Official Tottenham Hotspur Thread

[and1GS]

Hmm, I hadn't really noticed that about Walker, but I have seen that he's been extremely shakey on D when he's either off the ball or defending air balls. Unfortunate.

IDK what to make of Huddlestone. Fantastic passer, great on set pieces, brilliant composure but he really seems to have poor conditioning and suck on defense for someone at the CDM position.

Jan looked good back at LCB...maybe we should keep playing him there.

[Massimo]

What is the best Tottenham forum?

[Baphomet]

Hmm, I hadn't really noticed that about Walker, but I have seen that he's been extremely shakey on D when he's either off the ball or defending air balls. Unfortunate.

IDK what to make of Huddlestone. Fantastic passer, great on set pieces, brilliant composure but he really seems to have poor conditioning and suck on defense for someone at the CDM position.

Jan looked good back at LCB...maybe we should keep playing him there.

Yeah I've been fairly impressed with Jan playing in that position, especially against Man United where he made that soaring run forwards in the first few minute and got a deflected goal from it. Defensively it's not ideal as he's going to be outpaced by most wingers in the EPL, but he's got good enough defensive instincts to deal with most threats. His composure on the ball is also great for a defender.

Going into the game against Southampton I'm thinking we'll probably stick with Walker - Gallas - Caulker - Vertonghen as our back four, though I wouldn't mind seeing Dawson or Naughton (I think I heard the commentator say Daws was out with a migraine for a few days, though). Southampton aren't exactly Chelsea caliber going forward, but I hope Walker can sort himself out. He's been getting flack from Spurs fans on Twitter which is disgraceful and may be part of what's affecting his confidence -- a fragile ego is still very much an issue for a young guy like him.

Twitter seems to be more trouble than it's worth for football players right now.

What is the best Tottenham forum?

http://www.tottenhamhotspurs.tv/forum/

This place is usually pretty active.

[and1GS]

Ya, he quit twitter as a result of it. Disgusting, I feel awful for him.

Southampton match should be interesting. It'll be a chance to see if everything is really starting to click or not.

[Baphomet]

I've always insisted that we have great fans, but I've been a little disappointed this season. Booing at half-time when we're not winning, incessant criticisms of AVB purely because of his Chelsea past, and now giving Walker stick. It's only a representation of a small minority of Spurs fans, but it gives us a bad reputation regardless.

Southampton are a decent side, we'd be wise not to underestimate them. Bale should be back, though I doubt Dembele will. Still, with Sigurdsson's performances steadily improving he should at least be able to plug the gap without too much disjoint.

[and1GS]

What do you make of Sigurdsson's development thus far and where it will take him in the future? As of right now he reminds me quite a bit of a poor man's version of our most recent technically skilled yet plodding CAM, VDV. Obviously he's nowhere near that level yet, but I wouldn't be too surprised if he ended up a slightly less skilled version of Rafa.

His finishing has really been bleh though, and I don't count the goal against Maribor as anything. In our side whoever is playing attacking mid needs to have the capability to score on something other than free kicks, which I don't think Gylfi can do yet. The potential's there though.

[Baphomet]

He's a very young guy, which means it's his mental attributes that have the most to improve. He's clearly a good striker of the ball from his free kicks, he's just not selecting 'smart' shots, he panics and lashes at the ball resulting in an inferior end product. He's never a player who will be world class, but he's young and can become a solid starting caliber 'glue' player on a champions league quality team (think Carrick or Milner).

As long as he's playing alongside guys like Parker and Dembele he has someone to take cue from, so hopefully those guys will help him grow.

[and1GS]

But when will those two return from injury? I understand Parker had a setback, but I'm in the dark on the Dembele situation.

[Baphomet]

Despite not playing our best football, we find ourselves 4th in the league. What does that say about this team's ceiling? As the players acclimate fully to AVB's aggressive pressing and high line, we will begin to see what this team is really capable of. In January, I hope that we buy more players that suit this system, and try to sell those that don't. And even now, the prem table is good reading (points section got cropped out by the post width limitation, but you get the idea)

But when will those two return from injury? I understand Parker had a setback, but I'm in the dark on the Dembele situation.

If we beat Wigan next week and United and Arsenal play to a draw or United win, we'll be in an even better position. I really have no clue when those guys are coming back from injury, but I hope that Dembele will return for the back to back away games against Man City and Arsenal coming up in a couple of weeks.

Another thing, how awesome has Aaron Lennon been lately? It's really a joy watching him play, and he seems so much more determined and motivated now. I feel like he'd given up on being a constant first team fixture under Harry because of injury setbacks and falling out of favour, and he seems renewed under new management. I hope it continues.

[and1GS]

Ya, it really is nice to see. He's second to none on our team when it comes to crossing the ball.

I think this has been a nice start to the seasons given that we played Chelsea hard without our 2 best players, And were beating teams we need to beat, except for Newcastle but that was to be expected. I think players are adapting very well to the new system but I'd still like to see more Lloris and Ade, who I think is a better fit in AVB's system than Defoe is despite his recent run of form.

[and1GS]

Are you **** joking me, this match is so frustrating. Missed PK from Dempsey and a lazy OG by Jan. Looks like were out.

[Baphomet]

This team is truly a disaster at the back. Just so lazy and undisciplined. As soon as a team puts pressure on we fold.

Despite Bale putting in another great performance we ended up losing because of our garbage defence. And come on, why the heck wasn't Bale taking that penalty? I had no confidence in Dempsey when he came up to take it, and my lack of faith was justified.

[and1GS]

Bale should have gotten the nod, but on that note I think he should be relieved of his spot kick duties. It's a lot of flash with no substance, only time I've seen him score off a FK is off a deflection. I understand he's our best player and we want the game in his hands, but there are better options when we know the chances are slim at making it from distance. Hudd and Sigurdsson would give the same returns IMO.

Walker with some more WTF moments. clearing the ball straight up into the air was just odd. He makes some blunders at times that I don't even think a youth player would commit. Hard to take him off the pitch though because he's such a solid player.

Defense was porous, CBs were getting torn up save for some lucky sliding saves by Caulker.

[and1GS]

I don't even want to watch the Arsenal match, too depressing. We always get lit up by them.

[Baphomet]

I don't even want to watch the Arsenal match, too depressing. We always get lit up by them.

Spurs in general seems like a pretty depressing topic right now. Can't even begin to explain how sick I am of Gallas and Dempsey.

We haven't got a single point since I posted that league table at the end of October.

[and1GS]

I haven't watched a game since then. Too depressing to see Bale wilt away on the outside while Dembele is still sidelined and Ade remains clueless.

[Baphomet]

For what it's worth, I thought AVB made the right choice in trying to play attacking football despite losing Ade early and being 1-0 up. We put in a ballsy performance, and the scoreline did not reflect that at all. Don't get me wrong, Arsenal were incisive in their attacking play and Cazorla was awesome, we were just left with no width and Arsenal exploited that.

Despite playing with 10 men, we didn't look terrible at all. I'm still confident that we'll make a nice push as soon as we're healthy and can pick up some AVB targets in January.

[and1GS]

Apparently we have a 20 mill pound transfer budget, who can we get with that? We seem to love Willian from Shaktar Donuts, and he seems to be a solid winger for depth but what we really need is some depth/starting caliber players on the back line.

[Baphomet]

Apparently we have a 20 mill pound transfer budget, who can we get with that? We seem to love Willian from Shaktar Donuts, and he seems to be a solid winger for depth but what we really need is some depth/starting caliber players on the back line.

There's some buzz of Christian Eriksen to Spurs, but I don't think there's anything to it. Frank De Boer himself said that it's getting increasingly difficult to keep him with the way he's been playing, and that he's shown interest in leaving for other clubs. I'd assume he'd be more interested in teams that are CL regulars, but who knows.

I'd be a lot happier with Eriksen than Willian. He addresses a more pressing concern of creativity in the midfield, something we've been sorely lacking since VDV and Modric left.

[5DOM]

Very disturbing news: a couple of Tottenham supporters have been stabbed by Ultras in Rome