Sunday afternoon in London meant one thing yesterday: pride. The North London Derby had all the ingredients for a mouth-watering encounter. New players arrived on both sides (Capt. Robbie Keane's return & Arshavin), Tottenham needed three points to fend off the demons of relegation while Arsenal were needing all three points to pose as plausible suitors for a Champions League spot next season. Neither Arsene or Harry got what they were looking for as the blow-of-the-whistle from Mike Dean proved to be the decisive moment.
As we all know, Emmanuel Eboue is not the most calm and collected player that has ever dawned the English top flight. He's seen his red card before. After getting a goal disallowed in the 15th minute for doing absolutely nothing, Mike Dean gave him a yellow card shortly after for, again, doing what looked to be...well, nothing. 1o minutes later Luka Modric decided to give Eboue a little shove off the ball and Eboue reacted. As Modric, the guy who resembles Dobby from Harry Potter, trotted by Eboue he was tripped by the Ivory Coast international - this WAS a bookable offense. As I was sitting in my roommate's dark room with my white apple ear buds blasting with the commentary of Pierre Sant-Louis and Marques Rousseau, I just knew the red card was coming. Refs seem to want attention in moments like these.
In his post-match conference Harry Redknapp explained how Spurs dominated the game when it was 11 v 11 and 11 v 10. I would argue that Spurs had spurts of brilliance but 'domination' I think goes too far. Song's chance off the corner kick, Clichy's run in the first half stripping the ball off Corluka, and Bendtner's powerful strike on Cudicini were all decent chances. Tottenham's were Robbie Keane's misguided header, Modric's failure to slot past Almunia in the dying seconds, and Wilson Palacios' thunderous strike from a million yards out.
I'm disappointed with the Mike Dean's eager hand. As I'm sure I'm not the only one, I'm eager myself to hear from Eboue and Dean about how they saw it.
The Gunners' next match is on the 16th for the second leg of the FA Cup 4th round against Cardiff City. Arshavin will not be available for the match because he wasn't available for the first tie as we wasn't an Arsenal player at the time. Are you telling me I have to wait until the 21st of February before I MIGHT see him make his debut? Well, yes. Among your concerns this week make sure you stop and pray for the healing of Ade's tender hamstring.
The last time we've won a match was at Hull City - my hair has grown considerably since. One thing's for sure, we can't draw our next match as there has to be a winner for the Cardiff City...Oh Arsene where are our finishing boots?
Hey Hayez,
ReplyDeleteSo I watched the 14 minute highlight on footytube. Were you able to watch it live or did you watch on the computer? First off, I was a little surprised that Robbie Keane was given the captain's band in his returning debut for Spurs. I guess they do that as a visible sign of faith in him, but it still would rub me the wrong way if I was a teammate.
The call on Eboue that was the supposed shove of Woodgate was crap. It was obvious, in the replay at least, that he tripped over Adebayor. I'm not sure if the shot would have gone in because it appeared that the players on the line kind of stopped playing when they heard the whistle, which I believe was before the shot. After that though, Eboue started acting like a totally idiot. He was just asking to get the yellow cards. The first yellow was a bad call, but the second was a good call and he should have known better than to push the envelope in that situation. Dumb.
As to Arshavin. Why is he not fit? And Eduardo was back on the bench but obviously not 100%?
Anyway, I'm not sure why I care about any of this. Maybe so I can have something to talk with you and Harry about.
Arshavin was in the middle of pre-season with Zenit St.Petersburg so he's not quite match fit. Russia's season is all lopsided due to the weather.
ReplyDeleteArshavin's first match will be against Sunderland at the Emirates I think...well at least it'll be his first appearance.
He can't play against Cardiff City because he wasn't an official Arsenal player during the first leg in Cardiff.
Eduardo is playing Romania tomorrow I believe in a qualifier. He should be out there anytime!
I agree that Eboue was an idiot but as you said it should've been his first yellow.
I watched it on a computer (French commentary).
Dude I was so bummed to hear the KAIAC tourney result. I'll be all ears when I get back.