Tottingham Hotspurs v Aston Villa PREMIER LEAGUE Saturday 10th August 17.30 k.o. | Page 35 | Vital Football

Tottingham Hotspurs v Aston Villa PREMIER LEAGUE Saturday 10th August 17.30 k.o.

Well, supping a cup of tea and time to reflect. I enjoyed the game, so much so losing doesn't matter too much; with 20 minutes to go we looked as though we might sneak a win. We played as a team, remarkable considering the changes. Our defence, the cornerstone of a good PL season, looked terrific. In McGinn, and maybe Trezeguet, we have a game changer. Wesley and El Ghazi will improve. Hourihane was fine.

Bit worried about Jack, definitely no quite there. The subs didn't add up to much but maybe that was to be expected.

Looking ahead, feel sure we'll be OK, partly because DS will be driving them on to win. Bournemouth will be a different sort of test. But at this stage of the season, even if we lose I don't think it matters too much, just so long as we iron out the bugs. I'm sure we have a good enough squad.
Bournemouth at home is a must win game even from a staying up point of view.
 
Consider there were were four new players in the starting line up (according to my maths) and 2 or arguably 3 players who aren’t PL material it was a good effort - but also a wake up call.

Assuming the players gel we should be far better than the teams that were finishing 16th for a few seasons before finally getting what we deserved.

The only new signing I thought was poor compared to his transfer price was the guy spurs signed in the middle - good goal but he didn’t look £50m good.
 
Consider there were were four new players in the starting line up (according to my maths) and 2 or arguably 3 players who aren’t PL material it was a good effort - but also a wake up call.

Assuming the players gel we should be far better than the teams that were finishing 16th for a few seasons before finally getting what we deserved.

The only new signing I thought was poor compared to his transfer price was the guy spurs signed in the middle - good goal but he didn’t look £50m good.
Unless you count El Ghazi as a new signing. I thank him for his involvement in the playoff final but he was incredibly out of his depth today. Luckily Trezeguet looks top class.
 
Got home close to midnight last night. Had a great day regardless of the result and the support from our fans was fantastic, was unreal when we went 0-1 up everyone just seemed to be in shock, great moment. Didn’t go down there with any expectation so to see us lead for so long against a team that played in the CL final 2 months was a good effort, I don’t see anything from that game that makes me think we’ll struggle, I’m sure there’ll be 3 far worse teams than us.

As for the ground, was great walking up from seven sisters and seeing it in the distance. Absolutely fantastic ground inside and out but what is the point of that single tier 17,000 odd capacity standing end if they don’t stand and sing? Looks good but that’s about it, expected more but as it stands it’s just a bit of a nuance from their mates place down the road.
 
Last edited:
We played well enough in the first half yesterday , and the fact that we are bound to improve gives me plenty of encouragement for the rest of the season.

I still can't emphasise how good Spurs were in the second half though.
 
Unless you count El Ghazi as a new signing. I thank him for his involvement in the playoff final but he was incredibly out of his depth today. Luckily Trezeguet looks top class.

Heaton, Engels, Trezeguet and Wesley.

Players not premier league: Elmo & Taylor, you could argue that Hourihane and el ghazi would be better as squad players.

I’m not slating the players that aren’t good enough, it’s my take on the context of yesterday in order to be positive about the rest of the season. Credit to Taylor he did play well, I think spurs’ game plan to play though the middle helped him but against teams who play with more pace and wider he’ll be up against it.
 
Last edited:
Heaton, Engels, Trezeguet and Wesley.

Players not premier league: Elmo & Taylor, you could argue that Hourihane and el ghazi would better squad players.

I’m not slating the players that aren’t good enough, it’s my take on the context of yesterday in order to be positive about the rest of the season. Credit to Taylor he did play well, I think spurs’ game plan to play though the middle helped him but against teams who play with more pace and wider he’ll be up against it.
Totally agree with the players you've picked out there. I'll be slightly peeved if any of those four get picked ahead of Jota, Douglas/Marvelous, Targett and Guilbert nedt week.
 
Totally agree with the players you've picked out there. I'll be slightly peeved if any of those four get picked ahead of Jota, Douglas/Marvelous, Targett and Guilbert nedt week.

Which is exactly my point, get those lot in and I think we’re even better. Though I also get why DS picked a few of last seasons guard to start the game.

I was over the result a split second after Kane’s second. Every club in the lower half will do amazingly well to come away with anything better than a point at WHL
 
In the words of Paul Merson today when he had been asked by fans about us this season: he had said "you will be alright"

He said fans had been shocked and said "Really! Is that it?" Just hope the majority will be realistic. There will always be a few who arent

I think we will be alright however this is the P.L, a new team etc. We arent going to be setting the prem alight. Being alright and steady away is ok.

Promising today

Was about to comment on that myself - unrealistic expectations, especially at VP which doesn't have the best reputation for bedding in new players, is one of the major pivots for our season.

Hopefully, if everyone can see the effort being put in, if not the outright results, we'll be ok but VP really does need to be a fortress for us this season and that's going to be 50% players and 50% our home crowd ...
 
West Ham and Norwich are proof that the top teams in the PL are even more polarised than before in terms of their superiority. Back in the day Man Utd and arsenal won by a goal or two at a push.

I actually think in terms of how we tried to play yesterday we could get a cheeky result at one of either United or Arsenal.
 
Jota was awful when he came on . Blind alleys and gave the ball away

Difficult circumstances to come in I agree.

But he was awful. Can see why Deano didn't start him if that is what he has showed in training.
Yeah he was ridiculously nervy. Got to start him next week though with Villa Park supporting him.
 
Jota was awful when he came on . Blind alleys and gave the ball away

Difficult circumstances to come in I agree.

But he was awful. Can see why Deano didn't start him if that is what he has showed in training.
He was very poor but I’ll reserve judgement until I’ve seen more of him.

I felt that that he was the wrong type of player for the situation. He suits a system when we have possession and he can play passes in and around the box, whereas Trezeguet looked more direct and pacey which is more suited to a counter attacking match plan. As soon as Trezeguet went off our attacking threat fell away immediately and that’s when it became even more one sided which allowed them to score. His pace and direct running meant their defenders always had something to think about, something Jota doesn’t offer. I assume Trez ran out of steam because I was really impressed by him and thought he should have stayed on
 
Lots of positives first half but the second half we were very poor I thought, we came out after half time all smiles and just did not seem focussed compared to Spurs.

We looked very lightweight second half and jeez Wesley looked awful.

Mings, Engels and Taylor were excellent all game I thought along with Heaton.

Our midfield needs to be far stronger as game goes on, they were nowhere second half as we just kept giving the ball away.

Yup, I made the point pre-season that CM was going to be the real test for us this season given we've got two "fancy Dans" in Grealish and McGinn in there with only Hourihane to rely on as a DM.

That said, we were obviously knackered after an hour and when Hourihane went off we proper wilted so he was obviously contributing but I would sincerely hope that one or both of Marvelous and/or Luiz can shore us up in that department.

I'm really positive after that game - pre-match I said I'd expect a 2-3 goal loss away to a proper PL/CL team so being in front after an hour (and deserving it) was a real achievement IMO and fully indicative of what we CAN achieve with the players we have if they continue to graft as they did yesterday.

Most of the pundits seem to be giving us props after the game and rightly so IMO - first game, loads of new players, we can only get better if everyone pulls together.
 
What we should remember is that Spuds were runners up in the Champions League and beat some impressive opposition. Would we be looking at positive results against the likes of Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund, Citeh or Ajax yesterday? Probably not. Spurs were able to overcome those and lost a lackluster final to the Dippers. We are operating at a different level to when we were relegated and we have to accept that we have some way to go to be able to get back up with the best.
I am pleased to see that people are not up in arms yet about a loss to a top side. I think that we can write off 36 points for the season and we have to play for a maximum of 78 points. If we can get over half of those points, we will survive and then we can build further. The key is that Villa Park becomes a fortress against the other 13 teams and that needs to start next Saturday.
 
Big Wes got better in the second half when he realised football is easier on your feet. Douglas Luiz had one touch in particular which was dripping with class. Trez looked at home. Engels looked calm and collected under constant pressure. Mings the same. McGinn was my major concern making the step up and I was totally wrong. El Ghazi didn't measure up against Premier League opposition but he deserves a chance. Jack Jack Jack... let it be a lesson that you can't dawdle on the ball in this league, but he'll be better for it. Heaton is ten points in gloves.

TL;DR: We'll be fine.
 
i thought wes looked poor and went down far to easy for a guy his size im not a fan of play acting and trying to con the ref .
 
Unless you count El Ghazi as a new signing. I thank him for his involvement in the playoff final but he was incredibly out of his depth today. Luckily Trezeguet looks top class.

Possibly unfairly, I can't remember anything El Ghazi did all game - too powder puff for me and his ratio of promising position > nothing coming from it is way too low for me, even in the Championship, I was honestly surprised when we signed him but perhaps he'll man up as he needs to.