Tottenham Vs Bolton: Match Thread

[chrissivad]

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Tottenham v Bolton

FA Cup fifth round replay
Venue: White Hart Lane Date: Wednesday, 24 February Kick-off: 2000 GMT
Coverage: Live text commentary on BBC Sport website and mobiles, plus scores online and BBC Radio 5 live

(For more details on coverage please check out Geez's Live Media Thread Here)

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Spurs and Trotters do battle for a place in the FA Cup quarter-finals.

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Tottenham and Bolton will be looking to take another positive step on the road to Wembley on Wednesday.

The Premier League rivals are set to face off in an FA Cup fifth-round replay, with a place in the last eight of English football's most prestigious knockout competition awaiting the victors.
History suggests it could be a long night for those attending at White Hart Lane, with four of the last six meetings between the two sides ending all square - which would be enough to force extra-time and penalties this time around.
Spurs have, however, won three of their last four meetings with Bolton on home soil and have kept a clean sheet in six of their last seven matches in front of their own supporters.
Bolton, meanwhile, have gone 422 minutes without a goal away from home, although their last effort on the road did come in North London during a 4-2 defeat at Arsenal.


Spurs news

Tottenham will be without defender Ledley King for the crucial cup clash.
Club captain King has a thigh injury while some of the first-team squad have been hit by a mild virus, but manager Harry Redknapp does not expect that to cause too many fitness problems.
Winger Aaron Lennon has suffered a setback in his recovery from a groin problem, while defenders Younes Kaboul and Kyle Walker are cup-tied.



Bolton news

Bolton manager Owen Coyle will hand opportunities to a number of his fringe players during the trip to the capital.
Stuart Holden, Jlloyd Samuel, Tamir Cohen, Andy O'Brien, Ali Al Habsi and Mustapha Riga are all in contention to feature, while striker Ivan Klasnic could start as he continues his recovery from a calf injury.
But Coyle will be without on-loan duo Vladimir Weiss and Jack Wilshere who are cup-tied and Mark Davies, Chris Basham and Gretar Steinsson could all miss out through injury.


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BBC Preview


Tottenham will be without Ledley King for the FA Cup fifth-round replay with Bolton because of a thigh injury.

Aaron Lennon also misses out after suffering a setback in his recovery from a groin problem, while Younes Kaboul and Kyle Walker are cup-tied.
Bolton boss Owen Coyle could be tempted to rotate his squad with his side in the midst of a relegation battle.



Vladimir Weiss and Jack Wilshere are cup-tied, while Gretar Steinsson, Chris Basham and Mark Davies are injured.
And that could mean the likes of Stuart Holden, Jlloyd Samuel, Tamir Cohen, Andy O'Brien, Ali Al Habsi and Mustapha Riga all feature, with Coyle saying: "The priority is to stay in the Premier League.
"If somebody was to say me 'would you give up the FA Cup to stay in the Premier League?' the answer to that is yes - it remains our number-one aim.

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"But I believe we can stay in the Premier League and progress in the FA Cup.
"Are Tottenham Hotspur the favourites to win? Absolutely. Can we go there and win? Of course we can, so we'll go there and look to try and take the game to them in a positive manner."
Bolton are likely to have to face Roman Pavlyuchenko in the Spurs attack, just three days after his two-goal salvo helped the Londoners beat Wigan on Sunday.



And Redknapp is tipping the Russian, who has been out of favour for long spells this season leading to speculation he wants to leave the club, to fire Tottenham into the quarter-finals and an away tie at Fulham.



"When he is in the right frame of mind and comes on like he did on Sunday, I have always said he is a fantastic talent with great ability," he said.
"If he can score some goals for us between now and the end of the season to take us where we want to go, then that will be a real bonus for us.
"When he is at his best, he is a top player - he has played at World Cups and, if he can do that for us, it will be great.



"I also need to give Eidur a chance to play as well, because he has been great in training. He is another player who is very much in my mind."

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MATCH FACTS
The tie in context
• This is one of two replays that will see one of the nine remaining Premier League clubs eliminated.
Gulf in class
• Third-bottom Bolton are 14 places lower than Spurs.
Fifth Round draw
• Prize for the winners will be an away tie to fellow top-flight Fulham in the quarter-finals on Saturday, 6 March.

Head To Head
• Tottenham came from behind to earn this replay.
Bolton 1-1 Tottenham (FA Cup, 14 Feb)
• Both this season's Premier League and FA Cup meetings at the Reebok were drawn.
• Tottenham have not lost to the Trotters at White Hart Lane since an odd goal in seven League Cup reverse in October 2004.
FA Cup records and best performances
• This is the sixth season these clubs have met each other in the history of the FA Cup; only twice has the issue been resolved at the first time of asking.


The Clubs
Current form
• Avoided defeat in seven of the last eight in all competitions.
• Looking for an eighth successive home game without defeat, since the shock loss to Wolves on 12 December.
• Eidur Gudjohnsen, who has only made one appearance for Tottenham this season, is a former Bolton player.
FA Cup form
• Since reaching the last eight in 2007, Spurs have not managed to get past the fourth round.
BOLTON WANDERERS
Current form
• Not won in six (D3, L3).
• Scored only one goal in six outings.
• Chasing a first victory in 12 league and cup games on the road, since their 2-1 winning visit to Birmingham on 26 September.
FA Cup form
• Having won an FA Cup tie for the first time in three years, the Trotters are now on their best run since 2005/06.
• The four-times winners last qualified for the quarter-finals in 2005; their only appearance in the last eight in nine seasons.



Referee: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire)
Assistant referees: Nigel Bannister & Ron Ganfield
Fourth official: Grant Hegley

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Tottenham Vs Bolton Will Pav Start? Margin of Victory Any time Scorer HT/FT results

 

[Stoof]

First!

COYS!! Anyone that says the Cup doesn't matter is bum-faced poo-head. I'm well up for an FA Cup this year. Who's with me?

 

[Delboy10]

Never get tired of watching that 81 vid! COYS!

 

[danielneeds]

First!

COYS!! Anyone that says the Cup doesn't matter is bum-faced poo-head. I'm well up for an FA Cup this year. Who's with me?

Of course it matters, and with Chelsea the only team left in it that we would be stone cold underdogs against we have a great chance this year.

Whatever people say about the merits of 4th place over the cup, it would be embarrassing if a squad of this size and quality can not sustain a challenge on two measly fronts for the rest of the season.

 

[Kendall]

First!

COYS!! Anyone that says the Cup doesn't matter is bum-faced poo-head. I'm well up for an FA Cup this year. Who's with me?

MEEEEEE

Having been to the last 2 cup matches, I'm absolutely buzzing over it now.

 

[worcestersauce]

Didn't get my ticket in time which means I've got to go down the ticket office and buy it in person this afternoon.
I'm off now, the ticket office says there's some left so there'd better be.

 

[Banny]

Have to say im well up for the cup this year. On our day we can beat anyone, that includes chelski.

 

[brasil_spur]

Is the match still only being shown live on the FA site?

 

[chrissivad]

Is the match still only being shown live on the FA site?

Check Geez's Live Media Coverage thread (linked twice in the first post) for information on where the games can be viewed

 

[DefoeFan]

Modric In huddlestone place please with Kranjcar on the left..Just like Croatia..
Take a look at this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOn04_6_6NI

53-54 Seconds in. Modric playing in what looks like the position Tom plays in. !..
FU***ING Unbelievable..

He can tackle better, Pass better, Run into positions, and has Far more skill..

Stop subbing two world class players for the same position and remove Tom and see what happens when you have two world class players on that same time in midfield.

 

[Stoof]

Although this is probably not the place for it, I do think defensively Huddlestone has improved. He seems to be "nipping" the ball away from attackers a lot more than he used to. Very Carrick-like sometimes. Where he's been lacking recently is his distribution. Let's not start saying he's shit, now. He's rarely the worst player in our team but at the same token he's not necessarily the best. But he's consistent in that he VERY rarely plummets to abysmal levels that the majority of our squad (and I include Modric and Lennon in that group) have put in on at least one apperance.

So where he has dwindled recently, I still think he's improving as a player overall - but I think, ultimately it's time to see if Luka CAN cut it in the middle. He looked like the Luka of old against Wigan, not this imposter that's been floating around our team recently.

 

[Kendall]

Yeah and he was playing in his free role, coming in from the left :-|

I really do not understand this obsession with playing Modric in the middle.

Modric drifting in from the left, having a free role and allowing Bale/BAE to overlap is great.

Modric in the middle, imo, would restrict him as he would need to be more disciplined and would be playing with the shackles on.

 

[BringBack_leGin]

I too believe it is time to see if a Luka Palacios central combo works, but that is neither here nor there.

We'd better bloody win tonight, and hopefully by a handsome margin, because my old flatmate is coming down from Bolton to go with me as my dad's abroad so I had the spare ticket. With hindsight, inviting a Bolton fan as my guest might not bode well for me if we screw up.

I'm confident though, we're at home against a side who are at best very poor. I have a feeling for us in the cup this year.

 

[brasil_spur]

cheers! i'm obviously too lazy to read the top bit properly

 

[Cozzie]

I too believe it is time to see if a Luka Palacios central combo works, but that is neither here nor there.

We had that at home vs Leeds, thats why they had so much of the ball. Luks just isn't defensively minded enough to play in the middle, especially against physical teams like Bolt-on. Thats not to say he can't tackle - he is actually pretty tough for his size - he just won't be near enough to the player to make the tackle.

It's the menatlity when possesion changes sides. If you are defensively minded then you switch to a defensive mindset straight away. An attacking player like Modric naturally doesn't switch as quickly, and at this level, if its not done split second, then the ball and player has gone.

Same applies, to a lesser extent, to Kranjaer.

Is all.

ETA, yes i know it was Jenas - Modric in the middle for the Leeds home game. I just checked. But the point stands. I think.

 

[$hoguN]

I love the FA cup, its a great competition... Hope we can win it this year!!!!

 

[Cozzie]

Anyway, COYS! Really looking forward to this. Haven't felt like this in the FA cup for a few years. Also good to see us taking it seriously, and not just playing fringe players. We can win it this year.

 

[BringBack_leGin]

We had that at home vs Leeds, thats why they had so much of the ball. Luks just isn't defensively minded enough to play in the middle, especially against physical teams like Bolt-on. Thats not to say he can't tackle - he is actually pretty tough for his size - he just won't be near enough to the player to make the tackle.

It's the menatlity when possesion changes sides. If you are defensively minded then you switch to a defensive mindset straight away. An attacking player like Modric naturally doesn't switch as quickly, and at this level, if its not done split second, then the ball and player has gone.

Same applies, to a lesser extent, to Kranjaer.

Is all.

No, we had Luka in the middle with Jenas. My dead dog could have predicted that wouldn't work. Luka with Palacios has, to this day, never been tried as the two middle men in a 442. Anybody who says otherwise is either wrong or a liar.

Luka in the middle with Palacios is a completely different proposition to Luka in the middle with Jenas. The two scenarios are about as far apart as Tottenham Hotspur Football Club and winning the Champions League.

 

[TwoSaintsComeMarching]

No, we had Luka in the middle with Jenas. My dead dog could have predicted that wouldn't work. Luka with Palacios has, to this day, never been tried as the two middle men in a 442. Anybody who says otherwise is either wrong or a liar.

Luka in the middle with Palacios is a completely different proposition to Luka in the middle with Jenas. The two scenarios are about as far apart as Tottenham Hotspur Football Club and winning the Champions League.

Not very far apart then...


:grin:

 

[$hoguN]

Spot on BBLG, Palacios would offer a tenacious battler next to Luka; allowing Luka the freedom to create from deep. Where as Jenas left Luka having to do 50%+ of the defensive work which clearly didn't play to his strengths