Strange But True. Spurs v Wolves

September 19, 2010September 20, 2010 / Alan / 14 Comments

So Arthur turns to me, as he often does around this time, and says, ‘So what do you think, then?’ Good man he is, likes to chat, asks about the family, loves his Spurs. Been going for as long as I have. Seen it all before but comes back for more.

I paused. It was that sort of an afternoon. Warm in the pleasant autumnal sun on the Shelf, we basked in our superiority without becoming fully involved. The frustration of missing a series of chances was outweighed by the comfort that another one would be along in a minute.

I leaned forward. ‘Well’, I began, ‘I don’t want to tempt fate but…’

No such thing as fate. The universe comprises atoms and particles that behave according to the same immutable laws of physics that stretch into the unimaginably distant recesses of the universe. My life is governed by decisions and coincidences without recourse to mystical spiritual forces. We are human and make our own destiny.

However, this is Spurs, so better be safe than sorry. During a match I seldom make rash judgements, at least out loud. However on this one occasion, one lousy time I have to smugly link my brain to my mouth, you know what’s coming here, don’t you…. ‘…we’ve outplayed them’.

Well we had. No disrespect to Wolves, who worked hard and were willing to move it forward when they had the ball. It’s just that we were much better than they were. In stark contrast to this fixture last season, we could always find space and time in midfield. Bale was the main outlet, banging in a series of deadly serving pacy crosses, and through the middle Hud and especially Jenas could press on and move into dangerous areas. VDV drifted inside with impunity. We kept the ball and moved it well in all areas. Our opponents seldom ventured into our half.

Literally 20 seconds after I opened my mouth, they scored. I blamed Arthur, for asking me the question, and he graciously accepted responsibility, but the reality is: I confess. Strange but true.

After the interval, I expected some drive and tempo. Nothing. Wolves came right back into it, gaining possession and unafraid to attack. Their 4-5-1 was often 4-3-3, to their credit as they could have easily sat back and retired into their shell to protect their lead. Bale was on the receiving end of a couple of hard fouls and the time-wasting is so tedious but this is not a dirty team. McCarthy gets worked up but he knows a tackle. In the second half a Wolves player and JJ crunched in. The Wolves man stayed on the floor and the stretcher vultures twitched with anticipation but McCarthy remained seated. He knew it was a 50-50 and did not try to persuade the ref otherwise.

So the subs are on but there’s not a lot going on. Pav’s on for his mobility but he remains static, lined up with the others on the edge of their box, waiting for the ball rather than looking for it, easily marked by their back four. This is a real fault if we are chasing the game: we played into their hands.

When the ball is in the air, it’s the great equaliser. Our advantage in skill and ability, nurtured, practised and expensive, is negated in an instant because it takes most of our team out of the game. Crouch may or may not win the ball, but a man on man aerial duel evens up the odds. VDV crosses the ball beautifully- he sees it early,fine control and moves it quickly, class, absolute class. but however good the ball, that class will have a greater influence if we play through the middle sometimes, on the ground. With wide men like Bale and Lennon, it’s a potent brew, but strikers hanging around waiting for something to happen is a criminal waste.

Although Kaboul had another good game – he must be scary for opposition full-backs as this huge bull of a man charges forward at them, football’s equivalent of Jonah Lomu – the introduction of Hutton gave us more options on the right. Eventually, he picked up the ball and ran with it, and ran, ran….

The penalty turned the game. I could not see us scoring until then but whilst McCarthy will have blasted his team for an unnecessary tackle, we exerted sufficient pressure to make it happen. If Hutton had had a run in the side as BAE and Bale had, we would have a true measure of his ability. Better coming forward than defending, I’ve always felt he has been too easily dismissed by many Spurs fans. His ‘unfortunate’ moments against ManU, Birmingham and Arsenal came when he was not fully fit. Let’s not get carried away but with Corluka rightly left out he can press his claims. He and Lennon combined well yesterday and could develop an effective partnership. They used to get in each other’s way but Lennon has more to his game than he did when the pair first played together – better positioning, more options, can come inside and let Hutton carry on wide on the outside.

After the game Harry took the credit, saying what a good player Alan is. Typical Harry – as with Pav last season, he excludes men then when they appear because he has little alternative, if they do well he always knew their potential. Still, Redknapp was able to not only make the substitutions but also to shake up the team by resting Lennon, keeping JJ in the middle, dropping Corluka and bringing Gallas in. These changes did not affect the balance or effectiveness of the team. Also, players who come in are motivated to take their chance, JJ and Kaboul being the two best examples. They have seen how Harry will give men a run in the team – Benny, Bale, Dawson – and he deserves credit for creating that culture of opportunity.

Strange but true – we dominate and get nowhere, then score three times during our worst passage of play. Even after the penalty, Wolves pushed us back and in their best spell could easily have scored before a deflection fell to Pav. He took it calmly – one chance one goal, can’t really ask for more….today anyway. Then Hutton with a bit of luck, but again he made his own luck. The players seemed genuinely excited for him (was that sheer relief?). Except Benny, who half-heartedly ambled up to the collapsed scrum of delight under which Hutton struggled for breath, then strolled off again to get on with business.

Jenas had a fine game, looking mobile and strong in the centre. His hesitation when he drove forward, ball at feet, was frustrating and a glimpse of what he could have been, but as a DM he did just fine yesterday.

Gallas and King were solid and largely untroubled. I confess that I never, ever thought I would see the day when William Gallas set foot on the White Hart Lane turf in a white shirt and frankly I’m not sure I ever wanted him to. However, he’s Spurs now and the boos he received were vile and moronic. He’s Spurs, for goodness sake.

To be fair to Crouch, he won much of the ball today but little came of this. One good header, well-saved but too close to the keeper.

For Keano I feel no anger, only pity. Sadly off-form and out of touch, his eyes are hollow and dull. His chance in the first half begged to be hit first time but he took a touch, the tell-tale sign of a struggling striker. He missed one in the second but at least it was an instant strike. Maybe he can play his way back into some sort of form but it promises to be a painful business, for him and us.

So a welcome win, deserved overall, just. At half-time the three flags on the West Stand roof each blew in a different direction at the same time. Strange but true, rather like the rest of the day.

Sad news today of the passing of the great Bobby Smith. I never saw him play but from the moment I was a Spurs fan I knew he was a genuine legend. The half-time round of applause was warm and richly deserved, even before the news was out. Seeing him recently on the pitch, it’s clear that this was a fearless warrior of a centre-forward, proud and unbowed by the passing of time. My very best wishes to his family and friends.

Spurs v Young Boys: Dancing in the Dark

August 27, 2010 / Alan / 8 Comments

What convinced me was the steward’s hi-visibility jacket. I had been trying desperately to play it all down. We weren’t in the Champions League yet. This was just the qualifier, not yet, don’t get your hopes up, earn it first.

I didn’t notice at first. Trying to get in, yes to see the game but mainly, right now, to get out of the rain. Had to park further away than normal, mind full of traffic problems rather than navy blue and white. No glory in the Blackwall Tunnel. Me soggy and anxious, barcode is bound to go wrong, sod’s law, she’s fussing over the bags of the people in front of us. A little UEFA ribbon round the handle will save us all, never mind the petrol bombs and semtex hidden under the bloke’s coat. Nicely, mind, she’s sweet and kind, her gentle consideration out of place and time amongst the testosterone overload.

Then, the moment that Tottenham Hotspur arrived in the Champions League, for me at least. She’s wearing a Champions League official steward luminous orange waterproof jacket. The circle of stars and everything. Not just something knocked up in the printers on the industrial estate. Official. Probably flown in all the way from FIFA. Someone somewhere made it possible for her to have an official CL jacket. It mattered. We had arrived.

In the ground, cheap plastic flags, corny gesture, leave the atmosphere to us, the fans have done it for the last hundred or so years so we’ll probably be OK on our own tonight, thanks anyway. The anthem on TV sounds so ridiculously pompous, the perfect sign of the overblown self-importance of this competition.

Yet when they played it, I waved my plastic stick like my life depended on it, roared as the whistle blew, took photos, which I never do lest it detract from being part of the moment, of stands rippling with white silk and unbridled anticipation. I wanted to remember it all, a souvenir, but what’s the point – I’m never going to forget it, being there, Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League, never until the day I die.

The passion from all parts of the ground lifted our men, Dawson I think, to reach an early cross first, but wide and wasted. It was a reminder from the first leg: never mind all the formations, the passing and the pitch, they can’t deal with high balls. That’s it, I said, to no one in particular, that’s it, just get it in, good crosses, either side, get it in. Straight away, Crouch, across the keeper. I leapt as it left his head, it was in, beautifully placed.

It was enough but we needed more. Young Boys move the ball impressively, excellent control, well-drilled, get possession and four or five drive forward as one. Tension in my head but not so much in the ground. My failings: on the death certificate, Terminal Anxiety, Shelf Side, Tottenham Hotspur. Neat and tidy doesn’t score goals and the YBs had little punch up front.

A great atmosphere most of the time, although it was quiet during periods. It never needed to reach the heights because we didn’t have to fight that hard for the win and for once scored the goals at all the right times. It’s always a good time to score, etc, but JD’s success came when the tempo had dropped and the game was becoming too even (blatant handball from my angle, didn’t really enjoy the well-taken goal as much as I should because I was waiting for the inevitable whistle), Crouch again at a flat spot (just cross it, see what I mean) and the penalty to finish it all off, still at a time when they need just two to tie it up.

YBs were not going to get into it themselves but Gomes’ injury could have been a turning point. He looks such a wuss, on the point of tears. I’m not sure what was going on. I’ve not seen any TV coverage of the game and so I don’t know what they worked out from the bench, but Harry appeared to come out and tell him to get on with it, presumably on medical advice. Get through to half time is all very well but it created uncertainly at the back where before there was none and this spread right through the team at the end of the first half. The cross that the 15 headed over left defenders and keeper staring blankly at each other. That was a bad miss and could have presented the initiative to the Swiss.

Otherwise, we were on top without romping away. The pen sealed it and oh what fun we had for the last 10 or 15 minutes. Crouch should not have taken that spot kick. Whoever was the man chosen by Redknapp, Pav I think, should have taken it regardless of a hattrick. Personal glory should be subordinated to the needs of the team. The match was not conclusively won at that point and we need to maintain the ruthless streak through the tournament. Start now.

Churlish to complain, I’m not really, but the match evidenced the oft-made point about the lack of technical ability of English players. The YBs would not survive in the Prem but their ball control was for the most part way better than ours. Once, Defoe was given the ball under pressure but in his stride. A simple trap and pass would have released Lennon but he fumbled it. Crouch, bless him, the ball sailed from ankle to above head high more than once.

Still I’m not complaining. Honest. Bale was always dangerous and Huddlestone impressively directed things from deep. A fine European performance, revelling in the extra space he had, always available even if not all his passes came off. Ledley was always there to head off the pressure and Benny had another good one. Crouch, the Prem defenders can deal with him, nudge in the back, get in first because he hangs back, but Europe may not know this. Two metre Peter our secret weapon against Europe’s finest, who would have thought it?

No comment on the draw. It’s tough but we knew that. Being there is all that matters. With a team including several players who have been with us for a few years, maturing in front of our eyes. We’ve suffered during their growing pains, winced at their naivety, grumbled about their mistakes. But under Harry’s watchful gaze, there they are, our boys, they’ve taken us to the CL. Bale, Benny, Daws, Lenny and big Tom. Although they wobbled, I never lost faith. So very proud of them.

Quiet on the way home, reflecting. It’s only when I reached my house and tried to sleep that I realised the adrenalin was still pumping through my veins in overdose proportions. What is it about this club that makes grown men dance around their living room, in the dark, at 1am, laughing silently, just laughing and laughing. It’s the Champions League and it’s real.

Spurs v Young Boys. A Morning Like Any Other But A Night To Remember

August 25, 2010August 25, 2010 / Alan / 9 Comments

A morning like any other, in fact a pleasant one. Warming sunshine, brewed the coffee just right, little traffic on the M25. A gentle welcome to a momentous day, for come nightfall, in a splash of searing incandescence in north London, thunder from the throats of thousands will roll out into the dark and tumble around this famous old ground, inspiring the righteous and striking fear into the hearts of the weak.

This is the most important match Tottenham Hotspur have played for many a long season. And haven’t some of those seasons seemed so long, individual moments of brightness snuffed out by the pervading hopelessness of mid-table mediocrity. But this one is different. This is the real thing, the game that can launch us into another world, of glory and untold riches.

Cluches abound but tonight is the genuine article. Fortunate enough to remember the real glory-glory nights of European football at the Lane, I treasure the experience. The passion and tension concentrated by the lights, the world and universe is for 90 minutes that florescent green. Nothing exists in the murk beyond the glare, there’s only Spurs and us. Anderlecht, Barcelona, Milan, Feyenoord, and I’m too young to have seen the Double and their great feats in the early and mid 60s.

With all due respect, Young Boys are hardly the opponents I would have had in mind for the return of the glory days, but this is the modern era of the Champions League, and the Champions League equals money, and money equals success. Not the way I like it, but there’s no avoiding this stark truth. The CL is a passport to other objects of desire. It safeguards the finances, enables us to pay higher salaries and transfer fees and attract better players. Better players keep us up there, and so it goes. Whatever the ITK on individual players, decisions will be made on Thursday morning that could shape the club’s future for years to come. Get it right and the success is self-perpetuating, get it wrong and the trap door to mediocrity clatters open.

Assuming Ledley is fit, the team picks itself for all but two positions. Lennon and Bale will offer the width and pace, and in Bale’s case the power, that will be crucial factors as YB settle back into their efficient, well-organised formation. Defoe should start but there’s a question over who partners him up front (and we will begin with

4-4-2). Crouch will get the nod despite Pav’s superb goal in the first leg.

The other question is centre midfield. As I envisage the game unfolding, looming out of the darkness is the vast bulk of Tom Huddlestone. I see him directing our play and controlling the tempo. Who would have thought it, not so long ago, but this team now plays with and around him. They feel comfortable with his presence, he enables them to play. Alongside him in Luka’s absence, Wilson would normally be the one to step in without a second thought. However, he’s not started the season well and I wonder if JJ’s good second half against Stoke, plus his extra mobility and willingness to get into the box, given that we can’t sit back, could see him given the chance to rescue his Spurs career.

Europe in knock-out games brings tension like no other match. However, two legs do offer a second chance. We so nearly blew it in 30 minutes in Switzerland but there’s another 105 to make up for it. We must dominate from the beginning and dictate the tempo, without taking risks at the back. Led will give us more pace there and we have enough attacking options to afford the luxury of not stretching ourselves too far. I’m nervous, but confident that we will win.

The significance of this match cannot be over-exaggerated. I’ve described it myself as a passport into riches. However, this sort of approach is an aggravating element of modern football. Notice how the importance of most matches is described in terms of something else, of what it might bring rather than what it is. Finishing in the top four is a triumph in itself, yet all the talk is of qualification into the CL. The CL qualifiers provide admission to the prestige and income associated with the group stages, but then the significance of the group stages is relegated to it merely becoming a path into the knock-outs. The play-offs are another example. It’s the way to get the Premier League cash, not an achievement in itself.

Modern football is as thrilling and exciting a spectacle as can be. Enjoy it for what it is. Win this game because we can, and take glory from that. Sure, the money is important, I can’t ignore that, but in all this talk of what might be, of what’s around the corner, there’s a danger that we might lose sight of what we have right in front of our eyes. We have a fine team playing a vital match. The triumphs and the glory are here and now, in winning that. Stop and savour the moment. Enjoy it – these moments don’t come around that often.

Season Preview 2010/11 – I’m Worried That I’m Not Worried

August 12, 2010August 12, 2010 / Alan / 16 Comments

This afternoon my son and I will conduct our regular pre-season ritual. We could have the season tickets posted to us, but instead we opt to travel for 90 minutes to queue up in a portakabin then wander round the outside of an empty football ground. No doubt we will be tempted by some ludicrously over-priced items of tacky clothing. And we will relish every moment, because there’s nowhere else we would rather be. I’m ready now.

Last season’s predictions pondered on the clichéd but oh-so-true summary of the pain and joy of being a fan: it’s not the despair that gets you, it’s the hope. If true, then this term promises to be excruciating, because the hope has never in recent times been greater.

I’m trying not to write or talk about Spurs being in the Champions League. We’re just in the qualifiers, but if thinking about something that has not yet happened is a jinx, then too late. A top European team, at the Lane, under lights, the hairs on the back of my neck are bristling as I type.

This isn’t the pandemic of blind optimism that spreads like the plague throughout football in these two weeks in August. For Spurs, this is reality. We finished 4^th on merit. That when the media blather on and on about the top four, they’re talking about us (not Sky, obviously. They awarded Liverpool 4^th on an honorary basis). That we will be a target for every single team that plays us. That in every match we must confront the pressure to deliver. I hope the players have come to terms with this because I’m not sure I have. I’m a Spurs fan, I’m not used to this. My emotional territory is wasted promise, dashed expectations and a lack of fulfilment gnawing away at my very soul.

We have a strong squad with several emerging players who can only get better, a good team ethos and above all a growing sense of confidence and resilience. There’s talent and cover in every position and excellence in a few. Harry’s lack of transfer activity has no doubt left him twitching like expiring roadkill but players of the quality we require are in short supply and whilst it is frustrating, Levy is totally right to not panic buy and pay inflated prices for inferior goods.

Anyway, we have been richly successful in the market this year: we’ve kept our best and most coveted players. Modric was Ancellotti’s first choice in midfield but instead he’s signed a long-term contract. Huddlestone, Lennon and Dawson have all signed up over the last 6 months or so. Levy has moved purposefully to do the deals before the window opened. Brilliant business, and a sign of the optimism amongst the squad as a whole. We’re also looking to the future with deals for promising young players like Townsend, Caulker and, today, Dean Parrett.

Nor do we need to sell in order to buy. I’m sure Harry has said we do, and I’m equally certain that he said on another occasion that we didn’t, but we’re used to the bout of temporary Alzheimer’s that hits twice a year, in January and the summer. Our financial position is strong and I would not get rid of any of our current players until we were certain an upgrade was in place. There is simply no need: the demands on the squad’s depth will be unprecedented this coming season.

More of the personnel in a moment, what comes first is the tactics. Harry’s keen on 4-4-2 and has bought the players to put that into practice. That’s his distinctive ability as a manager: he buys men to do a job then enables them to get on with it. So we have the big man/little man up front, a flying winger and strength and skill in midfield.

The rest of the league may not let us get away with this. A few weeks ago I was musing about the effect of the World Cup on the Premier League. The Prem has often been accused of inhabiting its own little environment, oblivious to the changing climate around it, and there’s no doubt that the physical pace of our game marks it as different from, say, La Liga or the Scudetto. However, 4-4-2 was soundly discredited in the World Cup, where most teams operated with five in midfield. Their actual set-ups differed – some had two DMs and 3 further forward, others turned 4-5-1 into an attacking 4-3-3 as soon as they won possession – but they all had 5 in midfield when they did not have the ball and the team with a four, England, were easily outnumbered. The skill factor is nullified if you are overwhelmed, and I predict that many Premier League teams will continue the safety-first trend of last year by using this formation against us.

Two other lessons emerged from the best teams in South Africa. One, midfield players were flexible, masters of every facet of their art rather than just excelling in a single area. For example, defensive midfielders weren’t crunching enforcers, they were mobile, alert and able to distribute the ball once they got hold of it. Their team-mates chased back and bombed forward time and again.

Secondly, possession is the new religion. It’s one thing playing a high tempo and moving the ball forward but in both attack and defence, keeping the ball is an absolute priority. If the opposition haven’t go the ball, they can’t score.

So where does all this leave Spurs? Whilst we proved that we could defend, especially at home (and I have to say our low goals against was a big surprise to me), we’re at our best when we take the game to the opposition and we must play to our strengths. Mindful of our opponents, we can’t allow them to dictate to us. That’s what the best teams do – they dictate the game. This attitude must infuse every stride, every pass, every touch. We are a top four team now.

Build the team around Modric. He has all the qualities of the modern midfielder, a world beater if he scored more but to me he’s a gem. I’d play him in the middle where he can exert the greatest influence on the match but he’s more likely to cut in from the left to enable Palacios and Huddlestone to control the centre. Goodness knows how Wilson coped with the pressure of his brother’s death but this season he must pass the ball much better and stay on his feet in the tackle, otherwise he should make way. Lennon on the right, of course, with a reminder to keep working back. Just being there is often more than enough, it’s not about hard tackling these days.

Kranjcar can slot in anywhere across the middle, again he must track back. Sandro must be seen as an unknown quality to be protected from over- exposure early on, but I’m very much looking forward to seeing him. He comes highly rated.

Last time, the only time in fact, I made a sustained comparison between Jenas and Huddlestone, one of my most regular and insightful correspondents vowed to be physically sick next time he read anything on the topic. Which happened to be when he visited AANP– sorry Michael. So none of that here. I’m happy for JJ to stay, even though I suspect most readers are not, but as back-up, because Hud has progressed, he hasn’t. I expect he’ll be off, though, as will Bentley, for whom I won’t shed many tears. Whoever plays, we must keep the ball better, especially when we have gone a goal up. Too often we let teams back into the game without them having to try too hard.

Bale at left back for me, Benny’s good but not that good. Coming from deep, Bale can combat even the most packed of midfields. At right back, Corluka of all our players disappointed me most last season. I rate him and he’s clever enough to not let his lack of pace be an undue problem. His steadiness allows Lennon freedom to get forward. I expect Hutton is off, Walker looks talented.

In the centre, it all hinges on Ledley’s fitness. Daws will be mighty again and should be captain but he needs pace alongside him. Kaboul may be ready as back up but I can see another player coming in. Gomes is simply magnificent and with Cudicini fit plus the expected arrival of Pietlkosa, we were well served between the posts. When I said I was happy to keep all the current squad, I forgot about Alnwick. Byeeee!

Which leaves the strikers, my main area of concern because I doubt that they have the ability to score consistently against the best defences. None are good enough to play up front on their own, which is a problem for me. Pav is used to that role in Russia but his flashes of brilliance don’t banish the feeling that his consistency in front of goal is not good enough. Crouch is limited, lacking in pace and movement, and if we are trying to keep the ball the temptation to wang it forward is too great when he’s in the team. Defoe’s movement and team play improved for England but he can’t be trusted to do the work on his own, and the same can be said for Keane (not the England bit, obviously).

The addition of a top class striker able to play on his own up front could transform this already excellent squad. I’d go 4-5-1 with Luka behind the front man, Niko could play more often, Wilson and Hudd together… but the whole world is after that front man.

Harry’s solution could be pace. Several of our supposed targets, like Bellamy and Young, are fast and mobile. Add Bale and Lennon….

One dark horse is Gio. He likes to party and was on his way out but had a good World Cup and by all accounts has buzzed behind the strikers in the friendlies. Could this be his moment? He needs some freedom – he’s wasted stuck on the right or left – and he could suit that link up role between striker and midfield, dropping back to help out.

One final point – free kicks. Sort them out. Over 35% of Premier League goals were scored from set pieces last season, but not by us.

And so the madness begins. We’ll do well again this year – you want a prediction don’t you, head says 5^th, heart says 4^th so 4^th it is. Handling the pressure of every single game at the top is a new experience, one that we must learn to love and cherish, rather than shrink away with intimidation.

The exciting thing is, the players who did well last year, Lennon, Bale, Modric, Huddlestone, Gomes, are going to be even better this year, never mind any new signings. They have more to give, I’m convinced of it. And with the addition of a quality lone striker, the possibilities are truly mind-boggling. The only thing that worries me is my unnatural optimism.