Today was a really tough game to talk about. I mean we desperately needed to win this match, three points was essential at the start of the day after the Fulham result. That game has seriously affected this run in. I think it was down as one our banker three points and losing them has made it an uphill battle to recover. Following today we now have to beat Man City, which is going to be very tricky, especially with the 5-1 from last season hanging over the players. Thankfully the Chelsea game was postponed so hopefully we won't have to play another league game without our wingers and they'll be back for City.
Last week I was extremely confident of beating Everton, I really didn't see anything other than a Spurs win. Then Bale and Lennon get injured in the same game and it went from very confident to extremely pessimistic. Nobody really knew how we would adapt without any pace down the flanks and to be honest I was pleasantly surprised today. Obviously the draw is very disappointing, although the manner of it was good, but I think we played some nice football and if either team had deserved the win it would have been us.
We conceded two very sloppy goals once again. The first from a looping corner with no one on the back post once again. I personally think it was a foul as Jagielka was climbing all over Vertonghen but I haven't seen it again yet. Either way that referee today was absolutely diabolical, one of the poorest performances I have seen in ages. The second goal was another defensive mix up to let Mirallas get the ball although from then on it was superb by him, great finish. I do question Caulker a bit however as, not for the first time, he just backs off and backs off and gets turned very easily inside the box. He's got a lot of potential and will go on to be an excellent centre back, but he's young and he still has a lot to learn. Not even Ledley was perfect at that age.
Everton are a very strange side in my opinion. It's difficult to assess them and I really don't want to be too critical and sound bitter, but they are not ideal to watch, especially away from home. I thought it was very negative as usual, hit it up to Anichebe early and let him hold the ball up and allow for support. On that subject I do have to say he was probably the best player on the pitch, absolutely bullied Dawson and Caulker all game and was a fantastic outlet for them. Never seen him have such a good game and the improvement this season has been encouraging from an Everton point of view. I did think he went down very easily on occasion and I wasn't in the first half when he was down injured, got back up when Everton won the ball back and then went back down when they lost it. Their centre backs also had fine games, dealing with everything in the air and making a lot of last ditch interceptions to stop us getting through on goal. They are a very well organised unit and every player puts a proper shift in for the team which means it is hard to be critical. Maybe it's testament to them that I really don't like playing Everton.
As for our side, the stand-out performer was Adebayor. I've tried to stay positive and back him when a lot of our fans have been slagging him off and today was back to the Adebayor we need. He really took some of the responsibility for the team with Bale/Lennon out, worked very hard, got a goal, linked up the play superbly and made some dangerous runs. What I think was interesting is that he made this performance when we were playing such a different formation. Instead of our usual quick incisive direct passing out to the wings we had to be more intricate and narrow. We had Holtby, Dempsey and Gylfi all very close to Adebayor and this meant he was able to get his link up play going with one and two touch passes. It's his biggest strength and this change of shape was definitely a factor in his improvement.
On the front three once again Gylfi was the standout and justifying his selection of the other two in recent games. He is slowly becoming the player we need him to be. He is making things happen, getting on the ball, taking players on and playing passes/crosses in and around the box. He's also been popping up with goals when we needed them which has always been his biggest strength.
Holtby after his positive start to his Spurs career has been very hit and miss. He was by no means the worst player on our team today but he didn't assert too much influence and I don't think the AM role is his best one. Would much prefer to have him playing deeper and getting on the ball more.
Dempsey is absolutely useless unfortunately. He was never the right signing to make and it was a panic buy. He has a terrible first touch, no vision or creativity and his shooting is abysmal. He doesn't seem to be able to get any power on his shots, not that it matters as they never hit the target. I've tried really hard to like him, he's popped up with some important goals, but in the long run he really isn't good enough and I would like to see him moved on in the summer if at all possible whilst his stock is still high enough to command a decent fee.
Parker was once again a disappointment. There's only so many times he can slow down our attacks or lose the ball before we have to say enough is enough. I mean he still doesn't a good job in the tackle and winning the ball back, but he ruins a lot of our attacking impetus by running down blind alleyways and passing straight to the opposition/out of touch time and time again. Sandro has been such a miss in the second half of the season and Parker is another player I wouldn't mind showing the door in the summer.
Hugo showed his importance at the end with the save from Anichebe and Dembele was bright and positive as usual. I still do not rate him as highly as a lot of our fans due to his reluctance to play the early passes but hopefully he will learn. He is amazing with the ball at his feet taking people on, but just needs to learn when to release the ball as Adebayor was making some great runs for him today.
I am disappointed not to win the game, and the season does seem to be slipping away but who knows with Tottenham, the beauty of this club is that anything can happen, nobody really knows what to expect so we just have to take each game as it comes. Basel on thursday will be interesting. I assume it will be a similar team as we literally have nobody else in the squad that we can play but I would love to go through. Other than that we regroup for the City game, hope our wingers are fit and that Arsenal/Chelsea drop some points in the mean time. COYS