i pray dimitar's fit. He's defintely one of our key players, and without him I can't see us opening up the Liverpool defense.

Berbatov is vital if we hope to beat the Reds. His partnership with Defoe is unlike anything we've had for a while. Lennon is also important, but we can play Malbranque in that position with Mido on the left. He played there when he was at Ajax, and with good results. But it's Jol's call and he knows best.

Liverpool rarely lose two on the trot these days so a win tommorow would be a superb result even with the game being played a fortress WHL.

If no Berba 'nd Lennon, a 1-0 win to the pudlians. I can't see Mido returning with strength to play striker, and certainly not wide (when results recently have not been promising.

I'm not saying he can't play there, but I doubt, sans match-readiness, throwing hiw on the left wing will pan out.

The loss of Berba would be a horror. I suspect he will be slightly ill, will play anyway, and below form.

Agree Berby is a must if we are to win this. Any of the others we can survive without.

If he pukes over Craig Bellamy during the game then it will be worth it. :wink:

Thing is something tells me Bellamy is going to give us some grief tommorow. All my least favourite players seem to prevail against my beloved Spurs :violin:

The team is picking itself at the moment with such injuries and good form. Hopefully we can lineup the same as the Villa game last week with Lennon in for Ghaly. I could see us embarassing Liverpool with that team if we take the chances but I don't see us keeping a clean sheet with any team at the moment. Confusing and worrying considering we're all quite happy with the back 4 and Robbo. Robbo needs to pick up his form a bit as well. Without wanting to sound critical, he was better last season and has been beaten from distance too much this year for my liking.

Haven't they changed the balls since the world cup???? Lighter - move more in the air- just a thought. Seem to remember all the keepers complaining about them?????????

yeah that might have something to do with it all right. A lot of the goals were just very very good shots that noone would save. It may have just been bad luck that a lot of players have done this against us when normally the ball would be ending up in the stands....? ....so long as it stops now i won't mind.

Back 4s

I wouldn't say we're all happy with the back 4... partially because the term 'back 4' is a misnomer. Chimbonda plays more 'wingback' -- amazingly, even when the formation indicated we are playing a standard back 4. The (non-existant) penalty against Arsenal resulted partially due to his instinctive desire to push into a defensive midfield role [Sometimes it looks like Dawson is unwittingly influenced]

It has really hurt that King has not been fully fit. He is caught flatfooted at the 33% line sometimes and doesn;t seem to have the acceleration to get back (again, the Arsenal game exemplified this).

Moreover, with Chimbonda 'nd Lee/BKE pushing up, Hudds has to pull back into a defensive roll (3 center backs), which, honestly --- I dunna think the team is gelled enough to pull off against anyone not named Charlton.

This is why we hear the Upson talk: a third center back would enable the team to 'officially' play with the wingbacks up, and Huddle locked in midfield.

My take anyhoo...

According to eurosport we have completed the signing of Adel Taarabt from Lens on a 3 year contract with the option of a further 2 years. Anyone know much about him?

Taarabt

I know only that he is notoriously pompous and selfish on the ball to the point of conflict with his teammates, who, he claims, 'do not appreciate' his style of play.

That said, his skill level is said to be incredible, and his potential immense, even if his team play is lacking. He is 17(?) years old, so plenty of time for Jol to break him in.

Taarabt

From EuroSport

The youngster also confirmed that Spurs were not the only club interested in securing his services, with two other Premiership clubs tracking the player.
"Other than Tottenham, there were also Arsenal and Chelsea," he said. "I opted for Spurs because of their plans for me. They effectively offered to quickly integrate me into the first team to offer me maximum playing time.
"They hope to get the same from me as Arsenal did from Theo Walcott. Concerning Arsenal and Chelsea, the propositions were interesting, but as with Lens, they suggested that I spent time in the youth team and the reserves."

Good god, the ego!

A thread in the forums is reporting...

"itks are reporting on coys

king out for 4 weeks with broken bone

lennon isn't fit.

berbatov still ill. mido likely to start with defoe."

Fingers crossed it isn't true, cos if it is we're a bit up sh*t creek!!