Ego is a powerful driver for top professional sportspeople. Not merely the desire to do your best to win but to prove to others that you are better than they are. It is the most overwhelming motivational force, better than income or power, where even victory becomes a means to an end rather than an end in itself.

The clash of egos at Tottenham is palpable right now, so much so it can be measured on the Richter scale. As we stagger from the aftershocks of Villas-Boas’ departure, Sherwood and Adebayor have come out on top. For how long we don’t know, but in the short-term at least it’s doing Spurs a lot of good.

I don’t have a problem with egotistical sportspeople. Some are unbalanced by their hubris and are lost to me but if they deliver on their promises, it can only make them better. I like the way Brits love to take down the arrogant but any sportsperson has got to have a level of confidence in their own ability that mere mortals like myself cannot comprehend. It’s like Andy Murray being criticised for not turning up for the Sports Personality of the Year presentation. Top marks to him for putting his focus on winning top of his list of priorities.

I don’t want people like me running Spurs. Too bloody reasonable, happy to toddle along, no guiding light or masterplan. Recipe for disaster, that is, but sometimes those egos put the personal before the team, and there is no excuse for that. None whatsoever.

Adebayor’s disappearance this season was puzzling but had the ring of truth because of the striker’s reputation as moody and inconsistent. Spurs gave him some time to come to terms with the death of his brother. It seemed the right thing to do and he wasn’t repaying us by getting fit. Same old same old, one season then he’s had enough. Given our goalscoring problem, that we had only two fit strikers, that he could provide a different option, that he had a strop on could be the only reason why he was seldom in consideration, surely.

Turns out Villas-Boas hadn’t learned as much about man-management from his time at Che***a as we had hoped. AVB wasn’t having him back, because AVB had a vision of the way the team was supposed to play. That’s scandalous, and that’s from someone like me who has broadly supported him. Imposing his rampant ego on the fortunes of the side may have been an attempt to look strong and decisive. In fact, it leaves behind a tarnished image of a weak man denying to himself that he fears challenge. Good managers harness challenge. Manu and Benny were just rejected. Out of sight but not out of mind because their reputations grew in their absence, just as AVB’s is diminishing by the day.

Manu’s back with a vengeance. W Ham was his warm-up. Against Southampton he was the rangy, roving leader of the line we always knew he could be and have needed so desperately this season. His movement and options would have received my gratitude but taking chances too, there’s honestly nothing I would have liked better for Christmas. His first was a delightful volley from an incisive Soldado cross, close in and shoulder high, then tucking in the winner after the ball was momentarily loose in the Saints’ box. In between he held the ball and linked surprisingly well with Soldado, given that they have never played together. In the first half, Manu stayed more central, in the second the defenders followed him out wide allowing Bobby three great chances. Our weekend would have been perfect if he had put even one of them away. A goal could change his season and ours.

Manu is no shrinking violet. Brought back into the side by Sherwood, his goal celebration versus the hammers showed he was intent on revenge, to right wrongs and injustices, and this carried on yesterday. Probably not a deliberate, extended motivational ploy, designed to release his force on an unsuspecting league for the second half of the season. Sherwood shrewdly played to his vanity, telling him he knew Adebayor was good enough, there’s nothing he could tell him, now go and play. An up-market version of Harry’s legendary, ‘go and f**king run about a bit’ speech to Pav, it did the trick and brought Manu onside as far as the new manager’s methods are concerned. If you are after the job permanently, it helps to have a centre-forward grateful to play for you.

This wasn’t the only sign that Sherwood is determined to make an impression. Going 4-4-2 brings out the creativity of a group of players who like to play as well as directly addressing the goal shortage. Soldado and Eriksen were more involved in the 90 minutes of play, which indicates that Bobby had been told by AVB to lurk moodily around the edge of the box and in the middle rather than his natural instincts.

We made width without playing a winger and the all-round abilities of that four made up for the lack of blistering pace. They got up and back, for the most part at least, and worked hard for ninety minutes. Sherwood stamped his authority on the manager’s position if not the game itself by bringing on Benteleb for his debut rather than Capoue or any other of the benchwarmers. The young Frenchman displayed that poise and confidence that we are breeding into our young midfielders at the moment.

Like the change in formation, it gave the players the message that Sherwood is loyal and will give everyone a chance, that he is able to make decisions, that he is his own man. However, it was a risk. A below strength Southampton found it too easy to operate freely between our back four and the midfield. With strikers peeling off the centrebacks, we left too much space in front of and behind our often stranded back line. Both their goals came from moves that exploited this, the second coming from yet another error by Lloris.

Still, those errors are not so significant if we are scoring, and scoring one more than you seems to be the plan at the moment. It’s refreshing but the dangers are there. A win to enjoy but before 2014 is well under way, make the same mistakes at the back and we will be punished.

 

The banner unfurled on the Park Lane before and after yesterday’s Spurs game read: ‘Enough is Enough’. One side red, the other blue, it symbolised the unity of the two sets of supporters campaigning against extortionate seat prices for away fans. After this diabolical performance, it could just as easily be Andre Villas-Boas’s epitaph.

This was a benchmark match. Liverpool and Spurs have much in common: youngish managers making their way in the game,  teams with an illustrious past but uncertain future as they build new sides, contenders for a possible top four place. Now Spurs know where we stand: we weren’t beaten, we were totally outclassed. One of our main rivals is not just a few places above us in the league, they exist in a different dimension.

If there is any consolation to be had from this wretched, dismal afternoon, as bleak and foreboding as the chilly drizzle that seeped into the marrow, Liverpool’s performance makes the perfect training video. AVB should take a long look before he shows it to his players. Where they were quick and agile, we were dull and ponderous. They continually burst forward at pace and in numbers. We drifted around aimlessly. They pounced on our players on and around the halfway line like young panthers eager for the kill. We played with all the menace of charity-shop soft toys with half the stuffing hanging out. Liverpool were everything Spurs should be.

Rodgers and Villas-Boas have both faced criticism as clipboard bosses who have been given their demanding, prestigious jobs too early in their careers. At the end of last season, the Guardian ridiculed the Liverpool manager in a quiz listing ten absurd management-speak comments and inviting readers to say which was said by Rodgers and which by David Brent, the boss in the Office.

Now, the only guy who looks absurd is AVB. Never mind a parlour game, judge him from the way he put this team out. We were simply swept aside, utterly inadequate. We is Us, collective responsibility. Players and manager  were poor but the manager must take the blame for this one. Time and again we were caught in possession, no one to pass to, players ambling forward so they could be easily marked by the Liverpool defence, separate from each other, Soldado isolated, strangers not a team.

Last season in late November we beat them 2-1 at the Lane. it was my favourite game from 2012-13, two teams who went at it from first to last in a thrilling match. Then, Rodgers was under pressure. He’s moved his team forward, we are lost. They made runs from deep, three or four at a time, early pass to feet or into space, simple but devastatingly effective. Simple but beyond us.

Villas-Boas has been criticised for not changing. As I’ve said in this blog many times, that’s not quite accurate because he has tried different things. Lately I’ve been asking a different question: not why doesn’t he make changes but can he? Is he able to find the right formation? Soldado is the example. I assumed we paid that money for top class striker knowing that we also had a plan, players and tactics that is, to play to his strengths. I’ve asked that question a lot recently – I am a patient, generous man but the answer is ‘no’. AVB does not know what to do. Bobby is flotsam up front, drifting on the tide, far from safety. Suarez starts deeper, leaving space to run into and in touch with his team-mates.

Liverpool got stuck in from the first whistle. We ambled on the ball and never imposed ourselves. After sustained pressure where we failed on several occasions to cleanly clear the ball, they finally scored when Dawson dallied and Suarez pounced.

We were hanging on, mistakes everywhere, unable to hold on to the ball, as if we were puzzled at Liverpool’s temerity at not allowing us to play. Ironically, we then had our best period. Chadli gave a rare glimpse of why we bought him, an imposing figure on the ball who crossed three or four times from the byline. Soldado and Holtby put the ball wide.

Then further calamities in our box. Lloris all arms and legs like an agile version of Kasey Keller, saved twice. In that moment, and this sounds crazy but I will share, in that moment I thought, the luck is with us, a turning point, we’ll muddle through to half-time, undeserved but only one down. Funny how the mind plays tricks. A split second later Henderson rammed home the fifth rebound and we were sunk even before Paulinho, who was awful yesterday, was sent off for a high tackle.

A feature of the first half was Sterling’s performance. Like an old-fashioned winger, an old-school phrase should sum up his day – he took Naughton to the cleaners. His control, style and speed were dazzling and in stark contrast to Lennon’s haphazard, stumbling afternoon. Naughton was hauled off at half-time, hopefully for the sake of his sanity to spend the rest of the afternoon in a darkened room with soothing music in the background.

If so, he won’t have heard the cheers that greeted Fryer’s arrival. That’s hardly going to help him. Naughton was poor, no excuses, but he was no worse than the others and he was hung out to dry. He’s a right-back played out of position because his manager saw fit to have no cover at left-back, to the point where he sends our first-team regular out on loan. Chadli gave him no protection whatsoever – imposing going forward he may be but he can’t be bothered to come back and double up on the winger, which is basic tactics. Basic. Other chickens are coming home to roost. Why sell Caulker knowing Kaboul is not fit, so we have a midfielder at centre-half. The manager’s responsibility. And Sterling would have given any player in the league a mare on that showing, make no mistake.

It ended up as five, should have been eight (they hit the woodwork twice), could have been double figures, but I would have said exactly the same if it had stayed at two.

At the finish, Holtby slumped to his knees and repeatedly pounded the turf with his fists. The others slunk away into the dressing room. If we are to recover from this, Holtby’s spirit and willingness to face up to the crowd is the place to begin.

The debate about AVB has been rendered irrelevant by this game. Levy will not tolerate it. Villas-Boas’s sacking is inevitable, only a matter of time. So here we are again. New manager, new ideas, players brought in to support the old ways. Good players will leave without European football. One step up and two steps back. Change when only continuity will bring results.

But there is continuity – Levy is still here. A financial wizard, he has no idea how to choose a decent manager. He’s still here and we’re down the toilet, stuck in the u-bend. A decade or more of opportunities flushed down the pan.

The effort to stay behind for the post-match protest against ticket prices was superhuman, let me tell you. I doubt if anyone noticed. We were the last on the Shelf before shambling home in the rain. Off to find a darkened room of my own.

Postscript: this was written before I heard the news of Villas-Boas’s dismissal. Good luck to him elsewhere but sadly elswhere is where he should be. Epitaph it was then.

45 minutes ago Tottenham Hotspur announced the allocation of tickets for our much-awaited cup-tie versus Ars***l – 5186. On the face of it, that’s a big number, more than we get for league matches. The reality is, nearly half of what we are due has been stolen from us, yet another example of how fans these days are reduced to background extras for TV and cash cows as far as clubs are concerned.

As I understand it, away clubs are entitled to 15% of the tickets in FA Cup games. At Spurs we have seen season ticket holders evicted from their seats in order to accommodate this allocation in the Park Lane, surely the only club in the country that turfs out fans from its own end, thus diminishing the potential vocal support for the sake of compliance.

That’s bad enough but at least we get the same favours when we travel to other grounds, right? Wrong, at least as far as Ars***l are concerned. We should have got 9000. Instead we have 8.64%. The most amazing thing is, I wonder why we ever believed we would get our fair share in the first place.

Earlier this week, after much speculation in social media, I heard that Spurs were going to apply for the full allocation. We also heard that it was to be a 5.15 kick-off at the behest of ITV. Everyone rolled their eyes – hard-fought derby kicking off after an afternoon’s drinking time. Madness.

In today’s statement, the club confirm they did indeed apply for the full whack. They continue:

“Following lengthy conversations, Ars***l Footbal Club has advised us that on safety and security grounds, experienced at previous cup fixtures this season, they are only able to provide an allocation of 5186”

It goes on to make some mealy-mouthed points coming straight from the Emirates press office about segregation, ‘not possible’, but I can’t be bothered to read them again let alone type them out.

This won’t take long. TV moved the game to a time which in my view jeopardized the safety of fans planning to attend and made safety considerations even more of an issue than they were before.

The clubs accepted this because it means a hefty fee. It may well be a contractual arrangement, I don’t know and would be happy for someone to tell me, one way or the other.

So television makes the rules and the clubs go along with it like itsy-bitsy cuddly-wuddly ducklings trailing along meekly behind mother mallard. ITV can take a decision that boosts their advertising revenue and we the fans suffer for it.

Health and safety is the prime consideration at football matches. I was at Hillsborough for the Spurs v Wolves semi-final, pushed right down the front. I’ve been going to football since 1967 through the bad old days. Don’t lecture me about safety.

But if safety were such an over-riding concern, don’t kick off at 5.15. It isn’t you see the prime consideration. Safety comes into play only after the money has been sorted out.

It also provides a convenient smokescreen for clubs. Look at the wording of the Gunners’ statement: ‘only able to provide’, ‘not possible’. Like a series of mysterious health and safety gods have prevailed, compelling them to make a decision that was out of their worldly powers. No – they sat down and took this decision. People. Flesh and blood human beings. Don’t know who, lucky for me really because a libel suit would surely be coming my way if I speculated, as really, I could not have stopped myself.

Further proof, if any were needed, that supporters come bottom of the dungheap when it comes to the modern game. Like I say, my excitement at this plum cup draw distorted my perceptions and made me consider the possibility, the merest possibility, that we might get our fair whack.

I understand that there were significant crowd problems when Chel**a visited recently. So how come Spurs fans are punished for that?

I may be able to get a ticket, certainly could if there were an allocation of 9000. There’s a degree of self-interest in this column therefore. But you know what, if I hadn’t, I would have been equally proud of the noise from my fellow Spurs fans who had made it, because they would have brought the wretched soulless red and white bowl tumbling to the earth.

They didn’t want us there, we know that, but that club are not the only ones to blame for this filthy slimeball of a decision. When they come to the Lane, they can be allocated one of the West Stand boxes, seems proportionate. Let’s have a sweepstake as to a) how soon the ITV commentators go on about the atmosphere at this great old derby and b) how many times they mention the atmosphere during 90 minutes. That’s all we are to them, background noise and sound effects.

This is a great old fixture, genuine, real, tangible. It has generated huge excitement and will create interest in a cup competition the real fans love but it is less interesting as each season passes. Want to know why? Because of decisions like this. These derbies will die if things go on like this. Money, TV and executives killing the game. Our game.

The Trust and Spirit of Shankly from Liverpool are protesting on Sunday against high ticket prices, details on the Trust’s site in the links list to your right. Stay behind for 20 minutes after the match. It’s not much but it is doing something. Let them hear what we think.