Yet another Spurs versus Arsenal El Clásico
Thursday, April 21, 2011 at 1:11PM Well that was rather special, wasn’t it?
Is there a more enthralling, pulsating fixture in the domestic calendar than the North London Derby? Dramatic twists and turns, excellent attacking football, quality finishing all glued together with blood and thunder desire. Once again we bounced back. Once again they lost their grip on the game. You could hardly look away, other than perhaps for a brief second to momentarily ease the beats of your brutalised heart. Mentality and physically exhausting, the dvd will surely include a parental warning on its sleeve.
Okay so whether you’re white or red you’ll agree a draw was hardly the best result in terms of accumulating the points to achieve the goal each club aspires to in the run-in. Arsenal are hardly out of the challenge for the title, mathematically speaking. And regardless of the stalemate, beating Manchester City away remains the end-game task we have ahead of us, as long as we don’t drop points to our determent in comparison to City and their remaining fixtures.
Could we have won it? Sure. Had perhaps Modric made it four with his foot rather than seeing the ball hit his shin and saved. Sandro's effort too had it been perhaps an inch to the right of Szczesny might have found its way in. The Arsenal keeper coming to their rescue again with saves from Crouch and van der Vaart in what was a far better second half of football for us than the first.
They could argue the same thing though. They could have won it too.
Hindsight would probably have seen me select Sandro from the start to stop Arsenal from over-running us in midfield as he would have been far more comfortable with breaking up play and generally being a nuisance and menace. To have had him playing the simple ball, recycling possession effectively and without fuss might have balanced things out in our favour and frustrated the opposition. But then it’s from a place of comfort after the event to perhaps look back and be critical of selection. And to play devil’s advocate, Sandro was guilty of one sleepy pass that might have proved costly. But hey, we’re all human.
I was more content with the line-up. van der Vaart, Pavlyuchenko and Crouch in the same team gave us a foil and a more dynamic dimension when pushing forwards rather than perhaps having the one striker ahead of the Dutchman. Perhaps working better on paper than in practice, with the Russian on the outside looking in for most of the game. Across the full ninety perhaps Pav didn’t have the impact you’d have wished for but he worked hard. Crouch hassled and vdV buzzed. Modric was anything but lightweight (but was pushed once or twice to the floor joining Bale down there) as he did his very best to take the stranglehold back off the impressive Fabregas in an attempt to control tempo in our favour.
It didn’t actually start to pull in our direction until after that stunning first forty-five.
The very definition of a ding-dong derby. 0-1 in five minutes, 1-1 after seven, 1-2 after twelve, 1-3 after forty and then 2-3 at the forty-four minute mark. And breath.
Not taking anything away from Arsenal who scored three goals that were deserving for their effort, but once more, there are post-mortems for each one that are labelled ‘should have done better’. Hand on heart, they caused us a multitude of problems but punches were thrown in-between the goal-scoring with both sides having telling efforts.
As for those post-mortems.
0-1
Henry-lite runs onto a brilliant pass from the annoyingly good Fabregas and passes the ball into the net. We lost the ball cheaply in midfield (Huddlestone) and were duly punished for it with a combination of mistakes that played out to aid Arsenal. Gallas rushing out initially leaving a gap that then saw Dawson play the offside and BAE caught playing Walcott onside. There’s a certain level of composure and concentration that is required at all times otherwise counters like this can leave you looking up to the heavens for a pray. Hardly the definition of defensive unity. Delightful celebration by Theo.
1-1
Two minutes later and its game on. Corluka with the ball into the path of van der Vaart who majestically found the back of the net at Szczeny’s near post, on his weaker foot too. The celebration cancelling out the earlier one. Arsenal perhaps if they wish to be harsh on their keeper can point to that near post and suggest a shot should not be sneaking in from there. Did I mention the celebration? I did? I'll mention it again. Sssh.
1-2
Should Dawson have stood up (get up, stand up...) rather than attempt to block a shot that might not have been released had he got tighter or am I distracting attention away from the quality of the shot from Nasri which took a slight deflection off Michael as it flew past Gomes? Good finish, but it felt like it should have been defended better. We just sat back and watched Nasir buzz about outside the box. Will not be too critical of Gomes here, I know some of you are. I guess philosophically, if a player has a crack from that sort of distance you have to give him his due if he finds the net.
1-3
At this point you’ll have probably given up. Had you perhaps been watching any other game other than the NLD. Gallas at fault I hate to say it. Far too casual. Chesting the ball down into the path of Walcott who dinked the ball wonderfully back into the path of Robin van Persie who had a couple of attempts to make it three. The first (a header) superbly saved, but alas, the second emphatically finished as the ball came back to van Persie. I guess some of you would have wanted Gomes to catch it with one hand, ala Jennings?
2-3
Just before the break we're back in it. There was a time in the past when we would concede a goal before half-time and find ourselves on the back-foot in the second forty-five, but this was not only a life-line but perhaps the most telling moment that probably invited doubt into the minds of our mentally fragile neighbours. With Bale off for treatment (thanks to two collisions with the winking Szczensy) Fabregas failed to clear convincingly and the ball was erotically struck by Huddlestone, hitting the ground and going through the jump of van der Vaart and past the keeper who hardly moved, apart from perhaps blinking.
There was still time for a penalty shout. Frantic stuff. Not given, could have been. We've seen less go for us and against us in the past. But then the footballing Gods didn’t want to spoil us too much, preferring to retain some drama for when the players returned to the pitch.
Half-time. And two changes. Bale (cluttered once too often) and Corluka off. Kaboul and Lennon on.
Physicality notched up a level, yellow cards dished out to the visitors with some blood spilt (Wenger did predict that) and even some time for the introduction of Wilshere to be told to shut up by vdV, which will probably give him something to tweet about post-game. Nutmeg anyone?
If we survived during the first 45 we gradually took hold of the second, although it was still littered with remainders that for every couple of chances we crafted out, they could have done better with theirs. Offside goal disallowed that might not have been offside (did Gomes play to the whistle? I think he did and half gave up when he heard it). Walcott also making the wrong decision with a cross-shot shot that didn't hit the target or find one of his team-mates.
Far more confident possession and intent from us. Proactive rather than reactive, with Arsenal on the back-foot more often than not but still dangerous. Next goal ‘wins’ it then.
If Modric made us tick, and van der Vaart was outstanding leading us forwards there was BAE, as cool and calm as you like, he might as well have been on the beach in Brazil than at White Hart Lane in the midst of a NLD. Open invitation for Alan Hansen to review past comments. Absolutely on the money from the pimp master. Distribution was solid and classy and sexy and when others lost their cool around him he made sure he was ever reliable at key moments. The ball for Lennon deserving of a goal. Instead we got a penalty out of it. Still ended up with a goal. Szczesny committing himself with little option other than to take down Aaron. Cool as you like, van der Vaart from the spot for his brace. Hero.
3-3.
Wenger animated on the bench (did I see a moment of monty python at one point?). Harry believing we’d probably get another. Oh for the love of all things wonderful on God’s green earth, it could have been four. Modric failing to connect cleanly. Then followed some neat saves from Gomes (not to be left bored at the other end) and those Crouch and Sandro efforts teasing all that watched, but a winner wasn’t to be for either side.
Stalemate, but hardly stale. 3-3 at the final whistle. And to think there were one or two people at home tuned in to watch Real Madrid v Barcelona.
What does it mean for us? Not much, nothing has really changed. We still have plenty of games left to take back fourth spot but each one of them has to be played like it’s do or die. No complacency. No more mistakes. And perhaps some bravery from Harry in selection too. We have to consider that we might end up drawing at Chelsea and at Eastlands which means its the results in the other fixtures that will seal our fate. Forget about the points dropped, we have no other choice but to look forwards and to continue to believe we can make it.
We’ve come a long way. We’re no longer push-overs, we can take a punch and we can land a hay-maker of our own. But much like Arsenal we have gaps that need to be filled. We have the mental strength and the tenacity these days. Just need one or two additions and perhaps more of the shrewd from the gaffer.
One thing is for certain, we’re not the Tottenham of old, the team that rolled over like a cute puppy to be sat on by the bigger badder dog who hardly took notice if the little one. Guess the puppy grew up and took a massive bite out of its aggressor.
Arsenal must not be our benchmark (beating Man Utd remains the bane) but it’s a pretty nifty way of measuring our standard of competitiveness. The fact we've beaten them twice in the league recently and probably feel a little disappointed we didn't nick it last night places us pound-for-pound on the night, on equal pegging. Be it a few points off in the Prem to class it as a head-to-head.
We need to fill those gaps before they do.
We no longer fear. Other than dithering in the transfer window.
Tighten it up Tottenham. We're disappointed we didn't win. They're happy with the point. A sign of the times. Not to ruin the spectacle, but that's the crux of it. Even though I was happy with the line-up, it wasn't the perfect selection (hindsight) and finding ourselves three one down is hardly the best way to compete in a game we should have looked to win. But perhaps that's a touch too negative and harsh. Mistakes found us in that position, hardly errors of selection. Perhaps it is a benchmark after-all. When we find ourselves 3-1 up to the good against them, then it will truly be a sign that we've stepped it up once more.
Until then we need to improve our record against lower placed sides. We hardly ever lose at home in the league, and those dropped points remain the difference between sitting in 5th and potentially being 3rd or 2nd as top tier clashes evidently can cancel each others hopes out.
Cracker of a game and another classic to add to the rest of them. London owns it again.
Reader Comments (48)
Good balanced article.
It's games like these that almost make me wish i was English (almost) , those of you that get to see these games at the Lane are lucky sob's
I've finally gotten to see the whole game (thanks to a gooner mate) , it really was spectacular - the Tottenham way. Celebrations , dissapointments , attacking play and a crowd going crazy ...
Two points dropped , maybe but i would have signed for 4 out of 6 points against the scum anytime
Thought Gomes WAS at fault for Nasri's goal, in that he was over to the lefthand side of the goal. Had he been nearly central, he probably would have save it.
Yup!
BAE was Immense, even my missus, she of the 'God that bloke is such a liability', is now bowing down before the 'isn't he cool' altar.
Onwards and upwards.
COYS
BAE was massive last night, and my general thoughts about him are usually ambivalent at best.
i thought we were a much better team defensively when Kaboul came on. Regrettably last night, Corluka looked like he was playing in lead boots whenever they were attacking him.
Harry astute enough to notice that thankfully.
From a Gooner point of view, this is a balanced and informative article. One problem though - we weren't really 'happy with the point' and I'm sure plenty of Spurs fans were happy to get a draw after being two down (and really could have been 2-4 down after RVP's 'goal').
But it was a great game of football, NLDs are becoming more and more exciting! You need a better striker than Crouch if you want to challenge for the title, but both London clubs will be right up there next year.
Fantastic game. World class saves from both keepers. Redknapp was right, the winner was football. And almost the perfect ending with a diving header back pass/own goal to give us a 4-3 win.
We definitely looked more solid when Sandro came on, and I thought we'd won it when the ball fell to Modric 6 yards out...
So, while none of the forwards are scoring, and I don't think they had a hand in any of last nights goals, what about starting with:
Gomes
Kaboul/Dawson/Gallas/Benny
Sandro
Lennon/Hudd/Modric/Bale
VdV
And a thank you to the gooners for taking so much trouble over the 'golden jubilee' banner, made singing 3-1 and you fucked it up so much more enjoyable.
i think playin sandro wud b a great bonus especially away when we need to control the game getting those crucial interceptions to win the ball back..
Joel, you're right, don't think either of us were happy but probably both content in the end as we both could have lost.
@ Spooky 2.15 pm
I have been so impressed with your prose recently, especially as you are the only blogger I know that can generate atmosphere and electricity into your words and then you go and spoil it all with, "...we both could have lost".
One of us could have lost. Either of us could have lost, but not, "we both could have lost".
(Note to self: Mark Spooky usual 10/10 for blog, but deduct 2 marks for response to Joel)
You should know by now that (typos aside) that sort of thing is meant ;)
Not fooling anyone, am I?
Think Harry messed up in the first half with no Lennon, thought he changed the game, especially as Bale was never interested in putting in a shift, knew it was a matter of time before he "limped" off.
Dawson has to take responsibility for the first, then on the third I thought he was slow to react to the cross and then to the rebound. 2nd, thought Gomes should have done better.
Great game, should have nicked it, but its not dropping points against Le Ars, Utd etc that is going to cost us 4th, it is our inability to beat the bottom sides (1 win in 6 isnt good enough!)
Not beating West Ham twice is bad form.
VERY BAD Spooks!
What a game that was last night. I'm 21 years of age, but I'm sure my heart wont last too much longer if there are too many more games like that. I know Tottenham love to do it the hard way, but geeez.
Again, like you in hindsight I think the selection, although brave, was incorrect. I was happy to see Harry stick to his principles (ie we're gonna score more than you) but they bossed our midfield in the first half and we were kinda lucky that it wasnt more than 3-2 at the break.
Second half though, what a performance, and I genuinely did think we were gonna nick it. VdV impressed massively, the last couple of weeks his fitness levels seem to have gone up a few notches. I love Modric aswell, refusing to be bullied about by Diaby and Song in the middle of the park, despite having the frame of a 6 year old girl.
Kinda disappointing not to nick it but a fair result in the balance of things I guess. And, only two points behind City. If we keep (or minimise) that gap by the time we play them, 4th is ours. I have every confidence we'll beat them again.
VERY BAD Spooks!
Apr 21, 2011 at 2:34 PM | Ossie
West Ham or my grammar?
:)
Just keep in mind "50 years and counting" Arsenal have had another poor season and tottingham are 10 points behind. Anyone got a copy of the 'super 8" of the last championship spuds won, their second wasnt it?
Very fair report. I'm a Gooner and it's nice to read a mature assessment of a great game, as opposed to a lot of the bile and nonsense found (on both sides of the divide).
This comment was a good one: "We’ve come a long way. We’re no longer push-overs, we can take a punch and we can land a hay-maker of our own. But much like Arsenal we have gaps that need to be filled. We have the mental strength and the tenacity these days."
Personally I think we still have the edge on quality, but we have lost our way in the 'mental strength' area, whereas you have progressed strongly there. Witness the amount of games you have saved at the death and we have thrown away at the death.
I'll only correct one thing: most of us really are disappointed with one point and were really hoping for all three to keep a title challenge going.
The tide has turned,
At 3-3 the Arsenal fans in the pub were far more desperate for the final whistle than the Spurs fans.
I had a dozen seasons dreading the NLD and now I cannot wait... In the last 4 Matches we have won 2 and drawn 2 coming from at least 2 goals down in 3 of them....
The monkey is lifted and we have turned the tide and are definately the team of guts and glory and Arsenal are the big time chockers....
How happy I am today. If we start winning the stupid games (West Ham etc...) then we can compete for the league. Our record against the top ten is good it the lower opposition where we fall.
COYS
I think in biting the bullet and going back to some approximation of a proper 4-4-2 in the past couple of games (rather than VdV off a lone striker) we've seen that it plays to the strengths of our team. We're looking like the Spurs that put together that great run-in last season. It is however a high-risk strategy in today's midfield-heavy game and does leave us vulnerable in there. Still, didn't someone once say "To Dare Is To Do"? COYS!
That's right dxeejaybee, comfort yourself with that old chesnut. A bit of advice, compare your cock with that of insect and you want win that one too.
Been ages since Gooners have been on here, there's been so many great games we haven't had the chance to discuss
Goons 1-2 Brum
Barca 3-1 Goons
Man U 2-0 Goons
Goons 1-1 Pool
Really liked the way we controlled the game in a 4-5-1 w/ Sandro and Huddlestone. Sandro unveils something new every game doesn't he? What a prospect.
I'm starting to wonder if we can just go ahead and try a 4-6-0 given the ineptitude of the strikers and fruitless insistence to play long balls to Crouchie's head. Would functionally operate more like a 4-3-3 w/ Bale, VDV, and Lennon in advanced positions.
Rocky-
I saw a very tongue in cheek article earlier today asking how many Spurs players would get into the Arsenal side (although the question should really be 'who would get into a first 11 from a pool of Spurs and Arsenal players). The article had not a single Spurs player in the side. Wasted opportunity that for a debate. In reality, there'd be far more Spurs in there that some gooners would care to admit.
You probably do just about have the edge in key areas but you no longer have the balance of application and belief. It's not actually down to individual player quality but more to do with the methodology of football played. You can play any 11 and they will play the Wenger way. Not the case with us if we have certain players missing, we have to shift and change and it can get untidy. There is a 'Spurs' way to playing football but it's not without it's glitches. Same with your lot, it's almost the same way it's always been but less of the physical dominance in the middle.
If Spurs got the selection template right and we signed players that fit in perfectly we'd be in fantastic position. Technically better players the key.
Hello Spooky
As you said, the author's conclusions were tongue in cheek, but if you check out the comments you'll find quite a few Gooners engaging seriously with the concept and being honest about which of your lot they would like to have in our team. Most of us have a bias towards our lads, as I'm sure you would towards yours, but there's no question that you have some very good players at the mo.
But - and you make this point yourself - it's not just about the players. If I could import anything from the old enemy right now it would be a bit of self-belief.
>>At 3-3 the Arsenal fans in the pub were far more desperate for the final whistle than the Spurs fans.
Stevo, I think that's why I'm not more unhappy about not winning. So many games this year, praying for the whistle, so often against inferior competition. I guess when you can bring Lennon and Sandro on in the second half, you can really up the tempo and pressure.
3 things Spooky:
1) Winking and blinking - very nice.
2) Van Persie shooting on goal after the whistle had gone, if all the top refs are officially singing from the same hymn sheet then surely he should have been booked ala Barcelona away.
3) Wenger in a Monty Python mode, very much so - my old man told me that he thought it was a little more Basil Fawlty though!
Bit of both perhaps? Ministry of silly walks?
That Arsene Wanger, what a bad looser, he has definately lost the plot.
Nice to see some Gooners on here talking some decent football chat. That game promoted some honesty on both sides. Great football all round...
On another note BAE was superb last night, my man of the match by a long way.
BAE could stare the Grim Reaper down and still win the ball off of him. What the man did to be blessed with such cold-blooded calm is beyond me. He now resembles a spectacularly nonchalant pirate.;)
"more of the shrewd from the gagger."
Wie, bitte? I have no idea what that means.
Otherwise enjoyable piece. Props to the reasonable arsenal visitors.
Probably because it's meant to say gaffer. Interesting typo.
Just one comment to this great game review: Before Nasri's goal VdV didn't follow. Watch it again. In my opinion he is more at fault than Daws and Gomes. When you see GREAT teams play, say Barca, all 11 players follow their man when acting defensively, we still haven't learned that entirely. VdV comes back, takes a man, allows him to run into the middle unchallenged. Practically begging for him to score.
Great review Spooky. Great posts too.
I still hold that we have to get rid of the needless hoofs to Crouch for us to challenge for the title. I don't understand why winning "every ball in the air" is supposed to be a good thing when in essence, it actually means lost possession of the ball for us. i.e. our midfielder/defender has the ball, hoofs it, Crouch wins it in the air, it lands safely at the feet of an opposition defender??????? Why is that good? Repeated 100 times, one of the "wins" might land at VDV's left foot but is it necessary? Actually, we played the NLD without strikers. Pav was useless too.(How does Defoe feel?)
Gareth Bale - not much has been mentioned about him. I think Aaron Lennon creates Gareth Bale. Without th threat of Lennon on the other side Bale is usually marked out by three to four guys. Much as I adore him, he is not the best player in the league and our coaches will have to be more clever and inventive when deploying him. The "diagonal" from Dawson to Bale is now too predictable and defenders seem too willing to chop him down to prevent any meaningful outcome from it.
To be honest, Arsenals main strength is in their midfielders - Wilshere, Nasri, Fabregas, etc - which is also our main strength. So not many fans would be inclined to want either team's players. I would'nt mind having the injury prone Van Persie in exchange for ALL our "only good for hassling but not scoring" strikers. The Van Persie has actually only played a handful of games but he's created and scored more than all our strikers combined. Thats a pity.
NLD="The Classic" of the Premiership.
@Ronnie.
With regard to Bale, Spooky is the only one I can find that mentioned the GK winking after he clattered Bale.
One of the things that I have missed this season is the pin-point passing to the wings that Thud does so well to either Lennon or Bale, and there have not been as many games played as I would have liked to see where all three were starters for obvious reasons.
If you compare Lennon to Bale, they are too completely different players. Bale is about pace, and accuracy. Lennon is about trickery. Bale will often push the ball past a player and then race him to the next kick. One of the tactics used against Bale has been to barge him into touch if he gets to close to the by-line. Another tactic which worked well the other night, was once he put the ball past you, to stand in front of him to stop him running.
If you can remember, Bale got back into the team as a replacement for the injured BAE, and it was his runs from LB that persuaded HR to try him as a left winger. I was thinking the other day about the way that some teams were learning how to "play" against Bale, and thought that it might be a good idea to bring him back to LB, (where he can still make his runs) and put Krancjar on the left wing. Then of course BAE has to go and spoil it all by having the best game I have seen from any of our LB's for years.
I'm not one of those that are in a hurry to criticise HR, and I know that there are those amongst us who despise the man, but one of the areas where I think he was slow to act was in knowing the abilities of Bale. As I said, it was only when BAE was injured, that Bale got his chance as LB. I remember watching after he had been converted to winger, and he took a thrown in which landed in front of the goal. When HR was being interviewed after the game he commented on this by saying. "I was amazed. I asked the lad 'where did that come from'". So it seems that HR had a player for 18 months, who he didn't know was capable of a long throw, never mind his ability as a winger.
Somehow or other, I think that if HR were to try him as a striker, he would probably amaze us all again by scoring 25 goals in a season.
I wonder if this Drogba thing is for real. How do you all feel about it? My gut instinct is that he might be too old. He's had a weird season with a long dip in the middle (probably having more than a little to do with malaria) but seems to have come back to form.
I just wonder if this is some sort of PR ploy by 'arry to show that a) he realizes we have a huge problem with our strikers and b) to prod Levy a bit.
Also seems like 'Arry realizes he needs to send a signal to the squad that if we don't get 4th, we are serious about going for the title. At the very least this seems like something Redknapp and Levy hope will be incentive for players like Modric, Bale, VdV to think twice about leaving if we don't get 4th.
Drogba would do for the sheer experience he would bring, but we need a 25/26 year shit hot striker to lead us into the future and bind the squad together. If we are in amongst the top 4 next season (and in the CL by finishing top 4 this season) then there's no reason this team can not continue to progress - with or without Redknapp.
Unbelievable night the mighty spurs roll on, and to the bald man slating hudds you went quite after the thunder bolt! Stunning atmosphere the crowd played there part.COYS
Agreed Spooky. Actually glad to hear Redknapp very publicly making the case for more signings/offloading dead weight.
West Brom are tormenting us a bit. Harry being a bit too clever for his own good. Unless Lennon is injured.....HE HAS TO PLAY. period.
Should we just give our free kicks and corners to the opposition keepers.
Defoe's hundredth goal. Well in. 1000 goals in the premiership for Spurs.
A bit happy now :-)
Crap
I'll see that crap and raise you a bugger.
So fucking typical, isn't it - a great effort against a top team and we try to stroll our way through lower opposition. Can someone total how many pts we've dropped in this manner this season? Season's over, as it doesn't really matter if we finish 5th or 6th (I do think Liverpool will catch us). On to the summer to see if Bale and Modric stay. Can't really begrudge them a move to one of the top clubs, and obviously would rather they go abroad to the likes of Madrid, Barca, etc.
Not happy anymore :-(
I can't really tell whats wrong with us. Sandro played (not very well). Gallas and Dawson are eager to allow players to shoot at Gomes and, ofcourse, Gomes is the new Robinson and opposition managers are encouraging their players to shoot at him. I think he needs a rest.
All in all....what can you do? We got outplayed for much too long and with Peter Odemwingie, West Brom had a striker who is worth 3 Pavlyuchenkos. If they'd gotten their penalty when Dawson grabbed the ball desparately with his arm, they might even have won it.
Liverpool will probably catch us. Tbh, part of me is'nt that keen on qualifying for the CL again. Maybe we need some time away to rebuild, compete for the domestic cups, buy new strikers, get rid of deadwood (Did anyone see Jenas warming up?). Its unbelievable that when we needed a goal badly, all we could come up from our arsenal was the incredible weapon that has scored so many goals for us. Peter Crouch. In the meanwhile, Peter Odemwingie's - 14 goals in his debut season - was playing for the poorer team. Do you guys know that despite WBA 40 points total, they've scored as many goals as us?
Liverpool, instead of playing shitty deadwood like Jenas, are giving playing time to their youngsters. Very very impressive from their manager. Qualifying for the top4 will only get ever harder.
Won't it be funny if Money City get knocked out at the qualifiers? - before the group games?
Cheer up guys.
Fair points Ronnie. We were tired and it showed. I do think Odemwingie was great and would love to have him at Spurs instead of our deadweight strikers. I don't think it's quite over yet but today didn't convince me that we are actually going to pull it off this year. Fair enough. Not getting CL won't be the end of the world as long as we can rebuild. In the meanwhile COYS!!!!!!!!!