With expectations thoroughly tempered for this match, it was nice to see Tottenham come out firing. Really firing. So much so that I worried that we peaked about 20 minutes into the match and would be battered the rest of ...

Fans tend to argue about what viewing method gives you the best impression of a match. Being at the ground itself definitely allows you to see the big picture, watch formations, positioning, off the ball movement and generally the things you don't get from ball watching. Catching the match on the telly, though, let's you check out instant replays and spot things you may have missed the first time. The best solution, is both. And so after watching highlights of the Derby game a couple of times, there were a few things I didn't notice the first time and a huge amount of reinforcement for the stuff I did...

Well, the easy answer would be Steed Malbranque. That's what two goals generally gets you. But football is about a lot more than just whoever puts the ball in the back of the net, especially the ...

There's been a big thread over on Glory Glory the past day or so where one poster claims to have inside info on today's starting lineup against Everton, with the lazy bastards at the Mirror since publishing the same news (although they probably just nicked it from the message board). The big news? Darren Bent and Dimitar Berbatov up front, no surprise, and Robbie Keane on the right wing... i'm sorry, what? Robbie Keane on the right wing is baffling because we've decided to play an out of position striker there instead of a midfielder and also chosen to put Malbranque out of position again on the left. Keane has played on the left of midfield fairly often in Jol's tactical shifts during a match, so by putting him on the right not only is he a striker in midfield, he is also on the wrong side.

Yes its early to judge, but we're Spurs fans, this is what we do. Martin Petrov looked like the real deal against West Ham. His performance and playstyle was an absolute checklist of what we were missing against Sunderland: - Strong, fast. - Direct, attacking with both the ball at his feet and with pass-and-move. - Quality and creative delivery into the boss. He drove in some balls, flicked and chipped depending on what the situation called for. Watching Malbranque continually cut onto his right foot and then float some too-deep ball to the far post over and over was quite a contrast. - Left sided, but also switched flanks or drove play through the center. Versatile. - Generally looked the mutts'.