Match Thread Vs Panathinaikos

Versus

At





Group J, Match 2
04/10/2012
K.O @ 1800 BST

http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/season=2013/matches/round=2000356/match=2009934/prematch/background/index.html

strong team again. winning games can only be good for team moral. plus we need the points and the greeks are not doing great.

lloris
walker daws caulker. jan
stig dembelle hudd towsend

dempsey defoe

bring on bale and lennon late on if needed.

would perfer to rest jan but who else can play at left back

would perfer to rest jan but who else can play at left back

Rose but he's out on loan. Think that was a mistake personally.

TEAM NEWS

Tottenham have no new injuries ahead of their Europa League Group J meeting with Panathinaikos in Greece, but they are still without Emmanuel Adebayor.

The striker is back in training after a hamstring injury and could return for Sunday's visit of Aston Villa.

Goalkeeper Brad Friedel has not travelled to Athens, so either Hugo Lloris or Carlo Cudicini will start.

Kyle Naughton (foot) and Jake Livermore (hernia) are likely to be back in action after the international break.
Younes Kaboul (knee), Scott Parker (Achilles) and Benoit Assou-Ekotto (knee) remain on the sidelines.

Tottenham, the 1984 winners, drew 0-0 with Lazio in their opening match and will hope to close the gap to group leaders Maribor.

"For us to go on and eventually win the Champions League we have to get used to playing in these situations, both physically and mentally," said Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas.

"The overall objective is to get the points to progress in this competition, but there is obviously an education process that goes with that.

"There is a rotation of players that can happen in certain positions, but I always field the strongest team possible. And that can be a benefit in the learning process."

Villas-Boas's career took off in 2011 when he won four trophies with Porto including the Europa League and was later named as Chelsea boss.

Despite an unsuccessful tenure at Stamford Bridge, the Portuguese was recruited by Tottenham in July to replace Harry Redknapp.

Redknapp suggested the Europa League was an inconvenience for his side, but Villas-Boas feels the tournament warrants more respect.

"The profile of the competition is raised in other countries, but not England. I don't understand it," he said.

"I respect the competition. I certainly think it is viewed as a punishment in England and I cannot understand why.

"We have lost the Cup Winners' Cup, which I did not think was a good decision. But it was taken to enrich the Europa League."

Tottenham squad: Lloris, Cudicini, Smith, Vertonghen, Gallas, Dawson, Caulker, Walker, Dempsey, Huddlestone, Lennon, Bale, Dembele, Sigurdsson, Falque, Townsend, Sandro, Mason, Defoe.

1743:
LINE-UPS- Panathinaikos v Tottenham (18:00 BST)

Panathinaikos: Karnezis, Seitaridis, Triantafyllopoulos, Andre Pinto, Vyntra, Christodoulopoulos, Zeca, Vitolo, Marinos, Owusu-Abeyie, Toche. Subs: Kotsolis, Sissoko, Mavrias, Fornaroli, Barbarouses, Lagos, Chouchoumis.

Tottenham: Lloris, Walker, Dawson, Caulker, Vertonghen, Huddlestone, Dembele, Lennon, Dempsey, Bale, Defoe. Subs: Cudicini, Gallas, Sigurdsson, Falque, Sandro, Townsend, Mason.

Referee: Florian Meyer (Germany)

1747:
Panathinaikos v Tottenham (18:00 BST)

Panathinaikos are a team struggling for form in the league, and tonight they will have to do without experienced former Newcastle and Rangers centre-half Jean-Alain Boumsong, who is unavailable through injury. One-time Arsenal youngster Quincy Owusu-Abeyie, who enjoyed loan spells in England with Birmingham, Cardiff and Portsmouth, starts on the left wing. Without captain Kostas Katsouranis, sacked by the club earlier this week, Czech-Greek defensive midfielder Loukas Vyntra assumes the armband.
1745:
Panathinaikos v Tottenham (18:00 BST)

Tottenham make just three changes to the side that beat Manchester United 3-2 on Saturday, and are to field a strong line-up at Olympic Stadium in Athens. Hugo Lloris, France's number one signed on transfer deadline day, does indeed make only his second start for Tottenham in goal. Michael Dawson comes into defence in place of 35-year-old Williams Gallas, and is make captain for the match. In midfield one combative presence replaces another, as Tom Huddlestone deputises for Sandro, who drops to the bench.

1749:
"'Moderation is best,' according to Ancient Greek poet Cleobulus. Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas arrives in Greece seeming to have heeded that advice: 41-year-old keeper Brad Friedel has been left behind in London, and veteran centre-back William starts this Group J tie sitting on the bench. Tottenham have never won a game, or even scored, in Greece, but hosts Panathinaikos are in a world of trouble at present. The economic crisis in the country has hit the club hard, they are fourth from bottom in the league and earlier in the week sacked captain Kostas Katsouranis. The Shamrock have won 20 domestic titles in their 104-year history, but their current fractured state has all the hallmarks of that saddest of dramas: the Greek tragedy."

that was sh*t. we got what we deserved.
why play a strong team only for them to not care