The New Spurs
The 3 last minute signings all got to start in this game.
I would say given that this is their first match, I am quite pleased with their performance.
Rasiak could have a dream debut, hiting the bar with a smart glancing header, he should be threating all the CD with his built and height, looking to him for more goals. He is like the traditional striker who will chanced on every ball the comes into the box.
Jenas made some good runs into the box in search for goals just like Scholes, Lampard and Gerrard. This is what we lack from the current CMs. Last season, more than 90% of our goals are from the strikers, the contribution from midfeilders were very misable. Hope that Jenas will change that. I think we paid too much for him, but hopefully, it will pay off.
I was most impressed with YP Lee. For only 1.36 million pounds, he had my heart in my mouth when he made those runs down the flanks. His skills were good and could have done more in the 2nd half. He reminds me of the young Giggs or Ginola. With Rasiak upfront, I will play him in LM to whip in all the crosses.
It seems that the new Spurs is taking shape, hopefully we can have a meaningful run and clinch that 4th place. Top 3? may be next season...I hope.....
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Tottenham 0-0 Liverpool
If England head coach Sven-Goran Eriksson had come to White Hart Lane to find a replacement for Wayne Rooney against Austria, he will have left with his search still wide open after Tottenham's Jermain Defoe and Liverpool's Peter Crouch failed to break the deadlock.
But while both England strikers had 'goals' ruled out - a fate which curiously also befell Poland international Grzegorz Rasiak - it was midfielder Michael Carrick who should have really caught the England boss' eye.
Carrick, partnered in central midfield by new signing Jermaine Jenas, outperformed Steven Gerrard throughout this goalless stalemate and should be a strong contender for a call-up against Austria next month.
Whether Eriksson is persuaded of such a change remains to be seen, with his greatest concern remaining Rooney's replacement as the striker is suspended against Austria.
Indeed, the England head coach can only have concluded that he has rather more strength in central defence - where Jamie Carragher and Ledley King were both outstanding - than in attack.
However, it is Carrick's form which demands further inspection in the next few weeks, with England crying out for a holding midfielder, with Gerrard and Frank Lampard out of form and David Beckham not cut out for the task.
With Spurs including £11million worth of deadline-day signings, Jenas was handed a central role alongside Carrick, while Lee Young-Pyo provided width outside Edgar Davids and Rasiak offered height up front.
Liverpool, meanwhile, gave Crouch his first start of the season after injury, but rather than opting for a cautious five-man midfield, boss Rafael Benitez included Djibril Cisse up front as well.
It was a relatively open game, but with few early chances as Cisse's snapshot flew wide and Defoe's drive sped over the bar.
Defoe came even closer with his next effort after indecision in the Liverpool defence, while Jose Reina failed to deal with a cross by the former West Ham striker, but Jenas just failed to take advantage.
Spurs had two half-hearted penalty appeals turned down, while Lee made a handful of penetrating runs down the left flank, King had a shot blocked and Defoe's 'goal' was ruled out for a clear offside decision.
Not that the home side could rest on their laurels, however, as Liverpool threatened intermittently.
Stephen Warnock launched a deep cross and, when the Spurs defence's attention was distracted by Crouch, Luis Garcia was allowed to sneak in at the far post, only to volley into the side netting.
Crouch also rose to meet Gerrard's free-kick, only to head the ball two feet over the bar, but the clearest chance of the first half fell to Rasiak just before the interval.
Reina could only parry Davids' powerful free-kick and the Poland international looped his follow-up header against the crossbar.
At the interval Benitez replaced Dietmar Hamann, who had received a painful blow at a free-kick, with Mohamed Sissoko and he was greeted by pouring rain with the storm clouds having broken.
As the game came to life, Liverpool were now on top, with Cisse letting fly with a thunderous half-volley from Crouch's knockdown, with Paul Robinson just managing to parry the ball.
The England goalkeeper also dived full-length to grasp John Arne Riise's long-range effort, while the Norwegian then let fly with a superb volley which struck the underside of the bar and bounced to safety off the goal-line.
Tottenham tried to make the most of that reprieve, with Reina doing well to block Carrick's long-range drive. While Defoe skied his follow-up over the bar, his blushes were saved by the offside flag.
Rasiak looked to have put the home side ahead, but Carrick's corner was adjudged to have curled out of play before the Polish international headed home and a goal-kick was duly awarded.
Rasiak's next header was also ruled out for a push, although that had been directed well over the bar, while Liverpool made an enforced change with 22 minutes left as Xabi Alonso replaced Warnock.
Within a minute, Liverpool also thought they had gone ahead, only for Crouch's header to be ruled out for exactly the same reason as Rasiak's, with the corner having gone out of play before the converter made contact.
And that effectively was that. For Eriksson, it was a familiar sight - yet another game which raised more questions than it solved.
Jol hails Carrick
Tottenham boss Martin Jol claimed midfielder Michael Carrick deserved an England call-up ahead of the key World Cup qualifier against Austria next month.
Jol declared: 'Michael Carrick mastered the whole midfield, he was outstanding. I think he deserves it [a place in the England side]. He's doing very well for us and has always been appreciated as a big talent.
'Maybe it's better to keep his feet on the ground, rather than praising him all the time, but he always plays a big part.'
Jol, who was pleased with the full debuts made by Rasiak, Lee Young-Pyo, Aaron Lennon and Jermaine Jenas, added: 'Rasiak had played two internationals in four days but said he felt good. If he gets crosses in, he will score goals.'
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez admitted: 'We have three clean sheets and we are better than last season in terms of defence but we need to improve in terms of attack.'
But he insisted the club would not live to regret failing to re-sign Michael Owen. 'If we score three goals next week, then everything will change,' he insisted.
'In football, it's easy to talk but it's better to wait. Everything can change. At this moment, I'm
very happy with the players I have.'
As for Gerrard's form, he added: 'He's okay. He knew what to do during the game, he changed his position twice and he did a good job.
'The more games he plays, the better he will get. He was injured for 10 days and then played two games without training. Now he has played another game without training and in a few weeks, he will be better.'
Benitez believes Dietmar Hamann, who was substituted at half time due to a blow to his head, should have recovered in time for next week's opening Champions League group tie against Real Betis.
'I think he will be okay but he got a blow on the head and was a bit dazed,' he revealed.
I would say given that this is their first match, I am quite pleased with their performance.
Rasiak could have a dream debut, hiting the bar with a smart glancing header, he should be threating all the CD with his built and height, looking to him for more goals. He is like the traditional striker who will chanced on every ball the comes into the box.
Jenas made some good runs into the box in search for goals just like Scholes, Lampard and Gerrard. This is what we lack from the current CMs. Last season, more than 90% of our goals are from the strikers, the contribution from midfeilders were very misable. Hope that Jenas will change that. I think we paid too much for him, but hopefully, it will pay off.
I was most impressed with YP Lee. For only 1.36 million pounds, he had my heart in my mouth when he made those runs down the flanks. His skills were good and could have done more in the 2nd half. He reminds me of the young Giggs or Ginola. With Rasiak upfront, I will play him in LM to whip in all the crosses.
It seems that the new Spurs is taking shape, hopefully we can have a meaningful run and clinch that 4th place. Top 3? may be next season...I hope.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tottenham 0-0 Liverpool
If England head coach Sven-Goran Eriksson had come to White Hart Lane to find a replacement for Wayne Rooney against Austria, he will have left with his search still wide open after Tottenham's Jermain Defoe and Liverpool's Peter Crouch failed to break the deadlock.
But while both England strikers had 'goals' ruled out - a fate which curiously also befell Poland international Grzegorz Rasiak - it was midfielder Michael Carrick who should have really caught the England boss' eye.
Carrick, partnered in central midfield by new signing Jermaine Jenas, outperformed Steven Gerrard throughout this goalless stalemate and should be a strong contender for a call-up against Austria next month.
Whether Eriksson is persuaded of such a change remains to be seen, with his greatest concern remaining Rooney's replacement as the striker is suspended against Austria.
Indeed, the England head coach can only have concluded that he has rather more strength in central defence - where Jamie Carragher and Ledley King were both outstanding - than in attack.
However, it is Carrick's form which demands further inspection in the next few weeks, with England crying out for a holding midfielder, with Gerrard and Frank Lampard out of form and David Beckham not cut out for the task.
With Spurs including £11million worth of deadline-day signings, Jenas was handed a central role alongside Carrick, while Lee Young-Pyo provided width outside Edgar Davids and Rasiak offered height up front.
Liverpool, meanwhile, gave Crouch his first start of the season after injury, but rather than opting for a cautious five-man midfield, boss Rafael Benitez included Djibril Cisse up front as well.
It was a relatively open game, but with few early chances as Cisse's snapshot flew wide and Defoe's drive sped over the bar.
Defoe came even closer with his next effort after indecision in the Liverpool defence, while Jose Reina failed to deal with a cross by the former West Ham striker, but Jenas just failed to take advantage.
Spurs had two half-hearted penalty appeals turned down, while Lee made a handful of penetrating runs down the left flank, King had a shot blocked and Defoe's 'goal' was ruled out for a clear offside decision.
Not that the home side could rest on their laurels, however, as Liverpool threatened intermittently.
Stephen Warnock launched a deep cross and, when the Spurs defence's attention was distracted by Crouch, Luis Garcia was allowed to sneak in at the far post, only to volley into the side netting.
Crouch also rose to meet Gerrard's free-kick, only to head the ball two feet over the bar, but the clearest chance of the first half fell to Rasiak just before the interval.
Reina could only parry Davids' powerful free-kick and the Poland international looped his follow-up header against the crossbar.
At the interval Benitez replaced Dietmar Hamann, who had received a painful blow at a free-kick, with Mohamed Sissoko and he was greeted by pouring rain with the storm clouds having broken.
As the game came to life, Liverpool were now on top, with Cisse letting fly with a thunderous half-volley from Crouch's knockdown, with Paul Robinson just managing to parry the ball.
The England goalkeeper also dived full-length to grasp John Arne Riise's long-range effort, while the Norwegian then let fly with a superb volley which struck the underside of the bar and bounced to safety off the goal-line.
Tottenham tried to make the most of that reprieve, with Reina doing well to block Carrick's long-range drive. While Defoe skied his follow-up over the bar, his blushes were saved by the offside flag.
Rasiak looked to have put the home side ahead, but Carrick's corner was adjudged to have curled out of play before the Polish international headed home and a goal-kick was duly awarded.
Rasiak's next header was also ruled out for a push, although that had been directed well over the bar, while Liverpool made an enforced change with 22 minutes left as Xabi Alonso replaced Warnock.
Within a minute, Liverpool also thought they had gone ahead, only for Crouch's header to be ruled out for exactly the same reason as Rasiak's, with the corner having gone out of play before the converter made contact.
And that effectively was that. For Eriksson, it was a familiar sight - yet another game which raised more questions than it solved.
Jol hails Carrick
Tottenham boss Martin Jol claimed midfielder Michael Carrick deserved an England call-up ahead of the key World Cup qualifier against Austria next month.
Jol declared: 'Michael Carrick mastered the whole midfield, he was outstanding. I think he deserves it [a place in the England side]. He's doing very well for us and has always been appreciated as a big talent.
'Maybe it's better to keep his feet on the ground, rather than praising him all the time, but he always plays a big part.'
Jol, who was pleased with the full debuts made by Rasiak, Lee Young-Pyo, Aaron Lennon and Jermaine Jenas, added: 'Rasiak had played two internationals in four days but said he felt good. If he gets crosses in, he will score goals.'
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez admitted: 'We have three clean sheets and we are better than last season in terms of defence but we need to improve in terms of attack.'
But he insisted the club would not live to regret failing to re-sign Michael Owen. 'If we score three goals next week, then everything will change,' he insisted.
'In football, it's easy to talk but it's better to wait. Everything can change. At this moment, I'm
very happy with the players I have.'
As for Gerrard's form, he added: 'He's okay. He knew what to do during the game, he changed his position twice and he did a good job.
'The more games he plays, the better he will get. He was injured for 10 days and then played two games without training. Now he has played another game without training and in a few weeks, he will be better.'
Benitez believes Dietmar Hamann, who was substituted at half time due to a blow to his head, should have recovered in time for next week's opening Champions League group tie against Real Betis.
'I think he will be okay but he got a blow on the head and was a bit dazed,' he revealed.
posted by dgarden at 8:37 am
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