Tottenham at Swansea - Preview

Spurs go to Swansea for a League game for the first time since October, 1982.  The last time that Tottenham came away with a win in a competitive match was in the first season after the Second World War in September, 1946.

Spurs go to the Liberty Stadium for the first time, all other games in Swansea having been played at the club's former Vetch Field ground which they vacated in 2005.  Swansea won promotion last season by defeating Reading in the play-off Final at Wembley.

They have received credit for their style of play under manager, Brendan Rodgers, and have one of the best home records in this season's Premier League, bettered by only the top five clubs.  They are in 14th position in the League with 19 points, having gained 16 points from their nine home matches.  They have suffered only one defeat by the only goal to Manchester United and were unfortunate to miss the opportunity of a late equaliser.  At home they have conceded only three goals, the meanest home defence in the League, so Spurs will have to be at their attacking best to break through a defence which has had to cope with a number of lengthy absences through injury.

Steven Caulker who is on loan from Tottenham will be missing as he is ineligible, having just returned following a time of injury.  His time with Swansea had been beneficial to him as he has been a regular member of the team at the centre of their defence and has been gaining good reviews as he builds up his Premier League experience, having stepped up from Championship football last year.  Swansea have also been without their captain, Alan Tate, with a broken leg but have coped with the necessary re-organisation.  One of their stars has been Dutch goalkeeper, Michel Vorm, whom they signed from FC Utrecht during August - he made his debut in Swansea's first game in the Premier League at Manchester City.  He kept the City strike force at bay for almost an hour with an exceptional performance and has grown in stature and confidence since that match.

Danny Graham has scored six League goals, two ahead of Scott Sinclair who scored a hat-trick in the play-off final to secure Swansea's Premier League place.  The former Chelsea player joined Swansea in July, 2010.  A year earlier, Nathan Dyer, a winger, another product of the Southampton Academy joined Swansea and he has scored two goals this season, the same as Joe Allen the Welsh international midfielder.

Two former Tottenham players who will be anxious to make an impression are Mark Gower and Wayne Routledge.  Gower came through the Spurs youth system but didn't make it into the first team before moving on to Barnet.   He spent five seasons with Southend United before joining Swansea in 2008 and helped them to promotion last season.  Routledge joined Spurs from Crystal Palace in the summer of 2005 but only made five League appearances for the club.  An early injury hindered his progress with Spurs and he had periods on loan with Portsmouth and Fulham before joining Aston Villa in January, 2008.

Swansea's 2011 - 12 Home Record:
Swansea's last home match ended in a 1 - 1 draw with QPR, their goal being scored by Danny Graham.  That goal in last Tuesday's match was only the third goal they have conceded at home this season.

After their tough introduction to the Premier League, Swansea played out two scoreless draws at home to Wigan and Sunderland.  They then won three home games in a row against WBA (3 - 0), Stoke (2 - 0) and Bolton (3 - 1).  Following the close defeat to United, they drew 0 - 0 with Aston Villa and then defeated Fulham (2 - 0).  The win over Fulham being their only win in their last eight matches as their early season form has taken a dip.

Spurs' League Record at Swansea

P  13  W  4  D  3  L  6  For  14  Ag  18

Spurs and Swansea have only met in the top Division on two occasions, in 1981 - 82 and 1982 - 83 in the 1st Division when Swansea won both of their home matches.  In September, 1982 Glenn Hoddle scored a penalty for Spurs as they lost 1 - 2 and the following year Swansea won 2 - 0.

Prior to those matches, the clubs met in the 2nd Division in the years from 1928 until Spurs won promotion in 1950.  Spurs first match at the Vetch Field ended in a 4 - 0 defeat but the following year in November, 1929 they won 1 - 0, with Ted Harper scoring the goal. The following season Harper scored again as Spurs triumphed 2 - 1, Jimmy Smailes scoring the second goal.  

In March, 1932 they earned a point from a 1 - 1 draw when Tom Evans scored with a penalty.  Spurs' good form in Wales continued in March, 1933 with a 2 - 0 success provided by goals from Les Howe and Willie Evans.

That was the end of their success until 1946 when two goals from Les Bennett gave Spurs another 2 - 0 win.  Even in their promotion year of 1949 - 50 the Spurs 'Push and Run' side failed to take any points from Swansea, losing 0 - 1 in April, 1950.

Having triumphed in the east (at Norwich) last Tuesday, Spurs will need to show the same resilient form which has stood them in good stead for most of this season as they travel west to Wales for their final game of 2011.  Gareth Bale will want to make an impression as he returns to his homeland but may not necessarily receive a warm welcome from the home fans, especially as he was born in Cardiff.  

The miserly Swansea defence will be doing their utmost to prevent Spurs getting into their free-flowing style of play so the visitors will be able to take no liberties with Swansea on their first match at the Liberty Stadium.

'I'm A Tottenham Hotspur Reserve - Get me out of Here!'

When Will My Chance Come?

A number of years ago some lower League clubs did away with their reserve sides as a way of reducing their overall expenditure. They simply couldn’t afford the expense of running the team and so they reduced their squads to ensure their survival.

Over the years a reserve side provided a good grounding for young players hoping to break into the first team and they knew that if they progressed and an opportunity came because of an injury to a first team regular, they would get their chance to show what they could do in the team. At other times, if a regular first team player was out due to injury, he would have expected to play a number of reserve games to prove his match fitness before getting a recall to the senior team. Equally if a senior player lost form or fell out of favour with the manager, he could expect to be banished to the reserves to try and regain form or until he had made amends for his wrongs.

However, nowadays, none of those scenarios seem to come into play.

Everyone is aware of the format for the television programme, ‘I’m a Celebrity – Get me out of here’, where some lesser known celebrities endure tasks they would usually find beneath them. Being a reserve at Tottenham Hotspur must feel like being involved in that contrived television situation, not knowing if there will be any chance for promotion to the League side.

Take recent situations at the club and consider them from a reserve player’s point of view.

Injury has badly affected the defence. Last week in Sevilla during the second half, it was reported that both full-backs, Paul Stalteri and Young-Pyo Lee. As the only defender among the substitutes, Phil Ifil was told to warm up. Chris Hughton was seen giving him instructions as he prepared to come into the game. Time passed and Malbranque and Ghaly were put as the two full-backs soldiered on, apparently having recovered from their difficulties – Ifil never appeared.

Before the next game, it was reported that Lee would be out for the rest of the season with injury – obviously playing on for the good of the team didn’t do him any favours. With Rocha available, Chimbonda moved to left back with Stalteri who’s recovered from his problem fit to play and it was a matter of another afternoon sitting on the bench for Phil Ifil.

The real problems occurred for the UEFA Cup quarter-final game against Sevilla. Stalteri had finally succumbed with a hip injury and Rocha was cup-tied again but with Ledley King returning, Chimbonda was available at left back. That left one position to be filled – all the newspaper reports suggested young full back, Ifil, would be in the starting line-up but other informed opinion suggested that the manager was going to play Teemu Tainio out of position to fill the vacant right back spot. When the line-up was announced before kick-off, Tainio was at right back and Ifil one of the substitutes.

Phil Ifil (Pic:above) is twenty years of age and made his debut two seasons ago under Jacques Santini in the opening two games of the season. He made a favourable impression while the club waited for the signing of Pamarot to be completed. Since then he has made two further appearances in the League Cup, his last appearance being against Port Vale in November. From the outside it looks clear that the manager has little confidence in the player – he has been out on loan to gain experience, has played regularly for the reserves this season, but even when there’s a crisis, the manager won’t play him. Perhaps Sunday’s game against Wigan will see him get the opportunity he has been waiting for although Rocha is available again for the left side of the defence.

It looks like the time is coming when Phil Ifil is going to have to follow that well trodden route of Tottenham reserves to lower League clubs. Many have done it before – Dean Marney to Hull City, Rohan Ricketts to Wolverhampton Wanderers, Stephen Kelly to Birmingham and Johnnie Jackson to Colchester United. The ‘Life after the Lane’ section of the club handbook details all those who have gone before.

Similar thoughts must be entering 22 year-old Lee Barnard’s mind. As fifth striker his only appearances have been as substitute in three of the final four games of last season when Mido was injured. He put himself about a bit, which always endears a young player to the supporters. He has been the reserves leading goal scorer for the past two years, finishing last season with 19 goals. However, injury has prevented him from building on that this year. Clive Allen is reported to have worked with him to develop his scoring ability and in his first game back for the reserves last Monday against Aston Villa he scored the team’s second goal. He was described on the Villa web-site report as being 'Quick, full of energy and intent, he’s as good a forward as we’ve faced this season.'

However, on Thursday evening as he sat on the bench with Spurs needing four goals to progress to the next round, he saw, defender, Pascal Chimbonda being moved forward into attack as a fourth striker as the team sought a late flurry of goals. Chimbonda was playing in his fourth position in as many games as Spurs’ injuries and short-comings became more evident. Barnard’s self-confidence must have taken a blow as obviously the manager has little faith in his ability to deliver in such crucial circumstances.

Others have suffered a similar fate – Mark Yeates made his debut in 2004 in David Pleat’s last period in charge. Since then he has been restricted to a few appearances as a substitute and now for the second successive season he has gone out on loan, currently playing for Leicester. Wayne Routledge, Reto Ziegler have gone out on loan while the other reserve players are mostly youngsters. There seems little chance for them as most eventualities seemed to be covered through the squad system. Adel Taarabt, the young French player, has recently been projected into the squad, having only played a handful of reserve games.

Under such circumstances is there a need for a reserve team? It seems to serve little purpose and the number of young players/reserves who have made the transition to the Premiership in the past decade is very limited – Ledley King may well be the last one to successfully take that step. Only occasionally does a squad player make an appearance for the reserves – Danny Murphy being an example when he started the game to prove his fitness ahead of The UEFA clash with Sevilla. However, Ledley King didn’t play any games before returning to first team action in the same game, having been out injured since late December.

The players who move on from Tottenham without first team experience or limited opportunities usually find their level further down the League and can make a worthwhile career for themselves. Evidence of this was seen when Mark Gower (Pic: below) and Kevin Maher played against Spurs in both Cup competitions for Southend United earlier this year. Others who have cut out a League career after leaving White Hart Lane include goalkeeper Alan Marriott with over 300 games at Lincoln City, Ian Hendon, now at Barnet after serving various clubs over the years and midfielder Kevin Watson at Colchester United who captained Spurs’ successful reserve team. They have been provided with a grounding that has been of great benefit to them in their careers and although they were unable to make the breakthrough at Tottenham, they have found success elsewhere.

Looking at the reserve set-up at Tottenham it seems in recent years to have provided very little in the way of development of players who are going to appear in Spurs’ Premiership team. Under such circumstances if it is to be maintained, the structure of the youth academy and reserves need to be examined to ensure it can be more beneficial to Tottenham Hotspur.