Now THAT is what I call a European performance. Dangerous in attack, solid in defence, playing at a ferociously high tempo throughout the 90 minutes. This certainly wasn’t the Inter of a few years ago; but with that performance I think we’d have beaten them too. It’s hard to pick faults in that display.
Brad Friedel – 7 – didn’t have that much to do, but did it well. A great save with his foot in the second half denied Inter a valuable away goal, and he did well claiming crosses and through balls.
Kyle Walker – 6 – played pretty well, defensively and offensively. Nothing else to really say here.
William Gallas – 7 – another solid performance in the centre of defence. He is slightly unlucky to still be maligned by a lot of the WHL faithful; he always gives his all and has played extremely well in our European run so far.
Jan Vertonghen – 8 – a similarly solid defensive performance, but with a goal to add to that. It was a good header – even if he was unmarked and only 8 yards out. Took the ball forward on marauding runs on occasion and had success.
BAE – 6 – Not much to do, did it well. Contributed offensively at times too.
Scott Parker – 8 – one of his best games since his return from injury. Together with the Moose, he bossed the midfield; not much got through him in the centre and he contributed greatly in attack too, linking up with the right wingeffectively.
Mousa Dembele – 8 – together with Scott, he dominated the centre of the pitch. Put on a turn of pace to beat his man about 68 times; a great attacking performance from the Moose, and the Parker-Dembele partnership is beginning to flourish.
Aaron Lennon – 7 – extremely hard-working, as always; puts in a shift offensively and defensively. A good pass leading to the Sigurdsson goal; always a threat down the right wing.
Gareth Bale – 7 – a well taken header and a couple of great mazy runs. A super corner for the SuperJan header, and an all-round good display from the Welsh wizard. Loses a mark for the dive.
Gylfi Sigurdsson – 8 – a goal, an assist and a hard working display from the Icelander. He is the definition of taking your chance when it comes; 6 months on the sidelines but now he is looking like the man we saw at Swansea last year.
Jermain Defoe – 7 – He may be small, but Spurs look so much better with this pocket of energy up front than Ade. Was so desperate to get a goal, and was unlucky not to. But on the evidence of this display, it won’t be long before he finds the net regularly again.
Substitutes:
Lewis Holtby – 6 – wanted the ball and provided his usual energy in his brief cameo, but didn’t create too much. By the time he came on, we were 3-0 up and the forward runs just weren’t there for him to find.
Jake Livermore – 6 – he’s a decent midfielder; I wouldn’t be too worried if he was forced to play a few games in the side.
Kyle Naughton – 6 – playing on the right wing; didn’t have enough time to influence the game.
What are your thoughts on the game? Do you agree with my ratings?
By Alex Beck