Easy work
Before the game kicked-off, had you asked me, I would have said the best outcome would be for Spurs to power into an early lead and kill the game off with goals Goals GOALS. I hoped for a 3-0 lead before half-time. Call me Nostradamus? Nah, call me captain obvious. It was pure common sense and it played out exactly as it should have. This is the new Spursy that tends to be overlooked for the classic textbook Spursy that the haters hang onto and celebrate on those relatively rare off-days.
Another potential upset on the cards (if you bought into the silly 'Warnock's men will come at you quickly' hype) was cited in the build up to give the illusion of competition. This is Spurs. Everton came at us. We walloped them. These-days, if you're not a top top club, the way you beat us is if we fail to turn up and play collectively with fluidity and tenacity. When we disappoint, we do so together, as though we've been poisoned by kryptonite (a metaphor for a bad day at the office rather than a badly cooked lasagne).
After our fatigued three-one home loss against Wolves, Poch and his players had to display an aura of professionalism and energised impact. They delivered it with pomp. The second half felt like driving a car without the necessity to change gears. No stress, no drama, no elevation of emotion. Nice and easy.
The opening goal was a touch lucky, Kane making sure he was deep in the area to watch the ball bounce off him and in. Eriksen's goal was delicious in technique, mugging off the Cardiff defence, sending them one way to strike the ball through the legs and into the corner of the net as all of them + the keeper were left in no mans land. Son added a third on the 26th minute with a cool finish and back up to 2nd spot we go. Shout out to the irresistible Dane and kudos to the sometimes jarring yet effective presence of Sissoko. The latter loves a central drive through midfield these-days. Sshh...he's playing really well. Must try harder klaxon for Harry Winks and his 99% pass completion. Lad, there's room for improvement, keep plugging away.
I wouldn't advise getting the calculator out just yet. City and Liverpool clash next. Poch doesn't care about the game (he's still watching it - aren't we all?). I'm not sure what I'd prefer to see. Is it too early for Liverpool to come unstuck? Half way through the season and I'd say f*ck no. Let'em lose, get spanked, as unlikely as that is. We need to see them react to self-doubt and perhaps have it fester in their psyche for a few weeks. Klopp is meant to be a seasoned bottler (I've heard this tagged to another club too) but there's always a first time where the expectancy is turned onto its head.
A stalemate protects both of them but helps Liverpool more, so that would be bland. So yeah, let's hope Pep manages to out-smart Klopp. As for us? We've yet to draw a game and you can look at some of the cheap defeats we've had in-amongst the few we deserved to lose and wonder what could have been. You're wasting your time though. Imagine instead what might be if we keep winning and double up on our efforts to avoid losing. If you embrace logic and circumstance, the odds are massively stacked against us thanks to the reality that we've been beaten five times. Unless the club leading the league start to wobble, we won't get close enough. Of course, momentum is often magical and can add rocket fuel that fires them (us) above the clouds and into the heavens. Got to believe otherwise what's the point?
Son is off soon. Poch wants to stick to his design and find a solution to this particular team rotation head-scratch. I'm sure we'll cope but let's not pretend we won't miss him. Tottenham have other distractions to contend with too. The League Cup. The Champions League. I doubt any solution will come our way from the January transfer window. So hold onto ya hats. 2019 is here and she's gonna be relentless.
COYS
