I've been thinking that there are only so many games that players can really get 100% "up" for, no matter how much they rationalise the need for intensity in every match.
Many of us think (including me) that it's actually more important for the future of the club to qualify again for the Champions League this season than it is to do well in it. But it seems to me that it must be impossible to get the players to share this view at a gut level. They all want to play in the CL: it's the pinnacle of club football. They're all naturally going to be much more "buzzed" about playing a CL qualifier or Tottenham's first home CL group match or at the San Siro, compared to Wigan or West Brom or Villa at home.
I think that's what causes "post-CL hangover" - not physical exhaustion, but the loss of intensity and mental focus.
I can't see what Redknapp can do to change this. And I think it is affecting our league form. Let's hope we prove it wrong this afternoon, at least for this week...
Gomes, Hutton, Huddlestone, Bassong, Assou-Ekotto; van der Vaart, Jenas, Modric, Bale; Crouch, Pavlyuchenko.
Subs: Cudicini, Corluka, Kranjcar, Lennon, Palacios, Sandro, Lennon, Keane.
I am not keen on that team.
Pretty much the team I wanted if Ledley was out. Except I would have given Sandro a chance over Jenas.
Pretty much the team I wanted if Ledley was out. Except I would have given Sandro a chance over Jenas.