The Crow - Don’t say you didn’t bottle it, Spurs. You did
Published: 7 April, 2011
ARSENAL
IT’S not for me to say that Spurs bottled it, others can do that. But you have to wonder whether the occasion was a little much for poor old Tottenham this week.
All starry-eyed in the Bernabéu, one player turned green in the tunnel and another went slidey-tackle haywire and was back in the changing rooms within 15 minutes.
What were these characters up to? Beaten by Adebayor before they could even make the excuse of a red card. Never has the Spurs chant of “are you watching Arsenal?” sung at kick-off and just about audible over Ray Wilkins’s mindburp commentary, seemed so ill-judged.
Yes. Arsenal were watching. We couldn’t turn it off. We want a DVD. Fing is, Spurs, as much as they want to, can’t say they have bettered Arsenal’s Euro campaign because they have ducked out here at their first real test. We are not talking about lacklustre AC Milan or Inter, thrashed 5-2 in their own stadium this week, here. Half the Premiership would beat those teams. Yet, as soon Real Madrid turned up, Spurs were goners.
True, there was a sense that in this contest, pretty much Barcelona Lite vs Arsenal Lite, the outcome would be the same as what happened to Arsenal in the Nou Camp recently.
But for all the wonderful entertainment they have given us, there has always been an inevitability that Spurs would get found out in the end. And as night turns to day...
RICHARD OSLEY
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
TUESDAY’s 4-0 win for Real Madrid was the beating that many feared before the start of our European campaign.
I won’t use the excuse Aaron Lennon took sick seconds before going onto the pitch or wonder what one of the most experienced players among us, Peter Crouch, was doing with the two ridiculous challenges that earned him a red card within the first 15 minutes.
In truth, since the 1-0 win against AC Milan, Tottenham have not been at all effective. Strikers aren’t scoring, players don’t look fit and the momentum of the team seems muted. In the league we’ve dropped points to teams that, frankly, we shouldn’t and nothing seems to be going right!
We might not get into the Champions League next season and some will mock us because of it, but I believe it’s the fear of their own status that worries them.
However, before Spurs fans lose faith, let all our Arsenal acquaintances know that come next Wednesday night, win lose or draw, we’d have still entertained the football public for a lot longer than they did.
And, all ye faithful, let us not forget that two seasons ago we were adrift at the foot of the Premier League, yet Tottenham have been arguably the most entertaining team in this year’s competition.
Maybe it’s our naïvety that makes the games so exciting or maybe it’s because we always know that there’s gonna be a show and the Tottenham Hotspur will be there!
TONY DALLAS