Wed 20 October 2021, 20:55
Tottenham HotspurN17 Live presenter Ben Haines and Club commentator Rob Daly take a look back at Toon before looking forward to our UEFA Europa Conference League group match against Vitesse Arnhem on Thursday evening (5.45pm UK).
Talk of the Toon
First up, what did the guys think of our 3=2 win at Newcastle on Sunday?
Ben: “So... I thought we were brilliant. We handled the game so well and, more importantly, handled the atmosphere. I thought we dominated the midfield, Oliver Skipp and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg perfectly providing a platform for Tanguy Ndombele to dominate in advanced areas. What a finish from Tanguy, what a finish from Harry and what a beautiful team goal for Sonny to finish off as well. This season is just so chaotic and mad, two wins and we're sitting right on the edge of the UCL positions, and it has to be said with a little bit of momentum after two very good displays.”
Rob: “Late own goal aside, it felt like a comfortable win, and I think Nuno Espirito Santo may well stick with this system for now. I think he’ll be very happy with the 4-2-3-1, as we’ve discussed before. It was Tanguy’s best performance of the season, Sergio Reguilon’s as well, we saw the benefits of the Hojbjerg/Skipp pairing again, and it was nice to see Harry Kane get his first Premier League goal of the season. All in all, on what could have been a tricky day, a very good win.”
View on Vitesse
Currently sixth in the Eredivisie, Vitesse Arnhem beat Anderlecht to make into the group stage and recently beat both Feyenoord and local rivals NEC - what can we expect in the GelreDome?
Rob: “I commentated on Vitesse Arnhem a few times in the Eredivisie last season and they are essentially the same team. They will play with three at the back and they have important wing-backs in Maximilian Wittek and Eli Dasa, the Israeli international, both pivotal in the way they build their play. I’ve a feeling their most creative player, Oussama Tannane, might not feature. It appears from what I’ve been reading in the Dutch press that he’s out of favour at the moment. It’s also worth keeping an eye out for Riechedly Bazoer... this is the most interesting thing about Vitesse’s team and the way they play, he wears 10 and he’ll play centre-back at the at the heart of a three-man defence, and he is, literally, given the freedom to go wherever he wants from centre-back. He’ll pop up on the edge of the box, seemingly out of position, but all part of the game plan!”
Ben: “Their form of late is mixed but, for context in the group, they lost to Rennes despite playing against 10 men for 20 minutes and beat NS Mura 2-0 in MD1. The thing that does come to mind most for me at the moment though is a video that went viral of their fans celebrating their away win against NEC at the weekend, where a stand collapsed as they bounced up and down. Thankfully no one was hurt. So, in theory, we can expect a good atmosphere!"
Random question...
What is your favourite Spurs goal in Europe?
Rob: “Why do we always come back to rabonas from Erik Lamela? I’d probably go Lamela’s rabona against Asteras Tripolis (October, 2014) but I’ve also a couple of favourites since I’ve been working for Spurs - Jan Vertonghen’s extremely satisfying volley against Borussia Dortmund (February, 2019), you just knew it was coming, and Lucas Moura’s second goal of the hat-trick at Ajax (May, 2019), the quick feet and fired in.”
Ben: “Spurs best European goal? Wow, what a shout, so instantly off the bat ones that jump out at me are Dimitar Berbatov scoring a wonder volley in the UEFA Cup (PSV, March 2008), I had down the rabona beauty from Coco in there, Jan's volley versus Dortmund, Pavlyuchenko v Young Boys (August, 2010), Rafa van der Vaart v FC Twente (September, 2010) but I think my favourite is Pavlyuchenko v Inter after Gareth Bale tore Inter's right side to shreds (November, 2010). What an unbelievable night, taxi for Maicon!"
