Spurs 3-0 Werder Bremen

How surreal. If there were a worry prior to kick-off it was that following the euphoria of Saturday our heroes might be a little too complacent, and simply stroll through this one. And in truth, they were indeed a tad complacent and most certainly did stroll through – yet it was of little consequence. Can anyone remember a match of such magnitude being so mind-bogglingly easy for Spurs? To see Spurs cruising through in such untroubled fashion was almost ineffably peculiar, and the attitude of the Germans simply added to the confusion. Only if the heavens had opened and the players been soaked to the skin could Bremen have looked more forlorn and less motivated.

There have not been too many occasions on which I have lamented the fact that Jenas has been forced to depart early, yet he has been in relatively steady form in recent weeks and made an eye-catchingly positive start last night, so I rather felt for the chap when he limped off. Moreover, with Hudd off radar for a few months we can ill-afford to lose another central midfielder for any length of time.

That said, this was one of the best days Sergeant Wilson has had in months. Every tackle seemed perfectly-executed, and (almost) every pass distributed simply and accurately. Further curiosity was to be had in the serenading of William Gallas as he effortlessly outmuscled the German mob. In so many respect things are a-changing at the Lane these days.

There was wonderful stuff from Modders, and not only because he found time to try out his Van der Vaart impression in front of goal (and to good effect too). If he missed his regular chums, Hudd and VDV, he gave no indication of it, merrily collecting the ball from defence, slaloming around challenges at will, picking out team-mates. That said, it was the usual scintillating stuff from young Master Bale, who added a Cruyff-turn to his super-human repertoire. Personally I am convinced that he was actually aiming for the cross-bar with that second-half free-kick, for the very best players set themselves those sorts of challenges, and as for the penalty...like forearm tattoos and the pre-match huddle, missing from the spot is just a trend amongst the current crop of heroes in lilywhite..

All things considered however this was probably as serene a Tottenham victory as I can remember. It may not prove the most thrilling but it is probably worth simply for the variety of features thrown in – a clean sheet, a sprightly Aaron Lennon, a Kranjcar cameo and, taken in its entirety, a Tottenham performance that was just about the epitome of professionalism. Admittedly Bremen were woeful, but we threw away a two-goal lead against them before, and conceding at any point until we scored our third (the 80^th minute) would have made for a nervy finish. Instead we were dominant and efficient from start to finish – I frankly cannot remember the last time I ever saw that from Spurs.

A North London Victory: Arsenal 2-3 Spurs

Fully aware that we had failed to win away at the top four since the last Ice Age, ‘Arry ordered our heroes to adopt The Comeback Approach that has served us fairly well on a couple of occasions this season on our travels in the Champions League. Accordingly, our lot just did not bother in the first half when things began at 0-0, instead opting for the challenge of overturning a multi-goal second half deficit, against a ticking clock and away from home, because it’s just much more fun that way. With the second half comeback in mind, the central midfield of Jenas and Modric diligently avoided doing anything that might be interpreted as gaining a semblance of control of the game in its opening 45 minutes, and also surreptitiously made their excuses whenever the back-four needed help in that lamentable first half.

All of which set things up nicely for the latest chapter in the ongoing 4-4-2 vs 4-5-1 debate. How easy it is to forget how at the start of the season ‘Arry was derided for the gung-ho 4-4-2 away to Young Boys. No two ways about it, on Saturday the half-time switch to 4-4-2 helped to prompt the about-turn. Amidst all the excitement and nerves, from my lofty perch I must confess that I rather ignored some of the subtler tactical nuances of the game, and opted instead for the more Neanderthalic approach of screaming and cursing at the TV. Nevertheless, on reflection it did seem that the addition of Defoe made the world of difference, not least by giving the Arsenal back-four reason to break sweat; while our 4-4-2 featured a distinctly narrow midfield four, which mightily effectively nullified the other lot.

Van Der Vaart

VDV remains convinced that the boundaries of the pitch are marked by electric fences rather than white paint, and consequently spent his time as a right-winger ploughing straight up and down the centre of the pitch – but given that he created/scored all three of our goals, I think he earned the right to sit down on the centre-spot and smoke Amsterdam’s finest for the rest of the game if that is what he wanted. His technical mastery and love of the game was epitomised in his assist for the first goal, when I’m pretty sure he actually kissed the ball as it dropped from the sky, before letting it roll down his chest and flicking on to Bale.

Bale

A propos Bale, the slick manner in which he collected the ball without breaking stride was worth a goal in itself, at least in terms of downright awesomeness. As luck would have it, the equally slick manner in which he then flicked the ball past Fabianski was worth a goal in the more commonly-recognised literal manner. Aside from the magnitude of the occasion, in terms of pure quality, it was a cracking little effort – as most of his goals tend to be.

Gallas 

However, while VDV and Bale did the glamorous stuff, the hero of the hour and a half was back at the other end of the pitch. In recent weeks on this very corner of the interweb the commitment of Gallas to the lilywhite cause has been under great scrutiny, with suspicion rife that while picking up his pay-cheque from Daniel Levy he still packs his sandwiches in an Arsenal lunch-box. Yesterday however, Gallas turned in the performance of a man possessed by the spirit of an indomitable blue and white cockerel. In the first half in particular, while his lilywhite chums fell over themselves to let Arsenal do whatever they jolly well pleased, Gallas shook a clenched fist and did his damnedest to keep those rotters at bay, with all manner of crunching tackles.

Some Words on Our Vanquished Opponents

We tend not usually to bother with the opposition around these parts – ‘tis a Spurs blog after all – but having watched the game in the company of a couple of gooner chums the sweet smell of Victory has been wafting through the corridors all weekend. Sometimes a memorable win is marked by a performance practically perfect in ever way. This time however, I’m happy to accept that we were awful in the first half, and hardly vintage Tottenham Hotspur in the second. It was not so much a game that had me beating my chest with pride as crying with laughter come the final whistle, for the glory glory of this occasion was to be found in the quite magnificent manner in which Arsenal imploded. Within spitting distance of the top of the table they completely lost the plot, with their handshakes and handballs and whatnot. To nab game, set and match, from two-nil down, and on their own patch – it was just too much fun.

While our heroes no doubt charged off to celebrate, ‘Arry ensured that everyone associated with the club kept their feet on the ground by talking up our title prospects. It is possible for sure, mathematically and all that, but do not go grab your latest pay-cheque and charge down to the bookmakers just yet.

As with Saturday’s win, success this season seems likely to be aided as much by the shortcomings of others as by our own good work. One startling feature of this campaign has been the fact that every five minutes one of the genuine title-challengers is losing to a non-descript team from somewhere in that grey mid-table area. One or two good wins by any of the top five and over-excited types start making breathless noises about winning the title – which is actually a Man City reference. Opportunity certainly knocks for someone or other, and for all our dropped points against Wigan and West Ham, another top four finish remains very much within our grasp.

Still, even if the season ends in the ignominy of failure to win the Premiership, we have already ticked off more boxes than I would have dreamed possible a few months back. Wins at home to Arsenal and Chelsea last year; and sealing our top-four spot; and beating Young Boys; and beating Inter; and beating Arsenal on their own pitch – in isolation all of these are just commemorative DVDs, but add them together and our heroes are trundling along in the right direction, make no mistake.

Derby Preview: Arsenal vs Spurs

Having ended an unenviable streak against our rivals at the close of last season, Spurs look to be somewhat confident ahead of the first league encounter of the North London derby. However, with a long injury list with the likes of Daws, Hudd, King, Keane and lonterm absentee Woodgate, Arsenal may be the stronger side atleast on paper. Spurs will be energized by news that Jermaine Defoe is back in training and that our flying winger, Aaron Lennon could also feature.

If it bleeds, we can kill it: Spurs 3 Inter 1

I may just pop from the sheer excitement of it all. Prior to a trip to a slightly below-par Man Utd I could not for the life of me envisage a three-point haul; and yet ahead of the visit of European Champs Inter I bound around in gaily optimism and this proved to be one of the most famous nights in our history.

Another five minutes and goodness how things would have panned out back in Milan. The Bale hat-trick certainly papered over a few defensive cracks and general all-round timidity, but we at least had conclusive proof that Inter are vulnerable. As Arnold Schwarzenegger so sagely opined in Predator, “If it bleeds, we can kill it.”

I was crestfallen when Vaart hobbled off at the weekend, and the prospect loomed of taking on Inter with a midfield bereft of both him and Huddlestone; a midfield which would therefore presumably comprise Jenas and Palacios, with Modric in the hole. Joy then that Vaart is actually a bit of a drama queen when it comes to niggles and strains. It seems that the suspected hamstrung twang was no such thing, and with Huddlestone back were be able to field a midfield high on technique and vision. Bale-Modric-VDV-Huddlestone-Lennon did not exactly offer the back-four much protection, but meant for some high-tempo madcap attacking from the off.

As ever with Redknapp, the tactics were simple and clear. The team were set out 4-4-1-1 with Van der Vaart and Modric given relative freedom and both wingers, Bale and Lennon, told to isolate the Inter full backs.

It was a thrillingly effective ploy as Spurs again and again exposed Inter down the flanks, with Bale again having a storming game and both Tom Huddlestone and Luka Modric showing their aptitude for Champions League football by retaining the ball intelligently. Luka Modric was the creator of the first goal with a clever sleight of foot on the edge of the area before playing in Van der Vaart, who emphatically beat Inter keeper Luca Castellazzi with a low drive.

For such a good player Maicon was shocking, utterly dominated by Bale. The young Welshman had produced a performance of the very highest calibre in the first tie and Inter once again had to bow to his burgeoning talent when he set up the second goal Spurs deserved just after the hour. He simply ran the right side of Inter's rearguard into the ground before playing in Crouch, who made no mistake this time as he slid in six yards out.

Eto'o was a constant threat, and he suddenly injected real tension with a fine goal, struck past Cudicini from an angle after he dummied Hutton. Bale was in no mood to let the win slip away though, and in a moment that characterised his display, Younes Kaboul broke up play on the edge of our box and fed Gareth midway in our half. He charged forward, pushed the ball past Lucio and raced onto it before squaring for Roman Pavlyuchenko to tap home the clincher. Billed as a key battle before the game, it was simply a no contest as Gareth blasted past Maicon - voted best defender in the Champions League last season - time and time again.

Three points against the holders, top of the group and a display of the highest quality. Never mind a DVD, this will be turned into a surround-sound, home cinema, 3-D, HD, blu-ray. 

The Clattenburg Report: United 2 Spurs 0

In the first half in particular Modric and Vaart were afforded more space than was entirely wise by the United mob, who came within a post’s width of paying, but life became a darned sight trickier in the second as United tightened up. The disappointing truth is that when we needed to increase our urgency levels we were simply unable to, and while we defended well enough on the whole it is difficult to remember our forward line ever actually penetrating the sacred environs of the United penalty  area. The deployment of Vaart in a 4-5-1 certainly gives our midfield a healthy glow, but brings with it the problem of a lack of presence in attack, and it hardly a personal criticism of Robbie Keane to note that he is not the man for a 4-5-1. Lennon started fairly brightly, but diligently pinged his final ball straight into the first man in red time and time again, and retreated back into his shell thereafter. Out on the left Bale was shackled fairly effectively, although a frisson of excitement did work its magic occasionally. The counter-balance to any excitement engendered by Bale is the feeling somewhere in between apathy and rage generated by Jenas, who seemingly deployed in a holding role, was his usual fairly anonymous self.

Rather a shame that our lot collectively drifted off for the free-kick that brought about the opening goal, for that aside we traded blows fairly evenly which is no mean feat at Old Trafford. It was of course all overshadowed by the farce of the final few minutes, but for all the incredulity and expletives I would much rather we receive that sort of decision away to Man Utd, in a fixture from which we never really expect much anyway, than from a fixture against rivals for fourth spot. Whatever the conclusions, this moment, rather than the Clattenberg farce, was crucial..