Tottenham vs Charlton: Match Thread

[Hrvatska Heroes]

Regarding the 6 subs issue, I did see Gio drive out of the stadium at about 12 30 - maybe he was included and then a bid came in, he heard he was on bench, was injured? Not sure!

 

[andyw362]

Luka Modric was just on an entirely different planet to the other 21 players on the pitch today, I didn't want to see him play to be quite honest, but he was an absolute joy to watch as ever - but we all knew that anyway, the biggest plus I saw today was Andros Townsend...

I saw the kid play in the U19 game against Arsenal a few years back and whilst it was clear he possessed a bit of trickery and great pace I didn't see anything particularly special there - just another run of the mill English type winger, but today (and yes I know this opinion is based on 180 minutes of football) he genuinely impressed me.

He's not there yet of course, but he showed signs of being coached well, and that he has improved his game and learned the game. He didn't just get the ball and run blindly at the full back, he often came inside (a benefit of being coached to play on both wings) and wanted to interact and link with the other players with give and go's etc - he actually showed a fair amount of intelligence on the ball and always had his head up looking for options. Some young wingers - and Lennon was the same - just get their heads down and run without much thought of the game going on around them, promising indeed. He also showed, with the goal, and a fair few crosses that he's exceptionally confident and competent with his wrong foot which is a gift especially when you are a winger. Very promising.

I'm not going to make any great proclamations about his future, as players of his ilk can go either way - but I saw more than enough there to suggest he could craft a great future for himself, but he could also turn into the next *insert average English type winger here*.

He played well and scored. You cant use that performance as a barometer for future success because the opposition are pony.

 

[ShelfSide18]

He played well and scored. You cant use that performance as a barometer for future success because the opposition are pony.

No that's exactly why I said I'm not going to make any great proclamations about the kid, but saw enough from him to suggest we could craft him into a top player for us. He certainly showed more of a footballing mind and all round game than Lennon did at that stage of his career, and you only have to look at my posts to know that I'm one of Lennons biggest supporters on here.

 

[TwoSaintsComeMarching]

How did Sandro do?

 

[rebrab]

he might have actually had a slight advantage compared to our other players because he's played in league one, so probably played Charlton before

 

[MikeCOYS]

Tough times ahead!

Out of our next 8 games, 6 are away! And our 4 next home-games include man yoo, arse and ac milan! Eek

Funny thing is, I think Spurs perform better when the schedule is harder. When it's a sequence of lower team we usually draw or lose but no successive wins (it's declined but I still have the same feeling).

We perform better when we face tough teams. I remember beating Chelsea, Arsenal and Man City to qualify for top 4 and CL, I'm hoping a repeat of form, and please beat Manure, that's in my top 10 list to see us beat them, we always get cheated out or they just edged it over us. Like Tevez goal on the 89th or was it 90th+ minute? Anyhow, that absolutely killed me...

 

[Legend10]

No that's exactly why I said I'm not going to make any great proclamations about the kid, but saw enough from him to suggest we could craft him into a top player for us. He certainly showed more of a footballing mind and all round game than Lennon did at that stage of his career, and you only have to look at my posts to know that I'm one of Lennons biggest supporters on here.

Come on, Lennon had already played in a World Cup QF at that age!

Good luck to young Andros and I hope he has a fabulous career but he can't be compared to Lennon at the same age.

 

[ShelfSide18]

Come on, Lennon had already played in a World Cup QF at that age!

Good luck to young Andros and I hope he has a fabulous career but he can't be compared to Lennon at the same age.

That was not really intended as a criticism of Lennon, and made sure I stated I am one of Lennon's greatest admirers - Townsend could learn a lot from Aaron in the way he has clearly applied himself and bettered himself from the raw pacy winger that first broke through in 05. But...

When Lennon first broke through into our side could he have played on the opposite wing to that which he is natural? No.

Did Lennon play with his head up like Townsend did today at that age? No.

Did Lennon interact and link up with the other players as well as Townsend did today at that age? No.

Could you see Lennon even now smashing in a 25 yard drive with his wrong foot? No. In fact he showed several times today a real confidence and competence in using his right foot which was good to see.

I know it looks like I'm getting unduly carried away, but I'm really not - he's the type that could go either way as wingers are a strange species that can often show promise then fade into obscurity, and of course it was only 1 game against a poor opposition. But I'm not going to lie that when I first saw him in that U19 game he didn't have me overly excited - he got the ball out left, ran with it with a few tricks and crossed it - your typical English style winger who has only ever played one position all of his life if I was being cynical. But today he came infield with his head up, he tried to link up with our forwards and showed extreme confidence and sometimes flashes of intelligence. It was promising.

There's a long way to go with kids like him, but with good coaching, and I'll whisper this quietly with BC on the prowl - he looked like he has been coached well, and hard work it looks like he has the tools to become a good modern winger.