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It has been proven repeatedly
throughout the years that you have to be a sandwich short of a picnic to
stand between the sticks every week and have leather balls kicked at you from
all angles. But as they always say, there is
a fine line between genius and madness. We have seen an infamous scorpion
kick by Columbian, Rene Higuita… genius, who then went to prison for
his part in a kidnapping… madness. Centre back, Laurent Blanc
used to kiss Fabian Barthez on his bald head before games for both France and
Manchester United, madness, but the pair went on to win just about everything
on the international stage. So it is fair to say that a
little bit of insanity and a pair of gloves go hand in hand. But there is one goal keeper who
has come through the dark times of fumbles and gaffs to re-invent himself as
the ultimate example of keeping the faith. Gum shield wearing eccentric,
Heurelho Gomes has turned his Tottenham career from a catalogue of
catastrophes into an index of innovative goal keeping. The Octopus as he is known, for
apparently having the longest arms in football, is in the form of his life
and could quite possibly be in the running for goalkeeper of the year. Gomes was written off by all and
sundry in England after blunders at Fulham, Villa and Stoke last year cost
him his reputation and manager, Juande Ramos, his job. But we should have known from his
60% clean sheets stats at PSV that this guy was far from finished. When Harry Redknapp arrived at
Spurs he immediately identified the Spurs number one shirt as needing some
improvement and Carlo Cudicini was brought in from Chelsea. This seemed to galvanise
Heurelho, who has continued to fight for his place ever since, highlighted in
Spurs’ 1-0 win over Chelsea last year. England captain, John Terry arrived
onto the ball in the 90th minute to plant a header goalwards. Terry was already wheeling away
in celebration as Gomes clawed it out; trust me it is worth watching. Since that moment, Gomes has been
unbelievable. World class save has followed world class save. And with no
small part played by the Brazilian, Spurs had
found themselves in a run of seven games without conceding. And the ironic
cheers at White Hart Lane have disappeared. But it is not unheard of for this
sort of transformation for the net nutters. Brad Friedel was cast aside after
a torrid time at Anfield. But the big American has become one of the top
keepers in the Premier League after he resurfaced at Blackburn Rovers before
moving to the Villains. And not to mention poor old Shay
Given, who has to triumph over adversity every week of his career behind the
dodgy defences of Newcastle and Manchester City. So, a message to all you managers
who fancy a replacement onion net tender this January, just remember, a goal
keeper is for life, not just until after Christmas. Joey Bill |
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5th January 2010 - Where
did it all go wrong for Tottenham’s forgotten men? The next David
Beckham, that’s how a once in-form David Bentley was described, and on more than
one occasion. But since his dream
move to the club he supported as a boy, the Spurs star has found himself
staring into the abyss like so many nearly men before him. The winger regularly
finds himself in Harry’s church choir rather than on the turf, a position
which is not unfamiliar to fellow bench warmer Roman Pavlyuchenko. The lanky Russian,
whose goal record rivals any striker in Europe, must be thinking he has
already returned home as he continues to be left out in the cold. The pair both arrived
last season with £14million price tags hanging like a millstone around their
necks, heavy burdens considering the abysmal start the club made to the
campaign. Within weeks of the
big money arrivals, the three men responsible for their acquisitions, Messers
Ramos, Poyet and Commoli, were ushered out in a cloak and dagger style sweep
not dissimilar to their predecessor. A wonder goal in a 4-4
draw at the Emirates was not enough to save David’s place as his form dipped,
while Pav scored goal after goal in the cups but his league proficiency
looked fatigued and lazy. The Jekyll and Hyde
team from North London seems to have one of two affects on players. You
can either arrive as a no-one and leave as a someone or arrive as a someone
and be heckled by all and sundry with the infamous words “what a waste of
money”. As we saw with the
arrival of £11million Sergei Rebrov almost ten years ago and more recently
Darren Bent at £16million, money can also bring with it, pressure and
expectation. However, I am not convinced
that this is the reason Mr Bentley has so far failed to set off the Spurs
sirens. David was shipped off to Blackburn in 2005, away from the big city
and Arsenal, a move which galvanised the winger and forced him to prove his
doubters wrong. Is it now the case
that the 24-year-old thinks he has made it back to the big-time in the
capital and no longer needs to try? A number of high profile incidents in his
personal life have left me pointing the finger and suggesting that he
believes his own media hype. A dead cert for the
world cup squad 18-months ago, the only thing for Billy-big-boots to do now
is to listen and do exactly what Harry says, keep your head down and work. Things are far less
simple for Pav, who also harbours dreams of a seat on Russia’s World Cup
plane. Roman arrived in
London after a successful European Championships for which he was named in
the team of the tournament. Unfortunately for him, our summer break coincides
with the hard Russian season and the former Spartak Moscow striker turned out
for the Lilywhites without a break in nearly two years. There is no doubt
about his technical ability but perhaps his lack of application. I firmly
believe that it was tiredness and a struggle to adapt to British living that
pushed Pav down the pecking order. The arrival of Defoe,
Keane and Crouch have also just served to knock the confidence of the gifted
Russian. Now there lies the
dilemma, to get self-confidence you have to play, but to play you have to
have self-confidence. Perhaps Mr Bentley can lend him some of his. Joseph Bill
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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. |