What a difference one result makes and more importantly a change in formation. Don’t we all feel a lot better today? It wasn’t just the three points won at a very tough place to go to and it’s not like we were at our fluent best but the sight of seeing two strikers on the pitch, albeit one of them being Crouch and the other Defoe, who I thought enjoyed one of his worse performances in a Spurs shirt, gave us all renewed enthusiasm for the remainder of the season. Plus as an added bonus it took us beyond the magical 40 points mark so now we can all relax and know we’ll be playing premier league football next season. 
I’ve noticed a plethora of spurs blogs being updated today which must mean we’re all a lot more positive today and that’s down to Mr Redknapp. If you’ve read this blog in the past you may have noticed I don’t believe Harry’s infallible when it comes to errors no matter how much success he’s had in the last 18 months. The last few games have been testament to that but last night he got it spot on. We were all crying out for a return to 4-4-2 and he duly delivered. I’ll admit when I saw the team I had mixed feelings. I was delighted with the formation and the inclusion of Corluka for the hapless Hutton but less excited about the prospect of watching Lennon on the left and Crouch up front.
A very handsome man wrote in his match preview:
There’s no point in playing Crouch against Samba because he’s unlikely to win the ball in the air but he does have a good record against Blackburn so if he starts then so be it but my preference would be Pav and Defoe.
Some would say that’s a clear error on my part considering how 3-metre-Peter leapt through the air like a Salmon to bury the ball into the bottom corner and leave Samba looking like a bear with a sore head who couldn’t catch his dinner. However, if you look closer you’ll also see how beautifully I covered my tracks by mentioning his record against Blackburn. It’s like reading an ITK statement made by the poet laureate. For the record I thought Crouch was very good last night. It’s only one game but more of that for the final 14 games of the season could help a lot. It wasn’t just his goal either, for the most part of held it up well and linked play, in particular with vdV on the right. These two seem to have some sort of telepathy going on whether it be in the box or outside it.
As a result of my delayed response to writing some sort of reaction to last nights match I expect like me you’ve already read many of the other corners of the internet and seen the player ratings etc so there’s not much point in doing the same here. Before I briefly mention those who had good games last night I just wanted to address a player who I thought played well but I’ve seen many comments to the contrary. Wilson Palacios, as we all know, has been garbage for the majority of his games for the past year. Every now and then he has a good game but follows that up with a performance that see’s him substituted at half time. We definitely need better. However, whether it be Palacios, Crouch, Jenas or vdV, no matter what a players past performances are like they should be judged on their last match and for me, Wilson had a good solid game.
Stats can tell different stories depending on how you want to look at them but Palacios’s from last night only confirm his performance for me. As you’ll see from the image on the right he only misplaced 5 passes which gave him a completion rate of 90%. Decent for any player. I understand the problems people have with the type of pass he makes, often sideways and short, sometimes laboured and slow but he’s a defensive midfielder. His job is to win the ball and do his best to give it to one of the more creative players around him, which is what he did. Couple that with his 3 interceptions, 0 fouls and 3 from 4 tackles won and he had a good game. I’m not saying he was excellent on the night or even close to a man of the match performance but a 7/10 is surely justified? The funny thing is the one pass I remember him making all night is one of those 5 failed attempts and that’s from someone who thought he had a good game. I guess when you spend so long disappointing we only see what we expect to see.
We all probably agree that van der Vaart returned to some sort of form and put in a shift on the right side of midfield, tracking back when needed and generally making a nuisance of himself to the opposition. It’s good to see such a talented player taking one for the team and it’s not as if he was told to stay on the right and not get forward too much. For the first 20 minutes of the second half we were closer to playing a 4-3-3 than a 4-4-2.
Other performances of note were Jenas who put in one of his rare excellent performances that make you hope he’s finally understood what he’s meant to do and will do it every week only to watch him in the next game be completely useless again. We’ve all said it before and I’m sure we’ll say it again but if he could just play like that every game he’d be like a new signing. Or at least up his value so we could sell him.
Gallas is fast becoming our Mr Consistent. I’m happy to admit when I’m wrong and I was about him. I thought he was too injury prone and a sulker but he gives the impression that he just wants to play football. Ekotto and Charlie were good too. It’s nice to see Corluka back in the side, although we shouldn’t expect much going forward as he showed at times last night but as a defender he’s far superior to Hutton which is what we need at the moment. Gomes made a string of superb saves but still gives us and those around him the jitters when the ball’s in the air. A good defence is always confident of it’s keeper and I don’t think ours is, but his saves won us the game as much as Crouch’s goal.
A final word on our two munchkins, Lennon and Defoe. One looks to be gaining confidence and discipline out on the left and the other looks a shadow of himself. While Lennon’s threat might not be quite as great when he’s got to cut inside all the time if he can pick the right pass instead of running into defenders once he does cut in he could be more effective there than on the right. Some work with his left foot wouldn’t go amiss either. Defoe on the other hand is a tricky problem for Redknapp. I presume it was Defoe who Redknapp believed was as good as Suarez which is why he pulled out of signing the Uruguay international. On last night’s display that decision could cost us. Defoe has always been a confidence player and with his injuries, suspensions and then seeing the club trying their best to sign a new striker his confidence is clearly low, but how do you fix it? If you put him on the bench and give someone else a chance it’ll get even worse but if he continues to play like that he doesn’t deserve to start. Personally, with a home game coming up I’d start him again and hope he scores or at least plays well. If not, it could be time for a rest.
All in all a very enjoyable night. Redknapp made the right formation selection and an excellent substitution that effected the game for the good.
Forget the FA Cup and the transfer window. Who cares about the Olympic Stadium, Northumberland Development Project or injuries to key players. All that matters now is beating Bolton on Saturday afternoon. String together a few back to back wins and with those above us playing each other we’ve got what could be our final chance to put pressure on them and maybe still sneak into the top 4. That is unless we go back to a lone striker.
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I gave up on trying to get a stream as they were all poor, and my broadband speed is crap anyway so saw very very little of the game so can’t pass comment apart from you are right that reading different reviews gives a very different view of the game and players.
Some reports a gritty win, some an undeserved win, some just focus on a single player but some wildly differing opinions.
Strange I suppose, but as many have said, if you only look for the good or bad in a player you will see only that.
And score or not, Crouch will never be my first, or second, choice
Sorry but we must have watched different games last night. Spurs were extremely poor last night. The defence was wobbly. Every Blackburn attack looked likely to result in a credible threat to our goal. They crossed and shot at will. Corluka was threatened each attack. At half time we were lucky not to be three or four one down. Their profligate finishing is not a credit to us. The half time stats say it all: something like seven shots on target to our one. In addition to our poor defending, there was no link up play to the midfield. We weren’t able to keep possession and create meaningful attacks. The reason for this is bale/modric’s absence. This does not bode well for us as a non top four finish will probably see both leave in the summer. The £40-50 million saved this window will cost us much more when we try to convince existing/potential players that we are not one season wonders. Let’s try and convince ourselves first.
You made some very interesting points regarding last nights game, and in general would agree with a lot of what you say.
However with regard to Gomes and that a good defence is always confident of it’s keeper , a good keeper also has to be confident in his defence. It works both ways!
Taking into account all the injury problems we have at present, and the current lack of confidence that Defoe is showing, which I am sure he will conquer.
Leadership on the pitch is really needed now!
Gallas has the pedigree of a true professional and has great leadership qualities and should be team captain!
Once our injured have returned, with the exception of King and Hudd which look longer term, and if Woodgate who will be playing again anytime now can recapture his previous form I think we can still challenge for 3rd or 4th place. Even if we finish 5th with our run in the CL (long may it continue) itwon’t have been a bad season.
We have to accept that whilst we remain at WHL in its present size we cannot compete with certain other teams in the market place. For the record I have supported Spurs for 50 years, and support a team not a town and if it means that we could compete on a more level playing field then I would endorse a move to the Olympic Stadium if a new WHL is not viable.
Another great entry. Agree pretty much with all your points, I like the fact that you actually use stats to prove your point, it made me take another look at Palacios although I think it just comes down to not liking to watch a player who looks so uncomfortable on the pitch. I was also glad to see Corluka out there but felt like he really needs to be on the right with Lennon to be most effective, his crosses were weak (which could be playing time) but think they both have a chemistry that could really explode with Lennon’s building confidence. He just doesn’t look comfortable cutting in from the left. Realize that’s a Bale fix though. As for Rafa’s cross to Crouchy, wondered if anyone saw Harry’s comments about how Beckham was hitting 7 or 8 of those to Crouch in practice and he told the boys,”thats what I have been wanting you to do”. Think Rafa has the touch to throw in some crosses like that more often instead of trying to run into the middle of the box and get flooded out with defenders if Crouch is playing. God knows we can’t seem to do anything with corners (what the hell is happening there?) Overall, think it was a good grind it out win and yes. wasn’t perfect and i watched a bit through fingers over my eyes but its the 3 points we needed and maybe a small bit of confidence to get on another roll..COYS!
All in all it was a very anxious and nervous 93 minutes but that was expected. However despite some notable absentees, the negatives and some lucky escapes, the result did put an end to a winless run and could very well be the start of a good winning run to come. By the way no high profile players will come to WHL if we maintain applying the culture of buying cheaply when the market is fiercely contested with the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool desperately fighting for status and survival at the top of the EPL.
Good report and some interesting replies. The inclusion of the chalkboard for Palacios added a fact-based argument to comments that are usually strong on opinion. I also felt that he was giving the ball away to often but the detail and your comments put this in perspective.
I had also been arguing for Corluka to return to a defence looking shaky and thought he made a huge difference. No he is not fast and no he doesnt always cross well, but why have 2 attacking full backs when the team is full of attackers anyway. He needs more games to get up to speed (sic). His combination with Lennon has always been good as he slips through clever passes. He has a calmness on the ball when challenged that is reminiscent of Berbatov’s ability, (which might be a heretical statement).Only Corluka, Gallas (outstanding) Bassong and Palacios provide true defensive elements. The rest attack with Jenas (who had a good game for a change) stuck somewhere in between.
Yes we were under pressure for a lot of the time, but here was a gritty victory showing we can tough it out sometimes as we are going to have to do over the balance of the season.