengths as a "sweeper keeper" and stymied attacks by coming off of his line quickly. In the dying moments, his quick reflexes did well to prevent a desperate attack by Palace. One of the best keepers in Europe put in a display worthy of that title.
Kyle Walker- 6.75. Watching the game a 2nd time, I noticed that Walker was always near the ball. He linked up well with Aaron Lennon down the right flank and put in a performance that we could all be happy with. That header in the 91st minute almost gave us all a heart attack, wouldn't be a proper game without at least one moment like that from Kyle.
Michael Dawson- 6.5. The skipper didn't have much to do all day but played some fine cross field switches to Chadli to launch the attack.
Jan Vertonghen- 7. Super Jan recovered quicker than expected from his ankle injury and put in a strong performance. Showed his class throughout the game when breaking up attacks and playing the ball out of the back.
Danny Rose- 7. No player has been under more scrutiny over his place in the first XI than Rose but today he justified his spot. Was not relied on to defend much but added significantly to the attack. He seems to understand exactly what AVB asks of him offensively and has the talent to deliver. If he is able to stay defensively disciplined, then I believe he will continue to win over supporters.
Mousa Dembele- 7.5. When Dembele glides around the pitch, it seems impossible to dispossess him. Nearly scored a long range howler but was extremely tidy in possession and breaking up play before being withdrawn.
Paulinho- 8. Virtually identical performance to Dembele but played the full 90. He was the engine of our game and set the tempo all game.
Gylfi Sigurdsson- 6. Had a massive opportunity to play in his favored central position and to make an impact. He had a few bright moments in the first half and nearly scored twice in the game but didn't leave his mark on the game. For about 75 or 80 minutes, you wouldn't have known he was on the pitch.
Nacer Chadli- 6.75. Was a constant threat down the left side and displayed a good understanding with Danny Rose. Nearly scored with his header at the end of the 1st half and was always looking to go at goal. His confidence rose throughout the game and it was a very promising display.
Aaron Lennon- 6.25. Lennon was a constant threat running at the defense, getting to the end line when he wanted with his speed but his last ball let him down time after time. He was never a threat to go for goal and his crossing didn't yield any results other than the handball call. Needs to improve on this performance.
Robert Soldado- 8. Upon watching a 2nd time, I noticed what people on Twitter were saying. He was linking up with the midfield well and contributing to the build up while opening up tons of space with his clever runs. His penalty was as cool as you'd like and its easy to see that we've captured our clinical striker that we've been so hungry for. "Robbie" has a very good chance of scoring 20 this season.
Substitutes
Etienne Capoue- 7.5. Our latest signing from France was exceptional. Our defensive midfielder had 6 interceptions in 33 minutes. It was very obvious why he is nicknamed "The Tank", hes an absolute physical force in the middle of the park.
Jermain Defoe- 6.75. Did well to get 2 chances in his 10 minute appearance. Should have converted one. The fact that he re-tweeted something after the game about him creating more chances than Soldado is unacceptable.
Younes Kaboul- not enough time to rate. He came on to defend against the long ball and aerial attacks and it was great to see the big man back.
Transfer Update
Our game was not the only work being done by the club this weekend. A bid was put in for Christian Eriksen, which has Daniel Levy signing written all over it. Eriksen has 1 year left on his deal and is available for a bargain compared to his fee just 1 year ago.
Reports throughout the papers have us bidding against Liverpool for Willian. According to the reports, the player will be deciding early this week on which team he wishes to join.
Alen Halilovic is close to signing with Spurs. The young Croatian "wonderkid" has high expectations with him being compared to Luka Modric. If the deal is completed, he will be loaned back to Dinamo Zagreb for 1 year before joining Spurs.
Fabio Coentrao has officially requested to leave Real Madrid with us and Monaco at the front of the line to sign him.
Benoit Assou Ekotto appears to have played his last game for us, and a move to France is imminent. While Scott Parker's move to QPR has been hijacked by Fulham and that deal should be completed soon as well.
One game down and a lot of positives to take from it. Very excited for this season. COME ON YOU SPURS!!
@MarcAron22
-- Marc A. Ashed
Comment on this article below.
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I hope van der vaart returns to WHL if bale leaves
ReplyDeleteVery good article.I look forward to future contributions from Mr Ashed!
ReplyDeleteI still think bale will stay another year possibly longer if we're successful and I understand he wants to play for Madrid but I still it's to early in bales development and if Madrid want him that badly would pay what levy wants or will wait another year . As for the team looking good and will continue to improve the more they play together the UK futures bright the future is blue and white COYS.
ReplyDeleteSig's rating of 6 is very generous! As is a rating of 4. He played behind Soldado in the hole and yet he failed to open them up with a single pass. He only had two efforts on goal and one of them was on the plate (and he still missed). And on top of all that he is so slow in everything he does. He is supposed to be a set piece specialist yet he couldnt pick out any of our players from the corners we had... against Crystal Palace. First game in, but if we want to be a top team we have to have top players. Sig has been average and has looked out of place ever since the move.
ReplyDeleteGreat start and they all will only get better. Copy, paste and go with this Woolwich Arsenal picture and maybe even share...file:///E:/Chrome%20downloads/gooners%204.jpg.
ReplyDeletebig powerful side been put in place with very few weak links. Dawson however is a liability and could have cost us game. Lloris bales him out time and time again and Rose and Walker bale him out too. Hasn't got the pace to play the Spurs high line and always way off his men, also for a big man not strong enough.
ReplyDelete