Bucking the trend, the Tottenham way
Friday, April 23, 2010 at 12:03PM Another game live on television, another game against a 'top 4' side, another potential club DVD release in the making.
Spurs away to Manchester United. The Theatre of Illusions. Illusions usually comprising of us looking like we might do something positive and complete and then capitulating, mostly in cartoon fashion thanks to a decision that was forged in the Imaginarium of Doctor Webb. It's a conspiracy they cry. What about the Mendes goal, as tears are wiped from face. It's tiresome now. Much like losing to Chelsea was once upon a time a bore. And much like going 20 odd league games without a win against Woolwich.
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes (turn and face the strain).
We got brushed aside by Utd earlier this season, and ignoring last seasons OTT OT experience, we either tend to do well against them but never win at home (Tevez last second anyone?) and flatter to deceive away. It's the last remaining curse that needs ending. Less said about the Carling Cup game up there the better. That type of performance has to be avoided at all costs because it will leave most of us tragically empty.
No matter how you look at this fixture, pound-for-pound, it's a test on so many levels. We've beaten Arsenal and Chelsea, so all eyes on Tottenham because some are expecting to see us continue our good form and upset the Champions. Some (Chelsea) need us to. Others see United as the ones under pressure because they simply cannot afford to lose, which means an early Spurs goal could make it cagey for them (although if it stays at 1-0 deep into the second half we'll still have to score another three goals to be certain of a point once we enter Fergie-Time at the end of the 90 minutes). Harry is also under the spotlight. Tactically, he has been on the money in the past two games and the side have been galvanised with renewed belief and confidence. He wasn't meant to be good enough to out-wit the 'Big boys'. Fergie will no doubt attempt to stop us from playing. How they handle Modric and Bale will be of much interest and how Harry plans to counter any Fergie counters will be equally interesting. One thing about United is they work hard. We'll have to match that. And there's the Berbatov equation to consider. He tends to do alright against us. But arguably both sides have match-winners.
My panties are soaked in anticipation.
I understand the mathematics. With City the main threat, Villa should also not be discounted either. And as mentioned in prior weeks, defeat will not be a disaster (just remember everyone's predictions before we played the red and blue scum). But a point or more would/could demoralise our competition. And if Arsenal and Wenger, hurting badly, look to reclaim some of their lost self-respect against Adebayor and friends - the calculator will be hot with the pushing of buttons. But to be honest, I'd rather City thrash Arsenal and we beat United and then City when we play them and take 4th that way. The closer we get to the red scum the better. As long as we believe in ourselves and not the hype.
I'm not going to attempt to second guess Harry with tactics or selection. Palacios is back, he might play. He probably should but that could see Bale return to left-back and Modric to left-wing blah blah blah. Regardless of the who's and where's (Lennon super-sub back on the bench?) one thing we have proven this season is that we can mix-it up. The players have a decent (more then decent) comprehension of what it means to push for it. 'It' being progress and success. Success at the moment, measured in the way of proving to ones self that we are worthy of our position and worthy of more.
The players have a taste for it. A winning mentality. Only the brave can dare to push on further and continue the feast.
So, this club, this Lilywhite majesty of swagger and grit. Stand up, stand tall, be proud. And just go for it. Go for their jugular and use any obstacle or injustice as inspiration to punish them back. No textbook white flag of surrender. No apologetic here we go again looks. No turning of heads back towards yesterday.
What's happened has happened and can't be changed. The future is crafted by the hands (well, the feet in this case) of the ones who dare to control their own destiny. United are masters of it. This won't be easy. And most would agree, historically, out of the three 'horror' fixtures in April - this was the one we sort of expected to get nothing out of. Most of us didn’t think we'd get more than two points from the previous two. We're six up.
Don't worry or concern yourselves with the negatives when the positives are so much easier to embrace.
Buck. The. Trend.
To dare is to do. COYS.
spooky
The excellent 'The Republik of Mancunia' has an interview up with little old me talking Spurs v Utd. Check it out. Click here to read it.
For a Reds match preview, read this.
Reader Comments (133)
Totaly off the point but funny all the same.
it's all about trophies. LOL...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSqKs6IoMKQ&feature=related
Walker boy with all due respect we'll be calling u pussyboy from nowon. Let your wif know whose the boss
Nice job with the united blog spooky, also impressed with the inteligence of the united fans.Not like them cunts from woolwich
"Apolitically folded?" Surely you meant "apoplectically," Spook? Or "apocalyptically?" Or was that RoM's mistranscription?
I dont wear panties and as a result the juices are running down my leg
"If I am fatally wounded, pray let Heurelho look after my wife."
Exquisite, bruce castle. Made me laugh out loud.
Audere est facere, lads. If you play the way you did last match, I'll be proud and happy whatever the scoreline. But winning would be epic.
oh spooky..... oh my god.....shame on you!!!! ..... you went there with little dignity you just manage to get during the past week and returned back stripped of it all! shame! shame! you literally kissed their ass! why don't you tear your lily white tank top and put on red???
its a fact that your club, sp*rs, is manur's bitch on and off the field! but i was not entirely sure the fans were as well until today!
COYMB!
GC was absolutely right in calling that sick pessimist “kaiskama” an IDIOT. It’s OK to spill your beans after the game whatever they are, but don’t start crapping before we even kicked the fooking ball. I think “kaiskama” is a closet ManU fan.
I really love Brook, he take's a punch at anything that we do (be it club, Spooky or the commenters on this blog.)
Reminds me of ablindfolded kid with a bat trying to hit the pinata,desperate to get the candy.
OT game is massive, not only for this season but the next. We have a team capable of challenging the big guns and strike fear in every team. If we get beaten, let's do it with our guns blazing and proud!
5 words.
Besiktas. Villa. Leeds. Chelsea. BELIEVE!
COYS...this is our chance to beat that gum chewing drunk and his arrogant team were on such a high, and as the hit classic says " let's get lets get let's get ready to rumble"
Let us pray Gentlemen.
Our Father, who art in Tottenham, Hotspur be thy name, Thy Ledley Kingdom come, thy will be done in Old Trafford as it is in White Hart Lane. Give us this day our daily 3 points and forgive us this day our bad passes, as we close down early those who pass against us. And lead us not into the Europa League, and deliver us from Arsenal. For thine is the Modric, the Gomez and The Hudd, for Dawson and Pav, A Gareth.
Brook and the word dignity. Laughing my fucking ass off.
that's the spuds way of sexy football, spooky?
u look shit, utterly shit so far! ball possession 90 to 10 against spuds!
Shit? What you mean like Arsenal v Wigan? Arsenal v Spurs? Arsenal v Barcelona?
Yeah, we're well shit.
CHANGED THE MIDFIELD AND DEFENCE AND LOST THE SWAGGER.
BENTLEY RUNNING THROUGH TREACLE.
WHERES THE DOMINANT HUDD FROM LAST 2 GAMES ?
IS HE BETTER ALONGSIDE MODDERS THAN WILSON ?
BROOK... WHY DO YOU BOTHER ?
Good effort, maybe we should have kept the same team but hindsight is unfair. Palacios all over the place.
Let's see how shitty Arsenal get on with City. The cunts will probably get stuffed.
Well that was as straightforward as it comes. Oh well, not at all dissimilar to the WHL fixture. Our goals were sloppy but MU had our number and besides conceding possession stupidly, they controlled the game from beginnig to end. Well done them.
Why did the ref not extend injury time after Nani held up play for almost 50% of the alloted period. Curious but not that it would have mattered much anyway.
It grieves me to have to come on today and say I dont have to eat the humble pie that I posted about yesterday.
I feel much of the blame has to go HR, wrong team selection. Palacious was rusty after 3 weeks out, and BAE is not a right back and that clumsy challenge cost us. We looked comfortable enuf until BAE gifted them that goal.
Bale was not as effective as against Arse & Chel and Huddlestone was awful. Dissapears too often in the pressure games.
I honestly hope the other part of my prediction from yesterday (dropping points to Bolton) does not materialise.
Have to spend the rest of the eveng now cheering Aresenal. How bad is that.
Good effort, you have got to be jocking!! We threw it away before the game started. united where there for the taking. No Rooney, we should have gone for the jugular. but no, lets play it slowly, slowly and see how it goes!!
As i said in previous posts, ple Redknapp keep the winning team!! ye, ye.
Worried about Kabul at right back, so he changes the entire balance of the team ( 3 bloody positional changes) to cover up this weakness and throws the entire balance out. Brilliant management!!!
I can't beleive all the hype about Palacios. He is full of running and very little else. he cant pass, he cant score but he can tackle now and again and with it come 10 bookings!!!
Ekotto: he is unpredictable and has a serious problem with his temprement both in games and on the trainin pitch, beleive me!! I give it he was played out of position!!
Terrible display, terrible management and a point thrown away.
I love and hate this club!!! today, I hate it!!!
Why o why can't we get it right for once, just for f*&king once!!!!!
Unfortunate to give up those penalties. Not the greatest result from a numeric standpoint but I feel like we can still hold our heads high. We're definitely moving up. We'll get em Spurs!!!!!!!
FWIW I'm not sold on United w/o Rooney. Will be interesting to see how the title race pans out.
I'll happily take an Arse win if the gutless twats can manage to keep their panties today.
I knew there would be people straight on when we lose slating tactics/team selection, get a life hotspur!! We took 6 points from the 3 games when most of us would have taken 4. Harry decided that was going to be his team and his if thats what he thought would be best then thats good enough for me. We are still 4th so stop whining you are making yourself sound silly. ps brook you really are a disgrace. COYS
Brook honey, come back and talk to us after you're done beating City.
Really, you should have learned something about humility and karma before the NLD.
I say this as a yid who actually wants to see you win today (though I do totally respect the hardcore approach of other commenters who'd never want to see you win but I'm opportunistic like that ...)
Until then jog on mate and let your sorry team prove that you actually belong in the top 4.
I think blaming HR is naive bullshit Kaiskama- get a fucking grip man! We didn't have a right back on the pitch; clearly Walker wasn't up to it and the two players that pitched in, BAE and Palacios, both gave away pens. Redknapp cannot possibly legislate for a mistimed tackle in the box when both players have already done extremely well for us this season.
Although losing inevitably hurts, we all knew Old Trafford was going to be hard, and having won the last two are in a far better position points wise than man of us thought we would be 2 weeks ago.
The best thing to be done here is to take the positive's; Penalties aside, we drew one all with united, away from home. Kaiskama, i didn't hear you blaming HR when we beat Chelsea or Arsenal, so have a word with yourself and stop being so fickle; you'll give the rest of us a bad name.
I think its a bit harsh to blame redknapp too much here. Ok he selected the team, but if it weren't for two errors by PLAYERS we would have drawn 1-1. Granted you could be justified by saying that you shouldn't change a winning team, however its for these sorts of games that we brought in palacios therefore I don't think many people would have groaned much when seeing his name on the starting line-up before the game. The choice to select BAE as RB was fair enough considering kaboul could have been just as much of a liability with charlie still out and walker wasn't ready for this level of game.
Wouldn't we all have taken 6/9 points from the last three games in a heartbeat?!?! 4th is still in our hands and yes, the scum could do us a favour today, but if they don't its still in our hands providing we win the last three games. Lets look at the brightside here and not start knee-jerking, we all knew that it'd be a hard game and didn't expect much out of it but we are still in the race for 4th and the lads should hold their heads high.
Btw personally I thought the second penalty was a little harsh, but you can't complain too much because wilson shouldn't have put himself in that situation. He should know better.
Lets look at the brightside here and not start knee-jerking, we all knew that it'd be a hard game and didn't expect much out of it but we are still in the race for 4th and the lads should hold their heads high.
Well said. Regardless of the score line what we saw today wasn't a typical Spurs at OT performance. United were genuinely threatened by us for much of the match and showed us a lot of respect. True, they were a bit flat. While there were obvious let downs, I do think we played with confidence and swagger at moments and hope the lads keep the confidence level up. Big matches ahead. COYS!!!!!
Reply to Matty K
I refute your accusation of naievety and fickleness. Of course one could not criticise HR for the performances against Arse & chel, but are you trying to say that you believe HR is 100% right 100% of the time ?? I am simply saying that today I believe he did not get it right, but that is not to denigrate his achievements in the 2 previous games.
Hotspur in his post above, although rather bluntly, got it right when he said the balance of the team was disrupted from the 2 previous games. I remain of the opinion that HR should have kept an unchanged team with Palacios on the bench. He was bound to be a little off the pace after 3 weeks out.
But, at the end of the day, you win some you lose some.
I dare say .... We loose today if it that means you end up 5th. Don't fancy cuteh either but I take the lesser of the two c*nts.
Hope villa get 4th.
I think that comment just about sums up what a blinkered fucktard you are, Brook. City are a far greater mid-to-long term threat to Arsenal than we are. Do I want City to beat Arsenal just because? Hell no, Spurs first for me always before any other team.
Palacios was rubbish today, as was BAE (didn't really matter that he was on the right, as he dives in just as recklessly when he's on the left). Some will criticise HR for his line-up but he's had his share of good personnel decisions and ones that didn't pay off.
I see Brooks gone to the game then.
Get a life!!! Ive supported COYS for 45 years mate and beleive you me ive been through thick and thin with the team. Was there the night Arse beat us 1-0 to take the championship, ask me how i felt!!
Its the big time I am looking for, the Europian championship that will elevate us to the big time, massive step change in all ways, club, team, crowds, stadium, income, thats where i want to be!!
An I've seen this too many bloody times, failing at the last hurdle, west hame last bloody game and all that. I think im entitled to be upset having seen this today. Thats why i say, why cant we just get it bloody right for once!!
Do you really think its going to be this close next season with the likes of Liverpool, Man City, Everton, Aston Villa chasing.
This was it, this was it - today was it and we had a chance!! We did not go for it.
One weakness in th team = 4 positional changes from which 2 goals (penalty) were scored. ye, we paid a big price for messing with the team. Why did we need Palacios in midfield today, they did not have ballwinners, they had footballers who simply left Palacios chasing shadows!! Why did we play him. ye if we are playing Bolton, Wigan, ye, great, but United!!!
Ye yoiu can tell im still mad!! i pray we get 4th place and want it more than most, so much in fact that i cheered Arse supportes in the High street this afternoon, thats how bad i want 4th Place, right or wrong!!
So, when we win, it's because of Harry and when we lose it's the players' fault? Ooookaaayyy. How many changes in personnel and position from our last two stellar performances and it's all down to the players?
At 7:30 am here, I heard Rooney was out. Wooohoooo! Then I saw the Spurs line up. Aw, shit! Seriously, WTF? Thought maybe Harry had been believing his own press about tactical acumen. But the first half wasn't bad, clearly some nerves, but not too surprising given how much the pack had been shuffled. Second half, glad to see Eidur on. Felt really bad for BAE, out of position, wrong foot, had had a good match to that point and played really well the last two. (None of that, I knew, would matter to the boo boys on the forums, who always need a goat.)
But then Lennon came on, Ledley equalized and suddenly it was us threatening. I was actually mentally composing my humble pie post to give Harry credit for more tactical nous than I ever thought possible. But with the Crouch for Pavs sub, it all went very Groundhog's Day, not to say pear-shaped. Poor Wilson. I mean, the guy virtually stopped in front of him, total sucker play.
A sub too far or ill conceived from the start? I don't know. I'm not going to fault the players. We didn't see the kind of collapse/surrender we have in the past and at times we played some very nice stuff, given the more defensive line up.
We've got six points from a possible nine when I don't think any of us expected more than two. We're still in it, so COYS.
COYS until i die...............................
Hotspur and others. You are over anaylising it. We were good for a point. Who's to say if we started Bale on the left and palacios on the bench that going 1 up would have caused Utd to fight back. I think you're under-rating Man Utd, Rooney or no Rooney. Today was the game that I did not expect us to gain points and we didn;t.
Why do people knee-jerk so much? Utd are title challengers, we are 4th player contenders.
Klaxon, I wasn't expecting or even hoping for more than a point (as posted yesterday). And were it not for the two penalties, we might have had it. We conceded two penalties directly due to changes made in a winning line up.
Simples really. We played pretty well albeit with some key lapses and then blew it in the last 10 mins.
On another subject, Arse clearly don't have the bottle to beat Citeh.
I am not as disappointed as I thought I would with this result though I had being preparing my mind for it. The boys gave it their all but ManU is simply just a class above us in all categories. We are heading in the right direction, I just hope we bounce back forcefully next week against Bolton.
It is all so simple for us now. Win the next 3 matches and CL footie is ours. Can't be any simpler than that.
Watching Arse play and hoping they win makes me feel dirty and near suicidal.
I now know what it feels like to be a Gooner.
I am filled with an unusual and powerful sense of self-loathing and have a perverse desire to eat croque monsieur.
I'm also starting to fancy Arsene a bit and wish I was 30 years younger so he'd shag me.
Please make this stop.
No wonder Gooners are such sad, sorry c*nts.
3 Soft goals but manu r relentless at this stage of the season. Manshitty have drawn and with Given crocked its still looking good.
laG @ 6:37
Excellent point! It feels good to be in control of our destiny. I am starting to feel very zen about this campaign. We will either do it or not. I have complete faith that we will.
Destiny back in our hands. We will stay 4th through the weekend and all of next week. If we beat Bolton on Saturday we will consolidate that position going into the Eastlands match. Keep the faith Yids.
United fan in peace here. You guys had your moments today. Really hope you can get 4th spot. Not just because you'ld prevent Citeh and Pool from getting it, but I also have a soft spot for Spurs.Good luck ;)
Red Army, we have come to accept that whenever we play you guys we just simply roll over. Mind you, the gap is been shrunk season after season and if we do make that CL spot, that gap could wiped out. We will get that elusive win over you next season. All the same, good-luck retaining your title.
hi 'COYS'
Your team confirmed yet again that you are manur bitch. What a typical...truely typical spuds performance that was! No knee jerk comments yet means (that's surprise)you are content and satisfied by the lose.
I'd like to remind you that you're overdue a lose to small teams like Bolton.
COYMB
Brook - This season :
Man U 2 -1 Arse
Arse 1 - 3 Man U
(Wigan 3 - 2 Arse - loved that one, what a spineless bunch of cunts)
We lost 3-1 to a team going for their 4th Prem title on the trot. Disappointing? Sure. But at least we dug in and tried. Remember at the Emirates? You lot bent over, lubed up and took a long hard one.
I'm all for a bit of banter, but you dont half talk some shit mate. Are you 15yrs old, son?
Jog on mate back to your own forum and moan and bitch about another trophyless season and moan about Wenger (like you all are).
Back from the barbi and have now calmed down now! 1 point to city still 4th!!
May the force be with us!!
Side for Bolton??
Another positive from today: Lennon back. Sure he wasn't world-beatingly great but good for him to get the minutes in. That will bode well for us going forward. Can't wait for Charlie to get back though hopefully we'll have him for City.
Brook, the master debater.
Thank you Sir, for the complement.