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September 2009

Bale and Van der Vaart share the plaudits

The month started late, due to the first International break of the season, and when Spurs went to The Hawthorns they generally under-whelmed with a 1-1 draw in a game they arguably should have lost had Tamas not missed a late sitter for the home side. William Gallas and Rafael van der Vaart made their debuts, with differing results. Gallas got a booking and made a mistake in the lead-up to the West Brom goal, whereas the artist known as Rafael immediately showed his superior skills and abilities, which included a glorious back-heel to Aaron Lennon. Luka Modric won the Spurs man of the match plaudits on this day though, despite having to be replaced after just half an hour, due to a crunching tackle. Luka had already put Spurs in the lead, and had been our bright star in the early exchanges. We wanted a win, but were glad of the point.Manager Harry Redknapp and referee Howard Webb got average marks too

We made a sound start to the Champions League Group A phase with an exciting and entertaining draw in Bremen. Spurs actually made a dream start with Crouch close at hand when Pasanen scored an own goal at the near post from Bale's cross. Then Peter scored with a great header from a great cross by Van der Vaart. The dream didn't hold though as Bremen got crucial goals either side of the interval, and also had chances to win. So did we though and the draw was a fair result. Bale was scintillating again in his best position (left of midfield), but your grades indicated excellent performances from goal-scorer Crouch, playmaker van der Vaart, born again midfielder Jermaine Jenas, and the defensive partnership of Younes Kaboul and Ledley King. Harry got a collective pat on the back for his team selection and tactics too! Note that a number of non-participants were graded by idiots or those who just did not understand the process on this occasion!

Wolves came to town on the 18th and it looked for a long time as if we might be in for another nasty home shock. Corluka had been absent through injury, and Kaboul (playing in his right back place) had to go off just before the break to be replaced by Alan Hutton for what turned out to be a highly insirational performance by the Scottish International. Wolves had grabbed a half-time lead, but Hutton won a 77th minute penalty with a run into the box, converted by Van der Vaart for his first club goal. Another substitute, Roman Pavlyuchenko added a second for Spurs with three minutes of normal time left, before Hutton himself got a Spurs goal for the first time, with a strong run, but a fortuitous rebound off an attempted clearance. "Super Pav" is not everybody's cup of tea, but in this calendar year he is by far and away our top scoring striker with 13 goals. Mind you, Jermain Defoe (on 10 goals) has spent a lot of time in the treatment room.

The home defeat by Arsenal in the Carling Cup is best forgotten as Harry chose to field his weakest team against Mr. Wenger's strongest League Cup side for years. Players such as goalkeeper Pletikosa, Caulker, Sandro, and Livermore might have slightly fonder memories than us fans, as they made Spurs full debuts on the night. Robbie Keane gave us hope early in the second half, but those two extra time penalties put paid to our hopes, and almost emptied the ground of home support. David Bentley made a start but might wish he hadn't as he got some awful reviews from our voters. Understandably, you weren't happy with Harry about this one either! It remains a mystery as to why Niko Kranjcar took no part in this game, as he had (and still has) played very little football to date this season.

Our second defeat in 4 days to London opposition was no fun at all West Ham beat us for the first time since “Lasagne-Gate” in May 2006, and got their first Premier League win of the season. Even Rob Green played well, making at least two quite special saves. Spurs were a team full of flair, but desperate for guts in the engine room where it mattered. Maybe this was a game for Palacios who remained unused on the bench. Even Gareth Bale could not impress the faitful, as he was deployed at left back, with Ekotto injured but also no doubt being rested for the Champions League game to follow. Star man Van der Vaart and Carlo Cudicini were the only players to score above average marks in another game to forget.

In what has been an up and down season so far for Spurs, the Champions League games have generally been highlights, and the last game of the month at home to FC Twente was a real upper! The game was open, entertaining, exciting and packed with incident. The award of three penalties to the home side was surely quite historic! Unfortunately Rafael Van der Vaart had his effort saved before half-time, then got booked for a foul before the break. Soon after the break our talismanic Dutchman scored his first goal from open play for us, after a head down by Peter Crouch, with whom he was to combine with devastating effect in our first game of November against Villa. It's all history now, as Van der Vaart got himself sent off for a second yellow for a wild charge near the half-way line. He will miss the trip to Inter Milan as a result.

Tom Huddlestone was subject of a post match review, as he was accused of using his elbow when fighting off a challenge. The referee had seen nothing wrong, and UEFA's panel have also chosen not to sanction Huddlestone. we won two more penalties, scored by Pavlyuchenko. One of the penalties was rather controversial and Twente feel strongly aggrieved, which will lead to a good atmpshere in the return game in December! Twente had pulled back the score to 2-1 between Pav's penalties, but Gareth Bale sealed the win with a fine goal in the 85th minute to make it 4-1.

Gareth Bale and Rafael Van der Vaart share our September Player of the Month plaudits. No doubt this is a trend that will continue throughout the season. October had already started well with the win over Villa, but after another International break, they are all tough games, and we'll have plenty to report at the end of the month!

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 10 years!

* less errors equals a higher mark

The Spursometer was brought to you by Spurs Odyssey in association with My Eyes Have Seen The Glory.

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