TOPSPURS

Jim Duggan's TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR site

 

Saturday 22nd September 2001, 3.00pm

FA PREMIERSHIP, Anfield

LIVERPOOL 1 (Litmanen 57)

Dudek; Carragher, Henchoz, Hyppia, Vignal; Barmby, Biscan, Hamann, Riise; Litmanen (sub Owen, 67, sub McAllister, 83), Fowler (Capt) (sub Heskey, 59)

 

 

Sheringham

Ferdinand
 
 
 
 
Davies (Rebrov 73)
Anderton
Freund
Poyet
 
 
 
 
Ziege
Perry
King
Taricco

 

Sullivan

Subs not used: Keller, Etherington, Thelwell. Leonhardsen

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 0

Referee:- Dermot Gallagher

Attendance:- 44,116

 

Another good performance that did not get the point we deserved from this well contested match. New signing Dean Richards watched from the stand after not signing in time to play on Friday, and now Hoddle has his full compliment of defenders (when all are fully fit) we must now look to obtain a new striker to turn our good play into goals.

Spurs started with the same 11 that took all three points from Sunderland in midweek, and again kept the 4-4-2 formation forced upon Hoddle by the late signing of Richards and the lack of a third central defender of sufficient quality to deal with Liverpool. Liverpool themselves had shuffled the pack, starting with Fowler and Litmanen up front and were without Gerard in midfield through suspension.

As topspurs regulars know, I hate Virgin trains and after only being offered a £50 train ticket by the thieving bastards a month in advance, I decided to get a London to Birmingham and a Birmingham to Liverpool ticket which came in at half the price.

A visit to Liverpool for either Everton or Liverpool is one of the best away trips of the season and we enjoyed Football Focus in the two excellent pubs by the station (below), before heading on to The Flat Iron

The Flat Iron was a revelation as its just about the only pub within a 5 minute walk to the station which is not packed from 1pm onwards and plenty of beer was drunk chatting with the locals, many of whom felt Liverpool were on a wobble after a couple of goalless champions league matches and home defeat against Villa. Confidence was high amongst Spurs fans after Weds, but everybody knew the size of the task ahead of Spurs and our bad record at Anfield.

Spurs kicked off attacking the Kop end and were to have the first chance when Ferdinand met Ziege’s corner with his head but little piggy Barmby was on the post and cleared the danger. Liverpool responded with a dipping shot from Vignol or Riise, which appeared to be going over judged by Sully’s lack of action at the shot before it thumped off the top of the bar. Later it was definitely Riise who forced a good save from Sully.

Spurs had chances of their own with Ferdinand having another effort saved before a good Spurs move sent Poyet into the box, but he could not connect with the final pass and the keeper saved.

Both teams settled into a good rhythm, moving the ball fluently around but struggling to get past the defences, which contained the majority of the star performers on the day – King and Perry for us and Hyppia and Henchoz for them.

There are many things to like about Sir Les, and for my money is worth his place in the starting line up in front of Rebrov as he leads the line better, but unfortunately with 22 goals in 87 league matches and 23 goals in 109 matches in his total Spurs career “Goal Machine Les” is something that he certainly is n’t. Without wishing to single Ferdinand out for any criticism, this has been the difference between converting good performances into points over the last week (allied to some shitty refereeing at the start)

Nutter and Sheringham linked to present Ferdinand with an opportunity midway through the half but he could only shoot weakly at the keeper. Litmanen was released on the inside left channel and his low shot was superbly turned into the side netting by Sully and we were lucky enough to get away with a goal kick, as apart from missing waist high challenges on Taricco in the penalty area against Villa, Gallagher was not alert enough to give the corner. Although it was a relief to come away from the match knowing that the ref had not cheated us.

Litmanen did a great piece of skill on the left touchline when he turned Perry and later turned provider to Fowler who did not managed to seriously test Sully with his shot, who later had more to do when Litmanen was put through by Hamman but saved well. Spurs last chance of the half came from a Ziege shot, but Dudek was equal to it in the Liverpool goal.

 

Half time provided an opportunity to meet up with the Cumbrian Spurs (with Flag), fellow “Do I not know that” Spurs quiz team member Joe Thornton and topspurs regular Gordon Lynn.

Everybody was pleased with the Spurs performance and thought that more of the same should see us get something from the game.

Much of the good Spurs performance cannot be communicated through description of chances within a match report such as this. Spurs looked comfortable at the back, passed the ball well throughout the team and gave as good as they got against a decent Liverpool side.

The Spurs support which again was tremendous - non stop singing of "Glenn Hoddle's Blue and White Army", with liberal does of the "Ledley at the back" song.

One gripe about Anfield these days is that the away fans are stuck in the corner, and the programme is crap and £3. (is that two gripes?)

 

A good move by Spurs ended with Anderton releasing Ferdinand on the right. His shot beat Dudek but was cleared by the alert Hyppia. A minute or so after this Liverpool scored. Spurs lost the ball midway inside the Spurs half, and it came to Litmanen on the left touchline. Treacle was a good few yards off him, allowing him to run infield and hit a swerving shot which flashed past Sully’s dive and cannoned in off the post. While Treacle should have been closer to Litmanen, Sully is rarely beaten by shots from 25 yards and it was just one of those things – a good goal.

This gave Spurs a mountain to climb. While I do not like rat faced mad eyed Houllier (and loathe his big nosed assistant Thompson) for his treatment of Ginola in 1994, I do respect his tactical awareness, which shut out the best in Europe last season, including Battistuta for Roma as Liverpool won the UEFA cup. They shut the game and although Spurs had more possession and pressed as best they could for an equaliser.

Liverpool were very effective in keeping their lead, and might have even gone two up when Owen was put through and in a vain attempt to get away from Ledley King he tore his hamstring as he forced a good save from Sully.

Spurs had lots of possession in the Liverpool half as we searched for an equaliser and although Poyet had an overhead kick and we had a dangerous free kick we failed to seriously test the new keeper and just as last season after winning at the stadium of light, lost to Liverpool in the next away match.

 

Spurs got a good ovation from the travelling fans  - you cannot ask anymore than everyone doing their best, even if its  a defeat.

Chatting to scousers after the match, they were very impressed with the Spurs performance “best performance at Anfield for years” “Hoddle seems to be doing the trick” etc

 

 

Our day was not done yet as Virgin cancelled our scheduled train and then refused to let the Spurs fans on the half empty last train to London with a line of station staff backed up with over zealous coppers arresting people who tried to get through. Bastards. We got a train to Birmingham and then had to fend for ourselves as there were no other trains to London. Some went to Milton Keynes, others got coaches while I crashed on a mate’s floor in Birmingham.

The train did offer a good opportunity to have a sing song on the train with a couple of Scousers and the St Albans chefs, and although this picture looks blurred I think it matches my vision at the time +-)

Next time we hear of a player demanding his £30,000 a week we should think of the poor bastards like us who pay his wages and are treated like shit – a midweek evening away match 250 miles from London with no trains after the match and then this shambles. Will it deter me from following Spurs away? Certainly not, and that is why they can treat us like this.

The Word of Hod

I felt we deserved something out of the game, definitely," Glenn pointed out afterwards. For long periods I felt we dominated, for long, long periods of the first half. To come to Anfield and do that shows we're progressing.
"We've got nothing out of the game though, no points on the board and that will reflect on the table.

"There is a part of me that is happy with the performance but as the manager of a club that wants to go places and a winner myself, it hurts when you don't win. When you get a strike like that it's a strike out of nothing and perhaps that was the only way they were going to beat us because I felt we were the better side."

Sullivan (7/10) – No chance with the goal but did some good saves when called upon

Taricco (6/10) – At fault for not closing Litmanen down for the goal, but generally did ok

Perry (7/10) – Backed up his excellent display at Sunderland with another good performance alongside King at the heart of the Spurs defence.

King (8/10) – An awesome display, with great defending allied to a good use of the ball. Everytime he did something good, it was a great excuse to sing the “we’ve got Ledley at the back” song which is a firm favourite amongst the fans

Ziege (6/10) – Played well for the team, and will be better suited to a return of the 3-5-2 wing back system next week

Poyet (6/10) – Not having the influence on Spurs that he promised pre-season but did his bit on the right side of midfield

Anderton (6/10) – Not a great match for Shaggy who gave the ball away too often for a player of his talent

Freund (7/10) – Another good match for the nutter, doing all his usual running and chasing as well as passing the ball better. 100% committed to the cause.

Davies (6/10) – Did his best as left midfielder, but did not get much out of the Liverpool defenders

Sheringham (6/10) – Not as influential as recent matches, but still played well with most of the good Spurs play flowing through him

Ferdinand (6/10) – Led the line as best he could, but he does not look like scoring the 15+ goals we need from his position

 Subs:

Rebrov (6/10) – Again failed to make much of an impression in the 20 minutes he was given at the end

 

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