Spurs v Villa. Scant Reward for Our Excellence

February 7, 2010 / Alan / 27 Comments

The figures scurrying away through the north London backstreets were bent in frustration, faces tight with disappointment, but there was so much satisfaction to be taken from Tottenham’s excellent performance against Aston Villa. We dominated a pulsating match throughout with a display of sustained good football and earned more than the scant reward of a point.

This was first and foremost a team effort of the highest quality. By the end, wave upon wave of attacks were smashing against the redoubtable Villa defensive barrier to no avail. The stands were contorted in the twisted pleasure of desperate anxiety and anticipation as Spurs craved the goal their performance richly deserved.

If our last evening game was dull monochrome then this was vivid technicolour. From the very start, every Tottenham player appeared pin-sharp, each bead of sweat on their forehead precisely delineated as were their expressions of determined intensity. In my preview I asked for effort from the first whistle, taking the Leeds game as our template, and Spurs rose marvellously to the challenge, maintaining that application and tempo throughout, apart from ten minutes or so near the beginning of the second half when Villa threatened to break out, but we quickly closed down their escape route and reasserted our clear superiority until the gut-churningly frustrating end.

Straight away we settled into a purposeful rhythm. Modric was the pick early on, drifting inside to both get on the ball and be available as the extra man. He could spot the spaces in front of him but remained largely invisible to the Villa midfield. They repeatedly failed to mark him but sadly he failed to put in a clean strike. He looks so frail at moments like these, a forlorn little figure exposed under the glare of the lights. Nothing could be further from the truth. Brought up in a hard Croatian league that by all accounts resembles England in the seventies, he’s more than capable of handling himself and his stamina lasted for the whole game. Those were precious early chances, however, not by any means straightforward but well within his grasp, and you yearned for a shot as firm and well-directed as his winner against Chelsea last season.

Modric’s positioning also illustrated the growing faith Redknapp has in Gareth Bale. Young is always a threat, yet Redknapp felt that Bale could cope without a constant protector in front of him, although Palacios was always willing to lend a a hand, to the full-back and indeed to any team-mate who was under pressure. Bale responded with yet another performance of skill, diligence and maturity. Young beat him once, but the Villa man can do that with any full-back one on one. He was kept really quiet, to the point where if Redknapp is still interested in him, as is rumoured, then you began to seriously question his judgement. When Bale joins the attack, his timing is praiseworthy, another sign of that maturity that belies his inexperience. He doesn’t rush forward but waits for the moment then strikes, either cutting inside or hitting the byline. A fabulous young prospect.

The crowd were chanting ‘boring boring Villa’ by now, I assume a reference to Wenger’s comments a few weeks ago. I say ‘assume’ because I saw only a headline – I’m not interested in the post-match whinging of any hard-done by manager, including ours and certainly not Wenger. However, surely this is the first time ever that White Hart lane has in full voice endorsed the views of an Arsenal manager. And i was there, kids.

In fact at this point in the game, still in the first half, our opponents were sending healthy numbers forward. Heskey limped off (I momentarily had a rather sick vision of he and Ledley, two determined knackered warhorses, trudging off together) but Carew is always a handful, and Agbonlahor, as I suspected, loitered with intent around Dawson and Corluka hoping to exploit their lack of pace. The best way to prevent the danger is of course to not allow him the ball in the first place and for the most part he was very quiet. To his speed he’s added the ability to turn and shoot, but this allowed Ledley to assert his mastery. As the Villa man got away, Ledley snapped in the tackle. Those who say he’s finished are so wrong.

Villa were not boring, they were out-played. Unable to cope with our passing and movement, they were progressively forced further and further back until by the end the heels of their back four scraped against the Paxton stand. In their box they defended admirably well, again as sadly I predicted in my preview, but we too had bodies on hand to block any danger at our end.

The pattern of smooth passing was imprinted on the game. My repeated concerns this season about our capacity to support the man on the ball and to retain possession were banished, hopefully for good. Relaxed and apparently effortlessly we probed and prompted. Bale, Corluka and Bentley were always available to provide width. Modric passed the ball well but could have worked harder in the second half to become consistently involved.

Crouch won everything in what was his best Spurs performance so far. He worked hard to be constantly available, regularly found a team-mate with his lay-offs and kept the ball moving rather than holding on to it. Still, there were those ‘if onlys’ with his headed chances.

Another word of praise for Palacios with his finest outing for ages. Just what we need from a defensive midfielder, biting the tackle, high workrate and clever positioning, covering for defenders when they went forward and not going up if we had too many already committed.

But my top man (‘TOMM’s Top Talent’, hmm, it has a ring to it….hollow that is..) was big Tommy Huddlestone. He quickly adjusted to the shape of the play. Shorter quicker passes suited him and deprived by Villa’s deep defending of the opportunity to pass long, he was all the more effective. Not everything worked but he did not shirk his duties, a sign of maturity. He made himself constantly available and took responsibility to drive us on from midfield.

Finally on the individuals, Gomes once more when called upon was absolutely impeccable. Just love that man.

So arguably the best display of the season but only one point. What went wrong? Reflections on this at greater length in the week but a few thoughts for now, in no particular order.

There’s no one single problem that is preventing us from scoring a hatful of goals. Some are down to our opponents: yesterday, by defending deep Villa ran the risk of allowing us on to them but it closed off the possibilities of long passing into channels and over the top, by Hud and others, and made it hard to reach the byline. There’s no room behind the back four so the long ball is swept up by the keeper or centre halves, as are headed flick-ons from Crouch, and JD’s pace is taken right out the equation. Crouch played very well but at the highest level, and that’s where Villa’s defence is, those bobbly looping touches are easier (not easy, but easier) to handle than passes into channels, low crosses and movement.

Also, our midfield strikes a pose and a few decent long shots, but again a long shot is, percentage wise, easier to deal with than an effort from closer in from midfielders arriving late and unseen in the box. We don’t do enough of the latter.

JD is not quite as sharp as we have seen him, wanting that extra touch, and for some reason he and most everyone else is shooting unerringly and uncannily straight. Opposition keepers look forward to their MOM awards against us. Of course we currently are without the precious alternative of Lennon’s speed and ability to either occupy several defenders at once or leave one or two on the seat of their shorts.

Finally, teams have got wise to us. They are not bothering to play an expansive game and cluster round their own goals. And it works.

Spurs v Hull. Next Time, We Take Charge.

January 17, 2010January 17, 2010 / Alan / 18 Comments

Not for the first time this season, Spurs toiled against a team with less talent but exemplary organisation. Hull deserve credit for their energy and application and none whatsoever for starting their time-wasting tactics in the first quarter of the match, but in the end despite all our travails we made and missed four gilt-edged chances, and with them the opportunity to bank valuable points in pursuit of fourth place.

Hull came with a plan to restrict and stifle our flowing football, and we fell right into their clutches by allowing them to dictate the tempo in the first half. We had precisely the midfield to combat their pressing game but chose instead to waste possession and play the long ball far too often. Searching for scraps, Modric and Kranjcar came inside and were enveloped in the Hull defensive blanket. Without Lennon there was no escape in width.

The time-wasting and staying down at the slightest knock is enormously frustrating (Bolton did this a few years ago when of course Brown was their assistant manager) but we have to be big enough and strong enough to rise above it. Instead, we failed to just hold the ball and shift it around and were sucked in. By the middle of the second half, Hunt had succeeded in winding up Hud to the point where he kicked the Hull player in the back. Hunt protested but in reality he was delighted – he had Hud exactly where he wanted him.

The long pass to Keane and Defoe, who were running centrally between their central defenders, looked like team orders, but our opponents learned from the away fixture earlier this season and played deeper, therefore there was little space between back four and keeper for the ball to be played into. Their cause was greatly assisted by Huddlestone’s poor performance. Time and again he went for the long ball, ignoring simpler but more effective alternatives. Everyone has a bad one from time to time, but this was a match where as the playmaker he should have taken on the responsibility of directing operations. He did indeed set the tone for the team, but being caught in possession and over-ambitious passing ripe for interception was not what we had in mind.

As the first half wore on, and time went very slowly yesterday, we gradually dragged ourselves into the match but Keane and then Defoe missed the chances. We expected more in the second half but it was only the introduction of Jenas to up the pace and to drive on from midfield that finally kick-started our game. Crouch won everything and we looked more dangerous, but for the most part the final ball in the box eluded us or heroic blocking from the massed Hull ranks prevented better opportunities.

Myhill had a fine match. My usual Saturday night routine is to look forward to MOTD and then fall fast asleep after the second match, so although I missed our highlights I’m assuming that Lineker’s trail of the ‘best goalkeeping performance for years’ referred to him. I feel duty bound to point out, however, that we placed the ball close to him on several occasions when we should have done much better. Keane was fatally hesitant when those rebounds fell to him, one in each half. For the first, Myhill did superbly to get up and back into position, his best save, but Keane had a lot of the goal to aim at, as did Crouch for his late header.

Keane’s form is highly concerning. Once again he was ineffective and approached his chances in the manner of a man who knows he is way out of sorts. At the moment we cannot rely on him in any way.

Bale was our best player. He showed total application, understood what he was supposed to do and defended well enough, although he was not seriously tested. Still, he will benefit from games like this. Modric and Kranjcar, two of my favourite players, disappointed, being absent for long periods. In the second half they and we fell into the trap of pushing ten or fifteen yards too far forward. Playing against teams with a blanket defence, one or two forwards have to drop back to start each move, to begin the pass and movement style, and they are experienced enough to know this, rather than hang around up front waiting for the ball in areas where defenders can more easily handle them. Dropping back also tempts their marker to follow them, thereby creating a fraction of space. I would have brought on Rose for Hud, with Modric in the middle, to give us the option of width and pace plus more craft in the centre.

Daws made a couple of fine tackles towards the end, one of which I would hail as magnificent if it weren’t for the fact that it was necessitated by defensive hesitation.

The question hanging over the Lane at full-time was, ‘why can’t we beat the teams at the bottom?’. The reason is that Wolves, Stoke and now Hull come with limited horizons. I don’t blame them: it’s just a fact. They can get ten or eleven behind the ball because winning is not the primary aim. Teams with greater ambitions will have a more open style because they will be attacking for at least some periods of the match.

To be a top team, we have to dictate to them, not the other way around. It’s not easy playing through and around defensive teams but we have to find a way. This was out biggest failing against Hull. Two points lost.

Smooth Spurs, Nice and Easy Does It

January 3, 2010January 3, 2010 / Alan / 9 Comments

Swiftly into our stride against Peterborough, Spurs banished any thoughts of giantkilling with an afternoon of smooth attacking football, four goals being scant reward for our dominance.

It was an inauspicious start as a pigeon had unloaded on my seat. A quick search revealed the sole toilet that actually had some paper towels but frantic pre-match scrubbing was only partly successful, as clearly a major proportion of the refuse had been baked on in an industrial oven. I’ve seen some crap at the Lane over the years but never before sat in it.

Defoe responded in kind, with an early astonishing miss from under the crossbar, not quite as shocking as the legendary Acimovic effort against Fulham but seen by many around me as an omen. Cue solemn muttering about, “it’s going to be one of those days”.

It became one of those days that we are seeing more frequently, thank goodness, where we played some delightful football. Once we realised Lennon’s absence and stopped looking to feed the ball down the right (it took a few minutes), Modric and Kranjcar asserted their midfield authority and were irrepressible. They cut in alternately from the flanks to find space in front of the Boro’ box and directed a steady flow of passes into the channels or out wide, where they found Bale in particular a willing ally.

Just as the excellence of their keeper Lewis provided more ammunition for the glum ‘one of those days’ theorists, Modric’s sweeping cross field pass allowed his mate to cut in and slam a sizzling curling shot into the far corner. I leapt up to salute a superb goal but the reaction was out of keeping with the eerily muted atmosphere. Only Peterborough I know but I can’t recall such a lack of response to a Spurs goal at the Lane, given that it was the first and was of such high quality.

Spurs’ onward march was temporarily hampered by an outbreak of flickiness, sometimes seen when we get too big for our multi-coloured, individually signed and ludicrously expensive boots. Suddenly it was all back-heels and one-touches over the head with the outside of the foot. However, complacency did not take hold. Learning lessons from other games this season, we kept the tempo high and continued to make chances throughout. Harry became anxious at 2-0 when our opponents forced a couple of corners, rising from seat to offer a few well-chosen words, but there was little to worry about as we set about achieving Cliff Jones’ half-time prediction of 4-0.

Without wishing to kick someone when they are down, I haven’t seen a side who defended in depth with five in midfield and who worked as hard as Boro to so little effect. There was space all over the pitch. Their superb keeper kept them in the game. I suggested that here was the second keeper that our squad needs (see my preview), then the Park Lane took up the cry of ‘Tottenham’s number two’.

Bale had a fine game, raiding down the left with determination and pace and delivering regular crosses at full tilt, setting up our second and third with classic precise pull-backs for Niko and JD (impudently with the outside of his foot) to touch home. Sterner tests will provide solid evidence of his suspect defensive qualities but he couldn’t have done more today. He was certainly not short of confidence. A great talent that needs to be nurtured.

Rose came on for a nice cameo. The only time I have seen him play was for the Under 21s when he had a more central role. On the left he was well-balanced and lightning fast, schooled to move and deliver a quick ball. He and Lenny have been working together, clearly. Naughton joined him. On first sight he too is upright and confident on the ball but he saw little action, although he could have conceded a penalty before Rose whizzed up the other end to be brought down for our fourth.

In my preview I suggested that the non-appearance of Pav and Hutton would most likely signal their imminent departure but on second thoughts league position is the target for any club thinking of buying.

Defoe went off early and may have a hamstring problem, the only bad news on a cold but pleasant day as thoughts move to the clash against Liverpool next weekend.

Spurs v Wolves. Weak Minds At Work

December 13, 2009December 13, 2009 / Alan / 5 Comments

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.