They may only have been the dregs of the English and Russian leagues respectively, but three consecutive wins have done enough to secure nods of mild satisfaction where once there were howls of anguish, so we can go into this one with sentiments bordering on cautious optimism. Moreover, the gods of fate seem to have nonchalantly tossed us a couple of extra scraps, and thus we find that the red mob will toddle up to the front gates sans Messrs Gerrard and Sturridge. Admittedly seeing Dawson go toe-to-toe with Suarez will be a little like having a member of the undead spend 90 minutes pulling a single entrail from our gut, but beyond that particular mismatch we ought to have a decent chance.
AVB would presumably not have dreamed of this a couple of weeks ago, but he actually has a few positive selection dilemmas to chew over today. To claim that we have an embarrassment of riches in attack is perhaps stretching the point, but after Defoe applied himself with some rigour and effect vs Sunderland and Fulham, we then had Soldado stumbling upon the secret formula for alchemy in midweek, albeit against fairly dreadful opposition. There are some who would still love to see the two of them pitted alongside each other and told to go out there and make merry, but presumably it will be one or t’other this afternoon.
In defence there seems to be a fairly definite hierarchy, so selection will simply depend upon who is fit, but the five across the midfield/attack again pose a few positive problems. AVB seems in recent weeks to have settled upon a selection strategy that involves writing names on paper, throwing them in the air and picking the ones that land nearest to him, but Messrs Lennon, Townsend and Holtby have all done the footballing equivalent of jumping up and down in front of him yelling “Pick me! Pick me!” while Sigurdsson seems a reliable sort of egg, and Lamela’s pass for the second goal on Thursday was drop-dead gorgeous. Nice to see the lad Eriksen back on his feet as well, and ahead of all of these in the queue is Master Paulinho, who has been the furthest man forward in recent weeks.
In the grand scheme of things three points would naturally help chivvy us along to where we want to be, but to take them at the expense of one our rivals – and particularly one boasting quite such smug office colleagues as this lot – would be a most desirable conclusion of affairs.
4 replies on “Spurs – Liverpool Preview: Striking Dilemma Ahoy”
Maybe a bit off topic but I don’t think that Soldado’s first goal on Thursday has been fully appreciated. To back head the ball not only over a defender but also over the keeper into the far corner was worthy of the fabled Alan Gilzean aka Gillie, and there is no higher praise. So yes it has to be Soldado to lead the line.
Dear Daniel. I’m not a natural bandwagon jumper but enough’s enough. I’m sure he’s a nice young man but he’s clearly not up to the job. The chaps seem keen enough but the tactics are all over the place. We get away with it against the chaff (except WHU) but against decent teams we’re horribly exposed. The season’s young enough that it’s not lost, but now is the time. THX.
“Our run is magnificent in the other competitions but not in the Premier League”. “I assume responsibility of the failure – we have to bounce back again”. Danny, these are the roses you have to start smelling.
More proof that DL is a AANP devotee!?