Yesterday provided a seminal moment for me.
As the camera homed in upon Kevin de Bruyne, I suddenly realised that Princess Diana wasn’t the only woman James Hewitt had knocked up.
So to business.
Only two teams have beaten Manchester City this season to date. West Ham United …and Tottenham Hotspur.
Part of me cannot but feel that an new element of Pochettino’s philosophy at Spurs has incorporated that ancient technique of grabbing a man by his collar, holding him against a brick wall, and telling him his fortune – at a volume well in excess of 100 decibels.
This was a performance whereby ‘the cause’ was everything and nobody hid, and nobody gave up.
We played with an intensity and with an ethos that made Godzilla vs Japan look like two old women bickering at bus stop.
Before the analogies become even more self gratifying, it must be mentioned briefly that this Man City side is unlikely win the league by the skin of its teeth, let alone a cantor.
The same can also be aimed at Chelsea, who after drawing against a routinely confused Newcastle United, sit in 15th place.
Something that will cause those of us who were around the late ’70s and early ’80s to suddenly have happy flashbacks.
The way we played was on the frenetic side of determined, but we were frequently very easy on the eye.
The work ethic was not just strong in the places where it ought to be, like the defence, and the midfield, what was particularly gratifying was how involved our front four in defensive duties.
The upshot of this was that our midfield didn’t get crushed by City as so many midfields get crushed by them.
I really hope that those brave enough to read this blog after a win, actually watched the game with their brains switched on, and are now able to tell the difference between a game of intensity that achieves fak all, and one that can beat Manchester City by a margin of come 3 goals.
If 4-1 was unthinkable for us mortals before the game; imagine how the City players felt as their club lackeys scraped their players up off the dressing room floor and placed them in an upright position on the Middle Eastlands bound coach.
A brief point of order before we crack on.
The offsides?!
Fak ’em. Not vaguely interested.
Until technology is proper;y installed, then you live by the sword, then you get shaving cuts from it.
I’ve spent a lifetime watching Spurs suffer stupid decisions go against us. So I’m delighted – and in no way embarrassed – to claim any advantage from refereeing howlers.
Let’s spin through the honourable mentions in dispatches then
Lloris being exceptional is not a new thing, but it does feel so much better when he does so in a game we win, and win so comprehensively.
Bonzo is frequently accused of brain farts on here and I wonder how many of my readers are too thick to consider that these allegations of mind-blowing arse wind are actually true.
Here is Botty Burp Brain Man – creating the City goal.
The Toby & Tinkerbell partnership was simply superb.
Adding Alderweireld to the back four has pretty much transformed Vertonghen from a guy looking for people to blame, to a guy who is itching to play for us.
Davies and Bonzo together mostly delivered tough defensive performances. Yep, that’s right, defensive performances.
They are defenders, and they did this with high levels of competence. Offensively there wasn’t much and to be blunt, I’m pleased about that.
You don’t hire a gardener and want to find the bar steward in you kitchen, experimenting with a new marinade recipe.
Dier had a great game, he was wandering about getting stuck in all over the place. He really did break up a lot of City’s play.
Alli had his best game in the shirt yet, because it was his most composed.
Son didn’t have a stand out game, but as part of the collective, he nevertheless still earned his corn.
Lamela. Lamela. Lamela. Lamela. Lamela. Lamela. Lamelaaaaa. What do we do about a boy called Lamelaaaaa?
I had lost patience with him. In fairness, I think I was late to the Lamela Hate party.
But to his perhaps (who knows?) eternal credit, the boy is fighting his way out of his career coma in a manner that one can only applaud.
Yes, there is more to be done, but by God, he’s many things, but he’s not a quitter.
Personally I reckon he heard about the ‘lesbian’ thing and decided to ‘kick out the jams’.
Eriksen’s first 45 minutes highlights were so small that any smart schoolchild would be quick to use them in their summer ‘How Many Things Can You Fit In A Matchbox’ project.
The Dane’s second half was much better and again, his defensive activity was of note.
Harry Kane scored! With any luck, this will be a weight off his back and he can now stop it with all the selfish shot stuff.
I stand by my view on Clinton Cards. He is a player who has a lot of work to do.
An historic win.
More please…
I would have never passed muster with Napoleon Bonaparte, “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”
