The reason the Premier League is seen as one of the greatest football competitions in the world is that a game is never over until the final whistle - or until one team is truly out of sight (see Manchester united 8-2 arsenal). Once in a while, though, comes a game in which one team coasts from start to finish.
For Spurs fans, these stress-free, blood pressure-friendly encounters are very few and far between but Harry Redknapp's ticker could not have had an easier 90 minutes against Aston Villa last night if his doctor had written the match himself.
Villa fans must have been pretty worried by what they saw. We were impressive but we weren't tested by our opposition. They caved too easily in the first half, and then spent the second waiting to get back on the coach - there was simply no industry and no fight from them at all.
If there's one thing that Villa can do this season, it's score goals; Gabriel Agbonlahor's pace is a constant threat and it's always a concern that Darren Bent is going to prove himself to us at some point. But we needn't have worried.
Alex McLeish set up a defence-heavy side, possibly in the hope that their pace up front could hurt us on the counter. He obviously didn't do his research, however, as Younes Kaboul, Kyle Walker and Benoit Assou-Ekotto out-paced even his fastest assets whenever asked.
It's our front six that get the pundits and the punters talking but it took only two of them to do the damage as Gareth Bale and Emmanuel Adebayor twice combined to put us in firm control by half-time. That's not to say that the others weren't a threat. Luka Modric, Rafa Van Der Vaart and Aaron Lennon were relentless in probing the wings and switching possession trying to pierce their way through Villa's two banks of four.
The sixth member of our "front six" is surely up for debate. You would assume it was Scott Parker but Kyle Walker gets forward even more often and his power, pace and link-up play with Lennon are fast turning our right-hand side into a force almost as potent as our left.
At the Lane, we always give our guests chances and maybe Villa thought that if they just let us have the ball then they could hit us on the break when we slipped up - but we didn't slip up.
A noticeable change in our attitude last night was that we were in no mood to give the ball away cheaply. Even at our best, we have had a horrible habit of squandering possession with a difficult ball, when a short pass would do the job. But last night's possession stats tell the story; we had 59 per cent overall and a massive 68 per cent in the second half.
Modric and Parker were at the centre of the way we kept the ball for long periods, pushing Villa back, then tugging them out of possession and attacking the space created.
This morning's headlines suggest that the Premier League title is a possibility for us "on this form". I won't get that carried away just yet. We rode our luck against both Blackburn and Fulham and, although it's great to see us "grinding" out results, we've come mighty close to coming unstuck on a few occasions.
Having said that, if this is how we play while we're grinding out results, I can't wait to see us in top form.
Tuesday, 22 November 2011
Friday, 4 November 2011
Harry's absence no cause for concern
Firstly, obviously our best wishes extend to Harry Redknapp. We wish him well in his recovery and look forward to his return in a fortnight - but just how do the side get on without Chief Motivator in the dugout?
No sooner did I get into work this morning, somebody made a smart-ass comment about last night's result. "Spurs aren't the same force without Harry on the sidelines are they!" To which I spent the next five minutes explaining in no uncertain terms how he had totally - - and gloriously missed the point.
A few people have labelled our Europa League campaign as pointless; fielding a reserve team in far-flung destinations such as Russia and Greece. I would argue, however, that this is exactly the reason that the competition is so important.
A youthful second-string side put up another good fight last night but the fresh new faces do seem to be struggling in front of goal. That's now the third European outing in which we've failed to find the net.
Our four goals in the Europa League proper have so far come from Jermain Defoe, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Gio Dos Santos - all seasoned internationals, and it does make you wonder at just how high a level our squad players can compete.
Tony Gale was on Sky Sports News this morning discussing the merits of our midfield unit and just how well Scott Parker and Modric work together.
But what happens if a few of that midfield suffer injuries? Can the youngsters cope with being thrown into the fray? Our draw at Newcastle last month is starting to look like a very good result but, whilst you can't win them all, we were in front twice and a midfield shake-up clearly weakened our attacking options.
Jake Livermore has been solid in his ascent to the first team but far from a revelation and it leaves me unconvinced that our strength in depth is currently sufficient to account for injuries and to challenge at the top level all season.
Only time will tell if Livermore, Tom Carroll, Ryan Fredericks et al have what it takes but the chance to play regular football can only be a good thing. They will be far more capable of dealing with an away substitute appearance at, say, the Stadium of Light, having experienced a tough away encounter at Rubin Kazan (conquerors of Barcelona, lest we forget.)
But what of Redknapp's two-week leave? While his effect cannot be underestimated, his deputies Kevin Bond and Joe Jordan are more than capable of keeping the ship on course. When Harry arrived at the club, he insisted on complete control of his own backroom staff and, in situations like this, that will play a key role.
Bond and Jordan have worked with Harry for years and form part of a working unit that knows how to apply the gaffer's methods to ensure that the team aren't adversely affected by his absence.
No sooner did I get into work this morning, somebody made a smart-ass comment about last night's result. "Spurs aren't the same force without Harry on the sidelines are they!" To which I spent the next five minutes explaining in no uncertain terms how he had totally - - and gloriously missed the point.
A few people have labelled our Europa League campaign as pointless; fielding a reserve team in far-flung destinations such as Russia and Greece. I would argue, however, that this is exactly the reason that the competition is so important.
A youthful second-string side put up another good fight last night but the fresh new faces do seem to be struggling in front of goal. That's now the third European outing in which we've failed to find the net.
Our four goals in the Europa League proper have so far come from Jermain Defoe, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Gio Dos Santos - all seasoned internationals, and it does make you wonder at just how high a level our squad players can compete.
Tony Gale was on Sky Sports News this morning discussing the merits of our midfield unit and just how well Scott Parker and Modric work together.
But what happens if a few of that midfield suffer injuries? Can the youngsters cope with being thrown into the fray? Our draw at Newcastle last month is starting to look like a very good result but, whilst you can't win them all, we were in front twice and a midfield shake-up clearly weakened our attacking options.
Jake Livermore has been solid in his ascent to the first team but far from a revelation and it leaves me unconvinced that our strength in depth is currently sufficient to account for injuries and to challenge at the top level all season.
Only time will tell if Livermore, Tom Carroll, Ryan Fredericks et al have what it takes but the chance to play regular football can only be a good thing. They will be far more capable of dealing with an away substitute appearance at, say, the Stadium of Light, having experienced a tough away encounter at Rubin Kazan (conquerors of Barcelona, lest we forget.)
But what of Redknapp's two-week leave? While his effect cannot be underestimated, his deputies Kevin Bond and Joe Jordan are more than capable of keeping the ship on course. When Harry arrived at the club, he insisted on complete control of his own backroom staff and, in situations like this, that will play a key role.
Bond and Jordan have worked with Harry for years and form part of a working unit that knows how to apply the gaffer's methods to ensure that the team aren't adversely affected by his absence.
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
QPR result is good prep for important run
Three points at home against QPR was no more than the fans expected but the national press exaggerometer is already swinging wildly out of control. Suddenly, not only are we a shoo-in for fourth place but we're the team the neutrals love to like.
If you add Sunday's 3-1 victory over our newly promoted neighbours to battling victories away at Wolves, Blackburn and Wigan then maybe they have a point.
One of the banes of Martin Jol's reign as boss was our inability take points off "the big four" with any regularity; a step which was seen as essential to make that final push towards Champions League football.
This term we have already beaten Arsenal and put four past Liverpool but last season we took only three points in total from our post-San Siro fixtures against Blackpool, Wolves, West Ham and Wigan and that's why the QPR result is so important.
Optimistic Spurs fans will now be etching a big '3' on their prediction sheets alongside Fulham, Aston Villa, West Brom and Bolton, whereas cynics will be counting the banana skins - but a good win with some terrific football is exactly the sort of preparation we needed.
The arrival of Gareth Bale into goalscoring form is more than welcome as Adebayor seems to have lost his compass. The big man fluffed a few chances on Sunday but is linking up well with Rafa Van Der Vaart and his (current) work rate more suits our style of football than Jermain Defoe or Russian whinger Roman Pavlyuchenko.
Scott Parker goes from strength to strength and Saturday proved once again just how convincingly he and Luka Modric can control the centre of the park. I had backed Bassong for a start and, whilst it can only be to his benefit to secure a run of games, you always want your strongest 11 on the pitch and it's now clear that Sunday was our strongest line-up.
One niggling concern tapping away at the back of my mind is that we'll have used up four of our five home games against the big sides by Christmas (we face Chelsea at the Lane on December 22).
In early 2012, we have away games at Eastlands, Anfield, the Emirates and Stamford Bridge all within an eight-game stretch and one of the home ties sandwiched between those is Manchester United.
It makes for difficult reading and highlights the significance of making our current good form count. With the youngsters filling the Europa League line-ups, the senior names can be kept fresh and hopefully we can rack up some points before the going gets really tough.
Regardless of shoo-ins or banana skins, the next six games will define our season.
If you add Sunday's 3-1 victory over our newly promoted neighbours to battling victories away at Wolves, Blackburn and Wigan then maybe they have a point.
One of the banes of Martin Jol's reign as boss was our inability take points off "the big four" with any regularity; a step which was seen as essential to make that final push towards Champions League football.
This term we have already beaten Arsenal and put four past Liverpool but last season we took only three points in total from our post-San Siro fixtures against Blackpool, Wolves, West Ham and Wigan and that's why the QPR result is so important.
Optimistic Spurs fans will now be etching a big '3' on their prediction sheets alongside Fulham, Aston Villa, West Brom and Bolton, whereas cynics will be counting the banana skins - but a good win with some terrific football is exactly the sort of preparation we needed.
The arrival of Gareth Bale into goalscoring form is more than welcome as Adebayor seems to have lost his compass. The big man fluffed a few chances on Sunday but is linking up well with Rafa Van Der Vaart and his (current) work rate more suits our style of football than Jermain Defoe or Russian whinger Roman Pavlyuchenko.
Scott Parker goes from strength to strength and Saturday proved once again just how convincingly he and Luka Modric can control the centre of the park. I had backed Bassong for a start and, whilst it can only be to his benefit to secure a run of games, you always want your strongest 11 on the pitch and it's now clear that Sunday was our strongest line-up.
One niggling concern tapping away at the back of my mind is that we'll have used up four of our five home games against the big sides by Christmas (we face Chelsea at the Lane on December 22).
In early 2012, we have away games at Eastlands, Anfield, the Emirates and Stamford Bridge all within an eight-game stretch and one of the home ties sandwiched between those is Manchester United.
It makes for difficult reading and highlights the significance of making our current good form count. With the youngsters filling the Europa League line-ups, the senior names can be kept fresh and hopefully we can rack up some points before the going gets really tough.
Regardless of shoo-ins or banana skins, the next six games will define our season.
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