North London Derby flashbacks - part two

Vedran was reasonably certain he knew the Croatian for 'unmentionables'

By the time Arsenal came to White Hart Lane for the return game, the buoyancy surrounding Spurs' season was starting to dissipate. A succession of agonisingly frustrating draws against bottom half sides had unravelled the chase for a second successive fourth place finish and where Spurs were floundering, Man City weren't. There was still plenty to play for, however. Arsenal needed a win to prove to everyone (and themselves) that they still had a marginal shout of winning the title. Defeat for Spurs would put more distance between them and City and would restore the bragging rights in North London back to the Woolwich.

It turned out be another absolute thriller.

20th April 2011 - Tottenham 3 Arsenal 3

Teams:

Gomes; Corluka, Dawson, Gallas, Assou Ekotto; van der Vaart, Modric, Huddlestone, Bale; Pavlyuchenko, Crouch

van der Vaart '7, Huddlestone '44, van der Vaart (pen) '70

Szczesny; Sagna, Koscielny, Djourou, Clichy; Fabregas, Song; Diaby; Nasri, Walcott,Van Persie

Walcott '5, Nasri '12, Van Persie '40

What we said: "Harry's boys played out a frenetic, all-guns-blazing, high stakes shootout with the Arsenal that we did well to get a point out of. There were plenty of memorable moments: Van der Vaart's epic return to form, his celebration of the first goal, Huddlestone's devastatingly beautiful second. The game itself will live long in the memory."

What you said: "Too many home draws... has been holding us back this season." (Matt84)

What they said: "When the thrill of this spectacle at White Hart Lane has faded, the space will be filled by the realisation that Arsenal blew a 3-1 lead. It ought to be appreciated that in advance of this fixture Tottenham had scored a mere 22 Premier League goals on this ground. If they were at times irrepressible, it was because Arsenal permitted them to be so." (Kevin McCarra, The Guardian)

The word 'anticlimax' is perhaps a harsh one as no-one who saw the game would think to label it in such a manner. But, in reality, a draw helped neither side. Arsenal lost more ground in a title race that they were probably already out of before the game started but pretty much definitely were afterwards. And a similar sentiment could be applied to Tottenham's race for 4th.

Yet the game itself was a high octane affair, riddled with defensive lapses. Arsenal came out of the blocks quickest and even after van der Vaart immediately cancelled out Walcott's opener (and celebrated it with now customary VDV derby passion), we contrived to throw away two more before half time and, just as we had at the Emirates, hand them a two goal lead.

Thankfully, Huddlestone produced one of the sweetest left foot drives you'll ever see which pinged through the Arsenal defence and bought us a way back into the game. And in the second half, we were the more lively, the more comfortable. Van der Vaart's cooly taken penalty brought things level and it was to stay that way - neither side could find that extra spark to go and claim the win.

With six league goals against the Gooners last season, Spurs have proved that they can exploit a shaky defensive line (though their five against us proves a similar point). With Bale, Defoe and Adebayor in goalscoring form at present and van der Vaart partial to a NLD goal, there coul be plenty of reasons to smile on Sunday. Whether we can keep them out at the other end remains to be seen.

Part one here.

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North London Derby flashbacks - part one

Fabregas' entry into the Tottenham Hotspur Hall of Fame was seconds away from being confirmed

Before the first of last season's North London Derbies, this blog took a little stroll down memory lane and had a little look at the games from the previous season and how they had been previewed and then reviewed on the blogosphere. It was such a raving success (it got about 8 comments) that it'd be remiss if another reach wasn't taken into the TBFWHL archive for this Sunday's installment of the Tottenham vs Arsenal saga.

So let's begin with the first clash. The month was November. The air was pregnant with a combination of winter and Lilywhite dread. Because we just didn't do winning at the Emirates. In fact, we didn't do winning at Arsenal in whatever poxy stadium they were playing in. At least, we hadn't since 1993. Spurs had assembled their strongest side since that last win on enemy soil and had just beaten Inter Milan. But league form was patchy at best and there was little more than token optimism that Spurs could do something worthwhile.

90 minutes later, history had been changed.

20th November 2010 - Arsenal 2 Tottenham 3

Teams:

Fabianksi; Sagna, Koscielny, Squillaci, Clichy; Fabregas, Song; Denilson, Arshavin, Nasri; Chamakh

Nasri '9, Chamakh '27

Gomes; Hutton, Kaboul, Gallas, Assou Ekotto; Lennon, Jenas, Modric, Bale; van der Vaart; Pavlyuchenko

Bale '50, van der Vaart (pen) '67, Kaboul '85

What we said: "What a morning. What a game. What a comeback. What a story. If you could have pitched to Spurs fans how they'd most like the 17 year win-less run away at the enemy to end, then the way things went down yesterday would have garnered quite a popular response. This was a day when we not only ended a hoodoo that had plagued us for far too long and not only further closed the symbolic gap between ourselves and our once great rivals but re-established our Premier League credentials too."

What you said: "Full credit to everyone on that pitch: Gallas, an exemplary performance along with the returning Defoe, who rarely looked like he`d been away. Van Der Vaart had a frustrating game but still, when it mattered, he was there. Gareth Bale, you can't keep him quiet for long. The disappointment for me was again conceding goals but who would dare to count Spurs out if losing at half time in the future. The future's bright, the future's Lillywhite." (Tone1976)

What they said: "That Arsenal would lose this game appeared a laughable proposition at half-time. There was almost a sense of disappointment that Tottenham Hotspur had not put up more of a derby fight in the face of Arsenal’s relentless possession and mesmerising attacking convolutions. That Spurs, inspired by Rafael van der Vaart, exploded back into this game said everything about their taste for the cavalier and the continued fragility of Arsenal’s aesthetes." (Duncan Whyte, The Telegraph)

The changing of the tide in fortunes between Spurs and Arsenal seems to have been going on for years now. It was in 2006, when we spent an entire season flirting naughtily with fourth spot and with them chasing us for once, that it was tentatively suggested that Tottenham might be about to finally topple their noisy (and ultimately more successful) neighbours. It didn't happen that season. And it didn't happen the next. And, frankly, you'd be sticking your neck out to say it has now. But this win, this glorious, victory-from-the-jaws-of-defeat, mesmerising win will perhaps be looked back on in years to come as the symbolic result of the time.

Arsenal, excellent and all-conquering in the first half. Two goals to the good. Passing and scoring with ease. Spurs, defending atrociously and looking like they were overrawed by the occasion and the stature of the opposition. And, amazingly, the second half couldn't have been more different. Spurs' big guns, Bale, van der Vaart and Modric, had failed to fire in the first 45 but they were a different side after the break. Defoe and van der Vaart combined to set Bale free and his measured finish stunned the home side and fans, who were probably still switched off, believing the rest of the game to be a mere formality.

Spurs pushed, Arsenal wilted. Fabregas punched a van der Vaart free-kick in the area and gave away a penalty. It was as if a long-suffering Spurs fan was writing the script for the game. Fabregas, the symbol of all we hated about Arsenal - the smug air of superiority, the arrogant comments about us in the media, the annoying but, at times, breathtaking talent. And there he was, the captain of the enemy, throwing away his side's lead and gifting us a route back to parity, a gift that van der Vaart happily accepted and celebrated with the passion and joy of a man who knew exactly what it meant to the club.

A point would have been brilliant, a win was akin to nirvana. Van der Vaart curled in a delightful free-kick late on, the majestic Kaboul rose highest and Spurs were minutes away from breaking one of the most famous and long-standing voodoos in English football. A few excruciatingly nervy minutes later and the deed was done. Spurs had beaten Arsenal away from home. They'd done it with grit and determination and belief, three things that were so badly missing in their shambolic first half performance.

But if they hadn't been 2-0 down, it wouldn't nearly have been as much fun. The win cemented the idea planted by Harry Redknapp that this Spurs vintage were good enough to win the Premier League title. Of course, it seemed a reckless thing to say - a comment born out of immediate euphoria rather than rational thought. But as Spurs spent the next week easing into the Champions League second round and dispatching Liverpool at the Lane, they looked every inch the Premier League's newest force. It didn't neccessarily stay that way all season but the ryhthm of North London Derbies had been broken and it was all eyes on the return in April to see what came next.

Part two coming soon...

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I think we're on a roll this time

Despite their footballing talents, Kaboul quickly realised he wasn't exactly in the company of great beauty

Where this blog is from, three wins on the spin, including two away from home and one against a team being billed as top four elect, is pretty good going. Especially when you consider the depths from where this winning streak has been born from. Whether Spurs are to end up back in fourth at the end of this season is a discussion for another time but what can't be doubted is that they're playing a quality of football that will stand them in very good stead for the upcoming battle.

The team has unquestionably been galvanised by the key acquisitions of Parker and Adebayor - the former providing the necessary blend of defensive aggression and intelligence on the ball that Wilson Palacios once threatened to produce and the latter proving in just three games to be the goalscoring (and ultimately superior)version of Peter Crouch. The entire squad looks revitalised as a result and even injuries that were initially diagnosed as long term are happily disappearing ahead of schedule (Sandro, King, van der Vaart). There'll be low points to come, sure, but there's a prevailing sense that this side can go far this year.

Saturday's win was both a tantalising glimpse of Tottenham's attacking might and a harsh reminder of our defensive and mental frailties. The first half was an exhibition of football from the heavens, with Bale the tormentor-in-chief, cutting Wigan's defence to shreds in a manner not unlike his best form from the past two seasons.

Adebayor's guile (not to mention some fairly casual home defending) created the first goal for van der Vaart, who is making a habit of arriving late in the box to finish off chances. It's not just with Crouch in tandem - he can scores goals in any side with any players.

Bale's headed second was another welcome departure from convention. How often do Spurs ever score from corners? Yet the Welshman added yet another string to his bow (and perhaps a few extra millions to his price tag) and directed a fine header home from Modric's outswinging corner. If you didn't see the goal, just picture his header against Blackburn last season and add a little more precision and finesse. You didn't see that goal either? Well then, there's just no pleasing you, is there?

Despite proliferation of missed opportunities in the first half, there was so little about Wigan as an attacking force that you sensed the second half could be just as one-sided. But after BAE's mindlessly wayward pass allowed the home side a route back into the game, we took on the form of Tottenham from seasons gone and started to panic. Were it not for the resolution and calm presence of King, we might well have left with only a point.

But hold on, we did and it's now a highly satisfactory three wins from three, with the North London Derby to come on Sunday. With Arsenal looking so incredibly shaky in recent weeks and our mini-resurgence, the form book surely points to the Cockerel. But, with this being Spurs and all, it's best to throw conventional logic and wisdom out of the window. Expect goals. And red cards. And Wenger complaints. And van der Vaart to score.

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The Carling Cup doesn't matter

The selection of a child in Tottenham's lineup added fuel to the suggestion that Redknapp wasn't too bothered about the Carling Cup

Fredi Kanoute, Michael Brown, Jermaine Jenas, Pascal Chimbonda, David Bentley, Jamie O'Hara and now Roman Pavlyuchenko and Massimo Luongo. It's just as, if not a little bit more, depressing a list as Pearce, Waddle, Southgate, Batty, Vassell, etc. Our list of penalty shootout failures continues to grow and, much like the national side, there is a sense that we're just not likely to ever win one.

To be honest, that we scored so many was a surprise to this blog. You'd have got good odds for Defoe missing his and the likes of Townsend, Corluka (Carling Cup final, now this - permanent taker?), Kaboul and Tommy Carroll deserve praise for putting their hands up and doing the job. As for Pav, well... the less said the better. An utterly lamentable attempt that completely mirrored his disinterested excuse of a performance.

So we're out of the Carling Cup at the first hurdle. A competition that we once had a mini-monopoly over (we, erm, made the semis quite a lot and the final a couple of times in succession), now holds about as much interest to us as Dimitar Berbatov does to Sir Alex Ferguson. But does it really matter?

The answer is no. If anything, bowing out of the competition now is very much a positive thing. I've never wanted to be one of those fans who prioritises certain games and trophies over others but, unfortunately, that's the price you have to pay to manage a successful, multi-competition season. Tottenham's priority this year is 4th place or higher. That's the be all and end all. Success in a cup would be great but having flirted with the Milans and Madrids of this world last season, Spurs want back in and the only way to do that is via a hugely successful Premier League campaign.

The FA Cup is a prestigious trophy and one all Spurs fans have an affinity with and would like very much for us to win. The Europa League is also something we should strive to win but it's also a big drain on resources. The ludicrous scheduling and structure of the tournament means that squads are stretched from the very beginning of the season and that trips to the furthest corners of the continent are made with precious little time to get back and prepared for the weekend's Premier League game. Our trip to Kazan is a perfect example of this.

Therefore, intelligent squad management is necessary and was put to use by Redknapp in Thessaloniki last week. One suspects everyone at Spurs would dearly love to win the Europa League but these early group stage matches are to be assigned slightly less importance that they perhaps deserve. If that sounds snobbish then maybe it is. But there's no escaping the fact that there are simply more important games to be played at this stage in the season. Hence, van der Vaart's exclusion from the Europa League group stage squad (which was, by the way, a perfectly legitimate decision).

That leaves the Carling Cup. It's silverware and it's a day at Wembley in front of almost 100,000 fans. But, frankly, it just isn't that high on our list of priorities and going out this early whilst our 4th place rivals continue is probably a good thing. A winning cup run is good for any club's momentum but our absence from any further midweek League Cup games allows our notoriously injury-prone squad more time to rest and prepare.

So whilst this blog feels a degree of sympathy for poor Luongo for missing that decisive kick at Stoke, he may well have done us a favour. Not that he'd have known at the time. Chin up lad.

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Four-midable Spurs back in business

Now probably wasn't the best time for Modric to enter into a bicep competition with member of the Park Lane

Oh my, when we're good, we're good. Four goals to the Hotspur, none to the Liverpool pretenders and, for ninety minutes on a Sunday afternoon, all felt right within the world. How long that feeling is sustained for is now anyone's guess.

Supporting Spurs is a notoriously stressful occupation, with the predisposition for agonising failure being prevalent in most, if not all, fans. Only the uneducated go into every game without the dreaded fear that at some point things will go, for lack of a better phrase, balls up. But, worry not: they'll soon learn themselves and become as bitter and as cynical as the rest of us.

But, every once in a while, a result comes along that erases all of the suffering of before and substitutes in a feeling of immense euphoria, if only for a day or two. It's as if the humiliating 5-1 home defeat to Man City had literally never happened. As Spurs produced a performance of such majesty against an inferior Liverpool side, the darkness of our opening two games this season immediately gave way to optimism and talk of a successful run at fourth spot. Whether that's likely or not is a discussion for another time. For now, let's talk 4-0.

And weren't they magnificent. From the moment Modric arrived on the edge of the box to lash home a quite exceptional opening goal, there was a mark about Spurs that suggested they were here to play. This would not be another mission in rolling over at the first sign of trouble. Over the next 87 minutes, Liverpool were out-thought, out-manned, out-gunned and out-played. As ludicrous as this may sound, 4-0 flattered them.

Everything went Spurs' way. From Parker's combative midfield display to Bale's demolition job on Martin Skrtel. From King's defensive master class (not that there was too much to cope with) to Adebayor's guile up front in partnership with Defoe. No member of the side can be said to have had a bad game.

Our cause was helped by Liverpool's refusal to offer anything close to a challenge. Charlie Adam, a villain in these parts for his disgusting hit on Bale last season, finally earned the red card that he should have been showed five months ago. If his first yellow card was contentious, the reprehensible knee-high 'tackle' on Parker deserved a straight red in itself. With Spurs already one up at that point, the game could have gone one of two ways: either Spurs made use of their numerical and scoreline advantage and stretched Liverpool around the pitch to add more goals. Or the opponents were galvanised to the point where Spurs crumbled. Thankfully (as if it were ever in doubt!) the gods opted for the former.

Bale gave Skrtel the runaround all afternoon, in a display to finally look something like his Maicon-tormenting best. Mind you, 'all afternoon' is an exaggeration as Skrtel too was dismissed from the field on the hour for one too many bookable offences on the flying Welshman. 'If you can't stop him, kick him' might be a successful tactic against Bale but not when said kicks are performed with as little subtlety as this. Moments later, Spurs were three to the good, via goals from Defoe and Adebayor, and coasting. The fourth, Ade's second, served simply to put the proverbial icing on the cake.

The Anglo-Togolese partnership up top showed further signs of blossoming with three goals between them to add to the two scored at Wolves last week. Defoe isn't exactly looking like Messi but he's getting in better positions than he was last season, mainly down to Adebayor's support play, and it's paying off. He's got three in Spurs colours this season already, compared to just one at this stage last year (and that should have been ruled out for handball anyway). As for Adebayor, if he carries on like this, those Arsenal connections will be conveniently forgotten.

Parker, as mentioned, was incredible and has immediately proved himself to be the perfect foil for Modric. He's all the best parts of Palacios and Huddlestone combined into one super holding midfielder. He can tackle, he can run and he can pick a pass, meaning Modric can roam further up the pitch without worrying about what's happening behind him. How Arsenal or even Liverpool themselves didn't want to sign him up is an absolute mystery.

And a quick word on Modric himself... let's not mess around: he was absolutely sensational. The best central midfielder in the country at this moment? Probably. But did no-one else feel a bit odd watching him celebrate his goal like he hadn't just spent the summer sticking a knife in our back and twisting it? Much like when he walked off against City without even acknowledging the fan's applause, it seems as if he'd completely forgotten everything that's happened. Maybe that's just the way it is. If he wants to play like that for the rest of the season then this blog won't be complaining too much. But don't think for a second, Luka, that we've forgotten too.

So, after looking abject to the point of utter despair in the first two games, our season is suddenly looking quite rosy. With Liverpool stuttering and Arsenal in the middle of their biggest crisis since, well, since many of us can remember, that fourth place doesn't look entirely out of the question. But then it's only September.

Better to just enjoy the moment and worry about later another time. But that's a bit boring so feel free to boldly declare our fourth place finish as an inevitability in the shape of a comment below.

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Guest blog: Crouch's legacy of disappointment

Here's a treat for all you lot: the excellent Vertigo by author John Crace was recently released into the literary world and this blog is here to tell you that it's an absolute must-read if you're of a Spurs persuasion (which, seeing as you're on this website, is quite likely).

From the point of view of a long-suffering Spurs fan, the book tells the tale of Spurs in 2010/11 - the European highs, the domestic lows, Harry, Gareth, Rafa, Luka, all of it. It's a fascinating and in-depth look into the 'fear of success' that came with last season and Crace writes expertly on how Tottenham's on-pitch fortunes affected his personal life and vice-versa.

For anyone who's ever looked up to the heavens and felt like a Spurs defeat was destined to be the natural order of things, this should be an essential component of your Christmas list. What's more, John has very kindly taken the time to write a guest blog for us, providing his thoughts on the recently departed Peter Crouch and the arrival of Emmanuel Adebayor. If you enjoy this, you're going to love the book. Take it away, John:

I felt oddly relaxed watching Spurs at Molineux last Saturday. It wasn't that the standard of football was so high – the five minute package at the tail end of Match of the Day was more than the game deserved; it was the thought that if by any chance we did manage to create an opportunity, we had a striker in Emmanuel Adebayor who was more than likely to take it. And so it proved.

Imagine a parallel world in which Crouchy hadn't been sold to Stoke and it was he who found himself one on one with the keeper. We all know what would have happened. He'd have tripped over his legs, lost control of the ball and stabbed it feebly wide. We know, because we've all seen him do it countless times over the past few seasons. It's painful to say, but it's true.

I want to love Crouchy for scoring the goal against Manchester city at Eastlands that took us into the Champions League and the one – I can overlook the fact he scuffed it – that beat AC Milan in the San Siro to take us to the Champions League quarter-final. And I sort of do; at least I've got photographs of both goals up on my landing wall at home. But the feeling I most associate with Crouchy is pain. How could I not? Time after time last season I almost cried with despair when I got the text saying he was in the starting XI because I just knew we were going to struggle to score. Crouchy is that uniquely English creation: the £12m international striker who can't score.

And it's not just me that thinks like this. Everyone who sits near me in the East Stand Lower felt exactly the same way. We'd see him come out on to the pitch and say, 'Why?' Well, everyone except Justin who remained blindly loyal to Crouch until the end of March. Then even he had had enough. None of us could understand why Harry kept on picking him. We could only imagine Crouchy must know some of the guvnor's guilty secrets...

And that's what I really remember about last season. Call me a typical Spurs miserabilist, but look beyond our great Champions League adventure and what you are left with are opportunities missed. We drew far too many games we should have won comfortably and lost too many we should have drawn. Those lost points cost us a return to the Champions League. And the reason we dropped those points was quite simple: for much of the season our strikers couldn't buy a goal. With Crouchy by far the worst culprit.

So that's why I'm feeling bizarrely chilled at the moment, despite the fact we've only got three points from three games and have been thumped by both Manchester teams. It's because at last we have a striker who knows where the goal is. Adebayor may be a handful, his attitude may sometimes stink but give him a sniff of goal and he will take it. And that kind of confidence rubs off on the others: Defoe looked a lot brighter playing alongside Adebayor than he did partnering Crouchy. I'm even daring to believe we might beat Liverpool and the Arse again...

Between those games, of course, there is a trip to the Britannia to play Stoke in the Carling Cup. And it will be sod's law if Crouchy scores. But you know what? I'd take that in return for not worrying where his next goal was coming from.

Vertigo is published by Constable & Robinson and is available now. You can purchase the book on Amazon here. Do the right thing and get yourself a copy - no book will better encapsulate the exaggerated highs and lows that come with being a Spurs fan.

Thanks John.

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Liverpool at the Lane

Even stood next to Bale, Kuyt was still the ugliest specimen on the field

Remember when Liverpool were really good? No? Well that's fair enough, it was a fairly long time ago (he says in jest, fully aware of his own team's recent decline). But if you believe the crowing coming from Merseyside these days, you'd be forgiven for thinking they're shoe-ins for the title. So their arrival in N17 on Sunday lunchtime carries an extra spice: one team desperate to prove that they're still a force to be reckoned with... the other, erm, is Liverpool.

Our recent history against the Scousers is as good as it has been for a long time. Everyone remembers Aaron Lennon's last minute winner at White Hart Lane last year and we even managed to end the long-held Anfield curse with a late season 2-0 win. The last time we succumbed at home was in 2008, an already-on-holiday 2-0 loss on the final day of a nothing season. Liverpool at the Lane tends to be a game with rich potential for three points - enough of a challenge that we actually have to turn it on but not so good that it's an insurmountable task.

But for all the piss-taking of the opening paragraph, Liverpool bring with them their strongest side in years. Luis Suarez is unquestionably one of the best forwards in the country right now, even if he does have a slightly reprehensible aura about him. It's tough to imagine him enjoying a cordial relationship with the Park Lane but he poses a great big threat to our crumbling defence and could wreak havoc in the same manner as Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero did back in August. A fit and firing Ledley King is utterly essential.

Charlie Adam, another with a potentially fractious relationship with the home crowd, has the ability to supply Suarez with all the ammunition he needs and there's also the added threat of Craig Bellamy, acquired on a free transfer on the last day of the window. Their squad reads like a who's who of players we could and perhaps should have signed.

Yet, their season hasn't been entirely smooth sailing, even if it has been markedly superior to our own. They gained a very credible 2-0 win away at Arsenal but have also succumbed away at Stoke and been held at home by Sunderland, meaning that their form is something of a mixed bag. What's more, 'King' Kenny Dalglish has already started to shown signs of mental disintegration (or more commonly known as 'a touch of the Wengers') with his 'referees are out to get us' comments after the Stoke game. So on the off chance that we scrape together a winning performance, expect a post-match tirade from the opposition camp.

Prediction town? Horrible time to predict a Spurs result, given our very own fluctuating form. Best to play it safe and plump for a 1-1 draw, Adebayor to hit the back of the net. But who cares what this blog thinks. The floor is yours...

P.S. Didn't the kids do well in Greece on Thursday?

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We're back

Modric proving once and for all that his head is 'in the right place' (i.e. on his shoulders).

Project 2011/12 is finally underway. As Piers Morgan astutely pointed out on Twitter in reference to his beloved Arsenal, 'the real season starts now'. Those embarrassing early few games for both sides obviously don't count (erm, except that they do!?).

Spurs have made a habit in recent years of winning away games that the more pessimistic amongst us have nailed down for disappointment. Stoke and Portsmouth two years back. Blackburn and Fulham last season. And now Wolves have been put to the sword, courtesy of two swings of the boot from Emmanuel Adebayor and Jermain Defoe. Defeat at Molineux would have turned our season start into a real nightmare. As it happens, the win could well invigorate us for some tough challenges ahead.

So what was different from this Spurs side to the one that got so embarrassingly schooled by both sides of Manchester?

Well, for a start, Adebayor and Scott 'Thunderbird 1' Parker made quite seamless transitions into the side - the former rounding the keeper expertly to put us one up, the latter with the deft through ball for said opener. And that's not all Scotty contributed. Classy on the ball, tough in the tackle and with enough determination to share out amongst the entire squad, he instantly became the midfield marshall we all used to wish Wilson Palacios would morph into.

Adebayor also had a good all-round debut, linking well with the midfield and making enough runs to create the space Defoe needs to badly to be effective. Basically he was everything Crouch isn't, though admittedly the big man used to look okay in the 4-4-2 that Manu was treated to in his debut game.

It was also heartening to see Defoe grab his first goal early on in the season. The argument rages on amongst the Spurs online community: if you believe some, JD is on the verge on another epic, 2009-10-style scoring spree. Others say he's still as lazy and as useless as he was in the last campaign. As for his goal, it was telling that only a slip from the defender in front of him allowed him the space to run into and score. Had the man stood his ground, it's likely there wouldn't have been a goal. But put the chance away he did. So maybe he is about to lay all who stand in his way to waste and start putting up big numbers again. We promise to complain a lot less if he does.

The final word goes to the incredible specimen that is Ledley King. Has months out of the game, never trains, surprisingly slots back into the side at short notice and immediately looks top class. There are few superlatives left to describe the man - when he plays, we are almost twice the team we are when he doesn't. The day he finally packs it in will be a sad one for the club but no-one will deserve it more than our Ledley.

The kids are off to Salonika on Thursday for a Europa League jaunt with PAOK. Don't expect many first teamers to be rolled out, what with them Scousers coming to town on Sunday for a potential humdinger of a match. Get your excuses in order Kenny - Spurs are back. Sort of.

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The Wolves are at my door

Not entirely surprisingly, Hutton was nowhere.

Well, technically, we're at their door, what with it being an away game and all. But I digress.

Our zero-points-two-games Premier League campaign gets back underway tomorrow with a visit to the Midlands. Wolves away has held nowt but frustration for us since their readmission to the PL. A bitterly cold and frustrating 1-0 defeat in 2010 momentarily stalled our push for 4th place that season and the 3-3 draw in March, erm, stalled our push for 4th that season too.

It's the quintessential game that we should win on paper but it always turns out to be a nightmare. Perhaps our lot just don't fancy it against a spirited team with a partisan crowd baying for blood from these 'soft Londoners'. Throw into the bargain their excellent start to the season and current 5th place position, it makes tomorrow look like a banana skin ready to be slipped on.

And we can ill-afford a poor result here. Our awful start to the season has to be tempered by the quality of the opposition but a defeat to Wolves would not only make in 0 and 3, it'd also rule out the excuse that we've only played the highest calibre of team in the league (sorry Wolves fans, I don't think you're going to win the title - please don't lynch this blog like you did last season).

But, before it can be said that The Boys From White Hart Lane is all about the negatives, let's assess what might go right. We have a (slightly) rejuvenated squad thanks to the deadline day clear-out and under-rated acquisitions of Scott Parker and Emmanuel Adebayor. Parker should slot right into the middle of the park and provide much needed bite and determination, something that's been missing since the early days of Sgt. Wilson.

Adebayor finally gives us a new option in attack and, if he doesn't bring the goals immediately, he'll at least be more adept at holding the ball and bringing others into play than the likes of Defoe and Pav. That said, if he doesn't score straight away, this blog will be calling for the termination of his loan deal.

Van der Vaart's unfortunate six-week injury might appear a terrible loss on paper but it's not the end of the world, as REM once tried to claim. VDV, fine player and hero though he may be, often means the team has to play an awkward 4-4-1-1 to accommodate him and we've been starved of regular goals as a result. His absence might lead to a return to the gloriously tried and tested 4-4-2 (or a variation) that works so well.

It's the defence, however, that raises the most concerns and Dawson and Kaboul had better put their heads together and decide if they really want to be the pairing that ships 8 goals in 2 games. Some of the defending against City was of the lowest standard possible and, though both players have shown themselves in the past to be of immense quality and potential, it simply must be better. Give a team like Wolves half an inch and they'll take a mile.

2-1 to the Fighting Hotspur, Adebayor and Bale to grab to goals. Fingers crossed.

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Farewell St Peter

Crouch's joke answer to how many goals he'd score that season was scarily accurate

Sometime around 9.20pm on May 5th 2010, Younes Kaboul's fierce cross-cum-shot was palmed out and the rebound was nodded in by Peter Crouch. Spurs went 1-0 up against Man City in a winner-takes-all showdown for 4th place and Champions League football. Crouch had been the scorer of many an important goal all season and that moment was the culmination of a season's worth of hard work and perseverance.

A year or so later, the same man scored again at Eastlands... but at the wrong end. His own goal meant that Spurs sacrificed their 4th spot to those same opponents from a year previously and Crouch was left with a shockingly poor return of just four Premier League goals all season. Sure, there was a fair number of Champions League strikes to go with it but, to be brutally honest, they were more down to the work of others (eg Bale v Inter, Lennon v AC Milan).

Last weekend's mauling at the hands of Man City turned out be Crouch's last game in a Spurs shirt. And, perhaps symbolically, he gave a fairly anonymous display as part of an ineffectual 4-4-1-1 formation. His transfer to Stoke frees up space in our squad and in our attack for more of a goal-scoring threat. It also should stop us from playing countless long balls over the top that rarely work - Crouch's presence in a team often renders the long ball as the most popular method of attack, despite its obvious ineffectiveness.

But the criticism stops right there. Crouch, for all his flaws, has been a great servant to the club and has played his part in some of our best moments in the last two years. His starting place has not once looked set in stone, meaning he has had to fight for his place week in week out. And out of the much maligned front three, Crouch was often the one who looked like he wanted his place the most.

Think of a golden moment from our recent past and you can bet Crouch will have been involved. From that goal at Man City to the hat-trick against Young Boys to get us in the CL group stage. From those glorious assists for van der Vaart at the start of last season to that wonderfully composed finish at the San Siro to beat AC Milan. Crouch may have ended his Spurs career on a bit of a damp squib but there were plenty of champagne moments to go with it (the less said about that red card in Madrid, the better).

So, whilst it's not exactly a crying shame that he's departed, it would be just that if we let him go without recognising the part he played in our success over the past few years. Cheers Crouchy, please don't score against us this year.

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Transfer window aftermath

News of Hutton's departure had quickly reached the players

4-2-3-1: Friedel; Walker, Dawson, Gallas, Assou Ekotto; Parker/Huddlestone, Modric; Lennon, van der Vaart, Bale; Adebayor. Has a nice ring to it, does it not?

The transfer window didn't so much slam shut as it did gently but firmly close last night and Spurs have been left, once again, to rue a couple of deals that got away. The priorities all summer have been a new striker (check) or two (not done), defensive reinforcements (not done), a goalkeeper (check) and a midfielder to replace any outgoing incumbents (check).

Brad Friedel, Scott Parker and Emmanuel Adebayor are three good signings and to get them for the measly fee of £5m combined represents good business from a man once associated with throwing cash around with reckless abandon. And to get rid of so much deadwood from the squad is also a positive move forward. Shifting Hutton, O'Hara, Crouch, Palacios, Bentley and Jenas (finally!) ultimately makes our sqaud stronger.

But the overall feeling remains that we may have missed the boat on a number of potentially excellent deals. Gary Cahill is the obvious example - we had the funds in place to make the signing and all that needed doing was paying what Bolton wanted but we couldn't agree a deal. Snatching him from under the noses of Arsenal would have been a very strong move.

We also missed out on Craig Bellamy - a disruptive presence perhaps but, on a free transfer, a great option to have in the squad. The same goes to Joe Cole. And despite having had about a year to scout, approach and then sign a quality new front man, the reality is we've only got Adebayor on loan. Meaning that the search must go on. Llorente, Rossi, Leandro, Vucinic, etc... none of them are any closer to the Lane than they have been for the past 12 months.

But, despite not really splashing the cash in the manner of Liverpool or, dare we say it, Arsenal, Spurs' squad is definitely better than it was. And the above line-up and formation looks like a team worthy of taking on anyone else in the League.Whether it's a team that can deliver a top four finish is another matter entirely.

Here's the full list of ins and outs, just in case you need reminding:

IN: Brad Friedel (Aston Villa, free), Cristian Ceballos (Barcelona, free), Souleymane Coulibaly (Siena, undisclosed), Emmanuel Adebayor (Man City, loan), Yago Falque (Juventus, loan), Scott Parker (West Ham, £5m)

OUT: Peter Crouch (Stoke, £10m), Wilson Palacios (Stoke, £8m), Jamie O'Hara (Wolves, £5m), Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy, £1.8m), Alan Hutton (Aston Villa, undisclosed), Jonathan Woodgate (Stoke, free), Kyle Naughton (Norwich, loan), Steven Caulker (Swansea, loan), Bongani Khumalo (Reading, loan), Ryan Mason (Doncaster, loan), Jonathan Obika (Yeovil, loan), David Bentley (West Ham, loan), Jermaine Jenas (Aston Villa, loan)

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Manchester 2 London 0

Dawson had chosen competely the wrong moment to unleash his sex face on Corluka

Is this the end of it all? Is this the conclusion of an epic three year journey from two-points-eight-games to the dizzying heights of the Champions League and back again? Are those halcyon nights in Milan and Madrid and afternoons at the Emirates and Anfield to be consigned as a thing of the past? Or is there life in this Tottenham machine yet?

The early signs aren't good. The postponement of what would have been our opening game of the season left us with an opening brace of games against the two Manchester powerhouses, energised and raring to go after splashing the cash over the summer on some of the finest players going around. What had looked like a tough start was suddenly an increasingly insurmountable one, with the idea of taking any points being outweighed by a truly abysmal away record at United and the likelihood of City continuing their excellent start to the season with their plethora of attacking riches.

And so it proved, as Spurs performed their annual trick of matching United blow for blow right up until the home side score… and then caving in. It's difficult to appraise a performance like the 3-0 defeat we suffered that night as United are clearly in a league of their own at the moment (well, not strictly on their own but you get the point). The club is brimming with youthful enthusiasm and their young English players are taking the opening few weeks by storm. So it's perfectly understandable that we lost the game to the superior team.

But one of these days it's going to have to end. This crippling fear that Tottenham players seem to have when playing United at Old Trafford, a fear that only seems to strike once we've conceded. 2009: we were two-nil up and cruising. A contentious penalty here, a stroke of Ronaldo genius there and before you knew it, we'd shipped five goals. Last season, we were holding them at 0-0 and looking extremely threatening in their half of the field. As soon as Vidic put them one up, we were finished. If Spurs have serious designs on becoming one of the nation's top sides, then records like ours at Old Trafford are unacceptable. Quite simply, it's embarrassing.

However, as mentioned, an opening day defeat to the country's best side was nothing to get uptight about. The soporific 0-0 with Hearts in midweek didn't precious little to spark any excitement, though few were complaining – the chance to see the generation of Spurs youngsters such as Harry Kane, Tom Carroll and Andros Townsend all take the field in the starting XI was enough to interest most observers and though the game petered out into nothingness, it was pleasant to see young players trying to make their mark in the game.

And then City came to town. And any notions we may have had about being able to compete with them, we did effectively in 09/10 and gallantly but unsuccessfully in 10/11, were blown out of the water by a simply awesome away display. Spurs were a mess. Modric allegedly asked Redknapp before the game not to select him (any respect this blog once had for this man has long since disappeared). The wantaway Croatian was partnered with Kranjcar in midfield, leaving us with no defensive midfielder to stem the City tide. Redknapp was slated by fans for this but the simple truth is that we had no-one else available.

Dzeko, Aguero, Nasri, Silva… everywhere you looked, City had world class talents on the ball. It's not as if they've suddenly become this good overnight but their improvement from last season's negativity to the all guns blazing attack they're favouring now is remarkable. As the goals poured in, Spurs fans could be forgiven for wondering if they'd ever be able to match what was being put on in front of them. 4-0 down after just 60 minutes. Dzeko rampant. Aguero just as good. Upfront, we had Peter Crouch by himself. It's possible that there's no greater illuminating statement than that.

There's no escaping the fact that City have elevated themselves to a status higher than us – throwing down huge money on players like Aguero and Nasri will do that. Last season, it seemed possible, likely even, that we could compete on a level with them but that's unfortunately a thing of the past. There shouldn’t be any shame in that from our perspective. The bare truth is that we can't compete with them financially.

What's worrying, however, is the manner of our defeat. We didn't just get beaten, we were humiliated. White Hart Lane is an incredible hard place for away teams to take points and has been for the past few seasons. Spurs hardly ever lose games at home – one, maybe two at a push, each season. And for City to not just disprove that theory but to do it to the tune of a 5-1 win is nothing short of embarrassing.

Defensive calamities, the likes of which were exhibited by Spurs at the weekend, against Real Madrid, Inter and, erm, Fulham, last season, are not befitting of a team that wants to be in the top four. Dawson, for all his class, still occasionally looks like he needs his hand holding by Gallas or King. Kaboul, who looked to have come on leaps and bounds last season, was utterly hopeless and even though he scored our consolation, he was perhaps more likely to be the cause of a goal in his own area, let alone at the other end.

Again, it's no great catastrophe to lose a game against a side that's better than you. But to go down showing barely any fight is a crime against the fans. Modric, who was afforded an extremely generous reception from the fans, refused to even acknowledge the applause he received when he was substituted. As if the past three years never happened. A complete and utter disregard towards the club and the supporters, who have been showering him with praise and affection for years.

Two games in and zero points. Bottom of the league. Knee-jerk prone fans would be wise to retain a sense of perspective – these were the two best teams in the country – but it still looks pretty shambolic on paper. New signings are clearly needed (more on this in a separate blog). Time to press the panic buttons yet?

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