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Neither team has
set the Premiership a light this season and West Ham's crash
since the surprising arrival of the two Argentine stars -
Tevez and Maschereno - has astonished a lot of people.
At the end of
the transfer window, the football world was agog at why the
two players had joined the Upton Park side, with many top
European sides wanting them. However, the introduction
of them into the team has unsettled the pattern that Alan
Pardew had developed with his players. It was not only
Tevez and Maschereno who came in, but also Preston defender
Tyrone Mears (who Spurs were tracking), Ghanaian John
Pantsil, England keeper Rob Green, former Sunderland
defender George McCartney and Jonathan Spector from
Manchester United. another signing saw them take
Carlton Cole from Chelsea, when he looked set to join
Tottenham.
In goal, Roy
Carroll has had possession of the gloves and he has been
fairly consistent over the course of this seaon after being
out for long periods injured last campaign. He is
prone to errors, as Spurs fans know only too well, but his
understudy until now has been Jimmy Walker. Short for
a keeper, he is a good shot stopper, but has not been quite
the same since dislocating his knee in the play-off final a
couple of years back. So, that is probaly why the East
Londoners signed Rob Green from Norwich City. his
appearances for the Norfolk club have been impressive, but
he hit a poor patch when they failed to get promoted and
then he got a groin injury taking a goal-kick in an England
B international against Belarus just before the World Cup.
This prevented him travelling to Germany and he has nto
played since, but West Ham bought him and he may be fit to
return to action in this match. A good shot-stopper
again, but he lacks the decisive decision making ability
that sometimes separates the very good from the top class
keepers.
In defence,
George McCartney has been injured since West Ham signed him
in August (Ed - is there something of a common thread
running through their transfer policy here ??) and summer
signing Pantsil has just come back after going under the
knife for knee ligament problems (Ed - yes there is !!).
Daniel Gabbidon has been partnering Anton Ferdinand in the
centre of defence and both like to think they can play a
bit, so plenty of closing them down and catching them out of
position may be the order of the day. Both are tall,
but lack the timing of tackle, relying on their speed to get
back in time. With Defoe and Berbatov in tandem, they
could give them a torrid afternoon. Also available are
Spector, who has played twice this season and veteran
Christian Dailly, who still commands a place in the squad.
Welshman James Collins, who joined with Gabbidon, has
dropped down the pecking order, while Mears is a pacy
defender, who needs a little time to adjust to the
Premiership. We know all about Paul Konchesky, who was
on loan at Spurs, but was not kept on. He is a tough
opponent and if he is up against Aaron Lennon, he will try
and muscle him out of the action, but if Aaron gets a run on
him, he could leave him in dust. He likes to get
forward and has scored a few goals, including one in the FA
Cup Final (albeit a cross that floated in). It could
be that Spurs make the most of his forward forays.
With
Maschereno having played when the team are not doing too
well, a lot has fallen onto the shoulders of Nigel Reo-Coker,
who is the captain of the side. His transfer window
move to Manchester United or Arsenal did not come off, so he
has been a bit unsettled, but he is a strong runner with the
ball, although he does not possess the cool finish of many
midfielders. He will start and no doubt ex-Spur
Matthew Etherington and former Tottenham target Yossi
Benayoun will be willing to have a go at the home side.
Etherington did nothing to endear himself to Spurs fans when
he left the club for E6, but his season was hit by injury
and he has only recently returned to action of late. A
tricky runner with the ball, but with an erractic final
ball, he had ability but not the poise and Benayoun had an
outstanding season for the Irons prompting with his short
passes from midfield or long passes from deep. He also
got forward to score a few and is a dangerous player, who
Spurs cannot allow to play his own game. Out of favour
Hayden Mullins and another veteran, Shaun Newton, can also
operate in midfield with Mullins being a central midfielder,
while Newton prefers the right flank.
The attack
also has some familiar faces, with Teddy Sheringham, Bobby
Zamora and Carlton Cole among their ranks. With the
strong Dean Ashton missing with a broken ankle picked up in
training with England, it leaves Marlon Harewood and Carlos
Tevez as the first choice pairing, with the others vying for
a chance to get on. Harewood is big, strong and a good
goalscorer, but he is also a great misser of chances too.
It depends on which day he decides to do which !! He
can get into the right positions, but sometimes lacks the
composure to hit the net. It is not something you
could say about Sheringham, but he gets only cameo
appearances these days, as his legs have gone, despite his
head still being in good shape, while Tevez has been busy
for the Irons, but has still to gel with his team-mates.
Cole has played fleetingly, with his strengths being his
strength. Again, he needs to develop a calm finishing
technique to go with his ability to hold defenders off.
Witht he poor
run West Ham have found themselves on, it is difficult to
break and they face a Spurs side having not been beaten for
a little while, but the London derby means that the form
goes out of the window and the result will have to be fought
for. Spurs have two reasons to do well with a last
minute equaliser at home and the "food poisoning" game at
the end of last season to settle. With the players
being ready to move up the league with the UEFA Cup form
transferred to the Premiership, it could spell a
continuation of the bad run for Pardew and his Irons ...
PREDICTION
: - Tottenham Hotspur 2 West Ham
United
0
For more information on
the opponents and their history, including full result history of
matches between the two teams, click
here.
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Coverage
TV
Sky Sports 1 - Football First (highlights)
Match of the Day 2 (BBC 2) - 22.00 - 23.10
(highlights)
For coverage in all parts of the world, check
here and
here.
Radio :
BBC
LONDON 94.9FM (London area only), Digital Radio
(London area only) & Sky Channel 0152
(live coverage). Also
on 765 Medium
Wave.
If
available on BBC radio, it can supposedly be heard
in these countries on these stations ...
Australia (Melbourne)
SEN - 116 AM
Live Transmissions: TWI, Saturday. 12.45 & 1500
matches
Australia (Sydney)
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
BBC London website -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2005/10/12/live_commentaries_feature.shtml
click on link to "Listen to Tottenham Hotspur live
commentary" on top right hand menu. |
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Tottenham Hotspur 1
West Ham United 0
(Half-time score : 1-0) |
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Referee : Steve
Bennett
(Orpington) |
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| Weather :
- Wet, rain heavy at times |
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| Tottenham Hotspur
:
Robinson
Chimbonda
Dawson
King (c)
Assou-Ekotto
Lennon (Ghaly 78)
Jenas
Huddlestone
Davids
Mido
Defoe (Keane 78)
Unused subs:
Cerny
Murphy
Gardner |
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West Ham United
: Green
Pantsil
Ferdinand
Gabbidon
Konchesky
Benayoun (Cole 78)
Mascherano (Tevez 68)
Reo-Coker (c)
Mullins
Harewood (Dailly 82)
Zamora
Unused subs:
Carroll
Sheringham |
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| Tottenham Hotspur
Mido 45
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| Tottenham
Hotspur
Defoe (retaliation) 44
Mido (removing shirt) 45
Davids (foul) 86
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West Ham United
Konchesky (foul) 32
Maschereno (foul) 43
Harewood (not retreating 10 yards) 45
Pantsil (foul) 90
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What promised to be a red hot derby match, with both clubs in need of
the win, turned into a bit of a damp squib, with the rain pouring down
as Tottenham took a comfortable three points despite their exertions in
Turkey less than three days before.
A single Mido strike sealed the win, but the
poor West Ham side that faced Spurs are now stuck in second bottom place
with no goals scored in over 11 hours of football. For Spurs, the
tide has momentarily turned and it is up to them to keep it going in
midweek against McDons and then at Watford on Saturday.
Paul Robinson must wonder what all the
fuss is about when he is told about London derbies, as this was not a
typical Spurs-West Ham meeting. In fact the nearest it came to
sparking into life was when Maschereno hacked Defoe down from behind and
got a yellow for his troubles (where Gabbidon and Ferdinand had got away
with it), with Jermain retaliating and the Argentine reacting like he
had been shot in the chest. This led to a melee of most of the
players, with Tottenham holding the hard man cards with Davids looking
to exercise his pit-bull tendencies and Huddlestone standing with his
arms outstretched, holding people back as if to say ... "Don't even
think about it."
The game could have been level at 1-1
within the first 25 minutes. Lennon was set free by Defoe and his
shot saw him open his body just a little too much and push his shot wide
of Green and the goal. Defoe then had a golden opportunity to hit
back at the "Judas" chants from the visiting horde. Twenty minutes
gone and Lennon's low ball in was not met with the cleanest hit, but he
got it on target and only the debutant Green's foot diverted it in a
looping arc just over the bar.
When West Ham did break, a bit of good
fortune saw Harewood stumble past Dawson and his first time shot brought
a diving save from Robinson, although it was not likely that his effort
would have ever beaten ENO. This was the most work Robbo had to do
all afternoon, apart from punch a few of the many hopeful crosses the
Irons slung into the box.
Before the Defoe/Maschereno fracas, Paul
Konchesky got booked for a despicable scythe through the back of Lennon
on the halfway line, which left him unable to foul the little winger
again and Aaron made the most of it by running at the bald defender and
making his afternoon one to forget. If only Lennon's delivery
matched his build-up, but that will come. In fact, Konchesky was
lucky to stay on the pitch, as late in the second half, Defoe was
through on goal when the Irons defender hauled him down from behind,
when he was even possibly the last man. However, Steve Bennett,
who I normally regard as one of the better refs around, had a nightmare
game and barely awarded Tottenham a goal-kick let alone a penalty, which
they should have had when Gabbidon brought down Keane in the area near
the end. His continued inability to spot the difference between a
corner and a goal-kick was a constant in this match.
Anyway, just when it looked like the
untidy first half would finish all square, Edgar Davids took on John
Pantsil down the line for pace. No really. He did !!
He played a left footed cross weakly into the area and found Mido coming
towards the near post about five yards out. With Anton Ferdinand
at his back, he flicked the ball up and without hesitation, he hit a
left foot volley that ripped across Green and into the goal off the far
post to put Tottenham ahead on the stroke of half-time.
The second half saw Tottenham make
further moves forward, with Davids, Huddlestone and Lennon all getting
efforts in on goal. The best chance to add to our total came when
Defoe went on a trademark run from halfway and twisted and turned
Konchesky before trying to hit a left foot strike past Green, but he
saved the tame effort fairly easily, when a square ball to Lennon might
have been the better option for a goal. Mind you, it looked like
another goal was coming as Hud let fly from 30 yards and missed the left
hand post by inches and then with six minutes left, Ghaly put in a well
placed cross and his fellow countryman Mido got his head on the end fo
it and the ball bounced over off the crossbar.
The penalty claim went unheeded by
Bennett and for the last five minutes (plus three added minutes), Spurs
dropped deep and invited West Ham onto them. Having put on
Christian Dailly and Carlton Cole, they looked for the route one method
to score one, but Spurs held firm with Michael Dawson heading everything
that came his way away. The closest the Irons came was when Dailly
won a far post header, but Mido knocked the ball away before it got near
goal.
The final whistle came when Spurs were on
the attack and condemned West Ham to their fifth match in defeat on the
trot. Their season hangs in the balance and the same could be true
for Tottenham. But for Tottenham it is looking up, while for West
Ham the only way might be down. |
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STANFORD RIVERS |
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The
headlines were grabbed (by the teeth) by Jermain Defoe's
supposed bite on Javier Maschereno, but the real bite is on
Alan Pardew, who will be entering his last few days as West
Ham manager. Seven straight losses, no goals in 668
minutes, his team impressing the fans with their "effort",
the fact that the team are just no good. Take your
pick for the reason he will go, but the biggest one will be
the new owners coming in. They will want their own man
and Pardew is not him.
His side
looked very poor. Reo-Coker hardly set a captain's
example by having a 90 minutes long shouting match with new
defender John Pantsil. When things went wrong, Nigel
always found someone else to blame.
Of
the other players on their side, Maschereno featured on the
back page photos, otherwise you wouldn't have known he was
playing; Tevez did little when he came on; Ferdinand got
injured in the first couple of minutes, then I only realised
he was still on the pitch with ten minutes to go; Marlon
Harewood is a Premiership footballer, but if I didn't know
who he was playing for, you could have fooled me. Need
I go on ? Some of the others, I didn't even recognise
and that says a lot about the team the Irons have become.
Nonedescript, whereas they used to have good, talented
players. Now their effort is all that can be used to
gauge their progress ... or lack of it.
Not
that Tottenham were much better in the first half.
Better chances were created, but not taken, until Mido
scored a cracking goal out of nothing. His flick up
and hit were enough to undo West Ham and take the points.
In
truth, the second half should have been a bit of a
procession, but Spurs decided to defend the 1-0 lead and
leave us all having kittens for the last ten minutes.
Only, West Ham did not have the nous to break the defence
down, other than keep heaving high balls forward in what
must be a new coaching manual they have at the Academy.
In
the analysis of the game, it was an easy three points and
two more than we got off them at home last season ... when
they did manage a last gaps equaliser. Spurs did not
play that well, but well enough and that is an indictment of
West Ham in itself.
STAN
CHUN |
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Other scores
this weekend : |
| Aston Villa |
1 |
Fulham |
1 |
Saturday |
| Chelsea |
2 |
Portsmouth |
1 |
Saturday |
| Charlton Athletic |
0 |
Watford |
0 |
Saturday |
| Everton |
2 |
Sheffield United |
0 |
Saturday |
| Wigan Athletic |
4 |
Manchester City |
0 |
Saturday |
| Blackburn Rovers |
0 |
Bolton Wanderers |
1 |
Sunday |
| Middlesbrough |
1 |
Newcastle United |
0 |
Sunday |
| Manchester United |
2 |
Liverpool |
0 |
Sunday |
| Reading |
0 |
Arsenal |
4 |
Sunday |
|
League
Table |
| |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Pts |
GD |
|
1 |
Manchester
United |
9 |
7 |
1 |
1 |
19 |
5 |
22 |
+14 |
|
2 |
Chelsea |
9 |
7 |
1 |
1 |
15 |
5 |
22 |
+10 |
|
3 |
Bolton
Wanderers |
9 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
10 |
4 |
20 |
+6 |
|
4 |
Arsenal |
8 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
15 |
4 |
17 |
+11 |
|
5 |
Portsmouth |
9 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
13 |
5 |
16 |
+8 |
|
6 |
Everton |
9 |
4 |
4 |
1 |
15 |
8 |
16 |
+7 |
|
7 |
Aston
Villa |
9 |
3 |
6 |
0 |
11 |
6 |
15 |
+5 |
|
8 |
Fulham |
9 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
11 |
14 |
13 |
-3 |
|
9 |
Reading |
9 |
4 |
1 |
4 |
9 |
12 |
13 |
-3 |
|
10 |
Blackburn
Rovers |
9 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
9 |
11 |
12 |
-2 |
|
11 |
Liverpool |
9 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
9 |
11 |
11 |
-2 |
|
12 |
Middlesbrough |
9 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
9 |
13 |
11 |
-4 |
|
13 |
TOTTENHAM
HOTSPUR |
9 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
6 |
10 |
11 |
-4 |
|
14 |
Manchester
City |
9 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
6 |
13 |
9 |
-7 |
|
15 |
Wigan
Athletic |
8 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
11 |
12 |
8 |
-1 |
|
16 |
Newcastle
United |
9 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
7 |
13 |
7 |
-6 |
|
17 |
Sheffield United |
9 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
4 |
12 |
6 |
-8 |
|
18 |
Watford
|
9 |
0 |
5 |
4 |
7 |
13 |
5 |
-6 |
|
19 |
West
Ham United |
9 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
6 |
13 |
5 |
-7 |
|
20 |
Charlton
Athletic |
9 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
6 |
15 |
4 |
-9 |
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Ham United
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