Archive for September 24th, 2006

Mind The Gap, Spurs

398 comments September 24th, 2006

This table from the Barclays Premiership website invites fans to “Choose your club”. I doubt anyone out there is too eager to select “Tottenham”. Arsenal’s start to the season has been far from exemplary, but Tottenham’s has been nothing short of disastrous. Their 3-0 defeat to Liverpool yesterday means that they’ve got a mere four points, half of our own total, and scored just two goals (both against Sheffield United), compared to our superior six. No wonder many Tottenham fans are starting to doubt Martin Jol’s managerial credentials. I can’t claim to have had the idea for the visual to the right myself, but Tottenham would indeed be well advised to “Mind The Gap”.

On the other side of North London, things are looking up for Arsenal. Two consecutive wins mean that we’re suddenly back in the title race, with our odds shortening all the time. It’s remarkable how a combination of the win against Man Utd, followed by the significant first home victory, has completely transformed the mood around the club. The whole place is suddenly full of hope and expectation about the coming season. The new signings, Gallas and Rosicky in particular, are settling well and we suddenly appear to be a side capable of challenging for trophies again.

About time too, Arsene would argue. One trophy we always have a chance in is the League Cup, with our foreign legion of youngsters always keen to impress on their rare first-team outings. Yesterday’s draw saw us pitted against West Brom – a tricky test for our second string, but one which we could certainly hope to come through.

The important thing now, as I stressed yesterday, is to keep this run of results going – and that includes beating Porto on Tuesday. Arsene said of the Portugese side:

“I feel we have a big challenge, if you look at the English teams who have beaten Porto or Benfica you do not find many. So we have a big challenge, and do what nobody has done recently in England, is to beat them first. What I expect from Porto is very good technical level in the middle of the park, they keep the ball well, and from the rest… I don’t know what to expect because they play with two strikers, with three, with one… I don’t know too much, but I know we want to win this game, because if we win this game after [the win at] Hamburg, we are in a very, very strong position to qualify.”

Perhaps it’s just me, but Arsene sounds like he’s either slightly tipsy, or isn’t really sure what the interviewer has asked him. For a more succint summary of opinions, read The Independent’s Steve Tongue with Freddie Ljungberg.

Today’s the first Sunday morning we’ve been able to bask in after winning on the Saturday. Enjoy it.

Ps. The News of the World claims to be revealing Russel Brand’s celebrity secrets this morning.  Expect it to be news of his shocking affair with Eric Abidal. 


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