Danny is very Grateful
Time for the FA Cup fourth round against Tottenham and their
renowned trophy hunting manager, José Mourinho. I guess the big question is
about how we will approach this game. Will we make 10 or 11 changes like we did
last time in the Cup or are we serious about trying to have a decent run? If
Middlesbrough got through the replay against Tottenham then I’m sure we
would’ve seen 10 changes and have been realistically confident of winning the
game anyway but of course, Spurs getting through makes it slightly different.
The strength of the team that we put out in the FA Cup depends largely on
league position. When we are in the midst of a relegation battle, then in the
past, we have basically sacked off the FA Cup and not bothered. A 5-0 home
defeat to Tottenham’s North London friends and neighbours at Arsenal sticks in
the memory. Following the win against Palace though, we have 31 points and
realistically I’m not going to be anywhere near the bottom of the league so I
am anticipating three or four changes but not too many.
Make no mistake though, Jose will be absolutely desperate to win this game as this is his last chance of silverware this season if you rule out a Champions League triumph. If he wins anything silver coloured as Spurs manager then he will have eclipsed almost every manager that they have had in the last 20 years in the important regard of actually putting trophies in the cabinet.. Their last trophy was a League Cup in 2008 and there have only been two other trophies in the past 30 years, a League Cup in 1999 and their last FA Cup win which was in 1991. For a club of their size it’s a pretty woeful record.
Make no mistake though, Jose will be absolutely desperate to win this game as this is his last chance of silverware this season if you rule out a Champions League triumph. If he wins anything silver coloured as Spurs manager then he will have eclipsed almost every manager that they have had in the last 20 years in the important regard of actually putting trophies in the cabinet.. Their last trophy was a League Cup in 2008 and there have only been two other trophies in the past 30 years, a League Cup in 1999 and their last FA Cup win which was in 1991. For a club of their size it’s a pretty woeful record.
So, Mourinho will be after a trophy - that is the way he
thinks and I like that about him. He will only be celebrating finishing in the
top 4 because it gives him an opportunity to win the Champions League the
following season, not seeing the top 4 as some sort of trophy which a lot of
managers are guilty of, including Mauricio Pochettino. Sure, he got to the
Champions League final but at the end of the day they didn’t win it. It’s obvious but it’s true.
In Ralph’s pre-match press conference it became clear that Cedric will be missing and it appears that Shane Long and Jannik Vestergaard will be missing as well. In a bizarre twist, Vestergaard has been quite heavily linked with a move to Champions League chasing Leicester City which, bearing in mind he was one of the main culprits in the 9-0 and he has hardly played since, is fucking bizarre to say the least. Personally, I have no problem with Vestergaard in terms of attitude or effort and in a team playing a deep defence with no space behind it, he could be a decent player but him playing for a high pressing side is going to be a disaster against anyone who has pace and puts the ball in behind him. Leicester do tend to sit deep and defended the edge of the penalty area so he may well be a good fit for them. This illustrates one of the problems I’ve had with Saints recruitment over the past few years in that we have had no clear philosophy about how we play so we have ended up signing a collection of players who do not fit into the style that the manager is now currently playing.
Spurs lost Harry Kane in the New Year’s Day fixture at St.Mary’s and he will be missing today, returning just before the European Championships where he will get selected every match and play even though he is and a half fit (put your money on it folks). They might not have Kane but they have Son Heung Min who is taking a break from breaking legs and kicking blokes in the chest to actually play some football. He’s actually quite good at it when he’s not being a dick. Lucas Moura has been giving them some pace and tenacity in recent weeks and Christian Eriksen is still there and even though he is likely to move in the next couple of weeks, Mourinho will think nothing of playing him in the FA Cup. Make no mistake, this is still a decent Spurs squad but as with the league game, the defence can be got at, containing as it does, the train wreck that is Serge Aurier and the ageing and going downhill Jan Vertonghen. They are made stronger by the return of Hugo Lloris which means that the Gazzaniga Timebomb will be on the bench. Rumour has it that Dele Alli is still appealing for a penalty from New Years Day.
One of the things I’m looking forward to today is to see if the famed ticket upload to my season-ticket card actually works. Every time this has been tried in the past I’ve ended up getting rejected as I’ve tried to go through the turnstile and having to be let in via some side door or other.... and we’re in with no problems and the team news is decent. Cedric is replaced with Danso and Ings and Bednarek are back. Basically, with the exception of Gunn coming back in for McCarthy, this is the line-up that would play in a Premier League game. Spurs have the whole of the Northam End which is a bit annoying but their version of "Oh When the Saints" is easily drowned out.
Spurs tactics become obvious straight away and they are to sit deep and then attack at pace. The ball zips about between Lo Celso, Moura, Alli and Son with Alli playing a cute ball behind Danso to Son who drills across Gunn and wide. Should have scored really.
Our press is beaten by a long ball forwards from Alderweireld which picks out Moura and he breaks into the penalty area before falling over. Stephens pokes the ball away and Lo Celso drills it low and it seems to go through Gunn on its way into the net. Shit. It looks like it’s going to be 1-0 but the referee bizarrely, is telling the lino that it is offside because someone is directly in front of the goalkeeper. The linesman somewhat sheepishly raises his flag and we have to go through the pain of a VAR check before it is confirmed that the goal was offside. As it turns out, Son is stood right in front of Gunn and it actually hits him.
More Spurs attacking as Alli breaks through the middle and lays it to Moura who looks like he has to score but a shot brushes of the studs of Gunn and goes wide for a corner. Again, he really should have scored but that’s a really good save. As an attacking force we’ve done nothing so far but we win a free kick out on the right and JWP spots Ings having a dart and picks him out superbly. The King of the Scummers chests it past the flapping Lloris and hooks it goalwards, only to see Tanganga get back and head it off the line.
In Ralph’s pre-match press conference it became clear that Cedric will be missing and it appears that Shane Long and Jannik Vestergaard will be missing as well. In a bizarre twist, Vestergaard has been quite heavily linked with a move to Champions League chasing Leicester City which, bearing in mind he was one of the main culprits in the 9-0 and he has hardly played since, is fucking bizarre to say the least. Personally, I have no problem with Vestergaard in terms of attitude or effort and in a team playing a deep defence with no space behind it, he could be a decent player but him playing for a high pressing side is going to be a disaster against anyone who has pace and puts the ball in behind him. Leicester do tend to sit deep and defended the edge of the penalty area so he may well be a good fit for them. This illustrates one of the problems I’ve had with Saints recruitment over the past few years in that we have had no clear philosophy about how we play so we have ended up signing a collection of players who do not fit into the style that the manager is now currently playing.
Spurs lost Harry Kane in the New Year’s Day fixture at St.Mary’s and he will be missing today, returning just before the European Championships where he will get selected every match and play even though he is and a half fit (put your money on it folks). They might not have Kane but they have Son Heung Min who is taking a break from breaking legs and kicking blokes in the chest to actually play some football. He’s actually quite good at it when he’s not being a dick. Lucas Moura has been giving them some pace and tenacity in recent weeks and Christian Eriksen is still there and even though he is likely to move in the next couple of weeks, Mourinho will think nothing of playing him in the FA Cup. Make no mistake, this is still a decent Spurs squad but as with the league game, the defence can be got at, containing as it does, the train wreck that is Serge Aurier and the ageing and going downhill Jan Vertonghen. They are made stronger by the return of Hugo Lloris which means that the Gazzaniga Timebomb will be on the bench. Rumour has it that Dele Alli is still appealing for a penalty from New Years Day.
One of the things I’m looking forward to today is to see if the famed ticket upload to my season-ticket card actually works. Every time this has been tried in the past I’ve ended up getting rejected as I’ve tried to go through the turnstile and having to be let in via some side door or other.... and we’re in with no problems and the team news is decent. Cedric is replaced with Danso and Ings and Bednarek are back. Basically, with the exception of Gunn coming back in for McCarthy, this is the line-up that would play in a Premier League game. Spurs have the whole of the Northam End which is a bit annoying but their version of "Oh When the Saints" is easily drowned out.
Spurs tactics become obvious straight away and they are to sit deep and then attack at pace. The ball zips about between Lo Celso, Moura, Alli and Son with Alli playing a cute ball behind Danso to Son who drills across Gunn and wide. Should have scored really.
Our press is beaten by a long ball forwards from Alderweireld which picks out Moura and he breaks into the penalty area before falling over. Stephens pokes the ball away and Lo Celso drills it low and it seems to go through Gunn on its way into the net. Shit. It looks like it’s going to be 1-0 but the referee bizarrely, is telling the lino that it is offside because someone is directly in front of the goalkeeper. The linesman somewhat sheepishly raises his flag and we have to go through the pain of a VAR check before it is confirmed that the goal was offside. As it turns out, Son is stood right in front of Gunn and it actually hits him.
More Spurs attacking as Alli breaks through the middle and lays it to Moura who looks like he has to score but a shot brushes of the studs of Gunn and goes wide for a corner. Again, he really should have scored but that’s a really good save. As an attacking force we’ve done nothing so far but we win a free kick out on the right and JWP spots Ings having a dart and picks him out superbly. The King of the Scummers chests it past the flapping Lloris and hooks it goalwards, only to see Tanganga get back and head it off the line.
The game gets more even has the half goes on and we threaten
again (a bit) from a free-kick when JWP
optimistically has a pop and it’s straight at the keeper and barely worth
mentioning really. Just before half
time, Armstrong pulls up and is replaced with Djenepo.
We’ve been our own worst enemies in that half to be honest –
allowing Spurs to break time and time again and us get caught short handed at
the back from just one pass which takes out both Pierre and JWP. One of those two needs to play deeper or else
we need Romeu to come on which why I’m a bit surprised at the substitution.
Half time and it’s time to reflect on the ‘FA Cup Supporter
Bell-End’. This is someone who turns up
ten minutes into the game, with no idea of where their seat is and has no
awareness of anyone else around them as they generally piss around for another
five minutes standing in the way. 38
minutes gone and they’re off for a piss or a pint and then want to come back in
just as the half time whistle goes and everyone else is heading the other way. Alternatively, they come back 10 minutes into
the second half. Just fuck off mate.
Back on the pitch, Spurs get a free kick on the left hand side at the start of the second half, right on the edge of the party area. The goal looks fucking huge is Lucas Moura steps up but he does exactly the same as what JWP did on the first half and just put it straight into the midriff of goalkeeper.
There’s a big YEAAAAAAAAAAAA-NOOOOOOOO! moment from our next attack as Hojbjerg puts Obafemi away on the right hand side and his cut-back is met by Ings in front of the near post and it gets almost a perfect angle on it but it runs agonisingly wide of the far post with Lloris waving it goodbye. Ings has another sniff straight afterwards as Hojbjerg attempts his 326th shot of the season which bounces through the defence and the King of the Scummers swings a boot but can’t get a touch.
Lo Celso, who has looked considerably better than he did in the League game, runs out of defence with a superbly down the right hand side past JWP, Djenepo and Bertrand. He feeds Moura who plays it out to Son who is completely unmarked because Dele Alli has managed to clatter Danso to the deck. Son takes it on and scores across Gunn just a bit too easily. VAR is looking at offside which it certainly isn’t and it allegedly looked at the foul by Alli but unsurprisingly decides that there isn’t one and so Spurs are 1-0 up. Shit. It’s nearly 2-0 straight afterwards as Lo Celso superbly chips over the defence and Son volleys over the bar.
Ings tries to ball juggle it into the box and Tanganga comes across in clears it with his elbow which he has moved towards the ball. The trouble is that there is not much in the way of an appeal from any of our players aside from Ings. That shouldn’t really matter these days as VAR should look at it but VAR doesn’t look at it so the lesson we learned from that is that we must also surround the fucking referee until we get a review. It’s not working for Danny today and he shoots from the top of the penalty area on the left and puts it across the face and just wide.
Back on the pitch, Spurs get a free kick on the left hand side at the start of the second half, right on the edge of the party area. The goal looks fucking huge is Lucas Moura steps up but he does exactly the same as what JWP did on the first half and just put it straight into the midriff of goalkeeper.
There’s a big YEAAAAAAAAAAAA-NOOOOOOOO! moment from our next attack as Hojbjerg puts Obafemi away on the right hand side and his cut-back is met by Ings in front of the near post and it gets almost a perfect angle on it but it runs agonisingly wide of the far post with Lloris waving it goodbye. Ings has another sniff straight afterwards as Hojbjerg attempts his 326th shot of the season which bounces through the defence and the King of the Scummers swings a boot but can’t get a touch.
Lo Celso, who has looked considerably better than he did in the League game, runs out of defence with a superbly down the right hand side past JWP, Djenepo and Bertrand. He feeds Moura who plays it out to Son who is completely unmarked because Dele Alli has managed to clatter Danso to the deck. Son takes it on and scores across Gunn just a bit too easily. VAR is looking at offside which it certainly isn’t and it allegedly looked at the foul by Alli but unsurprisingly decides that there isn’t one and so Spurs are 1-0 up. Shit. It’s nearly 2-0 straight afterwards as Lo Celso superbly chips over the defence and Son volleys over the bar.
Ings tries to ball juggle it into the box and Tanganga comes across in clears it with his elbow which he has moved towards the ball. The trouble is that there is not much in the way of an appeal from any of our players aside from Ings. That shouldn’t really matter these days as VAR should look at it but VAR doesn’t look at it so the lesson we learned from that is that we must also surround the fucking referee until we get a review. It’s not working for Danny today and he shoots from the top of the penalty area on the left and puts it across the face and just wide.
Ralph is going for it.
Danso is off for Boufal and so we are playing three at the back with
Djenepo and Redmond as wing backs. Che
Adams comes on in place of Obafemi and it’s not happening as with 10 minutes to
go, Redmond gets down the right hand side and skins the fallback and picks out
Danny Ings in acres but it’s still not his day and he heads wide. Has to score that….
85, 86 and we’re camped in their half but it’s not really
looking like happening until the Shit footballer Gods come up trumps again as
Aurier pisses about on the ball and loses it to Hojbjerg who feeds Ings and
Ings roll;s it across the top of the penalty area and there is Sofiane Boufal
to rifle it into the roof of the net. 1-1
and no one wants a draw… come on we can win this!
Nope! Neither can they and it ends 1-1
Nope! Neither can they and it ends 1-1
And so, a fair result in what was a ridiculously open
free-flowing game. Very entertaining for the neutral and the neutral is any
twat that bought a half and half scarf from outside the ground on the way in.
Spurs probably shaded the first half, creating the better chances as we
repeatedly got caught on the break but in the second half after they had
scored, it was just a case of whether we would find the final pass or the
finish. Eventually we did of course and we deserved to. Ralph rolled the dice
when he could see that nothing much was happening and we ended up basically
with five forwards on the pitch so it was good that his bravery was rewarded.
Here is today’s VAR moan. As a part-time referee, I was instructed at the start of the season that if the ball hits the defenders arm and his arm is in an unnatural position, as in it has broken the silhouette then it is a penalty regardless of whether he meant it or not. That rule clearly doesn’t apply to Tottenham because now in both games against them at home this season, there have been cases where a defender with his arms flailing around all over the place, has handled the ball and neither penalty has been given. Today’s effort by Tanganga was not as bad as Alderweireld’s against us in the league game but technically, by the rules which we have been led to believe everyone is following, that should’ve been a penalty today. Actually, it’s not even a VAR issue because it didn’t even fucking review it.
Danso proved today what complete folly it would be to emerge from this transfer window with no other option at right back. He was painfully bad after the first five minutes and with Yan Valery seemingly still out of the picture and Cedric injured for another few weeks, for anyone to pretend that we don’t need another right back is ridiculous. It’s even worse on the left hand side where Ryan Bertrand is still the only real option. We lost Stuart Armstrong today and as I write, no one really knows how long he is going to be out for but for our next league game against Liverpool, you would think that Ralph will be reluctant to throw in Boufal or Djenepo so it may well be Romeu who comes in with JWP moving wide but then who plays at right back?
Talking of our wingers, it was good to see Boufal get a goal today and he certainly livened things up when he came on. Djenepo didn’t really do much and looked like he was running at half pace which was a bit odd. There was another cameo by Charlie Austin Adams which was a complete waste of time, with the highlight being JWP having to tell him to close down the goalkeeper. Honestly, if Leeds want to buy him for £20 million now, I would sell. There is no point in loaning him out but if I offer us £20 million now and we can spend it on bringing in a replacement next week then I would be interested. This is not something I am basing on just 10 minutes today but the guy just doesn’t seem to fit the way Ralph wants to play football. He’s our fourth choice striker at the moment behind Ings, Long and Obafemi which is not what you would expect from a striker who we paid big money for in relative terms.
The man he was supposed to partner of the season, Danny Ings had a brilliant game in all bar finishing. He finally set up Boufal’s goal but not before missing about three presentable chances that he would have expected to score. He was very unlucky in the first half when his beer quick thinking resulted in his shot being cleared off the line but he will be disappointed with the header that he missed the second half.
Angus Gunn had a mixed game in goal looking very nervous in the first half but much more positive in the second. A couple of times he was very slow off his line but I guess to be expected as he hasn’t played for a while. Jack Stephens had another good game but Bednarek was a bit wobbly in the second half in particular, miscuing quite a few clearances. I thought Hojbjerg and JWP were excellent and the central midfield again and Obafemi put in a decent shift that front. It was nice and Redmond continue the form he showed in the Palace game, constantly tormenting whatever full back he was up against. He still needs to work at it but someone has obviously had a word with him about getting his head up sooner and if he continues to do that then his end product, be it scoring goals himself or setting them up for others, will only improve.
Here is today’s VAR moan. As a part-time referee, I was instructed at the start of the season that if the ball hits the defenders arm and his arm is in an unnatural position, as in it has broken the silhouette then it is a penalty regardless of whether he meant it or not. That rule clearly doesn’t apply to Tottenham because now in both games against them at home this season, there have been cases where a defender with his arms flailing around all over the place, has handled the ball and neither penalty has been given. Today’s effort by Tanganga was not as bad as Alderweireld’s against us in the league game but technically, by the rules which we have been led to believe everyone is following, that should’ve been a penalty today. Actually, it’s not even a VAR issue because it didn’t even fucking review it.
Danso proved today what complete folly it would be to emerge from this transfer window with no other option at right back. He was painfully bad after the first five minutes and with Yan Valery seemingly still out of the picture and Cedric injured for another few weeks, for anyone to pretend that we don’t need another right back is ridiculous. It’s even worse on the left hand side where Ryan Bertrand is still the only real option. We lost Stuart Armstrong today and as I write, no one really knows how long he is going to be out for but for our next league game against Liverpool, you would think that Ralph will be reluctant to throw in Boufal or Djenepo so it may well be Romeu who comes in with JWP moving wide but then who plays at right back?
Talking of our wingers, it was good to see Boufal get a goal today and he certainly livened things up when he came on. Djenepo didn’t really do much and looked like he was running at half pace which was a bit odd. There was another cameo by Charlie Austin Adams which was a complete waste of time, with the highlight being JWP having to tell him to close down the goalkeeper. Honestly, if Leeds want to buy him for £20 million now, I would sell. There is no point in loaning him out but if I offer us £20 million now and we can spend it on bringing in a replacement next week then I would be interested. This is not something I am basing on just 10 minutes today but the guy just doesn’t seem to fit the way Ralph wants to play football. He’s our fourth choice striker at the moment behind Ings, Long and Obafemi which is not what you would expect from a striker who we paid big money for in relative terms.
The man he was supposed to partner of the season, Danny Ings had a brilliant game in all bar finishing. He finally set up Boufal’s goal but not before missing about three presentable chances that he would have expected to score. He was very unlucky in the first half when his beer quick thinking resulted in his shot being cleared off the line but he will be disappointed with the header that he missed the second half.
Angus Gunn had a mixed game in goal looking very nervous in the first half but much more positive in the second. A couple of times he was very slow off his line but I guess to be expected as he hasn’t played for a while. Jack Stephens had another good game but Bednarek was a bit wobbly in the second half in particular, miscuing quite a few clearances. I thought Hojbjerg and JWP were excellent and the central midfield again and Obafemi put in a decent shift that front. It was nice and Redmond continue the form he showed in the Palace game, constantly tormenting whatever full back he was up against. He still needs to work at it but someone has obviously had a word with him about getting his head up sooner and if he continues to do that then his end product, be it scoring goals himself or setting them up for others, will only improve.
Dele is a Dickhead - Again
As for Spurs well Dele Alli was still a massive bell end. There was an innocuous foul not given to Spurs in the first half and he did his arms out palms up appeal again which he has only just stopped doing after the New Year’s Day game down here. Son was a threat throughout and deserved his goal. The new lad, Gedson Fernandes looks exactly the type of player that Ndombele is so I’m not sure why they’ve got him in. Jose Mourinho managed to not get booked this time round and no matter how much he complains about fixture congestion or any other shit, he will be relieved to still be in with a chance of winning this trophy.
Fair play to Jose and Ralph for putting out full strength sides, so we could have a proper cup tie. A refreshing attitude from both managers, especially when compared to certain others. A draw is a result that no one really wanted but I fancy us to make a better job of it at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium than we did here today. Spurs stadium hold 62,000 people so no doubt we will take an allocation of about 800 and the club will sell out and mark this is achievement with a celebratory tweet.
PS…. Home to Norwich in the 5th Round if we get
through. We got drawn out in the second
to last game and the three balls left were Norwich, Pompey and
Bournemouth/Arsenal. As it was ex-Skate
Sheringham drawing the away teams, it would have been funny but not to be. Skates are at home to Arsenal who predictably
saw off Bournemouth.
Spurs have given us roughly the same number of tickets as we
gave them. As a percentage of the capacity,
it is of course a lot less…. And we charged them a tenner a pop whereas they’re
charging us £25. Wankers.
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