| S |
|
62.16% |
| P |
|
63.83% |
| U |
|
59.66% |
| R |
|
60.33% |
| S |
|
47.5% |
| = |
|
58.7% |
Form Guide Jan 2013
P W D L F-A GD Pts
6 2 3 1 9-5 4 6
Two Cup matches
Pos:- 4th
· December 2012 figures
· Last year's figures
January 2012
Can we hold on to fourth place?
After the joys of December, for which Spurs head coach Andre Villas-Boas won the Barclays Premier League manager of the month award, disappointment crept in, despite the fact that we are still in fourth place, and that we are on an 8 match unbeaten run in the Premier League.
There are several reasons for the current feeling of despondency amongst some Spurs fans. The big one is the lack of an eye-catching signing, specifically a striker, as the transfer window slammed shut last night. A few years ago, we used to be linked habitually with Stewart Downing, as far back as him being a Middlesbrough player. Thank goodness that one never came to fruition, but for the last four windows we have been continually linked with Brazilian striker Leandro Damiao, now 23, and staying with Internacional, with whom we are supposed to have a "special relationship". That relationship has counted for nothing in the bartering war that we are accustomed to from Daniel Levy. Once again, we are nowhere near the asking price of the selling club, so we'll have to manage with the semi-crocked Jermain Defoe, who now hasn't scored December 26th, and an out of form Adebayor, currently still absent in Africa with Togo. Clint Dempsey scored 5 goals this month, but still struggles to find favour with Spurs fans.
We did sign Zeki Fryers early in the month, but he is a defender, and one for the future.The one shining light was the early acquisition of Lewis Holtby, who made such an impressive cameo debut at Norwich on Wednesday night.
Spurs fans are generally happy to at last see the back of Jermaine Jenas, who has joined Harry Redknapp at QPR on a permanent deal. Jenas made one substitute appearance for us early in the season, at home to West Brom, and was awarded a measly 4.4 by the judging voters. By comparison, Holtby got an eye-catching 7.3 on his debut. In that simple equation, the squad has been improved, but that absence of a much-needed striker could be so, so expensive in the remainder of the season.
That unbeaten run consists of four wins and four draws, and the last three games have been drawn, which is another source of disappointment. The early exit from the FA Cup at the hands of Leeds has not helped to boost morale, so it's Premier League success, or the Europa League for Spurs now.
Sandro's injury was another severe blow, and he will be out for the rest of the season. Sandro has scored an average 7.1 for his 114 minutes football this month, and Lewis Holtby had that excellent debut against Norwich to score 7.3 for 21 minutes. Those are the highest average scores for the month of January, but I cannot award the accolade of Spurs Odyssey player of the month on the back of so little football.
Aaron Lennon gets the "award", and remember this is based upon your considerable votes, averaging a score of 6.88 in January. Lennon had two outstanding games against Reading and Manchester United, scoring well over 8 out of 10 on both occasions. He was man of the match by a mile for both matches.
Gareth Bale managed three man of the match votes in the month, but never scored so highly as did Lennon. He did surely score the goal of the month and possibly our goal of the season at Norwich though. That was a goal of pure quality. Bale is well placed alongside Hugo Lloris and Sandro for the player of the season vote, with Lennon, Dembele and Vertonghen still in contention. Lewis Holtby culd now come into the reckoning if he continues in the same vein of form as we saw at Carrow road.
Look down the list of the players' accumulated scores, and you can easily see those who definitely will not be challenging for the player of the season vote!
Next month we have just three Premier League games. They are all winnable (West Brom away, Newcastle home, and West Ham away), but also potential banana skins. We also have the two legs of our Europa League Round of 32 tie against Lyon to look forward to. Let's hope we are still fourth (or perhaps even better) at the end of the month!
...if you want to read reports of the matches played during this month, then links are on the Spurs Odyssey Fixtures page here. By working your way back through the previous month's figures, you can review the performances since November 2000!
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