contemplating tottenham

My first post in who-knows-how-long and it's about another club. Go figure. Anyways, I have soft place in my heart for the Spurs. I've honestly never met a White Hart Lane fan that I didn't like, maybe that's just dumb luck, but it also doesn't hurt that Berbatov the Impaler (who I hate now, btw) won me a pretty penny last season with his late game heroics against West Ham in one of the best matches I've ever watched.

To get to the point of this post, after watching Stoke embarrass them, I was thinking about the Spurs squad and wondering just how talented it is. Which players would make our squad? And would they even see the pitch? The only player who I thought would get decent time is Alan Hutton. I love the Scot and rate him higher than Arbeloa despite the fact that he looks as if he's 23 going on 40.

Other players I wouldn't mind having around are Pavlyuchenko, Huddlestone, Lennon, Luka Modrić, and David Bentley. Not sure if any of them would get enough minutes to be content, but I could definitely see the Russian being a late game replacement at striker and Modrić clearly has the talent to break into the starting side. Bentley would be a decent option on the right, but it would come down to availability and match-ups. The kids would likely wallow in lesser cup/match limbo for the most part and for a player like Huddlestone, I'm not sure that would be the best for their development.

It goes without saying, the Spurs are in shambles. A sad state of affairs that doesn't look to improve anytime soon. If you can't beat a mediocre side like Stoke with an obviously more-talented squad, than something is very, very wrong. I just don't think Ramos, who is the second-worst manager in Spurs history record-wise, understands the English game. Defense isn't exactly the strong point of the Spanish game and unlike La Liga, the Premiership sees no shame in nil-nil results. If he's trying to bring wild-style matches to England, well, he's failing miserably. They didn't look much a threat to score multiple goals today nor any day for that matter. Calling Big Sam?

God Bless the Fates for Dirk Kuyt?

Gees, what a way to win the match. Played useless for most the match and then he comes up with the most important goal for the season so far. No big surprise.

So I've slept through the season so far, this match being little difference. In our defense, Liege played 8 back for the majority, but with the amount of talent we have, it shouldn't have been this hard.

My man of the match? Well, nobody, really. Skrtel was somewhat of a standout, but for the most part no one appeared to be able to figure out the Pandora's Jar that was Liege's defense. Nabil El Zhar and Babel certainly streesed out their defense though.

Well, hopefully our run of playing less than mediocre and producing results will continue this weekend.

'Yeah, but how many of those were penalties?'

I can't remember how many times I heard that question when we signed Torres in the off-season. Some were even mislead to believe that he would be as turnover prone as Luis Garcia. Oh, how the football geniuses must be red-faced now. Sure, 'the Golden One' is far from perfect, but he's easily the best forward in the Premiership and well worth the £20m+ price tag.

I'll admit I myself was a skeptic, but as I was watching Tevez today, all I could think about was how much better El Niño is than 'the Little Argentine that could.' Hell, Masche is certainly the better of the pair to cross the pond and though I won't expound more than necessary, I still believe El Jefecito is our best and probably most valuable player.

'Somewhat disappointed' would have been a good way to describe my feelings before the season started when we failed to get 'the Cave Dweller' and had to 'settle' for Torres. I don't mind being wrong, sometimes I actually enjoy it. 27 goals in 36 matches? Ridiculous. Highlighted by brilliant goals against Chelsea, Internazionale at the San Siro, and countless others. Not to mention the three hat-tricks, the three braces, and the fact that he didn't even play in the 8-0 thumping of Besitkas.

I often ask myself if I have any faith left in Benitez and it's hard to say. As meaningless as it is, the recent relatively easy taking of the Dallas Cup by the Reserves side certainly gives me some hope that the youth movement Rafa is trying to instill not only with that side, but the Academy as well, allows me some patience. I just hope some of those kids develop in time to help Stevie-G bring home the Premiership. After all, he's only got a few more years in the shirt.

No Masche, No problem?

Here's an interesting stat, when Mascherano receives a card, the side is 2-4-5 with the only wins coming in a squeaker at Wigan earlier this season and a surprising route of PSV in the final eight of the Champions League last season. It's no coincidence that he's received cards in the last two matches with Man U, not to mention the farce that was the Champions League final last season.

This poses a problem on so many levels, it's hard to fathom. With him on the pitch, nothing less than a draw would seem feasible, but without him, we'll more than likely turn to the unpredictability of Lucas... unless Rafa loses his gourd and returns to the rotation asylum. Unfortunately, he won't have Harry Kewell at his disposal.

I would love to see Pennant get a start, but I won't hold my breathe. Babel up front with Torres would be awesome as well, but the chances of that happening is even slimmer. One thing I don't want to see is Peter Crouch... at all.

We haven't lost to Everton at Anfield in almost nine years, but with Howard Webb at the helm, who knows? Remember 1-1 Luton Town in the FA Cup, way back in January? Yep, that was him. I could wish for an untainted result, either way, but it won't matter. The 2-1 win at Goodison was fixed in our favor, I can only hope for the same here. Cheers.

And the man in black steals the show...

How appropriate on the most holy of holiest days. Respect for the FA? Laughable to say the least. No one had money on Man U today, the payback wasn't worth it. Logic, reasoning, and rationality rarely applies to those who are pathological about illogical, unreasonable, and irrational desires.

Maybe the collapse of the world economy will be a good thing. Maybe then those who can afford to bet millions with a better chance of making a profit will invest in the 'heavy favorites'. After all, it is probably a more stable investment than anything other than gold at the moment.

I would have liked to see Kewell or Pennant get some time on the pitch, but then again, I would have also liked to see the match called fairly. A momentary lapse of reason? I'm having a laugh. God bless the ghost of Tom Joad and Merry Easter to all.

A yellow for speaking to a ref? You're having a laugh.

Just the fact that he already had a weak yellow and appeared quite restrained in his conversion with 'Sir Bennett' negates any legitimacy to the call. If that's the case, Rooney should have been suspended from the league for life by now.

The show must go on with all the revisionist rule writing one can fathom. Get creative, fellars.

'Inter is going to kill Liverpool'

That's all I heard going into our first elimination showdown from those who think they are in the know. I hope now they have a better understanding of how the footballing world works and some clue who the true ringmasters are... or maybe I should say puppets and puppet masters. Here's a clue, those with the strings attached to their arses are the team with the least amount of players on the pitch and those controlling the strings make the most money from matches. It's not rocket science.

The first match at Anfield was a joke nonetheless. With a man advantage and a ferocity of attack it was merely a matter of time before Liverpool netted. The second match was one of less subtlety. The surprise Torres goal seemed to spark a change of favoritism, atoned probably to in-game betting, but the ref could hardly keep his hand out of his card pocket with or without the smirk on his mug. A draw would have sufficed, a win for Liverpool was probably more profitable.

Now we have Arsenal and my first thoughts were, 'we've no chance.' The younger, more exciting Emirates side should in all reality have little trouble with the slower, less creative Reds. But one has to consider where the officiating crews' loyalties will lie. Hopefully not Arsenal, but who knows.

The coming schedule is brutal, but really, what is our goal? Fourth place and the Champions League? The latter negates the former, so what is more important? Obviously a trophy is nice but giving in and throwing away matches at Man United and Goodison Park are hard to fathom. I just don't see it.

The saddest casualty of the season was not Daniel Agger but Harry Kewell, who showed glimpses of past brilliance in the mere minutes his been able to play. Is Ryan Babel that much better than him right now? No. Hopefully King Harry will get a chance to once again shine with his future at Anfield now seemingly nonexistent.