Let the entertainment begin Spurs!
Here we are after 8 weeks of Premier League action, and goals are in short supply for Spurs. Only 6 teams have scored fewer goals than us, and our top scorer is not a striker. Come to that, our second highest scorer is not a striker. (Chadli and Eriksen)
Our strikers - Adebayor, Soldado and Kane - have managed just one league goal between them, after 8 games. When you consider this week's master-class by Sergio Aguero (sadly against us), Pelle's two goals for Southampton, and the fact that seemingly less fashionable sides than Tottenham have players higher in the goal-scorers' chart than us, it's a bit of a disgrace when you consider the budget that has been at the disposal of the club.
Even Phil Jagielka has scored more goals than our three strikers put together (2).
Aguero's four goals take him level with Chelsea's Costa, who was absent injured last week-end. Aguero has also become Man City's highest Premier League goalscorer, overtaking Tevez, by reaching 61 goals early in his fourth season at The Etihad. City have not been a constant presence in the Premier League, of course, and their current set-up could be said to resemble the old Manchester City as much as MK Dons resemble the old Wimbledon FC.
City's average league position in the last five seasons has been 2.4, whereas in the preceding five years it was 11.2.
Despite the defeat, until Soldado's penalty miss, you could argue that Spurs fans were being entertained more than in any other game so far this season, apart from the 4-0 home win over QPR. The rigidity of our system; lack of goals by those paid to score, coupled with vulnerability and lack of pace at the back against strikers who do have an eye for goal are all factors which make watching Spurs so far this season less appetizing than watching other teams and other games.
Look at this week's games. Last night West Brom gave Man Utd a scare, and Saido Berahino, who has scored 6 goals so far this season, scored again, leaving Rafael in his trail. Berahino has scored two penalties, which is more than our record striker signing, Soldado, could manage.
Even bottom of the table QPR put up a decent fight against Liverpool, sadly scoring two own goals in the process. Incidentally, the scorer of one of those own goals, Richard Dunne, holds the unfortunate record of scoring most Premier League own goals (10). He has been playing for a long time though.
Things are so bad that West Ham are above us, and actually in the top four. They've got Man City this week though. They did beat Liverpool at home, unlike Spurs.
We won our first four games of the season, which included two Europa League play-off games. We've managed to win just two of our last 9 games, and not scored many goals in the process. Spurs must get the winning habit back this week, starting with Asteras Tripolis, and continuing with Newcastle on Sunday lunch-time.
The fans, particularly those that generally only see home games, want entertainment, and goals!
The next sentence could be a template for these reviews:- "The Spurs Odyssey man of the match was Hugo Lloris". Hugo was head and shoulders above his team-mates yet again, and has been voted our best player in 7 of our 13 games. He has only sat out one of those games.
Once again, honourable mention must go to Ryan Mason, who averages 6.95 in his four outings so far (3 starts), and goal-scorer Christian Eriksen, who was voted our best outfield player this week. The rest of the team underwhelmed voters, living up to the reputation of the team as a whole so far this season, I'm afraid.
Referee Jon Moss's score of 2.4 was one of the worst marks awarded to any referee since we've been collating these grades. (January 2010). Only Chris Foy (not Hoy), Martin Atkinson (inventor of FA Cup semi-final goal for Chelsea), and Mark Clattenburg (at Old Trafford in October 2010) have scored worse. It is widely accepted now that Mr. Moss got two of his four penalty awards wrong, one of which was that awarded to Soldado.
· See this week's spursometer in full
Results 18-20.10.14
Man City 4-1 Spurs
Arsenal 2-2 Hull
Burnley 1-3 West Ham
C. Palace 1-2 Chelsea
Everton 3-0 A. Villa
Newcastle 1-0 Leicester
S'hampton 8-0 S'derland
QPR 2-3 Liverpool
Stoke 2-1 Swansea
West Brom 2-2 Man Utd
Barclays Premier League
P W D L F-A GD Pts
1. Chelsea 8 7 1 0 23-8 15 22
2. Man City 8 5 2 1 18-8 10 17
3. S'hampton 8 5 1 2 19-5 14 16
4. West Ham 8 4 1 3 15-11 4 13
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5. Liverpool 8 4 1 3 13-12 1 13
6. Man Utd 8 3 3 2 15-12 3 12
7. Arsenal 8 2 5 1 13-11 2 11
8. Swansea 8 3 2 3 11-10 1 11
9. Spurs 8 3 2 3 10-11 -1 11
10. Stoke 8 3 2 3 8-9 -1 11
11. Hull 8 2 4 2 13-13 0 10
12. A. Villa 8 3 1 4 4-12 -8 10
13. Everton 8 2 3 3 16-16 0 9
14. West Brom 8 2 3 3 10-11 -1 9
14. Leicester 8 2 3 3 11-13 -2 9
16. C. Palace 8 2 2 4 11-14 -3 8
17. S'derland 8 1 5 2 8-15 -7 8
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18. Newcastle 8 1 4 3 8-14 -6 7
19. Burnley 8 0 4 4 4-13 -9 4
20. QPR 8 1 1 6 6-18 -12 4
