Rule Britannia: Spurs v Stoke

Domestic bread and butter first up before we return to the caviar of Champions League. Hoping we're not left with an egg and humble pie combo by the time next Wednesday closes shop and Thursday greets us when we walk into work dejected devastated delighted.

Stoke away. Never easy, wasn't last season, but the game was a perfect illustration of the guile and tenacity we became very much accustomed too on our travels. We had injuries, we battled hard and dug deep and showed some rather tasty moments of class (Iceman, where aut thou?). It will be no exaggeration, and no disrespect meant to our hosts, that I will be rather upset if we lose all three points. I might even knee-jerk in the aftermath. I don't want any deep digging this time round. I want us to win comfortably. I'm that frigging greedy.

Pushing on is what the Spurs directive should be for this 2011 season. I know that comparing results like-for-like from one season to the next is a redundant exercise, but there are certain games I would tag with a massive 'three points ta very much' label and this is one of them. It's a banana skin game only if we believe it is. So the players have to firstly forget about Wednesday and get our season kick-started, with hopefully a firework or two, by displaying the very same qualities that have made us want for more.

Over-achieved they say. Not a chance. We've got more left in the tank. Last season was no fluke.

Harry will no doubt make changes again, a tweak here or there, with Wednesday in mind. So, I guess the Young Boys return leg is nigh impossible to completely isolate in the back of the players minds. But they should do their best to momentarily forget.

We all know that confidence breeds results which breed form which means if you play well and win one game, you go into the next with a buzz.

The crux here is mentality. Last season, many of us were probably nervous about going away to Stoke. In fact, we tend to be nervous away full stop as fans - purely from an analysis and pre-match perspective (our away support is altogether a different kettle of fish, flying fish, with brass band and sopranos bursting the ear drums of native folk for miles around). We once upon a time had woeful away form, have made some improvements, but finally can say we should be far happier travelling than we once was.

Oh Noes ! Stoke away ! Yes, Stoke. It's Stoke. It's not Manchester United. We went there last term and were superbly professional, dispatching them, be it not always pretty. It's beyond just believing, it should now be expectancy and delivery of said expectants. The players frame of mind should be 'we're going to win because that's what teams like us do to teams like them'. Rather than worry about their long throw-ins and physicality, and their own brand of loud support etc etc

Arrogant? Nope. It's not about being big headed or thinking 'look at us, the mighty Spurs, we deserve to be beating the ickle teams'. It's nothing of the sort. We only deserve what we get based on what we do on the day. And the likes of Stoke and one or two others (think of the teams we battered and lost to at home last season) have to be brushed aside with confidence and swagger, and if in the away games (like the one we face this Saturday) it turns ugly then we adapt, remain composed and take the game by the scruff, allowing for our quality to shine through the brutal tackles and infuriating hassling.

If we lose games like this, then there's a chink in the armour that will cost us dearly in the long run. Again, this is no disrespect to Stoke. It's about us and our ambitions and responsbilities to continue to progress and better ourselves.

Making a statement by proving we are above the level we sat in 2 years ago. And above the level we were in last season. The fact I have to blog about this actually does prove (oh how ironic) that its still something that plays on our minds. I doubt Chelsea, Arsenal, Utd fans 'worry' about Stoke (although again with the irony, even the seasoned elite clubs slip on skins now and again). Not to say that's an excuse for us if we happen to land on our bums.

There's no major deep tactical ploys, selection questions or formations I want to discuss. Spurs, the Spurs that took us into 4th with that never-say-die attitude is the Spurs I want to see on Saturday and the very same I want to see on Wednesday. Whether it's Stoke or Man Utd. Our backs are not quite on the wall, it is only game number two of course, but if we treated every game like it was a must-win at Eastlands...well, you get the picture.

Three is the magic number for me. Three on Saturday, three on Wednesday.

If you're not at the game, stick on Absolute Radio for the Rock 'N' Roll Football Live show (they've got exclusive rights to a ton of Prem games so worth checking out there rota for the weeks ahead) and tune into the full match coverage of the Stoke v Spurs game (on 1215AM, online or on DAB Digital Radio). Click on this for more info. 

Russ Williams with the pre-match and build-up, Jim Proudfoot commentating and Ian Wright for post-match (yeah, Ian Wright, don't let that put you off, he's harmless these days).

COYS

It's time for redemption

Some thoughts, stats etc...

White Hart Lane

6 league wins on the trot, 8 in all competitions. Only 12 goals conceded at home all season (Prem). The Stoke, Hull and Wolves games particularly frustrating. Those aside, only Manchester United this season have visited and left with more than a goal to their name. You have go back 36 times since we lost by more than one. Staggering feat. Not quite the finished fortress, but only a few more bricks required and a coat of paint. We've made it difficult at times by not taking guilt-edged chances, so I would expect us to push onwards next season and consolidate home possession by doing what we did to the likes of Wigan and Burnley more often. Could have had a decent DVD out of the Chelsea game had we shown definitive cutting edge.

But there is no major complaint. We have restored pride, the team are confident and impose themselves with style. Our home form is superb.

Bolton game

It's a tricky one this. Did we make things difficult for ourselves by not taking our chances? Perhaps. But I thought Bolton (credit to them) turned up with those party pooper hats on doing their utmost to ruin our day. Which makes the win and three points even better. Sure, we were not quite at our best and yes, it took a wonder-goal from Huddlestone, but that's how things work out sometimes. You dig deep, survive, and lap up those moments of genius. We had to win, no matter the performance. And we did, and that's all that matters. Credit to Gomes, King and Dawson for their defending. Warriors. Although at times it was full-on heart-in-mouth desperation. Gomes groin problem, surely a consequence of sleeping with the vast majority of the Park Lane WAGS. Talking of defending, I haven't forgotten...

Kaboul

Some say, he stood 8 foot tall, as wide as a truck with eyes made of fire with the strength of a hundred men. He was here, there and everywhere. A force of nature so strong that no mere mortal dared to approach. Seriously, wtf? Where did this performance came from? Nice one. Good work fella.

Other stuff from the Bolton game

Defoe and offsides. I honestly think this is a lost cause now. He just doesn't grasp the concept of standing level.

Lennon. Lovely. Nice to have him back. Please please please torment City on Wednesday.

Goal-scoring. Lack of. We seem to have a squad of players who can all score but strikers who make the art of scoring look as difficult as standing on your own feet for more than 10 seconds at a time if your name is Drogba. They (Pav, JD and Crouch...and EG too) have to get it together. One chance - one goal. Let's leave the Andy Coles behind for the final two games.

Bale. Still a beast when played on the left-wing. Let him be.

King

Hands up if you think he'll be playing on Wed too? Has it happened before this season? King playing in a Saturday game and then a mid-week game? I'm sure it has, at least I'm not alone in thinking this, although I (we) might be wrong. Any stattos out there willing to confirm or debunk?* On the subject of Wednesday and selection - it's a massive one for Harry. Does he stick or twist?

I say stick.

*Last season he played against Udinese on the Thursday and then Bolton on the Sunday which was Redknapp's first game. Still uncertain if he achieved a similar feat in the Prem.

Match of the Day

Lineker winding up Hansen. Excellent.

Wednesday

Cup final. £30M+ Champions League play-off. Epic game, one which we find ourselves in because we deserve to be in it. We have survived the initial hype early season, we survived the spankings dished out by three of the top four, we survived the hiccups and disappointments, and each time we hit a brick wall, we took a step back then leaped over it. We are sitting in 4th place because we are currently the 4th best team in the country. Two more games, the one at Eastlands in particular, will define our season and conslidate the hard work and graft.

Sure, yes, few expected deep down, to find ourselves in this position because we sort of half-believed that cracking the Top 4 was impossible. But Liverpool have imploded and we along with others have closed the gap. So to be in this position now - hand on heart - I don't want to be standing in front of you all on Thursday morning saying, 'Jolly good show, there's always next season'. And yes, next season we'll be challenging for the Top 4 again, I have no doubt in that. But to be this close, it will be too hard a pill to swallow to miss out.

The challenge (next season) can be improved tenfold further by claiming 4th this season and entering the big boys playground for the first time. City will no doubt want this as much as us. They know CL next season will short cut their efforts in challenging for the title, bringing that realisation sooner to them. Which is another reason why we have to cut short their dream and see ours out.

Let's no forget. The pressure we are under is equally felt by Manchester City.

It's time for redemption. 2006. Bury it once and for all.

The Amazing Life of Morris Keston - Win the book, click here.

Selection this, selection that...

You might have read West Ham United have complained to the Premier League about Fulham's decision to rest players last weekend when they played (and lost) 2-0 to Hull City. Obviously, a weakened Fulham side is detrimental to West Ham (and arguably others in the same predicament down at the bottom) because to those sides struggling for points, seeing one of their rivals for survival gather them with comparative ease leaves a bad taste in their mouth.

You'll remember similar complaints when Wolves fielded practically a reserve side up at Old Trafford, a sacrifice/risk that their manager calculated as worthy. If you're not going to win against Manchester United, you might as well lose without losing players to injury. Utd's rivals might also disagree with these types of selections because it is, on paper, an easy three points. But that's not Man Utd's problem, is it? The same way it's not Fulham's problem if West Ham are absolute toilet.

Wolves lost three points at United, and won three against Burnley. Rather than end up with the one or nothing at all. Sure, it should be about glory and had Wolves shocked Utd...but then again the manager makes the final decision, and in this case it paid off for McCarthy. Much like it has in the eyes of Hodgson and their 2-1 win in the Europa League.

For the sake of footballing justice, yes, I agree every side should be at its most strongest in order for competition to be fair. But define strongest? Actually, don't bother because that's not your job - it's the managers. If Hodgson wants to play youth and reserves because he has prioritised his teams objectives (Europe being that priority) then the side that faced Hull was the strongest he could possibly field.

If West Ham are in such dire desperate times, they should perhaps look inwards at sorting out their inability to function as a cohesive unit. If a side is in trouble it's because they've dragged themselves down there and not because other teams are winning thanks to the odd (very rare) occasion a rival side has played an under-strength upper region side and won.

The footballing governing bodies should not legislate team selections to the nth degree. Even if the final game of the season a manager rests every first team player in a game that might decide someone else's fate - and yes, I know, the Hull/Fulham result might just have been that type of game - just not played on the final day. And nobody rests players for the sake of it, there's always a reason and that reason is always justified as far as the team doing the resting are concerned. It's the ones who are desperate who look for a way to claw back some hope.

The crux of the problem is that this form of complaint is driving towards the suggestion that a club should consider the plight of another club when they are making decisions based on their own ambitions. The rule about having to field a full-strength side is there to protect the integrity of the league - which it does perfectly fine.

But placing another club ahead of your own? In a parallel universe perhaps where a match is postponed to allow players to recover from a dodgy lasagne, perhaps.

Hodgson cares for nothing more than Fulham and their progression, so of course he's going to take a risk and sacrifice potential points for the sake of silverware in another competition.

It's a bitter pill to swallow, and I know that if Spurs had to rely on others to fail (a possibility in the run-in for 4th place) its still something completely out of our control and there is nothing we can do other than do the best in our own games - a destiny we can shape. If one of our rivals plays an under-strength side and gains points that places them above us, that's just the way the cookie crumbles. If it was the other way around, we'd be smiling our faces off.

So to go back to the actual rule that West Ham are arguing Fulham broke (from the BBC article covering this story):

The Premier League's E20 rule stipulates that clubs must field a full-strength side in all top-flight games.

Perhaps next time Hodgson should play a full-strength side and ask them to play at around 40% effort. Which matches the level that West Ham have been playing all season long. Which should restore some balance to the farce.