Cup-holders Tottenham broke the spell of victorious Championship sides in the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup last night. And just as it seemed all the underdogs were winning, both Watford and Blackburn were knocked out.
It was business as usual for Redknapp’s side, and after an early scare, they came back with Pavlychenko’s penalty and a clinical finish for Bent – another to add to his personal growing tally. Solid performance by Spurs but it wasn’t the most riveting affair.
From the heights of 4 goal epics with the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal, Spurs seem to have settled down somewhat, grinding out wins recently, rather than racking up goal counts.
Tottenham Hotspur have always been a team equated with large score lines. They’ve scored a lot in the past but conceded a lot too – last season Tottenham scored only one less home goal than big-scorers Man United (46 to their 47), but only finished 11th as they conceded almost equally as many.
But recent games show each of their last 5 games have been decided by just a single goal, and Spurs have only conceded 4 (so much for Gomes being an awful blundering keeper). Is this an element of Harry’s game being formulated?
A tighter, stricter Tottenham looks to be developing. It may not be as entertaining but they’ll get more results this way and won’t concede as many stupid goals.
Center-back Jonathan Woodgate was crowned Carling Cup ‘man of the match’, which just goes to show that a good Tottenham performance is hinging a lot more on quality defence.
I think we’ll see less Spurs goal-feasts this season, but maybe that’s a good thing. They’ll start defending like a normal Premier League team does perhaps.
So whilst goal-grabbers Spurs weren’t getting the goals at Vicerage Road, Manchester United were slamming them in left, right and centre against Blackburn – Tevez with four!
I wish I’d watch that match now.
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