Some say 2 points dropped, some say a fair result and some say we were robbed. Potentially it's a bit of all of them.
Going forward at times the team were lost. The spaces that we expect to see someone creating (Bale and Lennon) were sorely missed yesterday. Holtby and Dempsey in my opinion were the players to take off. Holtby worked hard, but it just wasn't his day. Dempsey I thought just didn't get into the game enough. I will point out again that fans showing their frustration we all understand, but come on guys your support is what gives the team and players that extra boost!
Ade, Siggy and Dembele played very well. Ade a candidate for Man of the Match stands out for me and my article on Ade's return can be read by clicking HERE. Ade and Siggy are linking up well and it was a shame that things did not take a further and deserved twist to really show case our talents (or lack of according to others?) without Bale and Lennon.
Yesterday was a real opportunity for players to show that we are not a one man team and had it not been for the Clownspeople on the lines and running about amongst the players we would have had the correct ending to the game.
Jan made his biggest contribution to the game (on a positive spin) by putting in a great cross that had the Everton defenders running scared and allowed the ever improving Ade to slot in from close range. It was a great start, however the players than allowed Everton right back into the game. Everton's first goal in fact came from a complete lack of confidence by the LineClown. Jan Vertonghen was attempting to take the ball round his player and was pulled back so that he could not reach the ball which then went out of play (a throw was then awarded to Everton?). I think they should have swapped her flag for horn and balloons as it was disgraceful to see her miss it! The result was a lapse of concentration and defenders not paying any attention to their surroundings and for Jageilka to easy head in at the back post.
I was concerned at this point but not as concerned as seeing the next goal. A deflected ball ran through and every Spurs defender seemed to play chicken with the ball! This gave Mirallas all the space and time need to slot a cool shot past Lloris. We almost saw a carbon copy of this later on in the game (only for Gibson's shot to go wide).
After this the players seemed to perk up and pressed well. Dembele was the catalyst in the team and was doing well to drag the team on. Walker had another good game and did well down the right, making many interceptions, good runs and creating space for the other players. The difficulty that we had was that Dempsey and Holtby were changing between inside right and centre and did not do enough to create help for Walker on the right. We finished the second half well and truly did not deserve to be trailing.
The second half was very frustrating again with much of the play coming from Parker, Dembele, Siggy and Ade. It was the disappearance of Holtby and Dempsey that we were struggling with getting lost in the middle. Before his substitution Dembele had a great shot that Howard turned onto the bar and I am still scratching my head as to how it didn't go in and how we didn't get the rebound!
Then the most bizarre part of the game, with the likes of Carroll and Ceballos on the bench we see Huddlestone and BAE warming up and then Huddlestone come on for Dembele! Now forgive me if I am wrong but what was AVB thinking? Most substitutes made by AVB have been forced of recent, plus with the lack of options he had you could not really argue. However yesterday there was a huge option which would have been Dempsey & Holtby off for Carroll and Ceballos. Although Carroll came on it was far too late to make a significant difference.
Either way we saw some tiny glimpses of Dempsey with a dive and a tame shot in the second half, but even Huddlestone’s appearance had better success for a small part of the game compared to Holtby and Dempsey's large part. I think that sums up their day (I do rate them both, but there were found wanting).
The second half saw many more decisions from the official clowns that the FA had hired for the day from the Russian circus, diving in the box handballs in the box, deliberate fouls and tackle from behind that went unpunished by the culprit. Other fans reading this will think its sour grapes, but they were bizarre decisions with throws and corners not being given all second half and this was meet with the deserved "you don't know you you're doing" chants around the stadium. Consistencey is key to an officials game, but Everton were being awarded things that were turned away for Tottenham and our players were getting booked for things that the Everton players were unpunished for.
In the dying minutes of the game, I had almost got up from seat ready to leave and it all change. Kyle Walker again pushed down the right wing (with no support) and swung in a cross (which Dempsey left, thank god) and Ade composed himself hit a great shot which curled toward Howards left post, came off the post and then bounced into the path of Siggy who then squeezed in the rebound.
To the outside world a great game with mistakes by the players, the official clowns and some well worked goals. For us Spurs fans it was a point earned to come back from 2-1 down, but it was the comical defending and poor refereeing decisions that cost us 3 points.
It was 3 points needed yesterday and it will be harder against Chelsea and City, but seeing the overall display of confident build up play and patient passing I am happy to say that it’s proved that we are not a one man team (especially seems as we are also missing Sandro, Kaboul and Defoe), the likes of Dembele, Siggy and Ade proved that we do not have to rely on these players, but certainly miss them.
As always without these rollercoaster games it just wouldn't be Spurs. More fight from you lads and Ade, forget the moaning from the small section of the frustrated fans, keep up your performance and rub their noses in it!!!
Oh and to all those Arsenal fans reading this article that is nothing to do with them, the one lucky team over the weekend was your's its been made very clear from paundits alike, so don't go getting on your high horses just yet, the point most Spurs fans are always making is that the gap has been closing and its getting smaller and smaller.
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COYS!!!!!
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