5-0! We're Going Out To Eat Tonight!

It's easy to get excited about Tottenham's 5-0 victory to kick off their 2011 campaign. Especially when what was supposed to be their inaugural match against Everton was cancelled due to (protesters? / rioters? / hoodlums?) threatening to burn all of London down. Just playing the game seemed like a miracle. But it was just the first match, and it was the lowly Europa League, and it was against a Scottish side called Hearts. The match, which was comfortably in hand within the first half an hour didn't tell us anything about Spurs we didn't already know. However, there were some encouraging things to take away.

Jermain Defoe appears to be fully recovered from his hamstring, groin, ankle, and whichever other injuries were plaguing him last season. Harry Redknapp predicted a breakout from Defoe this year and today's match strengthened his claims. Although take what Redknapp says with a grain of salt. He's the same manager who said he wasn't going to play his main players in the Europa League qualifier because the team needed to concentrate on the Premier League and all that. We see how well he stuck to that script, although his decision was probably aided by the cancellation of the Everton match. Defoe was the most impressive Tottenham player. He scored the second goal, hit the post on what would have been an amazing third goal, and delivered some excellent passes. I can't praise Defoe too much because he beat up on a leaky defense, but his team needs him to return to the goal-scorer of two years ago and he looks like he's becoming that player again.

Oh, how I missed you Gareth Bale. Bale missed the last month of the 2010 season with an ankle injury. Back injuries had been nagging him all year. He scored the fourth goal of the match, and showcased his patented runs on the left side all night. He brought me right back to San Siro, where we, but mostly Maicon, saw him grow up before our eyes. Just seeing him on the pitch was important, and the fact that he played well was only  icing on the cake.

Winning 5-0 in the first leg is an enormous advantage, especially for a team as injury-taxed as Tottenham. Redknapp now has the option to rest his main players in the second leg in preparation for Manchester City at White Hart Lane. Teams like City and Manchester United are deep enough to throw their reserves out their for the early qualifiers and still come away with victories. Tottenham doesn't have that kind of depth, so locking the first qualifying round up after the first leg is extremely beneficial for them. It's going to be interesting to see how Redknapp handles the Europa League matches going forward. Tottenham is currently the best of the lot and will still be one of the top teams after some of the Champions League sides drop down (welcome aboard, enjoy your short stay in Europa, Arsenal). Does Redknapp chase a Europa League trophy and compromise the Premier League season? I doubt it. He probably would have played the reserves tonight had the Everton match not been cancelled. The good thing, at least for the time being, is Tottenham's reserves can beat most of these teams in the early rounds. Despite this, an early exit from Europa and a 5th place Premiership finish seems all-too-Totttenham.

Lost in the overwhelming positive attitude emanating from Scotland is what I like to call the Heurelho Gomes problem. Gomes started in goal and fortunately was only tested four times. Even then he was shaky and looked downright confused on corners. He made numerous bad challenges and wasn't able to hang on to a routine ball that led to a corner. Gomes erratic goalkeeping cost Spurs last year, most notably in the second leg against Real Madrid. Redknapp brought in former Aston Villa and US National Brad Friedel, presumably to start, and still has Carlo Cudicini on the bench. Both seem to be better options at this point. Why Redknapp stuck with Gomes is anyone's guess. His goalkeeping didn't cost Tottenham against an inferior opponent, but it will in the Premier League.

As tempting as it is to fall over in excitement over an early season blowout, it's important to keep things in perspective. Hearts aren't very good. The real test will come Monday against Manchester United. Let's see if Spurs can lose by less than three before scampering to the rooftops and screaming "5-0, 5-0, 5-0," to the people on the streets.

Defoe and Dawson Go Down, My Blood Pressure Goes Up

As an American watching international soccer, there's many things to adjust to. I've commented on some of these things, such as the announcing, fans, and now, most notably, the way injuries are dealt with. Two Tottenham players, Michael Dawson and Jermain Defoe have went down with injuries in consecutive qualifying games.
Dawson will miss the next six to eight weeks after suffering ligament damage in his left knee and ankle during England's opening match against Bulgaria. Defoe injured his ankle or knee (he's not sure), one game after recording a hat trick against Bulgaria.
Defoe was originally scheduled to have surgery on his groin a few weeks ago, but then postponed the surgery because he wanted to help Spurs qualify for the Champions League group stage. After Spurs secured a 4-0 victory over Young Boys to advance, most expected Defoe to have the surgery.
Turns out, he postponed it again to play for his country. So which is it, Jermain? Your club team or your country?

Therein lies the problem. Which is more important, a player's club, or his country's international games? In American sports the line is clearly drawn. Your club team trumps all else. In many cases, as we're seeing in the FIBA basketball tournament, many teams aren't allowing their players to participate because the tournament poses a serious injury risk.

As an American this line of thinking makes sense to me. It's the club that is investing millions of dollars into their players. They should have the right to withhold them from international competition. FIFA doesn't insure any of these players, yet makes billions of dollars off of them, and in the case of an injury, at the expense of a club team.
But as Americans, we often fail to understand the spirit of international competition. Except of course, when the Olympics roll around. Many of our NBA players were eligible to compete in the FIBA tournament and refused.
You don't see that in soccer. Every one of these players (except maybe a few Frenchmen) would kill for an opportunity to play for their country. It's amazing to see Defoe continue to risk injury just so he can play some games for an English side that could easily qualify for the World Cup without him.
We don't even let our NBA and NFL player play an entire season if it means we can rest them for the playoffs.
So what's the point? The English created soccer and no longer dominate the game they invented. They want to take every opportunity to try and prove that they are the best at the game they created.
America doesn't have this problem in basketball. Not yet, at least. The gap between our talent and the rest of the world as closed considerably in the last ten years. It's not until we aren't the favorites anymore that the best players will be clamoring to prove themselves.
That's why the English Premier League takes a back seat to international play. Premier League players know that the biggest stage is international soccer. It's why players like Defoe risk their Premier League season to showcase their skills on their country's team.
This isn't the case in basketball. The best players are all in the NBA. An NBA championship is a basketball player's greatest team accomplishment. In ten years, that all could change.
Here's to crossing my fingers and hoping that all ligaments, ankles, and groins remain intact and are functioning properly a month from now.

Defoe May Not Need Surgery After All

While Jermain Defoe's possibly surgery may not be the biggest injury news of the day, that honor goes to Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg, it has certainly caught the attention of soccer fans. Two weeks ago, Defoe aggravated a groin injury he suffered during the World Cup in the first leg of Tottenham's match against Young Boys.
After scoring one of Spurs' four goals in their 4-0 blowout in the second leg, Defoe's groin apparently feels fine. It's amazing what a win and beneficial no call will do for a player's spirit.
The cynic in me believes that if this injury has nagged Defoe for the last two months, there's no reason why it's going to stop now, especially if he continues to play and put added stress on it. Ask anyone who has suffered a major injury. You have your good days and your bad days. And Defoe happens to be in that "good" stage. For now.
Many questioned why Defoe didn't have the surgery after the first Young Boys match. He sat out against Stoke, so it would have seemed like a perfect time to get it done. It turns out that Defoe was adamant about helping his team advance to the Champions League group stage. Even if he could only play 60 minutes, he wanted to contribute whatever he could.
It made sense at the time, but quite frankly, Spurs would have been just fine without Defoe. Defoe's possible surgery is expected to heal in about 4 weeks. At this point, he could have been a week and a half through the healing process.
Manager Harry Redknapp says that Defoe will play this week against Wigan, and if he feels fine then he may not need surgery. But if his groin starts to bother him again, he'll have the surgery after the game, no questions asked.
If Defoe does eventually need surgery, this is the point in the season to do it. Here's the forecast for the next four weeks. Next weekend is a bye, then West Bromwich Albion on the road, and Wolves at home. All three are winnable games even without Defoe.
The game towering above all else is Spurs first game against Werder Bremen, September 14th on the road. This will be one of the most, if not the most important game in determining whether Spurs can advance out of the group stages.
Defoe would have missed this game even if he elected to have surgery a week and a half ago. Here's to hoping he'll be able to suit up for it.
I'm no doctor, but I do know that reoccurring injuries don't often heal themselves. If there's a possible exception to this rule, I'm hoping for it now.

We Did It! Spurs Advance To Champions League Group Play

After a less than stellar performance on the artificial turf of Stade de Suisse, Spurs came back with a vengeance to secure a 4-0 win at home. Despite the heavy rainfall and a goaltending switch after halftime, Tottenham continued to impressive through out.
Peter Crouch stole the show, scoring three goals, two off of set pieces. At the five minute mark, Crouch headed in a corner from Gareth Bale. The goal was Crouch's first of the season, and put his side at ease going forward.
Crouch scored again in the 61st minute, heading in another corner from Bale. Crouch calmly approached a penalty kick twenty minutes later and completed his hat trick by sticking the ball in the bottom left of the goal.
Striker Jermain Defoe postponed surgery to help his team advance to the group stage. He scored Spurs' second goal on a controversial non-hand ball call. Defoe received the pass off his arm, continued with the play while the defender complained, and scored with his left foot. Despite Young Boys' protests, none of the referees saw the hand ball and the goal was upheld.
Although overshadowed by Crouch's hat trick, Gareth Bale continued his excellent play. He recorded four assists in the game, and would have scored if he wasn't tackled inside the box. Bale was brought down by defender Senad Lulic, who was ejected from the game after his second yellow card.
Towards the end of the first half, Tottenham goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes asked to be removed from the game after suffering a leg injury. Redknapp stuck with him through the first half before sending out Carlo Cudicini as his replacement.
Cudicini was only challenged once and made the save easily.
The announcer summed it up best when he said Spurs played with "Pride, Privilege, and Achievement." That's what I love about English announcers and England in general. Can you imagine a scenario where an American announcer would utter those three words in succession to describe a sporting event? Absolutely not. Only the English.
Spurs will find out which group they are drawn into tomorrow. I'll be anxiously awaiting, researching, and will come back tomorrow prepared to provide updates.

EPL Week 2 - Stoke vs. Spurs

Saturday's match up in Brittania Stadium had all the makings of a trap game for Spurs. An inferior opponent, sandwiched in between Championship League games seemed like it would be an easy match to look over. As it turns out, Spurs were lucky to escape with the victory.
Despite Gareth Bale's two goals, a controversial disallowed goal in the remaining minutes became the highlight of the match and will only further the argument that instant replay should be utilized in the EPL.
Stoke's Jon Walters secured a header from short range that appeared to have gone over the goal line after it bounced off a defender's chest back into the field of play. I didn't have the best picture quality, but it certainly looked like the entire ball crossed the goal line. The goal would have tied the game up for a Stoke side that played much better in the second half.
Bale struck first for Spurs on a somewhat lucky goal. Peter Crouch collected Bale's rebound and weakly headed the ball to the goalkeeper. When Stoke goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen tried to clear the header, it bounced off Bale's head and found its way into the goal.
However, Bale's second goal was anything but cheap. He perfectly struck a volley from Aaron Lennon into the upper right hand corner of the net. The goal was technically one of the best we'll see all year.
In between Bale's goals, Stoke struck off a set piece. Ricardo Fuller found the ball in front of the net off of a corner and easily scored in the 25th minute.
Set pieces were a problem for Spurs the entire game. Stoke had plenty of scoring opportunities off set pieces due in combination to an inconsistent back line of defense and poor goalkeeping decisions. Spurs' performance, especially in the second half, didn't bode well for the second leg of their match up against Young Boys on Wednesday. They need to get that together or will be eliminated early from the Champions League.
Jermain Defoe missed this week's game after pulling a groin muscle while playing on the artificial turf against Young Boys. Robbie Keane, Giovani dos Santos, and Roman Pavyluchenko also suffered injuries in that game and were left out of the lineup for Saturday's match.
To advance in the Champions League, Spurs need to defeat Young Boys by two goals or more on Wednesday. They will need their strikers to get healthy to have a chance at advancement, but don't expect manager Harry Redknapp to rush anyone back. He knows it is a long EPL season and is intent on contending for the title.