Tottenham With Points To Prove Against Manchester City

Emmanuel Adebayor [Photo: Jav The_DoC_66]Tottenham face a difficult task against Manchester City who scored six goals against them in November but it should motivate Spurs who have a number of points to prove.

Tottenham – Points To Prove Against Manchester City

Two months ago Tottenham travelled to Manchester City in a confident mood. They were 7th in the table, a point and two places ahead of City. They had only lost one away game all season and had conceded just six league goals, only one of them being away from White Hart Lane. Prior to the game against City, it was the best defensive record in the Premier League.

In ninety minutes at the Etihad Stadium Spurs’ season was turned upside down and they retreated to London a chastened side having shipped six goals in an inept performance which raised numerous questions of the manager and players.

Now, under new management, Spurs face City at White Hart Lane with a few points to prove.

Points To Prove

• Smiling Tim Sherwood [Photo: Alan Hill]Tim Sherwood wants to prove that he can manage a team at the highest level and that although he’s an inexperienced manager that he can compete against the best. He has had an encouraging start and wants to build on that against a Manchester City side who are 2nd in the league only 1 point behind the leaders. Sherwood will want his Spurs team to put in a performance at White Hart Lane where they haven’t played well this season and turn it into a ground where the top sides are concerned about visiting. A repeat of last season’s success over City would be very acceptable from Tim Sherwood’s point of view.

• The team as a whole has a point to prove. The team gave a lethargic display in what was an unacceptable performance from top international players. Spurs never recovered from conceding the early goal and failed to show the will to fight and get back into the game after that unexpected set-back. Even if the players selected by Tim Sherwood weren’t part of the team which played so poorly in November they will want to avoid a similar performance and result. The team will want to show that the defeat at City was just ‘one of those results’ and not something that they’re going to let happen again.

• Hugo Lloris [Photo: Jav The_DoC_66]Individual players have something to prove as well. Goalkeeper, Hugo Lloris whose misplaced kick in the opening seconds caused the initial problem which lead to the first goal and then repeated the mistake for the second, will be looking for an improved performance to show his true class. He has played with remarkable consistency since joining Spurs but won’t want another heavy defeat on his record.

•  Jan Vertonghen gave a very lacklustre display at the end of November and if he has recovered from his injury and plays on Wednesday he’ll want to put the record straight and show his true form.

• Emmanuel Adebayor was unfortunate to be part of the debacle at City. Ignored all season by AVB, he was sent on at half-time against his former club with Spurs already three down. Was it a form of punishment by AVB, I wonder? Adebayor is a proud man and that would have hurt him. He always discovers extra motivation against a former club so he will want to maintain his impressive form of recent weeks and add to his goals tally.

Tottenham have been striving to break into the top four over the past number of years and have achieved it only twice. Having overcome set-backs this season, they don’t want to slip up again and be seen as the nearly team but to avoid that happening they need to make a statement against City and prove that they’re up to the challenge and will battle to ensure they achieve their ambitions for the season.

So far this season in their 4 matches against the four teams above them, Spurs have taken only 1 point which came in the home draw with Chelsea. Not a record to be proud of for any team wanting to be taken as serious challengers for a Champions League place.

The result against City won’t determine the outcome of Totenham’s season but a good performance and a positive result, however, would boost confidence for up-coming games against the other top sides. It will not be an easy task against City but a lack of motivation shouldn’t be a problem for Tim Sherwood or his players.