- Jan 14, 2004
- 15,105
- 9,122
- Staff
- #61
We had a couple of chances,but they were playing round and through us at will,and had many more chances than us in this period. i have never been so uncomfortable being 2 up in my life.
It was suicide, everyone spurs fan who watched it with me were amazed Harry decided to start with Niko against a goon midfield outnumbering us, who in their right mind would think Niko is the type of player that will put in a shift or indeed be quick enough to counter attack.
The defeat wasn't just down to that though, i think they wanted it more, had so much more to lose....and it showed i'm afraid.
You are spot on with regards to Niko, who I honestly wouldn't ever start if there were viable options. My only thought on Niko starting is that Lennon wasn't fully fit (or based on the fact he didn't come on at all, he wasn't fit enough to play any part). We could shove Modric out there and Sandro in the middle but Sandro was miles off the pace and didn't look fit either. Same goes for VDV who we could have played from the right and would have been about as effective there as Niko. Maybe Livermore?
I know what you mean about feeling uncomfortable but we were at least making them a little uncomfortable too for a while and their defence is still suspect but we didn't test it at all. Let's say we attacked from 2-0 with Bale on the left wing as a simple outlet to relieve the pressure and run at Arsenal's defence, do you think we would have seen the Arsenal right back winning a header inside our 6 yard box?