Triffic Tottenham – Spurs News Blog and Forum

Some people seem to have made up their mind that Gareth Bale dived for yesterday’s penalty award. I happen to think he got the slightest of clips and when you’re running at that speed you will never be able to stay on your feet.

Let’s say you’re right and he did dive, is it only cheating if the penalty is awarded? Because from the match I was watching yesterday Gibbs tried to have a little dive as well but the ref saw straight through it but yet I don’t see many people criticising the Arsenal player for attempting to con the referee into awarding a penalty and let’s be honest if Bale did dive at least he made it look a bit more realistic, I bet 99% of you before seeing a replay thought it was a stonewall penalty!

However you can only be shot down by the media and the fans if the penalty gets awared, if it doesn’t then you get off with no mention of it ever again, until someone like me points out the obvious. I am one of the few people that think if you can earn your team a penalty by looking for it and going down after getting a slight touch then go for it, I played football to win games and in the modern game where so much is at stake can we blame the players of today? The football world governing bodies can’t be too bothered because if they wanted to stamp out simulation all they have to do is start hitting players with suspensions or teams with a points deduction, harsh punishments would eradicate the problem but if we didn’t have controversy then we wouldn’t have the beautiful game we know today. There would be nothing for pundits to talk about on Sky Sports, talkSPORT etc. So be careful what you wish for because we could take it too far and change our game into a boring game like cricket.

To Arsenal fans, well played yesterday you deserved the win, no sour grapes here but if you want to have a pop at Gareth Bale for what you perceived as a dive then I have 2 words for you….. Robert Pires

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It looks as though Rafa and Ade have won their race for fitness ahead of today’s North London Derby. Harry will have a tough decision to make, whether to throw Van der Vaart straight back in which leaves Adebayor isoloated by hisself up front or whether to stick to playing the two up front which served him so well against Newcastle.

For the first time in a long time Harry will have three fully fit quality center backs to choose from, the fans seem to think that Kaboul should partner Ledley at the back which will mean only a place on the bench for Dawson. Kaboul is favourite to get the nod due to his fine form which has seen him be noted as one of the top defenders in the league this season.

Aaron Lennon and Gareth Bale will take to the wings aiming to cause Arsenal all sorts of problems, Luka and Parker will resume their roles in midfield. Kyle Walker who got the winner in the reverse fixture will hope to haunt The Gunners again and BAE has recovered following his operation which has seen Danny Rose deputize.

Possible Starting XI

Friedel

Walker

King

Kaboul

Bae

Lennon

Modric

Parker

Bale

VDV (or Saha/Defoe)

Adebayor

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This season as unquestionably thrown up a few surprises, after last season I expected for us Spurs fans at best we would battle it out with Arsenal for 4th place but things have gone better than expected and it now leaves Arsenal fighting it out with Chelsea but it seems neither of them want it.

Both Arsenal & Chelsea are lacking, need a new injection of 4 or 5 players each, Wenger has stuck by his youth policy and finding players on the cheap but it seems as though his midas touch may have finally deserted him. Chelsea have allowed their team to grow old and now require a few new players to get the team back to the top and AVB is paying the price for this.

4th place is well and truly anyones, even Liverpool are in with a shout as they seem to be finding some form. We play both Chelsea and Arsenal over the next month, if we can get something then 3rd place is all but sealed which will leave the rest to battle it out for the final CL place.

At the back has been a real problem for Arsenal & Chelsea this season, Chelsea are a shadow of the team that once boasted the best defence in the Premier League but now they have the likes of David Luis in the heart of it, a player who is too scared to make a tackle and they are consequently shipping in goals like there is no tomorrow. Torres cost Chelsea £50m and hasn’t scored a goal in something ridiculous in like 20 games and is becoming a laughing stock. Arsenal surprisingly are no better, the team that once graced the Premier League with what I think is the best football the top flight in England has seen since the Liverpool of the 80s are now just a flickering flame about to go out. Mertesacker was brought in at the back but it seems he isn’t as good as many thought and Arsenal too are leaking goals. Arsenal’s only saving grace this season has come in the form of Van Persie who has scored more goals than I can be bothered to research but failure to finish 4th may mean they wave goodbye to their talisman at the end of the season.

I am not jumping the gun, it’s not granted that we will finish 3rd or even 4th but I am confident that we now have a better team than our rivals, we have sat back and watched for years in jealousy and now maybe its our turn for a few years of dominating London. Both Chelsea and Arsenal have been poor this season, maybe Chelsea more so as maybe they were expected to do better, I think the Arsenal fans might have seen this coming for their team but the question is, just who has fallen the furthest from grace? The Gooners or Chelski?