Welcoming Wales

It is an inevitable side effect of the media frenzy surrounding football transfers that by the time one is actually confirmed by club and player it is already old news. But now young Welsh superstar Gareth Bale has actually signed for Spurs. I had some reservations about this, of a rather general nature, regarding players becoming huge stars and being transferred for astronomical fees at too young an age. Moving to a new city, dealing with a tougher division – and doing it with the pressure of such a price tag hanging over your head... Then again, some people mature earlier than others and Gareth, soon 18, may well be ready for the move, one which all involved parties assure us he has thought through. When it comes to his ability consensus appears to be that he is absolutely brilliant and already fairly consistent in said brilliance. My first hand experience of his talent is limited to having watched one Southampton game and one Wales game all season, both of which his team lost – but he was very good in both. And his free kick goal against Derby, available on YouTube, was remarkable. So, I will keep my reservations for now - I’m sure he will be a wonderful addition to our young and developing side and can only wish him the best of luck with the challenges that lie ahead.

Gareth Bale (Image from www.tottenhamhotspur.com)

The King Rules

Yes, the England B-team managed to beat Albania with a margin and the press has decided to be favourable about the effort. Or maybe they just didn’t watch it. All eyes on Beckham, it would seem. (And the games that matter.) B-team or not, they played pretty well and some players took the opportunity to shine in their England shirt. Some, unfortunately, not for very long – Aaron had to come off injured after a mere nine minutes and his injury, ironically, is suggested to have been a factor in David Beckham’s recall. He provided Michael Owen with at least one lovely cross before coming off, but Owen missed finishing it off. Even if Owen didn’t score any of England’s three goals, he played well and inspired a nation by his mere presence. Stewart Downing (who scored two goals) and David Bentley (who ran the show on his flank) were both very good and have, alongside the Spurs players, been included in the England squad. Jermaine Jenas elegantly patrolled the field and filled in for the at times erratic Phil Neville, while it was a pleasure to see Ledley and Michael in the middle of defence. Jermain Defoe did well with his minutes, coming on in his far too familiar role as a late-ish substitute.

With Aaron injured and competition for the other spots heavy, I don’t think we will see any of the lads (apart from Robbo, of course) start the next couple of games – unless, that is, McClaren decides to revamp his midfield and solve the eternal Lampard-Gerrard issue. Because, and I don’t think this is just my Spurs bias, Ledley was brilliant when he was pushed forward to a holding midfielder role. Steven Taylor came on for Gareth Barry to partner Michael in defence (an interesting England pair for the future), but barely had a thing to do. Ledley just ruled, gathered up balls everywhere and cleverly directed them to where they should be. It was stunning, especially for those of us who know and love him as player, of course, but perhaps even good old Steve has been given food for thought. Who needs Hargreaves (who is injured anyway) and Carrick, basically? I, for one, would love to see it at least tried out against tougher opposition (Brazil): Ledley and an attacking Gerrard in the middle with, say Beckham and Joe Cole on right and left respectively. Crouch and Owen (or Defoe?) up front. Flawless plan, surely?

Full England squad: Goalkeepers: Paul Robinson (Tottenham), Scott Carson (Liverpool), Robert Green (West Ham). Defenders: Phil Neville (Everton), Rio Ferdinand (Man United), John Terry (Chelsea), Wayne Bridge (Chelsea), Wes Brown (Man United), Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Michael Dawson (Tottenham), Ledley King (Tottenham), Nicky Shorey (Reading). Midfielders: David Beckham (Real Madrid), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Jermaine Jenas (Tottenham), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham), David Bentley (Blackburn), Michael Carrick (Man United), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough), Kieron Dyer (Newcastle). Forwards: Peter Crouch (Liverpool), Michael Owen (Newcastle), Alan Smith (Man United), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham)

And finally, special mention also to Besart Berisha, of my German club Hamburg, who was brilliant for his country and scored their goal - fully capitalising on the one time Ledley missed a trsdemark tackle...

England B
Carson, Neville (Jagielka 46), Dawson, King, Shorey (Lescott 73), Bentley (Defoe 72), Jenas, Barry
(Taylor 64), Lennon (Downing 10), Owen, Smith (Dyer 64).
Subs Not Used: Green, Nugent.
Goals: Smith 34, Downing 37, 58.

Albania
Beqaj (Hidi 78), Vangeli, Dede, Rrustemi, Haxhi (Ahmataj 79), Bulku, Skela (Hyka 75), Duro (Vrapi 65), Berisha, Muka (Murati 46), Bushi (Sinani 72).
Subs Not Used: Xhafa.
Goals: Berisha 44.

Attendance: 22,500
Referee: Andrea De Marco (Italy)

The B-Team

The team for England's friendly with Albania tomorrow was confirmed today and comprises four of our lads, notably King and Dawson as the central defensive partnership. It's only a friendly, it's only against Albania and it is, just as friendlies probably should be, only a big training session - but it is still a bit interesting. I may have mentioned it before, but it seems that in a time when the general consensus is that the England team never manages to perform anywhere near the perceived glory of the potential sum of its parts, that superstars like Lampard and Gerrard cancel each other out and that the problem lies embedded somewhere in a complex pattern of managerial feebleness and unrealistic expectations coupled with underachievement, it is interesting to see a different England side. Perhaps all the biggest stars at the same time don't make the best team...?

Full team: Carson, P Neville, Shorey, King, Dawson, Lennon, Jenas, Bentley, Barry, Owen, Smith.

Some season statistics

Fifth in the league or ‘best of the rest’, as our dear manager would have it. 59 games. 104 goals by 16 different scorers; the bulk, 63, distributed between our three main strikers, who are all in the top 20 list of the season’s goal scorers. One FA-cup semi-final. One Carling-cup semi-final and one UEFA-cup quarter-final. Unbeaten in Europe until beaten by the cup winners. And top of the Premiership’s Fair Play League.

According to the 06/07 ACTIM stats of the Premiership, and to no surprise for those of us who watch his every move week in and week out, Dimitar Berbatov is our best player; the third best player in the Premiership and part of the ‘team of the season’. Not sure if a person or a computer has counted all this but apparently our wonder has contributed 12 goals, 76 shots, 43 tackles, 31 clearances, seven interceptions, 30 dribbles, 388 passes, 21 crosses and 11 assists in 2,893 minutes of football. The other Spurs players who made it into the top 100 are Pascal Chimbonda (35^th; 8^th among defenders), Paul Robinson (38^th; 8^th among goalkeepers), Michael Dawson (39^th; 10^th among defenders), Aaron Lennon (68^th; 22^nd among midfielders) and Jermaine Jenas (99^th).

Some goal statistics

In all competitions:
30 games in 2006, 45 goals; 29 games in 2007, 59 goals
Scored 104, Conceded 76 = Difference +28
Scored 81% from open play, 7 % from penalties, 1 % from corners and 11 % from free kicks
Conceded 57% from open play, 13% from penalties, 13% from corners and 17% from free kicks

In the league only:
21 games in 2006, 25 goals; 17 games in 2007, 32 goals
Scored 57, Conceded 54 = Difference +3
Scored 75% from open play, 11% from penalties, 3% from corners and 11% from free kicks
Conceded 57% from open play, 11% from penalties, 13% from corners and 19% from free kicks

Simple summary: our goal scoring improved as the season progressed and we are better at open play than set pieces – both scoring from and defending against. One goal from a corner kick all season (unless, as I have done in the stats, we count Angel’s own goal at Villa Park, then it’s two) is just not good enough. Our free kick heroes, apart from Dimitar Berbatov (with his stunning kick against West Ham) and Paul Robinson (with the only slightly accidental goal against Watford) are Jermaine Jenas and Tom Huddlestone, who have taken all the remaining free kicks that have hit the target – directly on or with the ball being played in.
Our goal scorers: Berbatov (23), Keane (22), Defoe (18), Jenas (8), Lennon (5), Malbranque (5), Mido (5), Ghaly (3), Huddlestone (3), Murphy (2), Tainio (2), Dawson (1), Davenport (1), Chimbonda (1), Stalteri (1), Robinson (1).

A season of good and bad spells, an overall shaky defensive record balanced by a good scoring record; thankfully we did end the season with a positive goal difference. We didn’t win anything, but the season as a whole was an improvement on last and it can only be hoped that next season will be even better – we certainly seem to be the pundits’ favourites to break into the top four! Work on defending and set pieces, combined with a few relevant signings, should add consistency to our game and allow the development to continue. Attacking flair we already have... Right now the future looks bright.

(Image from www.tottenhamhotspur.com)

Tottenham 2-1 Manchester City

According to Bill Edgar of The Times, always a source of useful (or just silly) statistics, Manchester City’s 10 home goals of the season mean that they have broken the previous record for smallest amount of home goals in a campaign in the league. In any division. Ever. That's out of 8174 league campaigns since 1888. Despite all their problems in finding the net at all they have actually scored nearly twice as many away from home. So you could really bank on the fact that they would get one in here… All part of the entertainment. As are the sumptuous goals by Keane and Berbatov that we are so blessed with. The build-up to the first goal was a thing of beauty: King passed the ball to Gardner and made a run through the middle while Gardner found Berbatov, who flicked the ball with trademark elegance and uncanny precision back to King. King found Jenas, Jenas lifted the ball over the defenders, Keane swivelled and volleyed in.

Next up came a pass from Gardner, finding Berbatov via a Lennon dummy which sent Richard Dunne sprawling on the ground. It was a wonderful trick, and Berbatov continued the tricks as he tried to send the ball back to Lennon without taking his eyes off the defender in front of him. When the ball was, after all, intercepted, he got it back and smacked it past two defenders and goalkeeper into the corner. The direct route does work…

City came back with some pressure and a goal, the build-up of which had begun with an unfortunate Gardner back-pass. Hamann crossed for M’Penza, who headed in. Michael Johnson headed over an empty goal after Robinson had saved a shot from M’penza and our England goalkeeper had to make another cracking save from a powerful header by Beasley. Defoe, on as a substitute again, could also have added a goal to his name when he stepped up to take the penalty awarded for Dunne’s pushing of Zokora, but not only shot it within Isaksson’s reach – he then fired the rebound over the bar.

Tottenham
Robinson, Chimbonda, Dawson, King, Gardner, Lennon (Malbranque 75), Jenas, Zokora, Tainio, Keane (Defoe 81), Berbatov.
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Huddlestone, Assou-Ekotto.
Booked: Gardner.
Goals: Keane 10, Berbatov 32

Manchester City
Isaksson, Onuoha, Dunne, Distin (Hamann 28), Jordan, Vassell, Jihai, Johnson, Ireland, Beasley (Samaras 81), Mpenza.
Subs Not Used: Weaver, Dickov, Laird.
Booked: Vassell.
Goals: Mpenza 40

Attendance: 35,426
Referee: S Bennet

Celebratory hug between Keane and Berbatov, a regular feature these days (Image from www.tottenhamhotspur.com)

Tottenham 1-1 Blackburn

Three games in one week (again) was probably one of the reasons for Martin Jol to give Robbie Keane a rest and Jermain Defoe a long coveted start. Anthony Gardner made another emergency appearance at left-back and Hossam Ghaly made a much talked-about appearance as a substitute. Neither team controlled the game in the first half, a sparring-match more than anything else. There were some nice moves between Berbatov, Lennon and Defoe, of course, but headed efforts from Gardner and Chimbonda were about as close as we got to trouble Blackburn’s well organised defence. When Malbranque had to be substituted, injured by a tackle, after half an hour there was a further loss in fluency. Blackburn had similar problems, but found the target when a lovely cross from Pedersen was headed into goal by McCarthy on 30 minutes.

As the second half threatened to be a repeat of the first, Jol decided that the game needed Robbie Keane after all; the choice between Ghaly, who wasn’t having a great game and Lennon, who was a little, but not much, better, fell on Ghaly, who tore off his shirt, threw it to the ground and stormed off. This added a little drama to the evening, but not of the pleasant kind. The fans were disgusted. (Ghaly has since apologised and been forgiven, but speculations about his future are, predictably, rife.) Again Jol’s attacking substitution paid off and Keane made an instant impact on the game by energising his team mates; Spurs now were truly the stronger side. Some minutes later Keane sent a clever pass to Berbatov, who brilliantly worked the ball around the box and sent a low shot at goal which Friedel only managed to parry. Defoe, the third man in the attack, was in perfect position to tap in the rebound. After that we controlled the game, had several chances and should really have had a winner in injury time when Keane hit the post and Berbatov hit a free kick just over. Oh, well, point taken.

Tottenham
Robinson, Chimbonda, Dawson, King, Gardner, Lennon, Zokora, Tainio, Malbranque (Ghaly 29), Berbatov, Defoe, Ghaly (Keane 60).
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Huddlestone, Ifil.
Goals: Defoe 67

Blackburn
Friedel, Emerton, Samba, Nelsen, Warnock, Bentley, Kerimoglu (Gallagher 90), Mokoena (Derbyshire 76), Pedersen, McCarthy, Roberts.
Subs Not Used: Brown, Henchoz, Berner.
Sent Off: Roberts (90).
Booked: Mokoena, Pedersen, Roberts.
Goals: McCarthy 32

Attendance: 35,974
Referee: R Styles

Charlton 0-2 Tottenham

You have to feel sorry for Charlton, who, due to this result, have now been relegated and who fought for their lives throughout the game. They displayed passion and commitment and had spells of threatening possession as well as a fair amount of chances, but in the end lacked both cutting edge up front and solidity at the back.

Starting the game with some minutes of near complete possession, Spurs were put ahead by an astounding solo goal by Dimitar Berbatov in the seventh minute: gets the ball at the halfway line, flicks it past El Karkouri, who is unable to get past or stop him and takes his shot at the perfect moment. Unbelievable. See video below.

Charlton, fired up by this, came into the game after about 20 minutes, but were unable to cut through the Spurs defence completely. They tried to expose the soft spot that was left-back (Rocha filling in for Lee), and were nearly rewarded when Darren Bent’s cross found Alexandre Song’s head. The midfielder, however, headed out and Bent had a shot which also just failed to hit target. At half time, Ricardo Rocha, who had picked up an injury, had to be replaced by centre-half Anthony Gardner, recently back from injury. Alan Pardew replaced Song and Marcus Bent with Lloyd Sam and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, the latter forcing Robinson to diving save with a few minutes to go.

Spurs continued to pose a threat with elegant play, and Charlton continued to respond in what was an entertaining and clean game – no bookings and few free kicks. Berbatov had ample opportunity to showcase his skill with clever little balls and mazy runs – and also provided the best comedy moment of the game. Apparently forgetting who was playing left back, he sent a ball up the side which would have been excellent for Lennon or Lee, but which was impossible for Gardner to get near. The look of exasperation on the face of the big defender was priceless. A perfect ball to Jermain Defoe, who had replaced Keane with 6 minutes to go, became the final say in the game. The England striker timed his run, got past the defenders and sent the ball in a perfect arch over Carson and into the net. The UEFA cup beckons for Spurs, while Charlton are headed for a season in the Championship

Charlton
Carson, Young, El Karkouri, Diawara, Hreidarsson, Zheng (Hughes 84), Holland, Song Billong (Sam 71), Ambrose, Marcus Bent (Hasselbaink 71), Darren Bent.
Subs Not Used: Randolph, Bougherra.

Tottenham
Robinson, Chimbonda, Dawson, King, Rocha (Gardner 46), Lennon (Malbranque 60), Zokora, Jenas, Tainio, Keane (Defoe 84), Berbatov.
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Huddlestone.
Goals: Berbatov 7, Defoe 90.

Attendance: 26,339.
Referee: M Halsey

Weekend round-up

Apart from Spurs beating Middlesbrough 2-3 there was also:

Everton 2-4 Manchester United; Chelsea 2-2 Bolton
And for a while United’s title looked misplaced: 2 goals behind at Goodison Park, while Chelsea were 2-1 up at Stamford Bridge. Michael Carrick had inadvertently helped Alan Stubb’s free kick into goal and Manuel Fernandes had tricked Wes Brown and scored a lovely goal despite United dominating possession and play. But individual errors from Everton players soon put United level: goalkeeper Turner caught and released a corner kick, allowing John O’Shea to tap it in, and Phil Neville’s attempt at clearing a ball ended up in his own net. The tables had turned and there was time for Wayne Rooney, ferociously booed throughout, to score after a great effort and for substitute Eagles to cement the win with a neat shot. Meanwhile, at Stamford Bridge, Bolton had taken the lead with goal from Michalik only to see the lead become levelled and disappear as Salomon Kalou twice headed past Jaaskeleinen. But Bolton equalised, as Kevin Davies headed in a Gary Speed free kick, and Chelsea looked for, but were unable to find, a winner. The race is on, but advantage United.

Manchester City 0-2 Aston Villa
If most teams consider playing at home an advantage, Manchester City must at this point feel the opposite. Having failed to score, let alone win, at home since the 1^st of January, they have won 3, drawn 1 and only lost 1 of their last away fixtures. Despite playing with energy and matching Villa’s attempts, nothing found the goal and Sorenssen was never unduly troubled. Whether because he was getting bored or just because he was looking at the ball and nothing else, the Villa goalkeeper attacked and flattened Darius Vassell from behind, thus awarding City with a penalty. Joey Barton stepped up but fired it over the bar: Sorenssen remained untroubled and Barton must be regretting his harsh open criticism of his team. Surely that wasn’t worth paying for either…? Villa’s goals came from a powerful header by John Carew and a very well taken free kick by substitute Shaun Maloney.

Reading 1-0 Newcastle
The eagerly awaited return of Michael Owen, which lasted 90 minutes but only looked hopefully brilliant for the first part, ended up yielding an offside goal and some nice chances but no more. As Sibierski and Emre both had to be taken off for serious injury, Ameobi also made his return as a substitute. Newcastle looked bright in the early stages of the game, and in the first half Titus Bramble seemed to post the greatest threat to goalkeeper Harper with some deplorable back-passes. But Reading came back and Newcastle looked increasingly disorganised and seemed to have misplaced their central midfield entirely. Beautiful crosses from Solano and Milner found the middle but the Reading defence expertly trapped Owen, Ameobi and Martins offside. A well taken volley by Kitson put Reading deservedly ahead and they continued to press for more goals. If they keep this form up, the UEFA cup spot will come whether Steve Coppell wants it or not.

…and the rest:
Rafael Benitez, with one eye - or possibly both – firmly on next week’s Champions League fixture with Chelsea, had rested several of his key players and Portsmouth saw their opportunity and took it. Benjani Mwaruwari chipped a long goal kick past an advancing Jerzy Dudek and proceeded to head the ball in for their first; Niko Kranjcar, alone on the left hand side, controlled another long ball and nicely tucked it in for the second. Liverpool eventually responded with a corner kick header by Sami Hyypia; Portsmouth 2-1 Liverpool. Wigan were tortured by a rampant West Ham; the win for the Londoners put the teams on level points. Luis Boa Morte caught on to a long goal kick and his touch sent the ball bouncing over John Filan, who had misjudged the ball, and into the net. Yossi Benayoun found the goal mouth wide open as he finished off a wonderful attacking team effort and Boa Morte and Harewood combined to score a third; Wigan 0-3 West Ham. Charlton’s woes deepened after their trip to Blackburn: Scott Carson dropped the ball from Jason Robert’s strike and even if a header by Darren Bent put the visitors level, this was not Charlton’s finest hour. Ben Thatcher was sent off, Hermann Hreidarsson scored a clumsy own goal and a few minutes later it was Robert’s turn to shoot straight through all defensive attempts. A lovely Matt Derbyshire strike from the right in the 83^rd minute sealed the victory; Blackburn 4-1 Charlton. Sheffield United moved a step away from the immediate relegation bottom as a powerful strike by Michael Tonge secured a win over already relegated Watford; Sheffield United 1-0 Watford. Arsenal, ever wasteful with brilliant chances, but creating enough of them to get a few in by sheer statistical necessity, overcame Fulham by scoring two winning goals in the last six minutes. Having gone ahead with a header and seemingly cruising, their game regained urgency as Fulham equalised in the 78^th minute. But an Adebayor strike and a penalty allowed Arsenal to claim all the points and send Fulham deeper into relegation issues; Arsenal 3-1 Fulham.

…elsewhere:
I should add to the Scottish and Italian league title winners of last week that Lyon actually have secured the French Ligue 1 as well. Again. I forgot. Or perhaps don’t care enough? PSV Eindhoven won the Dutch league in style with a 5-1 win. And my UEFA-cup predictions have so far been completely off, as Espanyol beat Bremen 3-0 and Osasuna beat Sevilla 1-0. Of course return legs can change things for the losers who are at home next. Oh, who cares. In Sweden, Malmö FF completely destroyed AIK with a 4-0 home win. Delightful.