Back to business

Morning. Another small club that has a habit of sometimes punching above their weight (as we found out when they famously beat us 1-0 at WHL). I'ts Hull at home.

There is no need for deep analytical discourse on who should play and how best we break them down. It's Hull. And we need to do one thing. Remember what Stoke and Wolves achieved in our back garden? Complete avoidance of anything similar is the order of the day.

Hopefully those complacent, rusty and somewhat wasteful in front of goal efforts are a thing of the past now that the second half of the season is upon us. The players have to be professional and prove they want it and show belief. I guess that's what makes the best in the country the best. The teams that constantly believe and play to the required standard.

Three massive points IMO today. Mainly because losing these types of games at this juncture in the season WILL be costly. Liverpool away is a similar game re: under-performing when considered to be favourites - with 3 of their best players (their only decent ones you might argue) out injured. But more on that early next week.

All eyes on Harry I'm sure, with how he handles the occasion with that slight distraction of a certain court case on the horizon.

For now, it's all about the footie. No mistakes or over-sights permitted.

Spurs v Wolves: The Making of the DVD (match preview)

Match preview time. Shockingly short (by my usual standards). Busy weekend means I'm unlikely to be online tomorrow morning to allow for any form of blogging.

So...

Which Spurs will turn out at White Hart Lane this weekend?

Sexy swaggering Spurs (9-1 v Wigan) or the possession dominating chance wasting version (0-1 v Stoke)? It's not going to be the latter. It positively absolutely can not be the latter. We have to win. Quality on the pitch, pound for pound, player for player has to equal three fat points served up on a plate with a side order of chips and salad to compliment the spit-roast dished out, cooked to perfection, glazed and crispy.

Badly constructed analogy aside, we can't afford any slip-ups.

70% of the ball, wave upon wave of attack, 15/20 shots at goal - all of these stats will count for nothing if Stoke, I mean Wolves, sucker-punch us to win by a single goal.

I'm not suggesting we'll walk it. I'd like us to, but rather than believe that Wolves will be easily brushed aside, I'd like to think Harry and the players are well aware that these are the worst types of banana skins. That ruthlessness missing in the Everton game has to be back in abundance, much like it was against Wigan. Kill 'em off. Dismantle them. This isn't about not showing Wolves respect. It's about showing (us) the fans some.

Mental strength of a different kind required. Wolves have been easily bullied at times this season and it's all dependent on what Mick McCarthy decides to do tactically (defend with 10 outfield players behind the ball). If this game is open, it might end up being another DVD. It its not, and they frustrate us, then God help us and all the admins and moderators on all the football message boards across the internet.

City fudged it up at home against them, so there's evidence of fighting spirit in their ranks. That's the match template to avoid. Don’t rest on our laurels. Give them enough problems to be concerned with in order to overwhelm them. The Wigan template being the one we need to follow.

I don't expect Harry will change much. Maybe the re-introduction of Robbie Keane (in case we get a penalty, and he does loving playing against his former clubs) at the expense of Crouchie. Defoe will want to add to his tally and make up for the two points lost thanks to his less than confident spot kick. Niko has the chance to dictate tempo, with a certain other Croatian looking on. I'm hoping Luka gets his 20/25 mins of action, gently reintroduced to the side. I'm still going with one word: Galvanise. That's what he'll do when he's fully fit. And I can only imagine the type of noise when he stands on the touchline with a final stretch or two before running on to dink and sway and cut inside with the of the hairs on the back of my neck, long in hibernation, ripping themselves free from my skin and rocketing into the sky over North London.

No pressure Modric. No pressure lad.

Wouldn't change anything else. No King and no Woodgate means it's up Dawson to lead by example at the back. Bassong needs to improve. BAE will return to his usual composed quiet self after the antics up at Goodison Park. Daws has done well for us back there and although we suffered (shape wise) at Everton due to lack of 'experience' (yes, he's 26 years old but he's no Woodgate or King in terms of organisation) it should be a little more comfortable at the Lane. Well, as long as the midfield make sure the offensive play is scrumptious at best for our strikers to feed off. Although I'd happy score three from 5 chances than 1 from 15.

As for Azza. Hugging the touchline or counter-attacking, either way, get the ball over to him and let him do what he does best. Could well be a case of Niko to Lennon to the wing, cross/cut back, header/shot…goal.

Football. It's just plenty of running around and kicking it in the net® (all rights reserved Harry Redknapp).

Jenas for Wilson? What do you reckon? Might be the only other potential change. Might. JJ loves games like this (weaker opposition) and if he gets forward he'll cause little 'hampton a stiff problem or two. I live for the day to witness JJ bossing a game, running with complete impunity from deep in midfield, thrusting forward with guile and smashing it in to wheel away in celebration, chest out, proud and loving it. Oh gosh, did I just share with you my number one fantasy?

*Blush*

Huddlestone, for all the much-maligned discussion, will once more retain his place. If Wilson does play in midfield alongside him then he'll have plenty of time to run onto balls, edge of box, and play those pin point balls to feet that we do appreciate (and we do).

It's got to be professional.

Ridiculous that there's butterflies and nervous twitches in amongst the Spurs faithful, but such is the way of supporting this club. Nothing can ever be taken for granted.

COYS, sing up sing up.

Another massive massive game

Everton away. Considering how Villa and City got on yesterday and the fact that if we're serious about competing for a top 4 place - I can't see anything less than 3 points as being an acceptable result today. King of the understatements. Everton are depleted.

Heitinga (suspended).

Anichebe, Areta, Jagielka, Neville, Vaughan all injured.

Distin, Gosling, Yobo, Jo, Osman...all doubtful.

I'll be disappointed if we go there, under-perform and lose. I'll be disappointed if we go there and fail to capitalise on their plight. I'll be disappointed if we don't win convincingly. I'm not asking for the moon on a stick here. Show the same intent we had in the Villa (second half) game, and we'll be all smiles come the final whistle.

Big test of our mental strength this. Considering the lack of sustained effort against the Utd reserves in the cup. Take the game to them, boss possession and pick 'em off. There's no doubt Moyes will have his side giving it 100% so - if you abide by the Laws of Hope - you'd think we'd be able to tell our class show.

As for Harry, who's he gonna  pick? Huddlestone or Jenas? Keane or Crouch?

I'll start Huddlestone and let him quarter-back his way through the game, spraying balls to his hearts content. Niko has to be certainty. And personally, I'd stick Crouchie up front with JD and let the Everton defence worry about the tall man little man combo.

This season is going to be tight, and these are the types of tests we need to pass with flying colours.

COYS and all that jazz.

Top 4. Game on.

With each passing week there appears to be less people scoffing at the idea that Spurs are serious challengers to finishing in a Top 4 slot. Great pretenders no more. I'm not about to streak naked down Tottenham High Road singing the Champions League anthem, but my socks and shoes are off. In preparation. All this off the back of a 1-1 draw away to Villa? Of course not. It's the sum of all parts thus far. We are a proper team. Or at least one good enough to take advantage of what is turning out to be a season of ups and downs for all concerned, including the sides that are meant to be super-glued to the CL positions each passing year. We've been outclassed this season by Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal. Although none of the defeats, IMO, are as bad in hindsight as they appeared to be at the time. They were blips, hiccups that have simply needed a swift glass of water to be rid of. The sides we have to beat remain the ones from mid-table down and the rest who are our 'rivals' for the promised land. And so far, we're not doing too shabby a job. I'll have my shirt off and catching a bus to N17 if we do well against Everton, Wolves and City because then the reality of the situation will befall all - including non-believers.

The great fallacy is that breaking into the Top 4 is nigh impossible because the gulf of class between the likes of us and the Sky Sports 4 is massive. It is in the strictness sense with regards to mounting a title-challenge, but with each passing season - as we improve - the teams above us sort of kinda stagnate. We are beating the sides they are beating, just not beating them. But that's fine. We're not about to worry Utd or Chelsea, but the vastly over-rated Arsenal and Liverpool? They won't admit it, but we're catching up. Liverpool are disjointed, lacking depth and missing key ingredients. Arsenal are not half as good as their fans think they are. Yes, yes, pretty football and toddlers running around scoring fancy goals in the Carling Cup against weakened Prem opposition or lower league sides might allow for the usual superlatives from the red tops but the fact is they have no spine, are sometimes comical in defence and are hanging on desperately to the past. But hey, don't worry gooners, you've still got Theo Walcott.

Of course, they will still finish Top 4, at least one of them will. So it's up to us and one or two others (City have to break out of their draw-abyss and Villa have to discover more guile and adventure) to make it as difficult as possible for them. The more we improve, the more pressure pushing down on them.

And we continue to dig deep. So fuck it, why shouldn't I shout? It's better than whimpering. There's plenty of work to be had, and it seems we are more than up for it. Harry continues to impress. And even with several key players missing (King, Woodgate, Modric) we just get on with it. We have cover, we have commitment. Dawson (Forest bound, ha!) comes in and gives us one of those 'come here you big lump I want to kiss you' type of all-smiling performances. I love this guy. He took his goal superbly well. Niko is turning it on at the moment. He is positively on fire. Oozing class and has swagger we love to see in a Tottenham player. When Moddle is back, we'll be stronger for it. Obviously.

So, to the Villa game. Pretender v Pretender. First half, we hardly got stuck in so no surprise they took the lead. We sat back, looked nervous. Made it easy for them. Second half was rather better. Such was the tempo of our play that Villa could only survive by sitting back and defending. We were relentlessly good. Totally dominated them. Anyone would think the game was at the Lane with MON's men doing their utmost to survive rather than take the game by the scruff of the neck (although had they, and the game opened up, we'd have scored more). Disappointingly we didn't, and I'm a little gutted we didn't take all three points.

Even with Lennon, double-marked, we still pushed forward and other than a looping Heskey header there was nothing from the home side that troubled us. Dunne also doing a superb job of keeping Defoe on the quiet side. Credit to Villa and their defending, even if their fans are probably despondent that they could not muster up more in the way of offensive opportunities. Freidel was also superb for them. One or two of their fans, pre-match, were dismissive of our chances, suggesting we come unstuck against 'touch opponents'. I guess we'll let them know when we come face to face with the next one.

Villa 170. Spurs 394. Completed passes. Says about us much as any stat.

Obviously, Harry has to work out why it didn't go according to plan in the first half. We lacked composure with passing and appeared off-key. Whatever he said at half-time worked, but credit doubly to the players for reacting to it the right way and performing the way they did in the second 45. Concentration, bite and intent all back in abundance. And this is the little clue to my Monday morning jig. Our reaction was one that showed we look far more prepared for the long haul than Villa. Early days. Once we start games in the same fashion as we started the second half at Villa Park, we'll have grown big enough balls to really believe the next level has been reached. The next level is the one where we take all three points in games of similar ilk.

So, for now, my boxer shorts will remain on.

Onwards and upwards.

@DBTheTruth The beachball would have scored

Irony and football. It's majestic at times, more so when your team is the one blessed with it's touch.

Darren Bent

Most were concerned and playfully joked about how he would return to haunt us. You could see it happening. Bent, sways past King to thrash the ball past a despairing Gomes as he sprints towards the Sunderland fans, Blackberry in hand, tweeting 'Sandra would never have scored that one'. Except football sometimes doesn't go according to the obvious script. It prefers instead to take care of the ones that are meant to be the bad guys. Us. Almost like poetry, Gomes saved a flaky penalty from Darren. I'm still undecided about the first penalty appeal in the first half, but the one that was given in the second was the type that no blame could be pinned on the ref for giving it. He doesn't have the luxury of action-replays. Bent allowed gravity to pull him down before Gomes went for the ball. It was a con. And such is life. That not only did Benty do a naughty thing but that he then proceeded to shag it all up. That's why we sold you indeed.

Sunderland

I thought were superb. And if there was any evidence that Tottenham's transfer policy is at times an embarrassment, look no further then Steed Malbranque. Class act that gives it 100%. I still can not fathom why we sold him. Andy Reid, who I can live without, was also impressive (lovely shot that had the woodwork saving us). Without sounding condescending, I don't think Sunderland can improve much more. They're a tidy outfit who will do well enough. What the game illustrated was that we can't afford to grind out results all the time - which is something we've done for a number of games since beating Hull 5-1 away. More on that in a second. First, Steve Bruce. Shut up with your complaining. All this 'Gomes would not have saved the penalty if he had been red-carded' ranting is just plain silly had Bent not forgotten to put on his anti-gravity boots. Fact is, penalty aside, they failed to get one past our enigma between the sticks. We on the other hand, as poor as we were, did. Twice.

4-3-3

Scrap it Harry. It simple doesn't work. And with Wilson Palacios still struggling with form, we can't keep on restricting ourselves in this manner because you persist in playing Robbie Keane. Four in midfield, two upfront. Let's get the basic foundation right for the 90 minutes ahead of us and changed it if we happen to be chasing a goal late on. We got over-run on Saturday. The change to a more traditional 442 and a late surge of confident play, saved us IMO.

Robbie Keane

Rumour going around is that he earned himself a cool £1M for Spurs not getting relegated (allegedly). If true, it's not his fault the club offered him the contract they did. If not, then it's further proof that people continue to be critical of him since his return by always bringing up his contract at every given moment. He's got a clause has Robbie. He can't be dropped if fit. You have to wonder whether we are missing something in his performance if he is selected based on form. In the past, I've stood up for him. He does get important goals and he does do a lot of work for the team that us common folk might not appreciate. But I'm hard pressed for examples at the moment.

Grinding our results

Someone over at a Spurs message board discussed how we are 'grinding out results' and that we are reliant on a flash of brilliance of a slice of good luck and that this is not the basis of a Top 4 challenge. I can't disagree in that we lack options when Modric and Lennon do not start and that Harry makes curious decisions at times with formation. There's no doubting that our bench is not as strong as we would have the likes of Keane make us believe. And if we continue to grind out the points our luck will eventually run out of steam. But then Modric is almost back. And this will galvanise the players and the fans. What Harry has to do is make sure we have not just cover (was Niko not meant for that?) but also the courage to play the best team for the occasion, even if it means sacrificing the unsacrificable. What's the point of Bentley exactly? Don't answer that.

Special Mentions

Special mentions to Hudd, Woody and Jenas - who along with Gomes all looked decent and held us together when it mattered. Tommy's goal was a corker, layed off wonderfully well by the returning Defoe who was a little on the quiet side - although Gordon would beg to differ. Corluka remains his sleep self. And General Wilson is more army cadet at the moment. Which is a massive concern considering the season is due to get tasty in the coming months when the top 4 or 5 start to pull away from the chasing pack. Harry needs to turn on the man-management charm and fix this problem. Quickly.

Ledley King

Not been offered a contract yet. You wonder if there's a reason behind that. I think that it's easy to start banging on about the decline of the great man because he has been rusty in the last few games he's played, but let's remember - top players who do not have dodgy knees lose form now and again. King is obviously suffering at the moment. Might be his knee is finally bringing him down, or he's just not on top of his game - not so much because of the injury but simply just because. For some of our fans to start doubting him is just the type of typical knee-jerking that grates me (sorry about the pun there, purely coincidently).

Still, we do need to start thinking about a long term plan. King, Woodgate...we need to know who will come in as replacements. If King's form continues to go south then perhaps it's time for me to re-evaluate my opinion on the subject. A changing back four can't be helping matters with regards to consistency.

Gomes

Won us all three points. Outstanding. Just outstanding. I love him. He can cock up once every 5 games if it means he plays like that for the rest (although I'd prefer if he didn't cock up at all).

The Media

Stoke survive an onslaught and nick all three points and are called magnificent. I don't expect us to be tagged with such superlatives, but let's look at the facts. We played poorly. We scored twice. We won. If that type of thing happens once it's luck - but if it happens more often then its a sign of a decent team. It's when it happens all the time that we can start to scratch our heads.

I'd say that sitting in 4th spot after 12 games on 22 points is pretty damn good considering. Harry has had us on the up since he joined. We've stuttered a few games recently but rather than just cave in and free-fall, we've dug in again. I guess I'm happy for everyone to continue to down play our chances and write us off. Now if only our players would stop talking us up off the pitch and start doing their talking on it - we might climb out of the small ditch we've found ourselves in and start running up that hill again.

The Games Ahead

We need to find that intent and purpose about our game again. We have to thanks to the fixture list. Wigan at home should not be a game taken for granted. Three points is imperative there but more so is a good performance. Because we then go into games against Villa (A), Man Utd (A) (CC) and Everton (A). Then we're back at home again entertaining Wolves and then Man City. Blackburn and Fulham away is then followed by West Ham at home. Some tricky games in there. We need to reclaim that early season buzz and see ourselves through to the new year still hanging around in the upper regions of the table.

Hate to place all the responsibility on the little shoulders of Modric, but it looks like he remains the key for us to reclaim that rampant balance we lost when he broke his bone.

Keep on grinding out the results when necessary, but I prefer to have a firm grip on our own destiny by being the ones asking all the questions.