No Comfort For Tottenham From Match Against Monaco

Tottenham’s glamour friendly against Monaco, newly promoted to Ligue 1, quickly turned into a preseason game to get through for the Spurs team weakened by injuries and absentees. As soon as the Tottenham team was announced it became apparent that it was going to be a difficult evening for Spurs against a full strength Monaco team ready for next Saturday’s opening match of the season.

Nacer Chadli debut in Monaco. [@edgey642]Injuries

Tottenham have been badly hit with injuries in the build up to the new season and with Jan Vertonghen and Michael Dawson out, they were sorely stretch in central defence. With Steven Caulker sold and Younes Kaboul not yet ready to play, Andre Villas-Boas had to play a makeshift partnership in Jake Livermore and Zeki Fryers. Livermore has played in central defence in Europa League games while Fryers, an inexperienced young player, is looking to get time in the first team. That partnership would have given concern against lesser opposition but when faced with Monaco’s new £50m signing, the Columbian striker, Radamel Falcao who scored 70 goals in two seasons for Atletico Madrid, they were on a hiding to nothing. Falcao scored twice in the second half and could have had a hat-trick but for Hugo Lloris denying him on a couple of occasions. Fryers obviously enjoyed the experience of first team football and facing Falcao as his post-match tweet shows.

The only cover in central defence was Kevin Stewart who played the final few minutes. Three summers ago I was watching him playing for the Spurs Under-17 team at the Northern Ireland Milk Cup tournament. He has progressed well but needs a great deal more experience before being ready for a first team place.

Tottenham’s injuries in central defence are leaving them short in a position where last season they had strength in depth so if the news concerning the injured is not good, it is something which AVB will need to resolve in the coming days and preferably before the start of the season. There are conflicting reports on the status of Spurs’ transfer interest in the 23-year-old Romanian central defender Vlad Chiriches, as to whether the deal is on or off.

Just as Spurs’ options in central defence are looking weaker after the sale of Caulker, so the departure of Clint Dempsey to Seattle Sounders, has left them short up front with only Jermain Defoe and Harry Kane available to travel. The early injury to Defoe brought back memories of last season’s lack of firepower as Kane came on. Kane worked hard in the role of lone striker and managed to get on the scoresheet but the young striker is well short of Premier League standard.

The saving grace where the strikers are concerned is that Roberto Soldado should be available next weekend, if his medical has been completed successfully.

The recovery and Kaboul and Sandro from long term injury is taking longer than had been hoped but there’s no point in rushing them back only for them to suffer a set-back and be sidelined again. By next weekend, Paulinho should also be available and hopefully some of the more recent injuries to Dawson and Defoe will not prove too serious.

Team

Andros Townsend scored against Monaco [Photo: Jav The_DoC_66]The team which took to the field against Monaco is nothing like the team which will start the season at Selhurst Park. With such a weakened team, the senior players had no opportunity to impress and there was no concern about a result as it was merely a matter of building match fitness under difficult circumstances. In the heat of Monaco the match was played at a pedestrian pace but the home team was always in control of the game. Spurs showed only fleeting glimpses of any team understanding but recovered from the early goal to show some improvement before the interval. The two early second half strikes ended any chance of making a match of it and with the defence under pressure, Spurs did well in a damage limitation exercise. That they manged to score twice through Kane and substitute Andros Townsend was something to be grateful for. Townsend looks lively and eager to be involved.

Preparations

The uncertainty over the transfer of Gareth Bale – is he or isn’t he going – is an obvious difficulty Andre Villas-Boas didn’t need. The strong words from the coach after the Monaco game, when he stated clearly that Bale is not for sale has, in reality, done little to alter the issue. Both clubs have their now stated their positions and they are miles apart so there seems little likelihood of an imminent conclusion to allow AVB to get on with preparing the team to face Crystal Palace in just under a fortnight. Unfortunately, Tottenham’s preparations are suffering with this protracted speculation on Bale’s future with no end in sight.

The match was not an ideal preparation for the new season and Villas-Boas will be hoping to be able to put out a more balanced and experienced team next weekend at White Hart Lane against Espanyol. Speaking to @SpursOfficial after the Monaco match, AVB said,

"“We had belief that we could have got a better result but we’ll now work hard to improve before the season starts. We were missing a number of players and we’re aware that we are better than this result, but we’ll take our lessons from it.”"

The game against the Spanish side will be his last opportunity to work with the players, many of whom will be heading off on international duty in the week leading up to the start of the season. Thankfully, FIFA have seen the foolishness of those August international dates which have been removed from the football calendar from 2015.

Busy Start to Season

It wasn’t a great night in Monaco but Spurs have to move on and continue their preparations to be ready for the most important game, the one against Palace. They face a busy schedule in the opening weeks with a Europa League game the following Thursday before the home game with Swansea on the Sunday. The next Thursday brings the 2nd leg of the Europa League qualifier before the trip to the Emirates. Spurs will discover their European opponents when the draw for the draw is completed on Friday. Throw in the usual uncertainty of the transfer window at the end of August so you’d better prepare yourself for a rollercoaster ride.