As Roberto
Martinez tries to make his style fit the Wigan Athletic
team, the results are erratic and the new players are
melding into the side, making any prediction of how they
will perform a difficult task.
As Spurs would
be looking to consolidate their fourth place, the football
in recent weeks (before the international break) has not
been up to some of the early season form, but the stifling
tactics of teams that visit White Hart Lane have to be
broken down and the array of attacking talent at Tottenham
must make more of their abilities to do so. The long
ball to Peter Crouch does not always bring the reward it is
hoped and the absence of the two little creators Aaron
Lennon and Luka Modric have made the side a less fluent
outfit.
Wigan will
still carry the hard working ethic of former manager Steve
Bruce, but the more skilful approach advocated by Martinez
will see them attempt to play a more expansive game, with
the strength and pace of Hugo Rodallega the focus point of
their attack.
Without the
jailed Marlon King, Wigan's options up front are somewhat
limited. Dutchman Daniel De Ridder, who also
interested Spurs when he was at Ajax, is a talented, but
sometimes frustrating wide man and former Swansea City and
Trinidad and Tobago striker Jason Scotland is yet to find
his best form in the top flight. A strong runner with
the ball and good at holding it up, he would benefit from
the tricky De Ridder finding some space to feed him the
opportunities he would thrive on.
However, it
is more likely that the midfield will consist of Charles
N'Zogbia, Hendry Thomas, Mohammed Diame and Jordi Gomez.
With N'Zogbia a mercurial talent, who fails to perform
regularly to a high standard, he did catch the eye of the
Spurs management before he left Newcastle United, but his
choice to join Wigan was no doubt swayed by the chance to
play regular first team football. He is quick and good
with the ball at his feet and can open up defences, as can
Gomez, who came to prominence in the Championship under
Martinez at Swansea. A good passer and good from
free-kicks, he may need to step up the energy levels in the
Premiership to make a similar impact. On loan from
Chelsea (as he was at Plymouth Argyle and Birmingham City),
Scott Sinclair is capable of taking on a team on his own
with his dribbling ability, but often his decision making in
passing lets him down. A good finisher, he is an
athletic, box-to-box player who can commit defenders.
Approaching veteran status, Jason Koumas is still an astute
passer and has a good cross in his locker, but is amore
irregular starter these days, as is Olivier Kapo, who has
fallen out with Steve Bruce twice and now appears to have
dropped out of the first team reckoning. South Korean
midfielder Won-Hee Cho is a new name to me and he has only
made a couple of appearances this season for the Latics.
One of the
problems for the side from the DW stadium is the defence,
which conceded four to Portsmouth when they were struggling
to hit the net against anyone. Goalkeeper Chris
Kirkland has failed to realise the early promise his career
offered and although he does make the impressive stop, his
positioning and decision making is often faulty, leading to
him conceding too easily. While Titus Bramble seems to
have been making a bit of a resurgence under Martinez, his
errors are often highlighted more often than his assets and
alongside him Emmerson Boyce is a similar player, who is
athletic and strong, but sometimes is suspect to a pacy
opponent. It is good to see former Spur Erik Edman
back to rude health and playing again. A no nonsense
defender, Erik likes to get forward on the overlap and his
ability to strike a ball cleanly makes him a danger should
he get within shooting range (which, for him, will be
anywhere 40 yards from goal !). Former Chelsea
defender Mario Melchiot has also been played in midfield
this season, but his pace is not what it once was and he
relies on his reading of the game to counter this.
Austrian Paul Scharner was another linked with Tottenham in
the summer, but it looked like a transfer window rumour and
his performances in the heart of the defence and up front
have marked him out as a versatile player. However, it
is questionable as to where his best position is and even
when at the back, he is a player who needs to be watched at
set-pieces. Spanish defender Antonio Amaya is another
new signing, who Martinez brought in during the summer
window and I am not sure about the ability of the former
Rayo Vallecano player.
With
Tottenham being without their more creative midfielders, it
may fall to Tom Huddlestone's passing to open up the Wigan
defence and the ability of Wigan to get results against
Chelsea and Manchester City cannot be under-estimated.
However, they have crashed big style against Arsenal, Pompey
and Manchester United, as well as losing to Hull City.
Not that it means a lot, as this game will be something
different again. For Spurs, the quality of the ball in
to Defoe and Keane will be crucial and should Crouch be
brought on, the use of his height should not just be reliant
on playing high balls up to him. It may be that some
players are introduced to shake things up a bit, but whoever
plays, it will need a degree of application to ensure the
home side have the right to play the football they want.
Martinez will
have watched Tottenham and will set out his team to stop the
attacking qualities of Redknapp's eleven, but I take Spurs
to edge the game ...
PREDICTION
: - Tottenham Hotspur 2
Wigan Athletic 1
For more information on
the opponents and their history, including full result history of
matches between the two teams, click
here.
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