Everton 2 Spurs 2 Autopsy: Cry me a river
Monday, December 7, 2009 at 10:12AM Decided not to blog post-match on Sunday evening, mainly because I was waiting to see if I was about to be consumed by the knee-jerking that took place on various message boards. Specifically the knee-jerking on the Glory Glory board. Anyone browsing in would think the Mayans got their prediction about 2012 a couple of years off. Absolute melt-down of the highest order. Half the players were being slated, everyone was suddenly writing off any chance of a Top 4 challenge and Harry was the culprit responsible for our downfall. Bedlam. People should stay away from football forums during and just after a game as emotions tend to over-take sensibility.
Regardless of the fires and riots, I still found myself conflicted. I was struggling with the notion that perhaps the knee-jerking was the correct response to losing a two-nil lead and then missing the opportunity to take all three at the death. Perhaps not knee-jerking is nothing more than a delusion, a form of denial and that brushing off the reality of the two points lost was the easy way out. Brush it under the carpet, tag it under 'learning curve', place it in the bottom drawer and close it shut.
"One of those days"
Even though we tend to suffer one of those days every time we're meant to be witnessing the necessary move up to the next level. You sort of kind of can't blame some peoples reaction.
And that's the crux of it. The reason why everyone despondently frowned as they turned the pages of the 'How to throw away points by Tottenham Hotspur' manual and in unison sighed at the predictable outcome at the final whistle. This was textbook. But then why do people act so surprised when it happens?
Pre-match, I was confident. Teasing and (tongue in cheek) asking for a 4-0 away win. I wasn't alone, although being a Spurs fan, you almost know that in the type of games you're expected to win you usually falter. Everton, depleted, but perhaps not unconscious in a shallow grave as most assumed. I called for 'mental strength'. And once again, Miss Irony lashes out and slaps me across the face. How dare I insult her.
"This season is going to be tight, and these are the types of tests we need to pass with flying colours"
Famous last words from me.
Congratulations to Everton on their victory. However, had Defoe taken the penalty with any sort of ruthlessness then the aftermath wouldn't be half as dramatic as it is at the moment. We'd have won, and there would have been the same questions about certain areas of our play but I guarantee you there would also have been plenty of 'this is what Top 4 clubs do, they win games no matter the obstacles they face' types of bravado. And yet, the miss means that we are suddenly not good enough. The logic used with some of our fans is based on a game-to-game template. The expectations are complicated, rather than simplified. And everything that has come before is rendered redundant based on the 90 minutes of football just played.
We fucked up. There's no doubting it. 19 attempts on goal, we (again) looked like the home side in an away match. 4-0 would have been the outcome had we been a touch sharper. The match was lost not on the Everton comeback or the penalty miss but the lack of clinical finishing. Up until the final 20 minutes Everton were plucky and physical and bullish but had little to offer in the way of goal opportunities. That was until we gladly allowed them the time and space to score.
Rather than assert ourselves we let them progress forwards. Wave and wave of ugly snarling effective football. Ominous it was.
And this is where my conflict sat and why so many knee-jerked after the game. Why oh why do we always allow sides back in when we've bossed the game? Answer? No leadership. Imagine a Roy Keane in the middle of the park barking out orders. Harry has come in for some slack for not motivating from the touchline or making substitutions that make no sense. I'm waiting for the theory that he hypnotised Wilson Palacios and forced him to spread the ball out to Coleman (lovely player) who was left with space ahead of him and the next time we touched the ball was to take it to the centre of the pitch to kick-off.
Bale was slaughtered by most, but how many noticed Niko drifting into no man's land and leaving Gareth alone to face two Everton players? He stood little chance. Although that's not to say he looked comfortable at left-back (brought on because BAE was losing his head). Bale is probably more suited for the left-midfield position anyway, as it appears our coaches have done little to improve his defensive qualities.
It's amazing that from a position of complete authority and control, I was willing on the final whistle towards the end. Again, here festers my conflict. We've seen this so many times. But once more, I call lack of leadership on the pitch as the main reason for the inept surrendering of two points. Losing shape and concentration is proof that mental strength is still lagging desperately. As though we had switched off at 2-0 up and decided the game was done, rather than perhaps step up a gear and score a third.
Wilson, who had an indifferent game (very untidy at the start, but introduced a little bite later on) won us the penalty and was then carted off to hospital. I'm certain I was not alone in thinking JD would miss. But then most people would think that (regardless of the team/player) because it was one of those matches full of twists and turns. And it's Tottenham and making us suffer is what they do best.
Then the knee-jerking hellmouth explodes releasing all manners of over-reactions and ridiculous analysis, including a personal favourite where some people thought Harry should have got Keane on the pitch to take the penalty. The same Keane that most prefer to have sitting on the bench…forever. Another gem was the question that asked whether Defoe is over-rated. Yes he is. Because he missed a penalty. Send him back to Pompey the useless git. He only ever scores when it doesn't matter. Fabio should drop him from the England team.
So, am I still conflicted? No. Not really. I'm still gutted. More so than the home defeat to Stoke. Could have been worse, we could have been two-nil up to West Ham and let it slip. But it's Monday morning, and I'm still pissed that we failed to kill the game off. And in the past we'd have been happy with a point. But times have changed. The frustration is that times need to be changing further. It's in need of some tweaking.
Whether you blame Harry for this (killing a game off) inability is dependent on how patient you are and how long you believe a learning curve should last for. There's that old chestnut about how no matter the players no matter the staff no matter the manager - the same reoccurring problems exist. Years and years of devolution (with the occasional spike) can not be fixed over-night. When Harry took over we had a mixture of good and bad players who were all under-performing. He's got us up to where we should be based on the squad we have. The underlining problem still at large is that we are still lacking that little bit extra. That mental resolve comes with belief and if you don’t have players on the pitch who led by example and scream and shout orders to others then it's easy for the complacency to creep back into a performance.
Of course, you might deem my conclusion to be optimistic. Denial? No massive massive knee-jerk? Sorry to disappoint.
We're in good shape. And had that pen gone in, we'd be third. We are still top 4 and we've got Wolves at home next. And if we manage to beat City in the following game, watch how a single 90 minutes once more changes opinions from one side of the spectrum to the other. Because Villa and City have suddenly woke up, some of our fans are citing how this is not good news because we faltered and thus we have shown a weakness too great to overcome. Regardless of the fact City drew 7 on the trot and Villa have been a little inconsistent in places. The fact both won means their 90 minutes of football out-weighs our, and therefore they are in a stronger position because they are about to improve tenfold. It's wonderful logic.
This season hasn't even got started yet. Nothing has change from 4 weeks ago to now. We still need a new midfielder. Other clubs around us will drop points. At some point we will have to step up to that fabled next level, the level where we would have beaten Everton. Next time out, in a similar situation, if we lose our heads again in the same fashion - then rather than knee-jerk, we should just admit we don't quite have it in us and Harry/the players have failed to learn from prior lessons.
You might pose the question that there's no room for this type of complacency and that points dropped now are irreversible damaging our season. I guess opinions on this will remain divided.
My confliction is now resting deep in its own shallow grave. Don't compare the disappoint of this game to games of similar ilk from past seasons. We tend to react positively nowadays. We learn and move onwards. We're not about to implode.
The reports of our death have been greatly exaggerated.
Get a grip and dry them.
Reader Comments (110)
Excellent analysis summed up the performance and our fans perfectly.
my only concern was I thought yesterday was going to be the game we came back strongly from after the ManUre display.
Still, like some have said, a point away is still better than none. It's just one of those typical displays. The same result with us being 2-0 down with 12 minutes to go and we would all been saying what great team spirit and never say die attitude there is at the club.
Move on and learn from it. We won't be the first team to drop points at lets be honest a poor Everton team this season. They're a little like bolton at home and what a surprise, we drew that 2-2 also.
Sanity.
2 games 6 points
Would prefer to be in a position to criticise some of our players and tactics having won the game rather than in the position we are in. Two supposed tricky away games, two points. We are still in the mix. Next 5 games will shape it up. After that you'll have to choose what side of the fence you prefer Spooks.
We really need to go on a run similar to the start of the season, we can't seem to put a run to 2 wins togeather. I feel the 7 points lost (Stoke, AV & Everton) are the ones that may come back to haunt us. But please let yesterday put an end to all the Spurs fans calling Bales name. He was awful yesterday, in both defence and attack. Hudd has to be replaced as again he totally disappeared when the going got tough. Jenas should have come on for him earlier. Also, is it me or does anyone else think that a top quality centre forward should be able to place a penalty in the corner as opposed to just kicking the ball as hard as he can? I have played at a very good standard (no way near Prem), have aways been a penalty taker and never in my life have a just blasted one. Surely a player in the England team should have enough confidence in his ability to place it. P.S, any danger of Crouch hitting the target from 10 yards?
Defoe and Crouch let us down. I think we were so comfortable, they never thought for a second we'd be pegged back and chances would continue to come. Should have been 3-0 up before Everton ever got a sniff. Wont blame Harry for this.
As for Bale. Should glimpses going forward, but this kid (and he's still a kid) has not been looked after since his arrival. We've ruined him. Add him to the growing list.
I'm an Evertonian and even I don't understand how tottenham drew that game... I almost wrote "lost that game" then, because it really feels like won that match, we really got out of jail.
We have so few first team players its untrue, and a visit from Tottenham was the last thing we wanted, especially when you are flying high. The best I could hope from the game was that you would have a bad day and couldn't score on the day.
I was almost right, but our defending was so poor I was expecting a 4-0 drubbing after you went 2-0 up.
The turning point for us was when we bought on Saha and Yak and went to 4-4-2. It gave us more options going forward, but I was worried that you would make use of the extra space in midfield to hit us on the counter, instead you sat back.
Maybe you thought a two goal lead would be unassailable if you defended deep enough, or maybe you were just too relaxed, or too nervous, but when the crowd got behind us you seemed to sit deeper and deeper (like we had been doing for most of the game) so it was easier for Coleman to get a little space on the wing to get his crosses in.
When Saha scored, I thought we would get another as you seemed to panic. Then at 2-2 I thought we'd snatch it at the death.
For some reason, I knew Defoe would miss, maybe it was the delay whilst dealing with the injured Palacios. It was a defnite penalty by the way, although at the time I thought Hibbo had got the ball and Palacios was faking, but the ref called it right.
The scoreline was good for us, and we deserved a bit of luck, but while you started the game in control, for whatever reason you didn't keep it up and it let us back in.
Defoe is a world class striker, he just needed the confidence and support he's now getting from his club. Lennon is also world class and seemed to be getting more consistent, however, the thing you lack is that midfield general to give you steel and organisation.
Watch out in the second half as we'll be after that 4th CL place as we start to get players back from injury. But if we don't get it then just make sure you don't let our neighbours back in!
Sensible analysis, Spooky. Thanks for the reasoned and thoughtful perspective, Sack the Juggler.
Bottom line, for me at least, is that a result like this brings home the point that I often try to deny: we lack the courage and focus of a Top 4 team. I may sound like a knee-jerker but I actually am optimistic whenever game time rolls around. I hope for the best and expect the best from my dear Tottenham.
But I have a nagging sinking suspicion, which I can't honestly purge, that we are pretenders. That we don't really belong at the top.
On the other hand I do believe we have the basic goods (God knows we've seen it this year) and that we CAN be a top four team if our players somehow find a way to really genuinely believe in themselves. Perhaps they do and this was one of those days. And perhaps I'm just a whineging bastard.
But perhaps it's my high-strung neurotic sensibility that makes me a Spurs fan through and through :)
Onward and upward, yiddoes!
Hi Mate,
As a blue who was at the game yesterday, really enjoyed reading your post match analysis.
Thought you summed it up perfectly on both sides. You where not the only one thinking you would come and win 0 - 4 in your head, most blues where thinking the same. Really think you boys can do a top 4 finish if you keep the likes of Lennon and defoe fit ( even if Defoe was a bit off form yesterday ). You look much stronger than City who far me are to inconsistant.
I don't know why you always cmplain. You have a team in the top four who play attractive football and who could and should stay in CL position , a chairman who gives every manager lots of money to spend , a London based club which again makes it easy to attract top foreign players and all you can do is slag off your team. I am an Everton fan, we have Mikel Arteta, Phil Jagielka. Leon Osman, Distin, Yobo and Neville all injured . Piennaer and Yakubu have only just come back and Heitinga supended along with injuries to Rodwell , Saha and Jo at various times of the season and no money to spend. Perhaps you should be grateful . We are the team sharing a city with Liverpool which means no one wants to invest in us. You are from the capital city where everyone wants to invest but we have team spirit and togetherness , maybe you should get behind your team
Having been at Villa Park last week where I felt disappointed that we didn't get 3 points this to me was a must win game if we are seriously to be considered a top 4 team. The panic that set in when they scored their first goal was a typical Tottenham performance from by gone years you knew that we were not going to hang on to 2-1 Harry says they threw the kitchen sink at us in the last 10 minutes, ask yourself why ! We are reknowned as a team that will concede goals if "you get in their faces" Our defensive frailties are there for all to see when the pressure is on and we have never been able to sit back and close a game out like the Utds of this world.
Going forward we are as good as anyone, we just needed someone to steady the ship when the pressure is on.
Our midfield is not strong enough we have to many players who just sit back and let players come onto them and the left back position is going to be a big probelm when BAE is away in January (oh for another Steve Perryman).
Hoddle and Jol had their favourites and the same can be said for Harry we had £60 million worth of players on the bench but Harry seems reluctant to use them and where are the kids, we know that we have some talented youngsters like Rose, Naughton Livermore Perratt and Bostock, maybe just one of them like Coleman ifor Everton yesterday is waiting for their big chance.
No doubt we will be associated with every man and his dog in January. All I ask is you buy wisely Mr Redknapp otherwise I fear the promise of our early season form will just fade out into mediocrity. The 2nd half of the season will for me determine just how good a manager Harry is !!
COYS
I should have mentioned this in the blog post, but Everton - for all our failings - still had to assert themselves, which they did. Superbly well. For all their lack of 'quality' thanks to so many first teamers our - their determination was fantastic.
We have shown that type of guile ourselves (second half at Villa). Shame we forget to embrace it more often.
We're all hungry for success having had precious little of it in the past 2 or 3 decades, but where on earth does the level of expectation of some so-called fans come from? A great deal of the garbage that's written on blogs and forums seems to come from the keyboards of paranoid schizophrenics. We're supposed top 3 world beaters after a league win and then mid-table mediocrities after a draw. Some of these fickle lunatics need to wind their necks in, we've improved immeasurably since last season.
I still remain quietly confident, our league position after 38 games is what matters, not our league position at Christmas.
Spookster, are you deliberatley taking the piss or is it merely an accident? Autopsy? Get a grip? Whilst I have no copyright on the English language you might wish to have a look at my archive and decide who you are. Dear Mr Levy (which is superb, by the way) or HH 0.0
What's he done wrong?
We have some right cunts for supporters! We really do!
Was gutted yesterday as I left Goodison, still am to be honest, can't comprehend how we didn't get 3 points. However, as you've said Spooky, there is a lot of over reaction on some of the kids message boards, and some drivel from some of our lot as we left the ground yesterday. Could Redknapp have subbed Keane for Wilson (put him on the left and Jenas in the middle) rather than Hutton, and let him take the penalty? Possibly, but don't think Harry would put an already underfire Robbie in such a position - imagine if he'd have missed, heaven forbid.......No problem with Defoe taking the pen, problem I do have however is if you are going to just close your eyes and hit it, at least hit into the roof of the net so as not to let the keepers flailling leg make the save - how many keepers just stand still for a penalty? Credit to Everton, kept plugging away, and especially to Moyes - changing it to 4-4-2 definately made the difference, though at 2-0 and cruising we should never have let the lead slip - oh for a leader.
Morning Harry.
I've not read any other blog articles/reports (on purpose) so if you've used autopsy in your title too - then blame coincidence and great minds. As for 'get a grip' - not a clue. Do you own the rights?
;) <-- safety wink
Mr levey this is goodbye from Davspurs i love Spurs and wont join in the slagging of players because sadly this great game has gone in to a free fall of maddnes.The fights in Scotland Zamorahs outburst and man handling is own players the Everton crowd shouting cheat to palacios the list goes on teams cheating taking Energy drugs is so wide spread results like this one will go on all year .I .have watched spurs for forty seven years and the last two have bean horrendous not because of our form but because well all spurs fans should no by now of my rantings of energy abuse and my last warning was on this blog.Instead of watching the game i taped it and still haven't watched the game .I realise now how stupid my rant must sound to other fans but if i told you who the team was that i found using Ephedrine things would become more clear .Everton would not stop going forward and fans expecting a depleated teaam and tired from midweek trip to Athens where diluded both everton and Fulham will not run out of energy along with a few more teams Stoke included and dont think wolves will be easy .My campaign has ended and the sad thing is even when a player failed a drugs test no one believed me and the fact is this team of cheats that has now spread to other teams is some of my family's teams .Drugs have bean in sport for years but never on a sclae like i discovered whole teams the last one to do this was the wallabies union team we beat in the world cup they took pure caffeine tablets they where unbeaten till our drop goal beat them . Then the tablets where banned they lost eleven games and there coach Jones. was sacked .This has spoilt me from watching Football because i can see this drug in evidence and more so when players get interviewed after the match take a good look at the scorer and saver yesterday and its in the face .So thanks for allowing this controversial subject on your great blog and i hope My belove Spurs get in to the top four but yesterday tells me unless these new and yet to be introduced tests stop it is debatable because its bean watered down to 10 or 20 players instead of 30 mainly because of the objections From Ferguson the FA Gordan Taylor. .The one good thing is Everton fans will find it hard to get away from the desperate teams at the bottom So Happy Christmas to all my Fellow Spurs Fans and A Great New Year
Dave. You legend.
Spot on Spooks as always. I too didn't look at too many messages boards on my return from Scouseland. I knew what they would say. All doom and effing gloom. Relagation here we come, sack Harry, sell everyone and buy in Benzema (he is unsettled dontcha know)...yes all that crap that our fickle band of brothers come out with. The same crap that was trotted out after the Wigan game as to how we are worldbeaters. On August 11th this year, when you looked at the fixtures you would have taken two draws away at Villa and Everton. Ok, we deserved more and yesterday shot ouraelves in the proverbials but, and get this..."WE ARE FOURTH....STILL" not fourth bottom, not 2 points from 8....BLOODY FOURTH!!! And with the same players from the beginning of September so they can't all be that bad (Ok, well except for Bentley) can they.
So Spooks...I am on the Sanity train with you matey...next stop the demolition of Wolves where once again we will turn into world beaters and everyone will be plotting their way to the Nou Camp!!!
Hehe Dave , do not leave us like that ... Have a splendid december month
Still , i tend to think that there is at least some truth in his rant ...
Ta ta.
H.
Harry Hotspur - Get over yourself man. Is it ok by you if Dear Mr Levy uses the words 'Spurs' and 'Tottenham'? Dear me. Is this because you're not on Newnows link any more? Nice bit of free advertising. Idiot.
2 clean sheets in 15 games.....sort it out if you want to reach the top four.
We are throwing away points instead of creating space between us and 5th and 6th place.
7 points dropped against Stoke, Villa and Everton. We have the same old mental block and it is costing us.
Harry needs to sort out the left back position when Ekotto doesn't play and we need a central defender ASAP.
Woodgate and King will NOT be playing together week in and week out due to their injuries.
I too was convinced Defoe would miss. There was too much time inbetween the giving of the penalty and the taking of it. Defoe has a history of missing crucial pens too - West Ham away a few years back rings a bell. Another last minute miss.
He didn't miss the pen, it was saved. Of course to score a pen you have more chance if you put it in the corner but I agree the wait did not help matters. However if we could defend properly we would have won the game.
That is the problem with Spurs, the defence. We have now shipped 21 goals in 15 games.
Everton fan coming in peace here. (except for towards davspurs... so just because our fitness was better than yours, our team is automatically on drugs huh? love it.)
Harry Hotspur........ what a clown! So few hits since being dumped by newsnow that hes resorted to pimping books and giving out freeby tat to his sycophantic batty boys to make ends meet. Has a little premenstrual tantrum over perceived similarity when there isnt any...... what a loser.
Great write up Spooky. Although I'm too conflicted. I think we are at the stage where we should be beating Everton in this given situation and that our next 'level' is to compete with the upper tier on a one to one basis (rather than collapse in the manner we did against Arsenal, Utd and Chelsea).
Am I missing something? Is Harry Hotspur laying claim to the word 'autopsy'? Is 'get a grip' his catchphrase?
Handbags at dawn.
Spooky, watch your back. He's removed your website from his links page.
Can we get back on topic.
Gareth Bale. What the fuck have we done with this kid? Either he was shit before we signed him and looked good in amongst the average in the Championship or we've managed to soul destroy him and taken someone with an abundance of talent, a rough diamond, and done nothing to aid development. Inglethorpe knows his shit with the academy players, perhaps he can take a butchers.
Chaps, keep it on topic if you can. Ta.
Go fuck yourself you oaf. I'm the only paid Tottenham blogger on the fucking planet and that's your best shot? That's you, escourting me back into my box? Fuck off. Slow or quick, it's all the same to me. I'll C&P Spooky's early work for you, if you so ask me me to you cunt. Now. Fuck off.
HH
What an ego on that HH.
Huddlestone should have been subbed after he picked up a yellow card. Hate to say it but Jenas should have been on that field far earlier. Would have given us some much needed bursts of energy to match Cahill and co. Have to say though that Everton, for all the pre match predictions about a weakened side looked far better than they did against Liverpool. I think their death has been greatly exaggerated too.
Huddlestone. The enigma. I know we all want another DM to help out palacios but we need a creative force alongside him in the middle.
Modric.
Then leave Niko on the left.
That might resolve a few problems. Have Huddlestone as an impact sub and Jenas as backup.
Harry, you and Spooky are worlds apart. Get a grip of yourself.
You calling me or Spooky an oaf you fucking inbreed?
Ha ha Harry Hotspur aint on the news now link anymore! Ha ha ha ha!
You suck balls Harry
""I'll C&P Spooky's early work for you, if you so ask me me to you cunt""
And what's that meant to mean exactly? Get back in your box.
Sigh.
Name calling now? Really?
So am I the only person who still rates Gareth Bale? I think we would have held out just fine had King played. Lack of maturity in the back four.
Hey u spurs fans why u cant understand whatever u say off the pitch ur team is not good enuf and i am sure this season it would b either us or man city to take 4th spot in place of liverpool, spurs require better quality players who can play with their heart and soul but first of all spurs as a name is not big enuf to attract those big players neither ur club has fans or traditional values that could inspire ur avg bunch of players on other hand at villa we have everything which u dont i.e name ,fanbase ,history but we only lack financial power ,if we had the kind of money spurs spend we would have been already well established top 4 club which we already r but not at moment but in bigger picture of history,we r 4th biggest club in country after manu ,arsenal and liverpool and spurs r supposed to b big only in minds of their supporters in reality u r just another club in big city and this is the truth , doesnt matter what u guys say .
Villa ,
the nurse will come along later on and give you tsome little pink punctuation pills ...
omg is this villa guy serious? hahahahahahaha fuck me! what u smoking Vanilla, hook a brother up!
Hi Spooky. Justin here. Just wanted to point out that 'Cry me a River' was a smash hit of mine in collaboration with Timbaland and in future I'd prefer if you didn't pick and choose from my back catalogue. Make up your own titles, there are plenty of words in the English language for something original to take form from.
Peace.
HH - "I'm the only paid Tottenham blogger on the fucking planet" - What do they pay you in, peanuts or bananas?
As for Villa Vanilla, WHAT???