I never thought this day would ever come, but now it has. My beloved Tromsø against my beloved Tottenham.
I've been a season ticket holder for many years in Tromsø (not anymore though) and today I picked up my ticket for the game on Thursday at the Lane. I've been in England 12 times to see Spurs, both home and away, but this will be the first time I'm gonna be at the away end. Strange. I know it might be beyond comprehension for many of you how you can support two teams, but that's just the way it is! English football goes way back to the 60s in Norway, and almost everybody over here follows a team in England.
As for the game: Let there be no doubt, Spurs are gonna win this easily.
I was at the game yesterday and Tromsø played really well against Rosenborg. Tromsø are much better than their league position suggests, and I expect them to finish comfortably above relegation in the end. But against the current Tottenham team they stand no chance whatsoever.
Tromsø's tactic will be to park the bus and hope to create a couple of chances on the break. It worked well against Besiktas (narrowly lost 2-0 away after beating them 2-1 at home), but in the end there is no chance they are gonna keep up with the pace and movement of the Tottenham team.
Tromsø sold their best players the last year (Kara from Senegal was sold to Belgium, while Ruben Yttergård Jensen was sold to Kaiserslautern). However there are still a couple of players that are decent. Central midfielder Thomas Kind Bendiksen is young and talented, good on the ball and with an eye for a pass. Given time on the ball he can create something. Also they also have two very solid, experienced central defenders. Miika Koppinen from Finland (he scored for Rosenborg against Chelsea in Mourinho's last game before he was fired) and Jaroslaw Fojut from Poland. They are strong, robust and good in the air, but severely lacking in pace. Having Holtby or Eriksen threading balls through the defense is key, while high balls in the box is a no no. We might rest a few players because of the league situation, so I'll come back with a predicted line-up when I have some more info.
When I picked up the ticket today, the guy at the ticket office told me they had sold around 600 tickets, which is more than I expected. I suspect most of them are going to drink around Liverpool street station and then take the train up to White Hart Lane. There's probably quite a few Spurs fans coming from elsewhere in the country as well. Gonna be a fun day for the Norwegians! Any pubs close to the ground for the away fans?
If you have any questions, just bring 'em on!
