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Call me a dreamer, but Spurs to win Uefa Cup

JamesTheYiddo

Well-Known Member
Oct 25, 2006
6,339
124
By Paolo Hewitt

This season Spurs fans have added two more phobias to an already long list. An inability to defend a free-kick and an inability to preserve a lead in the final minute of a game. It has left Tottenham in an area they haven't been acquainted with since the appointment of Martin Jol in 2004 – the relegation zone.

The first warning signs came in the opening game of the season. Sunderland away is precisely the kind of match that serious top-four contenders win with ease and style. Instead, Spurs huffed and puffed to little effect. With seconds to go before the final whistle, Michael Chopra was allowed to receive an innocuous pass in the Spurs area and slide the ball into our net. The tone of our season so far had been set.

A month later, at Anfield, we played a great game, coming from behind to seize a 2-1 lead we never looked like conceding. Until the referee looked at his watch, Spurs panicked and a long, hopeful ball to Fernando Torres led to an equaliser. As Homer Simpson might say, "Doh!"
Recent attention on Spurs' deficiencies have quite naturally focused on our defensive abilities. Our inability to defend free-kicks culminated in Getafe equalising against us on Thursday and going on to be only the second European team to beat us at the Lane.

Yet in all areas of the team there is cause for concern among the fans. The arrival of Darren Bent has caused the stoically uncomplaining Jermain Defoe to be relegated to fourth in line, while our main man, Dimitar Berbatov, has been upset by the rotation policy Bent's arrival has forced on the club. In midfield, steel and creativity only seems present in a few of the players, while in defence, a growing nerviness has left Spurs looking decidedly shaky and vulnerable, a state of mind that Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce admitted to preying on as his team brushed us aside 3-1 last Monday.

It was the abject nature of that defeat which had many bemoaning a lack of a true leader in this side, a Dave Mackay character to inspire and to cajole.
Yet it has not all been gloom and doom. Yes, at home to Everton four days after the Sunderland debacle, our frailties were brutally exposed as David Moyes's men seized control of the midfield and proceeded to out-pass, out-think and out-score us. But there have been some good performances. I am not thinking of us beating Derby 4-0 or the Liverpool game, but of the team's sterling performance at Manchester United in August.

Two strong penalty claims nearly swung us the game and only a speculative 30-yard bullet from Nani handed the champions a fortunate 1-0 win.

The first 60 minutes at Fulham saw this level of performance maintained, yet, once again, with the game in our hands, we panicked and conceded in the last minute.

The crunch game was, of course, against Arsenal at the Lane. With Thierry Henry gone and just kids in the team, Arsenal were ripe for the taking, they said. Really? Arsenal gave a master class in movement, vision and passing. On that day Spurs were told just how far they had really travelled in Jol's revolution. Far, but not far enough.

Certainly spirit still seemed to grip the team as evidenced by the dramatic 4-4 draw with Aston Villa after being 4-1 down.
Yet despite the wild celebrations that greeted Younes Kaboul's equaliser, wiser heads wondered why the team were 4-1 down at home to Villa in the first place.

Hopefully, things will pick up. Spurs are never better than with their backs to the wall. I don't bet but those odds for the UEFA Cup are looking mighty attractive. Oh come on, didn't you know that daydreaming is the Spurs fan's No1 pastime?



A tale of dodgy defence and bad breaks
Sunderland (a) Lost 1-0.Spurs had most of the possession but lacked sharpness up front and were punished by a late loss of concentration as Michael Chopra struck in injury time.Everton (h) Lost 3-1.Fault lines were expertly exposed in the home defence, although the breaks were not going Spurs' way as Alan Stubbs's disputed free-kick deflected past Paul Robinson.Derby (h) Won 4-0.Spurs were finally up and running with an easy win that featured Darren Bent's first goal for the club – but it proved a false dawn.Man Utd (a) Lost 1-0.A brave display should have been rewarded with a draw, but a penalty for a Wes Brown handball was not given.Fulham (a) Draw 3-3.A 3-1 lead with 13 minutes left was wastefully tossed away.Arsenal (h) Lost 3-1.Spurs led but could not hold on against their north London rivals, who had the chances to win by a much greater margin.Anorthosis (h) Won 6-1.Easy pickings against the weak Cypriots in the UEFA Cup.Bolton (a) Drew 1-1.Squandered a lead again and should have beaten Sammy Lee's strugglers.Boro (h) Won 2-0. Cup form was not proving to be a worry.Villa (h) Drew 4-4.Joyous scenes as Spurs recovered from 4-1 down, but it merely provided a stay of execution for Martin Jol.Anorthosis (a) Drew 1-1.A very poor game but the first leg had given them a comfortable cushion.Liverpool (a) Drew 2-2.Leaving Fernando Torres unmarked in injury time saw another nail banged into the management team's coffin.Newcastle (a) Lost 3-1.Woefully short on confidence by now, their frailties in defence were pitifully exposed again.Getafe (h) Lost 2-1. They took the lead again but it was the same old story at the back, as Jol discovered the game was up.

Letter to the board
The Sunday Telegraph has obtained a copy of an email sent to Tottenham Hotspur's board from Bernie Kingsley, the editor of Spurs fanzine Cock-a-Doodle-Doo. It reads:

From: Bernie Kingsley.
Sent: 26 October 2007, 07:56.
To: Daniel Levy.
Cc: Damien Comolli.
Subject: Martin Jol.

No doubt your spin machine will soon be telling us of all the messages of support from supporters for your decision to sack Martin Jol. This is not one of them.

You and your colleagues have acted dishonourably throughout this sorry episode, and both [Thursday's] decision and the way it leaked out are no exception to that.

Martin has made numerous mistakes as a coach but has not deserved to be totally undermined by his employer and treated like this.

This morning I am ashamed to be a Spurs supporter – I will get over that and my support will continue, probably long after all of you are gone, but once again you have allowed our club to be pilloried, laughed at and questioned by the rest of the football world.

£27 million profit is meaningless if you can't run a club properly. The teams you aspire to match, Arsenal, Man U, Liverpool and Chelsea have all proved consistently that the director of football role in this country does not work.

Chelsea's greatest success came despite it, not because of it – and that longevity and stability for the manager is the key to success.

Perhaps Everton are an even better comparator – David Moyes has had his ups and downs but they've stuck with him and let him get on with the job properly and are now getting more ups than downs. Just like Tottenham once did with our last really successful manager, Keith Burkinshaw.

You will, of course, dismiss all this as the meanderings of another fan, but I will be far from alone in not forgetting the appalling way you have behaved. Juande Ramos or whoever comes in may well improve results – I obviously hope he does – but the bad taste will linger.
Regards,
Bernie Kingsley
 

guate

Well-Known Member
May 12, 2005
3,270
1,486
Basically, the best summary so far.

So damm true.

QUE VIVA LOS SPURS
 

USA_SPURS

New Member
Jun 4, 2005
2,023
0
i got tired reading your post . TOO LONG..couldnt go on but i feel ya .
neways, we have a chance to go deep like we did last year but winning it all ? very doubtful..quarterfinal is ok in my book with all the misery we're experiencing right now
 

dynamoSpurs

Well-Known Member
Aug 29, 2006
2,718
895
I'm gonna call him a dreamer.

How can we expect to win the UEFA cup when we lose our first group game at home to getafe... Getafe!!
 
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