EYEWITNESS: Tottenham Hotspur 3 Stoke City 2, Barclay's Premier League

BEING A football fan is so often a game of what if's...? What if we'd had the beef-n-spuds instead of the lasagne?

What if Crouchy hadn't been sent off? What if Bale had chosen a different type of new sports car to buy at Christmas and not picked up that back injury getting out of a low-slung bucket seat when he was at the height of his powers?

 

And what if Tom Huddlestone hadn't been drafted into the England squad to play in a meaningless friendly back in September, done his ankle and been forced to sit out the majority of this season?

 

The Spring brings two types of games, depending on how your team has seen out the winter. It can be a lazy afternoon in the sun, where quiet moments are spent day dreaming which members of the squad will be there next term, or listening to the amusing sing songs the wags in the Park Lane are singing to help pass the time when all hope of silverware has melted away and you are there out of loyalty and in the vague hope you may see one of those quirky freak matches where it's 6-4, or the goalkeeper scores.

 

Preferably - and it is something we are not exactly used to at Tottenham - it will be one of those tense nailbiting experiences when hope is still alive and every point still vital.

 

Early April last term, when we suffered an unexpected and ignominious defeat in the FA Cup semi-final to Portsmouth, we were very much in the hunt for fourth, and turned our frustrations on Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City, picking up three unlikely wins and bagging nine points to take our noses in front. 

 

This time, we have a whipping by Real to shrug off, and the same three teams to beat in the run in. Within about three minutes, it soon became apparent what the side has been missing.

 

If we'd had Tommy in the team, I wouldn't be bemoaning our current desperate situation where we're looking a Europa Cup campaign next term. Hudd has made just nine appearances this season, and his inclusion in the starting 11 gave fresh hope that perhaps the spirit of 2010 could be evoked, we could put together a barnstorming run and haul in City and Chelsea. From the start, he gave our players a base to get moving on. On four, he helped Luka Modric and Gareth Bale get forward and threaten. On 10, he drove a ball out left to Bale which bissected three Stoke players and led to the corner from which Crouch made it one. Minutes later he was dinking a cross to the back post, forcing Stoke keeper Asmir Begovic into a desperate save.

 

The second came on 18, when prompted again by Hudd, Modric set off on a mazy one and slipped the ball through the keepers legs. Crouch's second and Tottenham's third, scored on 33, came again from a an inch perfect, first time cross by Huddlestone. The only black spot in an impressive first half was his lack of legs when Matthew Etherington beat him for pace on 26 and slipped into the box to get a goal. It has to be noted Stoke also got a second through a power-blaster from Kenwyne Jones after he pinched the ball off Bale's toes. But despite the goals conceded, it felt like in just half an hour, Huddlestone had got our season back on track. 

 

The second half played out in much the same way, with Spurs dominating and Stoke still looking dangerous when they managed to counter attack. And despite being out for so long, Huddlestone's influence did not wane. On 56, Tom made a strong run into the Stoke box and pulled down a Bale ball magnetically: it gee'd the crowd up, showing his influence is not just on the pitch. It was like that as Spurs ticked along, happy to get Tuesday's Champions League defeat out of their system, and get vital points on the board.

 

After watching his performance today and the way he acts as a metronome providing a beat for Modric and VDV to tick along to, that's my 2010 - 2011 biggest what if: we've missed the heavyweight midfielder more than any other player whose been sidelined (and there's been many.) The calming effect he has on those around him makes him like the footballing version of a scented, candle lit room complete with waterbed and a Sounds of the Ocean CD wafting about in the background.

 

Welcome back Tommy. 

 

PLAYER RATINGS: 

 

Gomes, 6: Had little in the way of shot stopping to do.

Bale, 7: His balance is such that he can run with his body diagnally. Neat trick.

Kaboul, 7: Quickly back into the groove. Neat at the back, and happy to step into the midfield where he can switch from hoof it to jink it about. 

Huddlestone, 9: So entertaining to watch.

Pavlyuchenko, 8: Set up two. Linked well when dropping off. Right on half time worked a series of one twos that so nearly brought a fourth, and sent a stinger goalbound on 72.  A very good performance.

van der Vaart, 6: Love it when he gets lock jaw in possession and growls at opponents who come near him.

Modric, 7: Showed brilliant control to carve the chance for his first half goal. 

Crouch, 7: Two first half goals soon banished the Bernabeau blues.

Dawson, 7: Great battle with Kenwyne Jones. Love the way he always grins after winning the ball.

Corluka, 6: Professional. Did his best, which is never spectacular, but at least he is consistent.

Assou-Ekotto, 6: Tied Jermaine Pennant in so many knots the winger got bored and kicked him five feet in the air. Sub: Gallas, 89.

 

Cudicini

Jenas

Gallas

Defoe

Bassong

Rose

Sandro