Tottenham 0-0 Manchester United

[pokerfaced]

Funny enough the key to beating MancU is not VDV but Defoe and an on form Lennon. Lennon keeps Evra in his own half by running past him without fear, while Defoe keeps the midfield open for Godric to play with the threat of his pace behind the CB's.
The fact we had no pace in attack against Everton allowed them to close the midfield and stop us in our own half (plus they took every oppotunity to kick GB up in the air).
C.O.Y.S.

[RiffHard]

People, stick to the topic, please.

[Gareth Keown]

Funny enough the key to beating MancU is not VDV but Defoe and an on form Lennon. Lennon keeps Evra in his own half by running past him without fear, while Defoe keeps the midfield open for Godric to play with the threat of his pace behind the CB's.
The fact we had no pace in attack against Everton allowed them to close the midfield and stop us in our own half (plus they took every oppotunity to kick GB up in the air).
C.O.Y.S.

finally..... someone who understands football...

I agree that Defoe can be used better than Crouch to try and keep their back4 from advancing.... but he is too small to play this role well, as he will be up against 2 strapping 6ft+ CBs with pace..... they will still try to advance, as they know that Defoe cannot play this lone-striker role well enough due to his small size...

ideally, for this match, we should deploy 2 strikers in a 4-4-2 with good movement, to occupu the channels between CBs and FBs, as well as dropping deep to help the midfield... this will give us the greatest chance to CREATE THAT SPACE in the midfield to mount attacks well.... a la the Chavski game...

play Vaart in a 4-5-1 and I think Citeh will be 9pts clear of Spurs by next Monday...

[bigv]

go on then tactical jenius give us your starting 11.

[ugs]

I'll wager a hefty amount on our starting line being

                  Gomes
 
Corluka     Gallas    Dawson   BAE
 
Lennon     Jenas     Modric    Bale
 
              Van der Vaart
 
                   Defoe
 
 
I would like to see Palacious instead of Jenas but I think 'Arry will play Jenas for his box to box abilities, I think Corluka will get the nod over Hutton due to his better defensive capabilities. As for the notion of Van der Vaart not being picked, your a fool Keown, arguably the best player in the Premier League and at least in the top 5 if you want to argue it.
This will be a serious test for the side and everyone will have to be at the top of their game in order to combat Uniteds ability to force a result from seemily unpredictable circumstances, the key for us is simple convert the chances we make. Sounds stupid but if we actually converted 1 in every 3 chances we make we'd be long gone at the top of the table, we need to be clinical and ruthless end of !!!!
 
 

[bigv]

id agree but feel he may opt for palacious to shore things up in the middle and break up play. If he gets booked early he may be sacrificied for jenas. Our left side of bale and bae will be key to our success based on how they push forward and also how they deal with nani.  If we get off to a good start and dont concede early we may do well.
anyone know the referee for this fixture??

[ugs]

id agree but feel he may opt for palacious to shore things up in the middle and break up play. If he gets booked early he may be sacrificied for jenas. Our left side of bale and bae will be key to our success based on how they push forward and also how they deal with nani.  If we get off to a good start and dont concede early we may do well.
anyone know the referee for this fixture??

I think he'll start with Jenas as Ferdinand seems to be having some mobility problems lately with his back and with Modric, Van der Vaart, Defoe and Jenas all coming through the middle I think we might just be able to overpower their CB's. The problem then is we have have to convert the chances that will occur which means alot rides on Defoe and Van der Vaart as a first line of attack and Jenas, Bale and Lennon arriving in the box late as a second wave.

[dedleysting]

I also hope Palacios plays instead of Jenas, He's much better at breaking up the play - hopefully he can keep out the ref's book too.
I'd keep the same back 4 that played agaisnt Everton. If Bale isn't fit for United maybe VDV on the left and Pav and Defoe up top

[bigv]

could work dedley

[Metalanimal]

I also hope Palacios plays instead of Jenas, He's much better at breaking up the play - hopefully he can keep out the ref's book too.
I'd keep the same back 4 that played agaisnt Everton. If Bale isn't fit for United maybe VDV on the left and Pav and Defoe up top

Rather see Pav start if that is the case, anyone got any news on Bales fitness??

Also who is the ref we really could do with not playing against 12 men on the day, either way we are coming out 2-1 winners on this one!

[millers-tach]

Not sure who the ref is but we can be assured of getting nothing from him or his assistants. 23 offsides against Defoe (mostly correct as he is murder for going too soon) especially any borderline ones where we score.
 
I would prefer to see Pal instead of Jenas although they are both prone to a suicidal sideways pass on the half way line.
 
Think that Hutton will get the nod over Curluka, even though he cant always defend very well his pace may be needed if Nani is on that wing or even if he is against the surprisingly still good Giggs.

[aspursfan]

Hoping Nani has a terrible game and all his shots give us throw-ins. Better yet I hope he scores an own goal after the fiasco last time at Old Trafford.

[dedleysting]

Hoping Nani has a terrible game and all his shots give us throw-ins. Better yet I hope he scores an own goal after the fiasco last time at Old Trafford.

Yeah the cheating fcuker!

[Gareth Keown]

Jenas is not fully-recovered from injury so won't start the game.

Chore Luka will be strictly backup for Hutton.

King should now be left out of the 25-man list..... Bassong as backup to Kaboul (our best defender) for leftside CB..

Defoe and Hutch should play on Sunday...... Defoe and Vaart WILL play on Sunday... (Arry likes to appease the crowd)...

INTERESTING POINT  -   if Bale is injured, I'd lpve to see our other talented, pacy, young left-footer who can score goals...... Andros Townsend..

[Derry-Yid]

Its time....its Super Pav time!

Imo he has to start Sunday in a 4-4-2 with JD along side him.

I really cant understand why Harry is not giving him more game time...the lad never lets us down when he plays.

He's a big game player!!

Look at the goals he has scored for us.....he scored the winner against an undefeated Liverpool team a while back.....goal against Fulham in a quarter-final replay.....the 2nd against Twente away(massive goal for us that was)...then another 2 against same team at home and the decisive third goal against Inter.

Harry has to start playing him more often...he will get goals...he has been doing it his whole career.


Just f**king play him Harry