Spurs vs Blackburn - TalkSoccer

**bandini** · 10-05-2007, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Martin Jol has hailed his strikeforce as the most dangerous in the Premiership - and wants them to fire Tottenham to a fifth-placed finish this week.

Spurs will be 'best of the rest' again if they win their last two games of the season, starting with the clash against Blackburn when Dimitar Berbatov, Robbie Keane and Jermain Defoe will look to add to their tally.

They have 60 goals between them this season, with Jol juggling his trio to keep them all happy.

``I'm very proud of my strikers to score 60 goals between the three of them,'' said the Spurs boss.

``That is what we needed because we conceded more goals than last season. That is exactly what the three of them delivered.

``I don't think there is one other club with three strikers who have scored more goals than us.''

Keane and Defoe have led the attack since Jol's appointment in 2004 but the inspired signing of Berbatov has made Spurs one of the most exciting sides in Premiership.

``Last year Mido scored 11 and it was the same, and also the year before that with Fredi Kanoute,'' Jol added.

``I think we have scored more than any other club. It's been very good to keep all the strikers happy in the last three years and to get the best out of them.

``You need four but the evidence lies in the facts that our strikers every year have scored more than any other trio in England.''

Three cup runs have given Jol the opportunity to utilise his strikers - Mido has also scored five goals but has struggled with injury - and rescheduling games has put Spurs in the driving seat for Europe in the final week of the season.

``It's an unbelievably good position, nobody realised over the last two months that we had a game in hand,'' he added. ``People said Tottenham are 'so-so' but I knew if we win this game we would be in the top six again. Along with all these matches in Europe it would be a fine achievement.

``Nobody realised we were in a good position, so we surprised a few people again.''

Mark Hughes cast his eyes enviously towards Old Trafford as he prepared Blackburn for a final advance on Europe.

He is determined to savour the end of the season just like Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson as well as former team-mates Roy Keane and Steve Bruce.

Ferguson has his hands on the Barclays Premiership title trophy again while Sunderland boss Keane and Birmingham chief Bruce finished one and two in the Coca-Cola Championship.

Hughes believes a winning mentality is the reason the three of them are making a decent fist of it in management.

The Blackburn boss said: ``We are a little bit stubborn and don't take no for an answer. We keep on going and try and prove people wrong all the time.

``That is something we had as a group of players - a mentality that everyone was against us.

``We were not prepared to accept defeat and we were not prepared to allow people an opportunity to criticise us. Maybe that's what drives us on.

``It is fantastic the job Roy and Steve have done. It is going to be interesting next season coming up against them.''

Blackburn go into the crucial match at White Hart Lane in a good run of form after taking 10 points from 18.

Hughes, however, cannot contemplate defeat as that would surely end their hopes of making Europe for a second successive season.

Tottenham, though, are aiming to build on the victory against Charlton on Monday, which condemned their London rivals to relegation.

Hughes said: ``We will take either the UEFA Cup or the Intertoto Cup.

``We are still dependent on the results going for us but we can only try and win our games.

``We have put in a lot of work this year and hope to achieve something at the end of it.

``Tottenham are exceptionally good at home and score a lot of goals. It is always difficult there.

``They are playing well but so are we. We look really dangerous in an attacking sense.

``I am very pleased at the level of performance we are putting in at the moment.''

Midfielder David Dunn remains doubtful for the match with a thigh injury after sitting out the victory against Newcastle. ``He has a 50-50 chance,'' said Hughes.

source: soccernet.com

Another important game for us in the fight to get a spot in Europe next season.

**kyan** · 10-05-2007, 08:21 PM

It's 0-1 Blackburn after an hour, but Spurs have dominated pretty much the whole game. McCarthy scored a header after a beautiful cross from Pedersen though.

Ghaly, who got subbed on, just got subbed off. His reaction was Mido-esque, took off his shirt as he was leaving the pitch and threw it to the floor in front of the bench and walked past Jol. Spurs fans booed and began to chant "You're not fit to wear the shirt".

Following that Samba heads the ball onto the bar from the far post, should have done better, he was completely open.

**Oliver_Kahn** · 10-05-2007, 08:25 PM

Defoe scored the equaliser!

**kyan** · 10-05-2007, 08:26 PM

Jermaine Defoe on 67mins, prods it in from 1 yard out after Keane slides a through ball past 1 player to Berbatov who outmuscled a 2nd and shot, Friedel parried and Defoe scored.

1-1.

[EDIT: btw Keane came on for Ghaly, so Jol made the right decision...]

**kyan** · 10-05-2007, 08:38 PM

Defoe showing his biggest fault a few minutes ago, got the ball in the area, went around the keeper but the angle was too tight, instead of looking up and playing it to Berbatov, completely open in front of goal, or Keane completely open at the far post he runs in a circle for a while and puts in a head-height cross for Keane which is headed away.

if he'd have passed it earlier it would have been a goal. What a waste.

Also Chimbonda's hairstyle is appalling, you know those jester hats? Yeah it's like that.

**kyan** · 10-05-2007, 08:50 PM

OMG! Keane hits the post in the first min of ET after being played in by Chimbonda, it looked like it was going in, so so close!

**kyan** · 10-05-2007, 08:53 PM

Roberts gets sent off, clipped the back of Zokora's legs, got booked, complained and then stopped the fk from being taken quickly and got a 2nd yellow.

This should be the last action of the game.

**Dellas** · 10-05-2007, 08:53 PM

Chimbonda's hair is very funny.

[EDIT] Ends as a draw. IMO the ref over reacted by sending Roberts off.

**kyan** · 10-05-2007, 08:55 PM

Berbatov got it wrong, over.

1-1 FT.

**Sven** · 10-05-2007, 10:01 PM

I can't decide if Jol is a good manager or bad, mainly in the tatical department.

**kyan** · 10-05-2007, 10:07 PM

His choice to bring on Robbie Keane changed the game and his decision to start with Defoe led to Defoe scoring the goal.

i don't think he was at fault for the draw, it was just bad luck really, that and a combination of a lapse in concentration on the defence's behalf.

**Mighty T.A.L.** · 11-05-2007, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Ghaly, who got subbed on, just got subbed off. His reaction was Mido-esque, took off his shirt as he was leaving the pitch and threw it to the floor in front of the bench and walked past Jol.

I would have done the same.