An Egyptian Prince - To Dare Is To Do

I was happy that it was Mido, a fellow Egyptian.. but Bebe ruined it all..

2013-09-05 13:15#133536 Mohamed : I was happy that it was Mido, a fellow Egyptian.. but Bebe ruined it all..

I felt that I needed depth... and some comedy

0% Pre-Season for Tottenham

It was a disappointing pre-season for Tottenham Hotspur, which only strengthens all doubt Spurs fans previously had in new manager Mido and his new signing Bébé. The North London club lost all 3 games they played, all of which were away games. Take a look at how they did below...

The first game they played was at the Estádio do Dragao, where they faced FC Porto. The team they played originally was Hugo Lloris - Kyle Walker, Younes Kaboul, Michael Dawson, Danny Rose - Mousa Dembele, Paulinho - Erik Lamela, Christian Eriksen, Nacer Chadli - Roberto Soldado.
The goals started early, as Roberto Soldado gave Spurs a 1-0 lead in just 2 minutes. However, the lead was short lived, as Jackson Martínez made the score 1-1 just before half time (43rd minute, to be exact), followed by a 77th minute turn-around from Porto's Mauro Caballero, and the lead was doubled a minute from time when Marat Izmailov nabbed a late goal.
Without a doubt, the Spurs man of the match was Spanish debutant Roberto Soldado, who grabbed the only goal for the club, as well as a decent 7.3 rating for the match.

After the match, Soldado spoke to Sky Sports News, saying...
"Of course you never want to lose a game, but that's just how the game works. It was a disappointing defeat, but hopefully it's something to work on in the future. I'm delighted to have scored on my début for the club, and hope my form can carry on to the Premier League season. Just like the other signings, I came here to help the club get the silverware they deserve, and this game can lead us in the right direction."

The second pre-season match was another game in Portugal, this time at the Estádio da Mata Real, against Paços de Ferreira the at the time home of Bébé. The team played against them was Hugo Lloris - Kyle Walker, Michael Dawson, Jan Vertonghen, Danny Rose - Paulinho, Mousa Dembele - Aaron Lennon, Christian Eriksen, Nacer Chadli - Jermain Defoe.
This time, the opposition started the goals, with Hélio Santos making the Portuguese 1-0 up after 13 minutes. This was followed by a goal from defender Marcos Cerqueira 15 minutes later to make it 2-0 before half time. The second half commenced, and Paços de Ferreira were stunning Spurs goal-wise, despite playing poorly. The lead was lengthened more in the 51st minute by Henrique, and the game was all but over. The only consolation came from substitute Emmanuel Adebayor in the 68th minute, making the final score 3-1 to the home side.
The Spurs man on the match was goalscorer Adebayor, who played his début that day, like Soldado against Porto. He got a respectable 7.4 rating in the match.

After the match, Michael Dawson released a statement online, where he said...
"Another disappointing defeat, despite the team playing well, we just couldn't get the goals in until Emmanuel [Adebayor] came on. This sadly proves that Jermain [Defoe] is unable to score goals with the tactis we're using - him on his own. Every player in the team was giving him chances, but he failed to convert any of them into goals, which is sad, as he's a good player on most occasions. I hope this can teach us a lesson for the upcoming season, as it'll be pretty worrying if not."

The final trip of the pre-season was halfway across the world to the USA, where Spurs played affiliates San Jose at the Buck Shaw Stadium. The team used was Hugo Lloris - Kyle Walker, Younes Kaboul, Jan Vertonghen, Danny Rose - Mousa Dembele, Paulinho - Aaron Lennon, Christian Eriksen, Lewis Holtby - Emmanuel Adebayor.
All business was done in the first half, as San Jose quickly went 1-0 up through tenacious striker Frank House 6 minutes into the game. The second goal came just 6 minutes later, when fellow striker Frank Besagno doubled the American side's lead. House then scored again in the 38th minute to complete the rout and humiliate Tottenham, who didn't play anywhere near their best in the game. The final score sat at 3-0 for the rest of the game.
Despite the poor display and scoreline, there was one bright light for Spurs, Brazilian new signing Paulinho, who impressed new manager Mido by grabbing a Tottenham man of the match award, as well as a decent 7.3 rating.

Shortly after the brutal defeat, Paulinho spoke to ESPN, saying...
"That defeat was unacceptable for the club. I'm not trying to call the shots or anything, but we played terribly in that game, admittedly myself included. We now have a 2 week break before our first Premier League game against Swansea City, and we will have to work hard to impress our manager [Mido] and the fans by grabbing a win. We will be expected to do nothing different."

So, a tough pre-season for Spurs, and Mido spoke to Sky Sports News ahead of the season...
"Our pre-season was extremely disappointing, I would've expected at least 2 wins, but all were embarrassing defeats. We have a great team, and I'll be looking to add a few more players to the squad in the transfer window, as that team didn't seem like they could win a match. I'll be pushing them very hard in the next few weeks, as defeats like that are not acceptable at all in the season. I hope we can bring success and silverware to the club, not humiliation and despair."

Fans have only continued their doubt in Mido's job as manager by this awful pre-season, but the manager has vowed to impress come the new season.

Damn laying a goose egg during the preseason sucks but good to see a MLS Club winning against a Premier Club. Hopefully it doesn't wreck the teams morale and your Spurs get a nice run going.

Seems like Mido isn't doing the best job! Anyway, good luck

0% is a surprise! He needs to provide a surprise of my next tweet would be: #MidoOut

Nice start Alex,good luck with the story .I will be following

Europa League Group Stage Draw

The Europa League Group Stage has been drawn by three Europa League legends: Henrik Larsson, Giuseppe Bergomi and Francesco Totti. The toughest group is without a doubt Group H, which consists of Metalist Kharkiv, Lazio, Frankfurt and CSKA Moscow. See the entire group listings below:


So, that is the draw for the Europa League Group Stage. Feel free to post predictions in the comments below, ahead of the first matches.

Should be a winnable group. Just watch out for Henriksen of AZ, the guy is a beast.

Tottenham should win this group without a problem!

Nice start:) Should be interesting with Mido at the helm

Pretty un-threatening group.

Pretty easy group, you should finish first!

http://i44.tinypic.com/2e20y92.png
http://i39.tinypic.com/2a0ewc5.png

Tottenham disappointed to draw

So, the Barclays Premier League has begun, and it's been a decent start for Tottenham, who had a less than satisfactory pre-season. The first game of the season was a trip to the Liberty Stadium, where the club played Swansea City.

The team Spurs played was Hugo Lloris - Kyle Walker, Younes Kaboul, Jan Vertonghen, Danny Rose - Paulinho, Mousa Dembele - Aaron Lennon, Lewis Holtby, Bébé - Roberto Soldado.
The game started badly, as Wilfried Bony put the Swans ahead in the 7th minute, while Spurs didn't look likely to respond.However, just before half time, they turned the game around. Lewis Holtby equalised for Tottenham in stoppage time of half time. Just a few minutes after the start of the second half, Holtby turned the game around to make the score 2-1. While Tottenham dominated the rest of the second half, Michu took his limited chances in the 76th minute to make the final score 2-2.

The man of the match overall was without a doubt Lewis Holtby, who without scoring his two goals would've seen Spurs suffer a shock defeat. He grabbed himself a fantastic rating of 8.8, as he didn't just score the goals.

After the match, Jan Vertonghen spoke to Sky Sports News saying...
"Today was a great game, despite the scoreline, we played well and confidently. I believe the team is beginning to gel, which showed in our performance this afternoon. It's a shame we could only draw, as we played a lot, lot better than Swansea, but 1 point is better than 0 in the long run. Lewis [Holtby] put in a great performance, as did Younes [Kaboul], but one mistake from the defense lead to the equalising goal."

The first game of the season has put Tottenham in a slightly disappointing 13th, while Everton and Manchester United complete the top two respectively. Fans are disappointed with the score, but more than happy with the performance.

I like the way you are doing your updates mate I enjoy it a lot and you should manage to get through your EL group.