Champions League Is Ours If We Want It ( Article.)

Champions League is Ours if we Want It


February 14th, 2011 Posted in Match Reports, Premier League






Feb, 14 2011











On
the 20th March 2010 we beat Stoke away 2-1 and as I’ve said on this
blog before that was the moment last season when I genuinely believed we
had a chance of what until then had seemed such as impossible task,
finishing in the top 4. This season has followed a familiar path to
last. In August I thought we’d finish in 6th place behind last season’s
top 3, big spending Man City and a resurgent Liverpool. All of which are
still possible but as the final whistle went on Saturday night in
Sunderland I got the feeling I had at Stoke.
As strange as it sounds, to play as poorly as we did in the first
half but remain on level terms at the break and then dominate and
control the game in the second half as we did showed we’ve still got
whatever it was we had last season. If it was good enough last year, why
not this?
Sunderland are a good team. Make no mistake had we lost, it wouldn’t
have been a shock. Not only had we not won up there in almost a decade
but Sunderland were looking to cement their position in the top 7 and
Europa League football. It’s a sign of how far we’ve come that I don’t
know any Spurs fans that want to play Thursday nights. It wasn’t that
long ago we were celebrating qualification for Europes secondary and
disappointingly rubbish competition through the league. Apart from a
decision to leave the field of play and poor organisation from those
left we would’ve won this game a lot more comfortably while not playing
very well.
The first half was shocking. No other words for it. You’ve got to
expect a drop in quality when the team is missing midfielders of the
quality of Bale, van der Vaart, Huddlestone, Lennon and the most
important Modric. To put it another way, you could argue the Spurs side
were missing £100m worth of footballing talent and that’s if Man City
didn’t get involved in the transfers. With a midfield of Pienaar,
Sandro, Jenas and Niko we lacked pace of any kind and with the exception
of JJ who had played well for the previous two games it was a midfield
lacking in form, confidence or experience. If you add a shockingly out
of form Defoe and bench ridden Pav up front, the team was carrying 5
players who it could be argued were only playing due to lack of other
options.
The initial stages didn’t look too bad as we kept the ball well and
pushed Sunderland back, but then the Gallas moment happened. Many would
argue it was entirely down to him, as Chris Waddle and ESPN did, but I’d
like to look at other variables that led to Gyan’s goal. Of course it’s
a disgrace Gallas had to leave the field for a change of football
boots. Why players feel the need to change their boots after they’ve
been warming up in them I don’t know but it does happen and he’s not the
only player I’ve seen doing it. That’s just the small problem here
though, the bigger problem is the same problem we’ve had for over 20
years. No leader. We all love Michael Dawson but he has to take as much
blame for their goal as Gallas in my opinion. As captain and Gallas’s
partner he knows what’s going on. As soon as he left the field Sandro
should’ve been told to drop back to cover and had that happened there
wouldn’t have been a problem. Jenas has also got years of experience and
should’ve noticed what was going on. I’d like to know if Huddlestone
had been playing if he would’ve naturally covered or done nothing as it
appeared everyone else did. Once Dawson, remember the captain and
central defensive partner of Gallas, had apparently done nothing to make
sure he was covered we were in trouble. Corluka ended up in no man’s
land because he wasn’t sure whether to close the cross down or help
Dawson knowing he had two men and Dawson did the same, giving Gyan far
too much time and space to control, turn and shoot.
If Gallas doesn’t leave the field, the goal probably doesn’t happen
but once he does it’s important we find out why no-one covered. It’s
easy to tell players to NEVER leave the field of play when the ball’s
active but it’s harder to find a leader. A natural one would’ve reacted
to Gallas’s absence and unfortunately, captain or not, this showed to me
our awesome Dawson is no leader. As little as I rate John Terry that
goal wouldn’t have happened with him in the team, nor would it with
Vidic or Ferdinand.
So that’s their goal and as I’ve said I think it was a combination of
Gallas and Dawson but so was our equaliser. A fantastic downward header
from Dawson which nutmegged Craig Gordon thanks to Gallas running in
front of the keeper and distracting him. Having spent the previous 40
minutes being beaten to the ball, out passed, and tactically out-thought
with Richardson and Muntari both sitting in areas we weren’t
comfortable covering and therefore getting a lot of time and space on
the ball, we somehow went in level and what that goal must’ve done to
the confidence of both teams was immeasurable.
The second half was the coming of age of Sandro. Until now he’d been
played in the odd game, picked up a booking and looked fairly out of
place but for the final 45 minutes on Saturday he was my man of the
match. Not only was he everywhere including making the run and cross
that eventually led to Niko’s fantastic volleyed winner but he tackled
and controlled the game with the maturity of a Roy Keane like player.
His passing might not have been the best and had he been Palacios there
would’ve been a lot of moans and groans but the improvement in the
second half showed just why we paid the money we did. It was the first
time in a Spurs shirt we saw the potential we’ve all heard so much
about. I think it helped he was playing alongside an in form Jenas who
while he wasn’t as obviously good as he has been recently he did what he
had to do, again keeping possession.
Were we excellent? No. Did our starting XI strike fear into
Sunderland? No. Would you like to start with that team every week? No.
There were so many things wrong with the performance in the first half
but equally as many right in the second. There was little or no flair
apart from 4-5 passing movements and Niko’s goal but we won. I said last
week that all that matters at this stage in the season is winning. It
doesn’t matter who scores the goals. If we play every game from here on
in with two strikers as ineffective and useless as Defoe and Pav were on
Saturday but win all of those games who’ll remember next August when
we’re playing Champions League football again?
This is going to be as close as it was last season and maybe more so
with three teams involved, but the strange thing is of the three teams
we’re the one’s with the experience and lack of pressure. If we want
that 4th or 3rd place finish it’s up to us to get it. For the first time
this season we’ve played 4-4-2 in three consecutive games in the league
and coincidently we’ve won all 3. Fingers crossed when all the players
return we stick with a winning formation, even if that means someone has
to sit out. I’m sure you remember where you were that night in
Manchester last season, imagine how sweet it would be if we achieve it
again come May? It’s now in our hands and without a new stadium,
terrible strikers, injuries to all our best players, a dodgy keeper,
poor transfer activity and with a manager not far from being tried for
tax evasion we’re about to mount our challenge to truly f*ck up a very
rich man’s summer holiday.
COYS

Once again, its in our own hands, if we win our game in hand we go 3rd above Man sh*tty. We just need to get our injured players fit and i have every confidence that we can get CL qualification next season. I would be over the moon if we finish 3rd and it will show how far we have come over the past few seasons in such a short time without spending millions.