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While this result replicated the one last year, with a point gained, the
result should have been so much different and the failure to hold onto
and build on a lead against a side like Fulham may be detrimental in
future games Spurs face. Having
twice been two goals ahead, there is no way that the home side should
have been allowed back into the game. Unfortunate to hit the post
and have one cleared off the line, Tottenham had enough chances to win
easily and then trying to sit back and defend the lead is always a
mistake.
With Martin Jol under pressure over the
last couple of weeks, you would have thought a second convincing victory
might have taken the spotlight off him for a while. But while I am
not one to call for someone's head unnecessarily, he will need to sort
out the side's defending from set-pieces and if he believes in an
attacking policy, then he should stick to it.
With Kaboul just back from injury and
Dawson coming on for his first appearance of the season, it was not a
time to start letting the pressure build on the back four. A
deflected goal was cruel, but the poor marking at the death lead to
Fulham's late equaliser and the loss of two valuable points. The
match preview on this page hinted that the Cottagers would not give up,
so why didn't Tottenham do the same.
From the start of the game, Tottenham
were going forward at Fulham. Berbatov is the one who was ruled
offside for the first of many times Spurs got caught out. Fulham
played a high back line, but Tottenham's forwards and midfielders did
not time their runs well enough to make the most of the huge gaps in the
white shirted back four. Fulham's defence was so ragged, the
chances came so regularly, the Spurs players must have got bored, as
they wasted them as they ran into a 2-0 lead.
Too many times players decided to pass on
responsibility for shooting to someone else - Keane's flick out right to
Malbranque in the sixth minute which ended in Niemi's arms - being the
first example. Also too often players failed to attack the danger
areas when Spurs had dead ball situations. Jenas' second half
corner dropped invitingly in the six yard box with only white shirts
there and Huddlestone's free-kick to the far post slipped a foot past
the post with Niemi and a defender leaving it to each other, when
Chimbonda should have been moving onto it and would have had a simple
chance to score.
As it was, Spurs were literally handed
the first goal, with Antti Niemi dropping a corner at the feet of,
luckily for him, one of his defenders - Baird - who hoofed the ball away
for another corner. Although this one came in from the other side,
Bale's ball in was again dropped and the one bit of luck Tottenham had
saw the ball bounce off Younes Kaboul and he only had to stab the ball
over the line from a foot out to make it 1-0. Ten minutes had
passed.
The opportunities continued. Hud
volleyed well over and Keane's near post header went over, but Robbo
spilled a low cross from Bouazza and Steve Davis knocked the loose ball
over the bar. After 27 minutes, Berbatov's goal put Spurs into a
lead which should have ensured more than the finished up with. A
bouncing ball was played down the right for Dimitar, who got beyond
Stefanovic and cut into the area to unleash an early shot that beat
Niemi at his near post.
At this point Fulham were there for the
taking. Jenas raced through on goal, but took too long to decide
if he was going to shoot or pass square to Keane, leaving Bocanegra the
opportunity to tackle him. A minute later Keane did the same
thing, dithering instead of getting his shot away. You had the
feeling that if the score had been 0-0 or if the chances had fallen to
Defoe, they might have ended differently. Malbranque's shot was
deflected wide and then Rocha got to the corner first and his near post
header went to the far post, with no-one there for Tottenham once again.
When it looked
so comfortable for Tottenham, it all started
to go wrong. Simon Davies played in a
straightforward corner, but with Chimbonda
getting the wrong side of his man, Clint
Dempsey had an east task in powering a
header into the net, just three minutes
before half time. Even then, there was
a chance for Bale to restore the two goal
advantage, forcing Niemi to a low save after
being played in by Berbatov.
The second half
started well with Berba striking a ball in
the air and forcing Niemi to a flying save
to tip it over the bar and eight minutes
later, Jermaine Jeans repeated the action,
with the Fulham keeper tipping the shot
round the post. Still the chances came
along with Steed striking a loose ball
fiercely, but it bounced back off the
goal-post with Niemi beaten. Spurs had
to wait until the 61st minute to beat the
goalie, with Kaboul winning a defensive
header and the ball was helped onto Gareth
Bale through Huddlestone and Keane, to leave
him a free run on goal and he was clam
enough to look up to see Berbatov to his
right and chose to slide the ball home
between Niemi and his right hand post.
It was a cool finish from a young man who
was the Spurs man of the match for his
energetic performance.
At 3-1 up
with half an hour to go, it should have
spelled the end for Fulham, but it was from
here that the tide turned. The front
two became more distant from the midfield
and that meant both that the ball fell to
Fulham most times when it was cleared from
either end and also that the pressure built
on our defence. There was still time
for Jenas to burst into the area and chose
to pass to Keane (unsuccessfully as it turns
out) instead of shooting, while Bocanegra
and Niemi messed up dealing with a high ball
on the edge of their box and Berbatov
drilled his shot at what seemed like an open
goal, only for Chris Baird to appear and
manage to deflect it wide with his thigh.
Keane looked
disgusted to be substituted with Defoe
coming on, rightly so, when there was little
outlet play coming from the defence or
midfield, as clearances got more and more
panicky.
Shot started to fly in on the Tottenham
goal. Davies hit one way over, as did Dempsey before Davies'
free-kick was well gather by Robinson. By then he had been beaten
by a deflection off Rocha, as he dived in to try and block Smertin's
drive. Robbo would have had it covered, but the Portuguese
defender's touch took it high into the air over the keeper and in to
bring it back to 2-3 and Spurs were starting to wobble. Why they
do this, I don't know, as there is enough quality in the side, but when
they try and defend the last third, they ask for trouble.
Defoe flashed a shot wide when Chimbonda
set him up from a well worked short corner, but it was not enough, as a
late Fulham long throw was headed out by Kaboul, but only to the edge of
the area, where Diomansy Kamara launched himself into the air and
performed an overhead kick that left Robinson unable to reach it as it
headed into the net in the top corner. It was a last minute goal
in a million and summed up some of the lack of fortune Tottenham have
been having this season, but they were masters of their own downfall by
not ramming home the advantage like they did against Derby County.
Whether it is Jol's tactics or the
players' insecurities when ahead in a game, but they have to learn to
finish games off and to make sure that if they are going to defend, they
do so without losing their shape. For too long, we have seen
Tottenham sides trying to defend leads and it has never worked.
The loss of two points here was a big
thing in terms of our final league placing. Turning winning
positions into three points is something the team still need to master
and although it was one of the better away performances under Jol, there
is still a feeling that the team need to adopt a more high tempo
approach to their away games against the lower sides ... especially as
it looks like we need a four goal start to take something from the match
!!
MEHSTG TOP MAN : - GARETH BALE
THE HEATHROW SPUR |
Fulham
(Away)
