Werder Bremen 2-2 Tottenham: You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby
“Until the Germans’ 43rd-minute goal, Tottenham were startlingly good. They were incisive, creative and penetrative – Werder Bremen looked seriously shellshocked at the quality of a team that looked like champions rather than debutants.”
Sarah Winterburn, Football365
I like this. You can read the rest of it here. It kind of puts a marker in the sand as to how far we’ve come. For a team made up of bods still relatively wet behind the ears in European circles, our first steps in the Champions League were as bold as you’re likely to see from a bright-eyed newbie. Away from home. In Germany. Indeed, twas a thrilling night to be a Spurs fan. A proud one, too. Back in the big time. And not afraid to let the whole world know about it. The first-half was played at such a tempo I was concerned someone might’ve sat on the Sky+ remote and launched the thing into double-time. Then I realised I didn’t have Sky+ and carried on watching a Tottenham team bring seven shades of thunder to one of Deutschland’s finest. Look at us go, mummy. We’re bloody doing it.
And we were. Really doing it. Bale had a mesmeric opening forty-five. Dynamite with a laser-beam. That boy could melt pennies under his boots with the speed he zips along at. You tell me a left-winger in world football you’d want in your side more than him. Okay, maybe him. Or him. But you’re running out names now, aren’t you? He’s worth his weight in antimatter. Which, I’ve been informed, is a quite a lot. Van der Vaart had a superb game also- looking very much at home amongst the beau monde of European football. Clever with the ball, elegant, Velcroesque first-touch. Heck, I was excited just to see his name on the back of a Spurs shirt with a Champions League crest on the sleeve. I imagine I’ll implode if he actually scores. Or his wife makes an appearance. Ahem.
Granted, there’re negatives there to be picked apart. The cold facts tell us that we surrendered a two-goal lead and let valuable points wriggle from our grasp. Such was our ascendency in the opening half, a point almost seems like a bum deal. The least we deserved. Another goal- or just keeping the girth of our advantage unchanged until half-time- and we could well have buried the tie beyond recovery. Some of our lot’s performances weren’t exactly stellar, either. Lennon, Corluka to name but two. The Croatian looked particularly ill at ease when being confronted at pace. Or at any speed, if truth be told. The impish Marin had his number so consistently it wouldn’t surprise me to discover that they’re now dating. For every downbeat note, though, there’s a positive there to slot into its place. Kaboul was excellent. Tanking around the pitch with poise and purpose all evening. At times he looked like he might do something daft (I don’t know what it is about certain players who have this effect on us) but in general he took to the occasion like a mallard to H20. Cracking stuff.
All in all, then, not much to grumble about from this blogsworth. There will be those who bemoan such an optimistic appraisal- if you can call it that- but from this end, from where I’m sitting, Tottenham’s first ever Champions League appearance was a thrilling spectacle and one to be almighty proud of. Bring on the rest of ‘em.
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