SpursMad's official match preview - Aston Villa (H)
Last October the club celebrated its 125th anniversary with a dramatic 4-4 draw at home to Aston Villa. Nearly a year on, much has changed at
Despite Younes Kaboul's last minute equaliser earning Martin Jol a brief reprieve from the pressure a poor start to the season had placed on him, 26 days later he was out of a job and replaced with Juande Ramos.
A year on and, like his predecessor, Ramos has looked on as his new look Tottenham side faltered in the early stages of the season, finding themselves bottom of the league after three games. The pressure may not be comparable, but if results don't start to improve, fans know it's only matter of time before the ruthless Daniel Levy starts asking his head coach some seriously searching questions.
The second change is in personnel. A brief look at the team-sheet from last October's draw is a testament to how dramatically the squad has been reshaped over the last twelve months.
Of the starting XI Jol picked to face Villa that night, only five remain at the club, and only one, Gareth Bale, can still consider himself to be a regular starter.
Having allowed the likes of Paul Robinson, Pascal Chimbonda, Younes Kaboul, Teemu Tainio, Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane to move on to pastures new, the side that Ramos will field tomorrow night will be unrecognisable from the one that recovered from 4-1 down to complete one of the most memorable comebacks of the entire season.
For this reason, it would be ridiculous to place too much pressure and expectation on either Ramos or the player's shoulders.
Having had to endure the defection of his two star forwards, Ramos should now be given the time to blend the squad together, and the new players should be afforded patience as they try to bed in to the side.
At least there have been some areas of genuine improvement.
Last year's 8 goal thriller was characterised by calamitous defending from set-pieces, a malaise that hampered us until Ramos shored up the defence with the introduction of Jonathan Woodgate, who was arguably the best player on the pitch during the creditable draw at
The removal of the absent minded Michael Dawson from the heart of the defence, and the introduction of Vedran Corluka at right-back should mean that Villa, who are something of a set-piece team, will not enjoy the freedom of our 18 yard box as much as they did last October.
That said, the
The addition of Nicky Shorey and Luke Young, both functional if unspectacular players, has improved an already reliable backline and the acquisition of Brad Friedal from Blackburn Rovers could prove to be one of the canniest signings of the summer.
With Corluka likely to make his debut at right-back tomorrow, the Croatian faces a baptism of fire against Ashley Young, arguably the league's most effective left-sided winger.
The former
With both clubs fielding comparably strong, attack minded sides, tomorrow night's match should be an entertaining one. Much will depend on whether new striker Roman Pavlyuchenko makes a flying start to his Tottenham career.
The Russian striker has a reputation for having a taste for vodka and blonde models, will hope to do his scoring on the pitch. One player who will most certainly benefit from his presence in the team is David Bentley, who will now have someone to aim his finely tuned crosses towards.
With Ramos likely to revert back to a 4-4-2 formation now that he has more than one striker available to him, fans should be confident that our lack of firepower should be less of an issue from now on.
Prediction: Tottenham 2 Aston Villa 1
Tottenham to edge a close fought entertaining game, with a debut goal from Roman Pavlyuchenko.
