Watford 0 Tottenham Hotspur 1: A lackadaisical performance, but the FA Cup is ours to lose

Tonight’s match was difficult enough and important enough to merit an almost first choice XI, Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Brad Friedel the only first choice players rested.

Tottenham didn’t really show up for a first half that was low on quality, but went in at half-time one-nil up with a 43^rd minute Rafael van der Vaart 25-yard speculative effort that went straight through keeper Scott Loach.

Luka Modric had passed the ball haphazardly and didn’t come out for the second half, replaced by Aaron Lennon, but things didn’t change very much. Michael Dawson’s sloppiness at the back almost gifted Watford a goal, the youngster Sean Murray hitting a shot that Carlo Cudicini tipped on to the post. Troy Deeney squandered the follow up.

Kyle Walker had a header tipped over and Van der Vaart crashed a shot against the cross-bar, but the performance from the entire Spurs team was languid beyond belief and we were always just a kick away from facing a replay.

In the 80^th minute Nyron Nosworthy and Deeney had the ball at their feet in the area within a matter of seconds, but neither buried the ball in the back of the net like they needed to, and shortly after Mark Yeates capitalised on a Younes Kaboul miskick but his shot hit Michael Dawson.

Chelsea are the bookies favourites for the FA Cup and Manchester United are the best team in it, but they could both be out by three o’clock tomorrow and even if they aren’t Tottenham are well capable of beating both and not just in a tokenistic ‘on their day’ way. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

This week on my podcast we selected an all-time South London XI. Scott Parker made it. Listen to South London Hardcore now.

Listen and subscribe on iTunes, click here to download (alternately right-click and save as) or stream below:

Scott Parker selected in all-time South London XI

South London Hardcore episode 5 is a football special as we put together our all-time South London XI. The team features Tottenham's Scott Parker in central midfield and is managed by Vic Buckingham, who played for Spurs over 200 times.

Listen and subscribe on iTunes, click here to download (alternately right-click and save as) or stream below:

If we've missed any notable players born south of the river let us know in the comment section below. We are also looking for North, East and West London XIs. Criteria for inclusion is that players must be born in the relevant postcodes. We'll go over your feedback next week in episode 6.

Visit southlondonhardcore.com for more.

Follow South London Hardcore on Twitter - @SLHCpodcast

Audere est facere – To dare is to do: Manchester City 3 Tottenham Hotspur 2

On the way in to the stadium I passed Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira signing autographs and posing for photographs. The wind was so strong a hat blew off someone’s head and 20 yards down the pavement. A steward searched my bag and confiscated my Lancashire Sauce and anti-perspirant. A superstitious man might have seen these as bad omens.

Eastlands is gorgeous (although it could do without Manchester City’s misuse of the Helvetica typeface). The view from the upper tier is great and I began to fantasise about White Hart Lane’s redevelopment. There are plenty of stadiums bigger than White Hart Lane, but nobody has better screens.

It was bitterly cold, so much so that I wore my spare socks on my hands in lieu of gloves. So cold I was shivering and yearned for the chance to parody the Poznan in order to warm myself with a few moments of movement. A cough prevented me from as much singing as I’d like, but I had no trouble waving imaginary cards at the City fans. 

Pre-match entertainment included live broadcasts of interviews with fans, so while the City players warmed up they had to listen to criticism over the public address system – Stefan Savic lacks experience, Samir Nasri hasn’t hit the heights he did at Arsenal.

In terms of selection Harry Redknapp only had one choice to make – Younes Kaboul kept his position and Ledley King took Michael Dawson’s place and the armband. For City Edin Dzeko was preferred to Mario Balotelli.

Nasri and Dzeko were the stars of City’s 5-1 win against us in August, but neither has shone regularly since. That result is a complete antithesis to the rest of our season, but City have continued in the same vein. Even when they aren’t steamrolling teams there is little doubt that they are the best team in England. Yaya and Kolo Toure are at the Africa Cup of Nations and Vincent Kompany is suspended, so these were just about the best circumstances to play City under.

The first half wasn’t much of a spectacle, but Sergio Aguero and David Silva caused a few problems, moving freely like wild mercury. The second half was much better entertainment and City took the lead with a fantastic Nasri finish. Silva played a devastating pass and the Spurs defence came apart like wet newspaper.

They doubled their lead a few minutes as Lescott fell into the net with the ball. It was a slightly fortuitous lead and it didn’t last long.

Savic didn’t deal with Kaboul’s long ball, Defoe chested the ball past Joe Hart and finished from a tight angle, then Bale swept the ball into the net with a first-time strike from 20 yards. It was beautiful. He was wasted in the first half playing a free role, was back on the wing and playing very well.

Four goals in nine minutes. The game had come to life.

Two incidents I didn’t notice in the ground and if I had I may have left in tears. First Joleon Lescott smashed his elbow into Kaboul’s face, then Balotelli stamped on Parker’s. Both should have been sent off. Neither were.

We were so close to completing the comeback when Bale broke down the wing and crossed for Defoe in the 91^st minute. Defoe had the goal at his mercy, but he appeared to slow down a little and stretching to poke the ball it went inches wide.

Five minutes into injury time Balotelli burst into the box and Ledley King scissored him with a poor tackle. Balotelli coolly put the penalty into the bottom corner and a deafening roar broke out in a stadium that had previously been bereft of atmosphere. Bale collapsed to the ground when Howard Webb pointed to the spot seeing a man of the match performance (or the half at least) come to nothing.

Match of the Day promised impartial analysis, but Lee Dixon’s dismissal of Balotelli’s stamp was completely partisan. He and Alan Hansen were incredibly negative about Spurs after what was a very good performance. We went to the league’s top team and played to win and if the opposition’s violent actions had been properly punished we may well have done.

Despite the defeat every player can walk with their head high. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  

Special thanks to Miss Hotspur who couldn't make it and sold me her ticket. 

Wins over West Brom and Cheltenham: The week in review

West Bromwich Albion

So uninterested was I in the Europa League, and so poor is my sleep pattern, I’ve fallen asleep twice watching Tottenham this season. Once against Shamrock Rovers and once against Rubin Kazan. The same thing occurred on Tuesday during the West Bromwich Albion game. This time it wasn’t the perceived lack of importance, it was purely down to tiredness, but you don’t do yourself any favours if you lay down and cover yourself with a duvet.  

I've since gone back to watch the second half, but the tension of a potential West Bromwich Albion equaliser is missing. We didn't play well at all. We looked sluggish and the lacked the inspiration to cut through a team putting in a battling defensive performance. Still, we had the better of the chances and Jermaine Defoe turned one point into three with a swivel and a tidy finish. The commentator called his flick ‘a moment of inspiration’, but it looked more like a miscontrolled ball to me. Whatever it was Defoe is having a very good season providing vital goals that were sorely lacking last year.

The FA Cup

This isn't the forum to go on about how broke I am, but suffice to say I was not willing to pay £20-plus to watch the reserves play Cheltenham in the FA Cup 3rd round even though I was aware that it wasn't being broadcast anywhere in the world so there wouldn't be a stream.

Those that did go to White Hart Lane were saw a very decent line-up including Aaron Lennon and Michael Dawson trying to play their way back to fitness after injury lay-offs. An hour and a quarter into ITV's highlights show they finally showed the Spurs goals.

First Niko Kranjcar put a lovely ball in to Giovani dos Santos. His dink was heading into the net before Defoe poached it. Roman Pavlyuchenko scored a tap in before Giovani added a third with a deflected shot.  

With City losing the Manchester derby we're already second favourites for competition. United go to Liverpool and Chelsea and Arsenal have potentially difficult ties in round 4.

It’ll require more effective rotation than the Europa League, but the domestic pot is not beyond us.

Seeking sponsorship for new football podcast

Podcasting is the fastest growing form of broadcasting. The free and easy availability makes the form very appealing and there is a huge demand for quality football podcasts, and certainly enough room for another about Tottenham Hotspur.

Yidcast is the podcast that will accompany You’ll Win Nothing With Yids, the successful Tottenham Hotspur blog.

Episodes will be released monthly with Premier League 20^th anniversary special planned for May.

The podcast will be hosted by me, Jack McInroy, and feature one or two other Tottenham fans. I am the co-host of South London Hardcore, a podcast about South London that launched last year.

Episode 1

The first episode is a half-season review in which we will recap the season so far and look forward to and predict what the rest may hold.

I will also be talking about the word ‘yid’, it’s use at Tottenham and David Baddiel’s film on the subject.

The tone and content will be similar to my blog – informed, rational, humorous and entertaining.

The won’t be any swearing or sexual talk, the length of the podcast will be somewhere between 35 minutes and 50 minutes and we will be using professional recording and editing techniques.

Promotion

The podcast will be submitted to iTunes and upwards of 20 other podcast directories and aggregators.

It will be launched on You’ll Win Nothing With Yids, a site featured on NewsNow that regularly achieves tens of thousands of hits for articles.

I will also be promoting the podcast on twitter where I have over four thousand followers, many of whom are prominent figures in football writing and broadcasting and are almost certain to promote the show too.  

What do you get?

The sponsorship deal can be tailored to suit your needs. I am willing to talk about the product/service/brand at the start, end and/or middle of the show. If you would prefer to provide your own pre-recorded audio advertisements that is also acceptable. Lengths are open to negotiation.

The brand will be mentioned in all associated blog articles relating to episode 1 and will be embedded in the mp3 description.

Bulk sponsorship of multiple episodes is also negotiable.

If you are interested please contact jackstypewriter@googlemail.com

Swansea City 1 Tottenham Hotspur 1: Spurs prove stoppable after all

Swansea came into the game having conceded a mere three goals in nine home games this season. It was easy to see why. They are well organised, tight at the back and if I can put it in the most patronising way possible, they pass the ball round like a proper top flight team. If they had another goalscorer in the squad they could easily be in the top half.

Spurs found it difficult and were second best most of the game. Swansea had a couple very good long-range efforts in the opening minutes, but it was Spurs that stole the lead on the stroke of half-time. Benoit Assou-Ekotto turned Jazz Richards inside out a couple of times and squared for Rafael van der Vaart. He received the ball from a deflection and his overhead kick was deflected in, but scruffy as it was he is the genius that makes things happen.

Swansea’s second-half pressure was constant. They created numerous chances (the ball sailing narrowly wide time after time, Luka Modric had to clear off the line as well). An equaliser was inevitable. In the 84^th minute Younes Kaboul, William Gallas and Brad Friedel all went for the same ball and Scott Sinclair had to an empty net in front of him.

Results elsewhere – Manchester United and Chelsea losing at home to Blackburn Rovers and Aston Villa respectively – are only relevant in the context of a 38-game season. We have three home games in a row (West Brom, Everton and Wolverhampton Wanderers) all of which we ought to win, followed by, what is on paper, the hardest game of the season, a trip to Manchester City.  

Things are going so well there isn't a great need for change, but Emmanuel Adebayor really ought to make staying onside his new year's resolution. He is a brilliant footballer, but the amount of times he is flagged is ridiculous and shameful. I wasn't aware of a reputation for it before he came to Spurs but at the moment he's up there with Darren Bent and Fillipo Inzaghi, who was famously born offside.

 

Norwich City 0 Tottenham Hotspur 2: No stopping the force that is Tottenham Hotspur

My highlights from Christmas Day included a Bruce Springsteen ticket from my wife, a dressing gown from my mother-in-law, a dinner that had four different meats, another viewing of Knowing Me Knowing Yule with Alan Partridge and the news that Rafael van der Vaart had trained in the morning and would be fit for the Norwich City game. The less said about Jermain Defoe at Gordon Ramsay's house for dinner live on Channel 4 with his new blonde hair the better. On twitter Jermaine Jenas called him the Demolition Man.

Van der Vaart hadn't been particularly effective against Chelsea, but Redknapp mustn't lose sight of the fact that he is the best player in the squad and a key component in our attack. Today he was brilliant and started our best move of the first half with a ball to Luka Modric that he gave to Gareth Bale who left his defender with a neat turn and forced John Ruddy into a great save.

Bale had previously wasted an excellent opportunity blasting over with Emmanuel Adebayor free in the middle, but he got his reward for a very good display ten minutes after half-time slipping a shot past Ruddy. Adebayor's touch was dubious at times, but he showed his value for the goal, holding off defenders before feeding Bale.

Bale secured the points with his second in the 67th minute with a dink over the keeper having sprinted from the centre-circle with the ball.

Tottenham were utterly dominant and the three points (along with our rivals' bad results) means that whatever happens on the weekend we start 2012 in third place with a game in hand. It's certainly deserved.

Tottenham Hotspur 1 Chelsea 1: Draw leaves Spurs 3rd at Christmas with a game in hand

On the balance of play a point apiece looked a fair result, but Chelsea’s equaliser came in dubious circumstances. If a handball, deliberate or not, leads to a goal how can the goal be allowed to stand?

The game came in the wake of the announcement that John Terry would be going to court on a charge of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand. More significantly this was the 3rd versus 4th, two teams, if we’re being realistic, duelling each other and trying to keep Arsenal at bay. Staying within touching distance of the Manchester clubs is just a bonus.

We started extremely well passing the ball around beautifully and even the mis-hits seemed to work out in our favour. We took the lead in the 7th minute. Sandro, who was beast-like all evening, stole the ball from Daniel Sturridge and fed Gareth Bale who breezed down the wing and crossed for Emmanuel Adebayor to tap in. Terry and Petr Cech made a complete hash of things between them.

Adebayor and Bale were among the injury doubts before the game, Ledley King too, but Harry Redknapp's 'bare bones' talk turned out to be just that - talk. Jermain Defoe did miss out though and when Rafael van der Vaart went off at half-time with a hamstring injury Roman Pavlyuchenko took his place when Defoe's inclusion would have been preferable.

Chelsea came at us. Sturridge put a shot over and Didier Drogba hit the underside of the bar. The manner of their equaliser was hard to swallow, but that's no excuse for three Spurs defenders failing to pick up Sturridge.

The 4-4-2 didn't work out and the second half didn't make for pleasant viewing. There were chances for a winner, the best falling to Ramires who put a header wide from about 8 yards.

As the minutes ticked away we mustered a few good chances of our own, Adebayor trying a Thierry Henry curl when he ought to have hammered it.

We celebrate Christmas in third place with a game in hand.

Tottenham Hotspur 1 Sunderland 0: Spurs soar despite clipped wings

Gareth Bale missed the game through injury and when Aaron Lennon went off with a first half hamstring problem a large part of our attacking threat disappeared. Jermain Defoe was also out injured so Roman Pavlyuchenko came on.

For all Pavlyuchenko's laziness and greediness he often pulls a clinical finish out the bag when required. He did so in the 61^st minute after a great ball from Luka Modric to Rafael van der Vaart and another from the Dutchman to Pavlyuchenko.

After a mediocre first half Van der Vaart came to run the game and while a big margin of victory never looked on the cards Modric should have made it 2-0 when faced with an open goal. 

Three alternative Arsenal statues

This isn’t a blog that dwells on the fortunes of our rivals, and last week, as Arsenal celebrated their 125th anniversary (we celebrated the landmark four years ago you'll remember), the football world was reminded of their rich history and many achievements.

They moved over the river into our territory and took our place in the league surreptitiously in 1919, but it doesn’t pay to be bitter. They are our neighbours and they are here to stay.

To commemorate the anniversary three statues went up outside the stadium – Herbert Chapman, Tony Adams and Thierry Henry. Chapman was their most influential and important manager winning their first silverware, an innovator on and off the pitch. Tony Adams's impressive trophy haul includes two doubles and Henry is generally considered to be Arsenal's, and probably the Premier League’s, greatest ever player.

There was some controversy that Ian Wright wasn’t given the honour of being cast in bronze and Arsenal have no shortage of legends that merit a statue of their own - Charlie George, Patrick Vieira, even Robin van Persie. None of these make feel good as Tottenham, least of all Henry on his knees in celebration having run 70 yards with the ball and scored against us, so if I may, I’d like to propose some alternatives.

Arsene Wenger

Chapman was the man that put Arsenal on the map, the father of the club in many way, and Arsene Wenger is his modern equivalent. The stadium that the statues stand outside is superlatively impressive in everything other than atmosphere. Essentially, with his frugality and regular Champions League qualification, Wenger built that stadium and before he retires is likely to have a stand named after him.

The Frenchman has had his fair share of iconic technical area moments - squaring up to Martin Jol, hitting Alan Pardew and standing in a Christ-like pose after being sent off at Old Trafford spring to mind - but the way I’d like to see him commemorated is from the game against us last season.

Two-nil down at half-time we won our first away game at Arsenal for 17 years thanks to a Rafael van der Vaart-inspired comeback. Younes Kaboul’s winning header was too much for Wenger and his took his anger out on a water bottle. During pre-game video montages at White Hart Lane this clip gets a bigger cheer than any of our goals.

William Gallas

During the Wenger era Arsenal may have a reputation for playing beautiful football and they’ve certainly stuck with their philosophy, but in the last 6 years they haven’t won a single trophy and they’ve rarely looked like doing so.

In 2007-08 they put together an unlikely title challenge and found themselves top of the league as late as February. The squad wasn’t as impressive as their rivals and wearing the captains armband was William Gallas, a player who arrived having threatened to score own goals at his previous club.

That infamous day at St Andrews they conceded a last-minute penalty to draw with Birmingham City and in the process lost Eduardo da Silva to one of the most sickening leg breaks in memory. The injury, the result and the manner of the result was enough to rock any group of players, but what didn’t help was their leader’s reaction. So appalled was Gallas at Gael Clichy’s clumsiness he kicked an advertising hoarding and took a seat in the centre circle in a sulk. Arsenal were still top, but it didn’t last long and they eventually finished third. Gallas has since gone on to captain Spurs to a north London derby victory at the Emirates.

Manuel Almunia

When David Bentley caught the ball on his knee and hit a 40-yard volleyed lob past Manuel Almunia in Harry Redknapp’s first game in charge Arsenal’s keeper couldn’t have imagined ever conceding a better goal in a north London derby. That 4-4 draw was Harry Redknapp’s first game in charge of what has proved to be a very successful tenure and 18 months later he achieved Tottenham’s first derby victory in over a decade.

10 minutes into the game at White Hart Lane a ball falling out the sky to nobody in particular was hit by debutant Danny Rose. It was a thunderous volley that that left mouths gaping as it hit the back of the net. Without detracting from Rose’s spectacular goal Almunia should have done better. The statue I’m proposing has Almunia making a dive in which his feet don’t actually leave the ground. 

Stoke City 2 Tottenham 1: Poor officiating and cheating opposition ends Tottenham's unbeaten run

It may not have been a particularly good performance from Tottenham, but the reason we came away empty handed is down to cheating opposition and incompetent officiating.

Without resorting to cliches or trotting out inaccurate statements about Stoke's home form it's difficult to play on a wet pitch against a team with a definite agenda of cheating. We didn't get close to playing our usual passing game for most of the first half and went in two-nil down at half-time from two scrappy goals, both by former Tottenham man Matthew Etherington. William Gallas was outmuscled for the first and the second was a shot into the ground that looped over Brad Friedel.

There was one side playing football and another doing something else entirely. Stoke have a player that keeps a towel up his shirt to wipe the ball down and have made the pitch so small that it's impossible to get any width. Those things are within the rules of the game, but what isn't is the constant pushing and pulling.

We got a penalty for a foul on Luka Modric (the Stoke fans went on to boo him for the rest of the game) and Emmanuel Adebayor scored it. It was as if the referee decided that was our lot and we got nothing when Ryan Shawcross dragged Younes Kaboul to the floor and Dean Whitehead stopped Defoe's shot with both arms.

Worst of all in the 74^th minute Gallas was pulled down and Shawcross stopped the follow-up on the line with his arm. Ignoring those two indisputable penalty calls the referee ruled Adebayor's follow up goal offside when it was actually on.

Kaboul was booked for complaining about the penalty he was denied and sent off for fouling an offside player.

What a joke.

Tottenham Hotspur 3 Bolton Wanderers 0: Tottenham will always let you down...

At the moment the same thing happens every week – Tottenham turn up and blitz the opposition. Sometimes the opposition have a go back and sometimes we ride our luck, but we’re too fast, strong and skillful for them and 10 out of the last 11 games we’ve come away with three points.

Bolton Wanderers will feel aggrieved over the fact that they were reduced to ten men, and rightly so. Gary Cahill upended Scott Parker with an outstretched leg, but he was neither the last man and it wasn’t a clear goalscoring opportunity.  

We were already 1-0 up at that point after Gareth Bale flicked in Luka Modric’s corner and took his left boot off and held it aloft in tribute to Gary Speed who died last weekend.

It Bolton are honest they were never going to get anything out of the game, their only notable chance the deflected Chris Eagles shot that Brad Friedel tipped over the bar.

Jussi Jaaskelainen kept the score down with save after save after save. Jermain Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor could have had a couple of each were it not for Jaaskelainen.

We found a way through though, Adebayor and Defoe combining quite deep before Lennon took his time and kept his composure in the box and scored.

Our third goal was very similar to the first, Bolton letting in another half-volley from a corner, Defoe this time. Earlier we should have had a penalty when Kevin Davies pushed and tripped Benoit Assou-Ekotto.

For a couple of hours we were second in the league and after Manchester United’s victory we’re still third with the postponed Everton game in hand. On Match of the Day Gary Lineker reminded Alan Hansen of his statement that Tottenham will always let you down. Hopefully it will come back to haunt him the way "You can't win anything with kids" did.

Like You'll Win Nothing With Yids on facebook.