The opening weekend of Premiership football action for the 2009/10 season kicks off tomorrow. As always there are matches that jump out, but none more so than Liverpool's trip to Tottenham Hotspur.
For the first time in living memory, Spurs will start off the season without too many expectations on their inconsistent shoulders.
Manchester City's rise has dampened the expectation levels at White Hart Lane, and Harry Redknapp has also been quick to take some of the pressure off his team.
For the last three seasons, Spurs have started off slowly, to put it mildly. Last year, Juande Ramos paid the price for Tottenham's worst start to a league season since 1912, after they only took two points from the opening 24.
In comes 'Arry as his replacement. and Spurs immediately move up the league, taking 49 points from the next 30 games, which worked out as top five performance levels.
In the end, Spurs finished eighth after a very poor end-of-season performance that saw Liverpool hammer them 3-1 at Anfield.
This season, Harry Redknapp has tweaked more so than completely rebuilt as many had expected. In comes Peter Crouch, Sebastian Bassong, and Kyle Naughton, while only Didier Zokora and Darren Bent have left from the first-team squad.
On paper, Spurs have a strong team.
Heurelho Gomes turned out to be one of the Premiership's best keepers after Christmas, but it took four months of calamitous performances to get there. Sebastian Bassong's signing should strengthen the defence, although not in the way you would expect.
On their day, Spurs have as good a central defensive partnership as any team in the league. But that day comes all too infrequently. Ledley King and Johnathan Woodgate are both injury-prone, to such an extent that they rarely play together, so Harry had to act by bringing in a player of Bassong's quality.
Their midfield looks to be finally settling. Aaron Lennon has made the right-sided berth his own, while Wilson Palacios and Jermaine Jenas will slot into the middle.
Luka Modric eventually discovered the kind of form that had top sides from all over Europe chasing him, and when he plays well, Tottenham play well.
Despite this, Tottenham's left side is still a problem area that all the top teams have been able to exploit.
Modric drifts in, leaving huge gaps that marauding full backs easily move into, and Glen Johnson should capitalise on this come Sunday.
Up front, Spurs have more riches than probably any other team in the EPL. Peter Crouch, Jermaine Defoe, and Robbie Keane, are all up there in the top 10 of British-based top scorers in the last five years, and Roman Pavlyuchenko scored 14 goals in 36 games in his debut season.
Most expect Harry to go with the little and large combination that made Portsmouth such a potent threat last year, as Defoe, hot off two goals for England against Holland, partners Crouch up front.
Redknapp is a traditionalist 4-4-2 man, and with this formation in mind, the Spurs team picks itself, but Harry has always been known for throwing a spanner into the works for games such as these, so if he does change slightly, expect either Robbie Keane or Aaron Lennon to start in behind Crouch and Defoe.
The Keane/Defoe partnership looks unlikely, but they were very good together in pre season tournaments, so Harry has an option here too.
We're going to send you the most entertaining Tottenham Hotspur articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
7 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete