Views on Tottenham From the Tar Heel State: Part 2

North London Derby Review

American Spurs fan and Writer James Pike writes his 2nd article from across the pond, this week covering the NLD. Check out e-Spurs tomorrow for the 2nd part of the review featuring the venue of the game screening!

Something about two heated rivals that hate each other to no end (in a sporting spirit, of course)? I hear tell it’s called the North London Derby or something like that. You all might of heard of it?

And we WON it.

WOW. What a match! I’m just absolutely buzzing! That had the feel of all the classic Tottenham matches of old- flashes of brilliance to get us out in front, followed by a long, long period of hanging on for dear life. But we won, so I won’t complain!

I saw a great deal of articles describing this particular North London Derby as a significant one, for it would mark a “changing of the guard” in North London if Tottenham won. Only time (and the final table for the season) will tell if that ends up being the case, but as of now, I don’t get that kind of feeling from this game. In all honesty, I don’t think we played as well in this game as we did in the pre-red card portion of the November NLD- those first 15 minutes, we were completely bossing Arsenal all over, and I have no doubt that the final scoreline would have been different if Ade hadn’t gone and earned himself a sending-off.

That being said, we did enough to win this match. To me, this felt an awful lot like the games against Norwich and West Brom in September. We were shakier in the beginning than we were in those two fixtures, but we found a way to get ahead before the first half. And then came the waiting. As soon as Arsenal headed in their first, I knew that we would be in for a long second half, and we would be holding on by a thread and hoping that our defence would hold. To some degree, you could also claim that this was like the Man United game at Old Trafford, although we certainly weren’t as desperate today as we were there. But once we hit the 60th minute, my only questions were whether or not Arsenal would find the equaliser, and how late said equaliser would come. I was almost expecting a dagger to the heart goal in stoppage time a la Norwich/ West Brom, but for once we finally hung on to one. And what a win to hang on to!

My hope is that we can hang on to this seven-point margin over fifth place (not necessarily Arsenal, although I wouldn’t complain if that were the case) heading into the Southampton match at home. We finish that match at least seven points clear of fifth, we clinch a place in the Champions League. And it just so happens that said Southampton match falls on my birthday this year… Champions League qualification might just be the best damn birthday present ever!

I know that a lot of people are going to hail Jan Vertonghen for his performance and rightfully so. Personally, I didn’t think he had all that good of a first half, but he made up for it in the second. Man was tracking back like hell and tackling all over the place in our final third. It was beautiful. No surprise to me that he won MOTM from Sky.

That being said, I want to highlight some of the other performances that I think are worth noting:

Hugo Lloris was massive today. No way on earth we win this game with Brad in goal. Hugo had to fill the “sweeper keeper” role multiple times and saved our rear ends time and time again by coming off his line and attacking the ball. Also had some monster clearances and punches on the Arsenal corners too, but for me it was his aggressiveness in chasing down the ball that really stood out.

Kyle Walker was also fantastic (although his performance will get completely overshadowed by Jan’s). I was especially impressed with his one-on-one defensive performances- seemed to me like he was either able to snatch the ball out from Monreal/ Ramsey’s feet, or box them out to get the goal kick. And he wasn’t too shabby in his few runs forward. But most importantly, he didn’t have a “derp” moment in this high-pressure game like he tends to have (Chelsea’s fourth goal at the Lane, anyone?). Hopefully that’s a sign of progress.

I can’t forget Siggy either! I was so happy to see him starting in this game because he’s finally looking like he’s found his footing at Spurs. Had a great game against West Ham and backed that up today with another strong performance in the NLD, save for that one opportunity he had when he was all alone out back with Szczeny. But his service to Bale on that first goal (and the near-miss a few minutes before) was incredible, and I think it is becoming evident that he is the serviceman for the future that can pump balls in the box to our new striker that we sign in the summer (I hope!)

I know that there are lot of people that were impressed with Scott Parker today. Truth be told, I wasn’t one of them. For me, it seemed like every time he got the ball, he either passed it back to our defence or found a way to give it away. He also had a few fouls that would have been cards in my book- I was honestly a little shocked not to see him get one. I will give him credit for the assist on Lennon’s goal though- beautiful pass, that was. Otherwise, I feel like he’s a little bit out of place in AVB’s system. I’m willing to give him some time though since he’s truly only had two months in the lineup. But for me, he needs to pick it up a little.

That’s all I can really think of for now. More fun adventures in Spursland await next week… and especially as we hit April. LOTS of adventures coming in April!

TTID,

James

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