Tottenham Lose to Valencia in Final Preseason Friendly

Tottenham lost their final preseason game with a defeat in Spain to a strong Valencia side who scored a goal in each half as Andre Villas-Boas experienced his first defeat as Spurs manager. It was a lively, competitive match with both sides providing entertaining football for the 40,000 spectators present. Spurs best period was early in the first half when they threatened the Valencia goal but the home side always looked dangerous, putting the Spurs defence under pressure and attacking quickly from the area between the midfield and the defence. For Spurs, Aaron Lennon and Gareth Bale were the most dangerous but the urgent need for a top class strikes was clearly evident as Jermain Defoe was isolated as the lone striker.

Tottenham’s Pain in Spain Continues against Valencia

  Valencia 2 Tottenham Hotspur 0

Scorers: Jonas, Feghouli

Team: Friedel; Walker (Naughton), Gallas, Vertonghen, Assou-Ekotto; Jenas (Van der Vaart), Livermore (Carroll); Lennon, Sigurdsson (Kane), Bale (Townsend), Defoe Subs: (unused) Cudicini, Dawson, Huddlestone, Bentley.

Andre Villas-Boas may have given an indication of his thoughts regarding the team to start against Newcastle United, with his starting line-up against Valencia. In the absence of Younes Kaboul, in France with a consultant over minor concerns about his knee, William Gallas partnered new signing Jan Vertonghen in central defence. Rafael Van der Vaart played for the final thirty minutes having missed most of the previous games with injury concerns. Brad Friedel captained the side.

The match started brightly and Spurs had an early foray forward in the third minute when  a good ball out of defence from Gallas found Kyle Walker on the right wing. He played Lennon in behind the defence who took on his marker but his pull back from the bye-line was just behind Defoe. Spurs were looking to use Walker’s pace in their forward movement and Lennon was showing the confidence to run at his defender. Valencia showed they were prepared to attack when they broke forward on their right but Benoit Assou-Ekotto got back to concede a corner.

With Defoe as the lone striker, any long kicks forward were futile as the ball was simply being conceded to Valencia. Bale won possession in central midfield and played a pass forward to Defoe but he stood on the ball and possession was lost. Bale then worked forward on the left and crossed towards Gylfi Sigurdsson but it was cleared. Valencia were chasing down the ball when the Spurs defenders and goalkeeper had possession and Friedel was nearly caught out twice in quick succession with poor clearances. The first he was able to collect the ball when it was played back in and on the second occasion a poor first touch caused problems.

It was a busy opening ten minutes as Bale made another run forward and forced his way between two defenders but the goalkeeper was out quickly to gather the ball. A throw by Bale found Defoe in the box, he turned his man and put in a cross to Lennon at the back post whose shot was blocked for a corner. From the resulting corner, the ball came to Lennon at the back post and the goalkeeper had to get down quickly to make two good saves. Spurs were having their best spell as another cross by Lennon found Defoe but was cleared for a corner which came out to Assou-Ekotto whose shot was blocked. A Walker cross to Lennon but Valencia blocked this shot.

Valencia retaliated to the Spurs pressure when they collected a Walker throw in his own half and Jonas stroke forward quickly to power a shot past Friedel from thirty yards into the roof of the net after 17 minutes. This was a setback to Tottenham who had been looking the more dangerous in the opening period.

Walker responded with a run forward which brought another corner which was headed over by Bale. Walker then made a mistake in defence when he missed his kick but when Valencia pulled the ball back to the far post, they squandered a great opportunity to increase their lead after 22 minutes. Spurs were almost caught out in similar fashion to the opening goal when they lost possession at a throw in and Valencia attacked with pace.

After 24 minutes, Lennon went on a run infield and found Bale with a cross to the right but there was no-one there to take advantage of his header down into the penalty area. Spurs almost took advantage of a Valencia defensive mistake as Bale went forward having intercepted the ball but Jake Livermore was unable to get his pass through to Bale on the edge of the box. Jonas threatened again for Valencia as he powered forward quickly but his shot went past the post. After half an hour of frantic activity from both sides, Tottenham had 57% possession with each team having three attempts on goal.

A Walker run and cross was gathered by the goalkeeper and then Assou-Ekotto and Lennon worked well on the left to release Jermaine Jenas but his shot from the edge of the area was weak and went wide. Valencia continued to pressurise the Spurs defence as they looked to attack quickly from that area between the defence and midfield. In these situations Vertonghen was cool under pressure. Spurs had a series of free-kicks as Valencia stepped in quickly to stop any threat posed by Bale, Lennon or Defoe. A long cross to the back post beat Walker but the Valencia striker put the ball out. Then when the home team created space on the right, Walker was able to retrieve the situation and clear. Valencia were finishing strongly and had a chance with a ball behind the Spurs defence but Friedel was out quickly and make two important blocks with four minutes of the half remaining. Defoe was having to come deep to try and get time on the ball as Spurs forward threat reduced. In the first half, Spurs had 55% possession but Valencia had the goal and looked dangerous going forward.

There were no changes at half-time and Spurs had an early attack when a quick free-kick by Assou-Ekotto was played out to Lennon on the right wing and his cross just evaded Sigurdsson. From the corner, Assou-Ekotto shot over. Valencia continued to hassle and unsettle the Spurs defenders when on the ball, preventing them from picking out their forward pass. From such a sitiuation Spurs conceded a free-kick but it went through to Friedel from distance. Walker played the ball forward for Defoe but the goalkeeper was out quickly. A clearance by Assou-Ekotto was cut out by Valencia but Vertonghen was able to clear the danger. On a break forward by Spurs, Defoe’s shot was deflected to safety.

Tottenham tried to pressurise Valencia but with limited success. Then the home side broke forward quickly but Friedel collected the cross at the near post. Spurs were having less time in possession and the home team were more threatening going forward with a number of creative players capable of causing danger as the Spurs worked hard to keep them at bay. Van der Vaart replaced Jenas after an hour. With Spurs under increasing pressure, Vertonghen was showing his worth and experience stepping in on a number of occasions to clear dangerous situations. Spurs were unable to get any forward threat in the second half, offering only occasional breaks by individual players. Walker and Lennon managed to link on the right but there was no-one there for the winger’s cross. Another cross was cleared just before it reached Defoe in the penalty area. With no sustained possession in the second half Spurs threat was limited but when they did show any, Valencia were quick to bring the player down as their free-kick count increased. In a competitive match, a number of defenders would have incurred the wrath of the referee.

With fifteen minutes remaining, Valencia got the breakthrough their play deserved, they got behind the defence on their right and Feghouli took the ball on to shoot across goal and beat Friedel at the far post. Spurs immediately took off Walker and Bale, bringing on Kyle Naughton and Andros Townsend. Harry Kane replaced Sigurdsson for the final ten minutes. Kane’s first touch was a shot which was blocked and then Lennon found Van der Vaart who turned and shot but it was deflected. Kane then went forward on a run but was brought down with Lennon free on the right. Van der Vaart’s free-kick was collected by the goalkeeper. The referee’s patience finally ran out as he sent off Tino Costa following a heated exchange of views between the player and official.

Even with ten men Valencia were the more dangerous going forward but with a couple of minutes left a ball forward found Defoe but his shot was straight at the goalkeeper and blocked. Tom Carroll replaced Livermore for the last two minutes and the final effort from Spurs was a good run by Townsend, cutting in from the left and shooting powerfully only for the goalkeeper to tip it away for Spurs’ ninth corner.

Valencia deservedly won but Spurs had started brightly and had showed good movement and forward play. The defence struggled as the home team put then under pressure, forcing them into mistakes as they tried to clear the ball. Vertonghen was composed in dealing with dangerous situations and Lennon and Bale were a constant threat, especially in the first half. Spurs greatest problem is the lack of a striker to hold the ball up and link play for Bale, Lennnon and Sigurdsson to get forward. The defensive midfield partnership missed the steadying influence of the injured Parker so will be relying on Sandro to return and take on those responsibilities in his absence during the opening weeks of the season. Tottenham maintained they would have a striker signed before the start of the season, this result may galvanise their efforts to bring it about.