Badhead

There was a lot of rubbish talked before yesterday’s North London Derby, including that this was the first time going into the fixture this century that Tottenham had a better side than Arsenal, and that Tottenham were certainties to win.

On the first point, people have short memories. In 2006, with three games left of the season, Tottenham went to the last North London Derby at Highbury above Arsenal in the league, and battered them for the best part of 90 minutes. Arsenal salvaged an undeserved draw with a late equalizer, but Martin Jol’s side were clearly the better footballing team.

Secondly, there are no certainties, and anything can happen in derbies.

The Tottenham team news when it came through before the walk to the ground was a surprise. It was the same team that produced the best performance of the season against Newcastle two weeks earlier and was probably picked with the idea that two strikers, Emmanuel Adebayor and Louis Saha, would unsettle a vulnerable Arsenal defence, that has had problems throughout the season, home and away, from Blackburn to Milan.

In the home fixture earlier this season Harry Redknapp got the tactics wrong, playing Jermain Defoe up front with Adebayor, and with Rafa Van Der Vaart out on the right, leading to Spurs being outnumbered in the middle, until Sandro came on in the second half. Despite that, we won, and still had four one-on-ones in the game, created mainly through the vision and skill of Van Der Vaart.

This season, when playing a diamond in the second-half at home to Everton and in the cup at Watford, and three at the back in at Stevenage and in the second-half against Stoke Redknapp has tried formations where Spurs could play two-up-front and not get outnumbered. Both formations rely on the width coming from full-backs/wing-backs and yesterday, with Niko Kranjcar tucking inside, and Bale fluid, it looked at time this might need to be the case.

We started off well, playing a very high line, compressing the space, with Scott Parker and Luka Modric excellent in midfield, and we soon created, and scored, when Adebayor and Saha linked well after great work from Kyle Walker. Arsenal soon got to grips with the game, retaining possession well, and pushing Spurs back. It always looked though, that we would score a second goal on the break, so big were the spaces Arsenal were leaving. 

Walker twice broke before Modric put Gareth Bale in, who from a central position powered into the box and won a penalty. Adebayor, after a long wait, took a fantastic penalty, totally different from the poor kick he took at West Brom. Minutes later Bale this time had a run on the inside left, but rather than playing the ball across the face of goal, where Adebayor was in the box, chose to shoot at the near post. The right decision and a third goal then could have shattered Arsenal.

As it was, even at 2-0, Arsenal still had confidence on the ball, and the first goal in the second half was always going to be vital. Before then though, Arsenal made their spell of possession count, pulling their first goal back which got their crowd behind them for the first time after 40 minutes, and then gaining all the momentum in the game with equalizer two minutes later.

At half time Michael Dawson had an extensive warm-up, suggesting Ledley King may come off, or less likely, Redknapp would take Benoit Assou-Ekotto off (who was back from a minor operation and whose weak clearance preceded Arsenal’s equalizer), and go to a back three, allowing Van Der Vaart, who was also going through his paces, to come on for Kranjcar, and play behind the two strikers.

Dawson didn’t come on, but Van Der Vaart did, for Saha, with Sandro on for Kranjcar, so beefing up the midfield that was once again outnumbered and overrun, and reverting to the 4-3-3 that worked so well at Norwich, with a fluid front three of Bale, Adebayor and Van Der Vaart.

But the Dawson’s warm-up was the big clue. Ledley King was struggling, as he has done more this season than ever before, and all of Arsenal’s three second-half goals came in the channel between him and Ekotto.

When we were 3-2 down we look composed on the two rare occassions when we had the ball, having the confidence to pass when under pressure, and moving the ball around well. But we never created a chance and then opened up too quickly, when there was still time to get back the game. Arsenal exploited the space at the back, and unlike a few other away defeats we have suffered in North London Derbies in the last few years, they were deserved winners. They kept possession well on the day, moved well of the ball, created chances, and scored five goals. It was their Cup Final, and they were due to win a final eventually.

We have a wealth of talent, and apart from Van Persie no Arsenal player would get in the Spurs team, and few would get on the bench. The trick is getting the selection right. 

While there was a logic in playing two-up-front, in games against a team whose game is based on possession, it was dangerous to go into the game without three in the middle, and led to us being dominated. Also, a couple of key factors when trying to work out the winning formula: our team is ALWAYS improved when a fit Aaron Lennon plays, and Rafa Van Der Vaart adds something to the team no-one else at the club does, through a combination of personality, footballing intelligence and technical class. 

Which suggests that the 4-5-1 we all expected should have been the starting line-up.

If everyone is fit that will surely be the team that starts against Manchester United next Sunday, with Sandro in for the suspended Parker, and Lennon and Van Der Vaart back in the team. And maybe the one upfront could be Saha against his old club. We could do with the comeback that we showed when we lost against Portsmouth 22 months ago. It’s about time we beat United, and about time we won a six-pointer. We are more than capable of going on another good run.

MG

My e-book on Tottenham Hotspur's return to the European Cup for the first time in 49 seasons is available to buy for £4.27 (inc VAT) on Amazon and Smashwords.