A slow start.

12 September 2010

Slowly but not too surely



And the Spurs go coughing and spluttering on. Though it may prove far too early to be dusting off the bells of negativity, yesterday’s laborious 1-1 draw with West Brom is proof enough that Tottenham’s domestic season is yet to really get off the ground. Whilst the injuries can offer a partial excuse, the simple truth is that we’ve haven’t got this ship moving with anywhere close to full steam yet.
The shock defeat to Wigan was a jolt to the system – an anomalous result explained away by players and staff as a glitch. But the listless second half performance offered up yesterday was not the kind of in-your-face display fans had become accustomed to during last season’s highs. Perhaps any disappointment felt so far this year can be attributed to this reason. Whatever we do in the early stages of this campaign will undoubtedly be measured up against the accomplishments of last year. But, reminiscing aside, Spurs need to get their lives sorted and fast.
Redknapp deployed a new look side as a result of the key injuries to Dawson and Defoe and, for a while, it appeared as if gold had been struck. Though Pavlyuchenko up front by himself possessed all the threat and menace of a teacup pig, we relied on the creative juices of our new Dutch import and van dar Vaart did not disappoint. He was given free reign in the West Brom half and utilised his exemplary touch and vision to good use.
Crucially, he was able to link with his midfield colleagues. The back-heeled lay off for Lennon, who blazed over, was to die for. And it was his high ball into the area that caused so much confusion to the home defence. Pavlyuchenko rose high, the ball dropped down into a ridiculous amount of space and Modric was given the freedom of Birmingham to pick his spot and drill the ball home for a deserved opener.
But fate is a cruel mistress and Modric’s reward for scoring was to suffer a blow to the same part of his leg that he broke last August. He was immediately withdrawn from action and replaced by compatriot Kranjcar. But the loss of the Croatian Hoddle seemed to have a team-wide effect and from then on Spurs were a shadow of the team they could and should have been.
If there was a hint of doubt over their goal (it could be argued that Cudicini was impeded), it matters little as they were extremely good value for a goal in the second half. We were indebted to our soon-to-be reserve reserve keeper – it was a surprise that Cudicini started the game in the first place with new arrival Pletikosa hovering on the bench. That said, he was fantastic. The full length diving save to deny Tamas was of the highest quality.
A Bale one-on-one, set up once again by van der Vaart, and a Kaboul thunderbolt aside, we offered close to nothing in the second half and were lucky to get away with a point. The back four, led ably for the first time by Gallas, were remarkably lacklustre and showed a worrying lack of ability to deal with the threat posed by West Brom. If they’re overawed by those from the Black Country, it’s not worth thinking what will be going through their heads when facing Bremen or Inter.
Though the Champions League has brought us much to smile about, as well as some serious frowns, our league season is not going to plan. When the fixtures came out, most looked at the opening four fixtures and foresaw something approaching nine points, at the very least. The next few fixtures are certainly winnable, though there’s a chilling reminder of the way things can go wrong in our next game – Wolves at home. As the league season gets into full swing, Spurs need to work out what kind of team they want to be: strong and unyielding, like last year? Or submissive and easily outdone, like so many painful years before?
At least van der Vaart looked alright. And, don't worry, Modric hasn't broken his leg. He might even play on Tuesday night. Joy of all joys.
Written byMarkat11:01 AM