Last Saturday's game against Wigan, it has to be said, was a pretty lacklustre affair. With Mildred on holiday and Norman away for the weekend, Agatha was accompanied to White Hart Lane by son number 2 - normally a lucky charm. Not this time. He's not been to The Lane for a while, and he was struck by the bad tempered, dejected atmosphere in the crowd. I could see what he meant. There was a sense of resignation present throughout. A few bursts of vocal support from the Park Lane/Shelf-side fans, but pretty subdued overall.
 |
| Saturday's view at The Lane |
On the pitch, there was a distinct lack of urgency and we looked devoid of ideas. AVB played 4-2-3-1, his preferred lone striker position being occupied by Defoe, with Bale (back from paternity leave), Lennon (on good form), and Dempsey behind him. Bale and Defoe played well, and there were some flashes of creativity and hope - Jan Vertonghen is looking better all the time. He had the best shot on goal, about 20 minutes in, and was tireless and persistent in defence. Despite decent performances too from Walker, Caulker and Gallas, and some fine saves from Friedel, Wigan scored the only goal of the match early in the second half. Agatha's inexpert opinion is that our main problems lay in a lack of imagination and skill in midfield. Unfortunately Sandro had to come off injured fairly early on, to be replaced by Sigurdsson, who is skilful on occasion but frustratingly inconsistent. Huddleston is just, well, a bit too slow. Nobody looked as though they wanted the ball. The crowd was cheering Adebayor warming up, but I don't think anyone expected Defoe to be taken off. Wouldn't it have been better to substitute Dempsey? Wigan played far better than we expected. Their back five kept a strong defensive line, and they also demonstrated some impressive passing midfield and nimble attacking play. Kone, particularly, and Maloney had us worried on quite a few occasions.
Rushing home from work on Thursday to watch the Maribor Europa League game on TV, Agatha and Mildred were struck by the different atmosphere - lots of vocal support. Did it just come over louder on TV? And it was like watching a different team altogether. Jermain's hat-trick was a joy, Bale setting up two of them so sweetly. Young Tom Carroll, who had come on towards the end of the Wigan game, was in the starting line-up. What a treat to see this young talent, who had a great game in central midfield and fed a lovely pass through to Defoe for the second goal. (We won't mention Naughton's dreadful pass back to Lloris that gave Maribor their goal). Agatha and Mildred do like playing Defoe and Adebayor up front with Bale and Lennon wide. More of this please! A completely different match to last Saturday. Agatha was musing over cause and effect - was the support more vocal because the team was playing well, or was it The Lane in full voice spurring the lads on? Or a virtuous circle? She's since discovered (via
@LustDoctor's blog post) that there had been a concerted campaign by the
1882 movement to show vocal support at the match. Well, it worked. Let's all get behind this, and bring the atmosphere back to White Hart Lane.
A final note on the appearance of Fabrice Muamba at half time. Agatha and Mildred were at the game against Bolton last March, sat down near the pitch opposite where Muamba collapsed. The eery silence as doctors fought on the pitch to save his life will stay with us forever. It was clearly emotional for him to walk back over to the spot on the pitch where his heart had stopped. So glad to see him fit and well. Thanks for coming back Fabrice.
Agatha and Mildred
