Spurs scorer:-
Giovani, 56

Villarreal scorers:-
Rossi, 22,32,70
Ruben, 86

Referee:- Mr. K. Friend
Assistants:- Mr. M. Murphy & Mr. R. Ganfield
Fourth Official:- Mr. G. Law

Attendance:- 17,917

Teams:-
Spurs (First Half– 4-4-2):- Gomes; Hutton, Dawson, Corluka, Naughton; Lennon, Jenas (sub Rose, 19), Huddlestone, Kranjcar; Defoe, Keane (Capt.)
(Second half – 4-4-2) Button; Walker, Corluka, Bassong, Ekotto; Kranjcar (sub Taarabt, 81), Huddlestone (Capt.) (sub Parrett, 78), Rose, Bale; Giovani, Crouch
Subs not used:- Cudicini; Townsend, Fredericks; M’Poku

Booked:- Giovani

Villarreal (4-2-3-1):- Diego Lopez (Capt. – second half); Angel Lopez (Gaspar, 61), Musacchio (Kiko, 46), Catala (Castellani, 88), Oriol (Gullon, 84); Senna (Capt.)(Ruben, 61), Soriano (Insa, 78); Cani (Montero, 61), Fuster (Valero, 46), Cazorla (Cristobal, 46); Rossi (Perez, 78)

Booked:- Cani (Dissent)

Spurs lose no-muscle friendly.

It could be argued that there was little to be learnt about the true potential of Spurs this season from this very friendly game that perhaps should have been played behind closed doors rather than in front of a sparse home crowd that appeared to reach a maximum of 15,000. On the other hand it could be said that Spurs had plenty to learn from Villarreal, who are a team with Champions League pedigree, but who have only just qualified for the Europa League due to Mallorca's exclusion for financial irregularities. The visitors, wearing their traditional bright yellow strip gave Spurs quite a lesson in fluid and quick passing football. Former Manchester United youngster Guiseppe Rossi scored a hat-trick, and Marco Ruben scored a fourth to emphasise the difference between the two sides.

Spurs heralded the return of at least some of their World Cup stars, but there was no sign of Wilson Palacios, and Luka Modric was also totally absent from the action. Gomes wore a fluorescent orange strip for his first game of the pre-season, but could do nothing about the first two goals, behind a leaky defence and a midfield which had flair but no muscle. There was not even any semblance of the sort of grit needed in any midfield, and even less when Jenas had to be replaced by Danny Rose mid-way through the half. Not that Jenas had offered much in the way of resistance. Spurs played with only one recognised centre back throughout, as Corluka was partnered first by Dawson, then by Bassong. Corluka reads the game well, but was caught out for speed of thought and action too often. Villarreal could have more goals, with a couple of easy second half chances missed, and a shot that rebounded off the bar.

In the early stages, Huddlestone was feeding his colleagues well, with alert passes square and forward. Dawson also showed sharpness to intercept one or two specific sharp passes by the Spanish team. However, the number of threats offered to goalkeeper Diego Lopez were far less than those coming the other way. Rossi showed his threat at an early stage after Jenas lost the ball in the Villarreal half, and Rossi went away on a rangy run, before the eventual pass was smothered. Robbie Keane picked up a ball down the left channel, and his chipped ball was pushed onto the net b y Lopez. Spurs won several early corners, and Michael Dawson forced a save with a near post touch on Kranjcar’s corner from the right flag.

Villarreal carried the ball forward after another Jenas error, and their move ended with a shot just wide of Gomes’ left post. The visitors repeated the trick almost immediately. At the other end, Jermain Defoe cut into the area from the right and looked for a penalty, but the referee waved away the appeal. Rossi gave the visitors the lead in the 22nd minute, receiving a pass from the left before beating Gomes with a low shot to his left. The Spurs defence was leaving too many gaps, but that was also down the lack of protection from the middle.

Danny Rose had a good run through the middle and tried a shot from 20 yards, which passed wide, but Gomes was busy again at the other end, with little protection. Kranjcar offered a clever back-heel to Robbie Keane after 28 minutes, but the keeper was equal to the shot. Then Villarreal had a two goal lead as Rossi beat any offside flag, and again beat Gomes with a low and clinical shot.

There were loads of changes at half-time and as always in these games, it was difficult to keep up with them ,particularly in relation to the visitors. Spurs introduced David Button for Gomes, one Kyle (Walker) for another (Naughton), with Walker playing at right back. Sebastien Bassong partnered Corluka, who moved to the right to accommodate him, and Ekotto returned at left back. Kranjcar played on the right and the crowd received Gareth Bale at left midfield with great enthusiasm, and they were rewarded with some typical ground-winning runs, and a couple of low crosses that beat everyone. Giovani played beside Peter Crouch up front. Ekotto added some welcome determined and quite physical defending to the game, but he did make one or two crucial mistakes that led to telling passes inside for the opposition.

Kranjcar and Bale showed good skills down the left channel, as Bale’s cross was met beyond the back post by Walker, who fired over from a tight angle. Ekotto sent Gio away down that left channel, and the cross just beat Crouch. Bale and Crouch combined before Crouch’s ball found Kranjcar in an offside position. Spurs did get a goal back when Crouch led the attack through the middle. Gio ran with him to the right, received the pass and fired home with confidence with his right foot.

Cani got a yellow card for kicking the ball away when he didn’t agree with referee Kevin Friend’s decision, and Gio was booked for a foul on Valero. Cani was one of those to leave the field with the next batch of Villarreal substitutions. Spurs had another chance after a Kranjcar corner which found Walker at the back post, before Crouch made the keeper at least stretch for the ball.

However, the game was put beyond Spurs after Button was caught by surprise by a long ball back by Ekotto. The keeper’s rushed clearance reached the halfway line but came back to Rossi, whose shot was cruelly deflected off Corluka to beat the unfortunate keeper. Spurs tried to bounce back, with Giovani feeding Kranjcar who did force a good save from Lopez. Then there was a mix up at the back for Spurs, as Corluka passed shot, Button raced out of his area to try and reach the ball, but it was passed inside for an open goal chance that was spurned. That might have been Ruben, who was now seeing a lot of the ball, and hit another chance over after 77 minutes.

Dean Parrett replaced Huddlestone and showed some tenacity and grit, which had been absent, but most of the players were on the wind-down now. The final goal came with a cross from Ekotto’s side, that left Corluka stranded and Ruben able to finish off.

It was a game that Harry Redknapp says he did not want, coming too soon after the squad’s return to America. Perhaps it was a money-making exercise by the club, who incidentally have increased the programme price by 50p, which I make a 16.5% rise. Football fans are amongst the first to suffer inflationary prices, even in these difficult financial times. I paid (okay - by choice) £30 for this meaningless game, plus various booking and postage charges. Harry says he didn’t want it, and he also moaned in the post-match press conference about the International Friendlies in the week before the Man City game. Before that, Spurs are off to Benfica next Tuesday, and host Fiorentina on Saturday 7th August.

I’ll be there on 7th August, but I can’t wait for the real thing the following week!