|
|
|
|
|
|
Want to bet on the
spurs? Check out the latest betting odds online with our partners at
bwin.com |
..
TOPSPURS COLUMNISTS
|
The index
and archive page of the TOPSPURS columnists |
||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
26th
February 2010 - Behind the Scenes
So Mr Pav is back in fashion, and fair play to the lad for his recent performances – he looked up for it against Wigan and the way the other players celebrated with him showed you how much they like the Russian ‘misfit’. And another two well taken goals in the cup replay and we’re back on track for some tangible sense of achievement after the stuttering of recent weeks. Did Redknapp tell Levy not to sell Pav, or did the club not get the offers they were wanting? If HR has only this last week or so seen the desire and commitment from Pav that he has wanted, that surely is a failure of Redknapp’s man management? Why would you tolerate such lack of aptitude when paying someone £40,000 a week, or whatever he’s on? It’s a shame that Pav hasn’t been given a real chance up until now. Whenever I’ve seen him play, I’ve always thought that he offered a bit more than Crouch, a better technical player and, more importantly, a better finisher. Pav’s cup scoring heroics now see him with a record of 13 goals from 13 games for the club in cup competitions, so maybe we’re looking at a Roy of the Rovers style comic book hero in the big Russian? I’d love to see him score the Wembley winner, that’d be superb! And so the selection merry-go-round whirrs back into action - I’ve come to the conclusion that poor old Crouch has lost his scoring ability. I’ve never seen a player hit so many posts, get in other striker’s way, or scuff shots wide. It’s all been a bit baffling really the playing out of inter-squad dynamics in the media. First of all the Russian wants away and Harry doesn’t fancy him. We’re told it’s nothing to do with his ability, more his lack of aptitude and effort on the training pitch. Keane is shipped out and still Redknapp prefers to bring in a semi-retired Finn ahead of him. Maybe Redknapp is some interpersonal management genius and the reshuffling of the striking pack has spurred Pav on to greater efforts. Whatever the reason for Roman’s revival, I for one am glad he’s finally being given a chance. Which brings me onto the subject of this latest blog – the dressing room. The last bastion of privacy in the modern game, a place where politics and relationships shape a team’s destiny. Just what are the friendships in the squad, the pecking order? We don’t seem to hear much about how the squad interact and what goes on in training, for the most part for obvious reasons, giving away club secrets isn’t a great idea. But as fans, virtually every other aspect of the modern footballer is there for all to see. How do we know that Pav hasn’t been applying himself in training? Just because HR says so? The obvious favouritism that HR has employed up until now has to be removed for the good of the team. Perhaps now after the slightly frustrating recent run of results, Redknapp has admitted, without admitting it, that we were getting too reliant on the one dimensional hoof it up to the big lad mentality. And just as the Pav has seemingly settled in London, been given his chance and undoubtedly learnt some more English, so the continued improvement of Heurelho Gomes goes on. I’ve noticed in recent games that Gomes has been organising his defence in proper playing field English – telling Ledley what to do and setting his offside trap for him. Nice work from the Octopus! Thankfully it looks like those once awkward elements to the side are finding their rightful place. Bale continues to improve after a shaky period in the squad and you have to say that it looks like it’s down in no small part to the players finding their pecking order. The private and the personal can profoundly affect a team dynamic and their performances, and has a massive bearing on a player’s career. Take the current example of the John Terry/ Wayne Bridge soap opera. Poor old Bridge, his England World Cup dream in tatters because his partner and the England captain no less were fooling around, making Wayne’s place in the team, ‘untenable.’ Bridge accepting that the pecking order means that Terry is a shoe-in for the squad and for the greater good Mr Bridge will step aside. A real shame for the lad. Such episodes must be million-fold in the modern football club’s dressing rooms. The only clues as to the goings on at most fans’ clubs is how the players interact with each other on the pitch. For my two penny-worth, Jermain Defoe doesn’t seem to get on with anyone else in the Spurs ranks. Every time I’ve seen him play recently he’s got some beef with either Bentley, The Hudd or even his bezzy mate Crouchy – gesticulating and pulling that stupidly petulant frown of his. So often what has happened in training that week can affect a player’s performance, or if someone’s worried about off the field issues, it will affect their game, and yet whilst these may sometimes be mitigating reasons for a poor performance, us, the expectant and demanding fans choose to forget that the players are only mere mortals like ourselves. A bad day at the office for most of us however doesn’t mean having your every move scrutinised by 30,000 people every Saturday afternoon. I guess we should all accept that just as in our own lives it takes time to settle into new environments and roles. I’ve personally learnt that recently with my emigration and that frustration and impatience are OK as long as you don’t lose sight of the bigger picture. Just how Wilson coped with the uncertainty about his brother recently is testament to the professionalism of key elements of our squad. Defoe having to also cope with the loss of family members, other players adjusting to relocation, broken legs and other fitness worries that could threaten their careers; the trappings of modern footballers, the temptations, the stupidity of youth (yes you Mr Bentley!), we forget that we ourselves have all gone through such life lessons. So, in summary, we have to accept that sometimes life gets in the way, even of football. So without the insight into the everyday and the humdrum at Spurs Lodge, we have to accept what the management, players and agents tell us via the media. Just like our politicians we have to take the spoon fed for the truth. Whether the Pav really has been a lazy, Berbatov-esque renegade we’ll never know. But if anyone out there has ITK knowledge of the rivalries or friendships between the players, I think it’d make a great column for this here website (even if it were a satirical piece of cartoonery). Whilst our current league position is good, we have let the grasp on that final CL position slip and whilst it’s easy to blame the manager for that, this is still a[nother] transition period for the club. I think we’ll see the benefits of the continuity that HR is put in place next season. Speaking of politics, I understand that the proposed extension of the Victoria Line has been mothballed. London Underground’s asking price of £200M seems to have scared off Haringey council and adds to the criticism of the entire project that the government’s architecture watchdog, CABE, threw at the stadium recently. Quite how the creaking infrastructure of the Tottenham transport system will cope without this vital piece of engineering is anyone’s guess and for my mind could be a serious dent to the project as a whole. The area clogs to grid-lock now, so how on earth fans would cope with the extra 20,000 cramming on buses and trudging up the Seven Sister’s Road is worrying. Let’s hope this isn’t the obvious pulling of the rug from under us as Mr Levy uses it as an excuse for not going ahead with the ambitious scheme. And so this default formation that has been put on Redknapp with the continued absence of Lennon and the lack of goals from Crouch will have to carry on for a little while as we take on the Toffees next at WHL and then travel to West London, my old manor, the following weekend. Two games against in form sides that will further test the squad’s resolve and ambition to finish in CL contention and continue the progress of the side under HR. 4th
February 2010 - In, Out, Shake it all about!
Well,
I leave England and it all goes mental! A has-been Chelsea reject moves to
the club, gazumping our pals over the marshes and Robbie decides to head to
another favourite club of his, whilst yet another player who it was thought
wasn’t good enough a few months ago returns to the fold in Kaboul. Add to
this a career revival from David Bentley and a cup classic, it’s all go at
Spurs! The
view from the other side of the world is pretty good at the moment. The sun
is out, here in New Zealand, and as I write this, I am attempting to get into
the national sport (the rugby 7s are on – which has its fringe benefits as
the ladies try to out-do each other with their scanty costumes and Norman Jay
selects the tunes between games). Coverage over here of the Premiership is
actually superior to that in the UK as the rights here are different and
although the match times demand early starts at the weekend, you get to see
delayed full re-runs of games that would otherwise be consigned to a few
minutes at the end of MOTD on a Saturday night. My
first viewing here last weekend was an early double header as I watched
Burnley valiantly take on the Pimps of King’s Road (oh Mr Terry – Father of
the Year!! Pa!) and get undone by the Chelsea captain late in the second
half. Then the main event as the delayed re-run in full of our boys against
Brum. Now, on paper, if you’d said at the start of the match that you could
have a 1-1 draw, you’d probably have taken it, but as it turned out yet
another 2 dropped points left a bad taste in the mouth. Birmingham’s home
form has been exceptional this season and it was with some trepidation that I
anticipated this string of games against the second city’s clubs. Spurs
controlled the first half (if not the whole game) and their build up was very
promising, Bentley included. Bale was buccaneering down the left wing, adding
penetration and Crouch continued his decent form, getting flick-ons and
making a nuisance of himself. But the dominance again lacked end result and
we are still playing carelessly for large parts of games. We are still too
reliant on Big Pete and Tom Huddlestone, in my opinion had another shocker,
giving the ball away far too easily, passing to invisible players and
generally running around aimlessly. Birmingham were unlucky to miss two
absolute sitters and had it not been for poor finishing by Benitez, the score
may have been very different at the end of the first half. Modric missed a
sitter himself. The main highlights of the first half were the resurgence of
Bentley, getting involved and putting in some useful balls for Crouch, and
Sgt Wilson running things in central midfield. Again though the good work was
undone in the second half. A perfect example of our sometimes hurried and
careless nature was to be seen right at the start of the second half as
Bentley fired over with an attempted pass to Crouch when we were 3 on 2 on a
counter attack and again as Crouch and Defoe conspired to get in each others’
way when in a great position to shoot. The
goal itself was a strange brew of exceptional work by Bale and a stooping
flick by Crouch resulting in a tidy finish by Defoe. It was well overdue and
a welcome relief, but the old tingles of anxiety were evident throughout the
latter part of the second half as Birmingham were allowed to come at us and
we were again unjustly punished by a late equaliser. Quite where the 5
minutes of injury time came from are still a mystery. Stuart Atwell had a
terrible game as ref highlighted by his ridiculous decision to book Palacios
on 59 minutes for a non-existent foul – the error compounded when Bowyer’s
revenge tackle on Palacios was yellow carded when it could easily have been
red. We
really need to sort out our shaky end to games...it’s getting ridiculous now. At
the moment I am taking advantage of my self-imposed unemployment to read
Hunter Davies’ seminal ‘The Glory Game’ (do yourself a favour and read it if
you haven’t already!). Throughout this excellent journalistic study of the
Bill Nicholson era Spurs of the early 1970s, it is evident how different the
modern game is to those heady and glorious days. Throughout
the book you can’t help but take on board how ‘getting stuck in’ was the
dominant philosophy of the coaching staff and the players, epitomised by
Mullery and co. The warts and all look at the dynamics of the squad and the
fascinating behind the scenes reportage in the dressing room before, during
and after the games shows how the steel of the team was valued. Arguably we
have never managed to re-kindle this hard core in the modern Spurs sides and
we are still evidently lacking the experience and power necessary to control
from a winning position. Now that the transfer window has come and gone we
still haven’t, in my opinion, plugged that gap in central midfield. I’d love
to see two Palacios’s in the middle. I think we could get away with it. A fit
again Lennon on the right and Modric on the left would work well, giving us
that attacking outlet, but as long as we have someone like The Hudd alongside
Wilson, we aren’t going to be able to stop teams coming at us. Our defence is
decent but often exposed and we now had a chance to address the captain
situation with Robbie’s exile (for what it’s worth, I think the Keane loan
will become permanent at the end of the season and I am intrigued as to who
will be brought in next term in his place). It’s
good to see Dawson being given a chance with the armband, but he is often
hot-headed. Never mind, I’ll stop my rant on that issue as Harry seems to
rate him as a leader. Robbie’s judgment seems to stink more and more mind as
I read today that he had been quoted as saying that Celtic still had a
realistic chance of winning the Scottish Premiership...er, yeah, right
Robbie. The
disappointment of the league game this week was temporarily displaced by a
fantastic blood and thunder FA Cup classic against our northern friends at
Elland Road. Jermain continues his good form with a superb hat-trick and a
MOTM performance. Bentley again heavily involved and we have the prospect,
perhaps, of a fit again Lennon not being able to dislodge the playboy from
right midfield...?! Crazy times indeed at White Hart Lane! A
massive game this weekend, which I will be able to watch live, albeit at the
crack of dawn, but let’s hope we manage to lose the shackles that we seem to
have been manacled to recently and let-rip. We don’t have many more
opportunities to make fourth place ours, in fact, arguably those chances have
long gone, but we can at least put the pressure on Liverpool and City by
winning this six-pointer against Villa at the weekend. 23rd January 2010 - Poor
Spurs Let's have a little pop quiz - 'who can define for me the rules of offside in Association Football?' That good old fashioned response no longer holds - you know the one about players being behind the line of the last defender when a team mate passes the ball, etc. For some time some of us have probably (and cynically) held the belief that the powers that be cherish the new found ambiguity over this rule, in order for them to be able to guide the outcome of a game, or at the very least curtail the age old problem of there being no goals in a game, heaven forefend that wouldn't make very good product for the viewing public would it?! Well, some of us I think got a clear piece of evidence of such a dodgy tool being used last night. Referee Howard Webb (whose early fanfared impressive performances have seemingly been replaced by a cosy 'in-the-club' old boys' arm around the shoulder me old mucker establishment bias), took an eternity to call Defoe offside and only when the ball was just about to cross the line did he dein to raise his whistle to his lips...dubious indeed. There is no guideline in the FIFA rules on offside that covers phases or inactive and active players despite this insidious aspect of the rule creeping in over the last few years. And whilst you could argue that under the old laws, Defoe was offside and that's that, the fact that such a crucial aspect of the game is now left to referee's discretion and interpretation, means we are in serious trouble - they haven't done a very good job when it comes to making the most simple of decisions, like calling a foul, booking a player, or giving a penalty...I wouldn't trust most Premiership referees to judge a beauty pageant, let alone having the word on decisions that could cost clubs millions of pounds at the end of the season, or determining their place in European competition (hmm...). Football is a glorious game because it is about human interaction and opinion, but standards have to be set and consistency has to be achieved. Sadly that would mean, in an ideal world that one ref got to referee every game, but it is starting to turn me off watching football in general. How can it be right that even with three officials on the pitch and a fourth on the sideline, when you are sat on the upper tear of the West Stand at the wrong end of the pitch to the action, you, the supporter can still see whether it was a foul or not, and the ref, Johnny-on-the-Spot cannot!!?! Disappointing as that decision was last night, in the cold light of day you have to say that we were very unlucky. Perhaps my one-eyedness and my inebriation scued my judgment but I thought we were the better team, certainly in terms of fashioning chances and but for another dodgy piece of refereeing, Crouch might have earned himself a penalty at his former employers'. But having been to the Hull game (my last hurrah with my father and sister before setting sail to the other side of the world - more on that later!) and having had the misfortune to have to endure 90 minutes of super-heroic goalkeeping, there was a strange malaise and disinterest that was evident in that game that perhaps crept into this as well. Our finishing has been poor in the last few games and whichever combination Redknapp starts with he seems to have change it for the other combination part way through the match. Poetic justice was not forthcoming last night for Robbie however. I would have started with both Keane and Crouch, both with points to prove and a hunger to silence the Kop at which they formerly prayed. Still, Redknapp knows his stuff and you have to say that the big man/ little man combo is starting to work well, as evidenced at the Hull game when the lankster was brought on in the second half. The general consensus seems to be that we are not destined to finish in the Top Four this season after all and I think that is the case. This has been a crucial period of games and we have had some gift-wrapped opportunities to push on and create some distance between us and the other wannabes. We don't have that cutting edge and resolve that the other challengers seem to have, particularly Liverpool, who have been used to chasing down the leaders on many occasions in the last few years. This is uncharted territory for Spurs really, and apart from the Lasagne-gate season, we have had no experience of having to hold a position and consolidate in the Premiership era. Let's hope the chance hasn't gone completely! But failure to beat any of the Top Four in 16 years is a very depressing fact and until we are able to consistently give it a proper go, we are never going to fulfill our promise. We won't get a better opportunity to do so than last night either. We've got a tough run of games now, barring the home tie to Fulham on Tuesday, with Leeds in the Cup providing a stern test and interesting distraction. But another six pointer away to in form and resolute Brum, a home game against counter attacking Villa and then a trip to the other Birmingham-triumvirate members, Wolves. These next few games I think will tell us how credible our Top Four status is and my instinct says that unless we get Lennon back soon we are not going to stay there for much longer. It's obvious how much we miss the wing wizard. Against Hull we played as if he were still in the starting line-up and when the players got to where they would normally offload to him, they seemed surprised and clueless as to what to do next. Starting Modric and Krancjar doesn't seem to be workable. Both are gifted players, but both want to come inside, leaving us exposed on the wing and inevitably trying to thread a pass through the eye of a needle as we attack the strongest part of any defence. Gareth Bale was great against Hull and he showed how much he is developing against Liverpool as well, but Corluka is not an attacking wing back and the substitution of Hutton for him last night shows how light we are in attacking width. Palacios's performances are stagnating and Jenas just confirmed what we've all known for a long time - that he isn't Spurs grade. I still think that Redknapp should indulge us a little and get another central midfielder in this January. The Hudd was poor against Hull and his injury also highlights our lack of strength in depth compared to our nearest rivals. I know I said in another article that we have potentially one of the best midfields in the league but without Lennon it just doesn't work. So, I'm off to the land down under next week and look forward to assembling my articles on the veranda overlooking the bay in Windy Wellington. I just hope that when I leave this sceptred isle, Spurs also leave their stuttering and jittery form behind. To those of you that take the time to scour these here submissions, cheers for reading and I look forward to the super early wake up call to watch our next game on live TV! Not... Captain-not-so-Fantastic Troubling times for Mr Keane then! Not content with simply losing his form, he’s now decided to throw his Spurs future into complete jeopardy by ignoring Redknapp’s instructions on there being no Christmas party by organising a jaunt to Dublin just four days before the subsequent defeat against Wolves…Personally I can’t see the problem with having a few drinks as a group of players, but the fact that they act like little children on the last day of term perhaps suggests that Redknapp is right to try and rule the roost. It would be interesting to know which of the flock followed their captain across the Irish Sea for what looked like a chavvy evening of karaoke and binge-drinking. Why do modern day footballers have to act like petulant little kids when things aren’t going their way? Robbie is supposed to be club captain, setting an example and a fostering a close relationship with the manager. He’s probably hastened the rumoured exit that someone has been trying to engineer to Celtic, although you can never believe everything you hear or read! Apparently, according to Redknapp, the players trained brilliantly on the subsequent days after the clandestine party before the Wolves match, but you have to wonder if it did contribute to an inability to unlock their defence, despite having almost the entire game in which to do so. Whatever the real reason for defeat in that game, good to see us bounce back against Man City in the week, in a tremendous attacking performance. And whilst Keane attempts to ruin his own career, Mr Dawson has stepped forward as a worthy potential long term captain. No one could ever doubt his commitment to the cause, you always get 100% from Dawson (even that little extra craftiness of a sly, unnoticed handball back to Gomes!), but he is maturing well into his role and taking full advantage of his opportunity whilst the ‘regulars’ are on the treatment table. I wasn’t completely convinced by our defence against City. They certainly nearly opened us up on a few occasions, short passes in front of the back four, with little protection, and clever attempts at through balls only blocked with last gasp stretches. But in the air, Bassong and Dawson were great and as the game went on they continued to impress as a unit, with covering tackles on Adebayor and even managing to keep Tevez relatively quiet. But you have to say that City didn’t really turn up. (They did turn on each other after the game though apparently, which only bodes well for us as the money-bags experimentalists get their due!) He was certainly their only chance of getting back into the game. A continued lack of ability to hold onto the ball when defending a lead, particularly near the end of the game is still something that we cannot seem to do though. It must be instinctive or something, the way we kept hoofing it back to City even with about 15/ 20 minutes to go. But we were superb going forwards! The vision of Krancjar and the sheer pace and skill of Lennon were there for all to see and Niko has even pleaded with Harry to be allowed to play alongside Modric, so we can only hope that Harry manages to work some way of getting them into the same line up with Aaron. That would really be something! And hats off to Peter Crouch who led the line superbly, his flicks and target man role actually working very effectively. And good to see him and Jermain atleast starting to get back to their best together as a unit. So a pleasing way with which to wipe the memory of the previous couple of games. But despite beating the media’s much-touted ‘fellow challenger to the top 4’, we still remain a couple of points behind Villa, with the dark horses of Birmingham (with the revitalized Lee Bowyer in England form) biting at our heels and City with a game in hand on us. It only goes to highlight where we could have been but for the aberration of the slip up against Wolves and the still stinging England-cricket-team-like collapse against the Toffees. The Christmas period now in full swing, we’ve got a tough set of fixtures and also the added headache of both BAE and Bassong heading off to the African Cup of Nations. Good to see Benoit play well on Wednesday, putting the ‘incident’ at the weekend behind him. Quite why he was singled out by the ‘fan’ was beyond me… And with the news that Redknapp has re-kindled his desire to sign a quality (but potentially another injury-prone star) player like Upson we are back on track. Speaking of potential signings, despite not being the greatest fan of Mr Gomes, you have to say that the club have been a bit shoddy in their very open courting of Pletikosa, the Croatian stopper whom we were due to sign in the summer before his knee ligament injury. Poor old Gomes. Parading Pletikosa around at the training ground and undergoing a medical isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement of our current keeper, particularly if the Croat isn’t going to sign until the summer as he publicly pronounced via his agent. Is Gomes likely to stay as a number two, I doubt it! You can’t help but feel he’s been shabbily handled by the club ever since he signed. Hung out to dry for early career mistakes and publicly ridiculed by fellow players and fans alike, he must surely be looking at returning to Holland where he was idolized. Well, enjoy your Christmas folks and here’s to a successful 2010 for the Spurs…let’s hope Santa brings us a nice, shiny, gift-wrapped run to the top 4! Merry Christmas J 04 November 2009 - Focus &
Frustration It was deeply frustrating to watch the game midweek against Man Utd. A replay of last year’s cup final but in truth, a poor excuse of a game for two such heavyweights of English football. After a great battling performance against Villa at the weekend, we ended up needing much the same in this game, but we didn’t get it. A promising half of the first half, gave way to the usual Spurs disease – failure to capitalize on a good start and early pressure, followed by individual errors and lazy passing and defending. Harry’s made it clear in the media since the game that the kind of performance we put in against Man Utd is unacceptable and he’s even threatened apparently to cancel Christmas as he did at Pompey. Whether it was laziness or over confidence, the way we let the Utd kids dominate the midfield after gifting them a goal, was unacceptable. All the early pressure was released once we sloppily gave the ball away from one of our own free kicks deep in their territory. Rather than put the ball in the box, we tried a quick free kick down the left wing, which was picked off by Neville and from that very move, United took an undeserved lead. Gibson’s two strikes were very clinical, but again, the preparation which must surely have noted how good he is at long range shooting, was either forgotten or ignored as both goals were the result of weak defending and covering in the middle of the park. Bassong guilty of letting his man go past him for the second, Bentley for an ill advised lunge at Anderson as he was turned for the first goal. It’s the little details that make the difference at this level and this stage of a competition. You felt that the players had to be sharper than they were. Defoe and Lennon were bickering with one another when Defoe failed to lay the ball off, rather than attempting a shot from a ridiculous angle. It was raining heavily throughout the game and yet we tried little flicks in and around the box rather than shooting and making it hard for the keeper (Robbie Keane guilty as charged on several occasions). Sloppy passing, greedy strikers and another completely ineffective performance from both Jenas and Bentley. All of this conspired against us. And again, Redknapp’s tactics were questionable. What’s the point of having Bentley on the right wing without playing Crouch? Bentley is a good player, better than his poor form suggests, but his real gift has always been crossing the ball into the box. With both Keane and Defoe to aim for, what possible joy was he ever going to get? Strange… "Individual errors are still our biggest
fault. At Arsenal the second goal we conceded was farcical. It's difficult to
lift players from something like that because you just can't go in at
half-time screaming and shouting. But we do have a tendency to sometimes
switch off like that. And that's something we need to improve on."
Redknapp can see the problems, but I guess once the players are over the white line, there’s little you can do about their mentality. "I feel it's still the case that we lack one or two players who can take situations by the scruff of the neck when things are not going right. Players who, when something is going against you, will stand there and say, 'OK, let's get to half-time and regroup.' So, once again we are drawn into the debate about captaincy and leadership on the pitch. Why did the players feel it was acceptable to capitulate the way they did? The body language by the end of the game was very poor and we showed very few signs of ever getting back into the game. All in all a major disappointment when facing a reserve team one win away from a Cup Semi-final. In an ideal world I think Redknapp and Levy would need to get their heads together and find someone during the transfer window who could take on this role of leader. But therein lies another problem. Bringing someone in will undoubtedly cause upheaval, resentment and infighting which, at this critical stage of the season, we could do without. We’re still in a great position in the league and if the players re-double their focus and commitment, arguably we have a great chance of breaking the top four monopoly. Fair enough, the League Cup may not be a priority this season. Perhaps it is for Redknapp and the fans (good to see Harry waxing lyrical about another potential trip to Wembley before the game), but the players obviously weren’t that interested. And that’s the problem with using a squad system, bringing in the bench team for the Cup. He may have asked them to show what they’ve got and justify a place in the first choice team, but I don’t think that approach ever works. And a lot of the time you end up putting square pegs in round holes in order to rest a number of first team players, which leads to ineffective formations and strategies. Someone in the current squad needs to step forward. The player’s attitude needs improvement in these kinds of situations and this weekend’s and this month’s fixtures will really test the team’s mental fortitude. Everton are injury plagued, but still a tough test. Man City is a real 6 pointer and the trip to Fulham has seen us slip up before! Oh and another London derby against the Hammers! The coaching staff have their work cut out this festive season. They’ll be hoping that they find a character or two to emerge from the background and take ownership of the on field leadership issues which are still, in my opinion, the only barrier to us achieving the required results to get us into the Champions League. NB: as I write this, SSN are reporting that a deal has been agreed for the Brazilian youngster, Sandro. Much touted and much talked about, but is he really what we need? Another circa £15M price tag, ability but only promise? I doubt he’s the answer to the conundrum of central midfield and it will take him time and games to get used to English football. I think we’d be better off buying in experience…And how is this lad getting a work permit? Uncapped for the senior team? All seems a bit desperate to me. 25th
November 2009 - Defoe’s Demolition Job
What a lovely change it makes to be able to put away the cloak of pessimism and just bask for once in the glory of a right good old-fashioned tonking! A fantastic result and a thoroughly amazing scoreline. However, I did hear a Spurs punter still manage a slight quibble on the BBC’s 606 when he bemoaned the fact that we hadn’t scored just one more goal (which we could very easily have done in a profligate first half performance), to erase the historical millstone that hangs around our neck - remember the ignominy of THAT whipping from the Barcodes?! Defoe was amazing, Lennon vibrant and with a cutting edge that many detractors still try to say he doesn’t have and Huddlestone and Krancjar were creatively awesome. Good to hear Defoe’s confidence garnered by this performance to the point where he has apparently vowed to get the golden boot this season. Now that would be marvellous and he has absolutely done his chances of confirming a place at the World Cup no end of good after Sunday. Of course the press and some of the fans alike go mental after such an anomaly of a result and declare that Spurs are odds on for a top four finish – the real test of our Champions League credentials comes this weekend with our trip to Villa. It’s our away form that still represents our true progress under Redknapp. It’s all well and good whipping a team that have an awful defence and have been shipping goals recently, but the stingy defence of Aston Villa will show us if we really do have a chance of that hallowed top four place. And our own defensive frailties have been very apparent this season in the big games, particularly on the road. Maybe the absence of Ledley at the moment is a good thing, with Bassong and Woodgate allowed to form a partnership for a few games. Mr Redknapp has a tough balancing job to do once Luka Modric is back from injury (whenever that may be!). With Krancjar now surely commanding a starting place every game, just how does HR fit all of these players into his system? Well, the fact is that we now have an embarrassment of riches on the flanks after so long without real quality in those positions. Modric could easily play on the right if Lennon is not fit, or on the left leaving Krancjar to come on as an impact player. We could even shift either of the Croats into the middle alongside Palacios when playing at home, so we have some real dynamism in midfield now. Some people argue that even with the four strikers we have at the moment (surely the Pav will be sold in January though), we could even go to some sort of 4-2-3-1 formation with Defoe up front on his own, and allowing Modric-Krancjar-Lennon to be an attacking midfield three with Palacios and the Hudd as holding players behind them. Whatever the final solution that Harry adopts, I think we’ve got one of the best midfields in the Premiership now. Perhaps still lacking a genuine holding midfield player of comparable ability to Palacios, but silky and stylish nevertheless – the true Tottenham way. Well done Mr Redknapp. You’ve managed to get us through the tough times without either of the magical midgets and now it’s time to kick on over Christmas, a period of time that we have had mixed performances through in recent years. The squad will come into play over this period of time and we do have flexibility in our personnel with Crouch, Bentley, Bale and others able to come in and either play the standard 4-4-2 or change things up a little and play a more direct game where necessary. With the Christmas period comes the January sales and I echo JimmyG2’s comments in his article, imploring Redknapp and Levy not to do too much. There are obvious items on the gift list and we should be charitable this season – giving is good. Let’s get rid of some of the fat on the meat. Poor old Pav, he can’t get in the team and must surely be sold or loaned out until next season. Robbie may wish to hook up with Tony Mowbray and help out the sluggish Celtic, but I’d be happy to see him stay. The defence needs clarifying and the personnel need to be changed only perhaps at right back, with Corluka still not convincing me. But that is all and to be honest, I doubt that it would be wise to unsettle the defence further by bringing in a new keeper. Despite the column inches written about ‘the battle for England’s Under 21 wonderboy’ in Scott Loach, I think it unlikely that Harry or indeed Levy would sanction another number 1 to come in this season. Gomes has his faults but you get the feeling that the more games he plays, the better he gets. Cudicini’s unfortunate accident leaves us light in the stopper department but I would be very surprised if we go for anything other than perhaps a covering loanee. However, reports of an interest in Igor Akinfeev are pleasing if true and despite the fee that he would attract, I think he’d be a superb player for a team like us to bring in – a keeper tracked by every big club in Europe. And therein lies the problem with Man Utd amongst others looking to line up a long term replacement for their outgoing keepers. Let’s hope for a solid result at the weekend and long may City’s run of stalemates continue and Liverpool’s faltering form keep us in the top four…. 06 November 2009 - Ready for the
Big Four? It seems quite pointless to write anything at all about what we all witnessed on Saturday. I’d like to go through it all in detail and analyse why we played so badly, but it simply boils down to two things – Redknapp got it wrong again and Spurs still have some sort of pathetic inferiority complex when we ‘take on’ our oldest enemy, or any of the so called ‘Big Four.’ Before we begin the knocking, we have to of course state the obvious caveat that we have been without Modric for a long time, arguably one of the best players to have ever donned the white shirt. Missing him, Lennon and Defoe, arguably our best players is never ideal when taking on the Goons, but I have to say that Redknapp got it all wrong. A midfield that lacked any dynamism, forced to loop aimless balls over the top for Crouch to run onto or steaming a ball at the unfortunate lad’s head from 50 yards by BAE…it was an old fashioned strategy, but one so flawed it could have been picked apart by a five year old. Spurs are a team that have in the shortish time I’ve been a fan never been blessed with a solid defence. We aren’t designed to defend and trying to do so for 90 minutes against a team that is as fluid as Arsenal is folly. Especially when we are given to lapses of concentration in defence and goalkeeping at the best of times. Now I’m no managerial or tactical genius, but I’ve always been of the school that when you are away from home the secret to success is to keep the ball and pass it round, trying to keep it on the floor and find some openings. Giving the ball away as often as we did and as lazily as we did on Saturday was truly a footballing crime. The mitigating circumstances aside, the one thing you expect from Spurs against the Goons is spirit and commitment. The sooner David Bentley is shipped out the better. Hollywood pass after Hollywood pass, 40 yard volley attempts on your left foot and the now typical lack of bottle in the challenge are what we’ve come to expect from this complete waste of space. At risk of being knee jerk, I have to say that this spiral of poor form in the league has been short lived, and let’s hope it remains just a blip, but the general lack of intelligence and intiative shown by the players on Saturday belies a worrying tendency of Redknapp’s to tinker with a stable and proven strategy when it comes to trying to outwit the ‘big guns.’ The complete paralysis of our players, the hesitation, the direct approach rather than playing to our strengths was perhaps not the players’ fault, but the manager’s instructions? Where was Krancjar? We were crying out for someone who could actually be creative and wasn’t playing like a boy amongst men. Redknapp has got it wrong in every game against the bigger guys this season – the unfathomable decision to match up man for man against Chelsea in a formation that clearly wasn’t working, the laughable performance against Man Utd when down to 10 men, the shambles on Saturday…the only saving grace for him was the fortunate opening day lottery win against a clearly unfit Liverpool side. Gomes was unlucky to have conceded three I feel. Ledley King clearly isn’t fit enough to play at this level any more. The defence was shockingly naïve and lacking any sort of commitment or belief. Anyhoo, rant over. In conclusion the strength of feeling that I’ve demonstrated shows how frustrated I am as a fan of the Spurs. Two steps forward, one step back perhaps, but if we are ever to live up to the hype that surrounds our chances of breaking into the elite of English football, something needs to change in the squad. Robbie Keane’s continued presence as captain could well be one of the problems. Coupled with an in and out former captain in Ledley, who was never a particularly vocal or fierce rallying leader of men, we cleary lack one or two players who can make the difference in such games. I wouldn’t sanction the signing of another mega star during the January transfer window, and once Modric and Lennon are back from injury, we should be able to return to being the dynamic attacking force we have been since the middle of last season into this. But we do need to address the captain issue and bring in an experienced international who can instill a real leadership at the club. Redknapp needs to work on his tactical choices against the bigger teams (he doesn’t have a great record at any of his former clubs against the big boys either, so it’s not necessarily just a Spurs problem) and not change to a nullifying strategy but one that takes them on. And we need to quickly re-establish a winning streak if we are to stay in contention and fend off Man City and Villa, otherwise the tangible progress under Redknapp will fade into top ten obscurity for another season. It’s a long season and in hindsight some might say we were never going to get results against the big boys, but a little bit of bottle and a bit of confidence in your own ability would be welcome. 21st September 2009 -
Injury Time Another London derby comes and goes with that stingingly familiar feeling of defeat. We started well against Chelsea and for once Jermain Defoe’s finishing let him down. A real shame that we couldn’t capitalize on a lethargic looking Chelsea team at the outset, but once we’d failed to make early pressure pay, they upped their gears and soon enough the sniveling little imp that is Ashley Cole exposed one of our key weak areas – Vedran Corluka, the man who looks like he’s running through mud to get to normal pace. The highlight of the game had to be Mr Cry-Wolf Drogba actually needing the medical attention he’d been craving all game and the match turned into a bit of a farse after poor old Bassong collected one from the Stamford Bridge turf. Hopefully he’s alright as our problems are fast mounting up at the back. Ledley pulled a hamstring which means he’s effectively out for a few games I would have thought. A back two of Corluka and Huddlestone means we are going to drop more points unless Redknapp can magic someone off of the treatment table pronto. All of which means that our great start is looking a distant memory and the Gods have conspired to thwart our progress. Harry has his work cut-out now trying to cobble together a makeshift team of what’s left. I had the dubious pleasure of also watching the Manchester derby before our game and whilst it was a tremendous advert for Man City’s resilience and Man Utd’s attacking prowess, the shenanigans at the end, whilst typical of Mr Ferguson’s luck (?!?!) took away from an otherwise fantastic sporting spectacle. I can see why Hughes was so irate. Where did the 4 minutes of injury time that were initially indicated come from and then how did they extend to 6 minutes when it was United that were messing about with substitutes and free kick setting? Nonesense at best, stinking at worst. So the usual pattern is slowly returning after this weekend’s results. Liverpool were rather fortunate to beat an obstinate Hammers team who themselves will feel very hard done by and the Goons demolished poor old Wigan. But back to matters Tottenham. So where are we at? It’s obvious that injury problems are causing real trouble for our formerly settled formation and tactics. Lennon looked lively again, but I cant help feeling that Redknapp got his tactics wrong again yesterday. It’s easy to criticize him after defeat, but why change a previously winning formulation to counter Chelsea? I can’t see the wisdom of matching up with them when we don’t have the personnel to cope with the opposition. Jenas’s rapier like shot aside, what did he and Huddlestone contribute yesterday? Again, Palacios was by far the outstanding midfielder for us, not just tackling and covering the defence but slide rule passing and running at the opposition. He’s a fantastic player and you can’t help feeling that you wish we had two of him in the middle, instead of the lumpen Hudd and clueless Jenas. It’s obvious that we miss Modric massively and the fact that we have built our play around him and Lennon this season means we are not going to function without him. Krancjar seems like a bit of a desperation buy if you aren’t going to play him. Crouch actually looked decent yesterday when he came on, causing all sorts of problems to Terry and Carvalho. Keane was enigmatic and pretty ineffective yesterday. It seems that just because he’s captain he’s still getting picked. Covering the left flank is not his natural position that much is obvious. You could argue that we were always going to lose that game and that a point would have been a laudible achievement, but play to your strengths, given the available personnel, don’t try and stifle opposition, particularly of Chelsea’s calibre at home. The Pav must be wondering when he’s ever going to play for us again. I would have started 4-4-2 and gone with Krancjar on the left and Lennon on the right wing with Palacios and the Hudd maybe in the middle. Our defence looked exposed and open to the Chelsea full backs without proper wingers helping to pin them back and back-tracking, something that both Modric and Lennon have done well under Redknapp. Anyhow, we could argue about formations and tactics all day. Simple conclusion is that we weren’t up for it again yesterday and apparently we are no worse off than last year in the same corresponding fixtures. We have some mitigating circumstances in the injuries that are mounting, and this is a real test now for HR. Yes we have made a good start, but we need to find a plan to stay in touch with the top 6. Over to you, Harry! 24th August 2009 - Great start, but September will be
the true test 25 July 2009 - Is It Ever Right To Go Back to the Ones You Loved? Robbie Keane, Jermain Defoe, Pascal Chimbonda, and now…Peter Crouch? Ok, so different managers have different views on the same player. Juande Ramos might have said to Harry Redknapp, if they ever spoke again, ‘I don’t fancy yours much mate.’ Peter Crouch is a decent player, but he’s not that good. He has a good scoring record for England against fairly poor opposition admittedly, and there could be a case for his and Defoe’s ‘partnership’, but is he really worth £12M, given his age and his lack of star quality? Certainly Crouch and Defoe were seemingly fostering a good understanding, but I remember watching many a MOTD, waiting for our highlights, generally at the end of the show, watching Pompey’s games and thinking that despite being a bean-pole, Crouch wasn’t a good target man and moreover, tended to get in Defoe’s way a lot of the time. Still, if it happens, I look forward to being proved wrong! It’s looking like a bit of a bleak start to the season already. Our only 3 recognised central defenders out crocked, a lack of World Class signings and visibly tumbling down the pecking order of English football. It’s very apparent that Redknapp still has a very big job on his hands at Spurs. Even the much touted glamour tie with Barcelona at Wembley is looking a bit lacklustre – most, if not all of the equivalent of the Galacticos are still being rested. There’s the distinct impression at the moment that the board and HR might well not be the best of bed-fellows at the moment. If Redknapp really has control of transfer policy, are we to believe that Levy went to Madrid with Harry’s blessing, to try and sign some fairly expensive, not good enough for the big team squad players? Redknapp would have known, as most of us could have told the board that Huntelaar, Robben and Heinze were never going to be affordable to a club who can’t even offer European football this season. On SSN last night the Del-Boy trader said that he didn’t know where all the rumours about Jenas had come from and that Huntelaar was someone ‘we are interested in.’ Not a ringing endorsement. It also begs the question, is HR really in control of the hiring and firing at the club? He went on to say, much in the same way as he did about Jermain Defoe that he though Crouch was a ‘triffick’ player, he was currently employed elsewhere and it would be wrong to talk about other club’s players…or not that wrong. He can’t resist using the media to get his man still can he? The sad thing about re-signing players and giving near autonomy of transfer policy to the man who matters most is fair enough, but it sadly highlights where Spurs could be by now. Without the debacle of Jol’s toppling and the ill-advised foray into Spain, you feel massively cheated by the current administration of the club…again! If they’re good enough now, weren’t they before?...now that they’re a few years older. I can’t boast at knowing much about Crouch’s early days at Spurs, but I imagine he hasn’t changed much, physically, since those early days. And his lack of return in terms of goals in the EPL, still hints at a lack of class. The pull of working with Harry must be strong mind, if both Crouchy and Defoe are keen to go back to their old stomping grounds. You can’t forget your first love all that easily obviously. Man City’s exuberance and cash, David Moyes’ fantastic achievements at The Toffees, Liverpool’s resurgence and Arsenal’s re-strengthening means that dreams of eating at the head of the table are now a distant memory, if not a pipe-dream. Can Spurs achieve something tangible this season and re-ignite the hope of its beleaguered supporter base? Like a number of other contributors to this website, I feel that the lack of numerous signings is a good thing. The spector of Patrick Vieira meanwhile lingers on the horizon. Is it a ‘done deal?’ How do we feel about a former hate-figure joining up? What would be the reaction if it were, say Sol Campbell returning, head bowed, to a club whose fans obviously ‘hate’ you? Personally, I don’t really care either way. I’ve always thought there was far too much made of the North London rivalry. I don’t welcome Vieira with open arms, more an indifferent hope that he might still be a good player. The rumoured signing of Vieira and possibly Crouch also shows that, as a club we have abandoned the pursuit of youth and saleable assets. I’m not sure what to think of that. The training facility at Enfield is back on apparently and planning and funding have been green-lighted. Redknapp’s declaration that he wants to give youth a chance is encouraging. The real test of the club’s academy and youth set-up will be fast-tracked this year as an obviously reluctant hierarchy hold onto their wallets this close-season. I hope that our squad has enough to cope with a defensive nightmare and that we don’t panic buy our way out of a potentially embarrassing start to the season. After all, Redknapp won’t want the famous ‘2 from 8’ mantra to come back and haunt him!!
|
|
Disclaimer:
Please note the words on this page are the opinion of the topspurs columnist
and are just that, opinions, not facts and are nothing to do with Tottenham
Hotspur Football club PLC. Just a supporter having his say nothing more
nothing less. Any commentary on betting is meant for discussion purposes only
and does not constitute any form of advice or recommendation. |