this.
Easter Sunday was Sky Super Sunday and the days first football outing Spurs away to Burnley couldn’t have been more super if it tried.
Fifty five years ago this game, Burnley versus Spurs, would have been almost a title decider game, in 2015 it barely resembled a pre-season friendly.
A going through the motions performance from Spurs, in which some didn’t even manage that. The only good thing in the game for Spurs came about when Kyle Walker hobbled out in the second half.
While some may have baulked at saying it many were thinking it when he received an injury shortly before the break, nothing trivial one hopes. Stay down Kyle, don’t get back up. It looked like he would have to be replaced, then he got up. When he came out for the second half faces dropped but the way he hobbled it looked a strange thing to do, send him back out. It didn’t last long and then the misery of Walker was gone.
His ineptitude had made a god awful game even worse. As bright spots go it was a pretty dark one but the rot started early in this one with Walker. Just 44 seconds in and a diagonal ball from Burnley’s right to Spurs’ right. The Burnley recipient took the ball down with ease as he was under no pressure as Walker had run away from him with the ball in flight.
I don’t know, is he just scared of footballs? He’ll do anything not to touch one. Will try and defend with his arms or his arse instead of tackling. Will wait and wait and wait before before kicking one away. It’s a phobia.
He made one good tackle in the game, flying in he quickly took the ball without thinking, then he started to think the phobia kicked in and he buggered it up.
After his departure it meant Davies played centre-back and Vlad moved from there to right-back. Better all round.
Burnley had a very early chance when Mason coughed up possession but Ings fluffed his chance, kicking the ball straight at Vorm in goal – lucky that Bentaleb’s attempt at fouling him didn’t come off. Making his league debut some were fretting over Vorm’s inclusion through Lloris’ injury. He’d made one error in the League cup semi-final but is a ‘keeper you can trust.
He made one save, going in the top corner, that was particularly Llorisesque.
Elsewhere on the park Betaleb was doing nothing while being praised as the greatest thing since Dave Mackay. Chadli was looking like tthe Chadli we’ve had since his dad’s death. Kane wasn’t seeing much of the ball as captain. Eriksen was doing OK but nothing was working and Paulinho was Paulinho. Involved but god knows why. On bad half and Dembele is sent to Coventry while other swim along serenely.
One moment summed him up as he started things off in his own half the ball made it’s way to Kane who waited for the onrushing Brazilian before playing him through, on he ran to the Burnley box, just outside he went for a shot and meekly scuffed it away from goal for a dead ball.
Pathetic doesn’t quite describe it but it was fitting for this game. It was awful from start to finish as Spurs’ season peters out with more questions than answers.