Good Ghaly Mister Jol-ly

It’s been a fairly slow news week for Spurs, as for once the club don’t have to take part in the Carling Cup second round, and thankfully were not implicated in the BBC bungs investigation. So the average fan has to look for little snippets from the official website, or the odd quote from a player that finds itself on the newswires. Today then it’s the turn of Hossam Ghaly, who has in lazy hack speak “pleaded with Martin Jol to be given a chance in the Tottenham side”.

In truth he has actually been quoted as saying, “At the start of pre-season I was really hoping that I was going to break into the team and play for Tottenham, but the chance didn't come for me in the first few games. Now I hope the manager has the confidence to pick me again because he has seen I can do a job for the team.” Fair enough Hossam, can’t argue with that.

He featured out of position at Old Trafford on the right hand side of midfield, where in truth he didn’t look particularly comfortable. When he was bought in January he was heralded by Damien Comolli, who was quoted on the official website at the time as saying "I have watched Hossam since he was 17 years old. He is a versatile, very physical and technically gifted midfielder who will offer us a number of playing options. He is a terrific addition to the squad." Sounds great, so why haven’t we seen more of him? Perhaps he should be given a go along side Zokora in the middle for a few games; he can’t do any worse than Murphy did against Fulham. If indeed he is technically gifted, which presumably means he can control the ball and pass, then the central midfield area could do with that. Zokora’s first touch hasn’t looked great, Davids couldn’t trap a bag of cement, and Huddles seems to like to dwell on the ball a little. So someone who can quickly receive a ball and pass it to feet, to keep a move flowing would be a welcome addition. Presumably, he was bought for more than shoring up our reserve team, so isn’t it about time he was given a go?

Also worth an honourable mention is Reto Ziegler. Looking at the reserve report from last night’s 3-1 spanking of West Ham, it looks like he had a stormer. He set up all three goals, and the report was Ziegler this and Ziegler that. He hasn’t exactly impressed in the first team, but then again who has lately? Maybe he is worth another try; it looks like his corners were causing some bother, and he set up a few chances with his crossing from the left, both problem areas for Spurs. That would then free Teemu Tainio from the left to play in his favoured central position. It’s certainly a thought, and maybe one that could be tried out against Slavia Prague next week.

The Waddler.