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[/td][td class=messagemiddle vAlign="top"]From:
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion/blogs/mirror-football-blog/...
By Steve Anglesey
Spurs fans partied like it was 1999 as they broke an 11-year league derby duck and ended ars*nal's title hopes. You can read Martin Lipton's match report here , but what else did we learn from the north London derby?
1) 'Broadway' Danny Rose making his first league Spurs start in a North London derby? And on the wrong wing? Surely not so much a piece of team selection as a message from 'Arry to Daniel Levy reading: "Please send reinforcements this summer." Then came THAT opener and a hint of what Redknapp was on about during the pre-match interview in which he told Sky: "Danny's a good... passer. I nearly gave away his best attribute there!"
2) Rose's strike was truly sensational. But, yet again, there have to be question marks over Manuel Almunia's contribution - an unconvincing punch straight up into the air followed by Seamanesque back-pedalling/flapping. But Seaman, almost to the end, was a great goalkeeper. When will Arsene Wenger realise that Almunia is not one? Reina, Van Der Sar, Cech, Given, Gomes, Friedel, Hart, Howard, James, Green and arguably Sorensen and Jaaskelainen are all better Premier League keepers.
3) Roman Pavlyuchenko's busy contribution could have been rewarded twice in the first half were it not for decent ars*nal blocks. 'Arry clearly loves Peter Crouch, but the big man is less effective without Aaron Lennon pulling back crosses from the byline, and his presence encourages Spurs into long-ball predictability. Surely Pav is a better bet as starter for the rest of the season?
4) Thomas Vermaelen's injury and his substitution by Mikael Silvestre gave ars*nal a centre-back pairing totalling a combined 69 years of age. They looked it as Jermain Defoe's brilliant pass carved ars*nal open just after half-time. You can't really blame Wenger for the absences of Gallas, Djourou and Song, but along with the goalkeeper and the front line, this is an area Stevie Wonder could have told you ars*nal needed help in during the transfer window. And apart from Sulzeer, none arrived.
5) Yet the real villain of the piece was Bacary Sagna, playing Bale well onside and probably still chasing Lionel Messi's shadow from a week previously. Are Inter really ready to take the erratic Frenchman to the San Siro? Does Jose know something we don't?
6) ars*nal are now out of the title race, but then they were out of it anyway. No team leading the Premier League with four games remaining has ever lost the title, which is going back to Stamford Bridge. Not for nothing are Chelsea 8-1 on to lift the crown, while United are back at 6-1. The Gunners, for the insane, are available at 25-1.
7) Which surely must mean another prematurely ended ars*nal season has to be classed as a failure. The injuries provide a mitigating factor, but surely not a complete excuse. The lack of a Plan B, the failure to strengthen in January, the stockpiling of players who are essentially the same - all this must be laid at Wenger's door. Just two outstanding players in Fabregas and Van Persie, even if they were to remain 100 per cent fit all season, are not going to win you anything.
Until Wembley fatigue and the drive of Van Persie hit late on, Spurs defended well, using two rigid banks of four to force ars*nal back and wide, where they could play their beautiful football with no discernible threat. This surely isn't a coincidence - Spurs had conceded only six goals in their last 12 home games before the derby. Which is bound to be a concern for Carlo Ancelotti ahead of Saturday tea-time's visit of Chelsea, who could barely muster a coherent attack against Bolton. The bad news for Spurs: their only other home game in the remaining four is the gimme against Wanderers. They've still got to go to Eastlands and Old Trafford, where the home sides are not exactly shot-shy. 9) Tomas Rosicky's ultra-hopeful, ultra-wayward effort on 76 minutes, bending away from goal towards the corner flag, sums up his ars*nal career: Enormous promise but rarely an end product. In a crucial game in the title run-in, and a local derby to boot, he looked languid and almost disinterested. Time to get rid.
10) Is there another goalkeeper who has turned around his reputation as completely as Heurelho Gomes? It's as if Massimo Taibi into Gianluigi Buffon. Yet the Brazilian, whose three saves at the end were world class, will probably be third-string in South Africa. Yet another reason to be depressed about a possible England v Brazil meeting in the World Cup semi-finals.
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Read more: http://www.spurs.vitalfootball.co.uk/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=21562&posts=4#ixzz0l7PyaIpt
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