Seventy two seconds was all it took
to put out the flickering flames of any top four ambitions and with their third
victory over Spurs this season without a goal conceded, ensure that the balance
of footballing superiority in North London remains largely untroubled. It is humbling to reflect that this time last
year, Spurs won the corresponding fixture 2-1 to go seven points ahead and
former coach Andre Villas Boas remarked in an almost self-congratulatory manner
how, ‘Arsenal were in a negative spiral that is difficult to get out of’. After being stuffed by Chelsea, outclassed in
European competition by Benfica and now mugged by Arsenal in the space of eight
miserable days, Spurs know rather too painfully what a negative spiral feels like.
Coach Tim Sherwood cannot accuse
his players of lacking guts and character in this match as he did after the Chelsea
match. Neither were they outclassed as they had been against Benfica. However,
while they had more possession than Arsenal, there was mostly huffing and puffing
without any real goal threats. No one seemed confident enough to run at or
commit Arsenal’s players. The most threatening players on the field were
Arsenal’s Thomas Rosicky and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. In fact if Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had his
shooting boots on and was better with his final ball, the margin of victory could
have been greater as Arsenal, despite their defensive set up throughout this
match looked far more threatening on the counter attack than Spurs did with
possession. Spurs most potent threat was
an increasingly combustible Tim Sherwood on the touchline with antics that did
little to dispel a sense that the pressure is getting to him. Spurs, to their
credit kept trying gamely but sadly, they never looked like they could open up
what has become an unusually resilient Arsenal defence. That is what lack of
confidence feels like. This in sharp contrast to fellow top four contenders Liverpool,
a team not many would expected to finish above Spurs at the start of the
season, but whose players are so high on confidence,(aided no doubt by great
results) that their sights have been set considerably higher. Whether Liverpool
win the league this season or not, a feature of their play is that almost every
player in their ranks has raised their game significantly.
Not many Spurs players have
consistently risen above mediocre this season. Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris has been
consistent and Emmanuel Adebayor can perhaps be excused as his season only
started when Tim Sherwood replaced Andre Villas Boas and by and large he has
fought for the cause since. Christian Eriksson is the only player to have offered
any creative spark, but in this match as in most of his matches, he has been
unable to lift the team beyond average on his own. Reflecting on Sherwood’s
selection, it is curious that given how well Spurs were playing when Sherwood
first took over and he paired Roberto Soldado with Adebayor, he has not found a
way to play them both. Needing to win matches and with both strikers having
contrasting styles of play, an effective partnership could have been developed
while also giving opposing defenders more than one goal threat to think about.
I am also increasingly convinced Sherwood was wrong to send Lewis Holby out on
loan. He is one of the most energetic midfielders Spurs have and offers more
going forward than young Nabil Bentaleb who while clearly talented, has a tendency
for the a sideways pass too often.
So this season is now effectively
over. The last rites of Spurs European season will be performed in Lisbon on Thursday
and while a therapeutic win against Southampton is possible, Liverpool at the
end of the month is a fixture that will under stably cause trepidation among
supporters. Thoughts inevitably turn to next season and the case for or against
Tim Sherwood staying as manager. Sherwood has polarised opinion among
supporters. Some think he deserves the chance and others feel he is too inexperienced
for where Spurs want to go. Even Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger has given his
tupence worth, imploring the Spurs board to stick with him. When you start
getting the sympathy vote from Arsenal, you know it’s bad. Sherwood has also
had plenty to say for himself as befits someone who always ‘shoots from the hip’.
The facts are that he has lost four league matches and will probably lose at
least a couple more before the season is out. In addition, he lost four
knock-out cup games. AVB only lost five matches in total before he was sacked. By
that measure, Sherwood’s chances of survival must be slim. For this writer
though, the issue is more the lack of an identity in Spurs play and his
performance under pressure with relatively mild media scrutiny, compared to
that of his predecessor AVB. This writer has cast envious glances at the work
that Mauricio Pochetino has done at Southampton and how he measures on the
important criteria of playing style and performance under pressure. Unless Chairman
Daniel Levy brings in a marquee manager like Louis Van Gaal, my money is on
Pochetino to be the thirteenth manager to attempt to beat Arsenal. Unlucky thirteenth
for Arsene? God I hope so.
Finally, in this most miserable
of weeks for a Spurs supporter, the last thing I needed was to see Sol Campbell
bleating in the media about his sense of injustice at not being made England captain
during his career because of his race. Sol Campbell was a very good defender
for club and country but few in the game thought he was an outstanding captain
material. Whatever racial prejudices may be in the game, England simply had
better captains than Sol Campbell during his career and the cause of the anti-racism
brigade will be helped far more without the attention seeking antics of a traitor
(sorry ex-footballer) with a book to sell.
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