PLAYER RATINGS: Spurs 3-0 AEL Limassol

How in gods name all these so called journalists, all the media outlets, all these experts, all these bloggers, and even worse, the great Tottenham Hotspurs!! could even consider making a 17mill pound bid for a player in spain who had never played in tthe premiership, yet plays exactly or similar to are own Vlad! yet has third party issues, but we want to sell?! wake up Tottenham, Do not sell vlad!!!
Cos from what ive seen they are very similar! very similar!!

 

Great game overall, shows our outstanding depth at all positions especially with Fazio coming in at CB. Performance wise, I thought Sandro had a great game. Intercepted lots of AEL possession and he's tackling was superb. Starting to look like 'The Beast' of old. I hope he doesn't leave The Lane, also Vlad who I believe can really excel under Poch's system of play. Another honorable mention goes to Paulinho, man where did he come from? Keep playing this well, he'll find himself in our league games quickly. I'd rate the players performance as follows:

Lloris 7, Naughton 7, Kaboul 8, Vlad 7, Davies 7, Sandro 8, Dembele 6, Lennon 6, Paulinho 8, Townsdend 6, Kane 7.

Kane may have missed a penalty but he kept his spirit up and netted one when it counted. Also great leadership showing by Kaboul, whom I also hope won't leave.

COYS

 

Barring Townsend I thought it was positives all round. Good game time for Vlad. Great return for the beast who looks like he may now stay alongside dembele first season start. Paulinho got better as the game wore on as a no 10 with a more solid base behind him that he's had been given before. Mixed bag from Kane I thought but he is defo improved...
Lloris 7 naughton 7 Vlad 7 kaboul 7 davies7 dembele 7 Sandro 8 paulinho7 lennon7 kane8 Townsend 6
My team v lpool lloris dier kaboul JV Davies capoue dembele eriksen lamela chadli adebayor. Sub's friedel Vlad Sandro lennon soldado/Kane rose paulinho

We have a really good squad coming together now with minimum 2 players for each position highlighted by the strongest second string spurs side I've witnessed last night.

 

Considering we have just given Kane a new five year contract, I think the idea we will sell him is very wide of the mark. Pochettino will nurture him and we we will be having a top quality striker, no one else.

 

Vlad played well especially given that it was his first start. Pleased to see Sandro back and he made some crunching tackles last night. Looks like those 2 are staying which probably means that we won't be signing Schneiderlin.
In general it's good to see that despite the multitude of changes from Sunday's game we still looked like a team with a decent shape and we now have some real competition for places in every position.
Wasn't that impressed by Paulinho's overall play and he looks short of fitness and desire to be able to compete in the PL. If Townsend had a brain he'd be dangerous but he doesn't............

 

I almost wish Sandro didn't play yesterday, as it would of made the process of falling out of love with Brazilian so much easier. As it stands, I write this message, still, in as much in awe of The Beast, as ever.

I thought he was EXCEPTIONAL, I really did. Especially when you consider he was making 1st start of the season.

When it comes to the mental and physical sides of the holding midfield role, there are few better equipped in European football to cope with the demands of that position than the Brazilian.

Despite him NOT being a 'Pochettino type player', I can't see how the Argentinian could've helped but be impressed by the performance of Sandro, who frequently retrieved possession of AEL players, in midfield - giving Vlad and Younes a quiet night.

To be fair though, I thought a number of other players had good games, including Lennon, Kane, Davies and.... wait for it, Paulinho!

Lennon could have had two assists had Kane been as good inside the box as he is outside of it.
A cheeky back-heel in the penalty area, and a beautifully weighted reverse through ball SHOULD have yielded at least one goal, but unfortunately Harry did what I have seen him do all too often, and that is waste great opportunities.

The kid is an instinctive finisher, not a particularly composed one. At the moment he is probably a 1 in 3/4 (chances) man, and I fear that in the long-term that simply won't be enough, in regards to chance conversion, to see him become anything other than Spurs' 3rd choice striker.

Which is a shame, because the kid has PLENTY of great attributes, including superb movement, and some lovely link-up play.

I thought Davies looked good going forward, and showed a great attitude, which was nice to see, and Paulinho actually broke into a couple of sprints chasing back towards his own goal.

Playing in a 3 man midfield, as opposed to a 2, I thought Paulinho looked a lot more comfortable in dealing with the pace of the game. His pressing was very good, and he took his goal well.

Let's hope this is the beginning of a new dawn for the Brazilian, eh!

All in all, a good professional job done by the lads, and good displays all round.

Time for the big one. BRING ON LIVERPOOL!!!!