Thread: Opposition View - Tottenham Hotspur

So we headed off down to the big smoke and stopped off at www.tottenhamhotspurs.tv/ to get the view of the yids fans on this weekends game.

I have to thank them for the quality of there responses and for being so welcoming on their forum.

What follows are the answers and a few bits extra we got chatting about (Palacios & Crouch)

Hi everybody, Potters fan in peace here,

Looking forward to out game at the weekend ? It should be a good game, your bang in form and were starting to get back to being difficult to beat, always look forward to this fixture, before we made it back to the big time I always kept an ear out for the spurs score, suppose you were my premiership team.

Anyway down to the reason I am here, I have just launched a brand new forum for Stoke fans called Potters-Online and we hope to do a regular opposition view feature.

If you wouldn't mind answering a few questions for me and I will pop back on later in the week to pick up the responses, Of course I will add a link to the forum in the post as well.

1. How do you think Tottenham have done so far this season, and where do you think you will finish in the table ?

2. Who is your star man at the moment ? anyone we should watch out for ?

3. What are your views on the whole Olympic Stadium bid and your desire to either move or redevelop white hart lane ?

4. What are your views on Stoke City ?

5. Which (if any) Stoke player(s) would have at Spurs ?

6. What is your score prediction ?

Thanks very much for taking the time to answer these few questions, I will be back later in the week to pick up the responses, in the mean time if any of you want to talk about the match with us, you are more than welcome

Reply from Havocc

1. How do you think Tottenham have done so far this season, and where do you think you will finish in the table ?

Great start to the season, and fully being rewarded by the quality of football we are playing. In regards to how we will finish, the fixtures have been kind and the only difficult looking month is February, so I can see us maintaining the top 4, now we are out of the 2 cups. We have an outside shot of the title, but will need a lot of luck to win it.

2. Who is your star man at the moment ? anyone we should watch out for ?

Its so hard to pick one out at the moment, but VDV has really knitted the midfield and attack together, plus he has scored the goals. Our whole front 6 is argubly the best in the prem....so watch out for all of them :-)

3. What are your views on the whole Olympic Stadium bid and your desire to either move or redevelop white hart lane ?

Not living in the area, I was undecided on the OS bid, but thats all dead in the water now. Hopefully we can redevelop WHL. We are a club that runs in profit, and will need to earn more capital by increasing capacity to stay with the top clubs.

4. What are your views on Stoke City ?

They are now considered a staple of the premier league. Unfairly criticised for the style they play IMO. Always put 100% into everything they do. Enjoying watching them in Europe at the moment (doing better than us!!). They play football in the correct spirit, and never moan, complain. They go about there business in the best way

5. Which (if any) Stoke player(s) would have at Spurs ?

Begovic, maybe Shawcross if we lost one of our CB for a while

6. What is your score prediction ?

3-1 Spurs, seems to be our preferred scoreline this season

Reply from Belondon

1. How do you think Tottenham have done so far this season, and where do you think you will finish in the table ?
We are doing great. we can grind it out ugly and if allowed we pllay the best football in the EPL. if only we had a totally in form striker. 3rd.

2. Who is your star man at the moment ? anyone we should watch out for ?
Parker. you dont need to look out for him. he will sneak up on you and steal your meat pies.

3. What are your views on the whole Olympic Stadium bid and your desire to either move or redevelop white hart lane ?
the olympic stadium was a bluff to get max money to stay where we are and ease the regulations.

4. What are your views on Stoke City ?
amazing team over the years given the resources. never like playing against you. you seem to play well against arsenal so i love you for that. you never expect to win away at Stoke.

5. Which (if any) Stoke player(s) would have at Spurs ?
none.

6. What is your score prediction ?
tough one. either 1:0 to us and a tough game. or you wont turn up and we will walk it 3:0

Reply from BigDub

Welcome to the forum pal.

1. How do you think Tottenham have done so far this season, and where do you think you will finish in the table ?

It is a understatement to say we are in a good run of form. It was a good run of form after we were unbeaten in 5 or 6. Now we are simply cruising. But it is certainly important to keep everything in perspective. The fact remains that there is still a long way to go this season and a lot of huge fixtures are yet to be played. That said, as things stand now I don't think it is too crazy to call Spurs the second best side in the league. I think we are playing the best football outside of Citeh. In the long run, though, I don't think we will end up finishing 2nd. United has the experience and certainly the talent. I'll be optimistic and say that we are able to beat out the others and finish 3rd.

2. Who is your star man at the moment ? anyone we should watch out for ?

We have several players in good form, but right now Bale is playing out of his mind. I think Harry has given him a bit more freedom to be creative in the midfield and it has paid of with some very impressive performances. His movement, awareness, and obviously speed have been put on display during this run. Lennon also being in good form means that Spurs are particularly dangerous out wide. Bale is the main guy to watch out for.

3. What are your views on the whole Olympic Stadium bid and your desire to either move or redevelop white hart lane ?

Ehhhhh. I cared about this a bit more in the offseason, now I am more focused on the actual team. That said, redeveloping WHL is going to be something that has to happen given the ambitions of this club. We won't be able to fully make that jump to the next level without a bigger stadium.

4. What are your views on Stoke City ?

I've actually always had a soft spot for Stoke. Ever since you came up a few years back I have been impressed by the way you seem to improve every season. Obviously there was a bit of a poor run this season, but Stoke certainly made waves in the transfer window and helped improve the squad overall. There is certainly some attacking talent, but it is at the back where some surprises have been seen, most notably during the Bolton match. Either way, I wish Stoke luck and wouldn't be surprised if you were challenging for a European spot later this season, assuming you find some form.

5. Which (if any) Stoke player(s) would have at Spurs ?

Begovic would be a player I would have. Also, and this is more than likely just me, I have always had this idea that Kenwyne Jones would play really well under Harry. Wouldn't mind bringing him in for some depth.

6. What is your score prediction ?

Well, there are two obvious conflicting factors here. First, we are in incredible form. Second, Stoke is always a very difficult place to play and get points. When it comes down to it, I just think we will have enough in attack to get all 3 points. 1 - 2 or 3 sounds about right.

Reply from Xrated

1. How do you think Tottenham have done so far this season, and where do you think you will finish in the table ?

Superb! I don't think anyone could have foreseen how well we would do after those 2 opening defeats to the Manc clubs! Harry played this transfer window brilliantly IMO, kept our best player and even though some were questioning our 3 major signings, they have done the team the world of good. Still early days though, and whilst we look unstoppable at the moment, a bad result is always just around the corner in the PL. I don't think we have what it takes to compete with Manchester City over the season, they're just too strong. I really think we'll finish 3rd though, behind the Manc clubs with Chelsea in 4th.

2. Who is your star man at the moment ? anyone we should watch out for ?
Hard to pick just one TBH! The whole front 6 are all playing amazing, and then you have King & Kaboul delivering each week at the back as well. If I had to pick one right now it would be Bale, he's back to his best now.


3. What are your views on the whole Olympic Stadium bid and your desire to either move or redevelop white hart lane ?
Glad it isn't happening. I was born in Tottenham and that's where the team should always stay. Glad we're getting on with NDP now (North London Development Project) we need a bigger stadium to be able to compete with United, City, Chelsea, Livepool & Arsenal.

4. What are your views on Stoke City ?
Don't mind Stoke at all. I know you sometimes get bad press for you style of play (*Cough*Wenger*Cough*) but IMO you're just playing to your strengths, nothing wrong with that at all! I never like going to Stoke though, the Brittania is always a tricky ground, your fans make it a fortress, much like WHL and we'll do well to come away with 3 points. You've also got Woodgate now, one of my favourite players ever.

5. Which (if any) Stoke player(s) would have at Spurs ?
I'd definitely have Begovic after Freidel retires, brilliant keeper.

6. What is your score prediction ?
As I said Stoke away is one of the most difficult games of the season. With the form we're in at the moment now I just can't look past 3 points every time Spurs play! 1-0 Spurs, VDV the scorer.

Reply from Me

Thanks for the replies so far, very impressed with the quality

Also a couple of things I missed out really, Crouch, he's good but 10 million for a 31 year old was damn good business by Harry. It doesn't look like you're missing him and although he's getting better for us I still don't think we are playing to his strengths. We seem to be using him as the target man for obvious reasons but I've always felt he's better with the ball to feet.

Also Wilson Palacios, what's the crack here ? He's obviously the best center midfielder we have a the club and on paper, he's a Tony Pulis wet dream !! Was he really that out of shape that up until now he's been limited to a couple of starts and a few cameos from the bench ?? Pulis say's he's not far away now but I find it hard to believe we turned down Demba Ba (I have a picture of him in a stoke tracksuit, that's how close he came !) on medical grounds yet we paid 8 million for a player that was half a season away from being able to hold a regular starting place down !

Maybe you can shed some light on the situation for us, the one thing Stoke don't do well is communicate with fans, everything is kept hush, hush and it leaves us all guessing !

Reply from Spursman18

Levy mate, Levy gets the best prices for players.

Palacios over the last year has been battling a bad knee injury, which might be why he's out of shape and not playing well. He was great for us when he first signed but as the squad improved he didnt progress. His passing ability is terrible but we all thought he'd suit a side like Stoke who battle hard and are physical. If we got anywhere near 10 million for him, then its another masterstroke by Levy.

Reply from Cmonyouspurs

1. How do you think Tottenham have done so far this season, and where do you think you will finish in the table ?

Aside from our first two matches, we have done magnificently. Our recovery after the United/City debacle has been nothing short of fantastic. We're playing some very, very good football but we've also shown the ability to grind out wins from time to time. If we keep this form up, I can see us finishing 3rd, but of course it will be very tough as all of the top 6 sides have a shout of finishing in the higher spots in the league and none of them will give up without a fight. Any loss of points can be crucial, even at this relatively early stage.

2. Who is your star man at the moment ? anyone we should watch out for ?

Any of our front 6 really. Our midfield 4 have been knocking the ball around very confidently recently, Lennon and Bale are very close to their best form out wide, and VDV and Ade are always dangerous, and their link up play with the midfield is terrific.

3. What are your views on the whole Olympic Stadium bid and your desire to either move or redevelop white hart lane ?

Well I don't want a move to the OS simply because it's away from North London and it's a crap design for a stadium anyway. The Northumberland Development Project looks magnificent and it seems like it would be a brilliant stadium to move into once it's completed. The bigger stadium will help us financially to compete with some of the stronger powers in Europe, so it will be handy in that sense too.

4. What are your views on Stoke City ?

I quite like that Stoke and Tony Pulis have stuck to their principles, even if it isn't the most attractive, watchable football in the world. At the end of the day, it's gotten you results and it's taken you as far as the Europa League, which is a magnificent achievement for you and I don't think you'd have imagined yourselves coming this far when you were promoted to the Prem around 4 years ago.

5. Which (if any) Stoke player(s) would have at Spurs ?

That Peter Crouch bloke...he's got a brilliant international goalscoring record and his height is always a threat for opposition defenders to think about...
Haha just kidding, really I'd probably take Begovic since Friedel's old, and I would be lying if I said I didn't miss a (fit) Jonathan Woodgate, however with his injury record we can't really afford to keep him. Perhaps Robert Huth as a backup CB...he's quite a threat at the other end of the pitch too.

6. What is your score prediction ?

I'd say 2-1 to Spurs. Bale and Ade for us, Crouchy to show us what we're missing for you guys.

Reply from me

From what we have seen from Palacios he's exactly right for us, however we just haven't seen that much of him yet, he got through 90 mins against Keiv last week and i expect him to get another 90 in Istanbul next week, I don't think he will play on Sunday. As far as his passings concerned, have you seen our midfielder's passing ability ? Palacios is like having Messi in the middle compared to what we had I think if we can get a ball player in next to him we are sorted.

From what I can gather from this end, we paid 10 mill for Crouch and 8 million for Palacios, I for Wilson I can live with but I think we paid well over the odds for Crouch, who in all reality has absolutely no resale value for us. It was a weird set of transfers, Palacios signed (apparently) a week before the end of the window, but only on the basis we got Crouch to, which is why it wasn't announced until after we signed Crouch !

Were not daft with money in the main, we have a very prudent chairman and Pulis is second only to Redknapp in the transfer market in my opinion, but I think heart ruled head with the Crouch deal, TP has been a long time admirer and has tried to sign him a few time in the past, also our chairman has stated a few times that Crouch was one of his favourite players.

If he get's 10-15 a season for the next 3 years then I suppose he's been worth it, only time will tell.

Reply from Swespurs

1. Tottenham have done so far this season, and where do you think you will finish in the table ?
First of the season I actually thought 5th place, now we can make the third!

2. Who is your star man at the moment ? anyone we should watch out for ?
Hard one, I think Parker or Bale is our star man at the moment, watch out for VDV.

3. What are your views on the whole Olympic Stadium bid and your desire to either move or redevelop white hart lane ?
I dont really have any views on it, sorry.

4. What are your views on Stoke City ?
This season, a great team! Are looking very threatening.

5. Which (if any) Stoke player(s) would have at Spurs ?
I would really want Shawcross, and possible Kenwyne Jones.

6. What is your score prediction ?
1-3 to Spurs