| S |
|
62.33% |
| P |
|
61% |
| U |
|
58.16% |
| R |
|
60% |
| S |
|
46.83% |
| = |
|
57.66% |
Form Guide January 2010
P W D L F-A GD Pts
6 2 3 1 9-5 4 5
Pos:- 4th
2 Cup Matches
· December 2009 figures
· Last year's figures
January 2009
Your player of the month was Gareth Bale!
Spurs 4 Peterborough 0 (FA Cup Rd 3)
At half-time at White Hart Lane, Spurs wheeled on three FA Cup heroes from the sixties, eighties and nineties, in the shape of Cliff Jones, Paul Miller, and Paul Allen. The score was 1-0, and the veteran but dapper Cliff Jones drew hearty boos from the Peterborough crowd, when he predicted that Spurs would coast to a 4-0 win. Good old Cliff got the score-line spot on, as Spurs won comfortably, and made it four in added time with a Robbie Keane penalty. At the end of the month Peterborough parted company from their recently appointed manager Mark Cooper. Four of the Spurs 18 for this match left on loan by the end of the month (Giovani, Naughton, Hutton and Keane, who was our Captain against Peterborough).
Your man of the match was two-goal man Niko Kranjcar. Overall team rating = 70.4%. Score ratio = 66%.
Spurs 0 Hull 0
Spurs held on to fourth place, thanks to their superior goal difference attained on the back of the Wigan game and the 5-1 win at Hull, which made this result all the more frustrating. It is a fact that today Spurs came up against a goalkeeper for whom everything went right, and who just could or would not be beaten. Welsh International goalie Boaz Myhill did not have to over-stretch himself in my view, he just managed to position himself exactly right every time a Spurs player fired a shot at him. There were surely times when the home side could have aimed more intelligently.
Your man of the match was Gareth Bale. Overall team rating = 56.2%. Score ratio = 28%.
Liverpool 2 Spurs 0
Spurs failed to play with the character, the belief and confidence invested in them by their travelling fans against one of the weakest Liverpool teams they could hope to meet last night. Spurs too were missing key players, and Lennon was their most sorely missed ingredient, as despite plenty of possession until the latter stages, Spurs just did not have the cutting edge to break down a Liverpool side, whose work ethic was beyond question.
Liverpool were of course missing Torres, Gerrard and Benayoun to name but three, but they did have Mascherano back in midfield. The Argentine midfielder would have missed the game had it been played when originally scheduled 10 days previously, but of course Torres, Gerrard and Benayoun were injured since that date. Alberto Aquilani got only his third Premier League start for the home side, and played in the “Gerrard role” behind Dirk Kuyt, who was the prove the two-goal destroyer of Spurs hopes.
Your man of the match was Heurelho Gomes. Overall team rating = 41.2%. Score ratio = 31%.
Spurs 2 Leeds 2 (FA Cup Rd 4)
Just when it looked as if Spurs were going to hold on(Yes, hold on) to their slender lead against League One side Leeds, up popped their Third Round goal-scoring hero Jermaine Beckford to force a desperate tackle by Spurs skipper Michael Dawson to win an almost last second penalty, after referee Alan Wiley took his time to point to the spot. Dawson had made a similar tackle minutes earlier, clearly winning the ball, but this time replays showed that the referee just about called it right for the penalty which Beckford confidently fired high above Gomes to earn Leeds a replay, and to show Jermain Defoe how to take a penalty.
Your man of the match was Gareth Bale. Overall team rating = 51.8%. Score ratio = 43%.
Spurs 2 Fulham 0
At the 23rd attempt, man of the match contender Gareth Bale finally lost that hoodoo of never having started a Premier League game for Spurs to finish on the winning side. More importantly, a refreshing Spurs side regained their league form, beating a somewhat depleted Fulham side to strengthen their hold on fourth place, at least in relation to Liverpool who drew at Wolves.
Manager Harry Redknapp made five changes from the team that started against Leeds. There was no sign of Niko Kranjcar, and David Bentley was given only his second league start of the season to play on the right wing. Tom Huddlestone returned to the midfield alongside Wilson Palacios who was on top of his game and is another contender for any man of the match award. Luka Modric was back at his best and playing where he has played best for Spurs – on the left side of midfield. Modric and Bale often combined ruthlessly to give Fulham right back Aaron Hughes a torrid time.
Your man of the match was again Gareth Bale, who only just pipped Luka Modric. Overall team rating = 63%. Score ratio = 68%.
Birmingham 1 Spurs 1
Having fought hard, and dominated possession until they scored a deserved goal in the 69th minute, Spurs managed to commit the cardinal sin of submitting to a typical sucker punch as five minutes of added time was being announced on the loudspeakers. The solitary point kept Spurs in fourth place but the question had to be asked – for how long? Liverpool and Villa won, and City then beat a Portsmouth team further depleted by the “fire-sale” re-purchase of Younes Kaboul. That put three teams within two points of us, and two of them with a game in hand. Spurs will need to win their crunch games to come against Villa and Man City to stand a chance of holding on to fourth place at the end of the season. (Don't forget we face Arsenal, Chelsea and Man Utd in consecutive league games in April)
Your man of the match was Gareth Bale, for the fourth time in 6 games. This time it was Wilson Palacios who was marginally pipped in the members' vote.Overall team rating = 58.4%. Score ratio = 50%.
The form of Gareth Bale was most welcome, with the enforced absence of Assou-Ekotto through injury, and not a trip to Africa. Benoit faces a fight, when fit, to get his place back. Luka Modric returned to his best form when playing again from his favoured left side. Ledley King actually played two consecutive games within 5 days, and Harry Redknapp was able to field an unchanged team. We've missed Aaron Lennon all month, and have to do without him for a couple of weeks yet. Trends continue such as real hatred on the part of many Spurs fans towards Robbie Keane and Jermaine Jenas, whose grades are consistently low. I do not question the fact that the form of these players has not been good, but sometimes objectivity goes out of the window in this game. I do however value highly the overall effect of multiple contributions to the assessment of players, and the team.
Don't forget to check out the cumulative appearances and grades for the players as the season progresses - below. The grades are based upon a mark out of ten.
...if you want to remind yourself of the matches played during this month, then See the Fixtures page here. By working your way back through the previous month's figures, you can review the performances over the last 9 years!
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