Spurs drop two points and then gain one
Monday, December 13, 2010 at 12:02PM Spurs 1 Chelsea 1
Should have won the game. Arguably could have lost it. The emotion that sits alongside me post-game is one of regret and frustration. Go on, hands up if you're gutted we didn’t collect the three points? Gutted, but hardly surprised at the final result. Yet another perfect illustration of just how small the margin is from pretenders to something a bit more than just pretenders.
Let's review.
Our opponents
For all their possession (especially in the second half) they still lacked any sustained cutting edge up front (sound familiar?). Passion wise, they rediscovered some much needed form, but then it was a derby so you expected them to play a lot better than they have in recent weeks. But even now looking back, if this is Chelsea trying to rediscover full pelt it was hardly punches to the back of our neck. When their missing and returning players return to full fitness they'll probably shift gear. Thought we contained them first half and they had pockets of pressure in the second half. Wasn't easy but I was hardly biting my nails either.
Their stand out player, was (pains me) John Terry. Made some point-saving interceptions.
I'm struggling to remember the last time they beat us at the Lane. Just in case you wanted another example of evidence of how we've dragged ourselves out of that horrific hoodoo that haunted us for so long.
Chelsea are as fragmented as we are.
Us
It's simple really and it’s the same conclusion discussed at the end of most games these days. Forwards. It's not quite right up top, is it? But then it's not just about our lack of clinical pomp in the final third from our front two. It's the movement and decision making that is a few per cent off from resulting in two or three goals rather than the one - which on Sunday would have had the game wrapped up at half-time (although I prefer to theorise on prior games that we would have wrapped up - let's not forget that we were playing the Champions, poor form or not).
That final ball, that early ball, the required movement into space. It's not quite silky and instinctive.
There were a number of occasions when I felt Bale and Lennon could have played in a pass releasing Defoe/Pav. A top class forward would make an obvious and effective difference. Equally so if Modric did not have to spend too much time on chasing/defending he'd possess far more freedom to carve and craft. Then again - two DM's with Modric behind the front two and Bale on the left is hardly balanced on paper and with Hudd and vdV out it's about making the most of what we have. Which isn't half bad considering our recent unbeaten run of games.
Even with the slightly (ever so slight) off-key decision making, we'd probably have survived had we not made one or two errors at the back to allow Chelsea a share of the points.
1st half - could have punished them further. 2nd half - could still have punished them on the break and when we reclaimed some possession in offensive positions, but lucky not to lose in the end, amazingly, with our finger on the self-destruct button.
It was in our hands and we dropped it. Rather than being battered into submission.
The Goals
Brilliant touch and movement from Pav.
Ball in from JD in front of the practically static Chelsea back-line, Pav then touches the ball taking him away from Terry and co, creating time and space to thrash the ball in for the 1-0. Considering some of the Russians 'first touches' littering the game you might wonder if he actually meant the touch that set himself up for the goal. But that's harsh. Probably. It was a class finish. From the very top drawer.
Drogba's goal was altogether a different ilk of beast. Okay, so we all know Gomes is a loopy loon of a tune. Expert shot-stopper, instinctive reflexes when there is hardly time to think. So why exactly did that shot go through him with such ease? Much like I'd even expect Superman to be downed by a bullet made of Kryptonite, with Gomes it felt more like a pie to the face of a clown. And yet perhaps his only mistake was to think he could have saved it by allowing gravity to pull him downwards, rather than standing tall and taking the ball in his face.
Alas, this pie had a brick in it, and the power of the shot was just too damn powerful for his girlie wrists. Did he have time to work his positioning before the shot flew towards him? No matter, he should have done far better than he did.
Sure, Drogba hand-balled it, quite blatantly, and Dawson was a second or two slow to react (because of that second spent looking across for the flag). Defensive errors cost us dearly here. It was a soft goal to concede. But for all their possession, they scored a goal from almost nothing. Not quite gift wrapped. Drogba still had to take his voucher to the shop and select his prize.
The Penalty
Madness. Why goalkeepers go charging out then hold their hands up proclaiming innocence…dear oh dear. But like some demented twist and turn of a screenplay, fate would have him give the penalty away so that he could save it and reclaim some lost dignity, even though this was a mess he created. Because of how it played out, during the time it took for the ball to be placed on the spot and be taken - it felt like we had lost the game. So the save made it feel like we had won a point. Crazy. Poor penalty helped matters. Lovely irony what with Fwank on the pitch.
In Defence of Gomes
Yes. He's fruit-loop. He's also an outstanding keeper and let's not forget the amount of times he has saved us playing with a forever changing back four in front of him. Does need a good slap in the face every now and again (gentle slap, don't want him crying) but he showed character. He guessed which way to go with the dive for the pen, going opposite to where Drogba tends to place them. Homework or luck, what does it matter. He redeemed himself for this particular last gasp dramatics.
Who is this Wilson?
Not that Chelsea were formidable in the centre of the park, but let's still stand and applaud Wilson Palacios for a performance which had bite and some much missed intensity returning from a long sabbatical. And in addition, a refreshing lack of misplaced passes. He did his job perfectly, got himself involved, closing down players and laying it off with a simple ball to feet. Not quite the destroyer of his early Spurs form, but one game at a time, right?
The Redknapp Substitution
Defoe is taken off. On comes Peter Crouch. Why?
Well that all depends on a couple of things. If it was about JD, he might have been subbed to preserve some juice as he's only recently returned from his injury. Don't think he picked up a knock. If it wasn't that then it has to be tactical. Knowing Redknapp, I'd hazard a guess he wanted Crouchie to lend a hand (head) at the back to defend set-pieces. But it didn't quite work, at least that's the ranting going on in Harry's direction over this tactical reshuffle.
Defoe and Pav worked well. JD's work-rate was very decent. There was a partner-ship there, be it one that still requires a few more games to click. But if we suddenly need to change it because of the opposition asking questions deep in our half, do we do so to the detriment of our forward play?
Would it have been more apt to sub Pav (no pace, not great in the air) and bring on Crouch to knock the ball down to JD? Crouch did very little, did get his head on the ball a few times but nothing more. Was okay but with Defoe off the pitch, we lacked an outlet of pace. Crouch and Pav is hardly the most dynamic combo. Then again, for all of Defoe's work-rate, he didn't have enough about him to get in behind the Chelsea defence. So perhaps this was a fitness issue after all.
Not sure what the point of bringing Keane was other than hope he could produce something from that long lost forgotten locker. Needs to find the keys first.
Dawson's Return
Great to have him back. Superb, got caught out for the goal, but for him to play in this game as a return to the side game do so with some comfort wearing the captains armband - that makes me smile.
Player Ratings Score-Card
Gomes - 6 - The good, the bad and the ugly.
Hutton - 7 - Far more disciplined than usual defensively and didn’t nullify Lennon. Still think he's positional sense and intelligence is not great.
Dawson - 8 - Early Christmas present. We might finally see our back four settle down now.
Bassong - 7 - Reliable and focused. Made some telling contributions.
BAE - 8- Cracking performance.
Lennon - 8 - Continues his rehabilitation, proving what a little confidence can do. 2/3 games from his best if he continues this form.
Palacios - 8 - Still on the subject of confidence, perhaps it was the responsibility bestowed due to the occasion. Can hardly fault him.
Modric - 8.4 - Really beginning to tick. Shame he can't shoot for toffee.
Bale - 7.2 - Quiet but still had opportunity to create with a few marauding runs down the flank, probably should have released the ball early once or twice, got cluttered and marked out by Chelsea. It's a transitional stage for him this, learning to adapt to the adaption our opponents are having to adopt.
Defoe - 7 - Worked hard, assisted for the goal. Still not 100% but he'll get there.
Pav - 7 - Brilliant finish. When he starts he scores. Was detached from play second half.
Crouch - Header here, knock down there. Not much of an impact but then the subs came late in the day to truly influence proceedings.
Keane - Spent a lot of time in the middle. Not sure I can remember much else.
Sandro - Hardly enough time to make an impact.
The ref - 5 - Made plenty of mistakes, let one or two obvious fouls go without yellows. Neither side will be best pleased. But at least he didn't ruin the game like some.
Forward Conundrum
World class forward up front and we'd be laughing right about now, yeah? The lack of guile at times and the obvious lack of testing their goalkeeper is what births the pressure on our back four the longer the game goes on. Ground-drog day. Perhaps with a vdV in the side and a Huddlestone we'd have created one or two more chances that could have left us in a far more comfortable position. When either or both return, we're back to Harry and his tweaks. It's going to define our season this. A new forward won't work out if our midfield isn't set up to maximise opportunities. I'm talking about decision making with the final ball and movement from all concerned.
Very obvious stuff this.
Our Form
Think it's just four wins out of nine so far this season at the Lane. Which on the face of it is not great. But then when you delve deeper it's one Premier League loss at home during the last year (1-0 to Wigan).
It's also six defeats in all competitions in twenty-six games played. Shame we were so abjectly bad away to West Ham and allowed Wigan to win at the Lane.
Race for 4th, 3rd, go on then why not…race for top spot
Another stat-attack for you - we are three points behind our total from the 2010 season, if you wish to compare.
09/10 - 17 games, 30 points
10/11 - 17 games, 27 points
Not the perfect benchmark I know (different season altogether, can't really compare game to game) but the more telling total is how far off the top we are. Because that's more relevant. Five, at the time of writing.
That's not shabby.
Harry, Levy - take note of the niggling repetitive quirks to our play that need fixing. January - it's imperative. But more so are the games from now until then.
Onwards. As ever, onwards.
Reader Comments (66)
It's all about getting a beast up front.
Hulk anyone?
The Thing
Happy with a point don't think going forward we were too good today and when that pen was awarded my heart sank and I reached for the Prozac, no worries thou he missed but I was seeing pretty pink elephants for the evening!! COYS!!
Hulk *and* Chewbacca up front? Dream ticket!
I may be being overly optimistic, but personally i can't wait to find out whether Defoe and VDV will link up well, i know a lot of people are writing it off but personally I think it may be a winning combination. Last night I watched the man utd arsenal game and one thing came through was that Rooney seems to have got his first touch back, he looked much improved, but was desperately missing a person in front of him, unrelated you think, but Rooney when dropping deep plays very similarly to VDV and for every knock down he gets on to the end of in a match there always seems to be more oppurtunities for through balls that never get played due to the lack of a fast guy. Rooney's last good international display was next to Defoe, he seemed to thrive with a fast guy to play through, Defoe seemed to enjoy the night too, so playing in this 4411 blx or whatever England do may bring the best out of both Defoe, and VDV. Its struck me quite a few times how similar VDV and Rooney's playstyle is so alike despite generaly being considered different positions
Whilst agreeing with most (with the exception of DaveR's specsavers eye-test post) that new strikers in January would be a step in the right direction gut-feeling tells me that even if any good ones are available at a bargain price that doesn't oblige Harry to sell the entire squad before buying, their impact is likely to be limited given the bedding-in time most players take to adjust to the Premiership. The time to have bought was last Summer.
Given that, perhaps a player like Pienaar would be a better option, adding energy and directness to the MF options with a goal-scoring capability, and already tuned to the PL.
Personally, I think the boat sailed last summer and we are destined for the Europa League places, but with a lot of drama along the way. If that happens, the I hope Harry (or maybe Big Sam if Harry is England manager.....ok.ok, but he's cheap which fits the bill for our new property-developing image) plays the U18's in that competition so that they can gain experience and we don't have to play on Thursdays and Sundays for most of the season.
Big Sam? no, no, no
Pienaar, just what we need! Middle of the road average attacking midfielder....
/sarcasm
Spooky
My title would have been
Gomes drops 2 points and nearly all three....not good enough.
Rick
No...in the end it was 2 points dropped.
Sorry
Grim down south
Yeah MOTD did the same for the Utd game at OT
I was there and thought we were the better team for a large part of it.
The Machine
Actually that post by davspurs was pretty easy to read....maybe I am Neo...anyway the essence of it is nearly spot fucking on....
maybe its not davspurs......
Big sam , god no , the football he stands for is not what we are looking for , go get Owen Coyle or Di Matteo but not big Sam
555
Yes well chuffed that I can sit here and complain that we only drew with Chelsea...but at the same time I feel justified because we should have been out of sight before Drogba came on.
Even if we didnt score more goals though we should be able to keep a clean sheet in the majority of games...jesus I think we've only kept 2.
Fucking hell the dream team(!) of Richards-King-Gardner (or variation thereof) guring glenda's era were better than this.
As for familiarity I think we played Hutton-Gallas-Kaboul-BAE together 5/6 games in a row and kept 1 clean sheet. I'm not so sure that is good enough either (yes it is compared to the games before that)
Gomes has been pretty solid for most of his career with us since harry took over but recently he has been getting very dodgy...maybe he's excited its nearly xmas...but fuck lad.....SORT IT OUT.....
Keane leaving suggests one of 2 things
1. We'll replace him with a striker in Jan and something is already in place
2. Gio has been on the bench in the last couple of games, has been a monster in training, and harry is gonna give him 4th choice striker spot.
Think we'll buy something (Khumalo is done) but have not a clue where 'arry's head is at in terms of the transfer window.
I really really hope we dont start talking about Tevez........not going to happen......ever.
And seriously please stop with the Pienaar stuff...its about as likely to happen as Jenas to Real Madrid.
And lets not speculate about our next manager.....harry is still in the job...crapello is still in the job....so 'arry is not leavin for anyone else (even the FA might not want him when the time comes)
But if we had an open spot tomorrow I'd, like belgian spur, punt for Owen Coyle.
Big Sam can sit at home with his Eva Evangelina (with glasses) DVD's and give his wife 'the peoples elbow'