Some felt this was a good time to
play Spurs, without a manager and having conceded thirteen goals in the last
four league games, including five in their last league game. Others felt that
it was a good time to play Southampton, given their own patchy form without a win
in five league games before yesterday’s match. The more mischievous observers thought it was
a good opportunity for Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino to audition for the
Spurs job given his impressive career to date in English football. What no one
foresaw at the start of the week was that a striker who had not started a
single league game for Spurs this season would make the headlines.
Emmanuel Adebayor missed pre-season
and has not trained with the first team this season, having at various times trained
with the reserves and even on his own. Yet he was arguably Spurs best player in
the midweek Carling cup quarter-final defeat at home to West Ham (again!! painful
I know) scoring with a fabulous volley and on Sunday, produced another fine
performance, scoring two classy goals and creating a few assists as well.
Adebayor has always divided opinion. To some, he is a world class striker who
just needs to be loved and believed in, be the main man. To others, he is a luxury,
a lazy striker who only turns in his best performances when he is playing for a
contract or wants a transfer. What is undeniable is that he has all the attributes
of a top striker, but has been frustratingly inconsistent, not just at Spurs,
but throughout his career in English football. One great season followed by an
indifferent one, followed by inevitable speculation about his future and then a
transfer. Just once, I would like Adebayor to dedicate three years to a single
club without any thought of moving and apply himself fully to achieving
something. It would be a first; however Spurs are a club hungry for success. So
desperate for success in fact they have been changing managers with all the
desperation of a love starved woman changing boyfriends at the first whiff of
trouble.
Back in the autumn, when Spurs
still had a miserly defence but were struggling to score goals, I suggested
that an Emmanuel Adebayor with a point to prove may just be the trump card for
Spurs Champions league ambitions during the business end of one of the most
open and unpredictable seasons in premiership history. Even Adebayor himself
boasted that despite new strikers at the club, he expected to end the season as
the main striker and top scorer. Three goals in a couple of good games do not
begin to fulfil that prediction. However, with twenty one league games left and
only six points off the top of league, an FA cup third round tie against
Arsenal at the Emirates and a Europa league round of thirty two tie against Ukrainian
side Dnipro, there remains plenty to play for and a massive opportunity now
presents itself to make good on his boast.
It was a brave if not totally
unexpected call from caretaker manager and ex Spurs midfielder Tim Sherwood to
reinstate Adebayor straight into the starting line-up after taking over from
the sacked Andre Villas Boas. It was also reasonably predictable that he would
adopt the 4-4-2 formation favoured by his mentor Harry Redknapp. Tim however
showed real belief in his judgement by starting without a specialist defensive
midfield (shades of Ossie Ardiles famous five) and then bringing on Nabil
Bentaleb, an 18 year old youth team player ahead of internals Etienne Capoue
and Lewis Holtby. The teenager did well while he was on the pitch and follows a
line of players from Spurs youth team like Steve Caulker, Harry Kane, Tom
Carroll, Jake Livermore and Andros Townsend. All these players have progressed
to the fringes of the first team under Tim Sherwood’s watch and this as well as
results in the ensuing games will be his audition for the Spurs managers’ job.
He is talking a good game and seems personable enough with the media. However,
truth be told, he will hardly set the pulses of Spurs supporters racing, at
least initially. Possession is nine tenths of the law though so Tim as interim
manager is in contention.
AVB, his sacking and the managerial situation at Spurs will be discussed in a later post. For now, Spurs faithful should draw some comfort from the
fact that the last interim manager to follow AVB managed to lift the Champions
league and the FA cup. Spurs are not in
the Champions league. The Europa league, FA cup and top four would do nicely
though thank you very much. Now there’s an exciting thought to warm the cockles
this festive season. Calm down dear, I
hear you say. Ah well, we can always dream. That’s what fans do. What IS realistic
though?
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