Spurs vs. Wigan
I'll be honest; "This is our first easy game of the season" was what I thought as I ate my customary fry-up before heading off to the Lane on Saturday. How wrong I was. How wrong everyone was on Saturday.
The formation itself was wrong for a start. And no, I'm not one of those irritating fans who claims to know it all with the benefit of hindsight. Although I prefer Bale on the left wing (obviously), I have felt (and said) for a while now that when we are at home against the 'weaker' sides, he should play left back, so that we can get another attacking player on the field. Palacios is also totally unnecessary in these games. Wigan are playing five at the back and one up front, so why is Palacios necessary? He isn't. Pairing Hudd with Jenas or even Krancjar in Luka's absence would have provided us with more (much needed) guile.
After the game, Harry was unconvincing. Simply saying 'we can't win every game', isn't good enough I'm afraid. No one expects you to win every game Harry. What people expect is for you to have realised after us dropping points to Hull and Stoke at home last year, that something needs to change in our approach to this kind of game. Rolling out the same personnel isn't good enough. If Man City are happy with a draw at the Lane, Wigan will be delighted. So attack them, and have some faith in your defence. Phil Brown commented last season how it is common knowledge that the way to get a result at the Lane is to sit back, soak up the pressure, wait for our fans to get on the player's backs, and then try and hit them on the break. Well, Wigan exectued this plan perfectly, and to the fans who were booing at half time, do us all a favour and go somewhere else for your day out on Saturday afternoon. I hear Thorpe Park have discounts available all year round.
no Harry, it's not funny!!
I can only hope that Van Der Vaart's arrival is Harry looking to give us more options in midfield, as without Luka there we seriously seem to lack the creative spark that is essential to win games like Saturday's.
Submitted by James McManus
1/9/2010
