EPL: Spurs v Everton (14.08)

[kyan]

Having just seen the entire first half I reckon Spurs don't have too much to worry about, going forward they looked good, the tempo was raised from saturday.

Berbatov still looked sluggish but Bent looked very good in the first 15mins especially, really gave Stubbs a hard time with his pace.

Everton didn't really seem to have too much of the ball in the first half but they were so much more effective with it, largely because Arteta is a fantastic player...

Spurs will be fine when Kaboul, King, Dawson, Bale, Y.P. Lee & Assou-Ekotto come back from injury. Kaboul was looking good again until he got injured...

Fat Paul needs to lay off the pies though, his long term drop in form is really worrying. And I think the 3rd goal he let in was worse than the 2nd, with the 2nd it wasn't so much his fault, he was clattered by Rocha after he made that great recovering header (or at least it would have been if it didn't fall to Osman). With the 3rd goal not only was Robinson a good 2, 2.5m off his line (y he was so far forward I don't know, just worsening his chances of stopping the shot) but he could quite easily have reached the ball, he even jumped up a little on the spot before the ball reached him and then turned around to watch it go in. Shocking...

[bandini]

everyone is still shaking their head in amazement at the Bent signing, but maybe Jol feels that he is going to be around for a while and he wants to build a solid team for the future. The player is not in question, it's the pricetag and why he needed another striker, but maybe it's the building phase that he's concerned about. I personally like Jol. I think he has done a lot of good for us and has brought a lot to the club. He does seem to kind of miss the point sometimes though: letting in too many goals is going to lose you games It's as simple as that. Ardiles already did the attack-heavy stuff at Spurs and it was miserable, so he must find a balance.

Boateng did sign and they did secure Taarabt too. I don't know of any injuries to either so I think Boateng will be worked in slowly and I don't know the story with Taarabt. I'd love to see Bale fit in there when he is ready.

[Buddha14]

They only have 1 left footer in the team now which is bale. They need a left winger like harry kewell. I heard that they will target taylor! they aint getting him thats for sure (well i hope not)

[kennethlindheim]

Good on Everton. They are going to do what they did last season,beat everyone thats not up to it on match days. Fair play to David Moyes, he's getting the best out of his team.

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Spurs looks like they are on the same level as they was on last season and the other teams are looking stronger...This is not good for Spurs...Are they slow starters or has the other teams become better and Spurs don't?Two loss on row against teams they should win against...Maybe they just are slow starters this year...?What's obvious is that Spurs don't have the quality from the bench like the teams like Arsenal, United, Chelsea and Liverpool and that's the main reason why they never get the Champions League place.

[Trim]

Missed the match yesterday, however I just checked the result.

Very surprised there, Spurs are dissapointing, MD2 and 0 pts yet.

I thought they made some good transfers this summer, and have strengthened the squad.

Doesn't look so.

But, still, no panic there, because it would only worsen the situation.

Jol has to arrange some things I guess, and boost the players morale.

They gotta wake up.

Who are they playing next?

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Who are they playing next?

Home against Derby, so first win to come on Saturday!

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Spurs downed by Toffees

Tottenham's £40million strike force could not find a way past Everton at White Hart Lane as David Moyes's men stormed to the top of the Premier League courtesy of a 3-1 victory.

Spurs boss Martin Jol had Darren Bent, Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane in his starting XI and brought Jermain Defoe off the bench, but it was his problems at the back that were exposed by the clinical visitors.

Joleon Lescott headed in from an early set-piece, taking advantage of slack marking by Anthony Gardner.

Gardner levelled matters, but Leon Osman and Alan Stubbs struck before the break to make it two wins from two at the start of Everton's season.

Early lead

Everton's bus needed a police escort to guide them to the ground on time, but Lescott did not receive the same close attention when the visitors were presented with a third-minute free-kick.

Paul Stalteri fouled Mikel Arteta on the right flank for the set-piece, and the Spaniard curved the ball in for Lescott to head home after losing Gardner.

With Keane dropping off to the right flank, Spurs went on the attack in search of the equaliser.

Bent was caught offside when he finished past Tim Howard, then forced the American to save in the 10th minute after Pascal Chimbonda slid him through - with Joseph Yobo throwing himself in front of Berbatov to block the rebound.

Throwing everything forward, however, could not cover up Tottenham's problems at the back, and in the 18th minute their woes were compounded, when Younes Kaboul limped off with what appeared to be a hamstring injury.

Johnson then chased a lost cause and set up Victor Anichebe, for a drive that was gathered by Paul Robinson at the second attempt.

Equaliser

When the equaliser came it was centre-back Gardner who thudded in his second league goal for the club, losing Lescott to head home from Jermaine Jenas's 26th-minute corner.

The lead lasted little more than 10 minutes, Arteta chipping a cross from the right to the back post where Rocha managed to scramble the ball away from Anichebe. But it fell for Osman to lash into the roof of the net, beating a crestfallen Robinson.

Arteta almost had goal himself just before the break when he floated a free-kick just over the angle.

Stubbs took over from set-piece duties and extended the lead in first-half stoppage time with a free-kick from 30 yards which found the bottom corner, taking a cruel deflection off Didier Zokora as he wrestled with Lee Carsley in the wall.

Spurs briefly rallied before the break when Berbatov headed against the post after meeting Chimbonda's cross from the right.

Constant threat

Everton remained a threat on the counter-attack, and Arteta dragged a shot just wide after bundling his way into the penalty area.

Jol brought Defoe off the bench for Bent for the last half-hour, but the England man failed to make the desired impact.

Arteta earned another free-kick and almost found Stubbs at the back post, as Everton looked to seal the win with another goal.

Johnson forced Robinson into two late saves, and Howard denied Defoe with a parry at the other end.

Skysports

[Buddha14]

Originally Posted by Mighty T.A.L.

Spurs looks like they are on the same level as they was on last season and the other teams are looking stronger...This is not good for Spurs...Are they slow starters or has the other teams become better and Spurs don't?Two loss on row against teams they should win against...Maybe they just are slow starters this year...?What's obvious is that Spurs don't have the quality from the bench like the teams like Arsenal, United, Chelsea and Liverpool and that's the main reason why they never get the Champions League place.

They did this last year slow start, were in the relegation zone and then they picked up the intensity & started winning

[kyan]

It took them till 11th December last season to win away so itthere really isn't too much to worry about just yet, as long as an away win comes sooner than that.

On Taraabt, the commentators said one of the reasons he left Lens was because they didn't play him in the first team when he was 16 when he felt he was better than the whole team... sounds a bit arrogant and Jol may have to be careful that he doesn't underuse him or he may want to leave again.

[bandini]

We are definitely slow starters and there are a few key injuries. In a crazy way it could be a good thing for them because now they take a few days to regroup and remember what they are capable of. I say things turn around within the next week or two and they head back to the other side of the table where they belong.