Danners9
02 Sep 2003, 03:59 PM
We have a few days before this, the 13th September.
But i think we all know what will happen, we never win there - and rarely win at home vs them.
They have just come off a relatively disappointing game vs Blackburn, and we come off a shocking defeat at home to Fulham.
Do we really have a hope? Would a draw be as good as a win? At the moment i'd say "maybe" and "yes".
I am usually overly optimistic regarding Spurs' hopes. So here goes.. *deep breath*.
All does not seem entirely cohesive with Chelsea, defense looks slow - Desailly mainly, and Terry is often left flapping a leg in the air (England vs Croatia). Chelsea have a lot of new players, another one this week, and they do seem to be struggling to find their feet in certain areas. Central midfield mainly, i'd say. The wings look scary, Duff and Bridge get on well and Veron pulls a lot of strings.
Frank Lampard is a worry for me, either his nose will be put out of joint by Makalele's arrival and he'll shrink or he'll come out supercharged with a point to prove.
Spurs' main threats will come from exposing the lack of pace and slowness (compared to previous years) of Desailly, the runs of Kanoute and Postiga will cause problems. But can we find them? So far we haven't really.
Stevie Carr has his passing boots on this season, and Postiga is clearly a talent. Just needs a goal!!! :bash:
Barring international duty injury problems (fingers crossed) for us, we'll have Davies around and he will be very important. He needs to find the form he showed last season in the flowing goals we scored, the one vs West Ham at home stands out for me.
The arrivals of Dalmat and Konchesky, both of whom i expect would go straight into the side, will add much needed balance. Konchesky has a good long range shot, and Hoddle should (i know i would) tell him not to be afraid to get forward. Dalmat is calm on the ball and can spray passes about left and right sided, hopefully he'll be keen to impress - this is a great game to do it in.
Jamie Redknapp's passing has been excellent, so said Sky Sports panel on saturday anyway, but we need the support for the guys on the end.
Our defence is dodgy though, King and Richards and Gardner did everso well vs Liverpool but then throw it all away at Fulham - granted they only had 3 chances, but they scored them ALL. Some consistency and encouragement, we know they are all class but they need to show it.
Least now we have a left sided left-back! I don't like Taricco playing there, his goal is the perfect example of this - he is right footed. He's ok slamming the ball away, but complex passing requires coming inside (ooh err, "slamming" and "coming inside" in the same sentence!).
Never know, long range trips for Veron and Crespo for the Argie's game and some other international hiccups might go in our favour this time! For instance, it might be one of our players tripping up (literally) in Ireland's game. We don't have any in the England squad, and Chelsea do. We hardly have any away this time around.
Glenn has time with the players, and with the 2 new lads looking to integrate themselves this is perfect timing really. Hope they use it wisely.
I think that's about all i can write on the subject, hope it's been worth the read. Now.. how do i send this to the Spurs management? perhaps i could become Spurs' Information Minister! Imagine that, "all is well... we are all calm!". THTV could have me on their screens at Half time :D
I would love to predict a draw for this, i really would.. or a sneaky win.
But i think we all know what will happen, we never win there - and rarely win at home vs them.
They have just come off a relatively disappointing game vs Blackburn, and we come off a shocking defeat at home to Fulham.
Do we really have a hope? Would a draw be as good as a win? At the moment i'd say "maybe" and "yes".
I am usually overly optimistic regarding Spurs' hopes. So here goes.. *deep breath*.
All does not seem entirely cohesive with Chelsea, defense looks slow - Desailly mainly, and Terry is often left flapping a leg in the air (England vs Croatia). Chelsea have a lot of new players, another one this week, and they do seem to be struggling to find their feet in certain areas. Central midfield mainly, i'd say. The wings look scary, Duff and Bridge get on well and Veron pulls a lot of strings.
Frank Lampard is a worry for me, either his nose will be put out of joint by Makalele's arrival and he'll shrink or he'll come out supercharged with a point to prove.
Spurs' main threats will come from exposing the lack of pace and slowness (compared to previous years) of Desailly, the runs of Kanoute and Postiga will cause problems. But can we find them? So far we haven't really.
Stevie Carr has his passing boots on this season, and Postiga is clearly a talent. Just needs a goal!!! :bash:
Barring international duty injury problems (fingers crossed) for us, we'll have Davies around and he will be very important. He needs to find the form he showed last season in the flowing goals we scored, the one vs West Ham at home stands out for me.
The arrivals of Dalmat and Konchesky, both of whom i expect would go straight into the side, will add much needed balance. Konchesky has a good long range shot, and Hoddle should (i know i would) tell him not to be afraid to get forward. Dalmat is calm on the ball and can spray passes about left and right sided, hopefully he'll be keen to impress - this is a great game to do it in.
Jamie Redknapp's passing has been excellent, so said Sky Sports panel on saturday anyway, but we need the support for the guys on the end.
Our defence is dodgy though, King and Richards and Gardner did everso well vs Liverpool but then throw it all away at Fulham - granted they only had 3 chances, but they scored them ALL. Some consistency and encouragement, we know they are all class but they need to show it.
Least now we have a left sided left-back! I don't like Taricco playing there, his goal is the perfect example of this - he is right footed. He's ok slamming the ball away, but complex passing requires coming inside (ooh err, "slamming" and "coming inside" in the same sentence!).
Never know, long range trips for Veron and Crespo for the Argie's game and some other international hiccups might go in our favour this time! For instance, it might be one of our players tripping up (literally) in Ireland's game. We don't have any in the England squad, and Chelsea do. We hardly have any away this time around.
Glenn has time with the players, and with the 2 new lads looking to integrate themselves this is perfect timing really. Hope they use it wisely.
I think that's about all i can write on the subject, hope it's been worth the read. Now.. how do i send this to the Spurs management? perhaps i could become Spurs' Information Minister! Imagine that, "all is well... we are all calm!". THTV could have me on their screens at Half time :D
I would love to predict a draw for this, i really would.. or a sneaky win.