Team of The Week

FORMATION : 4-4-2
GK : David James - Portsmouth
RB : Ledley King -Totenham
CB : Christopher Samba - blackburn
CB : Michael Dawson - Tottenham
LB : Gareth Bale - Tottenham

RM: Michael Brown - Porsmouth
CM: Luis Nani - Man. United
CM: Morten Gamst Pedersen - Blackburn
LM: Will Atkinson - Hull
ST : Craig Bellamy - man. City
ST : Nicolas Anelka - Chelsea


Sunday, August 16, 2009

Redknapp: We deserved it

Harry Redknapp felt his Tottenham Hotspur side fully deserved their 2-1 win over Liverpool on Sunday.

Spurs dominated for much of the White Hart Lane encounter, with Robbie Keane guilty of missing a couple of presentable first-half chances. They took the lead before the break when Benoit Assou-Ekotto found the net with a spectacular long-range effort, writes Stewart Coggin.

Liverpool were level when Steven Gerrard converted a penalty after the impressive Glen Johnson was brought down in the area by Heurelho Gomes.

But Redknapp's side responded well and restored their lead moments later when debutante Sebastien Bassong climbed highest to head home a Luka Modric free-kick.

"I'm really pleased. I thought we played well today and deserved the win," said Redknapp. "We beat them here 2-1 last year and they absolutely slaughtered us. But this was a different story. We could have been two goals up by half time and had the game almost sown up."

Redknapp reserved special praise for Bassong, the centre-back recently signed from Newcastle United. The Cameroon international was a commanding presence against Fernando Torres whose threat was nullified for the bulk of the match.

"I think he's going to be an outstanding player," said Redknapp. "He's not even fit. He can get an awful lot fitter. He's missed a pre-season with Newcastle. We followed him and followed him and I think he's got the potential to be a top defender."

Redknapp is in upbeat mood about the season ahead, and is pleased with the depth of his squad, ahead of the trip to Hull City on Wednesday.

"It was a good performance but we need to go to Hull and that'll be a test for us," he added. "We have got a good squad. We've got four good strikers now. It was difficult leaving Crouchy (Peter Crouch) out, but we have good competition. We are strong at centre-half and there's good competition everywhere.

"I like the look of the team, I like the look of the players. We've got some different players than maybe Tottenham have been used to. (Wilson) Palacios gives you something different, a Graham Roberts type who we have not had here for a few years. You need people like him if you are going to be successful. We've changed the team around, we changed the characters and we look a much better group of players."

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez admitted there was much room for improvement from his side after the opening day defeat.

"We did not play well in the first half, but were much better in the second. We pushed harder and had more options in the final third," he said.

"Obviously we have to improve if we want to win these types of games.

"We have to improve in the middle, keeping the ball. The understanding has to be better.

"But it is too early, and we have another game on Wednesday when clearly we have to improve in possession."

Benitez, who felt his side should have had a second-half penalty after Andriy Voronin went down in the area, admitted the Reds were poor in midfield but stressed there was life after Xabi Alonso, who was recently sold to Real Madrid.

"We had games without Alonso last season, and won a lot of games, so I think we have enough quality in the squad, and we have to prove this," he added.

"We knew that we had to play well, but it was not because of the pressure on us."

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