The Uefa cup draw today announced that we will face Shakhtar Donetsk in the round of 32. The Ukrainian side battled hard in their Champions League run, so much so that they were able to take 9 points in the group that included Barcelona, Sporting Lisbon, and FC Basel. With the likes of those teams in the group stage with them 9 points just wasn’t enough to continue on the CL run.

Shakhtar hasn’t finished outside the top two in their league since the 1995-96 season, as well as winning the Domestic Cup 6 times. Needless to say they have some talent. The first leg will be played away at Olimpiyskyi Stadium on either the 18th or 19th of February. With the second leg being back at WHL on February 26th. If we advance we will face the winner of the tie between Aston villa and Cska Moscow. Here is what the rest of the draw looked like…

Round of 32 draw in full
PSG (FRA) vs Wolfsburg (GER)
FC Copenhagen (DEN vs Manchester City (ENG)
NEC Nijmegen (NED) vs Hamburg (GER)
Sampdoria (ITA) vs Metalist Kharkiv (UKR)
Braga (POR) vs Standard Liege (BEL)
Aston Villa (ENG) vs CSKA Moscow (RUS)
Lech Poznan (POL) vs Udinese (ITA)
Olympiacos (GRE) vs St Etienne (FRA)
Fiorentina (ITA) vs Ajax (NED)
Aalborg (DEN) vs Deportivo (ESP)
Werder Bremen (GER) vs AC Milan (ITA)
Bordeaux (FRA) vs Galatasaray (TUR)
Dynamo Kiev (UKR) vs Valencia (ESP)
Zenit St Petersburg (RUS) vs Stuttgart (GER)
Marseille (FRA) vs FC Twente (HOL)
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) vs SPURS

I think we can all gain our own conclusions about what teams will get absolutely destroyed… But I’m optimistic about our tie. I just have a feeling that their are a few managers out there today feeling the heat…

In the wake of all the injury woe that is currently plaguing Tottenham, a recent report on Dos Santos I discovered made me somewhat hopeful. And if you still haven’t heard, here is the previously mentioned story about Gilberto getting the axe after his miserable display yesterday.

Finally on the subject of our league match Sunday, we travel to Tyneside to take on Newcastle. Currently we sit one place behind Micheal Owen and his team with only goal differential separating us. If your interested in all the statistics about our current record against Newcastle it can be found here. Quite frankly the only thing that concerns me in this match is whether Woody and King will be fit to play, They as well as Modric and Lennon will face late fitness tests. All four are pivotal players in our squad and we will need their services.

COYS!

Let’s be honest… for anyone who saw the Uefa cup game today would have to agree that the two goals for Spartak Moscow in the first half were entirely on the fault of our backline. Gilberto’s brain fart on his first appearance under Harry let Artem Dzyuba sneak in a cheeky nut meg on Gomes. Then a little later on in the first half we got caught on a counter attack and our backline was left on it’s heels and Dzyuba snuck another one past Gomes in a 1v1 situation.

At the half it appeared that the side that most notably bore ManU’s Nemanja Vidic, Boroughs Emanuel Pogatetz, and our very own Roman Pavlyuchenko, might have been a bit too much for our experimental lineup.

Our starting 11 in the first half was made up of Gunter, Zakora, Dawson, and Gilberto in the back. Bently, O’hara, Huddlestone, and Bale in Mid. and Modric sitting in behind Campbell. Needless to say it wasn’t working for us, so Harry made the decision to sub Lennon in at the half to drop Bale back to defense and Lennon taking his position up the right wing.

The second half began much as most of the first half went with Spurs dominating possession all over the field, only this time the back seemed a bit more tidy. Then in the 67th minute Luka Modric met with a cross by Lennon in the box and rifled it into the back of the net. Ending his current goalless slump and making it 1-2, giving Spurs fan’s a glimmer of hope that we’d take at least a point from this match.

We continued to move the ball around well over the next few minutes when Tom Huddlestone met with a Cross sent into the box by Gareth Bale to make it 2-2 in the 74th minute.

Overall i would have to give the Man of the match to Jamie O’hara. He was all over the place and his close control was absolutely top drawer. In a close second would be Modric, only thing hindering him was his constant fading in and out during the second half. And on a second note Gomes’ continued mistakes may be overshadowing his past great clean sheets, this all begs the question on whether or not Harry will go looking for another keeper in window, what do you all think?

Elsewhere in the Uefa cup bracket we Saw Nec Nijmegen beat Udinese 2-0 which takes them through in third place right behind us with Udinese leading the group. Should be interesting to see who we draw in the Knock out round.

But in more important news we have a very important match with Newcastle this sunday, and the fact that we are tied with them in the table means we have to get a win away. And as previously stated The window opens up in two weeks, Who do you think would be a good purchase for Spurs this time round?

“I would love to get to a cup final again, but getting Tottenham up the league to a respectable position is key as well. We’ve got a lot on our plate.

“Every game is big for us now, but the league games especially. It’s so tight, there are 14 teams in a position where they will be looking over their shoulder worried at what is coming.

“I respect the fact Spurs have been a good European team over the years but the league is also very important this year.”

Coupled with injuries and losses, this rightful emphasis on the league means that UEFA Cup games are going to be something of a bench-warmer’s paradise. It remains to be seen whether or not this is a full punt on Europe, or whether doing so would even be a smart move (we’ll return to that in future posts). But it does certainly mean that those of us watching are going to be doing so mostly out of habit and the chance to see some reserves and possibility the debut of John Bostock in Lilywhite. Harry has already made it clear that whatever his feelings are on the competition, there is nothing in this particular game to interest him. It’s reasonable to assume that we’ll see largely the same from the team.

As for results, a draw would be good under the circumstances and thus I’m pretty much bracing for the letdown loss. At least it will come in a game that has no effect on our league prospects, and that’s all that matters for now. Spurs 0 – 2 Dinamo

Thoughts?

Coming off of two straight losses since claiming silverware Spurs found themselves in a must win Sunday v. West Ham and, with the exception of the first few minutes of the game, Tottenham Hotspur have seemingly gotten themselves back on track.

Two goals by Dimitar Berbatov headed in from a pair of Tom Huddlestone free kicks proved to be more then enough to dispatch their London rivals during Sunday’s derby. The match was effectively over once Luis Boa Morte was sent off for a second yellow, a fate that easily could have been duplicated by teammate Lucas Neill, who was equally as sloppy with his tackling Sunday. Once up a man, Spurs seemed unthreatened.

Spurs added another goal in the 85th minute as substitute Gilberto fired home his first for Spurs followed by a stoppage time header by Darren Bent off of a wonderful cross from Alan Hutton to cap the game off at 4-0.

Spurs had found themselves in desperate need of momentum after being thrashed 4-1 by Birmingham the weekend before then finding themselves on the short end of the stick yet again a few days later, losing the first leg of their UEFA cup tie to PSV 1-0. That same PSV side now await Spurs this week for the second leg without playing a game this past weekend. PSV was scheduled to play Ajax, a massive game for both sides, this past weekend only to have the fixture postponed. We here at Spurs theoffside are hoping the extra rest has little benefit for the current Dutch leaders. COYS!

So Spurs avoided a possible pitfall v. Slavia Prauge. For those who didn’t see the 1-1 draw it was really one of those games that could have ended in favor of either team. With Berbatov, Keane, Lennon, Malbranque and Jenas all playing only a portion of Thursdays tie Spurs were able to advance in the UEFA cup without overworking too many of their key players. I’d imagine the five players mentioned above all figure to feature in Juande Ramos cup final squad on Sunday. Not a bad bit of management by Mr. Ramos. No one is left to get rusty and no one is too overworked, but most importantly we’ve advanced and booked a spot against PSV Eindhoven.

Now that Spurs have Chelsea, Wembley, the cup and everything else that comes along with Sunday’s final set in their cross-hairs Spurs fans can also get a bit excited for the event without the worry of being unceremoniously dumped out of the UEFA cup prior. I’m looking for Juande’s lineup to look something like this: Cerny in goal (Robinson still scares the shit out of me; I pray Cerny is in goal), Hutton, Woodgate, King and Chimbonda, if his knee is okay, Lennon, Jenas, Malbranque and ???? (O’Hara, Huddlestone, Zokora?) with Berba and Keano up front. I just hope we can crack their defense. With or without John Terry, Chelsea will be stout. Spurs will need to take advantage of their opportunities. Too many shots off the bar just won’t due.

Come on you Spurs fans!! Let’s hope the boys give us something to be proud of. Beating Arsenal in the semifinals and Chelsea in the finals is about as good as it could get! COYS!!!

“We could have achieved a better result.” Those are the words of Juande Ramos following yesterdays 2-1 victory in the first leg of Spurs UEFA cup tie with Slavia Prague. It also happens to be exactly the same thing my friends and I said to each other, but all in all a 2-1 victory on the road is a wonderful result for Spurs, regardless of how lopsided it could have been.

Spurs are now 1/3 of the way through the most important part of their schedule with the second leg v. Slavia back at the Lane on Thursday and then to Wembley for the cup final Sunday. Success in those matches can potentially make Spurs season.

I’m impressed with the way Spurs seemed focused with the mission at hand yesterday. It would be easy to look forward to the cup final, really Spurs best chance to be involved in European play next year, and though there may have been a few lapses Spurs did come away with two road goals and a victory.

On a side note, though Kevin Prince Boateng was out with a hamstring injury yesterday I have a feeling that his time and opportunities with the first team may be coming to a quick end. Didier Zokora is back from international duty and the plethora of new defensive signings means less playing time for our midfielders at the back. With those more deserving players shifting back to midfield spots it should squeeze the Prince out. Couple that with his continued sub par play (see at Derby on Feb 9) and I just can’t see him getting many minutes in the near future.

Have a good weekend Spurs fans! COYS!

On a side note Spurs have been drawn against Slavia Prague in the last 32 of the UEFA cup. Spurs won both legs in last years meeting with the same Czech club. COYS!

The draw sends Spurs to the knock out stages of the UEFA cup. The round of 32 will begin in February.

On a side note, nice job with the lighters at the end Anderlecht fans… Pure class.

COYS!

I can’t imagine there was a Tottenham Hotspur supporter that wasn’t just a little disheartened at halftime last night as Spurs defense seemed to be in disarray yet again. Aalborg scored two unanswered goals in the first half. The first, a wonder strike by Enevoldsen, at just two minutes in. Although Spurs dominated possession Aalborg seemed to create quality scoring opportunities every time they were in Spurs half. Aalborg scored again shortly before the interval on a play that saw Pascal Chimbonda well out of possition. Down 2-0 I thought a draw would be about all we could pull out.

As the second half started I was still trying to figure out what changes Ramos had made when Berba scored 45 seconds in on a superb pass by Tom Huddlestone. Is it me or was that the kind of shot that would have bounced off the post or simply went wide a couple weeks back? I was in total disbelief when it rolled in. Scoring at such an early stage immediately gave me hopes of victory, and Spurs did not disappoint! Ramos shifted to what seemed like a 3-5-2 that stifled Aalborg in midfield and created opportunity after opportunity up front. Steed Malbranque scored a leveler five minutes after Berbatov’s score and Darren Bent tapped home a cross by Aaron Lennon to take the lead 15 minutes after that. Spurs had many chances during the final 25 minutes to expand their lead but 3-2 would be the final in what may have been the most exciting game of the year for Tottenham Hotspur and perhaps the most important.

With the upcoming game away v. Anderlecht being the only remaining group stage game for Spurs a loss last night would have been disastrous and could have well ended Spurs dream of achieving European glory. Instead Tottenham are on top of their group and looking confident. The Juande era has begun and Spurs look just a little different. Let’s hope it continues because it’s been a lot of fun so far! COYS!!!

A few notes going into the weekend:

1. Berbatov is now dismissing many of the rumors that have been floating around about his future at the Lane. “I have a contract and I will give my best, for now it is not going so well for me because all the writing in the papers has been messing with my head and I lost my concentration,” Berba said. “The worst thing is when someone starts writing lies and when people see that they start to believe it. I just want to say that I am here, I am happy here and I will help the club in any way I can,” Okay, cool. But I still didn’t see a smile on his mug after he scored in Israel. If the press is getting to him that much he needs to grow up a bit. Is it too much to ask for Spurs to have a bona fide high class superstar who wants to stay?

2. Nice enough result yesterday v. Hapoel Tel Aviv. Clean sheet and full points during a group stage UEFA cup tie would normally be sweet enough but Ramos seems to want more: “There were occasions when we should have done better to try to get another goal, that is possibly the reason why there were some differences between the players. But that ambition to do things well is positive.” I like that, good isn’t good enough… Not if you want glory. I’m starting to like Juande quite a bit.

3. Spurs are still banged up at the back going into the Wigan fixture at the Lane Sunday. A manager-less Wigan could prove to be just what Spurs need. Thin on defenders or not, Ramos men need to secure three points to help move them further away from bottom of the league. It’s not too late to salvage the campaign. COYS!