Vital Spurs Debate Section

Match Thread – Palace At The Lane On A Lazy Sunday For Spurs

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Tottenham Hotspur’s first team didn’t quite manage to reach the dizzy heights of Burnley as we limped over the line in our last clash with Fulham, but back to back victories for the first time since November certainly shouldn’t be sniffed at.

Manager Jose Mourinho has already confirmed he will again be rotating the pack ahead of the next run of fixtures the club has which again sees us on the Sunday/Thursday schedule but you’d like to hope we will persist with the front three of Sonny, Harry and Bale for obvious reasons.

Palace themselves will make the trip with boosted spirits as they are on a run of three without defeat, and this weekend they should be able to welcome back Wilfried Zaha after his five game spell on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.

For us, the game still comes too early for Giovani Lo Celso but we may be able to welcome him back to the bench for the Europa game. Serge Aurier will likely face a late fitness test after his calf tightened up against Burnley, but otherwise we should be good to go.

Now we play the ‘which Spurs will turn up’ game…

Palace

Win

Draw

Lose

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Tottenham Hotspur's foundations lie in another sport, which one?

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  • TK says:

    Good old days: first on the thread. LOL.

    We need a win and we need it done in the style of a Spurs team. No more struggling to look like a Spurs football team, please.

  • TK says:

    thanks for the thread, Danny. winter is almost over. Can we call you Danny Springtime? Springtime is the best time to play God’s beautiful game. Golidlocks weather. Not too hot, not too cold. Just right for 22 men in short pants to pant about the pitch with a ball that cannot be touched with a hand except by 2 of the 22. Let the flowers and the football bloom. Win one for the memory of Prince Albert and all his footmen. If I remember, crystal palace was one of his pet projects.

  • jod says:

    Not really sure what difference Lo Celso would make as I don’t see him and N’Dombele both starting, unless Lo Celso plays at 10 but we already have Dele and Lamela and even Moura competing for that spot. Palace are interesting opposition. They will offer more than Burnley did but I don’t see them having the energy levels Fulham showed. So will we be able to impose ourselves on the game like we did against Burnley or will it be a struggle as it was against Fulham ? Maybe the answer will tell us how the rest of then season will go.

  • Geofspurs says:

    It seems the ‘handball’ and ‘off-side’ rules may be changing soon. I wonder why?!!!

    Sours 3- 0 Crystal palace.

  • TQ2Spurs says:

    Sour is probably a good description Geof! lol

  • TQ2Spurs says:

    Palace toughed out a draw with Fulham but pulled off the ultimate smash and grab at Brighton in their previous game, you can quite easily see them doing the same on Sunday evening the way our defence is right now.

  • TK says:

    If the handball and offside rules are not revisited, the game loses a bit of life and beauty. It’s football, If your foot is offside then so are you. If your nose is offside, so what? If the ball is kicked into your hand, which is tucked into your side and you made no move of hand to ball, than what’s the problem? Interminable time wasted on VAR and nothing is ruled in a way that any reasonable enthusiast for the sport would endorse. this simple kills the flow of the game. Moving in the direction of cricket. But cricket doesn’t rely on the same sort of flow that does football. these two rules as they are–they are harming the sport.

  • block 108 spurs says:

    Palace are always inspired when star player Zaha is playing, yet they are in bottom half of PL. So with rotation jose will make 3 or 4 changes, if that, as we need a settled back line. Our defence / DMF need to be fast players at FB, reggie and aurier / tanganga to cope wth Zaha & Townshend, moussa / hoj as tanguy looks tired again. Sonny dele / lamela HK10 Bale.

    TK…Queen Victoria also had a keen interest in prince alberrt’s crystal palace project.

  • block 108 spurs says:

    VAR handball decisions have also seen spurs suffer over last 2 years, CL Final (moussa) was the worst. So I have no sympathy for clubs who moan about these decisions in favour of spurs. I viewed the slow mo video as well and saw that a fulham player moved his arm as the ball hit him and directed the ball to his close by teamate…. so handball.

  • Geofspurs says:

    b108 …. I guess the point is that no-one will need to moan at all if they get the rules right. Rules should enhance the game, not destroy it.

  • BelgianSpur says:

    B108 – To be fair, I think the handball in the CL final would have been given under any version of the rule. Even if Moussa doesn’t move his arm towards the ball, he’s still got his arm up and for me, that is quite straightforward.

    Put it this way: had it been a Liverpool player and the penalty not given, most Spurs fans would have been fuming. And that’s usually a fair indicator.

    This being said, I agree with the essence of your post. The handball rule had to evolve, and there are plenty of other instances to point to.

  • block 108 spurs says:

    BS… the CL decision showed the ball hit moussa on his upper arm / shoulder joint and it was not a prevention of a clear goal scoring opportunity for Liverpool, just a cross into the penalty box. Anyway what was just as disappointing, was spurs players reaction over the 1st half, totally dejected.

    I was at WHL that day (seeing the special viewing screens on the pitch) and the fans around me / in stadium (62k full house) were not happy. Now were are almost 2 years down the line and not much has happened to VAR decisions, changes are urgently needed.

  • Niall D says:

    Hi guys trust you’re all keeping well, Danny thanks again, for me where VAR needs to change is the likes of the pen given against us at N/Castle where the ball hit Diers trailing hand, no way could he move it.
    BS I’m with B108 here the ball it Sossokos chest then upper arm almost shoulder his arm was already pointing in a natural position. And again agreed the Fulham player did move his arm to the Ball, so for me hand ball. But the big one VAR should look at is players “diving” for a pen or free kick there should be a decent punishment for this ie red card as they are :
    Trying to influence the game by cheating
    Or similarly trying to get a player sent off again by cheating.
    This rolling about in agony business, then immediately getting up once the award is given.
    Re tomorrow, as I remember, it was just going into our Christmas malaise, however their keeper made at least 4 or 5 fantastic saves, then was crap the next week against Pool.
    So hoping we’re back on form tomorrow and their keeper isn’t.

  • 123spurs says:

    A handball should only be giving if u deliberately move yournhand to stop the ball passing, CL was not a handball, it was ball yo hand big difference, with players momentum of your hand will be out and will be up and away from your side, you all cant run around with your hands behind your back.

  • TK says:

    My comment about the hand ball and offsides rules was not about any particular calls that were bad, and not about its influence on matches in which Spurs were cheated or helped, but with the rules per se as the are now–and with the VAR as it is being used. Basketball takes stoppages in play all the time. The final 20 seconds of an NBA game can take 10 minutes. Cricket is one big lolling about during the match, but that’s what it is meant to be. The old test matches cover five days for God’s sake. Football is about a constant flow for 45 minutes repeated after an interval. Without that constant flow, it’s not football as we have experienced it for far to many decades to care to count. Pretty soon it will be changed by American advertisers who will demand commercial breaks. The offsides and handball and VAR rules and practices need to be revised if we are to keep football as a constant flow for two 45 minute segments. Do not Americanize football.

  • TK says:

    We can pick up two points on the Arse holes this weekend. I admit that my principal desire each year is to end up above the Arses.

  • TK says:

    123 spurs, even if a player did run about with his hands behind his back, the officials are likely to call handball if the ball is kicked into on the hands behind the back. lol

  • TK says:

    followed by five minutes of VAR.

  • Niall D says:

    TK
    Re your VAR stoppage comments, totally agree m8, just using Spurs games as a blueprint, as to be honest don’t watch many other games. But totally agreed VAR should look at it twice in “Real Time” if they can’t agree then the Refs decision counts. Before VAR the Refs decisions were in the 90% right anyway.

  • TK says:

    My fear is that the capitalist marketers will use these things as opportunities to sell adverts. the temptation in capitalism to make extra money is irresistible for them. the number of VAR interruptions will rise because of this, not because VAR helps get the decisions right. we all can see that the VAR decisions are just as absurd as any “live” decisions have ever been. As the Americans say, it’s all about the Benjamins, baby. (Benjamin Franklin being on the $100 bill )

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