Spurs Bounce Back Against Sunderland
It looked like shaping up to be one of those afternoons for Spurs. As the minutes rolled on, it became clear that we were witnessing a vintage Allardycian away day special; as many men behind the ball as lawfully permitted, strikers playing as regressed full-backs, Sam watching on with chair-slumped, gum-chewing delight.
And for long periods, it was working like a dream. Sunderland were content to watch Spurs play their neat, visually pleasing football: safe in the knowledge that by the time they’d reached the edge of their well-packed penalty area, the creative ideas were vanishing as quickly as they had formed. Death by smothering. Our Randal P. McMurphy to Sunderland’s Chief Bromden and a pillow.
What few attempts Spurs did manage to guide on target in the opening exchanges were well dealt with by the Wearsider’s generally impressive 21-year-old goalkeeper, Jordan Pickford.
Glenn Hoddle in the BT Sport commentary box couldn’t mask his frustration at Spurs’ reluctance to penetrate from wider areas. Get the fullbacks overlapping, was the former Tottenham man’s reasonable cry. You could almost hear the groans as attack after attack ground to a halt in the congested central areas.
The longer the game remained goalless, the more Spurs fans could sense where things were headed and it came as no surprise when Patrick van Aanholt ghosted into the box on 40 minutes and put Sunderland ahead. In perhaps their first meaningful attack.
Spurs, to their credit, arrested the slide in double-quick time. White Hart Lane has a tendency to become a breeding ground for jittery, nervous energy when the home side are struggling to find a rhythm. And if the unfancied opposition take the lead against the run of play, the mood is ranges from either well that was bloody typical to sack everyone.
The most effective way of clearing the toxic air is to score ninety-seconds later. Christian Eriksen, with the help of a Lee Cattermole knee and the underside of a crossbar, did just that a few minutes before half-time.
What Sam Did Next was at the heart of much discussion with both pundits and curious onlookers as the second half developed. As neutered as Sunderland were in the first forty-five minutes— Jermain Defoe may as well have popped to the shops for all the action he saw— they were doing a first-rate job of testing Spurs and their supporters’ resolve.
What precisely no-one expected from Allardyce was for him to switch to a back three and hurl on a rooky German centre-back on the hour mark, who’s made less than twenty appearances in the last three seasons, for his debut in English football.
Big Sam has always prided himself on being an unconventional sort and of course it’s a manager’s duty to make the changes that he feels might impact the result. And that did happen, to an extent, but perhaps not in the way he’d banked upon.
The tactical re-jigging, in short, proved disastrous. Perhaps too much was made of Kirchoff’s damaging influence; he actually made one or two decent interceptions in the eventful half hour he was on the pitch. But you knew his card was marked the moment he extended a wet fish of a leg in front of Eriksen, while the Dane’s long-range effort deflected itself goalward for 3-1.
The Proper Football Men in the commentary box were deeply unconvinced. The reckless toppling of Danny Rose for the penalty at least might’ve proved to them that he was capable of pro-active thought, but it was another costly flub for Sunderland and his debut will forever be remembered alongside that of William Prunier and Jonathan Woodgate, as a full-scale calamity.
Meanwhile Harry Kane rammed it home from the spot to make it 4-1 and that, sir, was match point.
The ideal response to last Wednesday’s disappointing loss to Leicester.
Talking of which. You again.
