Sticky toffee not enough to mess up Spurs
Sunday, February 28, 2010 at 10:59PM We never win the easy way. If the average Spurs fan doesn't lose a few months off their life expectancy after every game, then that's not the Tottenham way. I'm due to die the middle of next week.
I'm ecstatic we won. I'm ecstatic we held on to win. First half we were rampant going forward. Sexy football? Yes, but not of the love-making type. We're talking lights on and frantic rogering. We ruined Everton at times.
Pav scored his 5th in three games, Huddlestone releasing Defoe who shot towards goal (wasn't quite on target) but as the ball cut across, Roman was there to slam it home. Our second was majestic. Made in Croatia, the passing in the build up was patient and slick. The finish a corker, right-footed over Howard and onto the underside of the bar and in.
Easy street. Dominant. Modic an absolute delight, every box ticked. Pav in the side allows for that free-flowing football to creep out from the shadows of starting with Crouch and having us hoof rather than force players to move and create space as much as possible.
Easy street. You'd think. Right?
Er, well no. This is Tottenham remember. Clues to an uneasy second half was Gomes hovering his finger over the self-destruct button. Flapping and missing the ball on a couple of occasions and then trying to, well I don't know what he was trying to do when Everton scored. Not that I blame Gomes for the second half drop in tempo.
Huddlestone going off rocked us. Kaboul is not, I repeat NOT a central midfielder who can create in the manner that Tommy can. Not sure what type of midfielder he is. Well, he's not a midfielder, is he? But losing big Tom to an ankle injury is not reason enough for blame.
Blame that pesky Moyes and his half-time team talk. Must have spat some fiery words to inspire a supposed jet-lagged Everton side to rediscover some of that Mersyside stubbornness and pull themselves back into the game.
Aided by Gomes trying to reach around (ooh) to punch the ball and then what looked like the bundle of the ball (and keeper) leading to the first goal conceded in the last 10 hours of White Hart Lane football. Need to catch MotD2 to see how bad it was. But no matter, because people will long remember Landon Donovan's expertly placed effort the wrong side of the post when it was easier to tap it in for 2-2. The ripples of the side-netting have never looked so good.
Last 10 minutes were the usual textbook hearts in mouth experience copyrighted by THFC. With additional 6 minutes of injury time to further prolong the agony. Had an effort or two ourselves as the game died out and I guess some form of karma or balance or luck saw the game end with us taking all three precious points.
Hard way is the Spurs way.
Moddle and Bale were outstanding. Huddlestone's injury has yet to be confirmed with regards to the amount of games he'll possibly miss. Do we have any CM's left? Flux capacitor required, January transfer window the destination. Also hearing Bentley has a groin injury. And with Azza out, things will get harder and harder as the season edges towards its conclusion.
Still 4th. Still hanging on in there. Credit where it's due though. We ain't letting go.
COYS.
Reader Comments (55)
To me it looked as though Gomes was being pulled down and out of the mixer by one of the Everton players. They had their opportunities but I would say that had Krancjar had his shooting boots on it wouldn't have mattered. We are short of bodies in the middle, and I think that if injuries and so on rule out Huddlestone, Bentley, Lennon, Jenas and so on, we may well see a midfield of Bale, Modric, Palacios and Krancjar, with Assou-Ekottu returning at left back. In fact, Bale is big enough and has good enough distribution to fill in in the middle of midfield if needs be, interchanging with Modric. It could get a little dicey against the best, but I imagine it would make for more enjoyable football than Kaboul alongside Palacios.
Ref wasn't strong enough today . Everton kicked us all over the place. Gomes flapping? I blame the wet weather. Or someone perhaps tampered with his gloves?
Luka was sensational today. Back on top of his game. Impressed with Niko too, quitel iked the way we lined up. And Roman is surely no undroppable? Do think our backs are up against the wall now. Hudd might be out for a few games. We're be finding out soon just how important he actually is to our midfield. JOH call back from loan might be in order.
Yes, made in Croatia indeed. Can you ever have too many Croatians if you like your football played on the pitch and not hoofed in the air? Personally would have much preferred to see Croatia at the World Cup this summer rather than England. Watching England's matches in Germany last time round was a punishment.
But to things more Spurs-centric, was anyone else surprised that Daws hasn't gotten a call up for the England squad? I'm kind of relieved since the last time he was called he got crocked in training and lost his form for ages, but still seems a little strange.
Thankful for the win today. Don't really expect us to hold on to 4th, given our pending April death march and City and Villa's games in hand, but would like to keep up enough momentum to win the FA Cup.
City will edge it. The bastards.
Jim Jam; good call. Spurs have to look at playing Bale at LMF with modric Palacious and Krancjar until big Tom comes back with BAE at LB. I think Bale would thrive there. He's got to learn to cross back to players coming into the penalty area as had he looked up twice today he had Pav running in for a pass. Instead he just crossed blindly. Cannot complain though with his contribution he's getting points for us. Hope he scores soon. That will give him an extra boost. Everton got off light with the bookings as they kicked and crash tackeled their way through the second half.
Scary how we went off the boil in the second half. Whatever happened, Bale caught the bug - was watching him in the first half and he was always much much further up the pitch than Corluka. Second half, he was level. Hard to blame just the players - was there a Spurs supporter in the ground who wasn't also taking on that siege mentality and thinking 'well a points not a bad result I guess...'.
I'd be tempted to suggest bring BAE on, Bale to left-wing and Modric to the centre. Which just shows how fickle I am, having said that Modric isn't strong enough to play in the centre.
With the loss of Hudd, I guess 'Arry will pair Bassong and Dawson in CD and put King in front of them as a DM. The idea will be to score and make it though on the opposition from scoring.
Super pleased with today's result though don't quite get it with making the simple things hard on ourselves. 4th place and the COYS go matching on.
Having a bench consisting of four defenders and two strikers is worrying to say the least. If Hudds injury is serious do we have a call back clause for O'Hara? If not expect to see more of Kaboul (and his weird eyebrows) in the centre of the park for a while *shudder*
Having Bale at left wing will make him predictable. He's unstoppable when running from deep because its impossible to stop him at full pelt. Plus he's a young lad so should be left to develop in his best position
Hope you don't mind some shameless whoring spooky
http://cantsmilewithoutyouthfc.blogspot.com
A thriller, no doubt. At the end, it was a well worth satisfaction for getting up at 430 am. Wish people would quit ridding on Kaboul and trying to shutter little confidence he got at this time. Considering the fact that this boy had only few training sessions with the squad and doesn’t know the system - he did well. Harry asked him to play fullback and he did OK. Now they asked him to play DM position and he prevented sure score. WTF you guys want of him at this point? Don’t see anyone throw rocks at Iceman who is at the same situation and who btw did fooking nothing.
Bentley, Huddlestone, Lennon, Jenas, King, Woodgate...the list is endless.
January will come back to haunt us.
classic bloggin Spooks! Luvin it as always mate!
Nice one Django.
As entertaining as usual, spooky!
glad u guys won today as it takes your hope high up to the sky..... only to crash hard at the end of the season when u finish ...er...8th!
how come you didn't comment on the assault? The assault on Ramzy!!
I wrote this after the first half...
first goal-dont know why but felt like the most beautiful think i have ever seen td pass, pure class touch by defoe and roman fucking pavlyuchenko
how about gareth freaking bale
i finally get what the big deal is
the boy is fantastic
you cant likely run by him
luka modric- thank you very much
more of that please
a coming out party of THE Tottenham Hotspurs
thank you very fucking much
... how dumb am I thinking it would be easy.
couldnt think of anything but bob freaking keane's comment about our strong bench.
bullshit. we could be in a tight spot with our injuries. I vote modric in the middle with bently if he is back or else Rose. but for gods sake kaboul sucks ball, hairy ones. not so pleased with eidur either.
fuck it
more days in fourth place
Wouldn't mind seeing O'Hara get recalled if we can muster it. With Pompey going down for sure maybe they'd be willing to cancel the balance of the loan.
mmmmm excuses at the ready, if it wasnt for injuries to ...............etc etc
We wernt suppossed to finish fourth anyway?It will be a bonus if we qualify etc etc
37 Professionals and we havent got a midfield?
Injuries and suspensions are part and parcel and if we havent got the squad with enough depth then I point the accussing finger.
O'hara anyone?
Why is it where I'm sat, I always have a bloody opposition fan sat next to me? Its so bloody frustrating.
Anyway, good first half, for those who don't like Tommy, your about to witness how bad we can be without him. I think we will miss him in the middle even if modders slots in for the time being. He doesn't have the same presence, strength and height. Although it will be interesting to see how we line up against Fulham this weekend. I think we may see rose or a left wing version of bale. O'hara, even if we do get him back, I expect will be cup tied. I think we should only call him back if we loose another midfielder though. He needs the experience he is getting at pompey (even if they are doomed). I seriously hope he doesn't go to Newcastle!
brook he didn't comment on the 'assault' on ramsey because this is not an Arsenal blog and it is none of our concern that one of your players came off worse in an unfortunate tackle (again). You know that word? Tackle. It's that thing your manager is trying to get banned from the game because it frightens his poor, defenceless 24 year-old infants.
Anyway, back to the game. First half magnificent, 2nd half woeful. But I do think that the way we aneded up having to scrap and hold on to a slim advantage for half an hour stands us in far better stead then if we'd just mullered them 3 or 4-0. Remember how many points we picked up after the 9-1? Not many! Better that our boys learn to drag these victories kicking and screaming from the tough games. Builds character you see?
Oh and Bale is fast becoming my favourite spurs player and possibly in top 3 of all time. I used to love Steven Carr at the height of his powers, to the point that I started playing at right back to emulate his style. Bale is potentially much better than Carr (needs to work on the defending) I loved that moment towards the end when we were penned into our own half, he looked knackered from his first half endeavours, yet he ran the ball up the wing beating two men, then flicked it round a third to create a chance. He's strong, quick and skillful with a decent and improving cross. I just desperately want to see him end one of his runs by lacing the ball into the top right hand corner a la Carr vs Man Utd.
I did it for you, Spooky.
Brook:
The Ramsey incident was unfortunate, considering we lost Modric (not as serious injury) so yeah, gutted for the lad. But its of no real concern to me. Wengers reaction was gold though. Think its disgraceful the way he reacted. 50/50 ball ffs, no need to make things worse.
Now back to Woolwich you go.
Fox - can we keep hold of Bale? We almost botched it up with him and now in a confident team he's going from strength to strength. He's going to be some talent. Hopefully in our colours. Feeling sick thinking about him in a Utd shirt.
The machine - I fecking well hope so. The guy is brilliant. Hopefull united will leave well alone seeing as they have Evra, unless fergie sees a ready-made giggs replacement.
Palacios is on the verge of a ban by way of yellow card accumulation, that would leave us really short in the middle.
Bale left, Kranjcar right with Modric and A.N Other in the middle would suit, even play one up top and have 2 centre-mids behind Modric, would keep things solid.
Maybe the boy Bostock could get a run out....just throwing it out there.
..."Huddlestone joins a growing midfield casualty list. Jermaine Jenas is due to have an operation on his groin on Wednesday, David Bentley tore his groin last Wednesday and Aaron Lennon has been prescribed six weeks' rest after suffering a groin injury of his own. Wilson Palacios is on nine yellow cards - just one away from suspension."...I wonder if Harry will recall O'Hara?
what's with all the groin injuries. Does our physio have a blind spot in that particular area or has Daniel Lloyd got bored of commuting to Portsmouth every day for sexy time?
Fox Mulder.
tackle you know the word. what your sorry lot failed to do as Cesc dribbled round 4 of them as we spanked you yet again.
Bale to lmf sounds like a great idea. the boy is a counterattacking genius but he did get caught up at least a couple of times. Still not sold 100% on his abilities to defend.
Cracking game for us though!
Roman, Modders, Kranky looking great. Don't know what happened with Gomes on that goal but he did make some beautiful saves at other points in the match so I'll give him a pass.
I hope Thudd gets better quick though that looked like a serious injury. I've been known to slag him in the past but file under you don't know a good thing til it's gone. The lad has been pretty solid lately.
Bale - Wilson - Modric - Niko
We will miss the Thudd massively, but i for one would love to see Bale in midfield and BAE back at Left back. Watching Bale yesterday and recently - its like having Lenon on the left wing. The pace he runs at is scary, in the past 3 games this week i have not once seen an opposition player outrun him once.
Getting BAE back in the team would also be good, he is very good but also has a bit of a nasty streak in him which we kind of need to be honest.
Ohara needs to be recalled as backup to our new midfield of Bale-Wilson-Modric-Niko.
Great result & keep up the good works Spooky.
COYS
PS: I honestly think we need to get through March with a 100% record to have a chance in the cup and 4th spot (Anyone else sick of hearing the phrase........................4th place?)
Looks like we got lucky.
I wish Tom H, Bentley, Lennon all a speedy recovery.
So what happens now?
We push for the Cup (best chance of success) and maintain our chase for 4th.
I think we have a chance, but much will depend on how hungry we are. And we need to play a settled side.
Liverpool were hungrier than us when we played them at Anfield, but they looked ordinary at times. Man City got lucky at Chelski (help from the keeper), but were also fired up because of the "injustice" to Bridge. We need to stay hungry and focussed. Show no mercy and put opponents to the sword.
Our date with destiny are three weekends in April. Two of those are at home. We need to win the home games and draw away to stand any chance. We need to believe we can win, run faster than the opponent, tackle cleaner, hustle and close down every movement. In short, we need be better than them. Everton managed to do that recently, so why couldnt we do the same, (plus we dont have the exhausting distraction of the Europa Cup).
I am not forgetting some possibilities.
If we prevail over Fulham, one of those weekends is likely to be the Cup Semi-Final. It could be a welcome distraction or halt to any momentum.
Also, I do not assume we will easily roll over the others. Man. City is somewhere in that mix as well, so we would do well to come away with a point from Eastlands. We need to make sure we beat all the rest in the remaining six fixtures to stand any chance whatsoever.
We all assume the top three will remain there. Admittedly it is looking very unlikely they will get dislodged, but you never know, so long as they keep dropping points.... all you need is someone below to go on a winning streak, and for any of them to stumble...
COYS. Make this year different. I want to watch you in the Champions League next season!
Kranjcar - Fair weather player. When things were going well 1st half he was great, when we were up against it, he was a liability. He must understand that as well as creating, he has to get back, cover, and tackle. When Hudd went off we needed help in the midfield, big time, but he just sat out on the right wing waiting for the ball, waiting to score the killer 3rd goal. Sorry, but that's not what we needed in such situations. Technically he is excellent but he is not up for the fight.
Also, when ppl are bemoaning the fact that Hudd doesn't get forward into trhe oppositions box that much, I hope you now see why he doesn't do that. Because, without him anchoring the midfield and providing a barrier in front of the back 4, we are nothing. If Hudd went forwards as much as people apparently want him to, then how things were after he went off would be replicated every week.I suppose people dont' notice how many times in a game, when our attacks break down, there he is, in the centre circle, winning the ball and stopping attacks. If he were galloping into the opposition's box all the time, he wouldn't be able to do that, and we would concede a shedload more goals. It's not just down to the defence that we have been so solid at the back this season.
The above is also why Modric should not be played in CM. You lose a lot of his good aspects, as he would not have the freedon to sit in the spaces and wait for the ball. It would be a bad idea to put him in the middle of a 2 man midfield. Having said that, he was top class yesterday. I think Harry must have given him a rollicking cos since he came on v Wigan he has been really good again. Shame though in the 2nd half his level dropped as the midfield totally lost shape. It was simultaneously hilarious and horrific how much things fell apart after Hudd left. Eidur was interesting. Kind of disgraceful on Harry's behalf that we have no replacement.
Although have to give them credit, they kept it pretty solid in the last 10 mins. The lessons of Everton avay half-learned. Net time, don't give them even 1 goal and it's another step up the learning curve. Dawson ahd one of his better games, Bassong had easily his worst game that I've seen. Crouch was made to look really, really shit in comparison to Pav. He couldn't make it stick to him at all.
I can confidently say that if Harry tries to play either Modric or Kaboul alongside Palacious in a 2 man midfield, it will be a total disaster. I find it hard to see where the midfield goes from here. I guess it proves what pretty much everyone has said, for ages - we need cover for the CM position. It didn't even need to be a 15-20 mil brazilian hot prospect. Jenas has proved he is not a viable option, and shame on you Harry for thinking Kaboul is!! I'll reserve total judgement on him though because it was a bit of a deep end, baptism of fire on Sunday. Lets pray to god he is better next time.
disagree with you on kranjcar there chrisman. I've seen him to plenty of tracking back and tackling in games he's played in. He did it yesterday too. I have a feeling he'd been told to stay high up and wide to provide an outlet because modric isn't naturally wide and hudd wasn't there to do what you quite rightly highlight in your post.
If anyone is moving into centre mid it should be kranjcar and not modric for the reasons you gave above. But then who on earthe goes on the right mid? I hear Kaboul's a pretty nifty winger.....
Are we able to recall Jamie O'Hara from Portsmouth to provide Midfield cover?
Probably best for the lad he's not at Pompey when they go down anyway.
Great goal by Moddle - Love it! Just love it!
I agree Fox - i actually commented during the game how much Niko was tackling and getting stuck in. So he should, he quite a big chap.....................not in comparison to the Hudd though!
i'll still maintain he is a fair weather player - great when the going is good, not so great when the going is bad. look at when he has scored his goals - when we were swamping City and Wigan at home. I don't see him as someone who is ever going to really turn a game in our favour in the style of modric or even Lennon. He's a floating showpony. I always thought that, ever since I first saw him play with Croatia. Also, he doesn't really know where his best position is. He first played for Croatia as a 2nd striker/up front, and was too lightweight and didn't score enough. So they moved him out wide. He hasn't exactly been great there, and I soon predict he will be dropped from Croatia 1st XI. He was pretty poor in Euro 2008 compared to Modric, Kovac, Srna, Olic. I would much rather have Srna on the right that Kranjcar (for Spurs).
I ain't a fan!! He's all fancy flicks but not much end product. He'll fizzle out soon enough.
Well done to Harry and Bondy and Jordany and all the players and coaches for an excellent win yesterday.
Harry Redknapp's Blue & White Army !
Harry Redknapp's Blue & White Army !
Harry Redknapp's Blue & White Army !
what, even Tim Sherwood?
HA HA !!!! look at these spurs jerks, lucky to win against better team everton(and i m a liverpool fan),u think u can really finish in top 4 ,dream on.liverpool r goin to take the 4th spot if not higher ,it would b a disgrace if a small club like spurs would represent england in europe's premier competition, i will b happier if unfortunately liverpool miss out then villa or everton take that spot and not small -time clubs like man city or spurs.
Nice of you to join us down here outside of the elite. Make yourself at home.
"it would b a disgrace if a small club like spurs would represent england in europe's premier competition"
What as opposed to a big club in loads of debt that has a mere two english players 'representing england.'
What are you doing here anyway? Haven't you got hubcaps to steal or something?
'.liverpool r goin to take the 4th spot if not higher ' Now THAT'S funny.
Don't worry pal. Next season you'll DEFINITELY win the league....
Lol at the Liverpool fan. what a mug.
LMFAO. What a mug. Go find a Liverpool blog you absolute MELTAH. Except there ain't no Scousers who can bring the blog like Spooks is there pal? Naaaaah.
Oh nuts, it's back :(
Ignore him. He's not even an Arsenal fan.
chrisman, you are one delusional and hateful bbb prick. You can maybe fool some folks here to be a genuine spurs fan, but I know where your coming from. You and your moronic bunch of idiots tried everything to destroy him, but to no avail; you can only suck niko's dick. He's a great player and no unfounded garbage from you will ever tarnish niko's quality and reputation….. fooking sick moron.
New chant for Gareth sampled from Outhere Brothers:
"Boom, Boom, Boom... Let me hear you say Bale... BALE !!!"
"Boom, Boom, Boom... Let me hear you say Bale... BALE !!!"
"Boom, Boom, Boom... Let me hear you say Bale... BALE !!!"
(Repeat chorus x10)
chrisman, outside of euro's do you even watch Croatia? I'll agree that Niko didn't perform as a 2nd striker. Bilic moved him out to the wing where he performed well for both club (Pompey) and country. I think slotting him into CM with Wilson should do just fine.
As for a one trick pony and fair weather for Spurs, did you say the same about Bale and Huddlestone prior to this year too?
15th in the football rich list in the 08/09 season, only the "top 4" were higher than us from England. Pretty good achievement me thinks, keep it up levy.
No I didn't say the same about Bale and Huddlestone. The point with them is I would not write off a player after less than a season of 1st team football. Kranjcar, however, has been around for a good few years now and has already reached the peak of his abilities. There is nothing more to come from him. Maybe I'll be proved wrong. Bale and Hudd, as 20-22 year olds, have had plenty of scope for improvement, and have improved accordingly. Kranjcar, as a 26 year old, has already been through that time for improvement and has not really come out any better.
Kranjcar was ok for Pompey. Yeah he got a lot of hype from journos, but ask yourself - if a genuinely world class attacking midfielder is available for £2.5 mil, don't you think someone like Arsenal or Man U would have come in for him? But they didn't...now I'm not saying that they never miss out on good players, but I think that they saw him, watched him, saw what he could and couldnt do, and thought 'nah'. Just as I did. I'll admit I was actually shocked at how well he played when he first came to Spurs, but he has reverted to type recently. He's a winger who doesn't beat people and cross, a midfielder who cant tackle, a support forward who doesn't score. He's just a luxury. Very good to watch when he is on the ball, but that's it.
If he tears it up and is class for the rest of his Spurs career I'll gladly eat humble pie. But I'm basing my opinion on having watched him since 2006 world cup. A good few years. It's not that I don't think he's good, he's just not as good as some people think.
I guess we will see when (and if) he plays CM with Palacious. Personally I think it would be a disaster and Harry is extremley unlikely to even try it, but hey.
Can someone pop round to Beetleblue's house and check up on him? I'm worried.....
Livermoore has been recalled from peterborough!