history.
It’s official, Sky and the rest of the media along with some other deluded folk told us, plans for Tim Sherwood’s statute to be unveiled outside the new stadium are in full swing.
Move over Bill Nicholson.
Oh and you won’t mention anything about the first couple of those five away wins on the trot being when Spurs were managed by AVB.
And we won’t mention that Timmy has been ever so slightly lucky in the fixture list since taking over the top job. Which hasn’t half helped in the unbeaten league run since – again no mention of two cup losses.
Southampton were in the middle of a down turn that saw them plummet down the league. Next up West Brom who hadn’t won for ages, barely picking up a point during that time and had just sacked their manager. Then Stoke who are just crap and managed by a crap manager who only gets jobs because of who he played for. Then ManUre facing their own demons under a new boss. Then Crystal Palace, crap team under a crap manager, bottom of the league at the time. And finally this week Swansea who hadn’t won a league game in over a month, another on a downward spiral.
Even with that line up of struggling teams it could have been oh so different come this Monday morning. No exaggeration to say that the points total of 16 from 18 could have been far, far less as bar Stoke each one of the games could have ended in defeat.
This game was no different. Up until the 34th minute it was all Swansea, while Hugo Lloris and the Swansea players accuracy were keeping Spurs in it the visitors hadn’t bothered the home goal in any way, shape or form. No shots on or off target until Eriksen put a gloriously dangerous cross across the face of goal for Adebayor to nod in the opener.
And as soon as that went in it was pretty much game over as Swansea head’s dropped and all fight was gone. From having all the time and space they required to run rings around those in baby blue – even with Timmy changing from 4-4-2 to a midfield packed 4-2-3-1 whiach apparently is now a great formation but wasn’t a little over a month ago – it was all Spurs.
When Shelvey hobbled off early into the second half it completely removed any fight Swansea had left. Couple of minutes later Michael Laudrup surely knew it really was all over when Michael Dawson played a glorious ball through the channel for Walker to bang a cross into the box where no Spurs player was for Chico to score an own goal.
They did look like they would Spurs it later on when Dembele missed leaving Adebayor fuming that the Belgian hadn’t passed to him. Well as I Tweeted at the time Dembele couldn’t trust that at the moment he played the ball Adebayor wouldn’t have been offside. He has some history of being and was trying his best to be so again. Dembele was right to take it himself, he should have scored. Moments later another counter saw Rose play Adebayor in this time and trying his best to bugger up a gilt edged chance he failed and eventually scored.
Everybody is gloating about Adebayor scoring and decrying AVB for freezing
him out. Yet this brace matched his total from all last season when he was very much part of AVB’s plans. He treated the team, manager and fans with contempt and yet all is now forgiven. What will he be like when the transfer window closes you wonder.
You also wonder who they’ll sell on Timmy’s say so. Holtby, Capoue, Chadli and Lamela you can all see going, which would be ridiculous. Hell if Eriksen hadn’t put in those recent performances – after getting in the game he was running things against Swansea – he’d probably be on that list. Yes Bentaleb looked good again, after disappearing during that opening 34 minutes but kids that look good when they start do tend to have a blip following their burst onto the scene, it’s no reason to bin Capoue.
Just enough time for Swansea to start trying again and for Bony to finally get his goal and for another Spurs’ clean sheet to go out the window.
In the end it looks impressive, 3-1 away, but Swansea are plummeting and are now being talked about as possible relegation battlers. The only team with any form that Spurs have played under Timmy beat them comfortably in the cup.
Next up is the really test, even with them not being so stunning away from home, but Citeh will be the real indicator.