Looking Forward

Portsmouth  (Home)

Premier League

Monday 12th December 2005

Redknapp has said that the team has changed out of all recognition since he left and hinted that it might not be for the better.  Recalling Vincent Pericard from loan at Sheffield United, hints that he might start up front with Lomana LuaLua, who has been linked with a move to Tottenham.  The speedy Congo winger has had a tough time, with a bout of malaria thrown in, but he appears to be back in the running (and jumping) to be included in the side.  Pericard was at Juventus, but he failed to ignite the side in his first spell at Pompey and might be seeking to prove himself at the top level.  Zimbabwean Collins Mbesuma, Colubian John Viafara and Uruguayan Dario Silva are some more exotic option in the strike-force, with Silva having featured a bit more often than the others.  All have a good scoring record, but may have not fully adapted to the English game.

In midfield, there two best players feature.  Matthew Taylor and Gary O'Neil are both playing well, with Taylor's left foot being a potent weapon, while O'Neil prompts play and gets forward ending up in the box to try to finish moves he may have started.  Laurent Robert has been quite a disappointment since joining on loan from Newcastle United, but he is another who cam explode a shot out of nowhere, but he looks like he does not have a great deal of interest in what is going on at Fratton Park, so Harry will have his work cut out trying to inspire him.  Robert Hughes is deployed in front oft he back four and does well there, but it blunts his attacking options, while Giannis Skopelitis is another option, as one who works hard in midfield.  Aliou Cisse and Salif Diao are strong African midfielders, but their physical approach has not been that successful in the Premiership and they have drifted out of contention for a place in the side.

Jamie Ashdown has replaced the experienced Sander Westerveld in goal.  Talented and a big keeper, Ashdown looks like he has a lot of potential, but is prone to a mistake or two, so Tottenham need to pressure him to see if he spills a shot or misjudges one.  To keep out Westerveld, who is a good goalie, Ashdown has to prove that the belief his manager has in him is justified.

The defence is chosen from Gregory Vignal, Andy O'Brien, Andy Griffin, Brian Priske, Dejan Stefanovic.  Vignal and Griffin tend to get caught out of position, although they try to get forward and this might leave them exposed to quick attacks by Tottenham.  Stefanovic is a central defender, who has strength and height, but can be found out on the floor and Priske, I do not know a lot about, but he has not been feted as the next big thing at Portsmouth, so might not make the side, whereas Andy O'Brien has been a Prem defender with Newcastle for a few years now, so will probably be selected, but he is prone to misjudgments too.

For Tottenham to come out of this game with three points, they will need to establish the two goal margin they find so hard to attain, early in the game.  This will allow them to relax and play their own game, while Portsmouth try and chase the game to get something from it.  Key to this could be the presence of either Lennon or Routledge, as their pace will create problems for the visitors and allow the forwards to concentrate on putting the ball in the net.  With this in mind, I predict that Spurs will cement their third place.

PREDICTION : -  Tottenham Hotspur  3    Portsmouth  1

For more information on the opponents and their history, including full result history of matches between the two teams, click here.

Coverage

TV :  
Sky Sports 1 (Live coverage)
For coverage in all parts of the world, check here and here.

Radio :  
BBC LONDON Digital Radio, BBC LONDON 94.9FM and Sky Channel 902

If available on BBC radio, it can be heard in these countries on these stations ...
Australia (Melbourne) SEN  -  116 AM  Live Transmissions: TWI, Saturday. 12.45 & 1500 matches
Australia (Syndey)  Radio 2  -  1611AM  Live Transmission: TWI, Saturday, 12.45 Match
Singapore Media Corp Radio  -  93.8 FM  Live Transmission: TWI, Saturday, 15.00 Match
South Africa  SABC (Radio 2000)  Live Transmission: TWI, Saturday, 15.00 Match
Uganda  Radio 1 (English) 90.0 FM, Radio 2 (Lugandan) 87.9 FM  Live Transmission: TWI, Saturday, 15.00 Match
North America (USA, Canada, Mexico, Caribbean)  Sirius Satellite Radio  Live transmission: Saturday - 12.45, 15.00 (TWI) & 17.15 (BBC) Sunday - 14.00 & 16.05 (BBC) Mon, Tue, Wed - Various times (BBC)

Internet :
www.spurs.co.uk   Live webcast  - subscribers only
Planet football - http://play.www.planetfootball.servecast.net/downloads/sky/spurs-pl04-kean0.ram (free - only available when match is on)

Robinson

Stalteri
Dawson
King (c)
Lee

Jenas
Carrick
Tainio (Routledge 41 [Reid 83])
Davids

Mido
Keane (Defoe 69)

Unused subs: 
Cerny
Kelly

Ashdown

Primus
Stefanovic
O'Brien
Griffin

Hughes
Viafara
O'Neil
Taylor (Robert 86)

Pericard
Lua Lua

Unused subs: 
Westerveld
Priske
Todorov
Cisse

Tottenham Hotspur

King 57
Mido (p) 85 
Defoe 90

Lua Lua 24

It was a struggle again, but in the end it was a win that Tottenham deserved against a side who looked equally as poor as Sunderland in the previous game here at the Lane.

While we sit in fourth place with a three point gap between us and fifth place Bolton, there is still not the fluidity that has epitomises Spurs teams of the past, but the wins keep coming and with 30 points in the bag already, it could be a really good season if the consistency that Martin Jol has instilled in the side can be continued after the New Year.

In fact, it was only when the second substitution was made that things started to look better for Tottenham and that was about six minutes from the end.  With Jenas tucking infield on the right, there was no option for Stalteri when he broke forward.  Davids on the left did give some width, but Lee failed to push on beyond him often enough.  I had hoped this would change when Routledge came on for the injured Tainio, but he too played narrow and looked like he had been out for a long time injured.  The late introduction of Reid had an immediate impact when his first touch was a free-kick that disappointingly hit the wall, but the perfectly placed ref picked out the fact that Gary O'Neil had nudged his elbow towards the ball to block it and thus he pointed to the spot.  Reid was also involved in the late, late third goal, but more of that later.

With two clear early chances, it looked like Spurs would go on to win this game comfortably, but creating them and taking them are two different things.  Keane and Mido both hit the keeper when maybe they should have done better.  An early goal would have set Spurs on the way to a big win, but instead, it all turned out very differently.  Keane's chance was well made by Mido's through pass and Mido's by Davids', but the square Pompey defence looked like it would be vulnerable to a through pass.  Keano looked less like the player to score from these means and Defoe's pace might have been a better option against the giant defenders.

Edgar Davids produced an ambitious volley that he sliced and went a yard wide and then Tainio set up Keane, who tried to chip it over Ashdown from the left, but only managed to hit the keeper.  Then Spurs changed tack and started playing the ball into the box, usually a high ball towards Mido, who was being held down and his shirt pulled, but Rennie would not give a penalty, mainly because the ball was far too high above the Egyptian.  A better shout came when Tainio broke into the area and two Portsmouth defenders went in to tackle and appeared to miss.  Rennie pointed to the six yard box for a goal-kick when it should have been a corner as a minimum.

From the goal-kick, a long ball forward was hoisted up in the air by O'Neil and Lee missed his header, with the bouncing ball then struck early by Lua Lua.  Being 25 yards out, the shot came out of the blue and didn't allow Robinson time to set himself and the ball skidded off the turf and beat Robbo's dive and went just inside the post to give Portsmouth an unlikely lead, with their first shot of the match.  

While Portsmouth had played deep up until now, they dropped even further back and Spurs failed to use the wide parts of the pitch.  When Tainio got a knee knock, it allowed Routledge to make his re-appearance after injury.  He looked a bit rusty and failed to make the impact that Jol might have hoped for.  Spurs made heavy weather of breaking down Pompey and the best chance was a close call for the visitors, as Mido got in the way of a clearance that bounced just wide in injury time.

Losing 0-1 at the break was a huge disappointment and the boos were perhaps a little uncalled for.  I like to think they were for the Portsmouth time-wasting and kicking the ball away that started after about 15 minutes, but I fear that they were for Spurs not being able to break down a massed visiting defence, as expectations rise.

The other thing that seemed to cause unrest among the Tottenham fans was the agitation when they were passing the ball around at the back.  It helped to pull the Portsmouth team forward and from one side of the pitch to the other to try and create space.  It worked better in the second half when Spurs started to find some wide positions and from one free-kick, Mido clattered Ashdown as he went to punch the ball out.  In true Bobby Smith style, this might have unsettled the young keeper for later crosses.

Davids was having a fine match with his driving runs and quick feet causing problems and his shot early in the second half was deflected wide as it looked like it might hit the target.  But Robinson had to make himself big as Portsmouth broke and Pericard put in a low shot, but it was kept out with a good block.  Within four minutes, King had got Spurs back into the game, with Robbie Keane playing his part.  As Carrick prepared to take the corner, Keane stood at the far post making a point to the ref that he was standing at the far post and asking Rennie to watch what was happening to him.  As Ashdown was paying attention to this, the corner came in and with the keeper keeping an eye on what was going on behind him, Ledley stole in away from Primus to head home in an action replay of the Arsenal game.  It was a perfectly delivered set-piece and a well-timed run to meet it to give Spurs a boost to get back into the game.

It needed a top drawer save from Robinson to protect the lead though.  With a break in the right hand channel, Pericard held the ball up and put the ball back into the stride of Taylor, who hit a shot that would have gone in just inside the post, had Paul Robinson had not managed to change direction to get a good palm on the ball and take it wide.  Bringing on Defoe for Keane was not an unrealistic change, as Robbie wasn't having the best of games.  

There was still defending to do and both Stalteri and King had to deal with crosses into the six yard box, with them both facing their own goal.  They managed to get them away for a corner, but any misjudgment could have seen the ball going past Robbo.  The other moment of concern was when Taylor went down under pressure from a Spurs defender, who had a handful of his shirt with Rennie looking on.  That might have been fortunate, but the penalty we did get is perhaps an evening up of all that bad luck we had last season and earlier this.  Not worried about the technicalities, Mido grabbed the ball, despite Davids wanting it again, but the striker fired the ball low to Ashdown's left and although he dived the right way, the ball appeared to skid over his hand. 

Spurs were happy to keep the ball at the Portsmouth end and when the ball was played down the left wing by Mido to Reid, he pulled his cross back behind Defoe, the only Spur in the area.  The little striker chased the ball, turned to face Griffin and with two touches accelerated past him and from a narrow angle, hit a low shot that went between Ashdown's legs and in to make it 3-1.

In the final analysis, the score might have flattered Spurs a bit, but in truth, Portsmouth were poor and even given a goal start they couldn't hold onto it.  They will prove a real challenge to Harry Redknapp's managerial skills and if there is any truth in this betting scam that saw a huge amount of money put on him to go back to Fratton Park, he better hope that it was someone at the club, so that he can buy big !!

Spurs continue to pick up points without fully functioning as they might like, but fourth with a gap that means we cannot be over-taken by Christmas means we start off after the festive period higher up the table than usual, so it needs to be maintained through the early part of the New Year and on through to May.  If we pick up points from the Boro and Newcastle games before we go into the FA Cup, then perhaps it will show where we are heading.

MEHSTG TOP MAN : -  EDGAR DAVIDS

Burton Coggles

You know.  Beat the bottom sides without giving their fans a heart-attack.  

Make sure that things go to plan, rather than be 0-1 down at the break to a side who look like getting relegated and have just changed their manager.

It would be nice, but perhaps it wouldn't be Tottenham.

The early chances indicated that Spurs might run amok, but as we know from experience that this is not always the case.  And so it proved when LuaLua struck an effort on goal which nobody expected, especially Robbo, who saw the shot go past him into the net without having the chance to put in a decent effort to stop the ball.

With Jenas tucking infield on the right, there was no option for Stalteri when he broke forward.  Davids on the left did give some width, but Lee failed to push on beyond him often enough.  I had hoped this would change when Routledge came on for the injured Tainio, but he too played narrow and looked like he had been out for a long time injured.  The late introduction of Reid might have shown that Jol did not expect Routledge to feature for so long, as he looked out of the match for most of his time on the pitch.

Davids was outstanding, racing forward and taking on their midfield with no little skill, while Stalteri (after a couple of stray passes early on) settled down and did well at the back and going forward.  If only he could beat a man, he would be invaluable.  Dawson was again superb, while Robbo pulled off two good saves to keep Pompey out and Carrick was all over the pitch.  His appetite for the game is huge.  And it was left to the foot of Carrick to provide the opening goal, with Ledley's soaring header powered down past the defenders and keeper between him and the goal.  Like his goal against Arsenal, it was no more than Tottenham deserved.

With Reid coming on to be given the responsibility of taking a free-kick as his first action in the game, he struck it going around the inside of the wall, but it bounced back to him as it hit the five man wall.  As he prepared to take a second go, Uriah Rennie pointed to the spot for a penalty.  Being there and almost level with Reid, it looked harsh, but seeing it again on TV, O'Neil made a move with his arm towards the ball and Rennie (for once) looked to have spotted a legitimate offence.  Mido's penalty had us all wondering if he could do a better job than Keane last week and he got it into the back of the net, although the keeper almost made a good save, guessing the right way to go, but not quite getting there before the firmly hit spot-kick.

With Defoe coming on to add the pace our attack had been missing, he turned a wayward Reid cross into a goal and this is what he is capable of.  With the ball played in behind him, he got the ball, turned 180° to face Andy Griffin, who had been untroubled until now, but the push past him and shot through Ashdown's legs wrapped up a 3-1 win, when it looked like it might have ended 1-1 for quite a long time.

One of the funniest sights of the night was O'Neil complaining about Spurs not rushing to take a throw-in and running after a stray ball after a free-kick had been given to try and hurry things up, when he had spent a large number of opportunities to waste time and kick any ball away that he could.  I think "the biter bit" is the appropriate term.

At least one bit went to plan and Robinson showed how to do things right when he pumped 24 footballs into the Park Lane end, where (some of) his fan club reside.  I can't imagine that the club had anything to do with it as Robbo seems to be a genuine bloke who loves the fans.  A small outlay on a gesture like this makes a lot of difference to fans who put a lot of their money into the club.  Shame THFC can't see the long-term benefit of a bit of PR in the direction of their long-suffering supporters.

Lee Wallace

I can't believe that Jol could force Erik Edman out of the club for a muppet like Lee Young-Pyo.  It was the Korean that lost Lua-Lua for their goal and was ineffective in attack because he had to get the ball onto his right foot every time and gave Portsmouth time to bring men back.  I'd prefer to see Kelly given another chance there as he crosses the ball first time.  I think that Jol should think about making a move for Wayne Bridge next month in the transfer window, as he's a better defender than Pyo and also a good attacker with a natural left foot.  Plus, it'll be another addition to our growing British & Irish contingent.

Our left-backs aside, the rest of the team looked good, especially Davids, who's making me eat my words about him being over the hill.  The Dutch maestro was terrific last night and gave O'Neil a torrid time (and bruises) in the midfield battle.  I was surprised just how easily Spurs were able win back possession and Carrick was a big part of that.  Tainio was impressive before his injury but young Routledge looked a little lost out there, out of position and lacking sharpness.

I think we really missed Lennon because there was a lack of cutting edge.  Some of the blame for that lies with Jenas, who again did little in attack but was good breaking up Portsmouth.  I think that Jol should drop Jenas and put Routledge on the right wing, with Carrick & Davids in the middle and perhaps Tainio or Lennon on the left.  Until that happens, we will continue to struggle in attack, if not defence.  We kept possession well but often failed to find a way through and when we did, Keane and Mido were wasteful.

If you look at Chelski, they have width and in the middle, a driver and a holder.  We could have that as well but Jol seems happy to grind out results for now, with four central midfielders and no width.  Fair enough, it's 3 wins in 4 and we're fourth in the league, but we really should be second.  Maybe our strike-force could be more clinical, possibly reintroducing Rasiak and El Hamdaoui before the transfer window, just to put the frighteners on.  I heard about another bid for Dirk Kuyt and he'll be good if we get him, but until then our fringe strikers deserve a chance to show us that we don't need to spend £12m. Defoe took his goal well and now Keano will surely return to the bench.

Last mention goes to Robbo, the foundation, the man that we've built the current squad around and the man that saved our asses at 1-1, keeping us in the game.  Without him, we could never think of  challenging for the top four or even the title but we can now.

Last thing I'll say is that one of our young stars, Mark Yeates, is doing really well at Colchester and is the reason that they are currently sixth in league one.  Greg Halford and Chris Iwelmuo are getting the goals and headlines, but it's Yeates who is making them and dragging his markers all over the place.  I hope that Jol is following the boy's progress, because one day Yeates will be terrifying premiership opposition.

Sean Jackson