Hands Off the Panic Button- We’re Going to be Fine
Don’t panic. That’s the message coming from these quarters. Well, not too much anyway. Last week left us deflated, distraught and in some cases damn near suicidal. Sounds a bit over the top but this is what two derby defeats on the bounce will do to a man. Or woman for that matter. You’d only need to stumble across a forum or three in the last few days to realize that there’re one or two ripples of unease about how this good ship is sailing forth. Some want answers. Some want blood. Others just want a return to a time when outfits like West Ham f*cking United would be blown out of the water with nothing more than a flick of the wrist and well aimed flat pebble. It wasn’t that long ago, was it? What was my point?
Ah yes. Don’t panic.
I think ‘Arry is doing his best to get this message across, too. Very nonchalant in his post-match interview on Saturday. Almost too much at times. Suggesting that it was ‘good’ to see Spam pick up points is all very well. But perhaps not when it’s at the expense of the team which pay you a king’s ransom to do just the opposite. Bit of a faux-pas there, really. It made me squirm like a balloon filled with piss just listening to him. And I know it irritated a good few of you out there in interwebland. That said, I can’t help but think his outwardly Zen-like demeanour- all doe-eyed and…is he bloody smiling?- was just confidence in the squad and their capacity to turn things around again. He knows what he’s doing. At least I hope so, anyway.
On paper our line-up was strong enough to smash them there Pikeys into an infinite number of pieces. With Modric and VdV alone we should’ve dissecting them with such totality, all that was left was a neat stack of protons and a sprig of gypsy heather. Then smashed that apart too. Nothing close to that happened. But, let’s not forget we were (and are) operating without our captain, vice-captain, our best striker, first- choice ‘keeper and plenty more besides. Ask Chelsea to turn up at Upton Park without Cech, Drogba, Terry and whomever else you’d care to take out and I’d wager West Ham would fancy taking something there, too.
Basically Spurs are a bit of a mess at the moment. Not in the grand scheme of things (we’re in the Champions League, for gawd sakes) just how we’re lining up each week. Particularly at the back. All manner of folk have been shoe-horned in there at some point to cover the seemingly endless reel of crocked defenders. I don’t think we’ve had a sustained back-four since the season got on its legs. Without wanting to make too many excuses about the recent slump- rather to peruse into the half-full tumbler rather than the half-empty one- I’m convinced there’re better days to come for this team of ours. Through some pretty substantial injuries, (boo England!) ‘Arry’s had to juggle more than his fair share of tactical hand-grenades, and, at times, it’s blown up in his face. His blind faith in ‘players’ over ‘position’ seems a bit misguided- the line-up against Arsenal was an extreme example of that- but on occasion he’s been forced to tinker. The casualties have been relentless. Woodgate, King, Dawson, Gallas are all centre-backs for Tottenham Hotspur. It’s often easy to forget. Long and short of it, we need some consistency; both in team selection (where possible) and results. First step would be getting Gomes back in goal, King off his crutches, that boy Bale back into left-wing and Jenas back into a Midlands-bound taxi…
“Dear Harry Redknapp,
I know Spurs lacked effort against west ham and the 4-5-1 will never work with Crouch at the front. But I have a more serious issue to deal with. I thought you wouldn’t be like all the other managers… So….
Please, please, please, please, please please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please NEVER play Jermaine Jenas again!
He is the single biggest waste of space I’ve ever seen on the football field EVER and for a while Harry you didn’t play him. Why now when we were just starting to get good would you start playing him??? It’s basically making us a 10 man team. Can’t you see how ineffectual he is? Always passing to the right back because he has no imagination whatsoever! In all my years of watching football I have never seen a more frustrating waste of space than Jermaine Jenas!
Come on Harry, you know I am right!”
That was from Sizzle in the Football365 mailbox. Not the first person to say this, I’d imagine. Nor the last. Right. So. No need to panic. That’s my two-cents. A bit of faith and a few key players back in the mix and I’d put some of your money on us making a fairly rapid ascent up the table. And if not there’s always The Carling Cup. We always do well in th… oh wait.
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