Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Huddersfield Town

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Saturday 3rd March 3pm
Premier League
Wembley Stadium​

Our path to the quarter-final of the FA Cup has been cleared, but it'll be looked back on in slightly surreal fashion.
VAR, The Beast from the East and a Llorente hat-trick combined to make it bizarre and memorable.
Back to the fight for the top four and hopefully a slightly warmer Wembley.
This week brings our first home game against Huddersfield since 1972.
Both sides still have plenty to play for, so it should be hard fought.

David Wagner's men came into the top-flight with very little expectation and a lot of people expecting the worst.
They've found the going tough at times, but have ridden a steep learning curve and are doing pretty well.
They're currently sitting in 14th place on 30 points, which puts them in touching distance of the good and the bad.
The good? Tenth place and the top half. The bad? 18th and the relegation zone.
It's very much touch and go for them, but they expected that and it won't have phased them.

The Terriers recently experienced their worst run of form this season, going 8 games without a win.
The Christmas schedule appeared to be too much for them, as they struggled for points and lost a few badly.
As the fixtures have calmed down a bit and are more spaced out, they've come out fighting.
A 4-1 thumping of Bournemouth was followed by a vital 2-1 win at The Hawthorns, cutting West Brom adrift.
It's given them some breathing room, but every point is now enormous.

Our visit to the John Smith's Stadium in September is one of their lowest points so far in the campaign.
They'll be keen to try to set the record straight a little, as it was something of a lesson for them.
Having started brightly and pressed well early on, they were undone repeatedly in quick succession.
Harry Kane opened the scoring, Davies doubled the lead at the end of a great move and then Kane added a third.
It was halfway through the first half and pretty much game over.
The stroll to the end was only interrupted by a late Sissoko strike, which he'd threatened earlier:

Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld are currently the only players out for either side.
Neither team has any suspensions, either.

Spurs: Lloris; Aurier, Sanchez, Dier, Davies; Wanyama, Dembele; Eriksen, Alli, Lamela; Kane.
Subs: Vorm, Trippier, Rose, Foyth, Sissoko, Moura, Son.
League form: WDWDWW.

Huddersfield: Lossl; Hadergjonaj, Jorgensen, Schindler, Kongolo; Hogg, Williams; Quaner, Pritchard, van La Parra; Mounie.
Subs: Coleman, Smith, Malone, Whitehead, Sabiri, Ince, Depoitre.
League form: LLLLWW.

Referee: Mike Jones. Awful in our 1-1 draw against West Brom at home.

TV: Not televised.

We changed virtually the whole team for the FA Cup game, but did anyone do enough to start this one?
Should we rest anyone before the Juventus game on Wednesday?
Would you continue our fullback rotation or change it up for this game?

 

Pritchard worldie incoming...

 

Patrick Stewart?

 

You beat me to it

 

I made it so.

 

After his display on Wednesday, Moura has to start this one for me.

Presuming Toby and Jan aren’t fit, I’d go with

Lloris
Trippier Sanchez Dier Davies
Wanyama Dembele
Moura Dele Eriksen
Kane

Vorm, Lamela, Son, Jason Lee wannabe, foyth, Llorente, KWP

 

Me too

I would have Lucas in every game from here on in! He needs the game time anyway, but still looks very sharp. His positivity and direct running makes a huge difference. With Sonny and Erik the other night, they were the only shining lights in that bizarre first half.

Ben has to come back in. DoF has not shown half enough since his return to demonstrate either the fitness nor particularly the attitude to be relied upon. I’d almost have him as the 3rd best option at LWB behind KWP.

Tripps gets the nod as well over Aurier, although part of me wants to see if his experience playing with Lucas at PSG will help him settle in. There is a good player in there - just far too flaky so far.

Three excellent positive options on the bench in Sonny, Erik and Nando.

COYS!!

 

Wow, that escalated quickly.

 

The decision to include him didnt come easy.....

But on the back of a confidence building performance in which we (almost) started to play to his strengths, together with it being against his old club was the deciding factor.

 

I'd play Davies as partner with Sanchez and either DOF or KWP as LB.

It would be good for them to work on a partnership, he is left footed so better than Dier who needs to be cover for Sanchez ( as he hasn't got any right now) . We can't be sure if Jan will be ready for the Juve game. We have 3 players who can play LB so can sacrifice one for the CB role.

 

Getting close to Easter.
Celebrating a time when a man was nailed up for dead,
and 3 days arose back to life and eternal glory.

 

I’d like to put on record here that I am less confident in young Foyth at the moment than most posters on here seem to be. I think he looks like an accident waiting to happen, and seems to play himself into trouble more often than not. I agree with the suggestion that he needs to get beefed up a bit, as he does get bullied off the ball quite a bit. He may have classy footwork, but there are too many times when this almost becomes a liability because of his other weaknesses. Does it make sense if I say he seems TOO cool under pressure at the moment (as well as under pressure too often)? I hope he develops quickly under Poch, and that the traces of class that others are praising become the hallmarks of a solid defender as well as a skilful ball-player. Not happy about him - yet - against PL attackers.

 

I agree that he's not ready. At one point in the first half against Rochdale, Eric Dier was apoplectic with him and let him have it with both barrels for failing to hold the line, dropping deep and playing them onside. With our high line, you can't have someone breaking ranks. Add in his youthful lack of physical strength and he's currently more a liability than an asset in the first team.

I'm not saying that will always remain the case. There's some serious football talent in the kid. He'd only played 7 senior games in Argentina when we signed him and in his first season in a foreign country, he's getting first team minutes. That's seriously rapid promotion and to my mind, it's too much too soon. Really, he needs game time elsewhere to build confidence and shouldn't be in our team at all and definitely not as part of a 2 man central defence. If he plays, it should be as part of a 3 where he's nearer to a teammate who can talk him through a game and provide cover for him.

Ultimately, I think he might be Mousa Dembele's replacement. He moves so well with the ball from deep positions, has a real talent for dribbling past the opposition and good vision and passing. It was only a few years ago that he was seen as and playing as a forward, just as Davinson Sanchez was a midfielder and Mousa Dembele was a winger. As fans, we need to be patient but MP does too.

 

I'm with @Roo and @Spur of the Moment, Moura should start this one, has been the best player on the pitch in his two starts and while Rochdale can't be a true barometer of how good a player he is, the fact he's clearly grafting and treating the opponents with the respect they deserve is something I like. Too often players try playing at 50% vs smaller teams and it really annoys me, you should always respect your opponent and so if Lucas can turn up on a freezing cold day against League One opposition then he more than deserves a go against Premier League opposition from the off.

I'd like to keep Mousa as fresh as possible for Juve, he was immense in the 1st leg and I think Juve will be fearing his power in that CM role.

Hugo
Tripps, Dave, Dier, Davies
Wanyama, Alli
Moura, Eriksen, Son
Kane

Vorm, KWP, Rose, Aurier, Dembele, Lamela, Nando

 

& SOTM!!!!!

 

Think you need to read my post properly, mate.

 

The OS have got into the spirit....

http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/new...y-marina-sirtis-v-sir-patrick-stewart-020318/

I'm building up for tomorrow..."To coldly go....."

 

Toby out of the Juve game according to the Poch press conference.

 

Have I missed something about Jan? Reports say he is fit to start tomorrow. Toby on the other hand could apparrently be out for up to a month. Sadly I think we've more or less seen the last of him in a Spurs shirt. Whoever we sell him to will receive a very good CB with a very poor record of hamstring injuries. I'd also rest Dembele ahead of Juve. Bringing him on in that blizzard against Rochdale was simply bizarre. I'd go 3 at the back and protect the defence with Wanyama on his own. Np disrespect to Huddersfield but they've struggled to create chances this season.

Hugo
Dave Dier Jan
Trippier Wanyama Davies
Moura Alli Eriksen
Kane

For me.