Spurs v West Ham. A Fine Win.

December 29, 2009 / Alan / 11 Comments

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.

December 27, 2009 / Alan / 4 Comments

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

December 24, 2009December 24, 2009 / Alan / 5 Comments

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.

Charity Begins in the Dressing Room

December 22, 2009 / Alan / 4 Comments

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.