Assou-Ekotto and Van der Vaart share MOTM honours!
Rafa van der Vaart won most of the plaudits on Wednesday night, but goalscorers always catch the eye more than other out-field players. Spurs Odyssey readers were astute though and most of the comments (which I always read and enjoy) referred to "Benny" Assou-Ekotto. I've been a big fan of his since he came back from a long term injury that led to him missing most of the 2007-08 season. Since then Ekotto has played 87 league games for Spurs, and he now has a total of 105 Premier League appearances to his name in our colours. Long may he reign!
"Benny" has played more games this season in all competitions than any other Spurs player. I remember reading an "Opta Joe" statistic recently, which indicated that he had made more interceptions than any other Premier League player this season.
There have been over 250 votes on the "Spursometer" for this week's game against Arsenal and the voting has now closed. Assou-Ekotto and Van der Vaart finished level on 8.4 out of a possible ten, with Luka Modric next in line and Michael Dawson also winning a lot of votes. Here then are some of the comments that were offered:-
"Modric without doubt the MOM but I cannot praise BAE highly enough does not get the credit his performances deserve. VDV was inspirational and certainly showed he has an extra gear."
"Thought that Benny had a fantastic game. Initially i gave him a 9, but then on thinking about it i couldn't recall a better game from a left back. He was solid defensively, pushed forward brilliantly, hit some amazing cross field passes and his pass inside the fullback for the pen was of astonishing quality. Not many left backs in the world could have done that.
Rafa was back to his best, pumped up and leading the team with his attitude. Luka was excellent, as always."
"Ekotto was outstanding!"
"I've never been a fan of A-K, but have to say that last night he was almost error-free in defence and springboard of many attacks. Best "Team" performance I have seen all season...."
"Best display by a Tottenham left back I've ever seen"
"Ekotto was awesome! His best game in a Spurs shirt."
"I thought Assou-Ekotto was excellent. What a player he has become"
....and a few comments allouded to the Huddlestone or Sandro dilemma, I think:-
"Sandro must start games, he is immense!"
"Sandro must be in the team every match"
"...... if Sandro had played would we have got the 3 points?"
"I thought the initial selection was far too open midfield-wise, and this proved correct"
Once again, thanks for your responses and comments!
Results 16-20.04.11
B'mingham 2-0 S'derland
Blackpool 1-3 Wigan
Everton 2-0 Blackburn
West Brom 1-3 Chelsea
West Ham 1-2 A. Villa
Arsenal 1-1 Liverpool
Newcastle 0-0 Man Utd
Chelsea 3-1 B'mingham
Spurs 3-3 Arsenal
Barclays Premier League
Pos Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Man Utd 33 20 10 3 70 32 38 70
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2 Chelsea 33 19 7 7 61 27 34 64
3 Arsenal 33 18 10 5 66 34 32 64
4 Man City 32 16 8 8 50 30 20 56
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5 Spurs 32 14 12 6 47 39 8 54
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6 Liverpool 33 14 7 12 46 39 7 49
7 Everton 33 11 14 8 47 41 6 47
8 Bolton 32 11 10 11 46 43 3 43
9 Newcastle 33 10 10 13 48 47 1 40
10 A. Villa 33 10 10 13 42 54 -12 40
11 West Brom 33 10 9 14 47 62 -15 39
12 Fulham 32 8 14 10 36 35 1 38
13 Stoke 32 11 5 16 39 42 -3 38
14 S'derland 33 9 11 13 35 47 -12 38
15 B'mingham 33 8 14 11 34 46 -12 38
16 Blackburn 33 9 8 16 40 54 -14 35
17 Wigan 33 7 13 13 32 53 -21 34
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18 Blackpool 33 9 6 18 47 69 -22 33
19 West Ham 33 7 11 15 39 58 -19 32
20 Wolves 32 9 5 18 36 56 -20 32
