My only negative in victory; Familiar faces in transfer rumours again

The mighty Spurs got back to winning ways yesterday with a 2-1 victory over Sunderland at the Lane, with goals from Christian Eriksen and Jan Vertonghen ensuring the three points went to the hosts.

With the game tied at 1-1 there was an ominous feeling that we might not get the result that the side deserved for its enterprising play, but the delightful Dane popped up with a well-taken late winner.

All-in-all, Pochettino’s men dominated the game from first minute to last, limiting Gus Poyet’s side to rare visits to the Tottenham half - on another day Spurs would have scored a lot more.

Although Hugo Lloris was again called into action to make a number of first-rate saves, my only major concern was a lack of quality delivery in the final third.

Kyle Walker in particular was guilty of wasting excellent positions due to two-against-one situations on the right flank. With time to deliver quality, the number of times the defender hit the first man with a cross or launched it aimlessly into the opponents’ penalty area was frustrating.

The England right-back was not the only offender. With Roberto Soldado given the nod in attack and desperate for goals, the rest of the team did not help him by offering up inviting crosses or enough balls to attack.

Eriksen put in a man-of-the-match performance and is one of the most gifted attacking midfielders in Europe at the moment, but the former Ajax man’s corners were dreadful, not for the first time this season.

It is impossible to fault his game in open play as he was the heartbeat of the Spurs side, but a player of such quality should be able to offer better delivery from set pieces.

Konoplyanka…..again

The Daily Mail have this morning suggested that Spurs are back in for Ukraine winger Yevhen Konoplyanka.

The Ukraine international had been linked with a switch to White Hart Lane in 2013 and 2014, but interest seemed over when Liverpool came close to signing the Dnipro man a year ago.

The 25-year-old is out of contract with the Ukrainian club in the summer and as such is free to sign a deal to move to North London for free ahead of next season.

However, with the report listing the likes of Manchester United, Monaco and Inter Milan as fellow suitors, Spurs are believed to be in negotiations over a £7 million immediate transfer.

Konoplyanka has shown considerable ability both for his national side and in Europe with Dnipro; as such there is no doubting that he would provide extra competition for places in wide areas for Spurs.

With Aaron Lennon’s days appearing numbered, the Ukraine international could well be a like-for-like replacement and at £7 million seems like quite the bargain given that Liverpool were ready to splash £20 million on him last January.

Konoplyanka has scored four goals in 11 starts for Dnipro domestically this season and created two assists. Could be an exciting January addition.

 

Great player and would be a great addition if he signs and settles. The Ukrainian players have struggled to do so in the EPL. Very versatile too!

 

Yes the corners were dreadful, again. We need a corner where a guy at the front post runs to the corner taker taking a marker with him giving the option of a short corner, with the taker moving towards the edge of the box more to give a better angle into the 6 yard box. Or of course whip a ball in then to the front peg and get it flicked on ect.

Games like that though we should expect from teams. Nine men behind the ball and fight doggedly. They did that well. However, i thought we were very good. We stuck to the task at hand and got the result we deserved. Its important to note that in games such as this giving needless free kicks away near the box is about 65% lightly to result in a goal and Jan needs to be told to sort that out of his game.

Players to praise, Dier. The first time he has played centre back i think for the club did a super job back there. Rose when he got forward put some great balls into the box. Benji in CM was very good. His distribution was excellent i would like to see the stats for him, the passes weren't just 5/10 yards sideways and back either i thought he had a tidy game. And of course Erik the Viking, what a fine strike that was. O just quickly Townsend, when he came on made a difference, made serious ground when in possession and found at least 4 or 5 crosses in the short time he was on, including for the goal which was ideal.

So yes good result. There were some negatives but lets not dwell on them for now. It was a solid team performance, Lloris made some fine stops so it wasn't all Spurs, they had some guilt edge chances on the break but we hung in there and got the points.

Onwards to Sheff United with renewed optimism.

 

Just because Liverpool were going to spend £20m on him doesn't make it a bargain. Think of how much they paid for Carroll, Borini, Allen and Lallana!

I do like the look of him from my 'extensive' research of YouTube highlights.

 

Biggest negative, Soldado. Zero impact, anonymous and completely invisible again.

 

Unfortunately he's been a long term passenger and it's time he got off our bus and got another somewhere else ......................................