Posts Tagged ‘tottenham’

Rafael van der Vaart: Rules out leaving Tottenham during the January transfer window

Tottenham playmaker Rafael van der Vaart has ruled out leaving White Hart Lane during the January transfer window.

It had been suggested the Holland international could move on in the New Year with AC Milan leading the chase for his signature.

The 28-year-old has encountered the odd run-in with Harry Redknapp, but he insists everything is ‘fine’ with his manager.

The former Real Madrid and Hamburg man believes Redknapp is doing an amazing job at the helm.

Van der Vaart is aware of the rumours with Spurs flying high near the top of the table and he does not want to miss out on the title chase.

Rumours

“It’s not true that I could be leaving in January,” explained Van der Vaart. “Of course there are rumours when you are third in the table and you play good football.

“People are always going to look and they are interested in the players of Tottenham, but this season nobody wants to leave – we are close to something special.

“Of course I want to stay here. Everybody feels that we have a great team and it is really fun to play here – we have big players, experienced players and Harry is doing a great job.

“Sometimes you can have a little problem with the manager, but you talk to each other and everything is fine.

“Harry is doing an amazing job at Spurs and this season it feels that something more can happen.”

For Spurs, there is no Ledley King with Kaboul and Gallas starting in defence. Sandro again partners Scott Parker in midfield whilst it is Rafael van der Vaart supporting Emmanuel Adebayor.

Team news is starting to filter through – obviously no Steven Caulker for Swansea as he can’t play against his former club so Garry Monk is in, and Neil Taylor is back. Nathan Dyer, Luke Moore and Stephen Dobbie also start.

Whilst we wait for the team news, why no visit our friends at SkyBet for a little flutter. Swansea 9/2 Draw 13/5 Tottenham 4/6

I look forward to hearing from you and I will endeavour to post as many of your thoughts, opinions and reaction as I can.

If you would like to get in contact at any point this afternoon then please don’t hesitate. You can mail me via the Score Centre, email me direct on graeme.bailey@bskyb.com and you can also now Tweet me: @skygraemebailey.

Welcome to our live coverage of Tottenham’s trip to South Wales as they take on Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium.

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Roman Pavlyuchenko: Tottenham Hotspur striker has received an offer from Anzhi Makhachkala

Roman Pavlyuchenko’s agent claims the Tottenham Hotspur striker is prepared to join Anzhi Makhachkala unless he receives a better offer in January.

The Russia international boasts an impressive strike rate for Spurs, but has made just four substitute appearances in the Premier League this season.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp recently admitted that he did not want to lose the 30-year-old after Pavlyuchenko came off the bench to score the winner against Sunderland.

However, the forward is unhappy with his lack of playing time and has been linked with a return to former club Spartak Moscow, along with rivals Lokomotiv Moscow and Queens Park Rangers.

Ambitious Anzhi are also keen on Pavlyuchenko and have reportedly offered a three-year contract in a bid to tempt him to Makhachkala.

Tired

Pavlyuchenko is rumoured to want to stay in the Premier League, but his representative Oleg Artemov concedes he is willing to move to Anzhi if there are no more offers.

“At the beginning, Roman absolutely ignored Anzhi,” Artemov told Tden.ru.

“He wasn’t against going back to Russia, but not to the Makhachkala-based team, but Pavlyuchenko is tired of the uncertainty and the lack of match action.

“He has a concrete offer from Anzhi in his hand. This offer is very good and profitable.

“Roman will accept it unless he gets a better offer.”

Roman Pavlyuchenko: Tottenham Hotspur striker has received an offer from Anzhi Makhachkala

Roman Pavlyuchenko’s agent claims the Tottenham Hotspur striker is prepared to join Anzhi Makhachkala unless he receives a better offer in January.

The Russia international boasts an impressive strike rate for Spurs, but has made just four substitute appearances in the Premier League this season.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp recently admitted that he did not want to lose the 30-year-old after Pavlyuchenko came off the bench to score the winner against Sunderland.

However, the forward is unhappy with his lack of playing time and has been linked with a return to former club Spartak Moscow, along with rivals Lokomotiv Moscow and Queens Park Rangers.

Ambitious Anzhi are also keen on Pavlyuchenko and have reportedly offered a three-year contract in a bid to tempt him to Makhachkala.

Tired

Pavlyuchenko is rumoured to want to stay in the Premier League, but his representative Oleg Artemov concedes he is willing to move to Anzhi if there are no more offers.

“At the beginning, Roman absolutely ignored Anzhi,” Artemov told Tden.ru.

“He wasn’t against going back to Russia, but not to the Makhachkala-based team, but Pavlyuchenko is tired of the uncertainty and the lack of match action.

“He has a concrete offer from Anzhi in his hand. This offer is very good and profitable.

“Roman will accept it unless he gets a better offer.”

Paul Lambert: Norwich manager has no complaints about the performance of his side

Norwich manager Paul Lambert tipped Tottenham as Premier League title contenders after being defeated by Harry Redknapp’s side.

Two goals from Gareth Bale gave Spurs a 2-0 win at Carrow Road on Tuesday and moved them to within seven points of Manchester United and Manchester City with a game in hand.

Redknapp has been keen to play down his team’s chances, but Lambert is in no doubt about Tottenham’s potential.

He told Sky Sports HD 1: “The bigger teams can really hurt you and Spurs are definitely up there vying for the championship.

Realism factor

“It’s disappointing (to lose), but we gave it everything we had. They’ve got quality all over the pitch.”

Defeat kept Norwich in 11th position in the table, but Lambert is more than happy with his squad after the back-to-back promotions from League One.

He said: “I’ve got to have a realism factor, where we came from and the team we are up against.”

Lambert added with regards to Norwich’s season to date: “I think we have done great. I think we have handled it really well. We have competed with teams.

“The lads have given me everything.”

Steven Caulker: On-loan defender is enjoying his time at Swansea and feels their style mirrors Tottenham’s

Steven Caulker believes Swansea City’s style of football is giving him the best chance of forcing his way into the Tottenham Hotspur team when he returns to White Hart Lane.

The teenage defender is spending the campaign on loan at Swansea and has made seven appearances during his time at the Liberty Stadium.

While a knee injury has limited his opportunities, he has impressed in helping the Swans to keep four clean sheets in the games in which he has played.

Caulker has easily adapted to Swansea’s passing style and hopes it will boost his prospects of breaking into Harry Redknapp’s side back at Spurs.

“Swansea’s style was definitely a part of why I am down here,” said the 19-year-old.

Confidence

“Obviously there are a lot of teams that play direct football, but Swansea mirror Spurs in the sense that they look to pass the ball, so if I can come here and prove myself then in Harry Redknapp’s eyes I could be ready for a place in the Spurs team.

“I always enjoy getting on the ball, we train and work hard on it every day.

“It’s very different to my last two loan spells (at Yeovil and Bristol City) but at Tottenham we have always been taught to play football so it’s like going back to my roots, I have found it a challenge but the gaffer has shown confidence in me and the team.”

The centre-half will miss the upcoming game against his parent club over the festive period, but should start Tuesday’s match against fellow promoted side Queens Park Rangers.

He added: “We’ve got two massive games coming up, although obviously I’ll have to sit out the Spurs game.

“The boys are eagerly anticipating every game that’s coming up, it’s a busy schedule.

“There’s pressure to perform for the fans home and away, it comes with every game in the Premier League.

“We are always under pressure but I think we enjoy that. Some of our best performances have come against the biggest sides.

“The Liberty Stadium is a great place to play. The fans are behind the players and are very patient.

“Sometimes it’s a slow build-up with the way we play but they are always very supportive and I’m sure they will get right behind us once again.”

Rafael van der Vaart: Set to miss Tottenham’s next three games with hamstring injury

Tottenham star Rafael van der Vaart is set to miss the club’s festive fixtures with a hamstring injury.

Van der Vaart picked up the injury in Thursday night’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea and was forced off at half-time.

The Dutchman has spent time on the sidelines with a hamstring problem earlier this season and he is not expected to return to action until the New Year.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp admitted Van der Vaart is likely to miss the upcoming games against Norwich, Swansea and West Brom

“I’d think he would be out for the festive period,” said Redknapp.

“He seems to suffer from hamstring problems a lot and he got another one tonight, but when he plays he’s a fantastic footballer, the little fella.”

Defoe wait

Van der Vaart’s injury adds to Tottenham’s growing injury list with Ledley King and Younes Kaboul also picking up hamstring problems.

However, Redknapp hopes Jermain Defoe could return for the trip to Norwich after missing the draw with Chelsea with a hamstring complaint of his own.

“I don’t know whether Jermain will be fit,” added Redknapp. “We’ll see how he goes.

“Hopefully Adebayor and Pav are OK, so we’ll have a couple of strikers. I’m hoping Jermain might be fit.”

Andre Villas-Boas: Believes Chelsea deserved all three points at White Hart Lane

Andre Villas-Boas believes Chelsea deserved to win their Premier League clash with Tottenham at White Hart Lane on Thursday.

The Blues came from a goal down to share the spoils as Daniel Sturridge cancelled out Emmanuel Adebayor’s opener.

Chelsea were on top in the second half and missed a late chance to win the game when Ramires headed wide.

John Terry performed heroics to deny Adebayor at the death as the match finished one apiece.

Magnificent

“I think that if it’s a fair result it should be a Chelsea win. We played magnificently well,” he told Sky Sports.

“I’m very, very proud of the players. It was an inspirational game against a lot of adversity.

“Again a good spirit of resilience, mostly at adapting. It’s a moral win. It’s one point, but with fantastic fruits for us.

“It shows our technical ability what we can do with the ball, the passing game that has characterised our philosophy this season and to do it at Tottenham at their home is extremely difficult, to put them under control in the first and second half.

“The only thing we can regret is going down a goal too early because I think we created enough chances to win the game. If we hadn’t conceded we would take the three points.

“It was a fantastic game of football, a fantastic spectacle. We go home happy with the result and performance, display, the character of the players and commitment.

“It shows we can play really good football.”

Positive

Question marks have been raised whether Petr Cech could have done more to prevent Adebayor’s opener, however, Villas-Boas refused to hit out of the Czech shot-stopper.

“It doesn’t matter. He’s a fantastic goalkeeper and he’s done excellently well,” he continued. “There’s not negativity today. There were no people below par. Everybody was over the top.

“It punishes us in term of the league.”

The former Porto manager also reserved special praise for captain Terry, who has been in the spotlight as he is facing a criminal charge of using racist language towards Anton Ferdinand.

“He’s been doing that from the beginning. Since we’ve had this situation his performances have improved. It shows his character, strength and personality.”