Spurs v West Ham. A Fine Win.

Forget the scoreline showing a late second goal securing a relatively narrow victory, this was a match that Spurs dominated from start to finish. A series of fluent passing movements created a steady flow of goalscoring opportunities, whilst at the back our defence were largely untroubled by the poorest team we have faced so far this season.

Modric’s return presented an additional tool with which to dismantle West Ham’s 4-5-1 formation and we passed our way round their midfield to repeatedly expose the heart of their defence. Lennon proceeded to torment his full back who eventually limped off, fitness and confidence broken by the onslaught. His breathtaking burst to set up the first, hurtling at full tilt onto Defoe’s throughball, was one the finest moments of the season. The only danger is that we become too easily accustomed to such shimmering brilliance. I continue to marvel with slack jawed expectancy at wing play of the highest quality, a lost art consigned so I thought to another age and time. Modric was there to convert the cross and he joyfully celebrated in front of the Park Lane.

West Ham are a team of bit-part players searching in vain for a main character. Franco and Diamante are willing and neat, Collison highly promising and Stanilas’ pace can threaten but crippled by injuries they have failed to grasp the plot. If Zola (a man I admire as both player and manager) truly believed his post match comment on 5 Live that his team had the better of the second half then the pressure is sadly getting to him. To see Parker’s disconsolate figure disappearing down the tunnel as the celebrations for Modric’s goal subsided was an additional bonus. One up and their best player departed.

The opportunities continued to present themselves. We retained possession well for once, Huddlestone took up good positons and the little maestro drifted in from the left to remain involved. Assou Ekotto and Corluka, who had a good game, shrewdly using the angles with simple, effective passing throughout, supported well as they were under little pressure.

JD Celebrates His Goal With The Fans. pic Dylan Martinez/Reuters

We allowed the tempo to drop and so West Ham could at least dampen our attacking efforts. They set up their midfield to encourage us to move down the left in an attempt to cut off the supply to Lennon. Every so often we suddenly upped the pace around their box and chances would arise. Here is Modric’s great skill, holding the ball, passing it on and then a swift dart or first time ball. We combined well as a team today, one twos and neat triangles with support for the man in possession.

Gomes was seldom troubled, a fine late save from our opponents only real chance being his most notable contribution to a game where he was well protected by his defence. Dawson was again the pick, alert, muscular and decisive alongside Ledley’s reassuring presence. In front of them, Palacios had his best game for a long while, anticipating well and strong in the tackle. With all our attacking excellence, this was perhaps the most quietly pleasing outcome of the game. He has not only been off form, he has also been suffering visibly. This performance will do much for him and for the team.

I am wary of the cruise control on my car. Far from relaxing me as intended, I dislike the feeling of not being in total control and anyway slight adjustments are always required. Allowing the pace of our game to drop meant a false sense of security and could have been costly as we should have been two or three goals to the good by half time. West Ham went to 4-4-2 in the second half but fared little better. As the game wore on, our battle was increasingly against the tension that simmered around the Lane as we protected a single goal lead. A deflection or a breakaway, we’ve seen it so many times before as our superiority has been wasted, so relief all round as Defoe joyfully smashed in the second.

JD had a relatively quiet game but of course scored one and contributed to the other. This is often the way for a top class striker – does little but what he does do is potentially decisive. He’s not a patient man by nature; as the game wore on he was desperate to ram the insults down the throats of the Hammers fans and so resorted to the blasting the ball from further out, but when his moment arrived he kept his head. Also, he did not get himself so wound up that he was in any danger of dismissal as he was against Portsmouth.

Crouch had another of his frustrating days that I fear we are going to have get used to for as long as he plays for us. Seeing plenty of the ball he did not make good use of it and missed chances that would have eased any pressure, playing across the near post ball in the first half being the worst error. He might have been sacrificed for Keane but as the game went into the final quarter he offers the out-ball to ease pressure on the defence. Kranjcar might have come on earlier and his arrival invigorated a jaded midfield. He’s been excellent and was unlucky to be left out, but we are fortunate to be able to bring on someone of his ability. Harry presumably did not want to disrupt the team unnecessarily so Modric stayed on for five or minutes longer than his tiring legs demanded.

Towards the end, Lennon was working back and berated Corluka for not getting tighter to the dangerous Stanilas. Nothing untoward came of this, but that’s not the point. At the start of this season he would not have dared to address his more experienced team mate in this way. Not only that, he was right, showing how his tactical acumen is developing all the time.

So that’s four points and a good Christmas. And four clean sheets in a row, the first such sequence for eight or nine years. By not converting our superiority into goals we made harder work of this victory than was necessary but as soon as JD’s rocket went in, it was clear this was more about my nerves than the performance.

The photo is from the Guardian. I’ve credited it but I’ll take it down if necessary. I’ve used it because it is a great image.

Fulham v Spurs. One is Better Than None.

Spurs left Craven Cottage with a point, which many fans would have settled for before the match began. But football at the highest level is not about settling for half measures. It’s about making the possible reality, and yesterday it was certainly possible for Spurs to play a whole lot better.

For much of the game we held our own but lacked the sense of urgency and purpose that could have translated possession into supremacy, and in turn into more chances. We were never able to dictate the shape or tempo of the match despite having our fair share of the ball. Much of this was down to Fulham, who are well-organised and hard-working. It’s hard enough to break them down but this became nigh on impossible because we gave the ball away so frequently. This old failing of ours is wasteful of so much of our better play and is hampering our efforts to become a top four team.

Our back four were solid for the most part, with a few aberrations from Assou Ekotto, but Gomes was the star of the show. His Stretch Armstrong impression plucked the ball from all four corners of the goal, a fine all round display. Gomes looks more relaxed and confident, a far cry from this match last year where he was so edgy and out of touch that he provoked pity rather than anger. He made the most absurd error, getting his body behind a simple ball but somehow contriving to allow it to roll into the net.

Ironic then that this morning David James is openly declaring his desire to come to Spurs, adding to the usual guff about being flattered at the interest of a big club that it will help his World Cup chances. Sitting on the bench won’t help, so if there is any truth in this rumour, and James is usually careful in the way he expresses himself, he thinks that he will be first choice. Whether number one or not, James’ arrival would totally unsettle Gomes and undo all of the good work that he has accomplished this season with his coach Tony Parks. I don’t want him.

In my preview I was disparaging towards Bobby Zamora so naturally he had a fine game. Clever with his back to the goal, his link up play with team mates was conspicuously superior than the manner in which Crouch, a better player, linked with our forwards. Fulham stay closer in possession to their centre forward, buzzing around him and providing different options and angles. Crouch on the other hand was often detached from his colleagues. Keane did not help, another poor game, full of effort with no end product.

The old adage that success comes if you win at home and draw away is not so true in these days of three points for a win and teams with cutting counter-attacking strategies, but this remains a decent point, made better if we win against West Ham. Other teams have targeted Fulham as an away win and come away with nothing. Also, that’s three clean sheets in a row for the first time in four seasons, I believe. That must represent some sort of progress.

Fulham v Spurs Preview

I hope you have something better to do on Christmas Eve than read this…

Boxing Day derbies used to have more spice than a fixture against Fulham, who we face for the third year running. In the late 70s/early 80s Arsenal were the regular opponents on the 26th or 27th, followed for the next few seasons by West Ham. Presumably the police put a stop to all of this because of the trouble, hence the ‘we will fight for evermore because of Boxing Day’ song. Eminently sensible, but there was a real sense of anti-climax when we instead faced Southampton one year.

Fulham are cuddly and nice, with a charming old style ground by the river, all too scenic and peaceful for football. Maybe they are the right choice for Christmas after all.

They will be difficult opponents. Unbeaten in five, their confidence is sky high after beating Manchester United last week. Their manager is old style too, and all the better for it. Roy Hodgson comes over as a real football man, deeply knowledgeable and highly passionate about the game. This is manifested not in showy histrionics but in quiet determination. He gives the impression that he is always thinking about football. In interviews, he sounds serious but a little vague, his mind already pondering a possible future purchase or tiny alterations that will make all the difference. He goes through the motions when a microphone is thrust in front of him but really he’s on a higher, more cerebral plane.

He’s fashioned a hard working team who are well-organised and more than the sum of their parts. Hangeland was a canny purchase and he has brought the best out Murphy, something we conspicuously failed to do. He’s even got some goals from Zamora. You could see why Hoddle took a chance on Booby, where others had a long look and declined. He had mobility, control and could hold the ball up well. However, what appeared to be youthful promise to improve upon proved to be a ceiling – that was as good it got. It’s a damning indictment on England and our desperation for a centre forward as the fulcrum for the team that he is being seriously touted as an international.

For Spurs, it must be same again. An attacking attitude will put more pressure on Fulham than they have been used to and Huddlestone’s passing over distance could take the Fulham midfield out of the game if we keep a high tempo. Above all, carry on where we left off last week and maintain that same workrate. We must respect our opponents but not get too carried away with their win last week. Up against a defence of Carrick, Fletcher and some other bloke, I’d fancy even us to beat them.

Meanwhile, the Dublin fiasco has as predicted gone away, even though it is the silly season and the papers usually will take anything to fill up some space. A Prem manager in a brothel means those columns are empty no longer, I’ll grant you that.

A draw plus three points against West Ham will see us nicely set up for the New Year. Happy Christmas one and all.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Furl | Newsvine

Charity Begins in the Dressing Room

Working as I do in a career where teamwork is crucial, I’ve attended more than my fair share of team-building exercises. I’ve gathered in intense circles of earnest contemplation, gazed at my navel, had days out in the country and built models of bridges (oh the significance) from cardboard, paper and string. Catching so many toppling colleagues in trust exercises, I’ve become known as the Pat Jennings of my profession.

Mercifully I’ve so far been spared the ordeal of crossing the Thames in a raft made from wood and oil drums lashed together with rope by myself, the temp in accounts and the IT nerd. However, I have participated in more than one team sculpt. Unfortunately this does not involve getting messy with large dollops of clay. Rather, you choose to stand in a place that symbolises your relationship with your colleagues, close perhaps if you feel good, holding hands to represent a strong bond or the merest fingertip touch if you are hanging on for dear life. It feels like playing Twister at a funeral.

But after all these years of experience, my advice is that only one thing is truly effective – alcohol. A few beers round the table in a decent pub or a glass of wine in the park allows people to talk to each other in a relaxed way and loosen a few inhibitions. I’ve been on two highly expensive and professionally facilitated jaunts that people barely survived, then went off to the pub to get over it and returned to work the following Monday full of how they got to know their team mates over a pint and a couple of g and t’s.

British professional footballers don’t need much prompting to get the beers in but if the Spurs squad felt better after team-bonding in Dublin, then that can do nothing but good. Footballers are athletes, whether they see themselves that way or not, and so they have to watch carefully what they eat and drink as well as slogging out the miles on the training pitch. Provided that they do not overdo it every night of the week or, worse, succumb to the stress of life at the top by regular solitary drinking, the occasional night out is a valuable pressure-valve for young men in the public eye. Far worse are players who clearly aren’t fit because they are unwilling to work hard or who are overweight. They will have no sympathy from me.

Team spirit at Spurs seems good, despite the odd grumbles from men who are not regular starters. Dublin probably helped. The question is not about the moral outrage spouted in many of the papers over the past few days or the value for the squad. Rather, it is more plain – why didn’t Redknapp allow them to have a Christmas party in the first place?

He has been widely quoted as having a well-known dislike of Christmas parties for the players. But he knows they are part of our football culture, and Harry knows that culture better than most. At West Ham and Portsmouth it could not be said that he had a reputation as a martinet when it comes to team discipline. The unchaperoned golf trip was obviously a euphemism for something more lively, yet he appears to have given his blessing. If so, then why make a big thing about parties in the first place? Keep quiet, let the players organise something and let it run its course. As it stands, he risks having his authority publicly undermined by a captain prepared flagrantly to disregard his manager’s expressly stated command. At any club the manager must be in control.

It’s even harder to fathom why HR or the players thought they would not be found out. In the old days, this would have been a scoop uncovered by a crack journalist. Now it’s any old clubber with a mobile phone and hold the front page.

This whole business is avoidable. Maybe he made his comments in an unguarded moment – you know how he gets excited when a microphone is thrust in front of him – and thought more about sounding tough over indiscretions rather than thinking it through.

In other clubs this would have been portrayed as a crisis in confidence in the manager, i.e. the players have taken absolutely no notice of him, and that club discipline has fallen apart. Cue old photos of Crouch sticking his head out of the car sunroof and Led falling into and out of various nightclubs. Harry’s cosy relationship with the media has really helped, however. That’s not how they have chosen to portray Redknapp, so it’s good old Uncle Harry and boys will be boys.

A quiet word and a donation to charity is the best way of sorting this out, given where we are, and for the club’s sake this is the best outcome. The papers have fallen over themselves to trump the anticipated total, ranging from £2k each in the Indy, 5k (the Sun), £20k (Mirror) up to a total of £1m in the Star. If Redknapp thought for a single moment that his captain was working against him then Keane would be out on his backside in the blink of an eye. A wink from Harry, cough up lads and next time, don’t get caught. Thank goodness it’s over.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Furl | Newsvine

Blackburn v Spurs

A solid away win keeps Tottenham Hotspur in contention and more importantly perhaps, that’s two clean sheets in a row for the first time this season, as well as our first away victory for two months. Our passing game spluttered fitfully but we rose to the occasion in the second half when hard graft enabled us to maintain our hold on the lead offered by Crouch’s header late in the first period. Rising to the challenge in adversity is a talent we would do well to nurture.

I say ‘adversity’. Their strikers’ dangerous moments were outweighed by mediocrity in other areas of the pitch and despite their pressing, Blackburn never totally closed down the space in midfield. However, we’ve come unstuck against such opponents in the past, this match last season being one of those occasions. We were on a good run as Harry sprinkled magic dust over the team, then Palacios was unluckily sent off for a second bookable offence that wasn’t and we duly imploded, their winning goal coming from a particularly woeful piece of defending. It can’t be that easy for so many defenders to miss a cross and leave so much space in the six yard box.

Yesterday we were made of sterner stuff. Another good game from Dawson, ably supported by Bassong. Daws still got caught out by flying in, too high up the field. His nervousness that his lack of pace will be found out causes more problems than his speed. He needs more confidence in his ability. Stand tall, stay on your feet, don’t get pulled too far forward and trust that colleagues will cover.

Nothing much written in this blog about Gomes lately. He’s quietly getting on with the business of goalkeeping and yesterday made a couple of cracking saves. He gets down so well to low shots. The shambles of Blackburn’s winner last season as he was sucked unthinking onto the near post is not likely to be repeated too frequently.

The other difference with this win is that we made few chances but took a high proportion of those that arrived. Some classic centre forward play from Crouch. Determination in the first, smothering Nelsen’s brawn to head home firmly, and perfect chance-taking for the second, smoothly tucked away with poise and balance, two adjectives that I’m certain I haven’t used to describe him so far.

Huddlestone and Jenas combined well, JJ driving forward to come up with the second while Hud dropped back to defend.

Meanwhile, Harry’s fervent wish that his alleged financial indiscretions might disappear has not been granted, even though it is Christmas. I wrote about this in October: Harry v The Taxman – Battle of the Titans  http://wp.me/pzmOo-40 and nothing has changed my view that he is in danger of being scapegoated to show that the massive Stevens inquiry has not been wasted. It appears that the sum in question is comparatively small beer at about £10k. I’ve been hamstrung this year by unpaid taxes (my employer’s fault in case you are wondering) running into the hundreds but Harry has in his words paid £10m in tax over the years. However, they need someone to be fronted up as a warning to those immersed in the murky world of football and a high profile guy like Redknapp fits the bill perfectly.

Spurs statement is supportive but maintains a degree of distance. It’s odd that they say it is ‘not related to football matters’ because surely it has something to do with his contract at Portsmouth. My understanding is that with such sums, a settlement is the usual option but this may turn on whether the Revenue pursues the fraud angle.  Actually, it will turn on the skill of Harry’s hotshot lawyer who defended the Jockey Keiron Fallon recently. That garnered plenty of unwelcome publicity so it’s more negative attention for the club.

Blackburn v Spurs Preview

Spurs travel to Blackburn today in high spirits, and that’s not just the after-effects of the Dublin Christmas party.After such a fine win against Manchester City, we need to maintain the mood, energy and skill in what is another winnable away fixture.

There’s not much to talk about with the team selection – same again, surely. Upfront, Keane might have a look-in, though. Redknapp has made changes to the striking partnership throughout the season based on his assessment of our opponents’ defensive weaknesses rather than our form in the previous match. Samba and Nelsen might be one of the few centre back partnerships to be relieved to face Crouch instead of the quicker, more mobile Keane, who has done well enough against Blackburn in the past.

At the back, Harry has a cautious attitude to change, and anyway we’ve only got two centre halves.  Blackburn were horribly ordinary against Birmingham in the week, a series of high balls forward underlining their lack of creativity. If Daws and Bassong stay alert and mark assiduously then we should be able to resist. Palacios needs a rest but will probably play: he should be stationed permanently in front of our back four. It’s possible that Harry wants him to play his way through his bad patch but a break now might refresh him for the Christmas period. Word is that Redknapp is an admirer of Jenas but it’s questionable if he has faith that between them he and Huddlestone can provide enough of a defensive barrier. Hud should be willing to tuck in between the centre backs if we are defending in the air.

Once more we look to Lennon for the source of our goals. Chimbonda might be shifted to left back to handle him. I rated Chimbo, moody greedy git though he may be. His form with us dropped as soon as it entered his head that we might not deliver the success he sought, so from then on, he was off, first in his mind and then in reality. I’m certain he regrets leaving, discovering as many do that change somehow breaks up what is working, the things that are going right. Eh Robbie? Allardyce will have a better plan to nullify Lennon’s danger than one of his predecessors at Ewood Park did on Wednesday, so we must look to use the space double marking creates elsewhere on the field.

Off the pitch, the Spurs’ players determination to be branded drunks continues unabated. My initial reaction to the Dublin reports was disbelief but no one seems to want to deny it. If players want to let their hair down occasionally, I have no problem with that. Emphasis on the word ‘occasionally’ here. Young men having a good time is part of normal life and if it occasionally (again) eases the pressure and enables them relax as the rest of us do, then fine. There’s a huge difference between that and partying several nights a week or, worse, serious drinking, often in private, as a refuge from their fame and the consequent expectations.

So in worrying abut this episode, I’m not occupying the moral high ground.  If we are to believe what is being said in the media, the club captain has organised a rebellion in direct confrontation with his manager’s instructions. Most of the squad have gone along with it. Keane’s position therefore is untenable, but more significantly, Redknapp’s authority has been totally undermined. He said no party and moreover has made a big splash about it in the papers. They partyed.

Except this is not quite what happened. Redknapp permitted a golfing trip. Spurs fans and the world of football have been presented with the concept that one of the most experienced and wily managers in the game happily accepted that an unchaperoned group of players would have a round, followed by a couple of lemonade and limes and tucked up in bed by 10.30. I kind of like the idea that they actually thought no one would find out. Ireland is indeed a land of green farmland, but my understanding is that these days it has telecommunication contact with the outside world.

Nobody comes out of this with any credit and the club look absurd. If the players were to have a party, let them. Never mind, it’s already spawned new urban slang. ‘Fancy a round of golf tonight? See you down the pub then’.

Spurs v Manchester City. Dawson is Our Leader. We Shall Not Be Moved

A satisfying win for Spurs against Manchester City, one of our main rivals, not without its problems but in the end a comprehensive victory.

After 33 minutes, something remarkable happened. We passed the ball around a bit. I glanced up at the clock to quietly mark the moment. Until then my head had been swivelling like a spectator at centre court as the ball whizzed from one end to the other as fast as a Federer forehand. Entertaining enough but we weren’t getting anywhere by missing out the midfield and hitting early balls to Crouch and Defoe. This must have been tactical orders. City pressed right up the field so I presume we wanted to clear our lines and work from knock downs. Maybe it was designed to get away to a start without mishap, then settle down. Defoe and Crouch had problems with understanding the offside rule, although to be fair JD has really worked on this problem that bedevilled his game over the last few seasons. Unfortunately, as fast as the ball pinged forward, back it came as Crouch’s lack of close control was highlighted.

We were getting nowhere and City looked sharp and purposeful, quick to the ball with Tevez in threatening space between the back four and midfield. Then a little move, Lennon down the right and a chance. Just wide, and nothing special, but the tide had turned. From then on, our grip on the game tightened as City simply faded away. Kranjcar got on the ball and found his touch whereas Huddlestone never got the range or weight of pass. We fed the ball wide right and Lenon took Sylvinho apart. Once again we saw how he now has a cross to match his pace and dribbling, a lovely ball stood up to the far post for the first goal. It was a thrilling period of the match, holding our breath as he twisted and turned, promise in every touch. Hughes made a huge mistake in leaving Sylvinho on his own with Robinho in front him. Come right this way, Mr Lennon, the goal is waiting for you. Next time, read my preview, Mark. Or not.

Immersed in the sea of misery, hope and desperation that is the way I watch Spurs, defending a lead causes more trauma than when we are chasing a goal deficit, as with Wolves on Saturday. I am a hopeless case: even when we were two up I see the gaps at the back, the might-have-beens, the danger of Tevez on the ball…This may have some basis in reality, given our apparently unending capacity over the years to cave in, but the fact is it says more about my psyche, permanently damaged after 40 years of supporting Spurs, than it does about what happens on the pitch. City were not going to score. It was they who folded in adversity, their expensive stars able to live easily with defeat. I genuinely forgot Robinho was playing until he strolled towards the Shelf at the start of the second half.

But last night there was another, more significant reason to ease my anxieties. Michael Dawson produced a magnificent performance, the heart of the defence and the soul of the team. He’s normally strong in the box, determined in the air and fearless in his blocking. In addition, his decision-taking was impeccable, effortlessly stepping forward to intercept and tackle around the edge of the box or to cut out a through ball. His distribution, short and long, retained possession and turned defence to attack. His expression is now steely focus, dealing with the moment and then straight away thinking ahead, either to direct others into place or to anticipate danger. If we need to maintain a high tempo, then Daws will keep it moving from the back. That purpose and urgency communicated itself through to the team, whose spirits must have been raised by such might behind them.

Daws is not the finished article. He must always work so hard on his positioning and anticipation to compensate for his lack of pace and he still lets players get in front of him and/or between him and his defensive partner. But our search for a leader? Right there. Give him a go, HR, regardless of the fitness of others. He’s earned it.

Never mind this football lark, long ball down the middle, a Gilzean-esque flick (and believe me, there is no higher praise in my book) and we are two up. Crouch is so frustrating, he won every ball in the air, trouble is, you don’t know where it is going to end up. Most players have good and bad games. He has good and bad spells in most matches, beginning last night with some poor control, then setting up both goals and a purple patch where he was unplayable that then inspired him to attempt to score from as far out as possible when on each occasion other players were much better placed.

Niko sneaked through for the third, not sure quite how but a thrilling climax to the match, allowing even me to actually enjoy the last five minutes of the game, complete with a bit of Adebayor-baiting.

Hud did not get going, JD’s upper body strength enables him to hold the ball much better than in previous seasons, and Assou Ekotto put all thoughts of handbags to one side with an accomplished 90 minutes. Wilson looks out of sorts still. When it doesn’t work for him, he dwells on it, admonishing himself with a pained expression and Honduran swearing. It’s a bad sign if players allow mistakes to play on their mind.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Furl | Newsvine

Spurs v Manchester City Preview

If Spurs top four ambitions are more than mere pretension, tonight’s match is the biggest of the season so far. Not only do we face one of our biggest rivals for a top spot, we badly need to boost our flagging form and morale.

After a good period, we’re now looking over our shoulders at Birmingham. With all due disrespect we should be streets ahead of them. I only watched the first half of their game against Blackburn last night, then I turned off as a blank screen was more entertaining.  They won’t be able to stay up there for too long because they can’t score enough goals, but it shows what can be achieved in the Premier League with a strong work ethic and disciplined defending. I notice that McCarthy, in justifying how his poor lambs needed a rest against Man U, quoted his fitness coach’s ‘effort ratings’, which were high on Saturday and apparently this increases the likelihood of them picking up an injury if they play again in the week. I wonder if we have these – I suspect not, and I would prefer to have a ’scintillating cross field 50 yard pass’ rating or ‘breathtaking dribble leaving countless opponents floundering in my wake’ score, which I’ll wager Wolves do not account for. But the reality is that we have to graft discipline and effort onto our game if we are to get anywhere. It’s as much about positioning at the back and for the defensive midfield as it is about sweat and toil.

McCarthy uncovered our dark secret, that you can come to Spurs with a plan and make it work. You can’t do that against United, hence the team changes. Actually, it’s more of an open secret. Stoke knew, and so will Mark Hughes. He’s been criticised by some of his own fans for being too negative, despite the attacking talent at his disposal, but tonight this approach will suit just fine. Expect them to defend deep and in numbers and look to hit us on the break, although with Bellamy and SWP not available they have lost some of the weapons to get at Corluka and Dawson, our slow defenders. Bassong must remain alert; his positioning around Daws could be the difference between winning and losing. He’ll have to take his side of the box and be around to cover.

For Spurs, Harry might be tempted to make changes after Saturday. One radical option could be the different tactic of attacking full backs, i.e. Hutton and Bale for Corluka and BAE. This bold option would increase our attacking options and put pressure on a City defence that has been known to

BAE and Fan Face Off

wobble. Lescott and Toure have not settled as a partnership, while the left back situation is difficult without the injured Bridge. However, this could leave us vulnerable in defence. Wilson, poor uncertain and worried-looking Wilson, can’t provide enough cover at the moment, but although he needs a rest we don’t have enough faith in JJ for this crucial game. I suspect the same team will start with the exception of Crouch for Keane. Modric is not fit enough for 90 minutes and maybe Wilson can have Saturday off. Lennon should get as much of the ball as possible to exploit that left side.

BAE might be absent – he seemed to be in some discomfort from his groin on Saturday and it has been rumoured that he needs specialist treatment plus a few weeks rest. I wonder if that might coincide with the Africa Cup of Nations… At least the fracas has been sorted out. Having read about it, I was amazed at how little happened when I saw the video (on the Sun website if you haven’t seen it). The club have done well by stepping in to mediate but there is little credit to the supporter who first abuses one of our players and then runs to the police when he provokes a reaction, or indeed to the person who filmed the thing on his mobile and received a few hundred quid from the Sun. A  big help to our efforts, thank you both. I reckon the fan has suddenly realised his mistake – his season ticket in the Jason Dozzell Memorial Lounge, or whatever those seats by the tunnel are, would otherwise have been in jeopardy.

BAE seems so detached at times, you wonder what goes on in his mind. He’s been quoted as saying that he is not that interested in football, he just sees it as something he is good at and can make money. He goes through half a season without altering his expression, yet he can be wound up, witness the fan’s comment or the latest of his brainstorms at Everton 10 days ago. My son went to Bolton away and afterwards stayed around the players entrance. All the players came and signed autographs and posed for pictures, except Benny who strolled over to the coach behind the protection of his giant headphones. He’s a decent footballer who has worked hard on his game. Maybe he is a bit off because of that injury, hence the lack of movement down the flank on Saturday. A rest could be the cure.

Spurs v Wolves. Weak Minds At Work

With a few desperate minutes left, three of the Premier League’s most talented players conspired over a free kick outside the Wolves box. As the tension simmered around the Lane, they after great deliberation hatched their devilish plan. The whistle blew and the execution was impeccable. Defoe to Modric, Modric to Huddlestone – except the ball was returned to precisely the same blade of grass to be gratefully smothered by a couple of eager onrushing defenders.

Our performance in a nutshell, a brainless and futile effort. To suggest that the rest is not worth discussing is tempting but unfair, because Wolves deserve credit for a fine defensive display. Admittedly their intentions were revealed after 30 seconds, when ten of their players clustered around their penalty area, and the early goal gave them the perfect incentive, but they stuck to McCarthy’s plan with great resilience.

There it is. I couldn’t resist. Second para and the ‘R word’ already, my word of the season. They had it, we didn’t. What’s worse, I thought we were learning it, but the evidence from successive weeks shows this was a false hope. Confronted with the requirement to be patient, considered and determined, our resolve crumbled in the second half, our superior skills and talent reduced to a series of long hopeful punts in the vague direction of Crouch’s spindly body.

A bad start set us back on our heels. We have been defending set pieces better of late and admittedly it looked a decent ball but surely we could have done something about their goal. Dawson played well again and if the rest of the team had possessed half his obvious urgency then we would not have lost, but he still let his man come in front of him to rise unchallenged.

Near the end the Wolves fans chanted about only ever being given s**t refs, but they have short memories. Being a mature, balanced individual, I reacted as any fan would to a defeat and deliberately didn’t watch MOTD. The theory is that if Hansen, Lawro and Shearer don’t make their pronouncements the game didn’t really exist. That and sticking my fingers in my ears and going ‘Lalalala’. So without the benefit of a replay I may be totally misguided in not seeing anything wrong with Hud’s challenge that was flagged a foul by an over-eager linesman anxious to make an impression.

Around me there was growing frustration but as the game went on I thought we were doing well enough. The well-organised defensive barrier was hard to break down but for the most part we kept possession and made space, especially towards the end of the half. Lennon had two men on him as soon as he touched the ball and defenders concentrated their efforts on the near post to block crosses. However, they can’t be everywhere and we consistently spread the ball wide and maintained a decent tempo. Huddlestone was excellent throughout the half, superb passing allied to an unusually high workrate. Kranjcar was also prominent and Assou Ekotto saw plenty of the ball, delivering some fine crosses.

This was always going to be a game of few chances. Although we lacked a cutting edge, those chances did arrive but were not taken. Keane should have done better with a header, and he, Lenny, JD and Niko all wanted that extra touch on the ball that was not there as Wolves began a game-long series of flying blocks and lunging tackles. You would think that the forwards’ confidence was high and that they could try an early or first-time shot, but curiously they collectively seemed unable to do so. Maybe their confidence is more fragile than might first appear.

Keane was especially poor. On several occasions he wasted hard-earned openings by taking the ball wide rather than striking for the heart of the defence. More space but less danger. He cut a forlorn figure when substituted. Something is not right in his mind. Wilson too is a shadow of his former self, wasting possession consistently. He needs a rest.

Meanwhile, behind me Dave the pie-man dozed contentedly, oblivious to all efforts to wake him. He had the right idea.

The series of excellent crosses from BAE in particular were largely wasted in the first half for want of a big centre forward to get on the end of them. So Crouch comes on and the stream of crosses totally dries up, replaced by endless balls delivered from wide and about 40 yards out. Even with this tactic, we were unable to get more than one player close to Crouch for any of his knock-downs. Poor though most of them were, the law of averages suggests that something will come of them if players can shift themselves. But apparently transfixed by the shiny bright sphere glistening in the floodlights, the players stood back and admired the ball’s graceful arc through the night sky.

This aspect of our play is utterly unfathomable and unacceptable. It’s not Crouch’s fault – I’ve said before that he likes the ball in front of him and would have lapped up the first half crossing, delivered from the byline or close to it, whipped in and around the 6 yard box. Under pressure (actually, not that much pressure), there is a collective mental disintegration. We could not build a move of four passes, or get the ball wide, or link the full back with the wide man. Last Sunday, the same mental attitude meant we conceded endless free kicks for no reason and could not keep possession, thereby throwing away a match we had sown up.

It’s not as if we can’t be creative or keep the ball, and that’s what makes it so disappointing. With such a lack of mental strength we will not get anywhere and are in danger of wasting the full talents of the best squad we have had at the Lane for years.

One slight plus was the reappearance of Modric, who pleasingly picked up the pace of the game straight away and his touch looks good, but of course he needs more time. Gio managed to hide for 15 minutes…

Work is the curse of blogging classes. Over the last week my writing has been confined to two reports for the trustees and the Department. 8000 words, set out, if I may say so, with clarity and balance to be read and enjoyed by three people then shredded unceremoniously.

In my last TOMM outing I called for a bit of perspective after Man U. Two games since then, evidence enough to draw some conclusions. And the unpalatable but unavoidable truth is that we remain fundamentally fragile deep down inside. We need to remain steady under pressure – keeping the ball sounds simple enough but is apparently beyond our collective consciousness. Also, both Villa and Wolves piled men into their box to defend slender leads to the last man. We on the other hand tiptoe around, presumably to help the groundsman by not churning up his six yard box. I can’t think of a better explanation, and we would do well to learn from those two, starting next week against City and at Blackburn.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Furl | Newsvine

Spurs and the League – They Weren’t Bothered and Frankly Neither Am I

I know it is really just some knockabout fun on a Saturday night but sometimes the X-Factor really gets to me. It’s not so much the lousy acts or the fact that the World’s Most Revolting Man leers out of the screen – I can and do turn away until it’s gone. It’s not even the fact that millions of people take part in a process that exists for one major purpose – to make Simon Cowell very, very rich.

The X-Factor distorts our perceptions about what is good and what is bad, where people win a tumultuous standing ovation apparently for their use of hair gel, where one of the last eight (mercifully I don’t know his name) was recently described as a ‘genius’. The currency of talent has been devalued to such an extent by this and other reality shows that we struggle to know what truly matters. Can we tell the difference these days?

Soul music, pure true, soul music is just that, from deep down inside, pure and fundamental. Several years ago on one reality show, a contestant was struggling with the singing teacher to grasp the plea to ‘put more soul into it.’ Suddenly the penny dropped: bright eyed she gasped, ‘I’ll sing louder then!’ It’s my metaphor for the times in which we live.

The League Cup is hardly the football equivalent of Jedward but it does require the application of a sense of proper perspective. It can be good fun in the later stages but in the end it does not matter that much. Certainly it is no benchmark by which to judge Spurs progress and development.

Against Manchester United we saw plenty of the new Tottenham but unfortunately traces of the old regime. In the first half some lovely confident, bouncy passing movements buoyed by enthusiastic overlapping full backs in Bale and Hutton saw us breach their defence on several occasions, to be thwarted by good goalkeeping and Keane’s dilly dallying.

For both goals, however, the old failings of a midfield not protecting the back four – they were there in body but not mind or spirit. A one-two and in the absence of cover, a centre back has to leave the safety of their box to close down, leaving space behind them. Then, our strikers became increasingly detached and any late challenge predictably was not forthcoming.

Over the last few games we have become used to better as the full potential of men like Lennon, Huddlestone, Defoe and Kranjcar has been unleashed. However, nothing significant is to be read into this performance and there’s little to be learned that we did not already know. The flowing passing game is fast becoming ingrained but we remain vulnerable defensively, although as a whole the team is moving forward. Everton is a much truer test, partly because they will be well organised and hard to break down, partly because the Premier League matters.

The prospect of a trip to Wembley is incentive even for this grizzled sceptic and with a fair degree of hypocrisy I take an illicit pleasure in the semi-finals and finals, a little like going up to bed as a young man then listening to Radio Luxembourg under the covers. Like the League Cup it wasn’t so good but pop music seemed so much more important then, so you put up with the signal fading in and out just to be part of something special and mysterious. Our triumph against Chelsea was undoubtedly a great day, the tension stretched to breaking point because of our lack of success in recent years and the London rivalry. But Sky’s frantic hype about a Wembley final and the prospect of Europe cannot compensate for this trophy’s fading appeal. Even the carrot of a place in the Europa league means little given the contempt with which that competition is treated.

So if we have a trophy that the big clubs don’t want to bother with, then why should the players? I know one answer – they should give 100% in every game and that’s what they are paid shedloads to do. But the human psyche is phenomenally powerful. It works in mysterious ways, functioning on levels way below the conscious. The doubts about the competition may be securely hidden from the individual players themselves, immune to the most rousing of motivational team talks.

Not even Henry V could have got through to Bentley, Palacios and Jenas the other night, let alone our own King Harry. However, HR chooses to share his priorities with ‘arry’s ‘acks a day or two before the game, and the League Cup is pretty low down the list. He should have kept his mouth shut; the players cannot fail to absorb some of that. What we are talking about here is that extra 2 or 3 per cent that makes the difference between winning and losing. The team played some decent football in the first half – it’s rare that teams playing United have a greater share of the possession. However, after the two goals we did not possess the wit, wisdom or desire to claw our way back into the match. It felt like, if it happens, it happens, if not then, well…
Those vague performances by Basson, Palacios, Hud and JJ were about the missing 2%.

If we are questioning the wisdom of this tournament, we English fans who delight in our payers running themselves into the ground week in week out, for whom the never-ending fixture list is a merely a test of true manhood, then what on earth does a Honduran make of it? Wilson does care, of course he does, but that extra yard or two, one further lung busting sprint back…. A week’s rest would have done him good.

It was not a good performance and in many ways a missed opportunity, but there are no meaningful judgements to be made about players or the team. HR must enable them to focus on Sunday and the true test of a tough but winnable away match at Everton.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Furl | Newsvine