First things first...That hurt. A lot. Many of my comrades in Lilywhite claim to be 'over it'. Many have accepted the defeat for what it was, a truly wonderful spanking. They've taken the result at face value and moved on. For me, it's been two days and the pain is still as raw and real as it was when England's reborn (was he ever actually 'born'?) saviour smashed in the 5th. The wound is bloody, gaping and packed full of salt. The tabloid sensationalists continue to pick as much as they can from the game, fleshing out this extraordinary sub-plot of the fairytale that is the English Premier League. The sub-plot, of course, being the brief rise and fall of Tottenham Hotspur FC. Oliver Holt described it as 'table turning'. How one game between two sides having such polar opposite seasons can do that...only tabloid journalists know.
Let's get another thing clear, however. The game was defining. Not as much as Ollie's claims of 'table turning' would have you believe, but defining nonetheless. The problem of beating the 'Sky four' remains just that, a problem. 12 points from a possible 30 against the other top sides is no fairytale. It's a problem that needs addressed and, possibly, a problem that's been paper cracked by the teams otherwise stunning form.
I'm getting off the point. The game itself.
Well it was a disaster. A blast from the past some would say. It was like a Before/After in reverse. The first 30 minutes the team was at its devastating best. Well, maybe not best, but they played some quick, dangerous counter-attacking football that's proved to be so effective this season. However, somewhere between Gareth's last ditch attempt at an Oscar nomination and Sagna's bullet, Ramon Vega came on disguised as Younes Kaboul and Modric was replaced with Timothee Atouba. The team collapsed. Spectacularly. We all saw it. You know how it went. It was sad to watch. Sad because it's been so unlike them this season. This 'New Spurs' we've grown to love crumbled with amazing ease. It's something we all thought had been fixed and put into the history books. Throwing away leads was a thing of the past. Along with Ramon and Tim. Santini and Comolli. Chas & Dave. It was a reminder. Just a reminder. A reminder that sometimes things can go astonishingly wrong.
Harry was partially to blame for the capitulation. Agreed, there wasn't much he could do with the first two, but he certainly contributed with some strange tactical decisions.. Bringing on Sandro was possibly the right move that just didn't pay off. Rafa was unnecessary. The game was crying out for Aaron Lennon. Despite clawing their way back into the match, Arsenal were still defending like the Faroe Islands Under-13's and Lennon's pace and width could have sent them crying to their mummies on the sidelines. Maybe not. I'm a fan of Rafa. Always have. However, when he plays, Harry persists to alter the team to suit him. Sometimes it pays off. Sometimes it doesn't. Maybe it works when Rafa actually wants to play. He definitely didn't want to on Sunday. It bewilders me why he changed the team to play so central. Modric on the right? When has that ever worked, ever? As for Bale's new free role, well, the jury is still out for me. I'm convinced he's more effective out wide, putting his devastating pace to good use. The problem with Sunday was that everything went so wrong so quickly that it's hard to tell what was down to poor tactics or poor performance. It was an unmitigated disaster. From 30 minutes to finish. A collapse of epic proportions.
However, don't believe the hype. The wheels haven't come off the Tottenham bandwagon. Not yet anyway. Arsenal's problems haven't been suddenly fixed and they haven't been forgotten. Van Persie it still their only player. Walcott hasn't magically developed the brain of a proper footballer and Rosicky probably won't score again for another 2 years. We were tanked, yes. But so were United. It hurts. It happens. People will always look for a story when there isn't one. Arsenal were probably not as bad as we've been led to believe. They probably aren't as good as they are now being perceived. Football is fickle. But it isn't a fairytale.
So maybe the game itself wasn't defining. But this is certainly a defining period. It's how you respond. *Enter generic football cliché*. The pain of the result will be eased by dicking United. Simple as that. The memory of it certainly won't be erased, and it shouldn't. Results like this should continue to be a reminder to the team what can happen if they play like gutless fuckheads and fail to kill a team off. The performances and results against the Sky four (or is it now five? six?) needs to improve. But that's a another problem for a another day.
So lick your wounds. Polish the swingers. Flaunt them against United.
As for Arsenal. Kudos. Try not to strain your neck staring up at us at the end of the season.
