Spurs 3 City 0 - Spare a thought for Noel Gallagher
Thursday, December 17, 2009 at 11:29AM How should we do this? I'm thinking we dance a merry jig. Okay, so City failed to turn up and make a game of it. Not our problem. When we fail to do the same the opposition get all the credit for the manner of the victory and tags like 'bottled it', 'lack of mental strength' and 'not good enough' are handed out to our wounded troopers. So when we dish out such a comfortable spanking to a side beaten just once in the Prem this season, it should be embraced and enjoyed as much as a 1-0 defeat at home is frowned upon with distain.
Congratulations Harry and the players. You stood up and you asserted yourselves. Even when City had possession, they lacked any sort of cutting edge. Yes, cutting edge, that oh so important element that has let us down in the past couple of games. We had it in swaggering bursts yesterday evening. Love it when we dick this lot. I guess Noel will probably console himself with another radio broadcast with his mate Russell Brand. At least Liam was always game for a laugh. RIP Oasis. RIP City. Well not quite, but definitely maybe over the 94 minutes played out at WHL.
It wasn't quite a dismantling, mainly because of City and their lacklustre effort. But it was professional and determined (from us) and the result never in doubt. Effortless really. The came to attack, failed to do so with any menace, meaning we had the space and time to craft and create. We were by no means slick, sometimes sloppy, but a 3-0 is a 3-0. Comprehensive. We didn't even bother with a sub until the 89th minute.
Oh, go on then, we outclassed them. Happy days.
Krancjar was ridiculously sexy. Had a touch of the Ginolas about him. Movement, passing, finishing. Almost forgot little Luka was sat on the bench looking on. We are being spoilt. All this for £2.5M. And I'm positively salivating at the prospect of perhaps seeing Moddle in the centre with Palacios and Niko retaining his role on the left.
Lennon was unplayable©. Tore City (Sylvinho) to shreds with ample ease. And he wasn't just beating the opposition. His final ball was deliciously accurate. End product that. He is in the form of his life, and there's no argument - England's best 'right-winger'. Sorry Theo, you can keep your pretty girlfriend and bum fluff on chin. It's all about the shaved eyebrows. Substance and style.
Others also impressed. Dawson awesome. Which is becoming a bit of a habit, the show-off. Handball incident (was it/wasn't it on purpose?) but otherwise yet another performance filled with Le Passion. He loves to care and we love to love him. Once upon a time he needed Ledley by his side to guide him through 90 minutes. Nowadays, captains armband strapped on, he leads by example. He's all grown up. About time, considering he's 26. The big daft lad.
BAE was impressive and confident on the ball. The epitome of calm. Bonus nutmeg on Adebayor, delightful. Unconfirmed reports that the fan who abused him last Saturday showered Benny with roses as he left the pitch as they exchanged kisses.
Bassong, steady and strong. Corluka continuing to work well with Lennon. He wasn't perfect on the night. But no big moan. And Gomes, earning his wages when called upon to shot-stop. Didn't really have that much to do other than watch a couple of half chances fly over the bar. Saved well from Petrov's free-kick. Easy evening.
Huddlestone, wasteful with his shooting, but productive in central midfield as far as his defensive duties were concerned. He didn't quite impose himself with Hulkish posturing and quarter-back splitting passing but did what he had to do to make sure City never got a foothold. Quietly decent.
Wilson was efficient with the tackles, in fact he was better than good at times. Did a proper number on the City players. Okay, so his passing remains inconsistent and frustrating, but he had decent enough moments. Better than he has been and fingers crossed he'll continue to improve. Blackburn up next, so expect his 5th yellow card to be dished out in that game - meaning we'll have to live without him in the game that follows.
As for our double-act up front, lovely. Defoe still needs to work on his off-sides (I'm sure half the time he's actually on-side) but his finishing (lashes them) remains superb and his hold up play equally impressive. Crouch was busy. Okay, so he's not scoring but he links up impressively with JD and others. He's involved.
Damn it. There is little to complain about.
This is what we missed against Wolves. Simple confident football from a side playing like a team, complimenting
each others strengths going forward and never panicking or allowing room for complacency once ahead. Patiently waiting to pick off the opposition.
The goals?
(1-0) Tottenham branded football this. Niko feeds Lennon on the right who ghosts past Sylvinho like Casper on roller-skates and then crosses to the head of Crouch. A second of mess, as the header hits Stephen Ireland, and the ball presents itself to Niko (having started the move) who smacks it into the goal.
(2-0) Second half and game over with a move started by Gomes. Kicked to Crouch (again) who flicks the ball over Toure (having beaten Onuoha to get to it) and JD is there to send it into the top corner from close range. Now that's how to finish.
(3-0) The type of defending to leave Alan Hansen with a nerve-shattering combo of night terrors and sleep paralysis. Three City defenders standing guard whilst we take a short corner. Lennon threads the ball to Niko, leaving the three of them redundant, and then mugs Adebayor off by dancing past him and hitting the ball through the legs of the hapless Given. Brilliant moment, capping off a sublime performance - from player and team.
As for City (our Top 4 rivals)? Didn't really turn up did they? Robinho is laughable away from home. What's meant to be his role? Midfielder, attacking midfielder, forward? One thing he failed to do (no shock) was aid Sylvinho. Tevez, full of energy but little direction. Adebayor was pretty much non-existent which was great. But it's okay, he's bound to re-discover his form again when City next play Arsenal. Ireland and Barry did well with their defensive duties. Excuses I'm hearing is de Jong 'had' swine-flu and Barry was playing with an injury. Riiiight. Ok den.
There appeared to be no fluidity with the way City attacked. The balance in their side isn't quite there yet. Not making that assumption based on this one game. But Harry is right. They will be a threat, simply because they will be able to throw money at anything that moves and most probably replace Hughes with a more special type of manager.
Loved the chanting and baiting. Also loved Robbie Keane (you'd have spotted this if you re-watched the Sky Sports coverage of the game) shaking the hands of the players at the start of the second half and offering encouragement. He's good for moral even if we spend our time questioning his own.
Does it change anything? Are we back in the race for 4th? We were never out of it. This season will continue to surprise and shock. Twists, turns and turnips will grab the headlines with each passing week. We'll be involved, not only because the stronger teams are not so strong anymore but because we do posses the players to challenge the weaker of the strongest. To keep ahead of the likes of Villa, Liverpool and City we'll simply need to make sure we build on these types of results. Win away to Blackburn and that will be another step towards total belief. Lose it and it’s a shrug and a dust off and we'll have to start over. It's that type of season.
Consolidation is the key.
A defensive midfielder and a centre back thank you please. And if either has leadership qualities, that will do to just fine too.
COYS.
Reader Comments (40)
Love is in the air.
That third goal was the icing on the cake. If anything for the look on that ex-goon scummers face when NK waltzed past him. Magic.
How do I get the (C) for copyrighting expresion, you blatently plagiarised the word 'and'!
Nice little summary spooks, but as the expression goes 'one swallow does not make a porn star'.
Results lke that bely our frailties still, but they can wait for another day, the sun is indeed shining and a 'good team performance' with most importantly 3 more points in the bag!
Tough cold away game in the north west to follow swiftly, time to get those gloves out and that's just the home team!
Right, time to download 'rage against the machine - killing in the name of' and maybe christmas won't be quite so disappointing this year, for once!
Actually I think Crouch has been a bit shit recently. He doesn't seem to be able to keep hold of the ball for very long.
Also, what we were missing against Wolves was the keys to their team bus. We just don't have a plan when they park it. City however thought they could come and mug us.
That's when we're at our best!
I love Spurs.
COYS, A defensive midfielder and a centre back and top 3 can be ours
Crouch has been a bit shit, without being overwhelmingly shit. He sort of still does things that are positive or the team. He is out of sorts. Thankfully Defoe isn't.
Frazzler - I agree and Harry has to fine tune the team to adapt more against teams that 'park the bus'.
City, bottled it. If that was us we'd be near suicidal this morning. And Spooky, Noel probably won't mind because he'll be taking his son to The Arsenal next game.
Peace of piss.
Blackburn away is a bigger game. We owe it to ourselves to make up for what happened last season.
A fantastic display last night - I agree with all the comments in the article especially with regard to Daws - at one stage I remember calling out "Dawson you're a giant"! But although Citeh didn't turn up, I don't know what coaching they do with their defence during the week. I've never seen a team come to the Lane and play with a 2-5-3 formation. The two full backs thought they were midfielders and were often further forward than their midfield. Have a look at the highlights on MOTD and see where Richards is every time we attacked - way out of position. I think if the conditions weren't so wet, our final pass was a bit better and the linesmen weren't so quick with their flags, we could have scored at least 6 or 7. Their two centre backs were abysmal and there was acres of space between them - Hughes you've benn found out!
I wanted to have actual real life full blown man love sex with Niko Kranjcar last night. He was sexy.
Sgt Wilson looked like he might've got something back last night. Long may it continue. We look so much better when he's playing well.
Excellent display. If City care not enough to fight that's their problem. Well in Tottenham.
I appreciated that the goals show a bit of variety in our play. We all get a bit worried that we'll turn out a performance akin to the old Allardyce route 1 merchants whenever Crouch strolls onto the pitch, but we also played Route LennONE (I'd apologise for that, but.... I don't want to...) And hey, even if all Crouch seems to do is Bambi on ice impressions - his header down to JD for the second was pretty spot on.
What on earth is Moddle thinking when he watches these games from the sidelines? (Other than pride for his fellow countryman tearing teams a new one...) Its seems that 'Arry might be a bit wary of replacing Hudd in the midfield with Modders because it wouldn't provide enough defensive cover, so how does everyone fit in? Riddle me that...
Any sign of Liam there last night? I'm guessing not. Shame. He could have modelled us some of his clothing range to the masses.
What on earth is Moddle thinking when he watches these games from the sidelines? (Other than pride for his fellow countryman tearing teams a new one...) Its seems that 'Arry might be a bit wary of replacing Hudd in the midfield with Modders because it wouldn't provide enough defensive cover, so how does everyone fit in? Riddle me that...
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Great problem to have though. Modric will return to the side, he's too good to leave sitting on the bench. Depends who we sign in Jan also regarding the midfield situation. So either we get a rotation or perhaps Defoe up front on his own with Modric just behind - Niko on the left and Sandro with Wilson in the middle. I'm just throwing that out there without really thinking about the tactical aspects of such a formation.
Highlights of the night..............
Benny nutmegging Abebayor in our own bottom lleft corner
Gomes' wild celebration when his punt helped set up JD's goal
Niko's swaggering, slaloming, beautiful run into the box to score his second and our third
Anything Aaron Lennon did that involved running very fast at Silvinho
Finally.............. Micky Daws as captain. I think I said a few weeks ago that Dawson could be a future Spurs captain. It appears the future has rolled round ALOT sooner than I thought it would. He was hard, he was immovable, he read the game well and he kept nearly £100m poundsworth of attacking talent VERY VERY quiet. I'd actually go as far as to say that we should draft in 2 CB's in the next window, let King and Woodgate retire and give Seb and Woody the recognition they deserve and make them 1st choice CB's. They're young and they'll make mistakes BUT they'll only get better if they continue playing together in a partnership.
In amongst all that beauty were 3 goals, alot of heart, grit, fight and determination.
I was impressed by the workrate that every single player showed. Wilson was back to his best, he seemed like he relished that challenge of playing against De Jong, Barry & Ireland, he looked like he was determined to show them that WHL is HIS patch. Hudd for all his faults kept things steady in CM he wasn't as involved as Wilson but we knew we could give the ball to him and he could calm it down (I still would love to see someone with more drive in CM though). Charlie was magnificent, his touch was a bit awry but other than that he marshalled his opponents away from danger, he passed the ball well and he looked very composed no matter what City threw down the left. The workrate from Crouch & JD was tremendous, they battled hard going forward and never stopped running, hassling, or harrying City, at one point towards the end Crouch battled on the halfway line to win the ball, it broke free to a City player but no sooner did he have the ball under control than JD was there to take the ball back off him. Those 2 optimised our performance last night IMO. I'd mention Gomes but he had naff all to do (we were that good!)
Lastly............. Standout performers NIKO & AZZA. One from the left and one from the right. Like all good combos they provided the knockout punch that derailed City and sent them sprawling. Lennon was supreme, Silvinho's had a long and distinguished career but I doubt he's come up against many tougher opponents than Aaron Lennon. The boy eyebrow tore him a new one last night, I swear Silvinho was greyer at the end of the 90 than he'd been at the start!! Niko Krancjar, not many players have played with such swagger & style down the left since the beautiful David Ginola graced WHL. Niko was awesome last night. He never stopped running, was always available to receive a pass from his teamates and most importantly gives us a goal threat from midfield that we've lacked since JJ hit his decline.
When Luka comes back I strongly feel that Niko should move to CM with Wilson and Luka should go back to LM. What a mouthwatering prospect that is!!!
Bring on Blackeye Rovers this weekend. I'd take a point from the game but I really think we should be heading up there to get all 3pts!!
Wright-Phillips and Bellamy missing probably made a big difference for City, but great to see us win. Blackburn will test whether the cracks were just papered-over or have been fixed. The prospect of Modric in the CM with KranK could be very interesting. I keep alternating between "we are not good enough for top4 this season" and "Yes we are". In reality, I think we are still a little short but definitely evolving into something good.
Funny thing is last night's performance made me realize that our unhappy results against and Wolves and Stoke weren't really that bad.
Because last night we weren't THAT much different.
We just scored!
Another key difference is we played against a team that at least tried to attack (Citeh were absolute crap last night and at times looking at them made me feel like I was watching Spurs from the outside looking in)
We also didn't let down in the back on a couple of critical plays.
Niko had a great day. I rate him and think even on days when he's a bit lackluster he makes useful effective passes.
The key was no Keane of course.
I just think he spoils the chemistry for Crouchie or JD when he's in.
He can occasionally be effective in clutch moments but when we are facing bottom of the table anti-football sides, his tendency to slow the match down tends to waste crucial opportunities.
If we need to make money we should sell him.
Brilliant moment that was from Gomes jumping around like a nutter ! If City are weaker without Bellamy and SWP so be it. We are weaker without Modric, King and Woodgate. But we do have players who can do a job for us. We are more capable of being a unit than they are. Confidence is something they seem to lack. Look at old moody blue Hughes for the blame game there.
I've heard a couple of people suggesting a Defoe up there on 'is own with Modders sitting just behind him, but that would lead to some very unhappy upfront benchwarmers. We should never have even bothered having 4 international strikers this season anyway, what with not having any european football to play. I would have preferred JB, Keano, and 'The Croochmonster'©, with one of our kids as a backup.
*i meant JD of course....
Haven't read the article yet Spooks... will do that later on this evening.
In the meantime I leave you with this nugget: Noel Gallagher is a pompous prick!!!! Glad he had to watch that last night!
COYS!!!!
Whatever happened to 'mental weakness' or was that last week's catchphrase?
Dawson for captain for me as he seems to have moved on from understudy especially as Bassong is now the junior partner. King and Woodgate look like being less than reliable fixtures and Keane though apparently a 'live wire' in the dressing room is not on the field long enough to be the main man.
I didn't get suicidal after Wolves and I'm not going to go completely mental over last night, just a little bit perhaps.
All wrapped up in a clean sheet too.
I think we should look at keeping the midfield as it is becuase it has a nice balance to it at the moment. The only thing I would perhaps do is is drop crouch, move Niko into an advanced midfield role and put Modders on the left (if we put him in the advanced role, we have no height up front). As for having 4 international strikers, I think you will find we have 5 - Giovanni Dos Santos is Mexicos striker! I would sell Pav, Keane, Bentley, Hutton and Jenas in January and look to see where we could strengthen, but I dont think its too urgent, just some more competition for places. GDS should be giving Lennon and JD a run for their money and Naughton can play RM if needs be as well as being Charlies cover at RB, Danny Rose can cover RM or LM. Bostock can fit in the midfield and get some match practice in at CM or LM and if we buy this Sandro, then if Wilson is having a bad time, we have some tougher cover there. If we really struggle defensively, Hudd or Charlie can play there (not ideal I know, but they still wouldnt be the worst defence pairing in the league, even playing ot of position) and that leaves CM or RB options open to the above (and we could always play Niko and Luka at CM / LM interchanging like they do for Croatia). I really love the squad we have at the moment, it just needs a few tweeks here and there
Hudd let the game pass him him by as usual, awful shooting, poor passing and again, lack of desire to make a tackle. Wilsons form has dipped as the guy has to do 2 people running in midfield. Against Everton, Wilson ran passed Hudd twice to shut down 3 Everton players, they just played triangle around him while Hudd watched on with no intention of helping out! Get Modders in the middle! Good night for us though, Wigan nicking an equaliser would have been the icing on the cake!
This is winning the Spurs way , lot of creativity, speed , wing play and sexy one touch attacks
Niko was stunning - flowing across the pitch, an innocent looking city murderer - he commanded the ball , the team and the crowd.
2,5 million ... that's a bargain even according to Belgian standards.
Dawson coming of age ... never thought i would see that , what's next .. JJ scoring a hattrick ?
JD up front.
Turk just behind him with Cox cutting in from the left and Kelso on the right side, crafting, and the Janitor sweeping up in the middle.
Come on your Scruuuubs!
DAWSON WAS FANATSIC! I am a huge fan of Keane, but we can't have our supposed captain on the bench. The armband should be given to Dawson, he has now finally earned it...............the guy is amazing, and full off bottle and passion he certainly does not need Ledley holding his hand anymore.
The others, I thought Crouch was very useful tonight - involved in 2 of the goals and also defended well when required. I can see why harry plays him, he also links up fantastic with JD, granted at times he looks like he has about 7 legs but he is very useful.
Great resut........keep it going chaps.
PS: Adebayor.................whats the score.................Adebayor...............whats the score (song of the night!)
Good assessment as always Spooks. Better than "we are now the greatest team in the world ever" but hang on a moment weren't we "the worst team in the world ever not 24 hours ago" type of crap that I have to put up with reading elsewhere.
I too thought we played well and even though City didn't turn up, we didn't allow them time and space in the right areas to do any damage, whereas Toure et al gave us the freedom of Haringey to strut our proverbial stuff.
Bring on Blackburn where we will probably turn into the "not a chance of finishing fourth, sack the manager, Robbie Keane and of course that Jenas is shit" knida team.....but somehow I dont think we will
COYS
i think the sergent was tired- though his brilliance shines through anytime. huddlestone? spooks you're too generous: wasted shots, dilly-dallying on the ball and ruining counter-strikes, a keno fetish for playing the ball backwards, laboured and cumsy in tackles, passes - SLOW and uncreative compared to niko. the obvious weak link. and harry should have subbed him/ given keano a run later on
Love it Cej - What's the score Adebayor!!!!!
MICHAEL DAWSON, I LOVE YOU MAN.
Я не гей
Niko in the middle please. He seems to drift inside anyway and could be the box-to-box midfielder we've all been dreaming about. He's more athletic than Hudd and a far superior footballer than the current incumbent of our number 8 shirt. Although he gets stuck in I think that Mod's a bit too small.
All you Hudd haters, if someone told you at the start of the season that we'd be 2pts off third after 17 games in which Tom played in all of them at the expense of JJ (including a 9-1 demolition of a team that beat Chelsea) and earned a call up to the full England squad you'd be pretty impressed, right? That finally one of our youngsters was taking his chance to step up and fulfill his potential. So why the bitching, especially after last nights performance? Seriously, get a grip. It's depressing.
lovely stuff, am i right in thinking that liam often visits the lane when citeh are there as patsy kensits kids are fellow yids?
guys, i was at the game last night and i just wanted to say that we played brilliantly against an on paper, class man city team.
BUT what i want to right is this.
It is time to stop being so racist and immature to Adebayor. The guy would stand up coz he hates Arsenal... Granted, he is no legend, and he's an arrogant player, but consistantly chanting about His Dad washing elephants and his mum is a whore... i think as fans we can be a lot more intelligent and positive!
Maybe you will see this as a lack of support, but i think that it is time to stop the abuse!
Simon Kelly
Another win over the weekend and I'll be joining you with a jig of joy.
That elephant song is an embarrassment. It's not funny, its racist and its not fitting that we have a song for him and hardly any original ones for most of our own players.
I got a song for the team, one word:
Shipoopi!
Not the Adebayor thing again....zzz
'Must be Kranjcar! Must be Kranjcar! Must be Kranjcar...KRANJCAR SCORES!!!!
Bob Dylan sings that...
You Hudd haters need to stop moaning. He did real well and delivered a crunching tackle on Richards that left the kid writhing in agony on the ground. Hudd ain't soft. His shots were really poor and the decision making on them was worse, but at least he can keep possession and rotate the ball around the midfield! Can't say the same of Palacios, but thats why we PLAY THEM BOTH AT THE SAME TIME.
idiots.