Tottenham v arsenal- Player Ratings

Another great picture from @mattcg. A link to his Spurs drawings blog is there on the left.

Gomes, 3- ‘I’m tryin’ real hard Ringo. I’m tryin’ real hard to be the good shepherd’. I maintain he’s a good keeper but he’s being pedalled out while struggling for form. Is his missis doing the dirty on him? Is he losing sleep over the plight of the rainforest? Whatever it is, get the required psychological super glue or sticky tape out to fix his head back in place for the next 6 games.

Charlie, 4- Wallpaper. Early assist for VdV aside, his presence was only highlighted when Kaboul (6) came on and contrived to provide a threat in his stead.

Dawson, 7- Lost count of the number of times I yelled ‘WIN IT!’, followed immediately by ‘WELL UP DAW’S!’. Those with the privilege of watching the super slow-mo on their goggle boxes are saying he was at fault for at least one of the goals. If he was, the balance of his contribution was good enough for him to walk off the pitch with his head held high.

Gallas, 7.5- Battled like a… bloody…lion. A lion with cramp. Among the favourites for our player of the season.

Benny, 9- …and so is he. Are you watching Alan Hanson? Time and time again, he was strong, clever and efficient with his distribution. An almost faultless display from a player who rarely gets the plaudits he deserves. Outstanding, young man.

VdV, 8 (bonus point for the goals)- Better, but still not the assured touch of early season. Two great finishes, and done his level best to be as ‘orrible as every one of their lot. Very promising for the sprint finish.

Mods, 6- Weak. Not often I say that, but he bottled a couple of 50/50’s and was knocked off the ball too easily. Still composed enough in possession to have been decent. Unlucky not to get the penalty.

Thudd, 4- Goal aside, he was the wrong side of average. Back in body but not in form. Hehehehehe. Bodyform.

Bale, 3- Unfit? Brainless? When you’ve got half a pitch to run into, don’t amble about looking at Luka’s feet, get on yer bloody bike. Don’t believe the hype, you’re not that good Gareth. Thankfully replaced by:

Lennon, 7- Genuinely had them worried. Wonderful run to draw the penalty. Wiki link him to ‘impact sub’.

Pav, 6- Ran about a bit, worked hard, found a team mate most of the time. Wasn’t given any chances and didn’t create any. Replaced by:

Sandro, 7- More of this type of thing young man, and you’ll be first on the team sheet with Luka next season. Harrys biggest gaff of the night was choosing Thudd over our Brazilian ball buster from the off.

Crouch, 6.5- Won lots of stuff in the air in our box and in theirs. Pushed all over the place but didn’t get any favours from the man in black. Carried a threat from first to last.

Torturous to behold, but some great stuff to look back on. The point is more useful to us as it at least puts us in the driving seat for fourth, while theirs effectively ends any slim hopes they had of a late title bid. And now they’re third.

Not around tomorrow for a West Brom preview, but suffice to say that the point salvaged last night will go from ‘mildly disappointing’ to ‘decent’ if we do what we ought to and give Woys boys a darn good thrashing.