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Saturday 24th
November 2001, 3.00pm |
FA PREMIERSHIP, The Boleyn
Ground, Upton Park |
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WEST HAM UNITED 0
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Sheringham |
Ferdinand 1 (50) |
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Poyet
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Ziege
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Anderton
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Freund
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Davies |
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King
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Richards
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Perry
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Sullivan
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Subs not
used: Beasant, Bunjevcevic, Rebrov, Thelwell |
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TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1 (Ferdinand 50) |
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Referee:- |
Attendance:- |
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Despite only winning by a margin of one goal – Spurs cruised to their third away win of the season at a revamped Upton Park this afternoon thanks to Ferdinand’s first away goal since Aug 1999, and now sit 6th, above Arsenal as the top London club and but for those dodgy decisions that went against us earlier in the season, we could have been sitting top of the lot.
Despite the sometimes hostile rivalry between Spurs and West Ham fans – this is my favourite away trip in London as West Ham as a club still retain much of their history and culture (as a poor man’s Tottenham). Evidence of this came with a 30 strong queue outside the pie and mash shop along from the Boleyn Pub, with the chicken and burger takeaways either side empty. Most of the usual faces were there, and I was sat behind the old boy who looks like Compo from Last of the Summer wine.
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Spurs were forced to make our first change after 6 league matches with the same team as Treacle had not recovered from the knock he took against the Scum last week and he was replaced by Davies at Right wing back as Hoddle kept to the 3-5-2 system he prefers. I initially thought that we played 4-4-2 with Mr Ed and Ziege as full backs, and Poyet and Davies as wide midfielders but such was the fluidity of the team it does n’t really matter. If Poyet was left midfield, he was only in position at the kick off!
One of the most embarrassing announcers ever counted down the West Ham line up in the style of a pop chart to finish up announcing David James as Number 1 – it was such a cringe. They were missing Kanoute, Di Canio and Carrick – but welcomed back Cole and Lomas in a two bob for two bob situation.
On a mild afternoon, West Ham kicked off the first half with Spurs attacking the Centenary stand, in which we were crammed into the left-hand corner in front of the biggest crowd at the Boleyn since 1984.
The opening few minutes were scrappy and all I can really remember is the Spurs supporters being in excellent voice, as they were throughout the match to the final whistle. A couple of the songs from last week got an extended run “Heeeeeey Campbell, Wan-ker, I wanna know why you’re such a c*nt” was popular for much of the first half, while the “Ooooh Vieira, Ooooh, Ooooh Vieira, Ooooh, He wants to leave the scum, Cos Campbell wants his bum” held sway in the second half – alongside all the old favourites such as “Glenn Hoddle’s Blue and White Army”, “We are Tottenham from the Lane” and of course the Ledley King song. A song that I’d not heard before but is sure to be very popular once it catches on is Freund’s first proper song (to the tune of “you’re so bad its unbelievable” it goes “Steffen Freund’s a Football Genius”.
After the initial scrappiness, Spurs settled into a decent if not brilliant rhythm with Sheringham having his most effective match for a while. Sir Les was sent away a couple of times to test the less than reliable Dailly and the worst waste of £5m since Bent Fatcha, Tomas Repka, but while the mind was willing the current 34 year old could not outstrip the defence like he used to. Our first attempt on goal came as you would expect from Poyet, who hooked a dipping 20 yard effort over the bar after about 10 minutes.
Ziege produced one of his brilliant crosses soon after which had James at full stretch to palm the ball away from Sheringham, and West Ham cleared just before Davies could get to the punch. Elleray was refereeing in his usual style and it was clear that he would be a bigger menace to Spurs than the midget attack of Kitson and Defoe against the King et al at the back.
One of the best moments of the half came when West Ham broke through on our left and Schemmel set off after the ball. But little did he know Ledley King was tracking him and as the ball went to the by-line, King slid in, nicked the ball and managed to get up and come out of defence with the ball all in one movement. This special bit of skill was made even better as he did it at the West Ham end and there was nothing they could do but marvel at the 21 year old’s talent.
Sully was rarely threatened in the first half and the only attempt on goal came from a weak back header from Hutchison, which he saved easily.
The best move of the first half came just before half time and should have sent Spurs in a goal up. King advanced with the ball over the halfway line and slipped a low diagonal pass through to Poyet on the right edge of the D. He turned to his left as he flicked the ball to his right to Ferdinand who again turned to his left as he flicked the ball to his right to find Sheringham with plenty of space just inside the left-hand side of the penalty area. Ted steadied himself and used all of the time available before smashing a fierce left foot shot which smacked against the face of the bar and to safety. A move of pure quality that deserved a goal.
At Half time we were “entertained” by the Hammerettes – an out of sync dance group, and thoughts turned to turning good play to goals to win the match. Spurs had done ok and were well on top in the match, but without looking special as they have done in other matches this season.
West Ham had a good chance at the start of the second half when Defoe got though and probably aware that he had Ledley bearing down on him rushed his delivery so that it was neither a cross or shot and Spurs got a throw. Spurs responded when Ferdinand set up Poyet, but again the Uruguayan shot too high.
We took the lead when a multi pass move reached the penalty area with Sheringham. He laid the ball off to Ferdinand who cleverly switched play out to the right where Davies had lots of space. As you would expect from Davies, he sent over an excellent cross, which Poyet flung himself at sending a header goal wards before he clashed heads with Sinclair. James initially did well to palm the header on to the post, but Ferdinand was alert to crash the ball home from a yard out.
It was a weird experience because as soon as we realised we’d scored, it was obvious that Poyet had suffered a serious injury as Sheringham and then Ziege frantically signalled the bench. After around 3 minutes treatment, even from where we were at the other end it was clear that Poyet was out of it and needed to go off (apparently he was arguing with Elleray about Spurs having a corner and was unaware that we had scored). Spurs had Leo ready for his 50th appearance for us, as Poyet got a loud round of “there ‘s only one Poyet” as he was led off around the side of the pitch from the Spurs fans who have quickly taken to him.
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In all of this I felt a bit sorry for Sir Les, whose goal was lost within the lengthy treatment to Poyet. Ferdinand may not be the great player he was in the mid 90’s but this was his 4th goal in 7 matches and while he may not be the striker to win us the championship – he had a good match today and was involved in most of the good stuff Spurs played.
Leo almost had an immediate impact. A long pass out of defence was flicked on by Sheringham to Ferdinand who flicked it intelligently to the right to enable Leo to have a clear run on goal. Leo struck a fine shot, which smashed against the inside of James’s left-hand post before ricocheting to safety. This would have been a timely boost for both Spurs and Leo as a single goal advantage is always a precarious one. Leo continued to play well for the rest of the match and his performance must have been a welcome boost for Hoddle.
Despite falling a goal behind, West Ham did not really force Sully to do very much - a decent low save from a Hutchison 25 yarder and a straightforward tip over from a Moncur shot from the edge of the box was as difficult as it got, which as Hoddle pointed out was a great testament to the back three and the rest of the team who worked hard for each other. The moment we all dream about when Freund scores nearly arrived when the great man cut in from the left and hit a decent low goalbound drive which unfortunately was blocked by Dailly – only one match to go before he equals Jensen’s record of 104 goalless matches from Midfield!
Unlike some of the matches under the Goonersaurus, Spurs did not sit back on the lead and continued to press at every opportunity and Dailly did well for once to block a Ferdinand effort from a Sheringham flick. We hit the woodwork for a fourth time (the third was the Poyet header from which Ferdinand scored) when the ball rebounded to Sheringham around the penalty spot area and he hit a precise curling shot which thumped against the post with James stranded. Anderton hit back the rebound, which Sheringham got on the end of but could not get any power into his header.
During the second half, a stocky short grey haired old bloke was led away from the front of the stand and as he passed the Spurs fans there was a brief chorus of “there’s only one Pat Butcher!” As the game wore on Joe Cole took it upon himself to get West Ham back in the game, but only really succeeded in running sideways with the ball and has a long way to go before the skilful player becomes a good footballer. In his frustration he tried to have a bust up with Freund and ran into Nutter as he squared up. You had the feeling that it was man against boy and the Spurs fans sung “Little boy, Little boy, Little boy” as the referee booked both Freund and Cole.
One of the saddest sights of the match was Rebrov, who’d spent much of the first part of the second half warming up, but with 5 minutes to go was a forlorn sad little figure sitting on the advertising hoarding level with the penalty area at the other end of the pitch. My heart goes out to him and it looks a question of when and to whom he gets sold as the European transfer window opens shortly.
Unlike last season in the cup – Spurs kept the ball well and there was no panic at the end. Much of the injury time was in the West Ham half and there was even time for a Sheringham free kick after Ferdinand was fouled by Moncur who’d already got his booking, despite only being on the pitch for 30 minutes and has never quite come to terms with being given the elbow at the Lane for not being good enough. Sheringham hit the free kick wide, which was to prove the last action of the match as Elleray blew from the goal kick.
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Spurs will have tougher matches than this and will need to play better, but you cannot ask more than for us to win and to win easily at that, especially in a local Derby where we have not won since the 1994/5 season. 6th in the league and 3 points off the top is a fine testament to Glenn Hoddle – his astute signings and tactical nous to get the best from the players that were going nowhere this time last year under the Goonersaurus. A happy Tottenham going forward and upwards together - COME ON YOU SPURS |
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The
word of Hod
On the game: ''There seemed to be an
extra lick of paint on their goal. We hit the bar once and the post twice and
it could have been a little bit more for us in the end. I was pleased with the result.
We came here to win and we got the victory so I'm delighted.
''I think there is more to come because we weren't at our very best. We have
played better this season but I was pleased with the way we defended as a team.
It wasn't just about the back three - the whole team defended very well. To
come away and not let the home team have a real genuine chance speaks volumes
for the way we played.
''I think that is the most encouraging sign. We kept a clean sheet up until
half-time but I felt we were playing in third gear and had to up it in the
second half and that's what we did. We played well in the second half and as I
said we could have had more but a 1-0 victory was enough in the end.
On Poyet: "Gus has got deep
concussion. He is in hospital and he will have some scans done. He was totally
out of it and was complaining to David Elleray that we should have been awarded
a corner - he didn't even realise we'd scored. It was very brave of Gus to go
in for that challenge, but that is his trademark. He went in with venom and if
Sinclair hadn't made the challenge he might have scored himself
Sullivan (6/10) – Did not have too much to do, but dealt well with the few attempts West Ham could offer and remains the best English born keeper in the Premiership
Davies (6/10) – Did his part playing in an unfamiliar wide position which became a formal right wing back. Had lots of tussles with Joe Cole and always looked to be positive when he had the ball as well as pitching in defensively. Remains a major talent awaiting a regular space in the side.
Perry (6/10) – A good match for Mr Ed defensively, and while he looked assured in his defensive responsibilities he was inclined to oof it too often
Richards (6/10) – Maybe its just me, but while he did ok and will be pleased to be part of the team that kept a clean sheet – does not look the part yet as a centre back for us. I still remain to be convinced that he is “that” much better than Perry or deserving the nod ahead of Bunje or the Doc when fit. Has only played a few matches for us so needs some time to settle in but to my eyes is not as great as people are trying to make out
King (8/10) – The master! Only beaten for MOTM by the Poyet wonder strike last week against the Goons, but after handling the pressure of the Return of RSol brilliantly was equally as good today and did not put a foot wrong.
Ziege (6/10) – Looked dangerous going forward, but was inclined to dive in with his tackles in the second half as West Ham tried to exploit his defensive weaknesses. An area we need to be aware of in the future.
Anderton (6/10) – Did ok and linked well especially with Sheringham and can be satisfied with his contribution
Freund (7/10) – A very good match for Nutter, in which he managed to get in one of his now trademark backheels and will be delighted to know he now has his own song borne of our love for him “Steffen Freund’s a Football Genius”
Poyet (7/10) – Had a good match and was always looking dangerous before the clash of heads with Sinclair for the goal. Lets hope the head injury is not too bad and he can be back in time for Fulham
Sheringham (7/10) – Had his most effective match for a while and will be disappointed not to have scored after hitting the woodwork in both halves.
Ferdinand (7/10) – Will be pleased with his goal and was involved in much of our good attacking play. Tends to make the odd mistake which make the crowd groan and think of Rebrov, but his overall contribution was excellent today and will be pleased to have scored the winner.
Subs:
Leonhardsen (6/10) – Had a good match after coming on for Poyet and was unlucky not to score with an excellent shot which thumped against the post. Remains a handy squad player.
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