Tottenham Hotspur FC 2013/14

[TonyDA]

I've been thinking the exact same thing.

If Llorente was replaced with another Son style player you'd have six quality players covering the three spots behind the striker (Eriksen, Dele, Lamela, Son, Moura and AN Other) and if Son or AN Other has to go up front to cover for Kane you still have five covering the three spots behind the striker, which is more than enough.

As you say, they've got a much better chance of getting game time so they'd actually have a bit of rhythm and sharpness when needed to play up front. An out and out striker who can only play in Kane's position... it's bloody difficult for them to ever get meaningful minutes on the pitch.

Exactly. You'd also hope that that idea would give us a bit more cover for when Eriksen misses a game or two as well - what we really in the squad is another Kane and Eriksen, both of whom are good enough to play every game if needed. Janssen and Llorente aren't as good as Kane, but to sign another Kane would cost £60M+ (before we get to wages) and they'd need to be happy (as would Kane) with not playing every game. That's never going to happen, given our budget and the type of player needed.

[EJG1980]

A couple of new renders of the outside of the new stadium have been found on the Haringey planning web site; looks like the exterior will be able to be lit up at night. The full size pics are on my google drive in the official renders folder, if you want a closer look.





There are some rumours going around that something stadium related is happening on Monday. The current favourites are that they're going to commence lifting the roof, the naming rights sponsor for the stadium will be announced, or both. It'll probably turn out to be nothing, but you never know.

[fallenangle]

Far from a stellar performance today against CP by the sound of it but Spurs finally scored and took the three points. That is what matters; grinding out a result like this is an essential requirement for any would be top four contender.

[EJG1980]

Yup, not the best performance, but we did enough to win it, especially in the second half. Kane and Aurier both missed what were pretty much tap-ins from a couple of yards out and when that kind of thing happens you think it's going to be one of those days. Thankfully we kept on going and managed to finally get the goal. Massive result.

Hoping for a draw in Man Utd vs Chelsea so we can gain two points on both, but I see Chelsea have just taken the lead. Whatever happens we're making up points on one of both of them, so every result has some form of upside.

[EJG1980]

There are some rumours going around that something stadium related is happening on Monday. The current favourites are that they're going to commence lifting the roof, the naming rights sponsor for the stadium will be announced, or both. It'll probably turn out to be nothing, but you never know.

Something seems to happening at the stadium this morning; the person who posted about something stadium related happening today just posted "Pitch area looking very quiet this morning.. It's almost as if they have cleared the way for something important to happen."

I just checked the time lapse cameras and the one covering the pitch area, which normally takes one photo every ten minutes, has been switched to take one photo every single minute. So it looks like something will be happening that they want to make sure that camera captures. What that something is still remains to be seen

Edit: so, of course, sod all actually happened! Hopefully the weather put paid to things and something will happen tomorrow. Or the next day. Or...

[fallenangle]

I'm wondering if the match against Rochdale will go ahead tonight because of the weather. No doubt the Wembley pitch will be fine but it has been snowing quite heavily here in NW London today. Nothing to frighten the horses, only an inch lying at this time and some ice underneath on the pavements but it certainly isn't bad on the main roads.

But I'd imagine travel for fans from further out might well be affected and maybe even the Rochdale team if they are not in London already.

The newspapers web sites are reporting the match will go ahead but fans should arrive 90 minutes early. However those reports were posted before the most recent snow this morning.

Ironically as I write here the snow, which has been falling for over an hour, has just stopped and I can see blue sky and the sun is trying come out.

[EJG1980]

I don't think there's any danger of the game being called off. I remember the home match against Man Utd when AVB was in charge having much worse snowy weather than this and it still went ahead.

I think the attendance might take a hit though. Midweek night matches (aside from the Champions League) have been our worst attended matches this season, plus it's a replay, plus it's lower league opposition, so people not bothering because of the weather could put a further dent in it. We got 39k for the Newport replay, so I'd be surprised if it was as high as that. On the plus side, it should mean no waiting in a queue to get into Wembley Park station after the match

BTW I think the "arrive 90 mins before kick-off" is the standard line they give before every match, no matter what the weather.

[fallenangle]

Much of the snow, except the stuff in the shadows, has thawed in the afternoon sun here but as I write it has just started snowing again. Could make it icy if it freezes tonight but I think you're right, we seen them play in much worse conditions. The main line trains/tube services are apparently all OK so there shouldn't be any delay due to fans arriving late.

Just hope it is a good game again but this time we show our class and come away with a decent win.

[EJG1980]

Well the first half last night was interesting

On the whole I'm pro-VAR. I think getting decisions right is a benefit that outweighs the downsides, but they do need to speed things up a bit and perhaps have the reason for a goal being ruled out announced, so fans aren't in the dark as to what's going on. It is still in a trial phase at the moment though, so these kinks can be worked out and different approaches considered. I think a Tennis / Cricket style system where each team gets X number of reviews per half might be a system worth considering, so the use of VAR doesn't become too overbearing.

Anyway, fun match in the end. The goals being ruled out seemed to get Rochdale pumped up, and we got a little bit lucky when they hit the post at 1-1 in the first half. It was mainly one way traffic though, and in the second half it was no contest, the quick fire Llorente hat-trick put things to bed right away. Hopefully that'll give him a confidence boost and he can step up a level in performance for the rest of the season. Nice for KWP to get his first ever goal for the club too.

Into the quarters and on to Swansea. I'm wondering how strong a team they'll put out given their situation the league. Still, our matches against Rochdale and Newport away showed that it's the performances on the day rather than the strength of the side that matters, so let's hope for a good performance to get us into the last four.

[Atticus]

That's the first time I've seen a run/stop/pause penalty kick disallowed. I'm not a fan of them to be honest ... bit too cocky/showoffy imo. Is that the official end of them I wonder?

[EJG1980]

That's the first time I've seen a run/stop/pause penalty kick disallowed. I'm not a fan of them to be honest ... bit too cocky/showoffy imo. Is that the official end of them I wonder?

The rule is that you're allowed to stutter / slow right down in your run up but you're not allowed to stop your run completely. You're also not allowed to pause at the very end of the run up before kicking the ball.

After watching the highlights Son did appear to stop completely in the middle of his run, so by the letter of the law it was correctly ruled out. If he'd kept moving forwards a tiny tiny bit instead of coming to a complete halt, he would have been okay.

Can't say I agree with the decision to rule out Lamela's opening goal. Supposedly for a Llorente foul on the Rochdale defender, but on the replay they put their hands on each other and are both doing the exact same thing. If anything the Rochdale defender is the one who commits a foul as you can see him clearly pulling Llorente's shirt when Son puts the ball in the box.

Might be better to leave VAR for only matter of fact decisions. Was a player onside or offside, was a foul in or out of the box, did a corner swing out of play or not, etc.. If it's a matter of interpretation (was a shirt pulled enough to constitute a foul) then just go with the decision of the ref on the pitch and leave VAR out of it.

[fallenangle]

That's the first time I've seen a run/stop/pause penalty kick disallowed. I'm not a fan of them to be honest ... bit too cocky/showoffy imo. Is that the official end of them I wonder?

Very harsh way of punishing that but like Aurier and his dodgy throw ins players wherever they come from should at least know the basic rules. Having Son's penalty cancelled because of such a mistake could have cost us dear in a closer game.

A game definitely of two halves, the first half was "interesting" as EJG1980 said but it seemed to me the worse the weather became the better Spurs played and came away with what was eventually a very easy win.

I was thinking about Hawkeye at Wimbledon and how that is used. Its a different type of sport and very clear yay or nay results showing the ball is was either in or out. Football decision making is more complex but I certainly believe the idea about limiting the VAR challenges is the way to go to improve it.

Leave it up to each manager and only them to use the challenges tactically/strategically rather than the referee referring to it for every major decision. That is just utterly stupid and is ruining the game. If the ref can't be trusted or even trust his own judgement at the time then the match might as well be policed by VARs in its entirety.

I reckon a maximum of three VAR uses per game, right or wrong, and one more for extra time but not in penalty shoot outs would work. If they could also show the footage being used to make the decision on a big screen most of the players, managers, viewers and crowd could see or access by mobile etc then so much the better.

[EJG1980]

Turns out the purchasing of tickets for the NFL game at new WHL isn't until April now when the seats are all in place, and you aren't guaranteed a seat this year even if you have a season ticket *roll eyes* when do you guy normally have to renew your Spurs season tickets, as that rumour still hasn't gone away yet.

I assume it's going to be late April / early May. It was 2nd of May that they released the renewal details last year and you usually have to have renewed before the start of June (I think).

I'm hoping they might release the detailed seating plan for the new stadium a bit earlier than that though.

Spurs have announced that we'll be getting our season ticket renewal packs on the 12th of March with sales starting on the 19th (though there are going to be a few sales windows, with longest serving season ticket holders getting to go first).

There's also going to be an interactive seat map on the web site which shows the view from each seat. I don't know if that will be available to the public or if it'll only be available after logging in to renew.

[Mayhem]

Thanks for the update. If you get in there, take a screengrab of the main seating plan anyhow please, just in case

So, how you feeling about the CL second leg?

[EJG1980]

So, how you feeling about the CL second leg?

As usual before matches like this, a healthy mix of and

We've got a great chance as we're on a good run of form, have played really well in Europe this season, and got a good result in the first leg to set us up for this match. We've had lots of good wins against really good teams at Wembley this season so if we play as well as we can I'd back us to get through.

At the same time though, Juventus are an excellent side who know how to get results, they haven't got to two of the last three CL finals by luck. They could easily turn up and give a great performance that we'll have to be on top of our game to combat, and they've got individuals like Dybala who can score out of nothing no matter how well they're playing.

So I'm expecting a tough night, wary that they're an excellent side, but I'm confident we can get through. However, if Juve feel like not turning up and letting us win comfortably, I will reluctantly accept that Hopefully we can go into the match on the back of a win against Huddersfield on Saturday.