Ilunga looks to be out for a month with a fractured jaw. Spector is stepping in at LB for today's match. Tough loss for West Ham as Ilunga was great last year and one of our healthier players.
just hoping Spector doesnt get himself skinned...tough match up against a team that is flying right now
Cute title. Spector starts for the Hammers, accrding to that link from West Ham's official site. Corroborated by sportinglife.com: West Ham: Green, Faubert, Collins, Upson, Spector, Noble, Parker, Collison, Jimenez, Cole, Stanislas Subs: Kurucz, Gabbidon, Kovac, Nouble, Tomkins, Payne, Hines Tottenham: Cudicini, Corluka, Bassong, King, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Huddlestone, Palacios, Modric, Keane, Defoe Subs: Button, Hutton, Bentley, Pavlyuchenko, Crouch, Naughton, O'Hara Referee: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear) Stream, Plan 'A' And justin.tv's Sports area has several different streaming options, as well.
Hey, I'm going to pay for this in the morning -- I have to work early, all while we have an overnight here of back-to-back games from the Premiership with YA's all involved.
"Phil" Spector has sent two nice long balls already, the most recent really could've been a goal. Lookin good!
LOL. But I've been up since 5 just because Rubens Barrichello out qualified Jenson Button. Is Setanta giving a free preview or are they now available for DirecTV subscribers?
Agreed, he is looking good, just beyond the opening quarter-hour of play. One of those long balls, coming off a good clearance where he just kept running with the ball at his feet, nearly resulted in a goal. Jon's playing with a great deal of confidence, and it's obvious and fun to watch.
Ok, that was just a terrible last offside call. It was in no way, shape, or form the right call, or even close to it. Collison played the ball and fell off the pitch, and a SPURS player headed it back to him, making it not even close to offside. That kind of thing pisses me off from refs. Oh, and I thought Spector had a fine half given that he's up against one of the hardest players in the world to defend on the wing.
He was skinned a few times pretty bad- but as usual Lennon can't cross the ball. Very good 0-0 game at the half. Both teams with some good chances, though you would have to say Spurs were the better team.
He got turned a couple times, allowed an easy cross... that in a very Aaron Lennon fashion, was sent directly at a West Ham player. If tottenham could just take bentley's right foot and add it to Lennon's everything else, you'd have a pretty mean player. Spector was fantastic on that play mentioned by Tiger...
Thanks for that, good to know. I guess he'll always struggle with the fastest of wing players, he's not particularly slow though.
Spector was turned twice by Lennon early on. After that one of the defensive mids started dropping back to provide cover, so that even when Lennon got by Spector, Scott Parker was there to clear it or Lennon was forced into an early, non-threatening cross. Otherwise, Spector's looked fine. He cut out a couple long passes, was praised by the commentators for his defense in front of net on an aerial challenge (even though he lost the header, it went well wide), didn't turn over the ball under pressure, and sent a couple nice long through balls to Cole, one of which forced a save. He didn't really push forward either, but neither fullback did and that seemed to be by design. The one time Spector did get forward the commentators noted that the defender was wisely forcing him to his weaker foot and that Spector looked uncomfortable crossing with his left. He ultimately sent in a poor cross with his right because the defender had most of the angles covered.
Tottenham should really start picking up the pace now! I know this is "Yanks Abroud" but is Dos Santos available?