One to Watch: Cameron Lancaster

Born and bred in London, not too far from White Hart Lane.

Cameron is only 19 years old, but is very physically in matches, holding his own against players much bigger than him.

In his first two seasons at the Spurs academy (2008-10), he was injured for most of the time, only playing in 7 matches over both seasons. After his recovery he made a huge impression in the development squad, putting in many top performances.

He was sent on loan to Dagenham & Redbridge in March 2011 and made 4 appearances during his time there. At the end of the 2010-11 season, he returned to Spurs and is currently playing for our Spurs XI side.

His debut for the first team came on the 31st of January this year, when he came on in the 78th minute against Wigan. He played really well and created many chances. He came close to scoring, but his shot went wide, as it was quite a tight angle.

Last week he scored a hat-trick for the Spurs XI in a 7-3 win over Leyton Orient. He also provided the assist for Massimo Luongo's goal.

So with the likes of Cameron Lancaster, Harry Kane and Souleymane Coulibaly in our ranks, I think that Spurs have an exciting attacking future to look forward to.

These pictures are from the 7-3 win over Leyton Orient

Nutmegging the Leyton Orient defender

Holding off two defenders

Van Der Vaart on Sunday's game

Rafael van der Vaart insists Tottenham have the mental strength to stop crushing defeat to Arsenal having a detrimental effect on the remainder of their season, with an automatic Champions League qualification place still very much up for grabs.

The 29-year-old’s side remain third in the league, seven points clear of rivals Arsenal, but face the daunting prospect of Manchester United and Chelsea in March.

The last time Spurs conceded five goals in a match, at home to Manchester City in August, they reacted by claiming 10 wins from the next 11 games, and the Dutch international is confident they could bounce back in a similar manner.

"It won't be difficult to lift ourselves," he told the Evening Standard.

"Do we have the mental strength to put this behind us? Of course. It will be difficult against United but the confidence is there.

"This season, we have nearly always played well at home. Yesterday was a bad day but that's all it was."

"Of course you always hope [for a chance at the title] but Manchester City are winning their games so easily, especially now we have lost, so maybe the title is over.

"Third is our main goal now and I'm really confident we can finish there."

Source: Goal.com

That was rather horrible

34 minutes into the game we were 2 goals up...

How did we lose it from there? (Not to mention losing it by 3 goals)

In the last 5 minutes of the first half, Arsenal managed to find 2 goals out of nowhere, putting themselves in the driving seat going into half-time.

What happened next shocked me the most, Harry decides to take off Saha and Kranjcar, to bring on Sandro and Rafa. I can understand why Sandro came on for Kranjcar to provide more structure against a very strong Arsenal midfield, but why would he bring on Rafa, a player returning from injury, in place of Saha, a player who has already scored a goal in the game and has looked very threatening on the ball.

Rafa was very slow and did not do create many (I don't think any) chances in the 2nd half. Saha, on the other hand would have been looking to link up with Adebayor, being able to either play him through or receiving a through ball. In the 1st half, the Arsenal defense looked all over the place, much like in their previous matches. But when Rafa was on, they looked much calmer as they could handle his speed (not that he has too much).

I'm not saying Rafa is a bad player - I think he is one of the best in our team - but when you are playing against a opponent which requires pace in the attacks in order to break through, then he's not the man for the job. This is why he was so effective in the Champions League last year, because his technical ability is superior and he does not need pace against the slower, European teams.

One last point that is quite important, is Parker's yellow card early in the game. This forced him to play more cautiously which allowed Arsenal more space in the middle. Unfortunately he picked up a second yellow in the closing stages of the game, meaning that he will miss a very crucial game against United next week.

This will probably mean that Sandro will get a start this weekend, most likely playing alongside Modric, Bale and Kranjcar in the middle (unless Harry decides to put Lennon in the team).

One last thing to cheer you up - we're still 7 points ahead of both Chelsea and Arsenal, so no matter what anyone else says, we're still the Kings of London.

TTID

How much is Bale worth?

At the moment Levy has said he will not accept any offers for Bale, despite and unofficial 5o million pound bid from City.

In my opinion, I would not sell him to City, as you don't want to help an enemy. Though if they put in a ludicrous offer, such as Adebayor, Johnson and

30mil for him, then I would be more than happy to see him leave for that.

However, if Barça were to offer 50mil for him, I would not be to sad to see Bale leave the Lane.

The reasons for this being:

- In recent matches, he has not being performing to the best of his ability and has often looked quite unconfident on the ball, trusting in his speed, rather than his dribbling skills.

- We do have youth players who could replace him in years to come.

Andros Townsend is just as quick as him and is already performing well in the Championship for Leeds, though he has now moved to Birmingham.

Danny Rose has already made a few appearances for the first team and has impressed most of the time.

- With that money, we could buy Hazard and a good striker. Lille want 20-30mil for Hazard and Internacional want 20mil for Damiao.

Villareal are also looking for around 20mil for Rossi.

To me, Hazard is just as good as Bale and has much more potential.

Of course many of you will disagree with me on that, but that is just my opinion and like me, you are also entitled to your own.

So who would you rather have playing at the Lane next season?

Bale... or

Hazard and Damaio?

4 strikers who could fill Adebayor's boots

1. Giuseppe Rossi

This may be a biased choice as number 1, since he is one of my favorite players, but with the possibility of Villareal getting relegated at the end of this season, Rossi may be available for a price much cheaper than his actual value. As a player, he is reasonably strong, reasonably quick and is a very clinical finisher. The one negative about him is that he has already played for Manchester and Newcastle and did not perform too well at either club, however this was in his u20 days and he has matured into a much better player since then.

2. Leandro Damião

Regarded as one of Brazil's greatest talents alongside Neymar and Ganso, this player has a bright future ahead of him. He has already been linked numerous times with Tottenham, which makes me think that this is probably the deal which is most likely to happen.

3. Demba Ba

Probarbly the most over-performing player in the Premier League this season, he has shown his incredible finishing ability and strength on the ball. Of course almost every club in the Premier League wants him, but he has said that he does not want to play for a team where he will not play regularly. So with Adebayor's departure, this could leave a space for him to fill. He would also be the safest option, as he has proven himself in England and his style is almost identical to Ade.

4. Robin Van Persie

I just couldn't leave this one out. With his contract expiring soon (and having refused to sign a new one) he will be available on a free transfer - imagine that, the Golden Boot winner on a free! Of course he does play for our rivals, but maybe Rafa will be able to lure him to the Lane. If this deal happens, it would be amazing - though unfortunately it's rather unlikely...

If there's any other Striker who you think would fit in at Spurs, leave a comment below.

Why Spurs should win on Sunday

Going into this weekend's derby match, I can say that i'm fairly confident Tottenham will walk away 13 points clear of Arsenal.

The reasons for this being:

1. All the Pressure is on Arsenal

Arsenal are a team that performs rather poorly when put under any pressure, probably due to Wenger insistency on playing young players ahead of experienced ones. Their defense is especially shocking, with Mertesacker and Vermaelen already have made many crucial mistakes this season.

2. Adebayor and Rafa are back

With both these players back, Harry has all 4 attackers to choose from. Whether he puts Rafa and Adebayor on together or plays Saha and Adebayor, we can be sure that there will be no shortage of attacking options.

3. Friedel is amazing

The 40-year-old American keeper has been possibly the most consistent in the league this season and it has shown in all the matches where he literally earned us a point or 2 from some amazing last-minute saves.

4. RVP is going off-form

He hasn't been putting the ball in the net so frequently over the last few weeks and his composure on the ball has also been rather poor lately.

Of course he could find his touch again anytime soon, but hopefully this won't be against us, cause if it is, then that's probably the only way they'll have a chance of winning.

The weekend is nearing, the pressure in North London is building up

and it's all to play for at the Emirates this Sunday.

North London Derby

Just Thursday, Friday and Saturday separate us from the North London derby this Sunday.

This could be the first time Tottenham complete a double over the Gunners since 1993 - and now looks like a better chance than ever.

Following a 5-0 thumping over Newcastle, yet a 0-0 draw with Stevenage, it shows the inconsistency in our attack.

Though I think that as long as we can keep a clean sheet this weekend, we'll definitely find a goal somewhere (maybe another Walker cracker?).

With Rafa and Adebayor both returning from injury, it could give Harry quite a tough decision to make regarding the line-up, especially due to Saha and Kranjcar's solid performances. My feelings are that he'll leave Rafa on the bench, but bring Adebayor into the starting team as he's by far the most consistent attacker in our squad.

My proposed line-up:

Friedel

Walker, King, Kaboul, BAE

Lennon, Parker, Kranjcar, Bale

Adebayor, Saha

(and bring on Rafa and Defoe as impact subs)

Well that's my opinion - let me know yours

and hopefully we will still remain kings of North London after this weekend.

One to Watch: Tom Carroll

Born in Watford, he joined the Spurs academy at u16 level in 2008.

He plays in midfield and is able to play on the left, the right or in the center.

At the youth academy he has shown many signs of potential.

In early 2010 he scored a hat-trick against Cardiff City playing for the u18s and then in the next game he scored another 2 goals against Bristol City.

5 goals in 2 games is quite impressive for a midfielder.

In the January window of 2011 he was loaned out to Leyton Orient for 4 months, playing in 12 league games and 2 FA Cup games (starting in 9 out of those 14 games)

He returned to Tottenham and became quite a key player in our Europa Cup squad this season, starting in 5 of our 6 group games. Following our exit from Europe, Tom was loaned out to Derby County and has since played 4 games and scored 1 goal.

His confidence and composure on the ball is very impressive for a player of his age and his ability to find players in very tight spaces is also rather impressive.

He lacks pace, but makes up for it with his other attributes, similar to players such a Beckham and Giggs, who create space by passing, rather than just sprinting down the wings.

In our current squad, he is probably most similar to Van der Vaart and Kranjcar in his style of play - definitely one to watch out for.

Stevenage 0 - 0 Spurs

Spurs were held to a goalless draw this Sunday against League 1 team Stevenage.
Hopefully Spurs will give us a better display in the replay at White Hart Lane.

Redknapp made a strange decision to play with 5 defenders in a 5-3-2 formation, although you could look at it as a 3-5-2, since Walker and Rose were almost playing in midfield. This did pay off as we managed to keep a clean sheet, but against a League 1 side you shouldn’t really be worried about keeping clean sheets. I guess he was hoping for an early goal like in the Newcastle game, after which we could just sit back an hold on for a 1-0 victory. This would’ve worked had we managed to score a goal, but we didn’t.

A chance came near the end of the 1st half when Saha controlled the ball and was brought down in the box, however the ref felt that it was not a penalty.

The 2nd half was not any better than the 1st, except for when Lennon and Kranjcar came on, bringing a bit of energy onto the field.

Many people were complained about the poor condition of the pitch, which prevented Spurs from playing the fast free-flowing football which they are so well known for. In my opinion this did affect the game, but I think that a team as good as Tottenham should still be able to find a way to put the ball in the net no matter which pitch they are playing on.

I was really disappointed with the performance and hope that they can make it up to us by putting on a great display in the replay.

At least the weekend wasn’t too bad, seeing that the Gunners lost :)