Date: Sunday 28th August 2011
KO: 1330 hrs
Venue: White Hart Lane
Luvly Jubbly; what a week we've had. Last Sunday saw us go top of the league, and although it's still early, it's sets a marker for the rest of the season. Nasri finally gets his butt up to Manchester (not Trafford) to sign on the dotted line and make a long overdue appearance at the newly decorated Etihad Stadium. Also, we are hearing that Carlos has moved his family across and that he should be staying for the foreseeable future. Adebayor gets his long awaited loan deal with Spurs and Micah puts pen to paper on a new 4 year deal. With all that going on, please excuse me if I've missed anything.
Nasri 'Surrenders' to City's Demands
A Bit About Them
So, onto Tottenham, a club who've been around since 1882, originally known as Hotspurs FC they changed their name to Tottenham Hotspurs 2 years later due to another team having the same name. Tottenham Marshes was the area where they first played so the renaming came as no surprise. Their current ground at White Hart Lane has been home for them since 1889 after a couple of moves due to insufficient crowd space. An ever present in the Premier League, Spurs have, like us, spent plenty of money to try and get to the top, only managing to make it to the Champions League once in all that time.
There are many similarities between our clubs at the moment and again, this year, we will be both contenders for a Champions League position, especially now they've got a striker in the form of Adebayor, a loanee from us that could come back to bite us on the proverbial. Like us, Spurs have also won the top league twice, the last time being back in the 60's, and have won numerous cups including the FA cup 8 times and the UEFA Cup/Cup Winners Cup 3 times, the latest being back in '84. At least they haven't had to wait as long as us to win a cup though, their latest being back in 2008 with a League Cup Final victory over Chelsea. Hopefully that's where the similarities end and we go onto bigger and better things, surely we're due it?
The Game
Mancini will want to ensure that we at least do not lose this game, a point would be good at Spurs and previous history may dictate how the game pans out. A more defensive system may be imposed with a view to quick counter attacking football, although I feel the last game out at Bolton would be more in line for a Spurs team who have problems in all areas of the pitch, especially their defence. One thing for sure is that if he needs to, the quality from the bench is there to change the game and if we're in a situation where we need goals he'll be able to bring on players with real class. How many times have we been able to say that over the years?
Harry, after their 20 minute drubbing at United, will want to get this years campaign up and running with a win and will do anything to make sure they get the 3 points. I can see it being an open end-to-end game with chances for both teams. Not that that's what Mancini will want but more because he will not want to hold back the players too much as they'll want to play football.
'At least we won't see this on Sunday'.
Form
It's a bit early in the season to be looking at form as it cannot be used as a true reflection of a teams ability. However, if we look back at the last 6 games played in the league it's quite evident that City are on the up. We've won 5 of the last 6 (loss to Everton), beating Spurs in the process, while they have taken 7 points from a possible 18. A truer reflection could come in the goals scored league where we have scored 14 whilst Spurs have only scored 6, this from a team who are supposedly renowned for their goal scoring abilities; or is it just the media's way of hiding the truth about Tottenham's vulnerabilities?
The Stats
Going back to 1908 there have been 141 games been played between us with the stats looking relatively even with City winning 51 and Spurs winning 56. However, in recent times the stats haven't been so encouraging with Spurs winning 19 of the 28 Premier League games with a strange stat that 8 of the last 13 games have finished 2-1, which shows that these games are usually entertaining. One game that strikes a cord has to be the impressive come-back in the 2003-04 FA Cup tie, when at half-time, trailing by 3 goals and a man down (Thanks Joey), we fought back like Gladiators to win the match 4-3 with a final looping header from John Macken; probably the best thing he ever did.
This is not the City of old though and those stats will hopefully be consigned to the record books. With last years tetchy 0-0 draw at Spurs and the 1-0 win at ours (Thanks Lurch) I can see us turning a corner and really pushing them on their home ground.
Tactics
Old 'Arry only knows one tactic and that's to attack, which looks good on the TV but doesn't usually equate to a decent all-round footballing game. He will use the likes of Bale and Lennon to run the wings and hope for the likes of van der Vart or Defoe to get on the end of something. The problem there is that neither of them are over 2 foot tall and with the likes of Vinny and Joleon bossing the area, their only real way through will be down the middle. Modric, I hear, could be playing and would be a massive boost to them if he actually wants to play and not looking across to the Chelsea Pensioners for a pay-rise with Champions league football.
'What was that 'Arry, one more up front?'
But what will we see from Roberto, will he let the 'Handbrake' off, as many journo's are now putting it, or will he go for a more defensive set-up? For me, he's got to cover both angles in this game and I wouldn't be surprised to see Milner and/or Clichy covering the right and left flanks respectively, offering the defence an element of cover. And without the mighty Nigel de Jong covering the middle of the park I wonder who he's going to play the defensive midfield; most probably Yaya. Big 'Dave' Silva, as always, will be allowed to do what he does best, moving the ball around with sublime grace allowing the front man/men the quality they will need to score. Forward wise we are just blessed with a multitude of top talent and the choice of forwards will be down to how Mancini sees the game going. Edin Dzeko is a shoe-in in my opinion and with a choice of Kun Aguero, Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli it's going to be a nice headache for the manager to choose the other attacking option. And what about Nasri, will we see him off the bench?
‘Who would you choose?’.
Key Players
City
After some consideration, and a bit of inside info from our man on the ground, Douglas Higginbottom, I've gone for the big man himself, Micah Richards. His re-emergence as a top full-back last season saw him called back up to the England squad and although he didn't get the chance due to our opponents Riots, I'm sure he will cement the starting place in the not so distant future. His performances thus far have been quite impressive and I'm quite amazed how he's turned himself around from a couple of seasons back when he'd need an oxygen mask if he made it anywhere over the half-way line. The job he's got against Spurs is going to be a difficult one though with the likes of Gareth Bale hoping to get around him and into our box. Micah's going to be under severe pressure before he even gets on the pitch but now we are seeing the maturity come through, I'm sure that he's got the mental strength and resolve to ensure Bale doesn't get any leeway on the wing and if he does, his City colleagues will be there to back-up the onslaught.
‘Who's the Man'.
Tottenham
Monkey Boy, sorry, Gareth Bale is the obvious choice for me and I'll be keeping a keen eye to see if he is as good as all the media say he is. After watching him in the Champions League against Inter, he definitely looked World Class, but did he carry on that sort of form in the league; I don't think so. He's got pace to burn and a sweet shot when he gets the chance but the problem I see with him is that he is just too quick and when he reaches the box there's no-one there to get on the end of the cross. This occurred during their first game against United, a game where they played very well for the majority, only let down by their refusal to get in the box, instead opting to shoot from 20 yards. He is a danger though and if he gets through Micah early on I'd expect him to be their best attacking threat.
‘You've got nothing on Micah – Monkey Boy’.
Prediction
It's a difficult one this. Having seen our first 2 games and the style of play, that I can only say is sublime at times, I feel we can go out and beat anybody, the problem is that we've just not been very good at White Hart Lane. Last seasons 'back-to-the-wall' game left me with no finger nails and those memories serve me well when it comes to games like these. So, with all things considered I'm going to go for a hard-fought, deserving away win, which to be honest, is not beyond the realms of possibility. So, as Del-Boy would say, Luvly Jubbly, and let's just hope that Edin and Co. can Trigger us to victory.
Spurs 1 – 2 Mighty Blues
Edin Dzeko
David Silva
COME ON CITY!!!
The Future’s Bright, The Future’s Blue!
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