Spurs - LFC

[Walrus]

THE VIEW FROM THE LANE

Dave Tickner 28 December 2006

 

As Liverpool brace themselves for their third game of a busy festive period, Spurs fan Dave Tickner from sportinglife.com provides the view from White Hart Lane?

 

Are you confident about the game?

Given our recent form at White Hart Lane, I?m pretty confident against anyone at home at the moment. We may struggle on the road, but eight wins in 10 home games shows how good we are at the Lane. Liverpool seemed to have the same problems as we did ? great at home, terrible away ? but that?s changed in recent weeks, so it should be a cracking game. Both teams have had a lot of games recently, so tiredness and tinkering could be a factor. We often seem to draw with you at home, and it wouldn?t surprise me to see the points shared this time.

 

How's your season going?

 

Improving. Cup games can be a distraction but they?ve been a real blessing for us. We?ve been absolutely superb in the UEFA Cup this season, winning six out of six, and the confidence from those wins seems to be rubbing off on our league form after a disappointing start. Picking up a first league away win of the season at Manchester City was a monkey off our backs, and the fact we?ve virtually been given a bye to the Carling Cup semi-finals is handy as well.

 

What are your weaknesses?

 

Our left side. Benoit Assou-Ekotto has a lot of work to do to become a Premiership full-back, while Lee Young-Pyo still doesn?t quite convince as a right-footed left-back. Steed Malbranque has come in and played pretty well on the left but, while he?s an improvement on Edgar Davids and Teemu Tainio, it?s still not really his best position.

 

What do you reckon ours are?

 

As with Spurs, I think constant personnel changes were hurting the team early in the season, but a more settled team seems to have led to your recent upturn in results. I?ve never been too convinced by Jose Reina as a keeper; he seems to have the unhappy knack of making high-profile mistakes in big games. But overall I don?t think there?s too much wrong with the Liverpool squad. Not sure if he's confusing Pepe with Jerzy there or what the f*** he's on about, as I can only remember the mistake he made in the derby, when the game was already basically over.

 

Who should we be worried about?

 

Aaron Lennon obviously poses a real threat, and has shown in recent games that he can not only switch flanks to good effect, but also play down the middle behind the strikers. Robbie Keane?s injury has helped us in a strange way, as it?s given Defoe and Berbatov a run of games together. It?s a partnership that?s starting to look very promising for us. Tom Huddlestone is the other player everyone?s getting pretty excited about at the Lane. The Spurs website still lists him as a defender, but he?s definitely a central midfield player now. He should be the long-term replacement for Michael Carrick, but with greater shooting ability. His first Premiership goal against Manchester City was quality, and there should be more to come from someone who, despite his hulking physique, is incredibly still only 19 years old.

 

And who will Spurs be worried about?

 

Steven Gerrard is the obvious answer, but most of Liverpool?s players seem to be playing pretty well at the moment. Watching Dirk Kuyt in the World Cup, I thought we?d had a lucky escape not signing him the previous summer. But I?ve been very impressed with him at Liverpool and I know Martin Jol is a big admirer of his fellow Dutchman. Hopefully we can handle him a bit better than we did at Anfield. And John Arne Riise always seems to do well against us.

 

Danny Murphy - discuss?

 

I think he?s been pretty unlucky. We?re not short of midfielders in the first-team squad, but Murphy seems to have slipped below not only Huddlestone, but also the likes of Hossam Ghaly and Tainio. Personally, I think he?s a better player than either and should have had more playing time this season.

 

Do you wish Peter Crouch was still a Spurs player?

 

Crouch is a strange one. I remember we used to call him ?Competition Winner? because there would always be these team photos in the programme of the under-17s or whatever, and he just looked like some kid who?d been allowed to go along for the day. I think when he was at Spurs he was always just too weak, and no-one really thought he?d go on to be the player he is. I think Spurs deserve credit for giving him a chance when a lot of clubs would have been put off by his physique. It would have been nice if he could have come through and been a success for Spurs, but no-one was really surprised or angry when we let him go.

 

Do any of your players need to make New Year resolutions?

 

All of them need to resolve to never again play like they did against Arsenal the other week. That was embarrassing. I?ve seen the Gooners outclass us plenty of times, but I?ve never seen a Spurs side just roll over like that in a North-London derby.

 

Who do you want to win the league?

 

As the only alternative is another title bought by the Russian empire at Chelsea, I?ll have to go for Manchester United. Who would have thought Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, Cristiano Ronaldo and co would ever be the lesser of two evils?

 

Where will Spurs and Liverpool finish this season?

 

Same as last year. I still think we?re the ?best of the rest?, but just can?t quite break into that top four just yet. I?ll be pretty happy if we consolidate that top-six place to be honest, especially if we pinch a trophy somewhere along the line. As for Liverpool, I can?t see you splitting the top two but you should hold off Arsenal for third. However, I think both North-London teams will be a bit closer to you this year.

 

LFC.tv

Edited December 28, 2006 by Walrus

[Bologna]

"Jose Reina as a keeper; he seems to have the unhappy knack of making high-profile mistakes in big games."

Maybe he's referring to the FA Cup Final where senor Reina did make a couple of howlers if memory serves me correctly

[Hassony]

  BolognaRed said:

"Jose Reina as a keeper; he seems to have the unhappy knack of making high-profile mistakes in big games."

Maybe he's referring to the FA Cup Final where senor Reina did make a couple of howlers if memory serves me correctly

and than made the save of the season and a couple of penalties

[Will]

  BolognaRed said:

"Jose Reina as a keeper; he seems to have the unhappy knack of making high-profile mistakes in big games."

Maybe he's referring to the FA Cup Final where senor Reina did make a couple of howlers if memory serves me correctly

One howler

[Stevie H]

  Walrus said:

And John Arne Riise always seems to do well against us.

i f***ing hope he does. he's due a decent game and a contribution. think it may depend on who spurs play on the right, as aaron lennon could tear riise a new one at the moment.

[Guest PaulMcC]

I'm back in Ireland for a week for Christmas and all my mates who don't support Liverpool seem to think Reina makes a mistake every game and isn't good at anything but shot stopping. Mentalists. Just shows how much people are influenced by tabloid media.

 

Also think Rfa has signed loads of bad players.

Edited December 28, 2006 by PaulMcC

[Stevie H]

  PaulMcC said:

I'm back in Ireland for a week for Christmas and all my mates who don't support Liverpool seem to think Reina makes a mistake every game and isn't good at anything but shot stopping. Mentalists. Just shows how much people are influenced by tabloid media.

 

Also think Rfa has signed loads of bad players.

i think reina may be the best keeper on crosses in the division. perhaps level with cech and van der sar.

[Guest PaulMcC]

  Steve H said:

i think reina may be the best keeper on crosses in the division. perhaps level with cech and van der sar.

 

I said that. They thought i was mad. Look at his mistake against Watford, any good team would've definitely scored. It's like people only notice our players mistakes, even ones that don't result in goals.

 

One actually asked me am i happy with Rafa. I said yes, definitely and he said, well, he seems to have a mind of his own, he's not done much for yous. He changes his team too much. Garcia does nothing in big games, Josemi was bad, we swapped him for an even worse full back.

 

One last gem was, Ben Foster is better than Reina, he'll be best keeper in England in 2 years.

Edited December 28, 2006 by PaulMcC

[Stevie H]

  PaulMcC said:

I said that. They thought i was mad. Look at his mistake against Watford, any good team would've definitely scored. It's like people only notice our players mistakes, even ones that don't result in goals.

 

One actually asked me am i happy with Rafa. I said yes, definitely and he said, well, he seems to have a mind of his own, he's not done much for yous. He changes his team too much. Garcia does nothing in big games, Josemi was bad, we swapped him for an even worse full back.

 

One last gem was, Ben Foster is better than Reina, he'll be best keeper in England in 2 years.

your mates manc fans are they?

[Guest PaulMcC]

  Steve H said:

your mates manc fans are they?

 

One of them is. I just told him to f*** off and come bak to me when he actually starts going to a few matches at Old Trafford.

[Coyler]

  PaulMcC said:

One of them is. I just told him to f*** off and come bak to me when he actually starts going to a few matches at Old Trafford.

What did he say to you then, did he tell you to feck off back to England?

[Guest PaulMcC]

  Coyler said:

What did he say to you then, did he tell you to feck off back to England?

 

No, he said he can't afford to go and it's hard to get tickets etc. Usual excuses. I've been to Old Trafford as many times as him.

[Stevie H]

  PaulMcC said:

One of them is. I just told him to f*** off and come bak to me when he actually starts going to a few matches at Old Trafford.

anyone who can say "garcia doesn't do anything in big games" is a bit of a plum and has probably never watched liverpool play.

[matty]

  Steve H said:

anyone who can say "garcia doesn't do anything in big games" is a bit of a plum and has probably never watched liverpool play.

 

Aye. Garcia ony does stuff in big games.

[Guest PaulMcC]

That's why i posted about it. Peopel who don't wath Liverpool every game seem to know very litte about us and talk nonsense. A lot like teh media do.

[Stevie H]

  PaulMcC said:

That's why i posted about it. Peopel who don't wath Liverpool every game seem to know very litte about us and talk nonsense. A lot like teh media do.

think the one really begets the other.

[Ombudsam]

  PaulMcC said:

That's why i posted about it. Peopel who don't wath Liverpool every game seem to know very litte about us and talk nonsense. A lot like teh media do.

 

I think that the spurs bloke gave a fairly decent report

[Coyler]

You completely lose any kind of faith in pundits and punditry when you find yourself constantly knowing them to be wrong about the team you (thanks to sites like these) are familiar with in savage detail. It's like a Michael Moore book I got for Christmas ages ago and I was flicking through it before I read it and I saw the factless, one-sided ballsology he talked about Ireland in the back of the book and I just had no trust in the veracity of anything he claimed to base his polemic on after that.

 

The same is true any time even someone like John Giles comes out with some scheidt about zonal marking having cost us dearly all last season from set-pieces ; you can't thereafter trust any non-sweeping statement out of their mouths. As somebody said, they just don't seem to make the time to actually study even one or two of the top clubs beyond a fecking RTÉ factsheet or MOTD highlights packages or whatever they base their bollix on. Compare that to blokes on here who could chat away for a good while in reasonable depth about three or four other teams in the Premiership and still have room for the knowledge that Reina isn't a f*cking disaster area. (Sad c*nts, like, but at least they know what they're talking about.)

[Stevie H]

  Coyler said:

You completely lose any kind of faith in pundits and punditry when you find yourself constantly knowing them to be wrong about the team you (thanks to sites like these) are familiar with in savage detail. It's like a Michael Moore book I got for Christmas ages ago and I was flicking through it before I read it and I saw the factless, one-sided ballsology he talked about Ireland in the back of the book and I just had no trust in the veracity of anything he claimed to base his polemic on after that.

 

The same is true any time even someone like John Giles comes out with some scheidt about zonal marking having cost us dearly all last season from set-pieces ; you can't thereafter trust any non-sweeping statement out of their mouths. As somebody said, they just don't seem to make the time to actually study even one or two of the top clubs beyond a fecking RTÉ factsheet or MOTD highlights packages or whatever they base their bollix on. Compare that to blokes on here who could chat away for a good while in reasonable depth about three or four other teams in the Premiership and still have room for the knowledge that Reina isn't a f*cking disaster area. (Sad c*nts, like, but at least they know what they're talking about.)

our kid was harping on about this during the blackburn game when brian marwood was trotting out every possible lazy cliché going. you're getting paid for it mate, at least try to take an interest in the game and make up your own mind following a bit of research eh?

[jimmylibel]

  PaulMcC said:

I said that. They thought i was mad. Look at his mistake against Watford, any good team would've definitely scored. It's like people only notice our players mistakes, even ones that don't result in goals.

 

One actually asked me am i happy with Rafa. I said yes, definitely and he said, well, he seems to have a mind of his own, he's not done much for yous. He changes his team too much. Garcia does nothing in big games, Josemi was bad, we swapped him for an even worse full back.

 

One last gem was, Ben Foster is better than Reina, he'll be best keeper in England in 2 years.

 

Sad thing is mate I've heard LFC fans over here come out with that crap. It's gotten to the stage where I refuse to talk to a good mate of mine about LFC cos he's completely clueless. Was calling for Rafa's head earlier in the season FFS.

[Guest PaulMcC]

  jimmylibel said:

Sad thing is mate I've heard LFC fans over here come out with that crap. It's gotten to the stage where I refuse to talk to a good mate of mine about LFC cos he's completely clueless. Was calling for Rafa's head earlier in the season FFS.

 

Some of the stuff you hear in the pub from people who rarely go to a game is unbelievable. Even when i'm in Liverpool the amount of nonsense some fans talk is unbelievable.

[G Richards]

I thought the Spurs lad made a lot of sense. (He was a bit off in his assessment of Reina, though to be fair, earlier in the season Pepe was starting to invite questions with his below par performances. Glad he's back on track now though).

[PaulLFC]

here's a different view for you from a Spurs fan.....

 

it ain't your Left back position whats your weakness(while it is an issue currently) its the lack of pace in your center backs, you need to bring the likes of Agger through because in the English league like we all know you lack pace at the back you have a big problem. reason you get away with it for the most part is because Carragher and Hyypia are such good experience defenders who have worked together for years so their positional work makes up for any lack of Pace.

 

you need a Gallas, King type defender to partner Carragher or potentially along side Agger, I dont think you need any new forwards(for now, with money coming in you could always get better)

 

Kuyt needs time... Bellamy just needs to stay on the straight and narrow and Crouch well he's good option to have around.

 

defensively you need backup and future talent to gel and then your looking a very good collective unit.