Spurs-Braga, UEFA Cup
By: Lucas | March 7th, 2007Well, here’s the away leg of Spurs’ round of 16 matchup in the UEFA Cup. Lineups haven’t been released yet, but I’ll throw out what I would expect to see from Spurs.
GK- Robinson
RB- Chimbonda
CB- Dawson
CB- Gardner
LB- Lee
RM- Lennon
CM- Zokora
CM- Huddlestone
LM- Taino
F- Berbatov
F- Defoe
The two defensive midfielders might not necessarily work, but Jenas is out injured, so there’s really no other option. It could also wind up being phenomenal, with Huddlestone and Zokora dictating play from the middle. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Keane play up front, though I will say that if there is any chance Martin Jol happens to read this, he should know that not playing Berbatov would be a travesty- he’s scored in four consecutive European games and has been in great form recently.
I’ve recently become a big fan of Taino’s, as he adds the kind of aggressive element that every team needs- he seems like the only guy they have who would be prominently involved in a brawl, and it always helps to have someone like that around.
I don’t know a huge amount about Braga, but they’ve made it this far in the tournament, so obviously they’re doing something right. They do have Joao Pinto, the Portuguese international, so he’s one to watch. Ricardo Rocha played for Braga for several years, so he could maybe give some insight into possible tactics.
Back tomorrow with a recap and, oh yeah, COYS!
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COYSpurssssssss!!!!!!!
Posted from
Japan
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Here’s a bit on SC Braga:
Braga is currently 4th in the portuguese league. They had arguably the best pre-season, when they were playing even better than the usual “big 3″. They’ve had a huge coach crises this season, which might stabilize now, with Jorge Costa. J Costa is still a symboll of FC Porto and of Portugal’s Golden Generation, now making his first games as coach. He has played for Charlton (01/02) and in the 6 months he played in England, he beat the Spurs on 2 occasions.There’s a lot here: http://www.maisfutebol.iol.pt/noticia.php?div_id=1468&id=782331 but it’s all in portugese.
J Costa says the team will try a more “daring” football than the one played against Parma, as “italian teams need more patience”. “They (TH) support their game in a rather more physical and direct football, so a bit the opposite to ours. We will try to take advantage of the “home” factor and always try to keep more posession than them”. He also says “They score a lot, they beat West Ham, away, 4-3, so they showed a lot of believe and fire-power. They score a lot of goals, so you can’t let them have the ball”. These were some of his statements.
Braga usually plays 4-3-3. You can expect JV Pinto as playmaker and brazillian Wenger on the left wing. I don’t know the team very well. Another newspaper says they’ll start with 2 holding mids (Andrade + Ricardo Chaves), 1 striker (Ze Carlos), 1 winger (Wenger) and 2 att mids (JV Pinto + Castanheira).
If they can break down Spurs’s pace, they have a chance as they can play nice ball and are able to move it around quite well. If the Spurs keep their focus and don’t make mistakes, they stand a good chance of scoring one on a counter, or quick run, and go home with a win away. BTW, Braga’s goalie – Paulo Santos – is PT’s #3 goalie and he’s very good (with the occasional flop). Cheers
Posted from
Netherlands -
It just looks like a solid line-up through and through. I’m liking our chances, considering Braga’s nothing spectacular.
Posted from
Canada
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