15  Adam SMITH
  4  Steve COOK
  2  Simon FRANCIS
11  Charlie DANIELS

32  Jack WILSHIRE
  8  Harry ARTER
  4  Dan GOSLING     
17  Josh KING  (24  Ryan FRASER  88)

33  Jordan IBE  (10  Max GRADEL  60     )

13  Callum WILSON  (  9  Benik AFOBE  82)

Unused subs: 
23  Adam FEDERICI
  5  Nathan AKE
31  Lys MOUSSET
26  Tyrone MINGS

 

  2  Kyle WALKER
  5  Jan VERTONGHEN     
15  Eric DIER
  3  Danny ROSE     

12  Victor WANYAMA
19  Mousa DEMBELE 

11  Erik LAMELA     
20  DELE Alli       (17  Moussa SISSOKO  72)
23  Christian ERIKSEN

  7  Heung-Min SON  (  9  Vincent JANSSEN  62)

Unused subs: 
13  Michel VORM
16  Kieran TRIPPIER
27  Kevin WIMMER
33  Ben DAVIES
28  Harry WINKS

With both sides having to make changes, it was a surprisingly solid performance from them in a game dominated by closing down and therefore, it is not too much of a shock that it ended goal-less, although there were chances at both ends.  Bournemouth only had one on target and Spurs were denied by constant blocking and being crowded out, although they did over-play a little in the last third.

With Surman taken ill in the warm-up, the Cherries had to change things around and Fat Wilshire had to complete his first full game in over two years, which was a feat, because 'high intensity closing down' and 'Fat Wilshire' are words that rarely feature in the same sentence.  He generally stood around until the ball came to him and then he gave it away.    For Spurs, Dier remained at centre-half, while Dembele came in as the partner for Wanyama in defensive midfield and Son led the line.

Bournemouth are well known for their quick starts. After Alli had played the ball forward first time from a poor clearance by Boruc to an offside Son, a short corner routine gave the Cherries a sniff of goal inside the first ten minutes. With the ball played into the near post, where King stepped over the ball to allow Gosling to cross low into the goalmouth from the dead ball line. Former Spurs defender Charlie Daniels got a toe-poke on the ball and it went low, with Lloris diving the wrong way, but he threw up a leg and the ball flew up and came out off the bar.

16 minutes in, Dele Alli performed a double nutmeg on the left wing, leaving the ball for Lamela to take over and his run at the defence did not bring a tackle, so he measured his shot and was unlucky to see it bounce over off the very corner of bar and post. His next involvement was not so adept, as he slid in on Adam Smith and took his legs after the ball had gone, earning a yellow card.

Bournemouth were pressing high and hard, but when Spurs were able to find a pass, they shifted the ball quickly to move it into the home side's half. Lacking a clinical final ball, there were few chances created though. The referee appeared to be giving soft free-kicks against Spurs, with none being in dangerous positions, while fouls on Spurs players were allowed to go.

Spurs worked the ball well on the right and when it came inside to Eriksen, his shot was deflected and appeared to be going inside the left hand post of Boruc until he dived to push it out for a corner. Vertonghen took over the role of Alderweireld in producing a fine diagonal ball that Son got on the end of, but he was offside once again. That was just after 25 minutes, as Spurs were spending a little more time in the Bournemouth half. Walker swung in a right wing cross that Francis mis-kicked, only for it to go gently back to Boruc and then Dembele opened up the left wing for Son, inside the box and he turned back to lay it into Danny Rose's path, but his cross-shot was blocked.

Alli picked up a booking for dragging back Smith after the former Spurs man had nut-megged him, with this coming after Vertonghen had received one for bringing down Wilson and then Gosling fouled Walker, which was one too many for the ref. The crowd were incensed when Lamela stretched to tackle Gosling and was kicked by the Bournemouth man as he got a touch to the ball first, but the home fans thought he should have got a second caution. Funny that they didn't think it necessary when Ibe ran into Dembele and looked for a penalty.

Wilshire went on a fantastic fifteen yard run before collapsing with exhaustion and wanting a booking for Wanyama, who was simply fitter and stronger than him. Rose went into the book for a foul on King and the game was disintegrating into a scrappy affair. Spurs failed to test Boruc, who is vulnerable when pressurised, with Bournemouth perhaps the better side on the attack, but Spurs were hampered by inconsistent refereeing and the lack of finding a pass to free a player going forward.

Spurs kicked off the second half and looked dangerous, with Alli smacking a shot from 18 yards after that Boruc pushed wide. Eriksen produced a neat flick to free Lamela running through from halfway and he did well out-pacing the Bournemouth chasers until he got in the area, when he tried one more touch and was robbed of the ball. He came closer a minute later, when Wanyama set him up, after Smith had hacked down Alli, but his shot from a narrow angle flew just over the angle of bar and post.

Alli tried to thread a pass through a forest of legs and the ball was cleared and then Eriksen tried a similar pass to Walker and it was picked off. The pace of the game had been picked up by Spurs and they were finding Walker and Rose better positions higher up the pitch. By the full backs getting ahead of the midfield, they were pulling home players out of position too.

Son had shot when Alli found him on the left of goal, but it was blocked away for a corner and Janssen came on for the South Korean straight away. With Spurs pushing on and Bournemouth losing a bit of their vitality, Vincent's physical presence was a good move. A free-kick on the right corner of the box was given when substitute Gradel fouled Walker and it was swung in by Lamela, but it was straight at Boruc.

Bournemouth's passing was too heavy and there was space opening up, as they tired after the effort they put in during the first half. However, Spurs nearly handed Bournemouth a good chance, with Dembele being dispossessed on the edge of the box and Wilson;s cross was cut out at the near post.

Wanyama took studs in the upper calf, by a reckless tackle from Arter, with no free-kick or yellow card issued, while Moussa Sissoko came on for Alli. Petty free-kicks broke up the game as it approached the last fifteen minutes, but Lamela put Sissoko wide on the right and his first time low ball cut back across the area gave Danny Rose a shooting chance, but he didn't get a decent contact on the ball, but Boruc had to flump to his right to get behind the on-target effort. Eriksen was put through by Eriksen, but he was out-numbered and had little support, so got squeezed out.

There was a flashpoint when Arter went into grab the ball when Sissoko was about to take a free-kick and got an elbow in the face, but the Bournemouth midfielder started grabbing shirts and both players got a talking to. The referee gave an innocuous free-kick against Janssen after he tried to win the ball back on the edge of the box having been pulled back himself. Then Spurs were grateful to Wanyama and Vertonghen for tackles in their own box as Wilshire looked to get in on a pass and then Gradel the second ball.

Eriksen almost opened up the Bournemouth defence, when he slipped a pass to Lamela, but Smith dived in to block his shot. From the block, Bournemouth broke away when Jan lost the ball and Mousa Dembele covered a lot of ground to get back and tackle the winger as he got into the box. Bournemouth then had another chance, as Francis' cross was headed over by Afobe. Gradel looked for a penalty, when he went down under challenge from Walker, but the Bournemouth sub had spent most of his time on the pitch on the turf, so the ref waved his appeals away.

Bournemouth had the better of the first half, with Spurs taking the second. Spurs still remain unbeaten, but it was the first game of the season that did not same outcome as the corresponding game last season. Level with Manchester City and Arsenal on points, but having played a game more and it may have been the over-passing around the Cherries' penalty area that cost us, as the home side got enough players back to block efforts on goal and for the second game running, Tottenham failed to score.  That is a worry, as we do not appear to fancy long shots, which might have tested Boruc more and could have given Son or Janssen the opportunity of a rebound.  Working good positions around the box is great when a goal comes form it, but often, it allowed Bournemouth to break on us, using the pace they have up front.  Our solid defence played well to restrict the number of efforts on goal that the home team had, but a better team might have made more of them.

With the youngsters set to be given a run-out at Anfield on Tuesday, there will be the chance for some first teamers to rest up before the Premier League champions come to visit next Saturday.  It is now a game we need to win, as the draws are allowing us to be caught and overtaken.
 

Gavin Stone

Sky really do saddle Spurs with some dross when they are televised live, with Alan Smith being the usual suspect, but it appears that Davie Provan is now singing from the same song-sheet.

And how they could say that Wilshite had a good game !  Really ?  I thought he was weak on the ball, non-existent off it and his passing was rank bad.  All our players were world beaters if compared to his performance then.