Danners9
15 Sep 2003, 05:46 PM
Impressive sounding!
The reserves tonight put the ghosts of last week's 4-0 defeat by Arsenal to bed with a fine performance against a young West Ham team. Laiden with First Team players, Spurs proved too strong for a young, but energetic, West Ham team.
Captained again by Jackson, but with Poyet barking out the orders, Spurs should have had a bagful by half-time. Instead, a wonder goal by Richard Garcia just before the interval meant that Spurs went in at the break a goal down. Within the first five minutes, Poyet hit the bar and Dalmat produced a fine save from the Hammers keeper. West Ham huffed and puffed but found it hard to get a hold on the game, mainly due to Dalmat's fine performance as the holding midfielder. Calderwood was constantly shouting at him to "just sit in front Stef", and sit he did. His range of passing was exquisite and his turn of pace left the opposition standing dead as he took control of the game.
On 60 mins, he surged into the opposition box past four players before taking the keeper out of the picture with a pin-point pass to Poyet who duly knocked the ball into the open net. Just a couple of minutes later, Dalmat again charged from his own half into the Hammers' box but this time laid it off to Poyet on the right who crossed in for Dalmat to volley home. 2-1! Spurs kept a hold on the match, producing a fine show of passing and keeping the ball as they pushed for a third. It nearly came from Blondel, who continues to impress all who see him. Playing a one-two with Galbraith, he drove the ball towards the far corner but was unlucky to see his attempt go wide of the post.
The only downer was seeing Marney hobbling off with an ice pack stuck to his right knee. All in all though, a very promising display and a fine night out. Oh, and dispelling any rubbish about Glenn not attending reserve matches, not only was he there but so was Pleat. O'Neil my arse!
Team and Ratings:
Burch: A good game, made a couple of excellent saves when called upon and had little chance with the goal.
Marney: Came off early in the second half to be replaced by Hughes but looked good. A solid performance.
Docherty: An excellent display. His pace is returning and he looked the most assured of the back three.
Kelly: A bit hit and miss. Often caught out of position but always made up for it with perfectly timed tackles. Needs to work on his positional awareness.
Mabizela: OJ looks very promising. Great going forward (reminded me of Campbell in France 98) but weak in the air, something that hampers his play.
Ziege: A good return to the game, his crossing was still deadly as ever but his fitness was lacking and he came off after 65 mins (Replaced by Galbraith).
Poyet: A distinct lack of pace but a real passion to win. His goal was typical Poyet and his awareness was good. I doubt however he will make it as a first team regular again.
Jackson: Average performance. Drifted in and out of the game and often lost the ball in midfield.
Dalmat: Man of the match. Fine game from the Frenchman. Playing as the holding midfielder, he broke up most West Ham attacks and his distribution was fantastic. Also, his change of pace is frightening, left his opposite men for dead most of the night. Showed off a bit towards the end by playing keepie-uppie but his ability to make space for himself in any situation and his creative flair was a joy to watch.
Blondel: Played as a second striker tonight and worked tirelessly. Often found running down blind alleys but his touch and control were stunning. Will surely break into first team soon.
Barnard: The main striker but did little. No real input on the game, replaced on 65 by Slabber who was equally bad.
Is Dalmat the man to solve the hole in midfield? Only time will tell. Bring on Soton!
Come on Dalmat :D fitness = class.
The reserves tonight put the ghosts of last week's 4-0 defeat by Arsenal to bed with a fine performance against a young West Ham team. Laiden with First Team players, Spurs proved too strong for a young, but energetic, West Ham team.
Captained again by Jackson, but with Poyet barking out the orders, Spurs should have had a bagful by half-time. Instead, a wonder goal by Richard Garcia just before the interval meant that Spurs went in at the break a goal down. Within the first five minutes, Poyet hit the bar and Dalmat produced a fine save from the Hammers keeper. West Ham huffed and puffed but found it hard to get a hold on the game, mainly due to Dalmat's fine performance as the holding midfielder. Calderwood was constantly shouting at him to "just sit in front Stef", and sit he did. His range of passing was exquisite and his turn of pace left the opposition standing dead as he took control of the game.
On 60 mins, he surged into the opposition box past four players before taking the keeper out of the picture with a pin-point pass to Poyet who duly knocked the ball into the open net. Just a couple of minutes later, Dalmat again charged from his own half into the Hammers' box but this time laid it off to Poyet on the right who crossed in for Dalmat to volley home. 2-1! Spurs kept a hold on the match, producing a fine show of passing and keeping the ball as they pushed for a third. It nearly came from Blondel, who continues to impress all who see him. Playing a one-two with Galbraith, he drove the ball towards the far corner but was unlucky to see his attempt go wide of the post.
The only downer was seeing Marney hobbling off with an ice pack stuck to his right knee. All in all though, a very promising display and a fine night out. Oh, and dispelling any rubbish about Glenn not attending reserve matches, not only was he there but so was Pleat. O'Neil my arse!
Team and Ratings:
Burch: A good game, made a couple of excellent saves when called upon and had little chance with the goal.
Marney: Came off early in the second half to be replaced by Hughes but looked good. A solid performance.
Docherty: An excellent display. His pace is returning and he looked the most assured of the back three.
Kelly: A bit hit and miss. Often caught out of position but always made up for it with perfectly timed tackles. Needs to work on his positional awareness.
Mabizela: OJ looks very promising. Great going forward (reminded me of Campbell in France 98) but weak in the air, something that hampers his play.
Ziege: A good return to the game, his crossing was still deadly as ever but his fitness was lacking and he came off after 65 mins (Replaced by Galbraith).
Poyet: A distinct lack of pace but a real passion to win. His goal was typical Poyet and his awareness was good. I doubt however he will make it as a first team regular again.
Jackson: Average performance. Drifted in and out of the game and often lost the ball in midfield.
Dalmat: Man of the match. Fine game from the Frenchman. Playing as the holding midfielder, he broke up most West Ham attacks and his distribution was fantastic. Also, his change of pace is frightening, left his opposite men for dead most of the night. Showed off a bit towards the end by playing keepie-uppie but his ability to make space for himself in any situation and his creative flair was a joy to watch.
Blondel: Played as a second striker tonight and worked tirelessly. Often found running down blind alleys but his touch and control were stunning. Will surely break into first team soon.
Barnard: The main striker but did little. No real input on the game, replaced on 65 by Slabber who was equally bad.
Is Dalmat the man to solve the hole in midfield? Only time will tell. Bring on Soton!
Come on Dalmat :D fitness = class.