Tottenham Focus - Time to reflect and worry about Wales versus Scotland?
The season has been put on hold due to what for many fans maybe the unwelcome international break. At the business end of the season, matters are crucial and some players will be off away from the club. The worry of course is how they will come back.
For Tottenham there may be mixed feelings. After the run of three consecutive losses, this international break may be welcome. Coach André Villas-Boas has a chance to revisit the the last few weeks, to address problems and mindful of previous seasons, ensure the losses are no more than a blip. As the Portugueses stated: “We can’t hide from what has happened in the past but must make sure we avoid it again. It’s been a difficult month. But if we can find our form again, our confidence, our wins, then we can stop that cycle.
“We just have to carry on fighting and work hard. I’m confident we can do it. It’s not a factor in the psychology of the players and the most important thing is we’ve enough games left to stop it happening and get out of this situation.”
Spurs fans will also welcome the withdrawals from the England squad of Aaron Lennon and Michael Dawson. Injuries can be treated and hopefully the players, both so integral this season, will be fresh and recovered ready for the Swansea match.
As for those on international duty, the one player fans may have wished to see withdraw is Gareth Bale, particularly with the Welshman looking to have picked up an injury against Fulham. However, despite missing training this week with the knock and a virus, Wales manager Chris Coleman has said Bale has a very good chance of playing against Scotland.
Any fans concerns will have been magnified by the comments of Dundee’s John Brown: “You know what you do, with the pace he has got and the close control… you can’t run without legs, and I’m sure that will be getting passed around the squad.”
Brown may have back tracked but the fact that as well as these comments, the Scotland team may contain Charlie Adam, may not fill Spurs fans with confidence. Adam may have said his feud with Bale was over, but the feud only ever appeared one-sided and there is no escaping the fact that intentionally or not, Adam’s tackles on Bale injured the Welshman on two occasions, the first time severely, keeping Bale out for three months.
Brown’s comments have been correctly called Neanderthal by Coleman; the days of Norman “Bite Your Legs” Hunter or Ron “Chopper” Harris are long gone but Brown seems to have ill-advisedly harked back to those days. However, Wales play Croatia after Scotland and Bale’s former teammate, Niko Kranjcar, has been less forthright, but his "”We will have to be very careful, we must stop him at any price,” comment may be equally as worrying.
There are some positives from this break, but all fans will want is for the players to come back uninjured and get on with the season.
See what the expert tipsters at OLBG are tipping on Swansea v Tottenham
Related Articles
|