Adam seems to take a strange run-up, quickly placing the ball and dashing back – presumably indicating a near post delivery through a pre-arranged signal. Spurs line up to defend this set piece zonally.

The runners start to make their moves as Adam runs up to deliver his cross. Parker, Bale, and Adebayor stand their ground in their zones, with Vertonghen man-marking in behind.

Somewhat shamefully, the static Spurs defence let three Stoke players get in at the near post – Bale and Parker are ill-positioned to deal with the ball or the runners. Parker is too far forward, and Bale sticks to defending his zone, not reacting to N’Zonzi’s run across him to meet the cross. He has a ridiculous amount of space when he makes the header.

For me, Lloris could do more – he gets a palm to the ball but still doesn’t keep it out. However, this goal has to be put down to the way that the set piece is defended – presumably we set up for a ball to the back post, not realising the threat that was unfolding at the near.

Spurs do not seem particularly organised from this set piece. As usual, we have a man on the front post only, so the back post is unguarded. The eventual goal-scorer, Oscar, is being marked by Parker. Regular readers of this blog will know that his marking from set pieces – or rather his ability to lose his man – is not a new problem.

As the ball comes in, Dawson leaves Cahill in too much room, and Cahill wins the header.

Parker simply doesn’t track Oscar and, as a result, the Chelsea man is left with the simple task of heading in at the back post.

It’s poor from Dawson, and it’s poor from Parker – but a man on the far post would surely clear this.

Ramires’ goal – Ramires lays the ball off, continues his run, and gets on the end of a pass from Torres before toe-poking beyond Lloris.

Chelsea look to spring forward quickly. Our midfield is positioned awfully – Parker has pushed far too high up-field to press Luiz, and can be seen here just on the halfway line, with Ramires at least ten yards ahead of him.

Torres receives the ball wide in space. He beats Huddlestone, and makes a driving run down the line.

As Torres cuts in, note Ramires – he has continued his run, with Parker barely having made up any ground.

Torres slips a pass through, and Vertonghen goes ‘all in’ – lunging to try to cut it out.

Ramires breaks through – Dawson could go to ground, and risk a penalty/sending off, but instead stays on his feet.

That may have worked had Ramires not toe-poked his shot so early – taking Dawson and Lloris by surprise, and finding the bottom corner.

For me, this goal is more about Parker’s positioning than Dawson and Vertonghen’s defending, though – I cannot understand why he had pushed quite so high up the pitch to press Luiz, leaving just Huddlestone and the back four to deal with Chelsea’s talented attacking players. Luiz moving the ball quickly instantly takes Parker out of the game, and a clever run by Ramires to take advantage of this leads to a goal. In my opinion this is a goal that we simply wouldn’t concede with Sandro in the team.

Vertonghen is marking the eventual scorer, Boyce, whilst, once again, we have decided not to have a player on the back post.

Boyce leaps well whereas Vertonghen doesn’t – he has a habit of being a little flat-footed when defending set pieces.

Had we had a player on the post, he would likely have been able to clear this.

Callum McManaman’s goal – McCarthy picks out McManaman who steps inside Naughton and lashes in an unstoppable strike which swerves late to take it beyond Lloris.

Wigan begin to work the ball around the box early in the second half, with Kone dropping off Dawson and finding McCarthy. Naughton has tucked round on the cover at this point, because McArthur has found himself on the penalty spot, behind Vertonghen. Our three midfield players, Parker, Huddlestone, and Holtby are all very close to one another with none tracking McCarthur – this would be fine if one had stuck with McCarthy, who instead picks the ball up in space.

As McCarthy receives the ball, Naughton suddenly realises that he has a problem – he now effectively has given himself two men to mark. Holtby tries to get to McCarthy in time, but he just has too much room – he is too good a player to be allowed this much time and space.

He zips an excellent pass into McManaman’s feet and, whilst his first touch loops away from him, Naughton can’t get there in time because he’s had to make up so much ground.

What happens next from Naughton isn’t great – McManaman is primarily right-footed, but Naughton lets him skip inside on to his left far too easily.

He ends up in quite a bit of space, with Naughton over-committed.

This screen-grab doesn’t do Lloris any favours but, in truth, it swerved late and was hit with such venom that it is very difficult to blame the goalkeeper.

I am a huge fan of the 4-3-3 system, particularly as I think it can best utilise our current squad. For example, we can easily accommodate Huddlestone who currently looks incapable of playing as part of a ’2′ in central midfield. However, with Huddlestone playing the deepest-lying role, there is no room for Parker in this formation. He is not efficient enough on the ball or swift enough in his decision-making to play as the water-carrier, and not intelligent enough in the final third to play as the most offensive midfielder. I felt his selection hindered us – whereas Dembele, Holtby and Huddlestone seems to be an ideal blend. Of course we weren’t helped by Dembele’s injury – fingers crossed it is nothing serious – which also later restricted any tactical changes.

Secondly, the 4-3-3 relies on width from the full backs, as discussed on The Fighting Cock podcast this week. This made the selection of Kyle Naughton even more baffling, as he instantly narrows the pitch when he cuts back on to his right foot. Personally I think that Assou-Ekotto at his worst is far more suited to this team than Naughton at his very best, but what do I know? On the plus side, Walker on the opposite flank was one of our best performers, and will seemingly flourish in 4-3-3.

Thirdly, we missed Adebayor. Whilst he didn’t have the best of games against City last week, his presence can occupy defenders and create space for our other attacking talents. He also drops deep and wide to receive the ball, whilst other players break forward – giving us a platform to build from. Defoe’s the opposite of this – he mostly plays on the shoulder and doesn’t tend to involve himself in build-up play, as his 19 touches yesterday will testify (by far the lowest of any player who completed 90 minutes). Defoe is an ideal impact sub, but we need Adebayor back ASAP if we are to prosper in our remaining matches.

Jonathan Miles (20)
Ryan Fredericks (20) Grant Hall (21) Zeki Fryers (20) Jack Barthram (19)
Giancarlo Gallifuoco (19)
Nabil Bentaleb (18) Tom Carroll (20)
Ken McEvoy (18) Shaq Coulthirst (18) Cristian Ceballas (20)

Subs:
Jake Nicholson (20) for Nabil Bentaleb, 67.
Laste Dombaxe (17) for Giancarlo Gallifuoco, 80.

Unused subs: Lawrence Vigouroux (19), Darren McQueen (17)

Just two months ago, we beat Arsenal 4-2 at Hotspur Way. Interestingly, our side tonight featured just four of the same players in the starting eleven – due to injury, loan, etc.

The performance

A game of two halves. Spurs dominated in the first half, with Bentaleb and Carroll dictating things in the middle – their quick one and two touch passing proving fruitful. They were given useful protection from the physically strong Gallifuoco, which allowed them extra freedom. Both wingers looked genuinely threatening, switching sides with regularity and troubling both Meade and Jenkinson, the Arsenal full backs. Ceballos and Coulthirst missed terrific chances to put us ahead after good approach play. A two or three goal lead at half time would not have flattered us.

Spurs took the lead at the very start of the second half, with McEvoy getting the better of Jenkinson and providing a cross for Bentaleb to open the scoring. I expected us to go on and win comfortably. From there,  however, Arsenal took a foothold and largely dominated. Spurs were incredibly resilient, with Hall putting in a fine display, and Fryers having a solid game at centre back (which is not his favoured position), but Arsenal were wasteful in front of goal. In truth, it could have been 3-3. It wasn’t all Arsenal, though – Coulthirst hit a vicious half-volley which was well saved, and then hit the post with a curling effort, and Ceballos missed a fantastic chance from within the 6 yard box after yet more good play from McEvoy.

NB: It was nice to see Jake Nicholson return after 15 months out – he came on for Bentaleb and looked composed in the middle of midfield.

The atmosphere / ethos of 1882

I’ve seen some bizarre criticisms of 1882, and what it is trying to achieve – it is accused of trying to segregate/differentiate groups of fans or of thinking too highly of itself – that’s nonsense. It’s about having fun. It’s about fans taking ownership of football matches, and getting the maximum from supporting their team. It is an antidote to the sense of entitlement that we’ve seen at White Hart Lane and football in general.

1882 is all the fun parts of tribalism – the loyalty, the unrelenting support regardless of what is happening on the pitch, and the feeling of being a part of something. Several hundred people all wanting the same thing.

A fabulous variety of songs, full-on singing for 90 minutes, light-hearted banter with the home crowd, and a happy-go-lucky outlook that just isn’t seen regularly at Premier League games.

Worth noting that the players loved it – they all came over to us at the end to show their appreciation – some were dancing and singing, and all were applauding us, as we were them. A fantastic time had by all.

Shoes off if you love Tottenham.

Manchester City break for the first time in the game, and Tevez finds himself one-on-one with Vertonghen. Parker begins to cover round – Assou-Ekotto is up-field after supporting an attack (Spurs relied on the width of the full backs throughout this game, so I have no issue with this).

Tevez attempts to drive past Vertonghen…

…but Vertonghen does a good job of using his strength to force Tevez wide.

However, having got him right where he wants him, Vertonghen commits himself and tries to win the ball.

Tevez is one of the strongest forwards around – he holds Vertonghen off, nips round him, and has the awareness to play a terrific reverse pass.

Whilst Vertonghen is holding Tevez up, Assou-Ekotto has tracked back (albeit slowly), and has followed Milner. Parker is attempting to back Vertonghen up, but hasn’t got his angles right…

Milner runs off Assou-Ekotto, into Parker’s zone. Parker is neither positioned well enough to stop the pass or on his toes enough to go with Milner. Assou-Ekotto stops tracking Milner – presumably passing him on to Parker, but apparently with no communication.

As a result, Milner gets clear…

…he drives closer to goal, before cutting a precise pass back – note the horrendous marking from Spurs, notably Walker being left with two men over at the back post. Perhaps Lennon would usually have been there supporting him, such is his defensive work-rate.

Nasri cushions his volley well (considering it’s at an awkward height), guiding it into the corner beyond Walker, who has dropped back on to the line.

U18s

FA Premier Academy League
Sat 12 Jan (at Little Heath, Romford) West Ham U18s 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur U18s

McGee
McQueen Dombaxe Ogilvie Ward
Winks Lesniak Bentaleb
Sonupe Akindayini Miller

Subs:
Zapata-Caicedo for Sonupe, 59.
McEneff for Winks, 75.

FA Youth Cup 4th Round
Tue 22 Jan (at Upton Park) West Ham U18s 2-5 Tottenham Hotspur U18s
Scorers: Michael-Percil, Coulthirst, McEvoy (2), Ward

McGee
McQueen Veljkovic Ogilvie Ward
Onomah Dombaxe Bentaleb
Michael-Percil Coulthirst McEvoy

Subs:
Winks for Onomah, 50.
Akindayini for Michael-Percil, 81.
Lesniak for Dombaxe, 85.

FA Premier Academy League
Sat 02 Feb (at Hotspur Way) Tottenham Hotspur U18s 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers U18s
Scorer: Bentaleb (pen)

McGee
Ward Ball Dombaxe Ogilvie
Bentaleb Winks Lameiras
Michael-Percil Coulthirst McEvoy

Subs:
Oduwa for Michael-Percil, 58.
Akindayini for McEvoy, 77.

Unused subs: Priestley, Sonupe, McEneff.

FA Premier Academy League
Sat 09 Feb (at Hotspur Way) Tottenham Hotspur U18s 5-1 Sunderland U18s
Scorers: Ball, Akindayini (2), Coulthirst, Michael-Percil

McGee
A McQueen Ball Dombaxe Ward
Bentaleb Lameiras Onomah
Michael-Percil Coulthirst Akindayini

Subs:
Pritchard for Onomah, 64.
Georgiou for Michael-Percil, 71.

FA Youth Cup 5th Round
Fri 15 Feb (at White Hart Lane) Tottenham Hotspur U18s 4-8 Bolton Wanderers U18s
Scorers: Coulthirst (2), McEvoy, Lameiras (pen)

McGee
A McQueen Ball Dombaxe Ward
Bentaleb Lameiras Onomah
Michael-Percil Coulthirst Akindayini

Subs:
J Pritchard for Onomah, 64.
Georgiou for Michael-Pericl, 71.

FA Premier Academy League
Sat 16 Feb (at Hotspur Way) Tottenham Hotspur U18s 4-0 West Bromwich Albion U18s
Scorers: Zapata-Caceido (3), Oduwa

Vigouroux
Cambell-Young Ball McEneff Vincent-Young
Lesniak Winks
Sonupe Oduwa Zapata-Caicedo
Akindayini

Subs:
Georgiou for Oduwa, 63.
D McQueen for Sonupe, 69.
Amos for Winks, 73.

Unused subs: Priestley, Bush.

FA Premier Academy League
Sat 23 Feb (at Stoke training ground) Stoke City U18s 3-2 Tottenham Hotspur U18s
Scorers: Oduwa, Lameiras

Priestley
Campbell-Young A McQueen Ogilvie Vincent-Young
Lesniak McEneff J Pritchard
Sonupe Oduwa Akindayini

Subs:
Lameiras for Pritchard, 58.
Michael-Percil for Sonupe, 63.
D McQueen for Akindayini, 68.

FA Premier Academy League
Sat 02 Mar (at Hotspur Way) Tottenham Hotspur U18s 3-0 West Ham United U18s
Scorers: Oduwa, Lameiras, D McQueen

McGee
A McQueen Ball McEneff Ogilvie
Lameiras Lesniak Winks
Sonupe Akindayini Oduwa

Subs:
Michael-Percil for Sonupe, 16.
Miller for Michael-Percil, 59.
D McQueen for Akindayini, 75.

FA Premier Academy League
Sat 09 Mar (at Wolves training ground) Wolverhampton Wanderers U18s 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur U18s 
Scorers: Ball, Lameiras

McGee
McEneff Ball Dombaxe Ogilvie
Lesniak Winks Onomah Lameiras
Oduwa Akindayini

Subs:
Zapata-Caicedo for Oduwa, 57.
Michael-Percil for Onomah, 69.
Vincent-Young for Lameiras, 75.

FA Premier Academy League
Sat 23 Mar (at Melwood) Liverpool U18s 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur U18s 
Scorer: Michael-Percil 2

McGee
A McQueen Ball McEneff Ward
Lesniak Winks Lamerias
Michael-Percil Oduwa Zapata-Caicedo

Subs:
Vincent-Young for Winks, 63.
D McQueen for Michael-Percil, 79.
Bush for Lameiras, 84.

FA Premier Academy League
Sat 06 Apr (at Hotspur Way) Tottenham Hotspur U18s 0-0 Liverpool U18s

Priestley
Walker-Peters A McQueen Ball Ward
McEneff Bush Lameiras
Michael-Percil D McQueen Zapata-Caideco

Subs:
Miller for Bush, 59.
Walkes for D McQueen, 68.

Unused subs: McGee, Brown.

————————————————

NextGen Series

NextGen Series
Wed 20 Feb (at  Camp de Loges) Paris St Germain U19s 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur U19s (3-4 on pens)
Scorer: Coulthirst 

Vigouroux
Barthram Ball Stewart Ward
Bentaleb Veljkovic Winks
McEvoy Coulthirst Lameiras

Subs:
Akindayini for Lameiras, 60.
Michael-Percil for McEvoy, 60.
Dombaxe or Bentaleb, 75.
Lesniak for Winks, 75.
McEneff for Veljkovic, 82.

Unused subs: Priestley. Ogilvie

NextGen Series
Wed 20 Mar (at Matchroom Stadium, Brisbane Road) Tottenham Hotspur U19s 3-5 (aet) Sporting Clube de Portugal 
Scorers: Oduwa, Dombaxe (pen), Michael-Percil

Vigouroux
Barthram Ball Veljkovic Stewart
Bentaleb Dombaxe Lameiras
Oduwa Coulthirst McEvoy

Subs:
Lesniak for Lameiras, 64.
Onomah for Bentaleb, 69.
Akindayini for Oduwa, 69.
Michael-Percil for McEvoy, 86.
D McQueen for Stewart, 86.

Unused subs: McEneff, Priestley.

————————————————

U21s

U21 League
14 Jan (at Hotspur Way) Tottenham Hotspur U21s 5-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers U21s
Scorers: Townsend, Carroll, Obika (2), Falque

Miles
Fredericks Hall Veljkovic Fryers
Mason Livermore Carroll
Falque Obika Townsend

Unused subs: Coulthirst, Priestley, Stewart, Gallifuoco, Bostock.

U21 League
26 Jan (at Hotspur Way) Tottenham Hotspur U21s 2-2 Southampton U21s
Scorers: Coulthirst, Pritchard

Miles
Fredericks Gallifuoco Veljkovic Barthram
Luongo Mason
Ceballos Parrett Pritchard
Coulthirst

Byrne for Barthram, 63.
Bostock for Mason, 63.
Stewart for Fredericks, 87.

Unused sub: McGee.

U21 League
04 Feb (at Hotspur Way) Tottenham Hotspur U21s  3-2 West Ham United U21s
Scorers: Obika, Kane, Gallifuoco

Miles
Fredericks Gallifuoco Veljkovic Fryers
Luongo Carroll
Ceballos Kane Parrett
Obika

Sub:
Byrne for Fredericks, 36.

Unused subs: Priestley, Bostock, Stewart

U21 League
11 Feb  (at Hotspur Way) Tottenham Hotspur U21s  1-0 Liverpool U21s
Scorer: Obika

Miles
Byne Livermore Veljkovic Fryers
Parrett Luongo Carroll
Ceballos Kane Obika

Sub:
Gallifuoco for Livermore, 64.

Unused subs: McGee, McEvoy, Ball.

U21 League
15 Feb (at Hotspur Way) Tottenham Hotspur U21s 3-1 Manchester United U21s
Scorer: Obika 3

Miles
Byrne Livermore Naughton Fryers
Luongo Parrett Carroll
Ceballos Kane Obika

Not used: Voss, Stewart, Gallifuoco, Munns.

U21 League
23 Feb (at Hotspur Way) Tottenham Hotspur U21s 4-2 Arsenal U21s
Scorers: Fryers, Dombaxe, Munns 2

Miles
Byrne Gallifuoco Stewart Fryers
Dombaxe Luongo Veljkovic
McEvoy Parrett Munns

Subs:
Ball for Stewart, 46.
Bentaleb for Veljkovic, 46.
Bush for McEvoy, 74.

Unused subs: Vigouroux, Miller.

U21 League
04 Mar (at Telford) Wolverhampton Wanderers U21s 4-3 Tottenham Hotspur U21s 
Scorers: Coulthirst, Munns, Parrett

Vigouroux
Fredericks Gallifuoco Veljkovic Byrne
Parrett Luongo Bentaleb
Munns Coulthirst Ceballos

Subs:
Stewart for Fredericks, 60.
McEvoy for Munns, 70.
Barthram for Gallifuoco, 75.

Unused sub: Priestley.

U21 League
11 Mar (at Hotspur Way) Tottenham Hotspur U21s 4-0 West Bromwich Albion 
Scorer: Munns 2, McEvoy, Coulthirst

Miles
Fredericks Fryers Hall Byrne
Bentaleb Huddlestone Carroll
McEvoy Coulthirst Munns

Subs:
Veljkovic for Huddlestone, 46.
Stewart for Hall, 75.
Gallifuoco for Carroll, 75.

Unused sub: Vigouroux.

U21 League
25 Mar (at The Hawthorns) West Bromwich Albion 0-4 Tottenham Hotspur U21s 
Scorers: Bentaleb 2, Parrett, Ceballos

Miles
Fredericks Fryers Hall Byrne
Luongo Huddlestone Bentaleb
McEvoy Parrett Ceballos

Gallifuoco for Byrne, 64.
Dombaxe for Luongo, 64.
Michael-Percil for Parrett, 64.

Unused sub: Vigouroux.

U21 League
01 Apr (at Anfield) Liverpool U21s 1-3 Tottenham Hotspur U21s
Scorers: Ceballos 2, McEvoy

Vigouroux
Fredericks Fryers Hall Barthram
Veljkovic Dombaxe Bentaleb
McEvoy Coulthirst Ceballos

Subs:
Munns for Coulthirst, 60.
Ball for Barthram, 84.
Michael-Percil for Ceballos, 84.

Unused subs: Priestley, Lameiras.

U21 League
08 Apr (at Upton Park) West Ham United U21s 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur U21s 
Scorer: McEvoy

Vigouroux
Fredericks Hall Kaboul Fryers
Bentaleb Carroll Veljkovic
Ceballos Coulthirst McEvoy

Subs:
Dombaxe for Carroll, 46.
Barthram for Kaboul, 61.
Munns for McEvoy, 73.

Unused subs: Priestley, Gallifuoco.

U21 League
15 Apr (at Salford City Stadium) Manchester United U21s 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur U21s 

Vigouroux
Fredericks Kaboul Hall Fryers
Veljkovic Dombaxe Bentaleb
McEvoy Coulthirst Ceballos

Subs:
Barthram for Kaboul, 48.
Gallifuoco for Dombaxe, 61.
Michael-Percil for McEvoy, 66.

Unused sub: Priestley.

————————————————

Loanees

Currently we have the following players out on loan:

Bongani Khumalo – PAOK
Danny Rose – Sunderland
Adam Smith – Millwall
Yago Falque – Almeria
Souleymane Coulibaly – Grosseto
Heurelho Gomes – Hoffenheim
Andros Townsend – Queens Park Rangers
Alex Pritchard – Peterborough United
Ryan Mason – FC Lorient
Simon Dawkins – Aston Villa
David Bentley – Blackburn Rovers
Tomislav Gomelt – Espanyol B
Harry Kane – Leicester City
Jon Obika – Charlton Athletic
John Bostock – Toronto
Jon Miles – Dagenham & Redbridge
Kevin Stewart – Crewe Alexandra
Nathan Byrne – Swindon Town
Massimo Luongo – Swindon Town

Bongani Khumalo has had a somewhat mixed time for PAOK since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations. He was a regular starter before he left, but has often found himself on the bench since then. His agent is due in London before the end of the season to discuss his future with Spurs, but I would suggest that it’s almost certain that he will leave in the summer.

Danny Rose continues to impress at Sunderland, and is one of the first names on their teamsheet when fit. His impressive performances have meant that he has also been a regular for the England U21s, and there is much talk that he wil return to Spurs next season as first choice. Thus far, Rose has made 24 starts and  2 sub appearances in all competitions for Sunderland – more than he would have done for Spurs, and for that reason alone this move has to be viewed as a success.

Adam Smith has found himself out of favour lately with Millwall, starting just 4 of their last 12 matches, but has made 24 starts and 2 sub appearances in all competitions this far. Smith will be looking for a Premier League club next season, or could even be kept in-house as rotation for Walker.

Yago Falque has made 8 starts and 1 sub appearance for Almeria since joining them in January. My best guess was that he joined them to put himself in the shop window. He’s 23, and has found opportunities difficult to come by at Spurs, so a move back to his home country may be the best way forward for his career.

Souleymane Coulibaly has made 8 appearances, mostly as a substitute for Serie B side Grosseto, who are based close to his former club, Siena. He has yet to get off the mark for them, but the 18-year old will have learned a lot from being in the senior set up for a team of a decent standard, and playing against full-grown men.

Heurelho Gomes’ season has come to an abrupt end, after he suffered a broken hand whilst playing for Hoffenheim. Gomes kept 2 clean sheets in 9 games during his spell, and even wore the captain’s armband. He is hoping for a move away from Tottenham this summer, and has even mentioned a return to PSV.

Andros Townsend has been in superb form in a very poor QPR side. He has been a real bright point for them, often providing their only creative spark. He has mostly played on the right, cutting in, and has clocked up 8 starts, scoring twice, one a sumptuous volley. He has certainly put himself in contention for our first team squad next season.

Alex Pritchard’s spell at Championship club Peterborough United has been unfortunately disrupted by injury, as he picked up a knock on his second substitute appearance which kept him out for two months. He is now back and has made two more substitute appearances, meaning that he has now appeared four times in the Championship – definite career progression.

Ryan Mason’s move to FC Lorient in Ligue 1 really hasn’t worked out. He has been named as a substitute just once and didn’t make it on to the pitch. Rumour has it that Lorient’s chairman arranged the transfer without the manager’s agreement, and the use of Ryan implies that the rumour may have some substance to it. It’s just such a shame because Ryan is a very talented player who I still hold hopes for.

Simon Dawkins’ spell at Aston Villa has led to him making 3 Premier League appearances (from the bench) which has, in some ways, to be viewed as a success. I’m sure that a year ago he didn’t think that he would be a PL player anytime soon.

David Bentley’s return to English football with Blackburn Rovers has not been a happy one. He has made 5 starts and 2 substitute appearances, but in one of his starts he was withdrawn at half time. He hasn’t been involved since the 1st April when he had a somewhat lethargic game against Cardiff City.

Tomislav Gomelt has made a handful of appearances for Espanyol B in Segunda División B, the third tier of Spanish football. He announced himself in style, scoring a last minute winner off the bench in a 2-1 victory over Reus Deportiu. It was a strange choice of clubs for the 18-year old Croatian, which has led many to wonder whether Espanyol are interested in signing him permanently.

Harry Kane was recalled from Norwich and then sent out to Leicester City. He started 5 games, scoring on his second appearance, but has since been a substitute, appearing on 5 more occasions. Not the best season for Harry in all, and he will be looking for improvement next time out.

Jon Obika has become a Charlton Athletic hero after scoring two last minute winners in April. He has made 1 start and 7 substitute appearances, mostly late in games, and so for him to come on and have an impact is impressive.

John Bostock started his first four games for Toronto FC, but has since dropped down to the substitutes bench for the last two games, coming on once.

Jon Miles started two games for Dagenham & Redbridge, before being dropped after a 4-2 defeat to Bristol Rovers. He was then on the bench for the next two, but wasn’t involved this weekend.

Kevin Stewart ha started 3 matches for Crewe Alexandra since joining them at the end of March as the loan window closed. He’s played twice at left back, and once on the left of midfield – a position that I’m not sure he has ever played before. The feedback from Crewe fans has been good – that he has put in mature, composed displays.

Nathan Byrne, Massimo Luongo and Dean Parrett all joined Swindon Town as the loan window closed, although Parrett has already returned to Spurs. He started his first three games for Swindon, but rumours suggested that he had a bust-up with manager Kevin MacDonald after being taken off on 68 minutes on his final appearance. However, the return to Spurs could easily have been seen as scapegoating from their new manager – perhaps he was sending a message to his other players.

Massimo Luongo has started all 6 of the matches that he has been available for, scoring a header from 20 yards in their 4-1 win over Crewe. He has, according to some, been their best player in each of their games since he arrived.

Nathan Byrne came off the bench in his first game and has started each match since. He has played as an attacking left-back (despite being a right-back by trade) and won the member’s suite MotM award in their win against Crewe.

It features the Fighting Cock podcast player, the Fighting Cock blog, access to the excellent forum, the fabulous DearMrLevy.com, as well as this very blog amongst other things.

It is available at the iTunes store – get it now!

Background

I’m regularly asked on Twitter why I ‘defend’ Emmanuel Adebayor despite his apparent lack of quality and effort. It is impossible to answer that appropriately in 140 characters so here are some hastily put-together thoughts that have been running through my brain overnight, amidst a barage of online abuse for the Togolese striker.

Firstly , I guess I do find myself defending him. This isn’t because I have any particular regard for him as a person or even as a player – he has, in the past, shown signs of being greedy, money-motivated, career-driven, uncaring about his clubs and their fans; in other words, a typical footballer. However, he is also a footballer whose abilities benefited us last season, and should theoretically be able to benefit this season and beyond.

The penalty

Let’s not sugar-coat it, it was an awful penalty. He tried to take the unsavable penalty – high and into the corner. He ended up leaning back after a stuttering run up and got under the ball. Is it, as I’ve heard people say, ‘inexcusable for a professional footballer to miss the target from such close range’? Does this make him a bad player? Of course not. Even Messi missed the target from the penalty spot against Chelsea last season. Clearly, players don’t just try to hit the target – they try to place it so far away from the goalkeeper as to make sure of scoring. Did he miss deliberately? Of course not. A man with his ego would love to have scored and been one of the heroes.

Reasons to dislike

The swathe of popular opinion is currently against him, let’s make that clear from the outset. He’s ex-Arsenal; he’s shown signs of being a mercenary in the past (and therefore it’s easy to apply this to him now); he doesn’t tear around the pitch like a Scott Parker, a Didier Zokora or a Steffen Freund; instead, he has a languid, laid back style – somewhere between Berbatov and Kanoute – that can be seen as arrogance. Essentially he’s pretty easy to dislike, and the above reasons make him an ideal scapegoat for many.

Reasons to like

Last season he excelled. He was a vital player to us – after Kaboul and Modric, he was probably my player of the season. His goals were vital, his assists were vital, and his all round link play (and understanding with Bale, Modric and Van der Vaart in particular) was vital to our  (moderate) success.

This season so far

This season, it’s true, he has suffered. Some reasons for this might be:

- a lack of pre-season due to his protracted transfer (be that due to him holding out for more money or otherwise);
- initially being unable to put together a run of games, due to injury / suspension / Defoe’s form;
- playing with Defoe, a player notoriously unable to form partnerships;
- playing without Van der Vaart and Modric, players he so enjoyed playing with last season;
- a lack of confidence caused by all of the above.

The last reason, for me, being the most important. Tellingly, AVB said in the build-up to the Basel game:

“Finding the back of the net allows him to go into the game with more confidence and I always think it’s self-belief from the player, rather than anything else that helps them improve.”

Adebayor the player – nuance

It seems an irritatingly snobbish thing to say, but a lot of his good work does go unnoticed.

Fans get frustrated by his indirect play – he’s not a player who is constantly in the box poaching, for example. But his hold-up and link play, ability to drift wide (dragging defenders away and creating space for others), and his awareness of his teammates are impressive. He will often be the one to make a run to drag a defender away, which indirectly leads to a goal.

He encourages midfielders into the opposition third by dropping deep and creating a focal point/platform for them to play into, and receive the ball back from. We have seen a lot less of that this season due to the sales of Modric and Van der Vaart. Instead, with Bale playing centrally, we are often more direct and will not build in such a slow, patient way. But last season Adebayor was integral to our possession play in the opposition third, and if we do sign a Moutinho-like player, it is essential that we have someone like Adebayor for him to link with.

The attitude / work rate

Some football fans love players who visibly put effort in – who work hard for their club, and do what we as fans would do as a bare minimum were we ever lucky enough to play for the club we love. It speaks volumes that Scott Parker won our Player of the Year last year: a player who almost has to drag himself off the pitch every week, such are his endeavours. A player who gained favour by charging around for 90 minutes, winning the ball back and passing it five yards to the supremely-talented Luka Modric (OK, that downplays him a little, but you see my point). Parker, a player whose own limits have been (almost cruelly) exposed this season by the lack of Modric alongside him.

The antithesis of Parker is the ‘lazy’, uncaring Adebayor. He is not a player to try to rush defenders by pressing them at every opportunity or chase back into midfield if he’s not successfully in retaining possession. But how many strikers are? And do we want them to be? There MUST be a balance between the above, and conserving energy for other areas of the game.

Of course that totally ignores the other types of effort that often go unseen: movement off a defender to show for the ball, movement into the channels to drag defenders around and create space for others, the strength and endurance of constantly holding off brawny defenders.

I’m not saying he’s a workhorse and that people just don’t notice it – of course there are harder working forwards who visibly ‘put more effort it’, to put it simply – but to call him lazy is, in my opinion, unjustified and short-sighted.

Worst striker, etc

I’ve seen it said on Twitter and on forums that Adebyor the worst striker we’ve had in recent seasons. Have we improved so much that we have forgotten some of the dross in our recent past? Our current squad is probably one of the most, if not the most talented we’ve had in my lifetime (I’m not yet thirty), and Adebayor is certainly not one of the worst players within it.

He has played for Monaco, Arsenal, the modern-day Manchester City and Real Madrid. Were he to leave, it would almost certainly be to a club participating in the Champion’s League. He is a very talented player – he may not have a skill-set that tallies with what some fans want to see in a forward, but to criticise his technical ability and all-round game is pretty ludicrous, in my opinion. By all means have an opinion about what you want to see from our forwards, what you want to see him do more or less of, but worst striker in x years? Really? It’s also important to look beyond form – all players have ups and downs, just look at fan-favourite Defoe, who seems to suffer from dips in form more than most. Or more recently Jan Vertonghen, who was absolutely outstanding in March, but has had a pretty appalling April so far.

Agendas

Of course, most football fans will, knowingly or unknowingly, have agendas. If I’m honest, my own is based on youth players; because I follow the youth teams, I like to see products of our academy involved in the first team squad. Rightly or wrongly, I call for them to be involved (be it from the start of games or from the bench) on more occasions than other fans might. For example, I have frequently called for Tom Carroll to be involved in games when others might not think he is ready yet.

Many fans seem to have an unwavering agenda with regards to Adebayor. For years he was the unfortunate victim of a deeply unpleasant song, shamefully sung by a section of our fans – he was a hate figure, as he played for the enemy. Some fans would simply never take to him, simple. However, the level of negativity towards him – even after a successful first season is confusing – particularly when the leeway offered by fans to similarly under-performing players is clear to see.

Defoe and Acebayor have a similar scoring record since the turn of the year, but whilst Defoe’s name is still sung out even when he is sat in the bench, Adebayor’s name is sometimes booed when read out by the stadium announcer prior to matches.

Clearly Defoe has earned affection – scoring regularly over a lengthy spell at the club, and showing what appears to be a genuine passion for THFC. On the other hand, Adebayor is perceived as a mercenary who stops trying after becoming too comfortable at hus clubs – or so the press’ narrative would have us believe. And so it goes – agendas are built on perception, a player’s lack of confidence is perceived as not trying, and the vicious circle continues.

The future

As mentioned, I have no attachment to Adebayor as a player or person and, so long as we replaced him adequately, I couldn’t care less if he was to leave in the summer. In fact, I think it’s probably for the best that he does, such is the job in ‘convincing’ our fans that he would have ahead of him were he to stay.

I just hope that we aren’t cutting off our nose to spite our face. Were we to sign a Moutinho type or a van der Vaart type, we may end up greatly missing a technically-gifted forward who can play one and two touch passing football, bring talented attacking midfielders into play, and who has the ability and intelligence to draw defenders out wide and create space for others.

Support

The negativity towards Adebayor (I heard boos when his name was read out at Swansea – I thought our away fans were meant to be steadfastly supportive?) is, in my opinion, depressing.

More so because it is so obvious to me that Adebayor is a confidence player – a player who is bubbly, bright, and plays well when his metaphorical tail is up, and who suffers when things are not going so well – on or off the pitch. To get the best out of him, we need to get behind him. Can I see that happening? Unfortunately not.

We all want what is best for Tottenham Hotspur – we just have different opinions on how we achieve it. Even if you disagree with my opinion that Adebayor is a player affected by confidence, and instead think that he is an arrogant mercenary, consider whether you think that moaning, groaning, booing and jeering has any chance of helping him improve his form. Alternatively, what if I’m right? What if our collective support can help to get an extra 5% out of him? What have we got to lose?

This seems a good time to mention the 1882 event coming up. If you fancy being a part of a crowd who will sing for the lilywhite shirt of Tottenham Hotspur, regardless of whether the player in it is Ledley King, Emmanuel Adebayor, or Kenneth McEvoy (who?), then you should read this, and come along to watch our U21s take on Arsenal at Underhill.

COYS.

We opened with a 1-0 defeat to Barcelona on Tuesday and then beat Dinamo Kyiv 2-1 on Wednesday.

We play Benfica today (Thursday), Spartak Moscow on Friday, and Celtic on Saturday.

The participating squad is as follows:

GOALKEEPERS
Thomas Glover
Luke McGee

DEFENDERS
Cameron Cartar-Vickers
Christian Maghoma
Connor Ogilvie
Kane Vincent-Young
Channing Campbell Young

MIDFIELDERS
Luke Amos
Cy Goddard
Shayon Harrison
Filip Lesniak
Joshua Onomah
Joe Pritchard
Anton Walkes

FORWARDS
Anthony Georgiou
William Miller
Nathan Oduvwa
Emmanuel Sonupe

Baines’ corner is aimed towards Jagielka, who is marked by Vertonghen.

Vertonghen is caught flat-footed, and doesn’t get up to compete.

However, Jagielka clearly climbs on him with a hand on each shoulder. The referee has a perfect view of the incident.

The ball is headed downwards and, unfortunately for the goalkeeper, goes through Lloris’ legs.

Mirallas’ goal – As Anichebe brings the ball down and plays it wide to Mirallas, our defence seems to simultaneously switch off. Mirallas drives at Caulker and smashes a low shot into the corner.

As Everton fire the ball forward, Anichebe drops off Dawson to collect the ball – Dawson is unsure whether to go with him, as Parker is covering that part of the pitch. Notice Vertonghen ball-watching, with the eventual scorer, Mirallas, behind him (blended into the dugout!).

Anichebe lays a first-time pass off, and Mirallas is already moving – bursting past the static Vertonghen, who is far too far away from Caulker regardless of not knowing where Mirallas is.

Mirallas has space to drive into, and Caulker is forced to back off, with Jelavic making a dart in behind Dawson.

Parker attempts to make up ground, but is not going to catch Mirallas, who toes the ball beyond him, and has Caulker on the back foot.

He looks to go inside, which forces Caulker to turn…

…before turning back outside and getting a shot away from an acute angle.

Lloris is narrowly beaten by Mirallas’ fantastic strike – across the face and into the far corner.

Our 4-1-4-1/4-3-3 hybrid arguably was the cause of our first goal, and Everton’s second. We created our opener with Vertonghen making a superb run to get beyond the narrow wing-forward, Sigurdsson, and putting a dangerous cross into the box. Vertonghen rarely replicated this for the rest of the game but, ironically, for Mirallas’ goal, he is too advanced and too far from Caulker. Along with this, a lack of communication between the holding midfielder (Parker) and centre-back (Dawson), leads to confusion – Dawson thinks that Anichebe has drifted into Parker’s space, and drops off, whereas Parker is too far advanced to affect play and ends up chasing shadows.

There were positives from the 4-3-3 though – our ball retention was generally good, with Holtby putting in a tidy shift and recycling the ball well. He also dovetailed nicely with Dembele, who had greater license to carry the ball forward, knowing that he had two men behind him. We also saw strong performances from Adebayor – who led the line admirably – and Sigurdsson – who was tenacious and creative. Walker took advantage of Dempsey’s tendency to tuck in by providing a constant outlet on the right, and it was arguably his best attacking performance of the season.

(For those who have been asking, I’m halfway through a youth/loan update and it should be with you by the end of the week at the latest.)