van der Vaart? van der BRILLIANT, more like

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Another dog of an opponent and a dog of a performance, but not for the first time, we were resilient (lucky) enough to sneak out of there with 3 points. On 90 minutes, it felt like we were being beaten in every way a team could possibly be beaten… other than in the way that matters most. An equaliser would not have been unjust, and if that’s a group of players who don’t fancy putting in a bit of an effort for Steve, I’d hate to see them with their blood up.

Horrible and heart-stopping as it was to watch an aerial bombardment follow every set piece or sloppy foul conceded, imagine if someone had told you in the mid nineties that Tottenham would be 3-1-1 from their first 5 away games of a season at potentially tricky, craggy northern outposts? Whatever your thoughts on the man, Harry deserves a lot of credit in instilling ‘mental toughness’, and other such immeasurables. More credit has to go to Van der Vaart for yesterday though, his class making a match winning difference.

As far as I’m concerned, he should play in support of Ade whenever fit and available, no matter what the form of the flag botherer. That’s because, simply put, he’s a better football player; a special talent I’ve heard mooted in the last few days. A bit twee? Yes? Spot on? Yes. He’s scored the opener in our last 4 league games, 3 of which have been away from home. Any lingering thoughts about him being a luxury, a tactical conundrum, or in any way dispensable at this stage are well wide of the mark. But what was the blood on his neck all about?

Also, Bassong as a long-termer is looking less and less likely. He might need to get through QPR at home on Sunday, but let’s hope that after that we’ve got one of Dawson/King/Gallas available for Fulham away and beyond.