Carling Cup Semi Finals (8th, 9th, 22nd & 23rd January)

SPurs were very good, Ramos has improved this team so much in such a short space of time. Close space down very well, twice he's outplayed Arsenal at the emirates. Deserved and should have won both games.

Berbatov come to o/t asap. Defoe gets within 10 miles of manchester i'll have him killed.

Here's to a win for Tottenham at whl

L r d wrote: Defoe gets within 10 miles of manchester i'll have him killed.

This wouldn't be as funny if it were from anyone but you lerd.

Adebayor wrote:

Spurs lost their chance to go through tonight. We are going to beat theam at White Hart Lane

Not really, Spurs have a chance.

Why was Van Persie subbed!!

Why did Lennon give Defoe such a horrible bobbling ball - he would have buried it on the floor.

Berbatov and King were v good.

Lennon and (esp) Walcott showed what a pair of talentless pace merchants they are.

Seriously, Wenger should be man enough to admit he was wrong and see if they can get half a mil for Walcott from someone like Norwich or Preston before the window closes.

Luckiest.

Goal

Ever.

He deserved that injury

Because he was clearly not match fit. He looked tired after 45 minutes.

Spurs can go two ways from here. Either they will be fired up and will have confidence having outplayed us, or they will be demoralised and the pressure of not beating us for so long will weigh even more heavily.

Despite escaping with a draw, Wenger needs to have some stern words with some of our players. The performance levels of a number of players were simply not acceptable, they were well below the standards expected of them.

DEFOE!!!

johan neeskens wrote:

Adebayor wrote:

Spurs lost their chance to go through tonight. We are going to beat theam at White Hart Lane

Not really, Spurs have a chance.

Why was Van Persie subbed!!

Bemused actaullybecause he looked quite bright. I presume he was obviously not fully fit.

I think Wenger will learn from this draw as he knows we didn't play well. No way in hell we'll play that badly again any time soon.

Regarding Walcott. Thos guy is becoming very injury prone and at such a young age to.

Good substitution at h/t to take off Djourou. clearly made us more solid. Gilberto has to take the shame of being worse than Jenas in midfield . Hope Diarra is is with us to play the second leg.

PS. Walcott > Chevanton.

just why can't spurs beat arsenal.

i still fancy them to take this in the 2nd leg.
diserved a win tonight.
They still have a good chance 2nd leg

COME ON SPURS

StevieG wrote:just why can't spurs beat arsenal.

Its because they're obsessed with being better than us rather than a good team on their own right.

shazlx wrote: PS. Walcott > Chevanton.

When Theo has scored in 3 of the 5 major European leagues, has a respectable scoring record in CL & UEFA cup, has won a European club competition and has scored against Milan, Juventus, Lyon and Real Madrid I might just take that seriously.

I won't hold my breath.

1-1 after dominating...

Home match to come, we will hopefully be even more fired up this time...

I'll be at that match, so they best damn win!

We're going to bury the youngster hype at WHL on the 23rd.

'Tis all.

shazlx wrote:

StevieG wrote:just why can't spurs beat arsenal.

Its because they're obsessed with being better than us rather than a good team on their own right.

i have to agree with you there tbh. works to their own downfall.

i got a feeling they might just manage it at home though.
if they don't play robinson that is

Fey wrote:What are the odds of TS having a wet anus right now cause of the tension?

Actually I was rather comfortable. Apart from Theo's fluke, and Bentder's early chance, we weren't hurt once.

Cerny >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Robinson.

Saints wrote:

Best goal Walcott will score all season.

He really is fucking $h!t.

@ Pierre

You're wrong about Lennon - pace merchants can't dribble like he can for a start.

Honourable C*nt wrote:

Fey wrote:What are the odds of TS having a wet anus right now cause of the tension?

Actually I was rather comfortable. Apart from Theo's fluke, and Bentder's early chance, we weren't hurt once.

Cerny >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Robinson.

Saints wrote:

Best goal Walcott will score all season.

He really is fucking $h!t.

@ Pierre

You're wrong about Lennon - pace merchants can't dribble like he can for a start.

That's true I suppose but what's the point when you can't cross, pass or shoot

Pierre Littbarski wrote:

Honourable C*nt wrote:

@ Pierre

You're wrong about Lennon - pace merchants can't dribble like he can for a start.

That's true I suppose but what's the point when you can't cross, pass or shoot

He can pass and he's very good technically, ok, I admit that striking the ball (i.e. his crossing and shooting) isn't his strongest point but he's gradually getting better.

A pace mercant is a push and run player - which Lennon definetly isn't

An undeserved draw never felt so good.

Gilberto was awful, he should be stripped of his World Cup medal for that performance alone!

Second leg here we come!

Pierre Littbarski wrote:

Honourable C*nt wrote:

Fey wrote:What are the odds of TS having a wet anus right now cause of the tension?

Actually I was rather comfortable. Apart from Theo's fluke, and Bentder's early chance, we weren't hurt once.

Cerny >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Robinson.

Saints wrote:

Best goal Walcott will score all season.

He really is fucking $h!t.

@ Pierre

You're wrong about Lennon - pace merchants can't dribble like he can for a start.

That's true I suppose but what's the point when you can't cross, pass or shoot

You were piping this rubbish about Agbonlahor last season

How can you criticise the pass to Defoe? It was perfectly weighted across 2 defenders. If it hasnt been more or less Defoe's first touch of the game, Im sure he would have finished it.

I dont think we played that well to be honest. Ok, we pressed hard, thought O'Hara, Mal B and Berbs were our best players, but we played far far too much through the middle, didnt use the width at all, so Lennon and Mal B both started coming inwards looking for the ball and having to defend more than attack. Hardly a game to showcase Azza's talents, so well done to those writing him off as a pace merchant based on this game.

Everything ended up coming deep from Berbatov through the Arsenal defence to Keane. More experienced sides than Arsenal kids would have sussed it immediately.

Thankfully we play more expansively at WHL, so I expect us, with a solid King inspired defence, to be able to finish this tie off, hopefully with a little more style.

Cerny >>>>>>>>> Robbo

Regarding Arsenal, never thought Id say this, but the criticism of Walcott to me seems unfair- he got doubled up on almost everytime he had the ball; we played a very tight harrying defensive game, and his main problem was learning when to release the ball. In terms of making runs, quick feet and the occassional clever flick, I see plenty of potential in the kid. Same goes for the majority of the Arsenal team last night- some of the football was excellent, if not penetrative, good skills, clearly lacked maturity and fluidity as expected.

I don't know how Wenger does it, but his Carling Cup teams never look out of their depth; unlike Man U, Liverpool in the past.

21 games and counting. Hoping we'll finally break the C*nts on 22

Walcott was gash Pele. He couldn't beat Lee once even when he had him in isolation and his passing was woeful.

Parks lives wrote:Walcott was gash Pele. He couldn't beat Lee once even when he had him in isolation and his passing was woeful.

Hmm, I dont remember him being that bad, but then again I had my head in my hands expecting the worst whenever they got anywhere near our box. Im suprised at how well our defence played for a change, especially at set pieces. I remember one corner with O'Hara marking Diaby, and thinking once again, a 5'9 inexperienced guy up against a 6 foot plus brute.

I dont buy the Walcott criticism personally. Deserves no hype, however he clearly needs to play games and get confidence, right now he still performs better as an impact sub; still managed to cause us problems last night, and fortunate to score - however it was a great run behind our defence in the end. Suprised King let him go to be honest, expected better

Time to concentrate on the football this week.

I think the Toffees threw away their oppurtunity in the first leg when they had Chelsea on the ropes. They are a much improved side though so the support of their home fans may spur them onto victory. If Chelsea get the first goal though I can;t see anything else than a Chelsea win.

Arsenal-Spurs is a whole different scenario though. I expect to see alot of goals this week. Spurs having home advantage certainly helps so will this help them dispatch their Arsenal demons who knows? They will need Berbs on top form again and Lennon who I believe has crept into a shell despite a promising start to his career. I don't think Arsenal can play that badly again so we will see a better performance maybe with the inclusion of a few first teamers on the bench.

I predict an Arsenal-Chelsea final like last year.

Views?

This is the Carling Cup team and I don't expect to see Arsène chucking too many "first-teamers" in (maybe some on the bench) just because he's scared we might lose – I expect him to stick to his principles as with last season and to be honest I'd be disappointed if he didn't.

I'd even play: Fabianski; Hoyte, Senderos, Gilberto (if he must play please let it be in defence), Traoré; Randall, Diaby, Denilson, Walcott; Eduardo, Bendtner.

That may be going a little far, and at least realistically maybe Gallas and Rosicky might and should start; but before the last game our League Cup XI had actually been doing better than the "weakened" first team had in the CL, FA Cup and Premiership – i.e. playing better all together than when it was a mixture of first- and second-teamers. Look at the Blackburn game for example.

And although we were poor in the last game for the most part, the "Gilberto in the middle" issue (instead of you-know-who) was as big a problem as anything. My heart will sink if/when he announces the same thing again.

Gilberto is definitely a much better option as a CB. Maybe a bit inexperienced with Theo and Randall on the wings but I do they should both get adequate playing time especially Randall who I have been very impressive. He seems level headed and not arrogant like previously english players.

Diaby playing centre mid will bring the best out of him. He hasn't played there in a while.

2-2 draw. We'll get it last minute too and Juande will say Juande. (get it? Juande sounds like one day)

Black Magic wrote:2-2 draw. We'll get it last minute too and Juande will say Juande. (get it? Juande sounds like one day)

Emmanuel Adebayor wrote:

Black Magic wrote:2-2 draw. We'll get it last minute too and Juande will say Juande. (get it? Juande sounds like one day)

So how will Spurs f@ck up this time? Will they first virtually be in the final before fucking up, or will they f@ck up from the start?

Any line-up expectations?

Fabianski


Sagna Hoyte Senderos Traore


Walcott Gilberto Denilson Diaby


Eduardo Bendtner

Wenger - I may use some first-team players at Tottenham

Tottenham H. v Arsenal
Carling Cup S/F Leg 2
White Hart Lane
Tue, Jan 22, 2008, 8pm



By Richard Clarke

Arsène Wenger could be forced to draft in a couple of first-team players for Tuesday’s Carling Cup Semi-Final second leg at White Hart Lane.

The Arsenal manager has a policy of playing squad players in this competition. For example, in the first leg, Justin Hoyte was the only starter to retain his place from the previous Premiership game — and the former England Under-21 international has hardly been a regular in the top-flight this term.

Wenger is without five players at the moment — three of them centre back — and, as a result, he may employ some experience.

“The players who were on the bench at Fulham will play,” he said. “But I will have to play one or two who played on Saturday because we are short in numbers.”

One reporter asked if William Gallas would be one of that duo.

“I will see,” replied the Arsenal manager. “Come to the game on Tuesday!”

I think he defintely will because this is like Spurs' World Cup final.