League Cup

The start was delayed for 15 minutes due to traffic congestion in North London but allowed us to listen to a fascinating discussion.

Tim Sherwood talked about Harry Kane saying he was above Roberto Soldado is the pecking order and that he out trained Soldado every day when he was boss. He was asked who were the strongest characters in the Tottenham side for the Brighton game and he said Kane and Townsend were the two single minded players who are going to get where they want to be.

He went on to say that they are not interested in where the next pound is coming from, the next move but simply want to well for their club, Tottenham.

Tottenham played in front of Brighton for the most part of the first half. Tottenham started well for 15 minutes then but then settled into slow play. It was taking Tottenham far too long to pass the ball, it was almost as if they felt they were better than Brighton and to simply go through the motions and a goal will come.

There was no urgency in our play, except for one or two players, Kane was always looking to be alive and Lennon had a good opening 25 minutes but then he also became subdued. The forwards weren't making any runs and the midfielders had nobody to pass to.

It was nice of Dembele to deign us with his presence, he started out with several dreadful first touches and proceeded to play the rest of the game in a lazy way as if it was beneath him. Clearly the game wasn't important enough for him.

It was good to hear Tim Sherwood say at half-time that referees bottle decisions at the big grounds, penalties get given at smaller grounds but the same foul at the Etihad or Old Trafford and you won't get it.

It took Lamela 9 minutes to make a difference, a double one-two with Soldado and Lamela slotted home the first before Harry Kane scored the second after 74 minutes which summed him up. The goal was all about desire. He collected the ball on the left and played a lovely reverse ball into Townsend inside the penalty area where most would simply have passed the ball back to Ben Davies.

Townsend got to the byline for Soldado to stab a shot that rebounded off the keeper to the far side of the goal. It was Harry Kane who had run from the left wing to sprint there first and knock the ball home. His goal was all about desire.

Tottenham XI - Vorm, Naughton, Fazio, Vertonghen, Davies, Dembele, Stambouli, Lennon, Kane, Townsend, Soldado

Tottenham Substitutes - Friedel, Dier, Chiriches, Chadli, Lamela, Mason, Paulinho