Black(pool) Tuesday- Get Yer Bibles, Crosses and Shotgun

Have you seen this Spurs fan?

Would you Bloom(field Road)in’ Charlie Adam ‘n’ Eve it? The simplest away trip of the season against opposition taylor made for our style, and we’ve gawn an’ nawsed it right up.

A week is a long time in football, as the old paraphrased cliché goes. Last Wednesday morning we were all top of the world having dished out a footballing lesson to a European Leviathan in their own back garden (or at least showed them how to put in a bit of effort), and now we find ourselves open to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous goal line misfortune. To be a Champions League side again, or not to be? That is a question for further down the line, because last nights defeat needs to be put into perspective.

Of course, there are those who will dust off their ‘END IS NIGH’ sandwich board, grab their bell and pull their trousers down to their ankles and set about walking the streets telling all who will listen that ‘WE’VE F**KED IT’. The more sartorially aware ones can be identified by their ground breaking statements such as ‘The world is round’, ‘we need a striker’, ‘oxygen is important’ and ‘Arry has shown his tactical awareness once again’.

I’m no advocate of hiding behind statistics, but a look at the goals we conceded, and even a handful of the chances we created; reveal a lot more than the 3-1 score line. But it’s the score line that matters and there are no points for possession, shots on goal, corners or even ‘shots what would have gone in if it weren’t for defenders doing their jobs and getting in the way’. All in all, it was a freak score line, but given our profligacy, the likes of which I have to say I’ve never seen, a fair result.

On a tactical note, I find it strange that Gallas was moved from the middle to the right for MIA Hutton, and why Bassong wasn’t asked to go over there and do a job for 90 minutes. I realise the logic can’t be fully applied, but wasn’t right-back basically where you put the div kid in Sunday league footy… I should know, I’ve played it enough times myself. Would it have been such a huge stretch to ask a professional defender to do a job there, rather than disrupt a successful CB partnership, especially given that Blackpool like to go through the middle and don’t play with out-and-out wingers? As I’ve said before, Harry watches these lads in training every day, and while many may not see him as a tactical wizard, if there is one thing you cannot fault him on, it’s common sense when it comes to our set-up… which only makes the decision more puzzling.

So what now? A long and frustrating wait until the Premier League redemption we spoke of yesterday while we nervously wait on the outcome of the games involving the teams around us… so it’s as you were. We had a chance to go clear but we didn’t take it. If last season taught us anything, it’s that one poor result will not be terminal to our ambitions and that Tottenham will lose when expectation is thrust upon them, and win when the odds are stacked against us. It’s just the way we roll.