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.’
Good result when u look at it, but if u watched the game you can’t help but think we should of won. The penalty in dying minutes was a slap in the face and if we had lost that game I would have fallen into a deep dark depression brought on by the injustice of it. The ref was rotten.com as well. Pav’s goal was good, but his touches on other occasions when clean thru or when in a dangerous position, was disappointing…
I would love to know why defoe was taken off. No wonder he was livid as capello was in the stands too…
A fair result though we were lucky to hang on in the end. But its true, if we had a Drogba the game would have been out of sight by half time.
If a striker costs us £30m (of not my money admittedly) then it has to be worth it.
Dear Santa,
A top top striker.
A midfielder.
A left back. Benoit has played every game, I think, and will soon be knackered, injured, or suspended. The Boy Wonder can’t replace him, as he needs a rest more than anyone. Also, we have 3 games in a week over Christmas.
Please.
Definitely need a real quality striker, Billy G can play LB if needed.
My next choice after a striker would be Shay Given please. I love Gomes, but…….
Absolutely right and in exactly that order too.
One or hopefully two strikers are a must…..Suarez, Llorente, Aguerro, Benzema are of the quality we must be looking to. Obviously PSB moving on.
Midfield…. Lassana Diarra in but likely to be Parker and Pienaar with Bentley, Gio, Krankie, O`Hara moving out.
Left Back could be covered by BillytheYid or Bassongers but if Lescott became available well why not . But doubt ManCity would sell to us.
Overall reaction to 1 all with Chelsea is that it shows how far we have come in that with 9 players missing with injury we are disappointed to have only drawn against the current Prem champions.
We really MUST start beating the lesser teams now to push into the TOP 3. We MUST start taking some of the numerous chances we keep creating….oh that brings us back to THE FORWARDS!!!!!!
Oh finally the tackle by Essien on Bale was disgraceful. Career threatening, lucky GB walked away from it in one piece. COYS
Apparently we have been in contact with Tevez’s representatives about a possible move. The prospect of him and Van der Vaart up front just makes me salivate — but is there *any* chance whatsoever of this happening?
oh Kev; stop teasing
None, he wants to go home.
Take 1 snowball. Throw it into the fiery depths of Hell.
How old are his kids? I don’t understand why he just doesn’t fly them over?
because then he would have to stay playing for Shitty.