Looking Forward

Liverpool  (Away)

Premier League

Saturday 14th January 2006

With Liverpool having to come back from a 3-1 deficit at Luton and Spurs going out of the FA Cup 2-3 at Leicester City, this match sees teams who have suffered differing fortunes.  With a draw in their last Premiership match, Liverpool ended a run of ten consecutive winning matches, they are a form team in the Premier League right up there alongside Chelsea. 

Spurs will need to improve their concentration if they intend to show that they can challenge the top sides.  Not having lost to Liverpool for a while (five games), Spurs have a  record to uphold and visiting Anfield will be a tough task.  The major concern will be the shackling of Steven Gerrard, who is the fulcrum of the Liverpool side.  His determined running and fine finishing would leave the best of midfields trailing, but Spurs will need to make sure he is picked up, either man for man or by the nearest white shirt available.  There will probably be some changes in the Tottenham side after some players failed to produce their best form against the Foxes and this will hopefully give some other players a chance to win a regular start.

With keeper Jerzy Dudek out injured after his heroics in the Champions League final, summer signing Jose Reina has taken the gloves and has looked a good goalie, but appears to be lacking a little in his judgment in coming for crosses, spilling the ball when he tries to grab it over the top of some defenders.  In reserve Scott Carson is on hand, but he has shown that his lack of first team action makes it a little difficult to assimilate to the Premier League.  

Dane John-Arne Riise has a fiery head of red hair and a fierce shot as he rampages up the left wing.  Our right sided midfielder will have to get to him to prevent him making forward runs.  That is not the forte of Jamie Carragher, who sticks to his defensive duties alongside Sammi Hyypia, who will use his height to try and stop the aerial problems that Mido will present.  The big Finn might find Mido a physical handful to deal with and he will be challenged for his place by new signing Daniel Agger.  Steve Finnan ties up the right back position and has shown that despite coming in from Fulham, he has the ability to defend well and get up the line.  Others who are in the squad, but unlikely to start are another newcomer Jan Kromkamp and last season's FA Cup own goal-scorer Djimi Traore.

With Gerrard ruling the midfield, the others to play in the midfield four will be Harry Kewell, Mohamed Sissoko, and Xavi Alonso.  Alonso has always looked a good player to me and he is now coming into his own, with his goal from inside his own half against Luton showing great awareness and confidence.  Kewell is fit for the first time in ages and looks a better player for it, while Sissoko is all legs, but covers a great amount of grass in the course of a game and gets his long legs on the ball when you least expect him to.  German Dietmar Hamann has been out of the first eleven of late, but Stephen Warnock has been coming off the bench, as he does not seem to be able to finish a game if he starts one.

The length that Liverpool have gone to in trying something different up front is Peter Crouch.  His non-scoring run ended with a couple of goals and he has started to score a bit more regularly.  It is not only his height that is a problem, but his ability to hold the ball up with his elbows and legs all over the place make it very difficult to tackle him.  Maybe Anthony Gardner will get another game with his own height used to counter that of the former Spurs forward.  Alongside of him, Fernando Morientes has also been scoring a few recently, with a more physical approach and a more aesthetic look to him.  Both Djibril Cisse and Florent Sinama-Pongolle have been benched and both have scored when they have entered the play.  Both possess good movement and a good finishing ability, so they will need to be carefully watched in their runs.

Spurs have injury problems and a bit of a crisis of confidence, but with a full-ish team, they should not need to have.  If Davids is in the side, it will give the Tottenham team more belief and with Mido back, it will add a bit more to our attack too.

I think this will prove the hardest game Spurs have faced for a while and should we gain anything from the game, I will be over-joyed.  In reality, Liverpool are still a little bit ahead of us in terms of progress and therefore, I think that we might miss out ...

PREDICTION : -   Liverpool  2   Tottenham Hotspur  1

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

Coverage

TV :
For coverage in all parts of the world, check here and here.

Radio :  

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, Carribean)  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)

Reina

Finnan
Hyypia
Carragher
Riise

Gerrard (c)
Alonso
Sissoko (Kromkamp 90)
Kewell

Morientes (Warnock 83)
Crouch (Cisse 66)

Unused subs: 
Carson
Sinama-Pongolle

Robinson

Stalteri
Dawson
King (c)
Lee

Tainio (Defoe 67)
Jenas
Carrick
Davids (Lennon 78)

Mido
Keane
 
Unused subs: 
Cerny
Gardner
Brown

Kewell 60

Tottenham Hotspur

None

   
Tainio 45

   
Stalteri 88

Games like this will be a benchmark about how we are progressing this season and while we lost this one, it was the nature of the display which was more disappointing than the result.  Spurs failed to perform as they have done recently and the lack of attacking intent indicated we might have settled for the draw in this match.  However, this is never the best approach for Spurs as one goal then makes it very difficult to get back in the game.

Surprising in the after match analysis that we were only 48%-52% down in possession terms, as Liverpool seemed to be on the ball a whole lot more than Spurs, but their use of the ball probably made it look like that.  They also threatened the Tottenham goal more often, leaving you with the view that perhaps we were lucky to get away with just the one goal defeat.

With Lee, Davids, King, Mido and Tainio back in the line-up, it was about the strongest we could have put out.  It was therefore the tactics that undone us rather than the personnel.  

An attempted drag-back in the seventh minute by Lee saw him get caught out by Gerrard, who was then dragged down.  It was an unnecessary free-kick to give away and when the England midfielder got up to swing it in, Crouch stooped at the far post and headed it back across goal, making sure that Robinson had to save.  Crouch made a forward run a couple of minutes later and crossed for Morientes to attack it, but only got the bottom of his studs to it and it went straight to Robbo.  Tottenham's first chance came from a Carrick free-kick out on the right, which Dawson won in the air, but put it wide.

Robinson had to face some viciously curving corners from his England team-mate Gerrard through the game and sometimes appeared to have misjudged some of them.  However, things got a bit untidy with Davids firing well off target from a corner and then Morientes forcing Robinson to get a good hand to his header that hit the bar and then Crouch couldn't beat Robinson with his shot as the ball dropped.  The Spaniard had previously put another header wide, before Robbie Keane then almost opened Liverpool up with a neat dummy, but it came to nothing.  He got caught offside regularly in the first half and it was a source of frustration as the ball didn't stick up front. Crouch's height was causing problems for our defence for a change and another header plopped into Robinson's chest after he won the ball in the air in our box again.

Right on half time, Teemu got a booking for a foul on Kewell and it had followed a determined run back to challenge the Aussie, which the referee must have interpreted as a chase to kick him. 

Keano had the best chance of the second half when Jermaine Jenas opened up the defence by going past Riise before putting Keane in, but the Irishman stood seven yards out and put the ball a yard wide to the left of Reina's goal with a mis-hit shot.  Spurs had a free-kick that won a corner and from it Tainio hit a shot wide of the right hand post, but it didn't look like causing much concern to the Liverpool keeper.   A corner at the other end from Gerrard did make Robinson work and he had to push another Crouch header round the post, when it didn't look like it had much power behind it, but Robbo seemed to be caught a little flat-footed. 

Ten minutes into the half and Steven Gerrard was exerting more of an influence in midfield.  His running was taking him away from his white shirted markers and he hit one shot over the bar, with another following shortly after, straight at the Spurs goalie.  On the hour, the goal that had been threatened by the home side arrived.  A run down the wing by Steve Finnan produced a cross to the far post, where Harry Kewell drifted in behind Stalteri to drill a volley past Robinson, who had no chance.  

Despite the fact that Tottenham hadn't made many chances, they almost equalised immediately.  Davids played the ball up to Mido, centrally on the edge of the box, with a decent bit of service for a change.  The Egyptian took the ball down and spun to hit a left footed shot into the turf that sped goalwards and Reina had to be sharp to dive and push it wide.  This prompted a couple of corners flung in by Carrick, but neither found a Tottenham head as the pressure should have been maintained on the Liverpool goal.  Gerrard hit a free-kick at Robinson, when perhaps he should have done better from 20 yards out, while a corner from the same player picked out Riise in a  set-piece move, but Dawson got his body in the way to block the effort, as he does so regularly.

As is his way, Gerrard was shooting on sight and made Robbo catch another drive after 75 minutes.  Spurs brought off Davids, who seemed to be struggling with a knock and replaced him with Lennon, who had a go at the Liverpool defence, until Benitez introduced Warnock for Morientes to mark him.

The game seemed to be petering out, until a Spurs corner was cleared and Kewell was the recipient of a pass with Spurs outnumbered three on one.  As Kewell ran towards goal, Stalteri tried to catch up with him and caught his foot, bringing him down well outside the area.  It looked like Lee would be able to cover the Canadian, but Dermot Gallagher disagreed and produced a straight red card for the right back.  With ten men, it would be next to impossible to get back into the game.

Ledley King blocked a full-bloodied drive from Kewell and from a corner shortly after, Sissoko hit a shot from 20 yards that Robinson did well to keep out by palming it around the post.  Even then, as the game entered injury time, Spurs might have got something from the match, with Robbie Keane taking a shot first time from around the penalty spot and Reina dealt with the effort just before the whistle blew.

It was a strange game, as though Spurs failed to believe they could win.  Jermaine Jenas put in a lot of hard work and switched into the centre of midfield when Davids went off, looking more at home there.  However, some of his best work came when he went wide on the right and took on Riise.  Robbo was outstanding again, despite his slight nerviness on crosses/corners.  His reflexes kept Spurs in it right until the death.

It isn't the end of the world that Tottenham failed to bring home even a point, but the team need to start firing on all cylinders from now until the end of the season.  We still have some big names to play, but Tottenham need to keep the consistency going and start having a go at some of these sides.  Especially away from home.  Then we might get to see how they can cope with it !!

MEHSTG TOP MAN : -  PAUL ROBINSON

Some determined defending and with Ledley and Michael sticking to their task with great determination kept Liverpool at bay, with Crouch proving a handful in the air and Morientes hitting the bar with a header it was a tough test for Tottenham.  The goal , when it came would have been good enough to win almost any match, but perhaps you might put a small question mark against Stalteri for getting dragged into the middle, leaving Kewell unmarked to smack a fearsome volley past Robinson, who didn't stand a chance.

Mido's chest down and shot on the turn was the only shot that Reina really had to save, but just after the start of the second half, Keane could have got Spurs ahead, when Jenas, whose running was a problem for Riise in the second half, pulled a great ball back to him and his touch was too heavy and took the ball off target when it looked easier to score.

Davids' tired and had to be replaced, but the midfield worked hard to match Liverpool's noted engine room and seemed to be able to keep them at  long-range, causing them to try to play difficult passes in to the front two or shoot from distance.  Robinson played well in keeping out the Red tide, but he was grateful to Dawson, who kicked the ball away when the keeper hesitated in coming for a low ball from a free-kick into the centre of the area.

The midfield got tied up in matching the Liverpool four, so had little opportunity to create anything, making it a frustrating day for Keane and Mido, who now leaves for the African Nations Cup.  How Spurs will cope without him could determine how the rest of the season pans out and with Rasiak the option that Jol appears to want to go with, it might mean we struggle up front.  The only other way to play would be with Keane and Defoe together and we have been there before.

When a player has gone through injury and loss of form like Kewell, it is hard to begrudge him his day when he looked the player he did when he was at Leeds.  Just one thing that sprung to mind was why was it against us ?

Purcell Cole

Arsenal