Happy with Vertonghen
Unsurprisingly, Jan Vertonghen won the Spurs Odyssey man of the match vote, following his excellent performance against Queens Park Rangers on Sunday. Having watched the highlights of the game, I did note that Vertonghen was deceived by Faurlin's excellent disguised pass from which Bobby Zamora scored, but it was a moment of pure attacking class, which would probably have led to a goal against any team, and most defenders.
Vertonghen was clearly perceived as Spurs' best defender in that first half, and then in the second, following AVB's astute tactical switch, we saw elements of Vertonghen that had only been hinted at in previous games. We knew, of course, that he was a more than adequate cover at left back, having seen him do so well against England in the pre-Euro 2012 friendly in June.
On top of more super defending (the best moment was that marvellous saving tackle on Junior Hoilett), Vertonghen often came racing out of the Spurs' half to play a full part in the Spurs' counter-attacking strategy. Vertonghen has been quoted today as saying he loves it at Tottenham, and the fans already love him, having sung "There's only one Jan Vertonghen" with relish on Sunday.
Jan sat out Spurs' first game, but in his five appearances since, he has been voted our man of the match three times, against West Brom, Lazio, and now QPR. Last week, Vertonghen was second in the vote only to double goal-scorer Jermain Defoe at Reading. He leads the cumulative vote so far this season, but more of that in the September review next week.
Voters' comments after the game included the following:-
"But for Friedel and Vertonghen we would have lost"
"Vertonghen outstanding,proved his quality and not afraid to commit to 50/50 tackle."
"Verts is sheer class again...at CB, LB and I bet in midfield! Was working well with Bale in second half"
"MOM - Jan Vertonghen"
Brad Friedel won deserved praise for another excellent show, and there was praise too for substitute Steven Caulker, who has impressed in his two appearances in four days. Caulker looks handy in the box for our dead ball situations, as well as in our own area, doesn't he? I think we can confidently look forward to seeing much more of Caulker, who was only 20 in June.
There is plenty for Spurs to improve upon, and plenty of people are sitting on the fence regarding Villas-Boas.
Phil Dowd drew plenty of negative comments. I didn't like his performance, but by giving him only 4 out of 10, I was in the clear minority, as 60% of votes cast were 6/10 or more. Thus Mr. Dowd's average score over his last ten games in charge of Spurs was hardly affected, and he has an overall score of 6.11, which is one of the higher marks of all the current referees from an audience which is naturally prejudiced against all the men in the middle.
· View this week's spursometer in full
· Thanks to my friend Gary Parker, this season's "Like for like" chart is up and running
Results 22-23.09.12
Swansea 0-3 Everton
Chelsea 1-0 Stoke
S'hampton 4-1 A. Villa
West Brom 1-0 Reading
West Ham 1-1 S'derland
Wigan 1-2 Fulham
Liverpool 1-2 Man Utd
Newcastle 1-0 Norwich
Man City 1-1 Arsenal
Spurs 2-1 QPR
Barclays Premier League
P W D L F-A GD PTS
1. Chelsea 5 4 1 0 9-2 7 13
2. Man Utd 5 4 0 1 12-6 6 12
3. Everton 5 3 1 1 9-5 4 10
4. West Brom 5 3 1 1 7-4 3 10
5. Arsenal 5 2 3 0 9-2 7 9
6. Fulham 5 3 0 2 12-7 5 9
7. Man City 5 2 3 0 10-7 3 9
8. Spurs 5 2 2 1 8-6 2 8
9. West Ham 5 2 2 1 5-4 1 8
10. Newcastle 5 2 2 1 6-6 0 8
11. Swansea 5 2 1 2 10-7 3 7
12. S'derland 4 0 4 0 4-4 0 4
13. Stoke 5 0 4 1 4-5 -1 4
14. A. Villa 5 1 1 3 5-9 -4 4
15. Wigan 5 1 1 3 5-10 -5 4
16. S'hampton 5 1 0 4 9-15 -6 3
17. Norwich 5 0 3 2 2-8 -6 3
18. Liverpool 5 0 2 3 4-10 -6 2
19. QPR 5 0 2 3 3-11 -8 2
20. Reading 4 0 1 3 4-9 -5 1
