COLUMNIST Alex White on why Tottenham aren't all that and how Crystal Palace can win at White Hart Lane...
THE result against Aston Villa wasn't the one we were all hoping for, especially after the previous performances against Swansea and Liverpool.
In reality the performance against fellow strugglers wasn't too bad, at times we played some really neat football. It just turned out as one of those footballing clichés of "it just wasn't our day".
The biggest frustration for many of us Eagles fans is that Villa are probably the worst side to come to Selhurst this season and to leave empty-handed was gutting.
From the outside, the tests don't get any easier ahead of this weekend's trip to Tottenham. most people, including Palace fans themselves, will have already written us off.
But I think we have reason to be optimistic in this fixture. We proved last season that, on our day, we can beat anyone and Spurs are certainly not the side of a couple of years ago. In fact, I watched them a couple of weeks back against Hull and they looked average at best.
The media have built up a reputation around Spurs that they are a top side and should challenge for the top six this season but man for man they are really no better than us. I know that will sound crazy to read but if you break down their starting line-ups from the last couple of games their line-up isn't far superior to ours.
Take the players like Eriksen, Lloris and perhaps Vertonghen out of the side and this Spurs team is very poor. If they finish in the top 10 this season, I think they should be happy.
Spurs have started recent weeks with Ryan Mason and Nabil Bentaleb in central midfield. If Joe Ledley is back fit I would love to see the trio of MacArthur, Ledley and Jedinak (better known as McJedley) back in the lineup to take advantage of their lack of quality centrally and overrun Spurs midfield.
This Spurs team are really nothing to be feared and on our day we can beat this side comfortably. It was obvious what we lacked against Villa and that was quality in the final third. With players such as Puncheon, Zaha and Bolasie we know we have the quality to threaten sides and get in behind them.
Wilf Zaha will be the first to admit his performance against Villa was below what we expect of him but I would stick with him this weekend. Wilf is the type of lad who needs games to build confidence and regain his form and on his day he can beat any defender on the planet.
