Davids to sign

The club has just announced that Edgar Davids is on his way to Spurs on a free transfer from Milan. All that now needs doing is to agree personal terms with the player and hope he passes his medical.

Legend Martin Jol said:

He is one of the most versatile midfielders, a playmaker, a ball-winner with great stamina and huge charisma and one of the best midfielders to come out of Holland in the last 10 years.

“This is a player who went to Barcelona when they were middle of the league and took them close to winning the title.

“It’s terrific that he is joining us. This is the player we have spoken about who will lift the team’s performance. We have a young squad with an average age of 23 and I believe Edgar will come in and lead by example.”

This is a fantastic signing for Spurs. With it being a free trasnfer it means we can pay the sort of wages that this type of player requires. He will lead from the middle of the pitch and is the ball winning midfielder we have been crying out for for years and years and years. We also have a lot of cash left sitting around thanks to Chelsea and shrewd running of the club so we could expect further names later.

COYS!

More pictures

Pictures from The Peace Cup Final.

Pictures from The Peace Cup Final - With thanks to Tony The Yid at From The Lane.

Spurs win The Peace Cup.

Spurs comprehensively beat Lyon, the French Champions and "Champions" League quarter finalists 3-1 today to lift the Peace Cup and further boost our transfer kitty by at least £1,000,000. An own goal plus two from Robbie Keane ensured we took the honors on the day.

Obviously we must not get carried away with the win - it is still pre-season and this was only a friendly however you look at it but both teams wanted to win and played strong sides.

Spurs were in almost total control throughout the first half. We attacked with pace throughout and used the full width of the pitch, something we have failed to do succssfullyy for years. The first goal saw Routledge use his pace to burst towards the box before slipping the ball out wide to Kelly. His cross was deflected into the Lyon Goal. It was 2-0 within a matter of minutes. Reid played a great ball down the left for Mido to chase who then crossed early. Keane stormed into the box to head home.

The game was dead and buried just before half time. A great early ball across from Mido saw Keane tap home. Job done.

Lyon were improved in the second half and we had to defend well which we generally did. Lyon were back in it when the ref decided that King had hand balled.

Overall Spurs were the better side against good opposition. Many players excelled today including Tainio in the first half. If Jol uses these performances to pick the starting eleven against Portsmouth then Keane will be way ahead of Defoe. Hee has had an excellent performances and has teamed up well with not only Mido but Kanoute as well.

Gardner looked composed and better than he has for a while and Reid had an excellent first half. Routledge was very quick but more often than not chose the wrong pass or cut back.

Nevertheless this is an excellent performance and sets us up very nicely for August 13th.

COYS!

Spurs Vs. Lyon

Spurs staggered there way to the Peace Cup Final on Thursday with an unconvincing 1-1 with Real Sociedad. Nevertheless we are there are should be ready to play one of the better teams in Europe who regulary play "Champions" League football. It will be a good test to see how far we are progressing as a squad.

I did wonder about the wisdom of entering The Peace Cup earlier in the season but looking back it has been a good tournament. Spurs have generally played well especially when you consider the match fitness issue. We have also been able to experiment with player positions (Tainio) against good opposition to see what they can really do.

Based on what I have seen over the last week I would stick Cerny back in goal. Fulop had a good game against the Spanish but I never once saw him communicate with the back four. The Eurosport feed did tend to miss a lot of corners so I could be completely wrong on that point but Cerny did seem to command his box more and looked more confident as well. Along the back I would recall King to play alongside Gardner. Tony has had a good tournament I feel and knows King well. Kelly and Edman will continue in the full back positions.

In the middle of the park I would play Carrick alongside Mendes who has been excellent. I would push Tainio out on the left with Routledge on the right. Lennon can always come on if Routledge fails to impress.

In the forward positions I would start with Keane and Kanoute. They will be fresher than Defoe and Mido who both played the majority of the game on Thursday.

It would be a great boost to win the cup against stronger opposition and would set us up nicely with around 3 weeks to go before the opener against Portsmouth. However a defeat would not be the end of the world as it is still only pre-season. We had a shocking pre-season last year and then had a great start. This pre-season, so far, has been fantastic compared with the last one.

COYS!

Spurs win.

Spurs beat Sundowns 3-1 today with goals from Keane (2) and Kanoute. Sundowns hit back late on with a well taken goal by Chebangu, a tricky forward who we couldn't manage very well.

Much of the team was different to Saturday's game. Cerny started in goal with Kelly and Edman at the full back positions. Both had solid games although Edman did get caught once or twice. Davenport and Gardner played in the centre. Routledge started wide right with Reid on the left. Mendes and Huddlestone played centre. Keane and Kanoute were up front.

I won't go into too much detail about the goals except to say they were all well taken. Keane was unlucky not to have hat-trick after hitting the bar and some dodgy looking offside decisions. Kanoute had a good game and overall Keane and Kanoute looked much better overall than Defoe and Mido. In fact, last season, Kanoute and Keane were our strongest partnership scoring more goals in less minutes than any other pairing. Another nail in the "Keane is useless" camp who seem desperate to ship him on. Madness.

It was great to see Mendes in the middle again and he got stuck in far more than Huddlestone who seemed quiet but fairly effective in a holding role. Routledge had lots of fancy tricks, some which paid off and some that didn't. A solid performance. Reid had a better game than he did on Saturday but that wasn't hard. His crossing was better but still not brilliant. Later on Lennon made an appearance and showed he is very pacey. One to watch I feel.

The most worrying feature was the way Spurs fell apart when they let in a goal. The defensive organisation was very poor for the last ten minutes. To be fair no one is match fit but the inability to clear the ball when necessary was disappointing. However Cerny had an excellent game and will be a worry free deputy should Robinson not make match fitness for the trip to Portsmouth come August 13th.

Overall though another good performance that puts us in the driving seat in our group.

COYS!

Spurs draw.

Spurs drew 2-2 with Boca Juniors today in our opening game of "The Peace Cup". Boca took an early lead before Spurs hit back with an excellent finish from Jermaine Defoe and a cool strike from Mido. Boca hit back after half time with a blistering strike from the edge of the area.

Spurs lined up with Cerny in goal with Marney, King, Dawson and Bunje along the back four. Across the middle of the park was Tainio on the right, Carrick and Mendes in the middle with Reid on the left. Defoe and Mido were up front.

Spurs were poor in the first ten minutes but got into our stride after that. You have to remember that this was only the second match of pre-season so fitness levels were never going to be anywhere near Boca's as there season has just finished. Tainio went about his business quietly and played some nice balls. Carrick was ok and it was really good to see Pedro Mendes back in the starting eleven and he looked good. Mido has clearly lost a lot of weight, being much thinner in the face than when he first joined. He took his goal well and held up the play reasonably well. Defoe took his goal well.

There were a few changes later in the match, the main ones being Routledge and Huddlestone. Tom looked composed and never threatened and Routledge was putting himself about a bit. He needs to put the ball across earlier and also had a good chance to score. Keane put a great ball through for him but he tripped himself up.

The one player who should be worried about his performance was Andy Reid. His crossing was poor, he never once beat a man and never really imposed himself down the left. People will claim he was unfit as it is early days but he has had the same amount of pre-season as everyone else. He needs to raise his game quickly or he will find himself out of the starting eleven.

So a good workout for the lads. The next game is against Sundown, Live on Eurosport at 11am.

COYS!

Atouba Leaving.

The world's most skilful left back (Trademark A. Vale) has been flogged to Hamburg for, as usual, an undisclosed fee. The defender, best remember for a stunning strike against Newcastle and trying to turn defenders in his own box will join the German club assuming he can agree personal terms.

Amazingly he played 24 times for Spurs providing many heart stopping moments! Good luck Tim and good luck to Hamburg fans next season as well.

COYS!

Arnesen sticks knife in.

Frank Arnesen has departed Spurs with a parting shot claiming that all the best players would want to sign for Chelsea rather than Spurs.

Arnesen is quoted as saying:
"I have been at a club where we were always at the back of the queue,"

"Chelsea and Arsenal were always at the front of the queue signing the big players. I didn't like that."

Well duh! When a team is competing in the "Champions" League they will have a better chance of signing the top top players. However only 11 of these top players can start every week. As we saw with Scott Parker at Chelsea he is a good player but could not push into the team with Lampard ahead of him. He wasn't happy and eventually left after wasting a year of his career albeit on a big salary. Some footballers are money grabbing bastards who would happily do that but many would not be happy with this situation. These are the players that Spurs can go for as they realise that they can play week in and week out at Spurs BUT will also improve our team.

Spurs can attract big names as well. Defoe is a prime example. He probably could sign for Chelsea next week if we put him up for sale BUT how often would he play. Defoe wants to play every week. He wants to go to the World Cup. Coming off the bench every week would harm his chances of that and that is one of the reasons he is at Spurs.

Arnesen knew of the situation at Spurs, that we have underachieved for many a season. Coming in and suddenly realising that Ronaldo may not be knocking our door down was naive at best. What his task was was to attract better players than we already have so we can build towards the top four as we did do last season. The signings so far this season have also improved the squad and thus the team so we can continue to push on. Before Chelski waved the money Arnesen was saying things like "Spurs can go places" and "That we are always making progress". Now with comments he has made to the News of the Screws we can see what a hypocrite he really is. Maybe with an attitude like that we are actually better off without the money grabbing Dane.

COYS!

Stevenage goals

Bit Torrent required

Link

With thanks to Boof!Bonk!Boosh!

COYS!

Spurs win first Pre-Season game

Spurs cruised to an easy 3-0 win over Stevenage Borough. Martin Jol played 22 different men across the course of the 90 minutes including Spurs "debuts" for Lennon, Routledge, Teemu Tainio and Huddlestone.


Legend

Spurs took the lead after Kanoute finished a move involving Keane and Lennon. At half time Jol took the opportunity to replace the entire first 11 bringing on players such as Mido, Defoe and Routledge. Spurs doubled the lead after 67 minutes with Mido lashing in from 15 yards. It was 3-0 during the 83rd minute when Defoe rounded the keeper from Routledge's pass.


Goal!

It always should have been an easy ride against Stevenage but it was interesting to see the four new players. Of course Canadian right back Paul Stalteri did not play. The first half line up was as follows:

Cerny, Marney, Jackson, Carrick, Davenport, Huddlestone, Lennon, Tainio, Kanoute, Keane, Yeates.


Debut

I believe they lined up in a 4-4-2 formation with Cerny in goal, Marney, Jackson, Davenport and Huddlestone along the back four, Carrick played with Tainio in the middle with Yeates and Lennon wide. Kanoute and Keane were up front. Lennon sounded like he made the most impressive debut out of the three in the first half being involved with the majority of our attacking play.

In the second half the line up changed to the following:

Fulop, Kelly, Edman, Dawson, Bunjevcevic, Routledge, Mendes, El Hamdaoui, Reid, Mido, Defoe.

We started with Fulop in goal and a more solid looking back four, especially at the full back positions with Edman and Kelly. Routledge and Reid were on the wings with a welcome return to Pedro Mendes alongside El Hamdaoui. Mido and Defoe were up front. Routledge looked like he had a lively second half out on the right.

So it is obviously pleasing for Spurs to start with a win. Out of the first eleven who will start at Pompey next month only Routledge and Tainio are likely to play a starting role as others are "for the future". I hope Spurs will continue to strenghen the wide areas before August 13th.

COYS!