So, it is 9pm on Saturday night. Earlier today I watched on as we lost in injury time to West Brom and I must admit I went a bit crazy at full time. I am a pretty measured guy… I never get to OTT when we win and I never get to OTT when we lose. Anyone who has been on our page longer than a week or two will know I am also pretty positive.
I believe in enjoying the good times when you have it because in football as it is in life you are never far away from a shitty time. So when we confirmed our finish above Arsenal I enjoyed that and I know many even mocked me for it however its okay… I did not celebrate it like a trophy but I just enjoyed something that I have one seen happen four times in my lifetime. Twice in a row now. I enjoyed it.
I also took pleasure in our drab 2-0 win over Watford but in that game I said to my fellow admins and even to a few on the page I was concerned. The concern was not out of the result, or even that we did not play that well it was more to do with the body language and apathy in the players.
You see any team can have an off day, any team can show up expecting to win and be caught cold… we have seen it happen, its the reason as a neutral we love the FA Cup – giant killings – sucks when its you but when Man City, United, Liverpool or even Europa League sides like Arsenal its fun.
However, as I was saying, my concern was the body language – some seemed ready for their holiday and others looked like they didnt want to challenge anyone or try as they have their heads on the world cup. Anyone who has ever played sport at any kind of level will know how dangerous it is to have your mind elsewhere in terms of getting a result but also, if you try to avoid injury I can tell you that you are more likely to end up doing something.
Kane looks so out of sorts I wonder if he will even start Wednesday night… truly he has looked that bad. Touch gone, passing gone, movement slow, no pressure on the ball and finishing like a Spanish centre forward signed in the closing days of a transfer window.
There was much talk today about formation, missing Dembele Poch made the choice to change things up. He brought back Toby (and his fantastic hair) and switched us to a back three. This, to me, made perfect sense. Rose and Trippier were in essence able to play as wingers and give the team width – it also allowed Toby or Jan to come into midfield on occasion.
Wanyama did the destroyer job when asked and if the ball was pinged long Sanchez did his job. It all made sense and we dominated the ball, I mean at half time we had 76% possession a stat the great Ajax team in the early 90’s would have loved. (for our younger readers, they were awesome).
Our problem as it has been for much of the season is goals. With no one taking the ball forward (Dembele) and everyone always looking for a pass West Brom simply sat deep in two lines of four, not even coming out to press, just sat and huffed and puffed with no reward.
We have all seen this happen before and seen it so many times now that it drove me insane. As West Brom scored to win it in the 92nd minute I felt it was typical same old Spurs and will admit to a somewhat heavy rant at my fellow admins… and I should say sorry to them here for questioning their collection parentage when they dared tell me to calm down.
It is late on Saturday now though, as I said and in the last few hours news about Sir Alex Ferguson has been released and he is in a poorly condition in hospital. I wish him all the best. Club allegiances aside he is football to me and has been for pretty much my entire life (I am 35).
Its a reminder of how silly a football result really is and on the grand scheme of things its not the end of the world. We have two games left, win both and its job done. Of course…. if we lose to Newcastle Wednesday I dare any of you to try and tell me its not the end of the world!
-SJ
