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Arsenal not so hot, while sulky Dimitar’s left out in the cold
SO, Tottenham Hotspur begin their tricky pursuit of Hull City, trailing Nicky Barmby’s Tigers by three points in the Premiership already.
In fact, Spurs are pretty much three points behind nearly everyone.
Three points behind Hull. Three behind cast-offs Anthony Gardner, Matt Etherington and Luke Young. Three behind Robbie Keane and his new big club pals at Liverpool. Three behind jilted keeper Paul Robinson, despite his familiarly clownish attempts to lose Blackburn their opening day match against Everton.
Three points behind ex-striker Mido, who scored the delightful winner against his former club on Saturday at Middlesbrough.
And, of course, three points behind Arsenal – who didn’t look so hot themselves against West Brom, but still came away with the all-important win.
They might as well be even further behind the front-runners in the eyes of Dimitar Berbatov, whose sulky substitute’s face looked as if he has no confidence that Tottenham will ever claw back the likes of Bolton and West Ham, let alone get him into the Champions League.
So the Spuds, London’s fifth best team, sit in the bottom half of the table. Wenger put it so perfectly on Saturday: If you finish twelfth and win the Carling Cup, it doesn’t really count as winning a trophy to me.
Too right, Arsene.
DESPITE our traditionally disappointing opening weekend, there were positives to be taken from the trip to Middlesbrough.
The first was a “parmo”, a local delicacy of chicken breast and melted cheese that allows you to hear your heart weeping. The second was that our new signings all looked more than capable on the ball, although as a team, unfortunately we lacked ambition and a pair of dangerous strikers.
We must accept Berbatov’s departure, but we must not panic. Our association with Michael Owen this week shows desperation and insanity setting in.
Meanwhile, Arsenal’s scrappy win allows them to cling on to title hopes for another week. New signing Nasri has sensibly dismissed claims that he is the new Hleb, he is obviously entirely different because he took a shot on Saturday. Let’s hope Wenger snaps him out of that ridiculous habit soon and moulds him into the next Hleb so Arsenal can play around the box without actually scoring.
It was reassuring to see that Adebayor has signed a new contract. It’s great to know the Togoan will be fluffing chances for the foreseeable future.
Wenger has expressed his amazement at GB’s Olympic swimming success, stating: “I’ve lived here 12 years and never seen a swimming pool.” I’m sure Adebayor’s £80,000 a week will be well spent showing his boss what he’s missing.
* Spurs fan Pip Wroe will be pitting his wits against Richard Osley all season. |
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