Villa v Spurs

November 29, 2009 / Alan / 2 Comments

In the middle of my raving and swooning at the wonder of the Spurs performance versus Wigan, I made a facetious remark about cosmic redistribution. To balance out all the missed opportunities and anguish, everything came right, but just in a single huge dollop of Good Stuff. The forces of the universe revealed their fundamental nature not at the Hadron collider but somewhere in the middle of N17.

But the world spins and time rolls on. Against Aston Villa we played almost as well, especially in the second half, yet nearly came away with no reward for our flowing football and total domination of the second half. Given that Villa are a well-organised side who are genuine rivals for a place in the top six, the excellence of our football and our ability to shift up through the gears after the break shows that the Wigan result may be a freak but the quality that produced it is authentic.

Villa’s pressing game stifled much of our endeavour in the first half and they were assisted by some wasteful possession. Crouch and Defoe were adrift up front for some of the time and whilst we were likely to be dangerous, at half time O’Neill would have been scheming ways of hanging on to a lead provided by a messy goal. In our efforts to block the header and rebound, the defence were pulled to the near post and Agbonlahor was fractionally quicker to move into that gap to reach a loose ball.

In the second half we upped our game and took over for the rest of the match. This was less a failure on Villa’s part to repeat the pressing and more about our collective ability to raise our game. We passed our way round their midfield and pushed them further back until they fought a rearguard action in and around their box. Lots of talk in this blog earlier in the season about resilience, and we have developed the wherewithal to respond positively to adversity rather than crawl back into our shell. This is just as significant in terms of future success as our superlative passing.

More shimmering brilliance from Kranjcar, drifting in from the left. Superb touch, inventive accurate passing and a killer shot, this could be the best £2m we or anyone has spent for many a year. I always rated him but had no idea he was this good. He didn’t get a regular start at Pompey for some of the time there. With Hud in a forward position we prompted and probed. Freidel was in good form and often in action.

Our final ball was not as telling as on Sunday. Much of this was down to resolute defending in the box, closing down the space. Crouch drifted to the far post and expected some success there but Beye dealt with him very well. Also the ball did not stick on that final touch as it did last week, when JD had one touch and bang. That extra couple of feet makes all the difference. In the battle of the wingers (see the comments section on the preview), honours were about even. Lennon did less but was still dangerous when he had some room, but Villa blocked the inside channel effectively. Milner and Young are more versatile as they work back well but as the game wore on they were pushed further and further back so their crossing threat was nullified.

Great goal from Daws. He hit it high on the bounce and kept it down well. I was so pleased for him. He’s one of the players I just like a hell of a lot. So willing and genuine, he puts his all into every match and has done well to get back into contention after his injury pushed him down the centre back pecking order. I really hope that the transfer rumours about the arrival of more defenders do not effect him. And yesterday his distribution was excellent. Bassong alongside him played well, his pace dealt with Villa’s increasingly sporadic breakaways.

We faced one of rivals for the top places and did not lose ground – that will do. More than that, we were the better team and that’s the message I will take from this game.

More about that later this week – no time as Christmas shopping beckons. Or to give it its proper title, sodding bloody christmas sodding shopping. I will be giving money to charities who stop playing electronic musak stylophone carols in the street. Turn it off and you get the cash. Bah humbug!

Spurs v Wigan. Joy and Pain. Without the Pain.

November 23, 2009November 23, 2009 / Alan / 13 Comments

Just a fantastic day, one for celebration and delight rather than analysis. I cannot recall a 45 minutes of sustained joyous brilliance like it, a whirlwind of marvellous passing, electric shooting and outstanding athleticism.

Less a football match, more an exercise in physical and psychological destruction, imagine what the total might have been if we had actually played for the last 30 minutes of the first half, instead of sitting back and allowing Wigan to ease back into the match. Come on, be honest: at half time how many of you said this was typical Tottenham, letting our advantage go to waste? The Bloke Behind Me confidently predicted one-one.

Remember the way the old teleprinter on Grandstand would chatter the big scores, giving the figure and then the word in brackets, lest anyone think an error had been made. Tottenham Hotspur 9 (nine) Wigan 1 is how I shall hold this victory in my memory.

I saw the 9-0 against Bristol Rovers but as I’ve said elsewhere, I don’t recall that as being an exceptionally good Spurs performance. What was different about yesterday was that every goal was fabulous. Not a deflection or scramble amongst them.

It was as if the forces that hold the cosmos in equilibrium decided that the Tottenham Yin and Yang needed squaring up, but rather than do so over the course of a season or two, they squeezed the reckoning-up into 45 minutes. To make up for all those moments of hand-wringing, hands clasped to face in horror or utter derision, everything worked. The mental aberrations and Laurel and Hardy pratfalls, the late comebacks and underserved breakaway deflections, balanced out in one fell swoop on a chilly November afternoon. The earth is spinning more smoothly on its axis, don’t you agree? Although it might have been nice if Bentley could have saved the one decent free kick since goodness knows when for the winner against Chelsea or United.

The fact that Defoe scores five and I’m not sure if he was Spurs’ best player says something about the quality of the second half onslaught. Earlier in the season in a match report I remarked on JD’s progress. He has bags of natural talent but not the football nouse that delineates the good finishers from the great. Or so it used to be. Against Hull he moved better, one touch for control and the second for the strike, and yesterday showed how far that development can take him. His running and positioning was canny (granted Wigan gave him enough space but he took full advantage) and his finishing was deadly. Twice he took the ball too wide, or so I thought, twice he found the net, unerringly into the corners, keeper a tangle of limbs.

Through-balls and crosses, they were all the same in this display of the art of finishing. This is what he can do if given the service – all afternoon he was able to run onto the ball rather than have his back to the goal. Credit to Crouch, who bewildered his markers by coming off the back four into no man’s land where he was not picked up. Mind you, it did not take much to befuddle Titus Bramble, bless him. Plaudits also to Harry, who insisted in the second half that our runs started higher up the pitch, thus exploiting Wigan’s lack of pace in defence, just as we did against Burnley.

Our 4-4-2 looked right, a brave decision to leave Keane on the bench but absolutely the correct one. However, who needs tactics when all you have to do is give the ball to Lennon. It still took us 45 minutes to work that out but poor Wigan never quite sussed it. Even right at the end of the game, we were still passing the ball wide right to Lennon or Defoe and they were still leaving them all alone. They were great passes, though.

Eric 'the Invisible Man' Edman pictured yesterday

Lennon produced a scintillating performance of classic wing-play, harking back to the golden years of Jones and Robertson, although neither were as quick as he is. In the first half he loitered on the wing, feeding on sweeping cross-field passes from Huddlestone and Kranjcar, whose abilities mean we can change the point of attack quickly and opposition defences can never therefore be at rest. After the break his diet was supplemented by telling through balls, but these days it is all meat and drink to him. No longer does he dwell on the ball, twisting hither and thither because he can’t make up his mind, nor do crosses sail aimlessly into Row Z. He can pick out a man, cut to the by-line or switch inside. A remarkable achievement for one who is still comparatively young, and an absolute credit to the coaching staff.

But what is most memorable is just how thrilling this was. When he came onto the ball, I held my breath and rose from the seat in genuine expectation and excitement. Something would happen but you didn’t know exactly what, and there’s the beauty.

Wilson stayed back and Tom went forward, that’s the natural order of things. The stand-out for me was Kranjcar’s superb midfield creativity. He displayed the complete array of skills: impeccable first touch, the vision to see the ball early and inch-perfect weight of pass to deliver. Deft flicks, through-balls or 50 yarders across the pitch, they were all the same, all performed with the nonchalance brilliance of the top class thoroughbred. I adored that cross from the left in the second half, caressed early with the outside of his right foot, or the flick over the hapless opponent’s head late on, followed by a run into the heart of the box.

I’m enjoying this so much, I’ll leave to another day the debate about how we shoehorn all this talent into the team, but suffice to say that Woodgate had to have a strong word with him about his failure to pick up Scharner’s runs into the box, one of which led to the handball, sorry, goal, a defensive shortcoming which better teams would have punished more severely.

I ended the game with a sneaking admiration for Scharner. He kept going for the whole match as his team-mates disintegrated around him, still making runs, still trying to get something out of the game. He had the front to look the Shelf right in the eye when given the bird towards the end of the match (you can’t put your heart and soul into abusing a bloke who was seven goals behind at the time, even if he is a cheat) and straight-faced hold up his right hand. I’d invest in that bloodyminded attitude for our midfield – shame about the talent.

A few minutes from the end, I managed to draw breath and it started to sink in. That bloke in Worcester Avenue, laughing uncontrollably, that was me and I’m chuckling still. It’s a feeling that won’t go away for a good while yet and I hope you had as much fun as me.

Spurs v Stoke City Preview

October 24, 2009October 24, 2009 / Alan / 4 Comments

Although it’s tempting to chart Spurs’ progress against our performance in certain individual games, the season unfolds a series of little sequences of matches that provide a better guide as to how well we are doing. Today’s contest against Stoke City marks the end of a four game run against teams lower down the league, sandwiched in between Chelsea, United and the Arse next week. If we are to achieve a top six finish, this sequence is frankly more significant than those glamour games. A win today makes 10 out 12, unbeaten in four, form that will keep us near the top. Modest though that target may appear, repeat that over the course of the season and we are in clover.

Playing Stoke is a bit like being part of a re-run of Land of the Giants. Even without the suspended Huth, they will use their main weapons of strength and power to the full. West Ham left the Victoria Ground bruised and battered last weekend. By all accounts Stoke deliberately put it about a bit, and our defenders will have a tough time of it at set pieces especially. Whatever your position on the debate in this blog about our resilience, Pulis will identify this as a weakness and tell them to get the elbows out.

However, that’s all part of the game, always has been and I hope always will be. Stoke are much more than a bunch of cloggers and long throws. Supremely fit, they move the ball quickly and in Beattie and Fuller play two up front, whilst Ryan Shawcross is one of the most sought after young defenders in the league. Beattie was much in demand a few years ago. Strong and mobile, he scored and made plenty of goals for Southampton and as a favourite of manager Hoddle was rumoured to be on his way to the Lane as another in our tradition of footballing skilful strikers. Then again, Hoddle was once that much away from signing Michael Ricketts. Beattie’s wasted his abilities since then but is finding form and will be a danger today. Meanwhile, on the BBC football site a slightly bemused Ricardo Fuller says, ‘The gaffer says I need to lose a bit of weight’. He’s not scored in the league this season but runs around a lot. His words not mine.

Although Woodgate is available, I think King and Bassong will continue with Dawson still on the bench for his physical presence, we might see him later in the game if Stoke are coming forward. JJ will get the nod over Big Tom in centre midfield with Lennon and Kranjcar on the flanks. Up front, the pairing of two small mobile strikers could by-pass the big Stoke defen…Oh. See what an idiot you were, JD. This could have been a perfect game for you. Crouch and Keane can do the damage, however, and it will be interesting over the next three matches to see if they can create a partnership. Keane worked so well with Berbatov, maybe this is what he needs, a strike partnership to shake him out of the doldrums.

Last season, the corresponding fixture was won in the first half as Lennon and Modric combined down the left to slaughter their poor young right back. I think his name was Wilkinson – he was subbed at half time but by then we had scored three. Stoke won’t repeat that tactical error today but we must adopt a similar attacking outlook and keep piling forward. As I said last time, scoring is the key to our success at the moment and if we get two or three, we will win.
This blog is providing the Fans Verdict in the Observer tomorrow, so expect a sudden circulation increase. Twice the opportunity to kvetsch about my analysis. Last time they surprised me by asking for scores out of ten for each player. It’s hard enough anyway placing that sort of value on a performance (‘can I have 6.2546 for Keane?’) but I had to sort that out whilst negotiating the Tottenham one way system and a bagel, so the Guardian Chalkboard it was not.

My marking was based more on loyalty to the players than anything else. It’s one thing offering some (hopefully) constructive criticism to other Spurs fans on this blog but as soon as an outsider asks, I become protective. At the time, Gomes was back in the team after becoming a bit of a joke for pundits for several howlers. He had not played that well but my instant reaction, as obviously the first player to be marked, was to give him a seven. No way is anyone going have a go at the Gome. He’s my Big Gome. This skewed everything, because in comparison on the day Led had achieved probably a 12 but overall the performance was not that good, so in reality no one deserved more than an 8. What I’m saying is – it was rubbish, and I dribbled egg mayo down my shirt. This time I will be prepared. Smoked salmon.

Spurs: We Will Score One More Than You

October 22, 2009 / Alan / 2 Comments

Sitting pretty in third without playing consistently well, the accepted view is that Spurs have developed the precious asset of being able to play below our ability and win, or at least not lose. Our last two games perfectly illustrate this. The emotional cocktail at the final whistle was a double shot of pleasure mixed with a dash of relief. Four points, yet we could have easily come away with none. Make that – last season, we would definitely have come away with none.

Play badly and win. Win ugly. Hard to beat. These are the off the shelf clichés that the lazy TV pundits habitually trot out to fill time but my question is, how do we know? Have Tottenham changed their ways or, dare I say it, have we been lucky? How can we tell?

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m enjoying this as much as any of you. We’re doing just fine, thank you. I’ve been banging on about our defensive frailties in, I hope, a constructive manner, and because I care. I want us to do better but right now we’re making good progress. I said top six at the start of the season, not top four and I’m certainly not a whinging Spur.

Maybe it’s me. Just sit back and enjoy it. But I have an inquisitive, questioning nature. I don’t necessarily accept things, things that matter I mean, at face value. And this everlasting passion matters more to me than anything except my family. So I dig a little deeper. I’m only reflecting on my own perceptions here because I’ve agreed with the received wisdom. Although people often brand me a cynic, I prefer to believe that I know what is truly meaningful. Passion is no ordinary word.

Let’s examine the evidence. In the last two games we have withstood sustained late pressure. Last season we surely would have caved in, the best example being the Blackburn game when, protecting a one-nil lead, Palacios was sent off, albeit harshly and we conceded twice. On Saturday we held out for 30 minutes with ten men. We also resisted well against Liverpool at the start of the season. Against Birmingham we picked ourselves up for Lennon to score the winner at the death in a match where arguably Birmingham deserved a point.

Or – against Birmingham we failed to convert our superiority into goals, let them back into the game, conceded a stupid goal through weak defending and won only because Carr fell over. Bolton had us on the ropes and we couldn’t cope with crosses. Pompey? Couldn’t hit a barn door with a banjo, and that’s being harsh on banjos. Lucky lucky Tottenham.

Same events but different interpretations, many of which have been aired in the comments on this blog. There’s truth in both. One thing that strikes me is that we don’t look like other teams that ‘win ugly’. Off the top of my head, the old Liverpool team of the 80s or, dare I say it, the Arse in the ‘one-nil’ days, differed in the crucial aspect of limiting the chances that the opponents had to score. Playing them, it felt like you could hardly get near their goal, let alone score. Both these teams had great players but they were supremely well organised, set up to protect the goal at all costs.

Whatever you say about our Spurs, that description doesn’t fit. We defend better than we used to but we simply cannot shut up shop once we are ahead. Our asset is that we look more likely to score, therefore we are in a position where we have a lead to defend more often – we’ve scored in every game this season bar one. Also, we can add to that lead, scoring twice or more in all but two matches. Moreover we counter attack superbly at times, not only able therefore to score again but also teams cannot throw all of their resources into attack for fear of the gaps being exploited. We defended poorly at times against Pompey and Bolton but in both games we missed chances to score even more.

So the new model Spurs is different from the old, and that is a welcome and permanent development. It’s based less on improved defending, although as I say we are better, and more on goalscoring prowess. We make so many more chances than I can recall for years now, and we do so consistently. We lack the bloody-minded resilience of other teams that are typically called ‘hard to beat’ and ‘win ugly’, well, this team may be many things but ugly is not one of them.

I’m happy with where we are and my expectations are grounded, but here’s a thought to finish with. If we could develop that mental and physical resilience, how good might we be? Exciting, isn’t it.