That article's ridiculous - the under headline blurb says that the injury won't fo...
That article's ridiculous - the under headline blurb says that the injury won't force AVB into the transfer market, but the quotes say absolutely nothing about buying or selling players, not even an inference!
Grade one is the lightest http://www.physioroom.com/prevention/muscle_strains.php - it's a sprain (I was going to say a pulled muscle but that might be trivialising too much...). I've heard of the blood spinning before, I think it's meant to be to help recovery time; it's considered doping in some sports but in football it's just 'controversial'.
According to Sky he's got a 'slightly twisted hip', which'll be why it'...
According to Sky he's got a 'slightly twisted hip', which'll be why it's a manageable risk - not a major injury.
It is looking like another season of teams fighting over who gets to go down & 'start again' isn't it... I'd be curious to see what the final table would look like if bottom 10 of PL & top 10 of Championship played together for a season - Cardiff might finally get that promotion they've been nipping at the heels of for ages.
I'd like Villa to stay up but they're not looking like they've got it in them, and if Wigan don't finally go down I'll... well, I'll whinge and get annoyed but not do anything. That'll show them! I'd not expect (or want) Newcastle & Fulham to get dragged into it, I think and hope they're close to regaining some of their form of the last few seasons, and I'm hoping/expecting good things from Norwich for a couple of seasons to come. Which I guess leaves the final spot to Reading, Southampton, or QPR... I'm inclined pin it on Reading.
I can't help but be concerned that he's going to have a whole lot of pressure/fait...
I can't help but be concerned that he's going to have a whole lot of pressure/faith put on his shoulders to instantly come in and immediately adapt and make a massive difference. He's still young and it takes time to bed into a new team, particularly one which is only beginning to settle into a new management style. I just hope he's not seen as some sort of saviour for us, and he's ready to take the strain.
I've not seen much of him yet, so this might all be unfounded - perhaps he thrives off pressure and is as good as he sounds!
In fact... I've just seen an Independent article with the headline "Lewis Holtby's early arrival will emphatically strengthen Tottenham's Champions League hopes", which refers to his 'talismanic display' a week or two... certainly can't hurt to get one of them in the team ;-)
I wouldn't worry too much - AVB said after the Leeds game that he would be back for No...
I wouldn't worry too much - AVB said after the Leeds game that he would be back for Norwich, and I've seen the following apparently said in his Holtby press conference:
While Villas-Boas ponders throwing Holtby in at the deep end, he has shrugged off rumours suggesting Jermain Defoe requires surgery. Defoe sat out the 2-1 defeat as Tottenham tumbled out of the FA Cup at Leeds. But AVB insists the England striker will not be going under the knife.
He added: “No, it is not true. It is extremely important that Defoe can play. We have spoken openly about this situation and we know it is a situation of risk and limit.
But we are happy to take that risk at the moment. We are fine as we stand — it is something we are not considering."
I'm looking forward to this deadline day even more than usual - the last few have been fairly disappointing, but I don't think Levy will be satisfied with performances this season overall and there are some clear areas where we could use reinforcement, Damiao could be the first of many juicy fables!
I think that's perfectly reasonable (although Physio Room says he's got a Hip/Thig...
I think that's perfectly reasonable (although Physio Room says he's got a Hip/Thigh injury. AVB says he'll be back for Norwich).
Dempsey's now on 5 goals in the last 5 games (incl 2 just as sub appearances), and Defoe's played virtually every game (according to the Yahoo home page he's our third most used player) and is dropping deeper than he used to, so exerting a lot more energy, so must be knackered. We 'should' be able to beat a team in Leeds' position without needing to be full strength, and Obika should have been enough to be a second striker (perhaps he should have started too?). I felt the main issue up front was that he wasn't getting the right service; Lennon and Bale were kept quiet, and I don't know why Dembele didn't start - he's only recently back from injury and so didn't need the break.
I thought it was a shocking defensive display, I don't know what the matter was with Vertonghen & Caulker but they both seemed to be off the pace, and Friedel was left exposed too many times - he wasn't up to his previous form either, but that's probably to be expected when he's not played much for a while, and it wasn't as bad as the defenders in front of him. I'd be curious to know why Dawson didn't start - has he moved up the pecking order? Or down?
I'm with John on Dempsey, it's only been the last 2-3 weeks but there has been a s...
I'm with John on Dempsey, it's only been the last 2-3 weeks but there has been a slight up turn in both his play and goals (his Jan stats - which admittedly include a brace in the Cov game - are 4 goals in 2 starts & 2 sub appearances); a month or to ago I didn't think he'd come good but I'll be very happy to be proved wrong.
Re pundits, I didn't see them say it but that's very disappointing if it's what the pros are encouraging. I kind of felt that our players were being encouraged to time waste when we're winning under 'Arry's regime, which disappointed me, but I could sort of understand as it meant we were building the ability to hold on to a lead (which we'd not had for a long old time), but this is a step too far.
Can someone please tell the media Bale isn't our only player? Why so much analysis on ...
Can someone please tell the media Bale isn't our only player? Why so much analysis on him today given he was kept quiet - granted, how that happened is of interest to many, but surely looking at Lennon & Dempsey link up play would of equal, if not more, insight.
That was a good read, thanks lts. I was particularly interested in the bit about Dawson - ...
That was a good read, thanks lts. I was particularly interested in the bit about Dawson - I'm very curious about the situation around our 'surplus to requirements' captain.
Joe, I'd agree the draw was at least fair and we had the possession & chances, BUT we always do against Utd - they're very happy to defend deep and to allow possession, because they're clinical enough on the break, and usually we suffer from that. Usually most of our attempts seem at best speculative, so we'll have 20 half chances to their 3 good ones and lose 2-1. This season we've obviously tightened that; getting 4 points off them is a great haul.
Very pleased with getting the last minute goal, it shows a turnaround from letting them in (the reference to the change in train in the article was interesting too), and they've got to be gutted about that penalty shout!
Apparently he underwent surgery yest, they weren't disclosing recovery time at that st...
Apparently he underwent surgery yest, they weren't disclosing recovery time at that stage.
However, I don't consider Sandro in the holding role full strength; my ideal line up would be Parker (I know, when he joined us I never dreamt I'd say that) in the holding, Bale & Lennon on the wings, & Dembele/a.n.other (for me ideally a VDV/Modric, but that's getting trapped in the past). Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't dream of losing Sandro, and would like to experiment with playing wing backs (I reckon Walker and Bale would do well in that role), with 2-3 CBs and 2 DMs (Sandro & Parker), but ideally I wouldn't choose Sandro over Parker.
