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Spurs Are Good At Impressions

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I cannot recall a time when I have watched us spend so much time on the floor writhing in agony.

Admittedly since the word got out one or two of our lot were quite good at playing football, the fouls have been flying in thick and fast. But today’s game was a masterclass in wincing and clutching that even left Drogba looking on in awe.

Once the territory of ‘foreigners’ on the telly, then the domestic domain of Chelsea and Manchester United it seems to be a Top 4 affectation. And so if that’s the case, Spurs are good at impressions.

Hutton went down easier than a Leith brass. Defoe got a free kick when it was he who backed into a Chelsea player who was barely aware of him until the whistle went. And Sarge made a three course meal of a challenge late in the game that went on for so long that Arry just threw Sandro on in order that we could resume playing 11 vs 11.

One of the things that has always left me cold about players like Nani, Anderson, Drogba & Co was the ham acting. The aim, for anyone joining us late, is not simply to break up play, but to put into the referee’s feeble mind that there is pattern of ungentlemanly conduct emerging. It’s an element of ‘gamesmanship’ I’d be happy to see us distance ourselves from.

The Tottinghams came out flying and the opening half hour was exhausting just to watch. Come the second half, the tempo ebbed and Ancelotti unsurprisingly threw into the mix the two players that have been most noticeable by their absence.

We were missing Van derVaart’s intelligence and the inclusion of 3MP for the burnt out Pav pretty much heralded the end of the entertaining football. A stream of balls walloped up on to his head took us from being in possession to wrestling 50/50 balls.

In the final analysis it was difficult to work out if Spurs were lucky to get a point or if the luck had been with Chelsea. Spurs are almost there. But it does look a little bit like an impression at the moment.

Gomes? As Arry once remarked, ‘people want goalkeepers who don’t make mistakes. Unfortunately, they don’t exist.’


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59 comments

  • Astromesmo says:

    A tad harsh I think. I dare say we’d all whince a tad if we had Cashley’s assorted stud collection use our achilles for a bootscraper… And I thought Essien was lucky not to do serious damage to Bale’s standing leg in the studs up lunge ‘That wasn’t a foul’ (Quote sky numpty).

    We’ve been playing some great football of late but most sides seem to be trying to get nasty with our team of young upstarts… Especially those who thought they could boss us in previous seasons.

    The tactic of a) Kick Bale & b) Stamp on Bale, first employed by Arsenal (Oh, how ironic), now seems to be copied by most of our opponents. Sadly, I don’t think we’ve seen the end of our major injuries this season and I pray ever time the fleet-footed Welsh wonder sets off.

    • david says:

      Spot on with your comments re the campaign to kick Bale out of matches.
      Think it started after the Inter matches but against Arsenal he was the most fouled Premier League player that weekend and the 3 L’Arse yellow cards were all for fouls on Bale. Co-incedence ?
      Essien came very close to causing him serious injury today and unless the officials put a stop to it, I am afraid he will end up with a season ending injury.
      The ref today was pathetic. He did not even give a foul for Essiens assault on Bale and the tackles on Palacious by Cole and Hutton by Drogba in the last few minutes were aimed at the man with the ball nowhere to be seen.

  • seppoyiddo says:

    I can’t see taking Defoe off for a tactical reason. I’ve got to think that it was to protect his fitness.

    • daytripper11 says:

      Defoe looked furious to be taken off at that point. They were getting a lot of set pieces and we were losing just about every jump ball in the box, so I think ‘arry tried to defend the lead by bringing on 3MP just to assist in defending.

      If we had King, Woodgate, Kaboul or a fully fit Dawson back there defending, I don’t think he makes that sub.

  • hoopspur says:

    Must say I think it is the beating of the ground with your hand in agony that gets me. I’ve always thought that the way Bale does it is a bit OTT, but now Sarge is at it too!

    Every time I see Bale go down like that I fear for his career. Oh stupid me… : (

    Oh, and here you are talking about impersonations HH Blimey!

  • dutchman says:

    This was the sort of game we used to lose, but nowadays hang on for at least a point..
    Rafa an Thudd are really missed out there..
    Chelsea played their best game in recent weeks..
    Gomes is the villain and the hero..
    Pav’s goal was well taken, still, we could habe won it if we had a top-notch striker..

    • onedavemackay says:

      You are spot on.

      Though they were weak at the back we created plenty of chances without troubling Cech,. None of our strikers are consistent enough and that is where we failed to win this match.

  • Chrispurs says:

    Defoe,can not play with his back to goal. If he doesn’t get a through ball, or one over the top, he doesn’t score. Harry can either, have Crouch, to head the ball on for him, or Modders, or VDV, to play in. If they’re in ‘the hole’, otherwise its pointless for him to be on the pitch.

    After Essien ‘challenge’, I think Bale has every right to roll around. But if by doing so, it helps us win; well I coundn’t give a toss.

    • Spurstacus says:

      Ditto that. All the best teams play with grit, flair and a little gamesmanship. If Bale can make defenders think they’ll get booked or give pens away when they challenge him, (and prevent getting his leg broken again), I say good luck to him.
      Case in point- Gomes didn’t challenge Nasri for the first Arse goal because he knew he’d dive.

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