Spurs Diaries Update - the season so far.

The season started and I disappeared. Not, I assure you, because of disillusionment, disappointment or disaffection – or anything else beginning with dis-. Rather, a lack of time and internet resources compounded, ironically, by the fact that the author of these pages now lives a much shorter trip away from White Hart Lane (i.e. in the UK) and therefore cannot see all games televised. Of course that also means that some games will be live “actual” match reports. Anyway. Below are snippets, to remember where we have been – above, hopefully, will follow some proper texts.

So, the season started, hyped up as the season in which Spurs were at the very least going to break into the top four – and thereby prove that the young talent is coming of age and that the transfer fees of the summer were money well spent. Have they and was it? The first six games of the season followed an all too familiar pattern: injuries and insecurities in defence almost, but not quite, balanced by goal-scoring prowess; a glorious win against the team at the bottom; a humiliating home defeat against Everton; a laboured draw away against Fulham; a good, but not good enough, attempt at beating Manchester United and an inability to hold on to a lead against you-know-who. Dejá-vu.

The familiar problems, furthermore, have been joined by speculations and unrest regarding the future of the manager. How many games until he loses his job? Or is the whole situation a rumour spun out of control? Martin remains stoic; those of us who want him to actually have a chance to do something with his (for that it is) team, do the same.

Are there, then, any positives to be taken from the start of a season which has so far yielded four points from six games? Well, we do have what we always have – potential, exciting young players, entertaining football and a Europe season about to commence… And, of course, the stubborn belief that these are still the early days, only the first tentative steps, of a new era. Yup, silly optimism. As ever. Come on you Spurs!

Tottenham 1-3 Arsenal

Gareth Bale scores a new classic free kick goal and for the remainder of the first half (and a good part of the second) Spurs are in the lead. We are in denial about the rest. And we don’t like Cesc Fabregas much.

Tottenham
Robinson, Chimbonda, Dawson, Kaboul, Lee, Malbranque (Bent 82), Huddlestone, Jenas, Bale (Lennon 69), Berbatov, Keane. Subs Not Used: Cerny, Zokora, Rocha.
Booked: Jenas, Chimbonda
Goals: Bale 15.

Arsenal
Almunia, Sagna, Toure, Silva, Clichy, Hleb (Song Billong 90), Fabregas, Diaby (Rosicky 56), Flamini, Adebayor, Van Persie (Denilson 85).
Subs Not Used: Fabianski, Walcott.
Booked: Sagna, Hleb
Goals: Adebayor 65, Fabregas 80, Adebayor 90

Attendance: 36,053
Referee: Mark Clattenburg

Fulham 3-3 Tottenham

Some draws feel like draws. Others feel like victories. And some feel, and are, defeats. This game, which Spurs were dominating and winning for most of the time, falls in the latter category. Kaboul adds a goal to the team total of 8 – half of which have been scored by defenders. Dimitar Berbatov opens his competitive scoring of the season; things look bright. But Fulham claw their way back and despite another defender’s goal, from Gareth Bale, the game has not been won. No, defeat (well, a draw) is snatched from the clutches of victory as Kamara grabs a last minute equaliser.

Fulham
Niemi, Bocanegra, Konchesky, Stefanovic, Baird, Smertin (John 79), Davies, Davis, Dempsey, Bouazza (Healy 70), Kamara.
Subs Not Used: Keller, Volz, Omozusi.
Booked: Bocanegra
Goals: Dempsey 42, Smertin 77, Kamara 90

Tottenham
Robinson, Chimbonda, Rocha, Kaboul, Bale, Malbranque (Dawson 84), Huddlestone, Jenas, Lee, Keane (Defoe 68), Berbatov.
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Zokora, Taarabt
Goals: Kaboul 10, Berbatov 28, Bale 61

Attendance: 24,007
Referee: Mike Riley

Manchester United 1-0 Tottenham

Possibly still high from the fun and games had with Derby, the men in white (along with the rest of us) forgot that where they were and that they were playing under Old Trafford rules. Penalites gone missing aside, however, this was never a clear-cut defeat. Nor a draw, really. Good football by good teams – and a one-man Portuguese clown show. No, not Cristiano, but his compatriot Nani, who tackled, hustled, bustled and pinched people, dived as well as fell over and, of course, added somersault to injury by scoring a winning goal.

Manchester United
Van der Sar, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Nani, Hargreaves, Carrick (Eagles 57), Scholes, Giggs, Tevez (Fletcher 77).
Subs Not Used: Kuszczak, Dong, O'Shea.
Booked: Giggs, Brown
Goals: Nani 68

Tottenham
Robinson, Chimbonda, Rocha (Zokora 83), Gardner, Lee (Taarabt 75), Malbranque, Jenas, Huddlestone, Bale, Berbatov, Keane (Defoe 75).
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Stalteri
Booked: Huddlestone, Berbatov, Gardner

Attendance: 75,696
Referee: Howard Webb

Tottenham 4-0 Derby

Steed Malbranque is on fire and the team make cheerful use of the insecure opposition. Three goals after 15 minutes; the must-win game in the buds of a “crisis” became a show. Jermaine Jenas grabs a goal, Darren Bent scores his first competitive Spurs goal and Adel Taarabt comes on to entertain for a while. Against a team which lacked competitive edge and had effectively lost the game after 6 minutes, even a clean sheet was possible. Fun times for the people clad in white. Less fun for Stephen Bywater.

Tottenham
Robinson, Chimbonda (Zokora 81), Rocha, Gardner, Lee, Routledge (Taarabt 71), Jenas, Huddlestone, Malbranque, Bent, Keane (Defoe 76).
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Stalteri
Goals: Malbranque 2, 6, Jenas 14, Bent 80

Derby
Bywater, Mears (Griffin 33), Moore, Leacock, McEveley, Fagan, Oakley, Todd (Teale 46), Pearson, Howard, Earnshaw.
Subs Not Used: Price, Jones, Feilhaber
Booked: Griffin, Howard, Moore, Fagan

Attendance: 35,600
Referee: Chris Foy

Tottenham 1-3 Everton

Younes Kaboul, already a solid presence in defence, is taken off after 18 minutes, leaving Anthony Gardner, erratic at best, teamed up with Ricardo Rocha. A game which has started in the worst possible way is given a comic interlude when Gardner temporarily redeems himself, accidentally nods in an equaliser and, for a few days, becomes Tottenham Hotspur’s top goalscorer of the season. For Everton, Arteta decides to have the game of his life; the Spurs defence crumbles. Defeat is written in the stars and on the score sheet.

Tottenham
Robinson, Chimbonda, Kaboul (Rocha 18), Gardner, Stalteri (Routledge 67), Zokora, Jenas, Malbranque, Keane, Berbatov, Bent (Defoe 61).
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Huddlestone.
Booked: Malbranque, Jenas
Goals: Gardner 26

Everton
Howard, Hibbert, Yobo, Stubbs, Lescott, Osman, Neville, Carsley, Arteta, Johnson, Anichebe (Jagielka 80).
Subs Not Used: Ruddy, McFadden, Nuno Valente, Pienaar.
Goals: Lescott 3, Osman 37, Stubbs 45

Attendance: 35,716
Referee: Mark Halsey

Sunderland 1-0 Tottenham

With heavy spending comes heavy pressure; whereas a fifth place finish and good cup runs last season felt like some kind of achievement, this season more is expected of Tottenham Hotspur. Not only by fans, but by journalists, pundits and other managers, all of whom agree that Spurs surely are the favourites to break into the big four and upset the hierarchy a little. Pre-season friendlies against South African teams may not be much to go by, but it looked good – the new players seemed to settle into the team with great success and goals were scored left, right and centre.

Given the amount of new talent brought in during the summer, then, the line-up for the first Premiership game of the 2007-08 season was a strikingly familiar one – as recognisable as the problems. The only new features from start were Younes Kaboul and Pascal Chimbonda’s new hair cut. Injuries had ruled out King, Dawson, Lee and Bale, leaving Spurs yet again with Stalteri filling in at left-back and Gardner partnering Kaboul. The former was recognisably erratic, the latter had an impressive game; it was hard to remember that this was a 21-year old centre-half on his first game in the Premier League.

In midfield Steed Malbranque had a great and creative game, but essentially there was little of the pre-season firing power to be seen, despite the fact that Martin Jol deployed all four members of the glorious strike force. Partly this was Paul McShane’s doing; the Sunderland defender seemed to be everywhere at once. But something was missing from the Spurs efforts, unable to fully trouble Craig Gordon more than once.

Spurs carried most of the initiative throughout, gathering up momentum as the game progressed and the ideas clicked better and better, but Sunderland responded by chasing down every ball and managed to close down their visitors attempts quite well. Jol responded by putting more attacking players on, but the team seemed unable to adjust their tactics in order to break Sunderland down. What nice build-ups there were (and there were quite a few) lacked the final shot on target. Sunderland themselves only fully tested Robinson’s ability once before the goal – in both cases the fault lay with Gardner – and never looked the likelier winners. It was a game with plenty of action, just not in front of goal. A goalless draw seemed inevitable – but also the kind of game which can turn by a well-taken chance. And it did, in the 94^th minute, when Michael Chopra neatly finished off a cross by Ross Wallace.

Sunderland
Gordon, Whitehead, Nosworthy, McShane, Wallace, Edwards, Etuhu, Yorke (Miller 57), Richardson (Collins 72), Murphy, Stokes (Chopra 72). Subs Not Used: Ward, Connolly.
Booked: Whitehead
Goals: Chopra 90

Tottenham
Robinson, Chimbonda, Gardner, Stalteri, Kaboul, Jenas, Zokora (Huddlestone 87), Malbranque, Tainio (Bent 59), Berbatov (Defoe 77), Keane. Subs Not Used: Cerny, Rocha.
Booked: Zokora

Attendance: 43,967
Referee: Alan Wiley

Steed, working hard (Image from www.tottenhamhotspur.com)