Tottenham desperately need victory tomorrow afternoon in order to keep their top four hopes alive this season. It is the kind of game that Tottenham have a habit of throwing away in the past and the travelling supporters will be hoping that Harry’s men can buck that particular trend on Sunday.
At FFC this week we have seen a mixed bag of Tottenham blogs that includes Greaves offers services to Defoe; Harry to gamble over Woodgate, while Spurs weigh up summer swoop.
We also look at the best Tottenham articles around the web this week.
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The Top TEN Premier League Wag Imports…well I would!
Top TEN funniest football chants of recent times
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Tottenham’s ‘Worst XI’ in recent memory?
Spurs legend offers solution to Tottenham’s most pressing problem?
So why are Harry, Kenny and Fergie keen to splash cash on him?
Why Leyton Orient should sue over Olympic decision
The Top 20 MVP’s in the Premier League – PART 2
Why Harry Redknapp should never manage England
Tottenham weigh up City swoop this summer
A contractual gamble Tottenham would be wise to take?
Why Harry Redknapp should stick to what he’s good at
Is Harry missing a trick by sanctioning loan deal?
*Best of Web*
From seaside to poolside – Spurs Musings From JimmyG2
Spurs – What’s The Point of a Football Club? – Tottenham On My Mind
Spurs stadium – It’s all gone quiet over there – Martin Cloake Online
10 Things You’ll Probably See From Spurs This Weekend – Dear Mr Levy
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David Lammy Strikes Again – Harry Hotspur
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Click on image below to see a gallery of Christian’s lady wife
Blaming rightly is as difficult as praising rightly in today’s media. We’re artisans in the field of praising easily and blaming all too swiftly but, invariably, it’s rash, emotional, vitriolic, overzealous, or short sighted. Fabio Capello had a starring role in the English pantomime abroad and I genuinely believe the only thing to surprise him about it all is the bewitching ability our media has to turn hope into hysteria and expectation into burden.
Not too long ago Gary Linekar presented Capello with the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach Award just for qualifying. And last week, after four terrible outings in South Africa by his players, there were emergency meetings held to decide whether he was even the right man to continue as manager. Several bad performances does not change the past and his past is a proven one: eight domestic titles spread over two countries (one now revoked after the infamous calciopoli scandal in 2006) and a Champions League success. Before we kill something, we should make sure we have something better to replace it with – who could the FA feasibly turn to?
But defeat leads to heightened scrutiny and everything came into question: why does he announce his team two hours before kickoff? Why doesn’t he change the formation? Why is Gerrard out on the left? Why, why, why? Naturally this all meant Gareth Southgate was forced to get philosophical on live TV and quote physicists, ‘Albert Einstein said insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.’ Whilst I don’t doubt the veracity of such a claim, perhaps its resonance for us – as an expectant public – should be more heavily contemplated; we have consistently failed to deliver anything resembling a crown-winning run at a major tournament over the past 12 years yet in the preamble to South Africa we toted ourselves as third favourites behind only Spain and Brazil. Don’t get me wrong, hope is a good thing. But hysteria isn’t.
The players are another gauge for a manager’s position and it was good to hear Jermain Defoe speak of Capello in a reasoned manner:
“If you speak to the rest of the players they will all say the same thing; he’s a great manager and his CV speaks for itself. He’s got great ideas and he was just a little bit unlucky I think. On record he is one of the best managers in the world and has been for a number of years so I can’t see why we would want to get rid of someone like that – it doesn’t make sense.”
And whilst the manager is culpable for tactical misjudgements what he cannot legislate for is injuries, individual errors and all-round uninspiring performances; Green’s opening game blunder and at least three indefensible mistakes against Germany were all compounded by Wayne Rooney looking unhappy throughout, Steven Gerrard being subdued, and Frank Lampard not resembling Frank Lampard. The team’s showing at the World Cup can be traced to a multitude of reasons – both short term (media scandal, injury to key players) and long term infrastructure (grassroots, the dearth of young veritable English talent coming through) – that Capello can do little, if anything, to control. Gary Neville shared an interesting point that many have been thinking in recent times:
“We have to question how good we truly are. Better than we performed in this World Cup, for sure, but have we over-estimated our strengths on the basis of our strong record in the Champions League? Possibly. The success of Manchester United and Chelsea cannot be a reliable guide to the merits of the England team, given the number of top-class players from overseas.”
This allows Capello to legitimately drop familiar faces from the ‘golden generation’ without as vociferous a media circus (the circus will always persist so long as there are papers to be sold and profits to be gained). The claim that his methods are too rigid and that he exhibited a lack of adaptability is unfounded because you simply cannot achieve his feats as a manager without being able to combine the players’ strengths (something that changes with every squad he’s ever worked with) with his own ideology – tactical and otherwise – of winning.
I think Neville’s sentiments go a long way in explaining one of the overarching, endemic problems this nation faces. And it is difficult to expect one manager, however good he is, to remedy a cultural failing. What we can judge him more fairly on is how he addresses the inevitable changes in personnel the World Cup exit begets.
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Click on image below to see the Dutch babes at the World Cup
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Every season the Arsenal defence is barracked for being diabolical and costing the club every trophy under the sun. Regular comments that come from the terraces at the Emirates single out the need for a world class goalkeeper and central defender to replace the so-called imbeciles currently taking the shirts.
And in some cases it is true. The 2011 League Cup is the most glaring example, when an embarrassing mix-up between Szczesny and Koscielny gifted Birmingham the win and this can be seen as the point that ruined a season where Arsene Wenger’s side were fighting on four different fronts.
But it could also be argued that Arsenal are losing just as many games because of problems much higher up the pitch. Take the same game for instance. In the League Cup final, they had umpteen chances to close out that match, with Ben Foster making some top drawer saves to keep out Bendtner and Arshavin, as well as denying Nasri on three separate occasions. If a third of the chances Arsenal had in the game had gone in then that blunder would have meant nothing to the result.
The same thing has shown itself this season. They wasted far too many goalscoring opportunities on the opening day against Newcastle and failed to score again when Liverpool visited the Emirates, while only scoring one against Swansea who were still finding their Premier League feet at that point and it is just as problematic as the back line for the Gunners.
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Yes, Robin van Persie is fit and on fire recently which means that goals are almost guaranteed. If it wasn’t for him, the win against Stoke on Sunday would have been a draw, the victory over Sunderland a defeat and many more of Arsenal’s 13 points would be relinquished without him. But where do they go when he can’t play? And what can the Dutchman and his fellow strikers do if things start to go wrong? The answer, it seems, is nothing.
When Emmanuel Adebayor left for moneybags Manchester City in 2009, Arsenal lost their plan B attacking style. Not to say that the Togolese striker was only good for an alternative style of play because he had great feet but his height and strength meant that if things weren’t going well there was a target man to aim a long ball to.
Since then there has been no plan B at the Emirates and if Arsenal are going to seriously challenge for titles they need to be able to switch systems when their backs are against the walls in big games.
Take the humiliation they suffered at Old Trafford (the home of hammerings this season) and Arsenal were still trying to play passing, attacking football when they were being torn apart. There was no long ball tactic or striker that could hold the ball up so the waves of red shirts kept coming back at them relentlessly.
The team has been crying out for a no-nonsense centre-forward to come in and make that position their own. Van Persie is a brilliant forward but he is better suited to collecting the ball, having it at his feet and doing something special rather than being confined to an aerial battle and that is the predicament Wenger has with all of his striking options.
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Marouane Chamakh is the person closest to filling that gap but his heading ability is poor. Like Van Persie, deliver the ball into the Moroccan along the floor and his quick feet and pace will cause defenders problems. However, he hasn’t hit the height expected of him when he brought his fantastic Ligue 1 scoring record across the Channel. With players around him showing similar skills but scoring goals while he struggles to adapt he cannot be given a role of leading the line and the rumours of a move back to France may well spell the end of his time at the Emirates.
Another French import is summer signing Gervinho, who has fared better since his move. Although only scoring two goals so far he has fitted into the side quickly and had his best game for the Gunners on Sunday, scoring one and setting up both Van Persie goals in the 3-1 win. He is also a more physical prospect than Chamakh as was proven by him slapping Joey Barton on his Premier League debut. But again he is still a player best suited to football on the ground and has been wasteful of chances which at the highest level can be very expensive.
Fellow new signing Chu Young Park will not be able to fill the glaring hole at Arsenal either. Signed for £3.4 million, the 26-year-old has been dubbed ‘not ready’ for the first team by Arsene Wenger, a worrying admission by a man usually so frugal with money. He averaged one goal every four games for Monaco which is not a bad record, but like many of Wenger’s French imports the pace and brutality of English football see them fall from grace. The player has all the attributes for a top striker but is once again in this mould of player that wants the ball to his feet and will struggle to fight for it.
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And finally there’s the talisman, Robin Van Persie. A prolific goalscorer but all too often injured. He has scored 24 goals in 26 appearances in 2011 and the only player that impressed for the Gunners after the League Cup final debacle. But his injury record speaks for itself. In 2007 Van Persie broke his metatarsal celebrating a goal against Man United, meaning he missed the Carling Cup final which his side subsequently lost 2-1, the following year he was top scorer at the club despite missing most of the season with a knee injury as Arsenal finished just four points off the lead and again last season, missing the first half of the campaign then getting injured again in the infamous final.
While he is on the pitch he is a star, but when he’s injured the cupboard is bare for Arsene Wenger and he needs to change it soon. He has Theo Walcott asking to play up front but his goalscoring record is hardly a shining CV and again he brings nothing to the table that the club doesn’t already have. So who outside the club could they take?
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Although not a likely option, Chelsea’s Didier Drogba fits the bill perfectly. Physical, good in the air and a fantastic finisher, he would be the saviour if he were to arrive at the Emirates. But more realistically, a man such as Roque Santa Cruz, currently not wanted by Manchester City and on loan at Real Betis would be a good addition to lead the line alongside van Persie, or even consistent defender breaker and goal finder Kevin Davies to give Arsenal a dimension so dramatically lacking from their play.
Now for any Gunners fans tearing their hair out at the mention of big bruiser Kevin Davies being the man to save their stylish, sophisticated football club, think of this.
Apart from Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea team, many of the best clubs in the world have had defensive troubles. The famous treble winning Manchester United team weren’t the strongest at the back. They were held together by Peter Schmeichel and maintained the philosophy of scoring one more than their opponents. It is the same with the successful Real Madrid sides at the turn of the century and the Barcelona team of now, there weaknesses are their defence but they score so freely that no-one cares. Even the Newcastle team that nearly made it big had that theory. It’s time Arsene Wenger and Arsenal fans stopped bemoaning their defence and asked the strikers around Robin van Persie to do their job.
To talk about anything football, follow me on Twitter @jrobbins1991.
After the heroics of English clubs in the Champions League this week, we reach the FA Cup 5th round weekend with Crawley attempting to pull off the greatest shock of all time at Old Trafford. You do sense that all the games are likely to go in favour of the Premier League sides as the draw has been extremely kind to them.
In the papers this morning there have been a mixed bag of stories that includes fan fury at Champions League prices; Joe Jordan refutes Gattuso claims, while Chelsea hit with fixture pile-up.
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Fans furious at price hike for Champions League final tickets – Guardian
Utd ace will stay for Evra more – Sun
Champions League is my No 1! Lamps would sacrifice title for Euro glory – Daily Mail
Newcastle’s Enrique flattered by Liverpool link – Mirror
FA Cup still tarnished by Premier League – Daily Telegraph
Jordan refutes Gattuso claims – Sky Sports
Fixture chaos hits Blues hopes – Sun
Wilshere sets his sights on Arsenal ending Barcelona’s European dream – Daily Mail
Fifa match-fixing probe – Daily Telegraph
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Adebayor urges Cesc to join him at Real Madrid – Mirror
Tottenham set to pip rivals Arsenal in race to land £15m-rated Wickham – Daily Mail
Fabio Capello will discuss his future with the Football Association in the wake of England's humbling World Cup exit.
Capello revealed after Sunday's 4-1 defeat to Germany in the last 16 that he was planning to hold talks with Club England chairman Sir David Richards to discover whether the FA still retained faith in him.
The 64-year-old Italian still has two years remaining on his £6million-a-year contract but has been left fighting for his future following England's dire performance in South Africa.
Asked if he was considering resigning in the aftermath of England's worst-ever World Cup finals defeat, he said:"Absolutely not.
"But I want to speak with the chairman and then decide my future and I need to know whether the FA have confidence in me or not."
Capello will hold a press conference on Monday lunchtime where he will face questions about England's disappointing campaign, which brought two draws and one win in the group stage before the last 16 debacle.
"We probably arrived a little bit tired at the end of the season," suggested Capello immediately after the defeat in Bloemfontein which included a disallowed goal for Frank Lampard when the ball had clearly crossed the line with the Three Lions trailing 2-1 at the time.
"But after the game that they played against Slovenia, we suffered from Germany's speed.
"But I say again, I am sure that a big mistake from the referee stopped us from going forward.
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"We scored. It is incredible. In this period of technology, in this period where we can have five referees, we cannot decide if that was a goal or not.
"We have to speak about this goal. We have to speak about a mistake from the linesman – and the referee because I could see it had gone in from the touchline. I saw the ball bounce and go over the line.
"I do not understand this mistake."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
The other day whilst trying to avoid the blanket coverage of the Olympics, and desperately trying to find some football to watch, I stumbled across ITV4 and an edition of The Big Match Revisited.
One of the main games was Saints against Manchester City from March 1983. This was a Southampton side that had struggled in the first half of their first Keegan-less season, but who had recovered from being in the relegation zone to challenging for a place in Europe. They were up against a Manchester City side that were on their way to relegation on that fateful day at Maine Road when Luton’s Raddy Antic would score the winning goal, causing David Pleat to skip in a rather campy way across the Maine Road mud in celebration in one of the era’s defining football moments.
Saints won this match at a canter and thanks to a Steve Moran hat-trick, they stormed into a 4-0 lead by half-time, but in reality it could have quite easily have been 8-0 at half-time. City would grab a consolation, and a relaxed Saints side would fail to add to their tally in the second-half, but Moran could have bagged 6 goals all by himself.
This Sunday Saints make the journey to Manchester in a match that could well see a reversal of that match from nearly 30 years ago. I do not think many people would be surprised if the home side are once again four goals to the good at the interval, because the gulf between the two sides is at this moment in time, is an almighty chasm.
Maybe just maybe playing the champions first before they get into their stride could be a blessing in disguise, but having watched them in the community shield last Sunday they are already looking the business, especially going forward.
There are many unanswered questions regarding Saints at the moment, and the lack of strengthening in defensive areas is more than just a minor concern.
We still have a defence that at times last season was woefully outpaced by a number of mediocre attacking players and with an ageing Kelvin Davies between the posts we are more than capable of shifting a large amount of goals this season. Add to that the less than impressive pre-season results, and the fixture computer doing us no favours with the toughest start of any of the three promoted clubs then you have a recipe for a string of early and potentially heavy defeats.
Just why there has been a lack of signings is a question that only the powers at be at the club can answer and with no news coming out of the club for weeks, all kinds of rumours are doing the rounds on message boards at the moment. Rumours still persist, that manager Nigel Adkins job is on less than solid ground, and there has been a few rumbling’s of discontent with a new 4-3-3 formation that has appeared to contribute to some pre-season defeats.
What am I expecting on Sunday? Well obviously I am hoping for a win, unlikely I know, but even the most boring of goalless draws would be welcome, that is also unlikely. What is more likely is that we are on the receiving end of a football lesson, a sort of “welcome to the Premier League, boys” type hammering. I hope I am wrong and to be honest I am expecting a defeat, I just hope it is not a heavy one.
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As for what I am expecting to happen this season, well we will do one of three things. We will either do what Norwich and Swansea did last season, and avoid any last day relegation drama, or we will revert back to how we used to be, i.e. play rubbish until April then start winning and survive by the skin of our teeth. Or the worst case scenario is that Derby County’s record low points total from a few seasons ago will be seriously under threat.
Nigel Adkins has come out and said that he expects some more signings to arrive at St. Marys before the closure of the transfer window at the end of August. Whether he will still be manager of the team by then remains to be seen.
Arsenal are facing a battle with Real Madrid with both clubs hunting the signature of highly-rated Lille star Eden Hazard, the Mirror understands.
The Gunners have been chasing Hazard for over two years and failed to sign the Belgian schemer during the summer as he strived to replace Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri after they departed the Emirates.
It’s now emerged that Madrid’s director of football, Zinedine Zidane, has singled out the 20-year-old as the next Galactico and even tried to convince Lille to ignore any approaches from North London.
Bernabeu legend Zidane has made Hazard the number one transfer target for Los Merengues and is prepared to go all out to convince the midfielder to make the move to Spain.
That could prove to be a huge blow to Arsene Wenger’s aspirations of bringing Hazard to the club, with the La Liga giants a more attractive proposition than the crisis-stricken Gunners.
The Frenchman has endured a testing few months of late, losing Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri in the summer before overseeing the club’s worst start to a season during his 14 year tenure.
News of Madrid’s interest in Hazard will come as another bitter blow to his future plans and he knows it will be a huge task to convince Hazard to snub La Liga for the Premier League.
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Leaders Lille host Claude Puel’s Lyon as first meets fourth in a Ligue 1 blockbuster on Sunday.Four points separate the title rivals, and Puel’s men will be aiming to capitalise on Lille’s unexpected 1-0 defeat to Montpellier last time out and cut their gap on Rudi Garcia’s side to one point.Puel claims his side are in their best shape yet to topple the leaders, having scored four goals in each of their past two league outings.”There’s some chemistry within the squad,” Puel said. “It shows the quality of our squad and its mindset. If we keep that mindset, we can do some very good things until the end of the season.”Lille boss Garcia admitted his side did not look like genuine championship contenders in the Montpellier defeat, a result which ended their 13-match unbeaten streak.”We were no longer used to not taking points,” Garcia said. “We’ll have to refocus and make sure everybody does more because we didn’t see a team leading the league, and doing anything to take points.”Fresh from securing a spot in the final 16 of the Europa League, Paris Saint-Germain can build more confidence with a home victory over Toulouse.Elsewhere, Nancy, who have lost five of their past six league clashes, must overcome another large hurdle in their relegation battle when they host third-placed Marseille.On Saturday, second-placed Stade Rennes host relegation-threatened Lens, Saint-Etienne and Nice go head-to-head with both sides looking to break two-game losing streaks, while Sochaux welcome Montpellier to the Stade Auguste Bonal.In other fixtures, Valenciennes take on Lorient, Bordeaux host Auxerre, Caen travel to Monaco and bottom side Arles face Brest.
Avram Grant has been confirmed as the new manager of West Ham United on a four-year contract.
Grant was widely expected to take the reins at Upton Park after standing down as Portsmouth manager on May 20.
The Israeli coach led a beleaguered south coast club to the FA Cup final last season and was the only candidate interviewed for the job by joint chairmen David Sullivan and David Gold.
"I am proud and honoured to be the manager of West Ham. It will be an exciting challenge and I am ready to do my best," the former Chelsea manager told the club's official website.
"This is a fantastic club with great fans and a history that is respected around the world.
"I am already looking forward to getting to work with my players in July and preparing for the new season."
The Hammers parted company with Gianfranco Zola last month after he had guided them away from the Premier League's relegation zone and Sullivan is confident that he has appointed the right man to revitalise the east London club.
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He explained:"We have taken our time over this appointment and are certain we have got the right man.
"We are all looking forward to next season with new players coming in and Avram's arrival is just the latest reason for real optimism."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Christian Eriksen is a summer transfer target for French champions Paris Saint-Germain as they look to bolster their squad in pursuit of that elusive first Champions League trophy, according to the Express.
However, Eriksen is as important as anyone at Tottenham to Mauricio Pochettino’s plans and he cannot be allowed to leave. Spurs will be hoping he doesn’t want to force a move.
What’s the story, then?
The Express report states that PSG, who will be managed by Thomas Tuchel next season, have identified the Danish playmaker as a man who can take them onto that much-coveted European glory.
It goes on to say that the Parisians are willing to pay up to £100m for the 26-year-old, who is valued at £63m by Transfermarkt – as a good World Cup could increase his value and put him in the shop window somewhat.
Eriksen is one of only three Premier League players to provide ten or more goals and assists in the top flight this season and stepped up to the plate as Tottenham’s talisman during the injury-enforced absence of Harry Kane.
Spurs can’t let him leave
In some ways, PSG’s pursuit of a first Champions League is similar to Pochettino’s ambitions to get that maiden pot at Tottenham; they are both considerable monkeys to get off their back.
Of course, the two clubs are going about the challenge in different ways and Spurs will hope that Eriksen is more seduced by Pochettino’s methods than PSG’s cynical spending approach.
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If the Dane enjoys a good World Cup, he could find himself at the top of shopping lists around Europe, which would really give him a decision to make. Spurs have to keep him.