Talk about one extreme to another. From the Danny Kelly like “Stan Stan, I love football” euphoria of Tuesday night to the “I wonder just how embarrassing this is going to get†of Saturday lunchtime is a long journey, but one we accomplished with ease. Almost from the opening seconds we were sloppy in defence, half hearted and feeble in midfield and impotent up front. Chuck in Gomes giving one of his shakier performances and the outcome was never likely to be good.
Bolton’s best chances fell to Matthew Taylor who thankfully was having a cow’s arse with a banjo day. He’d scuffed and ballooned several times before the moment all Spurs fans dread arrived. After half an hour Sandro was caught in possession and Kevin Davies got a sniff of an opening. Offside, outside the area and on his weaker foot maybe but none of that mattered, you knew what was going to happen the moment he took aim.
It was downhill from there; some poor marking led to number two and a soft penalty to number three. Alan Hutton scored with our first shot on target after 79 minutes and Pav blasted a volley home to spark hopes of an undeserved and unlikely point. Petrov’s run and cool finish put paid to those however.
Palacios and Sandro were out battled and hustled and the back four was left exposed time and again. Everyone knew it would be a different game to Tuesday, more of a battle etc etc but I’m sure no-one expected an outright mauling, especially with our two heavyweight holding midfielders in action.
Redknapp may be prioritising the Premier League but it looks like the Champions version is the only one we can score goals in. Oh for a striker who fits all the bill and not just a bit of it. Fans asking for Pavlyuchenko to start above Crouch are ignoring the workrate & willing running of the lanky bloke.. But Pav can finish, give him the ball near goal with a bit of space and he’s terrific. What a volley for his goal. He’s the same as Darren Bent though, the reasons why Harry doesn’t really fancy him are obvious. He puts pressure on the rest of the side, and it’s a fragile and weakened side at present that can’t stand pressure on it.
It’s really frustrating to see the team dismantled like this. Champions League and we’re having a laugh maybe, but the only way we’re going to get to carry on the jollities next season by the looks of it is if we win the big pot this time around.
By MF
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