Thursday 16th September 2001, 7.45pm

League Cup, 2nd Round, WHITE HART LANE

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 2 (King 60, Ferdinand 68)

Keller

 

 

 

Doherty (Bunjevcevic 13)

Perry

King 1 (60)
 

 
 
Taricco

 
Ziege

 

 

 

Leonhardsen (Sheringham 46)

Freund

Davies

 

 

Rebrov

Ferdinand 1 (68) (Etherington 74)

 

Subs not used: Sullivan, Thelwell

TORQUAY UNITED 0

Dearden; McNeil, Woozley, Douglin; Tully, Brandon (sub Nichols, 86), Rees (Capt), Russell, Hill; Graham (sub Benefield, 77), Williams (sub Roach, 74)

Referee:- M Warren

Attendance:- 20,347

 

Job done, but it was n’t pretty as Spurs relied upon two-second half goals in 8 minutes just after the hour to kill off a spirited Torquay site.

 

Hoddle rang the changes with Keller stepping in for his debut to give Sully a rest. Rebrov came in for Sheringham and the Goonersaurus’s “conquer Europe signings” Perry and Leo came in to give Spurs an ordinary look. A minute’s silence was respectfully observed before the kick off for the American victims oon Tueday, although Torquay did not wear black armbands during the match.

 

The best part of the match was probably before kick off when a top Thai curry at Bruce Grove was topped off by meeting topspurs regular Rob Ashcroft before the match, and him saying the words “I recognised you from the TV!” [after my recent appearance on the Spurs team on the ITV quiz “Do I not know that”]. Its not often you can say that!

 

Spurs attacked the Park Lane, and had a corner within 30 seconds, but any ideas that Spurs would run riot against the lowly third division side were quickly put to rest as Spurs never found a rhythm while Torquay ran and battled for every ball. The Spurs performance was typical of many performances against lower league sides over the years when the players take it too easy and the opposition play the game of their lives.

 

Some of their battling was a little bit over the top and this resulted in the injury to the Doc after 10 minutes, when he was fouled from behind. After a short period of treatment the stretcher was called for and the best we can hope for is that it is just twisted ligaments and not a broken bone.

 

Things could have been a whole lot worse when a ricochet off Mr Ed from a Keller clearance bounced dangerously close to the Spurs goal before sleepy defending from a free kick allowed someone to break down the right wing – his early ball was met by Woozley with a sweet turning shot on the edge of the box which thumped against the crossbar with Keller beaten. This woke the crowd up, and sporadic chanting started, but had little effect upon the performance.

 

Torquay were more than a match for Spurs in the first half, with only Ziege showing anywhere near his true form. Spurs had a couple of chance in a poor first half – Leo, Freund and Ziege worked an opening for Davies, but he could not get on the end of it. Leo should have probably had a penalty when bundled over in the box, but the ref did not even see it. Ferdinand got to the right side of the box and powered a decent shot which Spurs old boy Dearden did well to hold on to before again diving to his right to turn a long range effort from Rebrov round the post. From the corner clearance, Leo hit the worst half volley I have ever seen, so bad it just ballooned up in the air and had to be punched away. Freund was seen taking notes as not even he could have managed this

 

The best Spurs chance of the half was created by a swift break down the right by Davies and Ziege, with the latter being set free to deliver an excellent early ball into the box for the on rushing Ferdinand, but our ageing striker could only divert the ball over the bar as he stretched to meet it.

 

Half time allowed Hoddle to bollock his players and with the introduction of Sheringham for Leo in the second half, we at least looked the better side switching to a 3-4-2-1 formation, with Rebrov and Sheringham the deep strikers.

 

As the game approached the hour mark, while Spurs had improved – Torquay still had their moments. A dangerous cross that avoided everyone in the box before being blasted over from 25 yards and a header which had the Spurs defence stretched were the best of their efforts.

 

Rebrov broke through to the edge of the box, and attempted to lob the advancing Dearden, who managed to deflect the ball and a defender cleared off the line. Dearden’s save looked to be outside the box but no action was taken and many Spurs fans were getting a little uncomfortable with the 0-0 scoreline.

 

All this changed when Freund was pulled back on the halfway line and managed to get himself horizontal as he fell. This resulted in a booking and the free kick being advanced 10 yards into the Torquay half as Spurs attacked the subdued Paxton end. Ziege hit a perfect curling free kick that was in between defence and keeper and King stole in despite having his shirt tugged to steer the ball home. Relief all round.

 

Spurs played ok with the goal behind them, with Sheringham being the focal point – linking Rebrov, Ziege and Taricco. Rebrov who had again looked ordinary against the Torquay defenders began to get some reward for his undoubted hard work. First he saw a snap shot from the edge of the box bounce inches wide of the post, before thumping the same post with a curling shot after chasing a hopeful punt up field at the end of the match. While he still looks a long way short of his best, no one can fault his effort, and maybe playing alongside Teddy can re-ignite his Spurs career, after all Ted had made the lame of Andy locker thief Cole, Armo and Shearer all score while playing alongside the great man.

 

In between the Rebrov efforts Spurs scored their second goal. A well worked series of passes across the middle saw Rebrov released on the right hand edge of the box, he jinked inside before releasing the overlapping Taricco on his outside. Treacle delivered a perfect cross to the far post and Sir Les rose majestically to thump his header home from close range.

 

And that was that. Spurs did not exert themselves once the game was won with Sunday’s match and injuries in mind. The important thing was to win and that was achieved, although Chelsea looks a daunting prospect on the basis of this performance.

 

 

The Word of Hod

Some harsh words were said at half time but we're in the draw and that's what matters, a lot of credit must go to Torquay - in the first half they were the better side. Teddy came on and showed his class, linked nicely and in the end we were easy winners - but it wasn't like that in the first half."

 

Also singled out for praise were summer signings Christian Ziege, goalkeeper Kasey Keller and opening scorer Ledley King. "King has put in superb back-to-back performances for four or five games now - so he's got the consistency in his bag, at his age (20) he's got a bright future. He's solid with deceptive pace and strength, he's got good use of the ball and when he comes forward he does things."

 

The Spurs boss also played down reports that King's defensive partner Gary Doherty had sustained a serious injury. "We think he's turned his ankle. He's gone to hospital as a precautionary measure," he said

Keller (6/10) – A quiet debut – no chance with the shot that hit the bar but was ok otherwise.

Taricco (7/10) – A positive match Treacle, who forays forward produced plenty of danger including the cross for the second goal

Ziege (7/10) – Best of an ordinary bunch – showed plenty of desire and sent in some quality ball into the last third, including a can’t miss free kick for the opening goal. A quality player

Doherty (6/10) – Injured after 10 minutes and looks to be out for a while with a damaged ankle

Perry (5/10) – A poor match for Mr Ed who never looked comfortable

King (6/10) – A safe display capped with a well taken goal to settle the nerves

Freund (6/10) – Got better as the game went on, but nothing special

Leonhardsen (5/10) – Ran about but to not much effect and hit one of the worst shots ever seen at WHL

Davies (6/10) – Not his best game but a few good moments

Ferdinand (6/10) – Not his best match and missed his usual chance before scoring a good far post header

Rebrov (6/10) – Looked out of touch for much of the match, but earned his rating by never giving up – but is looking a long way from an £11m Champions League Striker

 

Subs:

Bunjevcevic (7/10) – Showed a lot of quality when he came on for the Doc, but would have preferred to have rested his injury for Sunday

Sheringham (7/10) – Made the difference to the Spurs attack in the second half and had another good match without looking like getting his 100th goal for Spurs

Etherington (5/10) – I’d like to say something positive about Mushy, but despite 100% effort he still does not look the part

Back to TOPSPURS

This report is copyright of TOPSPURS.com – do not us any of its contents on any other site or publication without permission.