Still no word from the FA on Torres
At the time of writing (Tuesday morning 1st October, 2013), there has still been no word from the FA about Fernando Torres' clawing of Jan Vertonghen during Saturday's Chelsea game. Torres was booked by referee Mike Dean for his foul on Torres, but we await the advice from the FA to The Premier League as to whether or not Mike Dean saw that part of the incident. If he says he didn't, then Torres will be in for more than his one-match ban for his ultimate sending off. (Addendum:- No additional action was taken, as apparently one of the officials had seen the players "coming together")
Most observers felt that the second booking was harsh on the Chelsea striker, and of course a battalion of Chelsea spokesmen, including the manager and at least two of the players came out in support of Torres. One of these was Torres' fellow countryman Juan Mata, who starred in the second half. Talk about Spanish practices!
Whatever happens about Torres, it has been great really to witness all the bitching, particularly by Jose Mourinho, who basically called Vertonghen a cheat, and in effect openly criticised the referee. Since then, Mourinho has walked out of a press conference before Chelsea's Champions League game against Steaua Bucharest. I forgot to report the Spurs chant towards Mourinho of "You're not special any more", and indeed, he does seem to suffering from the early season pressure. Former Steaua Bucharest player Vlad Chiriches is not the only one in England who will be wishing his previous team the best of luck tonight!
As for Mr. Dean, he came in for plenty of stick in the Spurs Odyssey post-match survey. This referee has been in charge of more of our games since I started such comprehensive records three and a half years ago (17) than any other, and has generally maintained a higher score than his colleagues on average. This time though, he scored his lowest mark yet (5.3), and was accused by one voter of giving the most "biased, one-sided performance you are likely to see in a life-time". I can't quote much of the remainder! Others thought he did okay; that it was a very good game; and that the referee tried to let it flow.
Spurs calm head coach, Andre Villas-Boas drew his lowest mark of the season so far, and most of the criticism seemed to be about substitutions. Some wanted to see Sandro (I'm sure he'll start in Russia on Thursday), and others wanted Defoe on earlier, and Lamela instead of Chadli.
All those opinions have been welcomed as always.
Mousa Dembele was voted your man of the match, with an excellent industrious performance. I reported his part in our goal, but most observers and pundits seemed to overlook his initial inside pass to Eriksen. Dembele was winning and carrying the ball through tight situations in the middle time and time again, and his pass success rate was excellent. This wass Dembele's first man of the match winning vote since last season's Europa Leaue games in Lyon and at home to Basel.
P.S - Gylfi Sigurdsson is our top league scorer at this time, with 3 of our 6 goals!
See the spursometer in full.
Results 28-30.09.13
Spurs 1-1 Chelsea
A. Villa 3-2 Man City
Fulham 1-2 Cardiff
Hull 1-0 West Ham
Man Utd 1-2 West Brom
S'hampton 2-0 C. Palace
Swansea 1-2 Arsenal
Stoke 0-1 Norwich
S'derland 1-3 Liverpool
Everton 3-2 Newcastle
Barclays Premier League
P W D L F-A GD Pts
1. Arsenal 6 5 0 1 13-7 6 15
2. Liverpool 6 4 1 1 8-4 4 13
3. Spurs 6 4 1 1 6-2 4 13
4. Everton 6 3 3 0 9-6 3 12
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5. Chelsea 6 3 2 1 7-3 4 11
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6. S'hampton 6 3 2 1 5-2 3 11
7. Man City 6 3 1 2 14-7 7 10
8. Hull 6 3 1 2 6-7 -1 10
9. A. Villa 6 3 0 3 9-8 1 9
10. West Brom 6 2 2 2 6-5 1 8
11. Cardiff 6 2 2 2 6-7 -1 8
12. Man Utd 6 2 1 3 8-8 0 7
13. Swansea 6 2 1 3 8-9 -1 7
14. Norwich 6 2 1 3 4-6 -2 7
15. Stoke 6 2 1 3 4-6 -2 7
16. Newcastle 6 2 1 3 7-11 -4 7
17. West Ham 6 1 2 3 4-5 -1 5
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18. Fulham 6 1 1 4 4-9 -5 4
19. C. Palace 6 1 0 5 4-10 -6 3
20. S'derland 6 0 1 5 4-14 -10 1
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