This is actually one of those defeats which I don't know how to react to. Obviously it's highly frustrating to lose a game, especially when you are twelve unbeaten and against a team inferior to yours, but when you play pretty well and only lose due to some sheer idiotic decision making from some of your weaker players it's hard to feel down. At the end of the day though those three points would have been absolutely crucial, it would have killed Liverpool off once and for all and given us a huge cushion over Arsenal and a five point gap over Chelsea. When we went 2-1 up, we had further chances to kill the game off and seemed in control and i genuinely was thinking about what a huge result it would have been. Anfield is a notoriously difficult ground to go to, somewhere historically we haven't done very well at all until the past few years and so it's very strange now that we go there expecting to win and are very disappointed when it doesn't go our way.
I didn't think we started particularly brightly, that may have been due to the game on thursday, or just showing them a bit too much respect after their previous results but Liverpool were on top for the first fifteen to twenty minutes. The other problem I thought at the time was the team were not adapting very well to the change of shape/system that Lennon's injury had forced upon us and Dembele wasn't able to assert his usual influence from out on the right hand side. After this early spell though we got into the game a bit better and I thought we had begun to play our usual game when Liverpool went and scored. It was a nice goal from them, and a lovely finish from that scrote Suarez but I question what Walker was doing on the edge of the box. Nowhere near strong enough and let the ball get played through. He should have done everything he could to stop that being played, bring him down if you have to, but don't give him a free pass into their best player.
After the goal Liverpool picked up their form again for five minutes or so but then we came right back into the game. We gave them such a warning with Gylfi's shot that just went wide. That was probably the move of the match and I still can't believe he didn't hit the target. It was a lovely flick from Gareth to set him free too. However the next sequence of events was highly frustrating. Gerrard firstly somehow escapes a booking for a highly cynical foul on Gylfi when he is breaking free and then secondly evades one again when he goes elbow first into Bale. It was a very dangerous challenge and worthy of at least a yellow, if not a red, but Oliver bottles it at Anfield. How anyone could have any complaints about that free kick is beyond me.
Anyway just before half time we got what our pressure deserved and equalised through the second best Spurs player on the pitch. Lovely ball in from Gareth and Jan is there to guide it home. It was a really important goal for us on the stroke of half time because it allowed us to come out and just carry on with what we were doing, nothing drastic had to be done.
Second half starts with us on top again and obviously we go two one up. Jan with a lovely left foot finish again. He was superb again today, his goals obviously were a bonus, but at the back his timing in the tackle is next to perfect. He's forming a really nice partnership with Dawson and it's a privilege to have him. Absolute steal of a transfer. He really is so cultured on the ball, his touch is not befitting that of a centre half but that of a creative player up the pitch.
After the goal we had several chances just to kill the game off, the best falling to Gylfi who hit the post for the umpteen time this season, and we were cruising I thought. Liverpool really didn't cause us too many problems at all until we managed to gift them the two goals. Firstly from a horrendous pass by Walker which Lloris failed to deal with and secondly with a shambolic touch by Defoe allowing Suarez to do what he does best and go down easily in the box.
It's really frustrating that we were played really well and got ourselves into the lead, only to shoot ourselves in the foot and gift them two goals to win the game. It was no surprise that it was our three weakest players out there that cost us. Firstly Walker really is a liability at times. He must be the most stupid footballer in the league. He just doesn't have a brain at all. It's just pace and strength with him. He gets himself and us out of perilous situations sometimes with his ability to recover but often he's made the error in the first place. Today he played a ludicrous pass back to Downing who although got a bit lucky with the break of the ball was able to finish. Why would anyone ever play that pass?
Secondly Defoe. I was slagging him off all game, he was absolutely anonymous, barely touched the ball and literally offered nothing to anyone as an outlet. He was a waste of space as he always is in the big games and even though Adebayor has been dreadful this season, he never plays that badly, at least he will make himself available and get on the ball. The mis control just put the icing on the cake of his performance. What was he even trying to do and he just played Suarez in perfectly. Ekotto was poor and it was a clumsy challenge, although Im still not convinced by it, but he was put in a terrible position by our 'striker'.
Thirdly, Livermore. Now, defensively he did alright today, and doesn't deserve the same criticism of the other two, but offensively he is useless, offered us nothing at all and slowed down so many attacks. He isn't good enough for our team and how he has an England cap I will never know.
The main positive today other than Super Jan was his Belgian compatriot Mousa Dembele. Unbelievable performance from him. Liverpool couldn't handle his ability on the ball today, it just stuck to his foot and he glides past people with ease. He was thrust out onto the right which is by no means his strongest position but he was still able to have a massive influence on the game and ran the show for us. He had a poor spell in the middle of the season but he seems to be back to his best now. Shame Sandro got injured because there partnership in the middle was outstanding.
We are still third in the league and although that would have been a really big win for us we need to move on and get the points against Fulham. This was one of those games we didn't have to win and so it isn't the end of the world, but we need to regroup now.
We also need to get Lennon back soon. I hope people realise how important he is to us. He's ridiculously underrated by non Spurs fans and is the vital cog to this team.
I didn't think we started particularly brightly, that may have been due to the game on thursday, or just showing them a bit too much respect after their previous results but Liverpool were on top for the first fifteen to twenty minutes. The other problem I thought at the time was the team were not adapting very well to the change of shape/system that Lennon's injury had forced upon us and Dembele wasn't able to assert his usual influence from out on the right hand side. After this early spell though we got into the game a bit better and I thought we had begun to play our usual game when Liverpool went and scored. It was a nice goal from them, and a lovely finish from that scrote Suarez but I question what Walker was doing on the edge of the box. Nowhere near strong enough and let the ball get played through. He should have done everything he could to stop that being played, bring him down if you have to, but don't give him a free pass into their best player.
After the goal Liverpool picked up their form again for five minutes or so but then we came right back into the game. We gave them such a warning with Gylfi's shot that just went wide. That was probably the move of the match and I still can't believe he didn't hit the target. It was a lovely flick from Gareth to set him free too. However the next sequence of events was highly frustrating. Gerrard firstly somehow escapes a booking for a highly cynical foul on Gylfi when he is breaking free and then secondly evades one again when he goes elbow first into Bale. It was a very dangerous challenge and worthy of at least a yellow, if not a red, but Oliver bottles it at Anfield. How anyone could have any complaints about that free kick is beyond me.
Anyway just before half time we got what our pressure deserved and equalised through the second best Spurs player on the pitch. Lovely ball in from Gareth and Jan is there to guide it home. It was a really important goal for us on the stroke of half time because it allowed us to come out and just carry on with what we were doing, nothing drastic had to be done.
Second half starts with us on top again and obviously we go two one up. Jan with a lovely left foot finish again. He was superb again today, his goals obviously were a bonus, but at the back his timing in the tackle is next to perfect. He's forming a really nice partnership with Dawson and it's a privilege to have him. Absolute steal of a transfer. He really is so cultured on the ball, his touch is not befitting that of a centre half but that of a creative player up the pitch.
After the goal we had several chances just to kill the game off, the best falling to Gylfi who hit the post for the umpteen time this season, and we were cruising I thought. Liverpool really didn't cause us too many problems at all until we managed to gift them the two goals. Firstly from a horrendous pass by Walker which Lloris failed to deal with and secondly with a shambolic touch by Defoe allowing Suarez to do what he does best and go down easily in the box.
It's really frustrating that we were played really well and got ourselves into the lead, only to shoot ourselves in the foot and gift them two goals to win the game. It was no surprise that it was our three weakest players out there that cost us. Firstly Walker really is a liability at times. He must be the most stupid footballer in the league. He just doesn't have a brain at all. It's just pace and strength with him. He gets himself and us out of perilous situations sometimes with his ability to recover but often he's made the error in the first place. Today he played a ludicrous pass back to Downing who although got a bit lucky with the break of the ball was able to finish. Why would anyone ever play that pass?
Secondly Defoe. I was slagging him off all game, he was absolutely anonymous, barely touched the ball and literally offered nothing to anyone as an outlet. He was a waste of space as he always is in the big games and even though Adebayor has been dreadful this season, he never plays that badly, at least he will make himself available and get on the ball. The mis control just put the icing on the cake of his performance. What was he even trying to do and he just played Suarez in perfectly. Ekotto was poor and it was a clumsy challenge, although Im still not convinced by it, but he was put in a terrible position by our 'striker'.
Thirdly, Livermore. Now, defensively he did alright today, and doesn't deserve the same criticism of the other two, but offensively he is useless, offered us nothing at all and slowed down so many attacks. He isn't good enough for our team and how he has an England cap I will never know.
The main positive today other than Super Jan was his Belgian compatriot Mousa Dembele. Unbelievable performance from him. Liverpool couldn't handle his ability on the ball today, it just stuck to his foot and he glides past people with ease. He was thrust out onto the right which is by no means his strongest position but he was still able to have a massive influence on the game and ran the show for us. He had a poor spell in the middle of the season but he seems to be back to his best now. Shame Sandro got injured because there partnership in the middle was outstanding.
We are still third in the league and although that would have been a really big win for us we need to move on and get the points against Fulham. This was one of those games we didn't have to win and so it isn't the end of the world, but we need to regroup now.
We also need to get Lennon back soon. I hope people realise how important he is to us. He's ridiculously underrated by non Spurs fans and is the vital cog to this team.