Yep. Michael Dawson is set to miss at least six weeks after sustaining both cartilage and ligament damage. It's a good thing we just signed William Gallas, but that doesn't stop me from being pissed that one of our players got injured on international duty.
This anger isn't directed at anyone in particular. Capello did nothing wrong and I'm not about to go on a crusade about international dates, ripping into Platini and Blatter. It would be pointless. I'm just frustrated that a player was injured in a match that had little to nothing to do with the well-being of Spurs.
There is some good news, though. Jermain Defoe appeared to completely mess up his ankle in the following match against Switzerland, but despite being both stretchered and substituted off, it appears that Jermain is just fine. I doubt he'll start this weekend against West Brom, but it's very possible that he could be on the bench. Bullet dodged.
After a week off, I'm excited to get back to club football. Even though I'm a passionate supporter of the United States national teams, I don't care much for international football. I'd rather watch two teams at the bottom of La Liga or Serie A than an England match. Other than the Spurs match this weekend, I highly recommend watching Athletic Bilbao-Atletico Madrid, Juventus-Sampdoria, Hoffenheim-Schalke, and Borussia Dortmund-Wolfsburg.
We're back on our regular schedule here at CFC after the international break and Labor Day weekend. Expect your regular Thursday links tomorrow and a match preview on Friday. I'll be less arrogant than I was before the Wigan match, I promise.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
A Little Time Off
With the international break and Labor Day weekend, I'll be taking a little hiatus from CFC until Tuesday. We'll return then with some content for everyone. Hopefully this site will be moving over to SBNation within the next couple of weeks.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Rafael Van der Vaart Signs with Spurs
Well, that came out of left field.
Real Madrid were apparently so desperate to get rid of Van der Vaart that they were willing to take £8m for him, or roughly 2/3 of what they paid for him in the first place. Supposedly, an £18m transfer for Bayern Munich had fallen through the day before deadline day, and as a result, VdV was available for a discount price. Despite not needing him, Harry Redknapp couldn't resist getting a player of his quality for such a cheap price.
And really, Van der Vaart was cheap by just about anyone's standards. He played 26 games for Real Madrid last season, scoring 6 goals and tallying 7 assists. He started in the World Cup and made 5 total appearances for the tournament runners-up. The midfielder has 16 goals in 83 international appearances and 92 goals in 249 top flight league appearances for Ajax, Hamburg SV, and Real Madrid.
So, Spurs fans might be wondering how Van der Vaart fits into Spurs' regular setup. Truth be told...he doesn't. Van der Vaart is used to playing higher up the pitch than Spurs' central midfielders ever do. While he's competent as a winger, he's not good enough in that role to displace Bale or Lennon.
There are a few possibilities for fitting Rafael Van der Vaart into a Spurs' starting lineup. Let's give them a look:
1. He comes in for Ekotto. Bale shifts to left back and either Van der Vaart or Modric plays on the left with the other playing in the center. Against better teams with lots of attacking threats through the middle, VdV could play on the left with two of Sandro, Huddlestone, and Palacios in the middle.
2. We play only one of Huddlestone, Palacios, and Sandro, let VdV play the way he likes to play, and ask the defensive midfielder to do a lot of work. This is a role that does not suit the talented and intelligent, yet large and lead-footed Tom Huddlestone at all. The best man for this role is Palacios. Playing this way would be a really bad idea in Champions League. It could potentially be super effective against teams like Blackburn, Sunderland, Birmingham, and Stoke who do not have central midfielders who can pass or dribble worth a damn (slight exception for Riveros, there).
3. We *gasp* experiment with different tactics. We know it's not Harry's thing, but with Pavlyuchenko, Van der Vaart, and Sandro, we now have three players that are absolutely tailor made for the 4-2-3-1 setup that everyone and their mom is using these days. This setup is unlikely to have massive effects, positive or negative, on Aaron Lennon, Gareth Bale, Giovani dos Santos, Niko Kranjcar, Tom Huddlestone, or Wilson Palacios. Obviously, this formation renders Peter Crouch and Jermaine Defoe irrelevant or ineffective, most likely. Luka Modric is a bit of a wild card, as he could play as an attacking central midfielder, central midfielder, or on the left wing. His role would likely either be as a player who is thrown into one of those roles due to a specific matchup against an opponent or as a super sub.
So, if you were thinking that Rafael Van der Vaart was going to be plug and play somewhere, you were mistaken. How Redknapp uses VdV might reveal a lot about him as a manager. If he can't make slight tactical adjustments to find room for a player of VdV's quality, he truly is a rockhead. If he throws VdV into Spurs' current setup with no adjustments and hopes it just works, he's an even bigger rockhead. How VdV is utilized will go a long way towards whether or not Spurs reach their ambitions. Let's just hope that he is used properly.
Real Madrid were apparently so desperate to get rid of Van der Vaart that they were willing to take £8m for him, or roughly 2/3 of what they paid for him in the first place. Supposedly, an £18m transfer for Bayern Munich had fallen through the day before deadline day, and as a result, VdV was available for a discount price. Despite not needing him, Harry Redknapp couldn't resist getting a player of his quality for such a cheap price.
And really, Van der Vaart was cheap by just about anyone's standards. He played 26 games for Real Madrid last season, scoring 6 goals and tallying 7 assists. He started in the World Cup and made 5 total appearances for the tournament runners-up. The midfielder has 16 goals in 83 international appearances and 92 goals in 249 top flight league appearances for Ajax, Hamburg SV, and Real Madrid.
So, Spurs fans might be wondering how Van der Vaart fits into Spurs' regular setup. Truth be told...he doesn't. Van der Vaart is used to playing higher up the pitch than Spurs' central midfielders ever do. While he's competent as a winger, he's not good enough in that role to displace Bale or Lennon.
There are a few possibilities for fitting Rafael Van der Vaart into a Spurs' starting lineup. Let's give them a look:
1. He comes in for Ekotto. Bale shifts to left back and either Van der Vaart or Modric plays on the left with the other playing in the center. Against better teams with lots of attacking threats through the middle, VdV could play on the left with two of Sandro, Huddlestone, and Palacios in the middle.
2. We play only one of Huddlestone, Palacios, and Sandro, let VdV play the way he likes to play, and ask the defensive midfielder to do a lot of work. This is a role that does not suit the talented and intelligent, yet large and lead-footed Tom Huddlestone at all. The best man for this role is Palacios. Playing this way would be a really bad idea in Champions League. It could potentially be super effective against teams like Blackburn, Sunderland, Birmingham, and Stoke who do not have central midfielders who can pass or dribble worth a damn (slight exception for Riveros, there).
3. We *gasp* experiment with different tactics. We know it's not Harry's thing, but with Pavlyuchenko, Van der Vaart, and Sandro, we now have three players that are absolutely tailor made for the 4-2-3-1 setup that everyone and their mom is using these days. This setup is unlikely to have massive effects, positive or negative, on Aaron Lennon, Gareth Bale, Giovani dos Santos, Niko Kranjcar, Tom Huddlestone, or Wilson Palacios. Obviously, this formation renders Peter Crouch and Jermaine Defoe irrelevant or ineffective, most likely. Luka Modric is a bit of a wild card, as he could play as an attacking central midfielder, central midfielder, or on the left wing. His role would likely either be as a player who is thrown into one of those roles due to a specific matchup against an opponent or as a super sub.
So, if you were thinking that Rafael Van der Vaart was going to be plug and play somewhere, you were mistaken. How Redknapp uses VdV might reveal a lot about him as a manager. If he can't make slight tactical adjustments to find room for a player of VdV's quality, he truly is a rockhead. If he throws VdV into Spurs' current setup with no adjustments and hopes it just works, he's an even bigger rockhead. How VdV is utilized will go a long way towards whether or not Spurs reach their ambitions. Let's just hope that he is used properly.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Spurs vs. Wigan Review -or- A Rant About Harry Redknapp
I thought if I waited until Monday morning to post this that I would feel a little better. I thought that I would calm down and be a little more rational. I thought that I might start to view this game as a fluke and that it wasn't a big deal. Sorry, but this didn't happen. I still want to club baby seals to get out my frustration at Spurs.
Obviously, Harry Redknapp wasn't too happy after the loss. He was so unhappy, in fact, that he told a Sky Sports reporter to "f--k off" and that he was a "f--king football manager." That NSFW gem can be seen here. Frankly, Harry, I have to disagree.
Harry's made comments that football is only about 10% what a manager do and around 90% how players perform. I've discussed this on this site before. I don't disagree with Harry, though I would call it more like 80-20, but the point stands that managers often take a lot of heat for their tactics when in reality, their players were never going to win. Saturday, one of those games happened. Spurs' players were very poor and there probably wasn't a tactic in the world that would have changed that. However, that doesn't mean that Harry shouldn't have tried.
Harry Redknapp selected the team that he always selects. He put them in the formation he always puts them in. All of his substitutions were pretty close to like for like and didn't change the way we played at all. Based on the way the team played today, Harry didn't do the best job of mentally preparing them for this game. Based on the way they've played in previous games, I'm forced to assume that Harry could have done a better job of mentally preparing the team for the first leg against Young Boys and the second halves of the games against Manchester City and Stoke. Therefore...what does Harry Redknapp do, exactly?
It seems that if Redknapp is going to select the same team every week, play the same tactics, make no adjustments throughout the game, and fail to properly motivate his players, he doesn't need to have a job. If the game really is 90% down to the performances of players beyond what a manager can affect, why the hell are we cutting Harry Redknapp a big paycheck. It seems to me that a computer program could run Spurs in the exact same fashion as Harry Redknapp. He's not an atrocious manager, obviously. Spurs did get fourth place last year and did get to the group stages of the Champions League. But Harry's management style is such that he can be easily replaced by someone with basically no experience in football. I am forced to assume that a computer program would do the exact same job as Redknapp, if not better.
Oh, and a computer program wouldn't tell a Sky reporter to f--k off.
Obviously, Harry Redknapp wasn't too happy after the loss. He was so unhappy, in fact, that he told a Sky Sports reporter to "f--k off" and that he was a "f--king football manager." That NSFW gem can be seen here. Frankly, Harry, I have to disagree.
Harry's made comments that football is only about 10% what a manager do and around 90% how players perform. I've discussed this on this site before. I don't disagree with Harry, though I would call it more like 80-20, but the point stands that managers often take a lot of heat for their tactics when in reality, their players were never going to win. Saturday, one of those games happened. Spurs' players were very poor and there probably wasn't a tactic in the world that would have changed that. However, that doesn't mean that Harry shouldn't have tried.
Harry Redknapp selected the team that he always selects. He put them in the formation he always puts them in. All of his substitutions were pretty close to like for like and didn't change the way we played at all. Based on the way the team played today, Harry didn't do the best job of mentally preparing them for this game. Based on the way they've played in previous games, I'm forced to assume that Harry could have done a better job of mentally preparing the team for the first leg against Young Boys and the second halves of the games against Manchester City and Stoke. Therefore...what does Harry Redknapp do, exactly?
It seems that if Redknapp is going to select the same team every week, play the same tactics, make no adjustments throughout the game, and fail to properly motivate his players, he doesn't need to have a job. If the game really is 90% down to the performances of players beyond what a manager can affect, why the hell are we cutting Harry Redknapp a big paycheck. It seems to me that a computer program could run Spurs in the exact same fashion as Harry Redknapp. He's not an atrocious manager, obviously. Spurs did get fourth place last year and did get to the group stages of the Champions League. But Harry's management style is such that he can be easily replaced by someone with basically no experience in football. I am forced to assume that a computer program would do the exact same job as Redknapp, if not better.
Oh, and a computer program wouldn't tell a Sky reporter to f--k off.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Spurs vs. Wigan Preview -or- Dear God We Can't Possbily F**k This Up
This is one of those games where I almost don't want to waste my time or your time writing a preview. Sure, Wigan can get a result. Sure, Spurs can do something really cool like score nine goals. But we all know what's going to happen, most likely. Spurs will win by three or four goals in a rather uneventful match that includes some defensive errors by Wigan.
Tottenham's cause is aided by the fact that Wigan is in the process of selling Charles N'Zogbia, one of few Wigan players worth a damn, to Birmingham. The rest of their team has performed like absolute garbage recently. Honestly, Spurs reserves might grind out a result.
Of course, I could be jinxing the hell out of us. And pigs could fly out of my ass.
I'm sorry, but I can't bring myself to give this game any more time. I can't. It's pointless. Wigan are a sorry team in shambles and we're going to give about 75% and win anyway.
God help us if we find a way to screw this up.
Tottenham's cause is aided by the fact that Wigan is in the process of selling Charles N'Zogbia, one of few Wigan players worth a damn, to Birmingham. The rest of their team has performed like absolute garbage recently. Honestly, Spurs reserves might grind out a result.
Of course, I could be jinxing the hell out of us. And pigs could fly out of my ass.
I'm sorry, but I can't bring myself to give this game any more time. I can't. It's pointless. Wigan are a sorry team in shambles and we're going to give about 75% and win anyway.
God help us if we find a way to screw this up.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
CFC Shorts: Thursday Links (8/26/10)
Crouchie is looking forward to playing in the Champions League again - Yahoo! Eurosport
Now that Spurs are in the Champions League group stages, should 'Arry go shopping? - Goal.com
Harry likes bacon sandwiches - Daily Fail
Wenger is determined to stay #1 in North London - The S*n
Spurs' win follows in the tradition of Danny Blanchflower - Telegraph
Welcome, Billy Gallas - TopSpurs
Now that Spurs are in the Champions League group stages, should 'Arry go shopping? - Goal.com
Harry likes bacon sandwiches - Daily Fail
Wenger is determined to stay #1 in North London - The S*n
Spurs' win follows in the tradition of Danny Blanchflower - Telegraph
Welcome, Billy Gallas - TopSpurs
Champions League Draw: An Interesting Scenario
The Champions League Group Stage draw took place today, and Spurs fans should at least be content with their draw. We don't have a cake group by any stretch of the imagination, but it could have been a whole lot worse.
Spurs have been drawn in Group A with Internazionale Milano, SV Werder Bremen, and FC Twente. Drawing the defending champions seems tough, but there were no easy teams in Pot 1 and I believe that all eight teams in that pot would have been favorites to defeat Spurs. In pot 2, we got ultimate roller coaster team Werder Bremen. It's still yet to be seen if the loss of Mesut Oezil will have a significant impact on them. About 3/4 of their performance against Sampdoria was brilliant, but 1/4 of it was atrocious, as was their entire performance against Hoffenheim last weekend. FC Twente were among the better teams in Pot 4, but they have lost a couple of their key players from last season, along with their manager. I would have been happy with any pot 4 team not called Rubin Kazan.
Ultimately, while Twente and Werder are not cakewalks, Spurs should be favorites to get four or more points from both teams and advance to the knockout stages. I firmly believe that Spurs are the second best team in this group. We could have gotten an easier draw, but all I was hoping for is to be second favorites in our group. I think we got that.
CFC Shorts: Thursday Links is coming at you shortly. Wigan preview tomorrow.
Spurs have been drawn in Group A with Internazionale Milano, SV Werder Bremen, and FC Twente. Drawing the defending champions seems tough, but there were no easy teams in Pot 1 and I believe that all eight teams in that pot would have been favorites to defeat Spurs. In pot 2, we got ultimate roller coaster team Werder Bremen. It's still yet to be seen if the loss of Mesut Oezil will have a significant impact on them. About 3/4 of their performance against Sampdoria was brilliant, but 1/4 of it was atrocious, as was their entire performance against Hoffenheim last weekend. FC Twente were among the better teams in Pot 4, but they have lost a couple of their key players from last season, along with their manager. I would have been happy with any pot 4 team not called Rubin Kazan.
Ultimately, while Twente and Werder are not cakewalks, Spurs should be favorites to get four or more points from both teams and advance to the knockout stages. I firmly believe that Spurs are the second best team in this group. We could have gotten an easier draw, but all I was hoping for is to be second favorites in our group. I think we got that.
CFC Shorts: Thursday Links is coming at you shortly. Wigan preview tomorrow.
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