Tottenham Hotspur: Back To Basics

The Capital One Cup Final 2014

March 1st, 2014. Chelsea and Tottenham face-off at Wembley in the final of the Capital One Cup Final. Both teams entered the competition in the 3rd Round, and their routes to the final were not straightforward.

Both teams are sitting in the Champions League Qualification spots as we head into March, but both will be aware that a victory in the final will guarantee at least Europa League football next season, adding extra incentive to the game.

Chelsea Starting XI

Subs: Schwarzer, Schurrle, Pedro, Torres, Luiz, Willian, Van Ginkel

Tottenham Starting XI

Subs: Zieler, Chiriches, Capoue, Griezmann, De Sciglio, Lamela, Jese

First Half

Chelsea Kicked-Off, and within a minute the game had it's first booking, Christian Eriksen shown a yellow for bringing down Mo Salah on the edge of the centre-circle.

5 Minutes in, and Tottenham had the ball in the back of the net, converting a long-range chance after the ball was cleared from a corner. The Spurs fans were in raptures; was this finally their year? Their side kept Chelsea on the back foot for the next 20 minutes, before Roberto Soldado lifted the ball over Petr Cech in the Chelsea goal to make it 2-0, and the Chelsea fans looked worried; was this going to be another Rout like what they watched Arsenal endure?

Captain Frank Lampard allayed those fears slightly, rattling the ball into the back of the Spurs net from the edge of the area to bring Chelsea back into the match; 2-1 after 28 minutes. That parity didn't last long though, Soldado netting within a minute to re-extend the Spurs lead to 3-1, and the Spurs fans cranked the volume louder than ever before.

Second Half

After the break, Tottenham showed no signs of letting up, as they kept the pressure on Chelsea, pressing high up the pitch and hassling Oscar whenever he had the ball, stifling Chelsea's creativity in midfield.

64 Minutes in, and Spurs' lead was extended even further, Jan Vertonghen looping a header past Cech from an Eriksen Corner, and Wembley was in party mode, the Spurs fans singing the praises of their heroes. Eriksen was the scorer of the side's final goal after 82 minutes, sealing an impressive performance from Spurs, and a 5-1 victory, and Ardilles' first trophy as manager.

Match Facts

Chelsea 1-5 Tottenham

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March 2014: The Race

Ardilles' Thoughts: This month we took major steps towards our goals for the season, and also uncovered a player who I firmly believe will be a club legend in the future; Brazillian striker Tata, who came through our youth system. I will discuss him in greater detail later, but first it is important to analyse our month.

Game One: Spurs 1-5 Chelsea (FA Cup)
Chelsea certainly exacted their revenge for our Capital One Cup victory, defeating us by the same scoreline at Stamford Bridge. Our only goal came from Spanish youngster Jese on 87 minutes, which brought a miniscule amount of dignity to the match.

Game Two: Spurs 1-1 Spartak Moscow (Europa League)
The away leg of our tie in the 2nd knockout round, and we did well to come away with an away goal, provided by Emmanuel Adebayor after 4 minutes. The away goal here is the key focus, and it is good to have left Moscow with it; it should make things easier in the home leg.

Game Three: Spurs 2-1 Manchester City (Premier League)
Two goals from Gylfi Siggurdsson gave us a 2-1 victory in this game, and helped us take points off of the league leaders; key as the race for the title heats up, with only 6 points between 1st and 4th.

Game Four: Spurs 2-1 Spartak Moscow (Europa League)
A Great home performance to see us safely into the Quarter Finals of the Europa League; Adebayor and Soldado provided the goals, continuing their prolific partnership and sealing an exciting run-in for the club.

Game Five: Spurs 4-0 Fulham (Premier League)
Goals from Soldado, Jese and Harry Kane gave us a comfortable 4-0 victory over Fulham, keeping us firmly in the hunt for the title, or at least a Champions League spot. Jese in particular impressed, seemingly finding his stride in English football now, and hitting a rich vein of form.

Game Six: Spurs 3-0 Norwich (Premier League)
The month's penultimate game, and what a game it was. Our passing was slick and fast, and we played Norwich off the park, with goals from Soldado, Kaboul and youngster Tata all netting to give us a comfortable victory.

Game Seven: Spurs 0-0 Aston Villa (Premier League)
This was a dissapointing game; 2 points dropped which may prove invaluable come the end of the season.

Competition Standings

Premier League: 4th (63PTS)
Capital One Cup: Champions
FA Cup: Out (v Chelsea, Quarter Finals)
Europa League: Quarter Finals (v Leverkusen)

Monthly League Awards

Player of the Month: Luis Suarez (Liverpool)
Young Player of the Month: James Ward-Prowse (Southampton)
Manager of the Month: Osvaldo Ardilles (Tottenham Hotspur)

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April 2014: Strides Forward

Ardilles' Thoughts: Our hopes of winning the Europa League came crashing down this month, as we spiralled out to Porto over two legs, losing 4-2 on aggregate. Domestically though, the month was a success, and with only 2 games of the season remaining, we're in a very strong position in the league.

Leverkusen 3-2 Tottenham

Vlad Chiriches (11)
Jese (90)
Christian Eriksen
Despite Losing, two away goals are valuable to come away from Leverkusen with. With the second leg at White Hart Lane, we still stand an excellent chance of qualifying.

Liverpool 0-1 Tottenham

Roberto Soldado (27)
Sandro
This was a big game for us, and the players rose to the occassion; our passing was slick and fast, and we were overall confident in our play, and created some excellent chances.

Tottenham 3-0 Leverkusen

Roberto Soldado (8)
Christian Eriksen (43)
Jese (80)
Jese
A complete turnaround for us, taking Leverkusen on at their own game and coming away with an invaluable win to take us to the semi-finals of the Europa League.

Tottenham 5-0 Sunderland

Paulinho (2)
Jan Vertonghen (45, 79)
Danny Rose (85)
Younes Kaboul (88)
Jan Vertonghen
A key performance, and 5 goals which could prove to be decisive in the race for the title. League success is close now, and the players are performing at the top of their game, every match domestically is now vital.

Tottenham 1-0 Arsenal

Emmanuel Adebayor (70)
Kyle Walker
This was a key match for us; a real slip-up risk in our road towards lifting the title, but we remained strong, played will and took the goal well to secure a win, taking 3 points from our game in hand to move to the top of the table.

Tottenham 1-0 Swansea

Marvin Ennes (11)
Kyle Walker
Winning by virtue of an own goal isn't the most stylish, but at this stage of the season, and against an opponent who is somewhat dangerous, a win is still a win, and it's a vital win at that.

Porto 3-1 Tottenham

Roberto Soldado (47)
Danny Rose
A poor match in truth, and one which puts us in a disastrous position for the return leg at White Hart Lane. Our chances of qualification look slim now, unless we can produce a miracle at home.

Cardiff 1-3 Tottenaham

Younes Kaboul (28)
Jese (49, 82)
Jese
A good result for the side, and one which sealed Champions League football for us next season, and leaves us in an excellent position heading into our last two league games.

Tottenham 1-1 Porto

Emmanuel Adebayor (69)
Emmanuel Adebayor
This draw put us out of the Europa League, although i'm pleased with our run, making it to the semi-finals in my first season in charge. We left ourselves with too much to do at home and paid the price.

Competition Standings

Premier League: 1st (78PTS)
Capital One Cup: Champions
FA Cup: Out (v Chelsea, Quarter Finals)
Europa League: Out (V Porto, Semi Finals)

Monthly League Awards

Player of the Month: Kevin Mirallas (Everton)
Young Player of the Month: Ross Barkley (Everton)
Manager of the Month: Jose Mourinho (Chelsea)

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May 2014: The Finale

In the final two games of the season, Tottenham held a definite advantage at the top of the table. A win against either Crystal Palace or West Ham would seal the title, and Hugo Lloris and Vlad Chriches wasted no time in rallying their team-mates in a bid to seal the title.

The Heartbreak: West Ham 3-2 Tottenham

Two early goals from Roberto Soldado and Antoine Griezmann weren't enough to seal the title, as Tottenham suffered a late collapse at The Boleyn Ground to leave their title dreams hanging by a thread.

The Last Day: Tottenham 4-0 Crystal Palace

The atmosphere in White Hart Lane was thick with expectation. At home to a team 17th in the league, Tottenham had to be sure there were no mistakes this time around, with Chelsea also enjoying a comfortable home tie against Swansea City.

Spurs were ahead after 3 minutes, with Jan Vertonghen spinning in the area and rifling a shot into the roof of the net to put his side ahead, and send the Spurs fans into raptures...Was the double headed their way?

Roberto Soldado certainly thought so, beating four Palace players on his way to a 25-yard shot which almost burst the back of the net. The Spurs fans couldn't quite believe what they were seeing, and it was made even sweeter by the news that Chelsea were losing 1-0 to Swansea City; was the Premier League Trophy on it's way to White Hart Lane?!?

An Antione Griezman double sealed the win, the midfielder scoring a goal each side of half-time to give his side a 4-0 victory which, combined with Chelsea's 2-1 defeat, put the title back in Tottenham's hands for the first time since 1961

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Season Roundup: 2013/14

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Honours/Final Positions

Barclays Premier League: Champions (81PTS)
Capital One Cup: Champions
FA Cup: Quarter-Finalists
Europa League: Semi-Finalists

Ossie's Verdict: A great first season in charge: two trophies and two late exits in competitions have really set the bar for next season. The way we have played this season has been excellent, especially after our less-than-excellent start to the season.

Premier League/Domestic Awards

Top Scorer: Luis Suarez (Liverpool) - 21 Goals
Most Assists: Juan Mata (Man Utd - 14 Assists
Highest Avg Rating: Leighton Baines (Everton) - 7.37
Over-Achievers: Stoke City - Finished 6th
Under-Achievers: Arsenal - Finished 8th
Signing Of The Season: Stoke's Matt Lowton (£3.2m)
Worst Signing Of The Season: Arsenal's Antonio Candreva (£11.5m)

Golden Glove: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham)
Football Of The Year: Kevin Mirallas (Everton)
Goal Of The Season: Nikica Jelavic (Hull)
Manager Of The Year: Osvaldo Ardilles (Tottenham)
Players Player Of The Year: Luis Suarez (Liverpool)
Player's Young Player Of The Year: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
Players' Team Of The Year:

Tottenham Complete Double Swoop For English Starlets

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Future Star: James Ward-Prowse Has Made 8 U21 Appearances

Tottenham Hotspur have today announced two new signings: James Ward-Prowse and Ross Barkley from Southampton and Everton respectively. The two midfield starlets have both been touted as stars of the future, with Ross Barkley joining his new Tottenham team-mates Andros Townsend and Kyle Walker as part of the World-Cup squad in Brazil, while James Ward-Prowse plays in the Under 21s alongside Tom Carroll, Zeki Fryers and Harry Kane as part of the Spurs contingent on the international stage.

Of course, many have pointed out that the Spurs midfield is now looking incredibly full, as the duo join Etienne Capoue, Sandro, Paulinho, Griezmann and Christian Eriksen, amongst others, as players who are fighting over only 4 midfield spots. But Ward-Prowse, who had a great season for Southampton last term, seems willing to accept the challenge: "It's a great honour to have been chased by a team like Tottenham, and it's incredible to finally be here. I know breaking into the first-team isn't going to be easy, but pushing myself is the only way i'm going to improve.

Barkley is also keen for the challenge, telling the Daily Mail "Spurs are a great club, and from talking to Andros and Kyle at the World Cup this year, i'm delighted to be here for the forseeable future to help the club move forward. The way the team played last season was incredible, and the midfield was a big part of that; to try to break into that group will be tough, but with International experience behind me after this summer, i'm confident i've got what it takes.

With these two joining the side, speculation is rife about the futures of players such as Sigurdsson, Townsend and Dembele, as competition in the Spurs side heats up.

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