at a a time.
Much consternation about whether ‘Arry would field Ledley on Saturday, knowing that his one game a week only situation meant he’d be likely to miss the Citeh game on Wednesday.
But this was the more important game. This had to be won. Yes, Bolton at home should be 3 points even without the best centre-back on the country but those points had t be secured and the best way to do that is with Ledley there. Now he may be missing for Wednesday but if Bolton had come away from The Lane a lot more happier then Wednesday wouldn’t have mattered. Spurs have tried that kind of resting players before and it’s never really worked for them.
So I agree, no matter what happens on Wednesday, with ‘Arry’s team selection, you have to play the game in front of you not the next one down the road, even if that’s a tougher proposition.
Pick your best available starting XI, he did it against the Woolwich Scum and Chelski and that worked out OK didn’t it. He didn’t against ManUre and look what happened.
What was also good against Bolton was the almost man-of-the-match performance by Kaboul, a great response to his being dropped for that ManUre game. He was everywhere, bombing down the wing and making all kinds of challenges, showing that maybe it was a good deal to bring him back.
So now it comes down to really one game. Citeh away. Some things will have to change, Lennon you feel after to off the bench appearances needs to start. But the main thing that has to change is the profligacy in front of goal. All those chances created, more have to be finished off. I can’t see Mancini’s mob letting us off with all those misses and after Huddlestone added another wonder goal to this years team collection, how many more thunderbolts can we rely on.
Pavlyuchenko and Defoe have to find their finishing boots, Big Pav really has dropped off after that purple patch and Defoe’s season is looking more and more like the season before the last World Cup, that season also had another bad ending, not just for the little striker.
Owen Coyle was wrong, his side didn’t deserve to come away from The Lane with anything on Saturday, yes Gomes made a couple of great saves – which he has done all season, leading Spurs to follow up last season’s record of only 10 goals conceded at home with only 12 let in this time round, currently joined with ManUre as the best record in the League – but they were long range efforts and Spurs should have been out of sight.
But that was a hell of a shot from the Hudd, he should score more of them.
Around the league as it enters it’s final week a few thoughts:
How many of those that have been creaming themselves over Roy Hodgson’s season with Fulham were calling him all-sorts a few years back when he didn’t have the best of times at Blackburn. How many were slagging him off when it was announce he would take over at The Cottage? Oh, he’s just managed a couple of international teams and some little Scandinavian and Swiss sides and he thinks he can come into this league.
Oh I certainly wasn’t one of them, he was my choice for the England job on a number of occasions, pre and post Keggy Keegle for a start and I thought a team of him and Peter Taylor would have done an excellent job. But after Blackburn and Leicester for Taylor certain media types wouldn’t have allowed it to happen.
And then to Captain Pugwash, Rafael “I guarantee 4th place” Beneathus, it’s bizarre and ironic to think that the best thing that could happen to Liverpool is his departure but the worst thing that could happen is his departure.
If he goes then they have removed a useless manager – this season isn’t the blip, fluking the Champions League and last year’s 2nd place was the blip – and is something they need to happen. But when it does then Torres leaves and chances are Reina leaves as well. With two of the only four decent players on their books gone and the third one rumoured to want away – well it’s nice for Gerrard that he finally won the title before he left, though with that back-pass he won it for Chelski – what does that leave?
A club that has no money, is up for sale, with a crap squad and no Champions League.
What top class manager is going to walk into that situation? Which leaves them in a limbo, a limbo where top quality player won’t go either. You can talk all you want about the history of the club but it’s just that history. Twenty years and counting. Wolves have history, Burnley have history, Huddersfield have history, Leeds have history and the history since their last top flight league title is shorter than Liverpool’s.
As it stands now, history in the game counts for not a lot, it’s only the future that matters.