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For probably the first time since the first game following Harry Redknapp replacing Juande Ramos, the reserve side was heavily staffed with first teamers. Although, in terms of age and Premier League appearances, it should probably be noted that this wasn't quite as experienced a team it may have appeared to be at first glance. Spurs lined up with a flat 4-4-2. Giovani Dos Santos and FA Youth Cup hero Andros Townsend took the wide midfield positions, with Adel Taarabt up front alongside Manchester United’s Fraizer Campbell. Jake Livermore continued his rehabilitation from injury in central midfield, next to captain Jamie O’Hara. The other standout player from the FAYC game against Arsenal, Steven Caulker, started alongside Ricardo Rocha in defence.

From the early stages, it was apparent that Spurs weren’t going to dominate the game in the way that the nominally strong line up may have suggested they would. Fulham are no slouches at this level, and were organised, motivated, and had the game’s best player in Giles Barnes, who scored an excellent free kick to double the lead taken when Chris Gunter’s poor back pass found Alnwick typically slow to react, resulting in the concession of a penalty, duly converted.

Throughout, Spurs struggled to put any sustained pressure on the Fulham defence. There was little penetration on either flank, aside from some decent work by Townsend in the first half, and Taarabt’s tendency to overcomplicate, and Manchester United’s Fraizer Campbell’s appalling inability to control a ball, limited opportunities to progress through the middle. Fulham added a third in injury time to round things off.

All in all, a dire performance collectively, and in most individual cases as well.


The Players

Defensively, only Caulker emerged with any credit. He was, as usual, dominant in the air on straight balls from deep, and had few problems generally, given his lack of experience at this level. At times, understandably, you can see that he's still learning the game, particualrly in terms of where he needs to be positionally at any given time.

Alnwick provided further evidence of why he’s miles away from being Premier League standard - slow to react, poor kicking, suspect handling, and so on - and both Bale and Gunter were very poor at full back. Gunter’s poor passing cost two goals, and Bale looked lost going forward, and unable to execute the few bright ideas that he did have. Defensively, he looked shaky as well, as I think he tends to at left back generally. Rocha also struggled, despite Fulham not being particularly physically aggressive in attack.

Both Livermore and Danny Rose, who replaced him on the hour, are coming back from long term injuries, so can be excused some lack of sharpness. Rose, for his part, at least showed some desire to win the ball centrally. O’Hara, alongside them, was Spurs’ best player, but even he managed to go from the sublime to the ridiculous in his distribution. Unlike some of his first team colleagues, he at least had the right attitude, and recognised this as an opportunity to impress the watching first team coaching staff.

Dos Santos looked lost, for the most part, though did manage a couple of mazy, head-down runs. I’m still not entirely sure how great the level of talent he has is. He certainly doesn’t seem particularly aware of his team mates, and falls behind even someone relatively inexperienced like Townsend, in that regard, I would say. Townsend himself did well for periods of the game, particularly first half. Those who have seen more of him than last Thursday’s man of the match performance, will have recognised this as being more in line with a typical performance of his though - occasional bright spots, interspersed with long periods of being peripheral. Some of this is down to the type of player he is, being an old school winger who requires decent service, but I think he also has to learn that he needs to seek and demand the ball more as well, either by communicating with his team mates, or by the runs and positions he takes.

Taarabt had another of those games to forget, and his performance was very much in line with his performances at this level all season. Once again trying too hard, overcomplicating in situations that clearly don’t require it, and slowing play down generally. As usual though, he still managed a few moments of quality amongst the madness, including one excellent through ball over the top of the last man.

Obika and Mason both came off the bench and did no harm to their claims for further chances at this level. Obika struggled for service, with such a lack of ideas from midfield behind him, but did show a few signs of his ever improving confidence with the ball at his feet, be that picking a pull back pass to the edge of the area from out wide, or using a bit of skill to create space for a shot inside the box. Mason’s passing immediately caught the eye when he entered proceedings to play wide right in midfield. Two or three excellent switches of play to the left flank, and displaying obvious comfort with the ball at his feet.

Finally, a few words on Manchester United’s Fraizer Campbell. A player, let’s not forget, denying the likes of Mason and Obika the chance to gain more experience at this, and higher, levels. Actually no, I’m not going to put any more effort into describing his performance, than he himself put into it. I guess we can at least take comfort from the evidence before us that our own academy is now managing to produce players that are technically light years ahead of at least one example from United’s much vaunted set up.


The Ratings

Alnwick - 53% - Makes even routine saves look like hard work.
Gunter - 41% - Lapses in concentration, which were unfortunately punished.
Caulker - 67% - Looked pretty comfortable at this level.
Rocha - 51% - Struggled with his direct opponents both aerially and on the deck.
Bale - 44% - Poor passing and poor defensively.
Dos Santos - 57% - Couple of decent runs, but mainly a peripheral figure.
Livermore - 58% - Looked off the pace for the most part, understandably.
O’Hara - 72% - Hit and miss distribution, but application and attitude was right.
Townsend - 64% - Decent first half, but faded and needs to seek the ball more.
Taarabt - 54% - Same old story, overcomplicating and slowing play down.
Campbell - 34% - Awful player, playing awfully, with virtually zero commitment

Obika - 62% - Virtually no service, but did some decent things with what scraps he got.
Rose - 60% - Passing was sloppy, but added some bite centrally.
Mason - 65% - His accurate passing and awareness made him stand out like a sore thumb in this company.