Tottenham 3 Shamrock Rovers 1 (Europa League)

Tottenham avoided the embarrassment that at one point looked to be awaiting them in their Europa League game against Shamrock Rovers at White Hart Lane.  Rovers went ahead early in the second half but three goals in six minutes restored order.

Rovers Give Spurs a Fright

Tottenham Hotspur 3 Shamrock Rovers 1

Scorers: Pavlyuchenko, Defoe, Dos Santos

Team: Cudicini; Walker, Corluka, Bassong, Rose (Kane); Lennon (Townsend), Carroll, Livermore, Dos Santos; Pavlyuchenko, Defoe (Falque). Subs (unused): Gomes, Bale, Kaboul, Modric


Tottenham again, fielded a weakened team to face League of Ireland, part-time team, Shamrock Rovers.  It did, however, include six players with international experience but only Kyle Walker had played in Saturday's win at Wigan in the Premier League.  Aaron Lennon and Danny Rose returned after injury and Jermaine Defoe and Roman Pavlyuchenko who were unable to play last weekend both started.  Tom Carroll retained his place in the Europa 'mid-week' team having excelled in his previous appearances.  While Harry Redknapp may have had 'both eyes on the North London derby', he was not taking any chances of there being an upset in this match - his list of substitutes included Gareth Bale, Younes Kaboul and Luka Modric, rather than the youngsters who have appeared in the last two Europa games.  This distinguished bench available to firefight any unexpected developments in the game.

Giovani dos Santos

Shamrock Rovers started in a very positive manner - they were well organised, very committed and comfortable on the ball, not allowing Spurs to settle into the game or dominate the play.  It was even for the first fifteen minutes with neither side really troubling the other.  Spurs were content to pass the ball around, only Dos Santos and Rose looking to bring pace into the game and be positive and creative.  When Spurs didn't have possession they were content to allow Shamrock Rovers to pass it around as they waited to pick off a pass or for Rovers to make a mistake.

Gradually, Tottenham with the bulk of possession had Rovers pinned in their own half but not really causing them any problems, Rovers always had a man available to make a timely tackle or block.  Then in the space of three minutes, Spurs had two opportunities to go ahead but goalkeeper Richard Brush came to the rescue.  First he deflected a Defoe shot onto the bar and then he saved from Pavlyuchenko.  Brush was only playing because of injury to Ryan Thompson but he was putting in a sterling performance.  Before half-time Rose hit the bar when a cross was cleared to him on the edge of the box.  Then Pavlyuchenko's header from a corner was blocked off the line.  

Tottenham had the greater share of possession but had seen chances go begging while Rovers had worked hard and hadn't been overawed, they had played their part in making it an entertaining first half.

Andros Townsend replaced Lennon for the second half and playing on the left he brought added pace to the game and immediately caused the Rovers defence some problems.  However, the match continued much as it had done until in the fiftieth minute Rovers were awarded a free-kick thirty yards from goal.  Gary McCabe smashed the kick past the wall, Cudicini parried it out of the box but it fell to Pat Sullivan who shot for goal but Stephen Rice flicked the ball past Cudicini and into the net.  Rovers' players, management and supporters went delirious - Spurs fans were bemused.


The Rovers support increased their volume even more as they celebrated the goal and urged their team to even greater effort to hold on to the dream.  This wasn't going to plan for Tottenham but Harry Redknapp didn't panic - he let the players get on with it and the combination of Rose and Townsend on the left was creating added problems.


For ten minutes Rovers continue to match Spurs, put in tackles and ease the pressure.  Then Spurs built up a momentum and pinned Rovers back, they probed right and left, eventually getting Giovani dos Santos free on the left and his cross was headed powerfully past Brush.  Level but Spurs weren't finished - two minutes later it was Townsend who made it into the area and crossed.  Pavlyuchenko left the ball for Defoe to head into the net.  


Even after going behind Rovers looked to take the game to Spurs but four minutes later, Defoe went back into the Spurs half and showing great determination, he battled to keep a ball in that was simply going out for a throw.  He set off up the left, past a defender, as others back-pedalled, he cut in towards the centre of the area and as he drew defenders to him he passed to his right and set up the chance for Giovani to score.  3 - 1 to Spurs - Six fateful minutes to shatter a dream and a sigh of relief from Spurs supporters. 

The match was now over, Spurs hadn't had to call for re-inforcements from the bench but Rovers continued to give their all.  They can all be very proud of their effort and style of play and have been great ambassadors for the League of Ireland.


Shamrock Rovers took all the credit and praise for their performance at White Hart Lane but Tottenham took the three points.  Harry Redknapp will be quite happy with that scenario in the run up to their clash with Arsenal on Sunday.

Tottenham Hotspur's 25 - Man Premier League Squad

The Premier League requires each club to submit a list of 25 players by 2nd September who will be their squad for the coming season although changes can be made during the January transfer period.  Of these 25 players, no more than 17 can be overseas players (not 'home grown') with the other eight being players who have been registered with clubs associated with the FA and FA of wales for three seasons prior to their 21st birthday.

Players at the club who are Under 21 can also be registered and are eligible to play.

The players included in these two lists are available to play in the Premier League, the Carling Cup and FA Cup competitions.  The decision was taken to cover the situation where clubs were playing weakened teams in the Cups and in some selected League games and in the past two seasons both Wolverhampton Wanderers and Blackpool were fined for this offence.  However, from this season that problem will not occur as a manager can decide what is their best team for each game according to the needs of the club.

Tottenham Hotspur - 25 squad players (Home grown players in blue)

1 Friedel, Brad
2 Gomes, Heurelho
3 Cudicini, Carlo
4 Assou-Ekotto, Benoit
5 Dawson, Michael
6 Gallas, William
7 King, Ledley
8 Kaboul, Younes
9 Bassong Sebastian
10 Corluka, Vedran
11 Lennon, Aaron
12 Livermore, Jake
13 Huddlestone, Tom
14 Modric, Luka
15 Kranjcar, Niko
16 Bale, Gareth
17 Pavlyuchenko, Roman
18 Defoe, Jermain
19 Van Der Vaart, Rafael
20 Cordiero, Sandro
21 Adebayor, Emmanuel
22 Pienaar, Steven
23 Dos Santos, Giovanni 
24 Alnwick, Ben
25 Parker, Scott 

Of the nine players listed as 'home grown', only Ledley King and more recently, Jake Livermore have come through the Tottenham youth Academy.

Tottenham Hotspur - Under 21 players (Contract and Scholars)
Angol, Lee(M)
Archer, Jordan (G/k)
Ball, Dominic (M)
Barthram, Jack (D)
Bostock, John (M)
Bush, Mason (M)
Byrne, Nathan (D/M)
Carroll, Tom (M)
Caulker, Steven (D)
Champion, Frederick (M)
Coulthirst, Shaquile (S)
Day, Daniel (D)
Ekong, William Paul (D)
Falque, Yago (M)
Fredericks, Ryan (M)
Gardiner, Thomas (D)
Granger, Billy (G/k)
Hawkins, Ronnie (M)
Jansson, Oscar (G/k)
Kane, Harry (S)
Lameiras, Ruben (M)
Lancaster, Cameron (M)
Lassen, Jesse Waller (M)
Luongo, Massimo(M)
Mason, Ryan (M)
McBride, Paul
McEvoy, Kenneth (M/S)
McQueen, Darren
McQueen, Alexander Luke
Michael-Percil, Roman (D)
Miles, Jonathan (G/k)
Modeste, Oliver (D)
Munns, Jack (M)
Nicholson, Jake (M)
Obika, Jonathan (S)
Oyenuga, Kudus(S)
Parrett, Dean (M)
Pritchard, Alex (M)
Ranieri, Mirko (G/k)
Rose, Daniel (M/Fb)
Sheriff, Ramil (D)
Smith, Adam (D)
Smith, Sam (M)
Stewart, Kevin (D)
Townsend, Andros (M)
Walker, Kyle  (D)
Ward, Grant (D/M)
Yeboah, James (D)
Zapata-Caicedo, Victor(S)

The list includes the latest signings - Brad Friedel, Scott Parker and Emmanuel Adebayor but one surprising name included in the 25-man squad is goalkeeper Ben Alnwick.  He is the fourth goalkeeper in the squad behind Friedel, Gomes and Cudicini and his last appearance in the team was in the final game of season 2009-10 against Burnley in the 2 - 4 defeat.  Since then he has been out on loan at lower League clubs.

Of the players listed in the Under - 21 group, Kyle Walker would be expected to play a major part in the 1st team this year, with many expecting him to oust Vedran Corluka from the full back spot.  Also Andros Townsend has had a few appearances in the Cup competitions while Ryan Fredericks, Tom Carroll and Harry Kane made their debut in the Europa League game against Hearts at White Hart Lane last month.

Some of the players are already out on loan, Steven Caulker at Swansea City, Ryan Mason at Doncaster Rovers, Jonathan Obika with Yeovil Town,  Nathan Byrne at Bournemouth, Adam Smith at MK Dons, Oscar Jansson at Bradford and Mirko Ranieri in Italy.  For that reason it is surprising that Caulker is included in the Tottenham list as he will also be listed with Swansea where he is on a season long loan and clubs can not recall a loanee from a Premier League club.

Some names have been omitted, Souleymane Coulibaly signed from Siena, Cristian Ceballos who had been with Barcelona and Laste Dombaxe.  The first two have been highly rated young signings while Dombaxe made an impressive start with the Academy team last year before sustaining a serious injury which kept him out for the last weeks of the season.