Published: 5 January, 2013
by DAN CARRIER at White Hart Lane

FA Cup Third Round
SPURS 3, COVENTRY CITY 0

SPURS are on their way to Wembley – and assistant boss Steffen Freund believes his squad is well equipped to get to the final.

The former midfielder, now a key part of Andre Villas-Boas’s coaching staff, said after the 3-0 home win against Coventry they were going to treat the FA Cup as seriously as every other competition.

He said: “We approach every game with one thing in mind – to win. We showed that today.”

He added that his team had played a “clever” game.

He said: “The way the team approached it was different class. We scored early and then put in a great performance. We've won the Cup eight times at Spurs and we want to go all the way.”

The talk beforehand had been of the great 1987 FA Cup final, when City snatched an extra-time victory: Spurs were third in the league then, as they are today, but Coventry City were 10^th in the top flight. Now they are 52 places below Spurs and the yawning gap in class was instantly obvious. Almost immediately, Clint Dempsey, Gareth Bale and Gylfi Sigurdsson were tying their hapless markers in knots and any thoughts of giant-killing acts and Premier League glass jaws taking a sucker-punch shot seemed to be nothing but sky-blue daydreams.

The opener came on 13. Sigurdsson sent a good ball over from the right and it spun wickedly into the six-yard box. Clint Dempsey reacted quickest and hammered home from close range.

The second came on 32, with Dempsey's shot being deflected to the far post and Bale arriving behind defenders to hammer it home acrobatically.

Dempsey wrapped a satisfying first-half performance up by calmly guiding a header home off a Bale cross to make it three on 36.

Spurs knew the job was done and, instead of inflicting further humiliation on the visitors, they sat back and played neat stuff without really getting into gear in the second period. It felt as if they could score if they needed to – and some of the fringe players such as Tom Carroll and Andros Townsend, both second-half subs, did what they could to make themselves noticed, but the game as a competitive fixture was long over.

Freund added: “This was a clever performance. After a busy Christmas period, the players did what they needed to do.”

SPURS COMMENT by Dan Carrier

MANAGER AVB was able to make eight changes from the team that whacked Reading on New Year’s Day – and yet still fielded a side bristling with Premier League class. Last year, we saw Tottenham's Champions League charge falter due in part to the previous incumbent not being able to keep the whole squad happy or his first XI fresh – remember how stodgy class acts such as Niko Kranjcar became after a season as a sub?

AVB's big challenge must be to make sure everyone feels a vital part of the team whether they are getting game time or not – and if Spurs do make any signings this January, they are genuine top class and not bench-warmers like we saw 12 months ago. As today proved, they have strength in depth and, unless there are going to some sales – it was notable Jake Livermore wasn't named in the squad today – fans should be happy enough with what’s available until May. The players’ performances today show Spurs have class in depth.

Man of the Match: This was Scott Parker’s first start since the England Euro 2012 defeat against Italy last summer – and the midfield general looked keen to make up for lost time.
Spurs: Friedel, Dempsey, Adbayor, Bale, Sigurdsson, Parker, Huddlestone, Dawson, Caulker, Naughton, Assou-Ekotto. Subs: Lloris, Vertonghen, Lennon, Defoe, Dembele, Townsend, Carroll.
Attendance: 35,766