Carling cup semi-final

This is not a pipe. It is not a match report either.

Essentially I think I would do better writing match reports on games that do not involve Spurs, because that means I can watch with a little detachment and employ some kind of analytical perspective. Take my eyes off the game and make a note here and there, even. As it is, the more important the game is, the more nervous I become. Nervous and utterly incapable of any action beside staring.

My greatest fear was a reprise of the game we played against Arsenal in early December, when, having started out strongly and dominated the game for 15 minutes or so, the lads seemed to lose all heart and - in my memory, at least - barely knew what to do with the ball when they got it every now and then. As I watched the game (which I came to fully expecting a defeat) all I could hear in my head was Tennyson's poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" and I felt I was watching a massacre: 'into the valley of death rode the six hundered'. Graham Poll was the person who 'blundered', as the opposition got a marginally offside goal allowed and both penalties were questionable. But that was somehow easier to bear than watching my dear boys being thrashed in open play. Imagine then my surprise upon reading in the paper that whereas Spurs were called 'lightweight' (by Matt Dickinson of The Times) there was no indication that a neutral viewer felt that they had watched a comprehensive beating.

Even I know that what happened yesterday was not a comprehensive beating, and while Arsenal increasingly dominated the game - especially in mid-field - this was a game which either side could have won. It was a similar experience in the sense that I came to the game expecting to lose and got my hopes up only to have them tumble down again. But the 'travelling sickness' that has infected the team this season seems to be abating: essentially this was a battle of equals. Still a young Arsenal side, but again with plenty of first team regulars (especially after the introduction of both Rosicky and Fabregas). Disturbingly, this game (as was the case with the first leg of this semi-final) seems to have been lost tactically: when Dimitar Berbatov was taken off injured last week and the formation was altered to acommodate this change we lost penetration and control. This week, without the option of Berbatov up front, Jol opted for Defoe and Keane together - a pairing that did not seem to make much with the rest of the team's play. Tellingly a goal only came after Mido had been introduced in the box.
In a way it could be a symptom of the reliance on Berbatov's flexibility, as well as his partnership with Defoe, which the team seems to have developed of late. When the mid-field played as though he was there precious little happened. However, this was mainly a game lost in the mid-field. Jenas, who had a brilliant return to action against Southend, was no match for Abou Diaby and Gilberto Silva and was repeatedly forced to pass the ball backwards rather than launch an attack. Needless to say, Aaron Lennon, out sick, was missed.

Let's hope that as a young team in progress this has been another learning experience. Let's also hope that we get Berbatov back. Soon.

Our man of the match was undoubtedly Michael Dawson, at his sparkling best, sticking head and feet out to save balls in all kinds of places.

Arsenal
Almunia, Hoyte, Senderos, Toure, Traore (Clichy), Denilson, Diaby (Fabregas), Silva, Adebayor, Aliadiere, Walcott (Rosicky)

Tottenham
Robinson, Assou-Ekotto, Gardner (Rocha), Dawson, Chimbonda, Ghaly (Huddlestone), Jenas, Zokora, Malbranque (Mido), Defoe, Keane