Spurs XI friendly
      Spurs Lodge, Chigwell, Essex.
     Wednesday 15th September 2010, 
               1.30pm k.o.

         SPURS     v     FULHAM
     (White/Blue)      (Red/Black)
         4-4-2           4-4-2

          3(1)            0(0) 

   Stipe Pletikosa 1 Jesse Joronen
       Alan Hutton 2 Christian 
                     Marquez-Sanchez
     Kyle Naughton 3 Alex Smith
    Jake Livermore 4 Aaron Pierre
 Sebastien Bassong 5 Cheick Toure
    Steven Caulker 6 Matthew Sanders
     David Bentley 7 Keanu Marsh-Brown
   Sandro Cordeiro 8 Robert Milsom
Giovani Dos Santos 9 Lauri Dalla Valle
     Robbie Keane 10 Marcello Trotta
    Niko Kranjcar 11 Alexander Kacaniklic

Roman Pavlyuchenko12 Grant Smith
        (9)46Mins. 
    Jonathon Miles13 Ronny Minkwitz
                     (10)84Mins.
        Harry Kane14 Joshua Pritchard
       (10)46Mins.   (2)82Mins.
      Nathan Byrne15 Courtney Harris
        (2)46Mins.   (11)69Mins.
    Massimo Luongo16
       (11)78Mins. 
 Olumide Durojaiye17
        (6)69Mins. 
     Kudus Oyenuga18 

Scorers:-
        Keane 17pen 
    Pavlyuchenko 82 
        Kane 87 pen

Spurs lined up with new keeper Pletikosa in goal with Bassong and Caulker, who was returning from injury while on England duty. Naughton started at left back with Hutton on the right. Sandro began as the more defensive central midfielder alongside Livermore with Bentley on the right wing and Kranjcar on the left. Keane started as the front runner with Gio supporting but they switched a lot during the first half.

Spurs kicked off the first half attacking the North end more or less at half pace moving the ball around getting a feel of it before the more attack minded full-backs began to make more aggressive runs. The visitors put in a lot of energy closing players down and making it more of a game.

Gio fired the first effort wide, but then a mistake at the back allowed Pletikosa to make a good save to his right. Sandro did get up in support and drove the ball into the net from a lay-back but the whistle had already gone. Having been caught offside a couple of times, Keane made a good run down the left channel to collect a good through ball from Kranjcar and was tripped as he turned inside by Toure. Keane took the penalty himself and sent the keeper the wrong way with a low kick to the right.

The keeper saved from Sandro after he was set up by Keane. Bentley then had a go, firing over, and Gio had a 25 yard drive just wide of the post. Kranjcar went wide and Sandro also missed the target. Gio then had a couple of shots. The first was wide of the far post and the second was saved for a corner. From that corner Bassong headed down at the far post and Sandro laid the ball back for Livermore to bring a save from Joronen. Gio then screwed the ball wide at the far post.

The second half started with three changes by Spurs. The front two were replaced by Pavlyuchenko and Kane, with Byrne coming on for Hutton to play atleft back, whilst Naughton switched to the right. In the first minute Bentley got through on the right and deftly chipped the keeper but the ball also went over the bar.

The Spurs back line was looking better and with Livermore now covering in front they countered almost all the Fulham attacks but Saunders did manage a shot that went wide. Pavlyuchenko did not look to want to tire himself out as he moved around the pitch but did want to get on the score sheet so when a half chance came he fired wide. When Byrne picked up a clearance he put in a good cross that Caulker met with his head only for the keeper to save.

Bentley had another shot fly wide after drifting across to the left. From a corner Valle fired wide before Kranjcar had an effort saved. Durojaiye then came on to replace Caulker at the back. Pavlyuchenko played a one two with Kranjcar on the edge of the area but shot wide. Kranjcar was the next to be replaced when Luongo came on in his place. Pavlyuchenko then got a shot on target when he got power behind his volley from about twenty yards out. The keeper got behind it but could not stop it and it spun up and dropped over the goal line for Spurs second.

Five minutes later Kane made a run across the area and turned too quickly for Pierre who caught him and conceded the penalty. Kane took the kick himself and buried it into the right corner with the keeper guessing wrong. Fulham's youngsters had one more chance when Saunders blazed a free kick over the bar.

This was a good workout for the first team squad players with Harry and his staff looking on, as it is expected that he will make changes for the game on saturday and possibly with an eye on Tuesday's game as well. Pletikosa looked confident but will have to learn to shout “mine” when going for the ball as Bassong looked confused with “me”. Sandro looks the business as he showed a good range of passes, getting forward and covering a large part of the pitch over the 90 minutes. He has good vision and tackles well and considering this was his first game here I only remember two poor passes going astray.

Ray