PLAYER RATINGS: Tottenham 2:1 Sunderland

Our seven game unbeaten run ended last weekend in a 2-1 loss to Crystal Place therefore it was vitally important to get back to winning ways and that is exactly what we did today thanks to goals from Jan Vertonghen and a late winner (again) from Christian Eriksen.

Lloris – 8 – Made a number of fantastic saves including a double save from Johnson and Graham and then an incredible one on one save vs Danny Graham in 92nd minute.

Walker – 6– Wasted a few good crossing opportunities but he was solid defensively.

Dier – 6 – Finally got his chance at Centre back because Fazio was injured and he had a good game. Made a few really good tackles on Defoe.

Vertonghen – 7 – Scored the opening goal but Defoe gave him a lot of problems. Was extremely unfortunate not to get a second goal late on because of a shocking decision from the linesman.

Rose – 6 – Put in a couple of world class crosses throughout the match and he was not challenged defensively.

Stambouli – 5 – Was very quiet today. Nice pieces of neat skill now and again but overall he didn’t get into the game.

Dembele – 6 – Had a really good passing game completing 94% of his passes but he faded away as the game went on. Subbed off 74 minutes in for Townsend.

Chadli – 5 – By his standards he had a below average game. Had a good chance to score at 1-1 but he fluffed his lines. Subbed off 87 minutes in for Paulinho.

Kane – 6 – Didn’t have his best match today. He was unlucky to hit the post just before half time but he tried to force the play in the second half.

Eriksen – 7 – Saved us again in the 88th minute with a superb finish. He nearly scored a fantastic goal in the first half and had an all round good game.

Soldado – 4 – Was very ineffective today. Had a half chance early on but his first touch let him down. Subbed off 60 minutes in for Adebayor.

Adebayor – 5 – First game back since November. Didn’t do a lot when he came on for the last half an hour.

Townsend – N/A – Only came on for the last 15 minutes but got the all important assist for the winner.

Paulinho – N/A – Came on for Chadli on the 87th minute.

Our seventh 2-1 in the league season but it should have been 3-1 when Jan Vertonghen’s late goal was disallowed for offside when he was clearly in his own half when the ball was played.

Our next match is the semi final of the Capital One Cup at home against Sheffield United on Wednesday.

 

Pretty harsh scores there. I though Jan handled Defoe really well and he hardly a shot on target of any note. Walker was sloppy with the ball and soldado struggled to show any confidence in front of goal again, but maybe a run in the team may help. I am not really sure how much longer we can keep making excuses for him.
Dembele passed the ball well and although kane didn't score, I think your score for him is very harsh. He dropped deeper and by doing so allowed Eriksen more freedom which he used well.
I thought we were by far the better team today and it should have been more, even without the ludicrous disallowed goal.

 

Were you at the game or just watching online? Stambouli had a great game.....he worked tirelessly, tackled and intercepted and his passing was accurate and positive. Kane had a poor first half but moved more centrally in second half to good effect.

 

Stambouli was our MOTM!! Where did 5 come from? He won countless amounts of tackles and never gave the ball away. 5 is a disgrace.

 

Stambouli had a great game, best so far in a spurs shirt, 5 is bullshit. Don't remember seeing any world class crosses from rose either?....

 

I guess alot of folks expected us to roll over the black cats today, and that would have been nice, but all the games in this league can be competetive ! Glad to Stambouli getting some "big ups" from guys at the game. Coys.

 

I whole-heartedly agree on Stambouli - clearly his best match. I do not recall him ever working so hard, moving with ease and displaying so much skill on and off the ball, well done. I also thought the CB pairing is the one we should be utlizing more often earlier in the season - this could be the duo of the future. Dier looked composed on the ball and set Townsend lose from the back for the winner. COYS!

 

Eriksen was all over this game. Everywhere. Maybe he only has a 7 because NONE of his corners ever make it past the first defender? Agree that Stam was better than a 5 and Walker was dangerous on the right the whole time. Most of our best (especially early) opportunities came when he was involved. I'd also like to see Townsend run at his opponents more in a game like this. Those last 20 minutes or so were begging for someone to run at a defender and challenge them.

 

Was a so so performance against a poor outfit .. Ratings are always subjective but its hard to argue with yours bar maybe Stambouli who might have deserved a bit more depending on your opinion .. At the end of the day our keeper and some shocking finishing from a poor side had as much to do with us getting the three points as anything we did .. We huffed & puffed , had a lot of possession but we lack quality .. And that is why we nearly always struggle in these types of games .. Add to that a defense that is shambolic and your going to find winning matches tough no matter how poor the opposition ..

 

Sadly away for this game,but our failure to convert possession into more comfortable wins is worrying.it's happened so many times this season and last.Definitely more quality needed in this month plus another striker.Please get rid of Ade and Kaboom.
I'm glad somebody else notices Eriksen's dreadful corners.I can't believe someone who is so good with free kicks can be so frustrating with his corners.Surely he must work on them in training.

 

Its so clear how much we miss Mason and Bentaleb in the midfield. Mason has legs, drive and directness and Bentaleb is physically strong and has a good range of passing. It was new to see Kane playing off Soldado - remarkably ineffective, too - but I think having Soldado play off Kane could really reap benefits, Kane being the typical target man and allowing Soldado to use better parts of his play - his link up play is impressive and his positioning is also very good. It might help him get some tap ins, because right now he isn't doing anything. Disappointed to see Ade come on to, he needs to go

 

At times we 'huffed and puffed' but we were the better team. They did have some chances, but overall we did what we needed to and should have won by at least two or three in the end.
Agree that Stambouli was good today. Kept it simple and as effective.

 

Rose was exceptional. Best match of the season IMO. LLoris should get 10. What imperfection did he have? Townsend was very good. But Adebayor was a real surprise. He was active, threatening, constantly keeping 2 or all 3 CBs tied to him. Without him taking those away with and letting an opening for Eriksen, there would be no win. By the contrast Soldado was very poor.

 

Late winner to win the game, who else ? Christian Eriksen again to win the points with another neat, well taken goal. Eriksen scores them and Hugo saves them. Have to agree with comments about Stambouli, in the last two games he's been excellent and his distribution has been very good. Rose too had a good game and it was good to see Dier get a run ahead of Kaboul.